by Lea Bronsen
Brian’s voice resonated in the hall, drowning out the drumming of raindrops on the roof tiles. “Wait a sec, Todd, I’ll get a flashlight. Anne, are you all right?”
Oh. A simple question, but the fear of discovery hit her like a punch in the gut. She choked, trying to reply.
“Anne?” His tone held a hint of worry. Footsteps came down the hall, with the soft, tentative grazing of fingers on the wood-paneled wall and the familiar sound of her husband’s breathing.
Time to get a grip. “Y-yes, I’m fine.” Her voice echoed somewhat, as if amplified by the dark emptiness.
“It was just a lightning strike, baby. It cut the power.”
“I know.” Though no one could see, she nodded.
A deep intake of breath before her caused the hair on her neck to stand. She resisted the urge to lift her hands and feel around in the blackness.
Micaela, get away from me!
She couldn’t believe he dared stand there, with her husband so close. Maybe he trusted not to be seen. Or maybe he didn’t care. She remembered his incredible arrogance outside, on the bicycle, how he’d kept his hand locked on hers.
A tiny piece of metal scraped the wood panel in the hall to her right. Brian’s wedding band. So near the door.
Her throat tightened. She needed to make Micaela get back. She clenched her sweaty fists and searched the nothingness for some idea of how to make him move.
Todd’s third cry from the end of the hall came in the nick of time.
She bit her lip. “I think Todd needs help.”
“I know. Where’s his friend?” Brian stood close.
She almost jumped. Her heart in her throat, she turned toward him, but couldn’t see the outline of his big body in the dark. “Uh, I don’t know.” She blushed as she pictured Micaela’s smirk in front of her. “Maybe he’s gone downstairs.”
“Don’t you worry, sweetie. I’m gonna go find the flashlights at the top of the stairs and help Todd outta the bathroom.”
“Y-yes, you do that.” She nodded again, swallowed. “I’ll wait in bed.”
“Okay, baby. Be safe and warm. I’ll take care of everything and be right back.” The sound of footsteps and fingers grazing wood diminished as he left. “Ugh, I gotta check on the other guests, too.” A knock on wood across the hall. “Hey, in there. It’s just the power. Stay put, okay?”
A muffled response.
Anne sucked in a breath of relief and tried to still her galloping heart.
Todd called again, in the distance, impatient. Brian replied he was on his way before knocking on three more doors.
The warm breathing to her left came closer. Not knowing what to anticipate, she turned to the invisible presence.
A loud bang detonated somewhere over the village. She counted the seconds until the lightning strike. One, two. A sudden flash of white snuck in between the shutters, enough to reveal the side of Micaela’s face and his curving lips.
Blackness took over again. Anne blinked, regretting the new loss of sight.
Cold fingers reached out of the void and found her shoulders. She gasped and stepped backward, bumping into hard, horizontal bars—the shelves in the open closet.
He followed her. Goose bumps grew on her skin as his large hands slid down her arms, molding around her elbows. With mild force, he tugged at her wrists, pulling her hands away from her breasts.
She tried to resist, but he was stronger.
Brian called from the bottom of the hall. “Found the flashlights!”
Shit. Stuck against the shelf, pinned by another man, she would be revealed as a cheater! It didn’t help that the responsibility was Micaela’s.
A small click reached her ears, and in her peripheral vision, a tiny ray of light danced in the dark of the hallway before steadying. In the next moment, a door opened at the end of the hall, and Brian’s low voice sounded through the wall separating them.
Her chest constricted. Again, she tried to pull her hands to her, but instead of letting go, Micaela closed the distance between them. His hard cock brushed against her.
Oh God. Delicious heat rushed from her inner thighs, spreading through her stomach. Need competed with fear, pushed aside reason. Bent on betrayal, her hips shot forward, pressing against him, but it was wrong. She shouldn’t allow this. “Don’t. Please.”
Todd’s voice sounded again, nearer, calmer, probably thanking Brian.
Piercing the dense blackness to her right, two white rays appeared, crossing each other like tiny laser beams in the night.
Micaela stepped back and released her wrists.
She gasped with relief. They would not be discovered.
The soft rustling of fabric indicated he put on the bathrobe, and quick breaths revealed his hurry.
Without a word, Anne pushed away from the closet, stepping sideways to avoid bumping into him—and possibly his hard cock again—and moved toward the large double bed.
The same moment she lay down on the mattress and pulled the cold sheets over her naked body, Micaela’s cheerful, innocent voice sounded in the hall, greeting the two other men. “You okay?”
“Yeah, fuck.” Todd sighed. “I can’t believe this shit.”
“Me neither. We didn’t have time to get clothes before bang, the light went out.”
Brian cleared his throat. “All right, guys, let’s find you something to wear.”
The light beams zigzagged nearer.
Chapter Four
Minutes later, Brian stood in front of the closet in their bedroom, flashlight in hand, picking clothes while the bicyclists waited outside the door.
Thank God he left her alone. Reeling from a mix of sensual shock and shame, she hid under the covers, trying not to attract attention.
