Szot, JC - The South Window (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (8 page)

“Yeah, I just wonder what it’s like. I mean, not the sex part.” She laughed. “I’ve just never seen a place like that. What’s it look like? Like a bar? Or just any other building?”

“It’s in the middle of nowhere, but I guess it has to be. Wanna go see it?” He laughed, playfully nudging her arm, grinning. Allie stared at him, stunned.

“I’ll take you there if you’re curious about it. I mean, I was. I know what you’re thinking because I was thinking the same thing.” Marty returned the coffee pot to the burner and joined her back at the table.

“How could we go?” she asked cautiously. “If Tess saw me there with you she’d kill us. She’s become a bit possessive of you. Did you know that?”

Marty had a pained look on his face. “I wouldn’t know. One night last week she was trying to pawn me off on another woman. She wanted to watch, but she didn’t care who I was fucking around with.” They sat at the table, the conversation losing steam.

“If you want to see this place, I’ll take you.” Marty’s eyes locked with hers. “Now, I don’t think we could go inside, because then we could have an issue.” Marty pointed toward the window, gesturing to Tess’s house across the street.

“God no!” Allie left his hard gaze. “That I couldn’t do.” Allie was undecided. Part of her wanted to go, but then part of her didn’t. Allie wasn’t sure she wanted to see that part of Tess’s secret world.

Chapter 10

“So, what have you been up to?” Tess was reclined on the love seat in Allie’s studio, watching her format her computer screen.

“Working—trying to do more graphics for my boss. How about you?” Allie turned to face her.

Tess dangled her legs over the edge of the love seat, her blue sundress riding up her thighs. Allie tried to imagine her having sex with two men or another couple. Since her talk with Marty, she’d been preoccupied with Tess’s lifestyle.

“Not much,” she pouted.

“How are things going with you and Marty?” Allie watched her reaction carefully.

“It’s okay, but I just wish he was more outgoing.” She pulled her dark, silky hair out from under her neck, letting it hang off the arm of the love seat.

“He seems to be outgoing enough.” Allie pressed slightly, wanting to see how far Tess would let this conversation go.

Tess shrugged her shoulders, looking mildly annoyed. That was all she was going to get. Allie turned around and went back to her wedding designs.

“When’s Dan coming home?” Tess asked, getting up and slinking toward the door.

“Not for awhile. Weeks,” Allie told her. “I take it you’re leaving?” She looked at Tess resting her backside against the door.

“Yeah, I’ll see you later, maybe tomorrow.” Her tone sounded bored.

“All right, have a good night.” Allie smiled, knowing the sexual stage that awaited Tess.

Marty got lucky two nights in a row. Allie was out back on the deck, reclining in the lounge chair, when she saw Tess walk across Marty’s lawn in the dark. Allie got up and moved her chair slightly so Tess wouldn’t see her. It was a sultry summer night. Hot, moist air hung heavy, everything stuck to your skin.

Marty must have been expecting Tess. Before she reached his back porch, the screen door opened. Allie saw her pull him out the door and into her arms. He buried his hands in her hair, clutching her head. Allie couldn’t figure out just how emotionally attached Marty was. Once the novelty of great sex wore off for Tess, Allie wondered where that would leave him.

Tess was in a skimpy sundress, her feet bare. Their kiss was long, demanding, and deep. If Tess wasn’t on the same plane as Marty, Allie was looking at a soon-to-be-wounded man. Tess wasn’t deep. Allie’s conversation with Marty proved to her that he was a man capable and willing to express his emotions, fully able to devote himself to one woman.

Tess, on the other hand, was into fun, seduction, and being on stage. A man like Marty could get deeply hurt by a woman like Tess. Allie felt sorry for him, almost wanting to protect Marty from her, and the wounds Allie knew Tess could inflict. The problem was Tess’s packaging was just too delicious to resist.

Allie listened to their soft murmurs drift across the yard. Tess’s giggling irritated her ears like nails on a chalkboard. Allie saw their darkened shadows walk toward the workshop, the door clicking closed behind them.

A tiny light lit up the dark window. Before Allie knew what she was doing, she skirted around the edge of the yard, approaching the workshop from the side. Why was she so preoccupied with them? What did she want with them? Or was it Marty? Something inside of her was being erected, something forbidden. Allie felt like she didn’t know who she was anymore, these thoughts invading her mind. She had tried to push them down, knowing they were wrong. Allie wanted something. She knew what it was. It was easier and safer to keep denying it, but ignoring the elephant in the room was becoming impossible.

The more she watched them, the more she wanted it, or Marty, for herself. When Allie thought of Dan, guilt seared through her, a brief, short punishment, but her urges and wants would rise again, only to overpower and smother her remorse like dirt on a fire.

She stalked them through the panes of the same window. Marty had Tess’s dress unzipped, his large, strong hands splayed across the brown skin of her back. Tess’s head was hanging back, her hair swaying over Marty’s hands like a showroom curtain. He was biting her neck. Tess’s fingers dug into the skin of his shoulder.

Her dress fell to the ground, another garment covered in cedar shavings. He reached down and grabbed her leg, raising it up to his hip. Allie found her own body responding to Marty’s touch, aching for him. Marty’s fingers slipped into the seam of Tess’s ass.

Tess’s hands were fumbling, fighting with Marty’s pants. She dropped to her knees, stroking over the arc of Marty’s cock. Her tongue laved at the head then licked down the underside, lapping at his balls. Marty’s head fell back, his mouth open, his face slack with pleasure. He was speaking to Tess. Allie couldn’t make out the words. Marty’s thick fingers wove though Tess’s hair, holding her head as his cock fucked her mouth, his hips thrusting like a well-oiled machine. Marty lifted Tess up, her legs wrapped around his body like tentacles. He turned and rested her ass on top of his workbench. He spread her wide, guiding his cock between the folds of her pussy. Tess’s head flung back, she called to him, her cries a high shrill through the window. Tess’s legs tightened around Marty’s torso, ecstasy wrapping around them, sealing them within their own sheath of heat. Allie’s pulse pounded in her throat, her palms sweaty. She had to finally look away. Envy gnawed at her, digging deep and taking root.

Allie walked home. She didn’t want any part of Tess’s swing club life. She knew Marty didn’t either. Allie wanted something else. Something she didn’t think Tess was worthy of having. It wasn’t fair. Tess couldn’t have it both ways.

* * * *

The next morning Allie sat at her table drafting a rough sketch for Marty’s wall. She had a mountain scene with a raging river running below it. She decided to add a small meadow of purple and orange wildflowers. She still needed to firm up a few details with Marty. The swing club discussion had dominated the rest of the afternoon.

After three nights of pacifying Marty, Tess was back to her reckless, selfish ways, only thinking of her own wants and desires. Her car roared out of her driveway at nine thirty, which was earlier than usual, her addictive need for attention overpowering her.

Allie saw Marty standing outside on his back porch, his hands shoved into his pockets, staring into the night sky. Allie ran upstairs and changed her clothes, choosing to ignore what she was doing. She slipped on a yellow sundress, tucked her sketches for Marty’s wall under her arm, and ran down the stairs.

She walked across the deck, making her way over to Marty’s house through the backyard. Her hair blew off her shoulders in the soft night breeze. The air licked her skin through the thin material of her dress. Marty didn’t hear her until she stepped on a loose patio stone, causing a knocking sound.

“Hey, Allie, I didn’t see you there.” Marty walked over to the edge of the porch.

“Hi, I, um, have your rough sketches.” Allie removed them from under her arm.

“Nice. Let’s go in and take a look.” He slid the door open, gesturing for her to step in ahead of him. A small light above the stove was on. The kitchen had a glow of an eclipse.

Allie followed Marty’s eyes as they vertically scanned her body. She could look as good as Tess, in her own individual way. In her mind the battle was already raging. Allie wanted her uniqueness to be appealing to Marty. Her thoughts were jarring, the voice in her head unrecognizable. The things she’d said to Tess about not being in competition with her, or accusing her of being jealous—she had been wrong. Her inner being had become an angry mass, simmering with volcanic proportions. She could be what Marty wants or needs. A woman didn’t have to look like Tess, or behave like her, to achieve and maintain her catch. That way of thinking would be Tess’s mistake. She just didn’t realize it yet.

“Would you like coffee? It’s fresh.” Marty had a mug in his hand.

“Sure.” She walked over to the counter, leaning against it, watching Marty fill two mugs. “Couldn’t keep the wild animal caged, could you?” Allie’s snide remark had her lips twisting into a smirk.

“What did you just say?” Marty laughed, attempting to shake off her comment. He faced her.

“You heard me.” Allie folded her arms across her chest.

He handed the mug to her. “Ah, no. I suppose Tess’s swinging will come first.” He sipped his coffee. “It doesn’t look like she would put that to rest for any type of relationship.”

“That’s too bad for her,” Allie said smugly, staring at him over the rim of her steaming mug, her personality showing a new side of itself. Her premeditated thoughts began to run wild.

“Is it, Allie? Because I think it may be the other way around.” Marty squinted at her, his tone flat.

“Why don’t you take me to Readington, Marty? Then we can see what Tess won’t give up for you. Being a woman, I can certainly tell you whose loss it is.” Allie walked over to the sink and dumped her coffee. When she turned around Marty was frozen, obviously taken aback by her behavior.

“Well, are you going to feel degraded, or face your competition and realize how pathetic it really is and move on?” Allie moved across the kitchen, standing closer to him. Marty’s full lips were inches away from hers. His eyes were fixed on her face while he ruminated over how he should respond. Marty looked lost, unable to come up with an answer. “Should I wait for you in the truck?” she asked, her sharp tone slicing through the quiet kitchen.

Chapter 11

Marty pulled onto Route 28. The cool evening breeze blew through the cab of the truck, lifting Allie’s hair off her shoulders. She felt a surge of premature gratification. She was sure she could get Marty to realize that no woman was worth having to settle, let alone share with an entire community of sexually self-absorbed people. He was quiet for most of the ride. When he turned off onto a desolate, rural road, he turned and broke through the silence.

“We’re not going in, right?” His eyes widened at his own question. Allie sensed that Marty was a bit off balance with her boldness tonight.

“No, I just want to see this place, and prove a point to you. Don’t worry.” Allie slid her hand across the seat, running her fingers over his, her actions brash.

“Does she park in a certain spot?” Allie asked, knowing he knew Tess’s routine.

“Yeah, I know where we can park so we can look.”

“Who owns this place?”

“Some guy named Dean Lipkin.” Marty turned to her, his face lined in dark shadows.

“Is he there a lot?”

“Oh yeah, every night. You have to be a member. Tess was bringing me here as her guest, but after this guy saw me a few times he tried to entice me to join.” Marty pulled the truck off into a dirt lane. “We’ll be able to hang here for awhile, but not too long.”