An ugly, dirty feeling gnawed at her, forcing her to contemplate what she’d done. Never before had she been so attracted to another man that she came close to cheating on her husband. Her strict parents had raised her to be a decent, honorable member of the small village community and, despite having had a couple of boyfriends in her teenage years, she had respected the tradition of waiting to be married before sleeping with a man. On her wedding day, she’d sworn loyalty to Brian—to the end of her days—but what did that promise mean to her today? What kind of person was she really, deep inside? She buried her face in the pillow.
Brian opened the door to the hall. “Here you are. Sweatpants, pullovers…and for the night, blankets.”
“Thanks.” Todd’s voice.
“Made of the finest wool in the Alps. With the power off, it will be a cold night. We’ll light the fireplace in the morning, but in the meantime….”
“Thank you, that’s very kind.”
“Good night, then.”
“Good night. See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
The door closed. Brian gave a loud sigh, turned off the flashlight, and put it atop a small table on his side of the bed. In the dark, he undressed quietly and snuck under the sheets, his weight making the mattress sink. He wasn’t lying near enough to touch her body—just stretched his long legs and yawned.
Eyes closed, faking regular breathing, she pretended to be sound asleep.
Yet, in spite of her exhaustion, she lay awake for a long moment, listening to the hammering rain on the roof and playful wind gusts toying with the shutters. When would the storm end?
Brian’s low, monotonous snoring rose next to her.
She remembered her grandmother talking about her own wedding night, how she almost regretted marrying her husband because he snored so loud he kept her awake at night. They’d ended up sleeping in separate rooms. Thankfully, Brian’s heavy breathing never bothered Anne, and she enjoyed the company of his warm body in bed.
She tried to relax and prepare for sleep, but, instead, one by one, memories from the eventful day with the bicyclists popped into her mind, haunting her. Annoyed, she pushed them aside and focused on bringing forth childhood images. As an only child, she’d gotten pl
enty of attention from all family members, grandparents and aunties included, and had grown up a happy little girl. She’d done well at school, too, and always had enough friends to not feel lonely.
Some people excused their indecent behavior as adults with deprivations from the past, as if an unhappy childhood entitled them to push moral boundaries later in life in order to feel fulfilled. But that wasn’t the case with Anne.
Besides, she loved her husband and ached at the thought of having violated his confidence, if only in her mind. Would she be able to live with herself if her adulterous thoughts escalated to actual cheating?
Of course not. It was her duty to protect him at all cost. He’d do the same for her.
In order to restore peace of mind, she made a solemn promise: no matter how long Micaela stayed here or the temptations he offered her, she would be strong and, with her head kept high, stay loyal to her marital bond.
She was exhausted. And, damn, how thirst scratched at her throat. She should have had a glass of water before going to bed.
She slid out of the sheets with one ear focused on Brian’s regular snoring. Holding her breath, careful to not make the mattress move, she crept out of bed, centimeter by centimeter, until both feet stood on the soft, woolen carpet.
She paused. What if she woke the bicyclists in the living room?
No, she knew the house inside out and wouldn’t make a sound. It wasn’t the first time she’d tiptoed through the place at night.
Blinded by the dark, she felt around for clothes. Cool air from the badly sealed window brushed her naked skin. Outside, the heavy rain clattered on.
She found a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt and put them on. Opening the bedroom door, she slipped into the blackened hall, her naked feet treading on cold floorboards. Like Brian a half-hour earlier, she put her hands on the paneled wall to let it guide her.
The four other rooms were quiet. At the end of the hall, dim light from the first floor illuminated in the stairs…and the acrid scent of burning candle drifted to her nostrils, together with the sour-sweet sharpness of alcohol. How odd. Had the bicyclists been drinking?
She reached the staircase. Low chuckles from below made her heart skip a beat. She froze and held her breath. Apparently, they weren’t asleep yet.
Should she continue? That wouldn’t be very smart, would it? Then again, she didn’t want to drink the lukewarm, copper-tasting water from the sink in the bathroom.
An unmistakable moan came next, barely audible above the heavy rain.
Oh.
Unable to resist her curiosity, she crept down the first wooden step, placing her fingertips on the narrow walls at her sides for balance. At the bottom, human shadows moved with the grace of dancers on the nearest wall.
Confident she was invisible in her dark corner of the living room, she silently descended the stairs one after the other with steps as soft as cat paws. At the bottom, she bent her head to see the scene unfolding at the other side.
Atop the coffee table, a white candle burned next to a bottle and a glass, creating a romantic atmosphere. Behind the swirling flame, the two young bicyclists sat close together on the bordeaux couch, dressed in pullovers and sweatpants, entangled. Gentle candlelight caressed their smiling faces as they stared into each other’s eyes, murmuring words Anne couldn’t hear, and…uh…kissing.
The truth hit her like a slap in the face. So that explained Todd’s hostile behavior in the kitchen, when she was talking to his lover, apparently. He thought Micaela was hitting on her!
Well, he had been.
An array of contradictory feelings assaulted her. She closed her eyes and sat on the stair. This was voyeurism, secretly witnessing two people’s intimacy. Jealousy and deceit, too, as a little earlier, she was the one Micaela attempted to seduce. That, and shock, because she had never before seen two men—
Low moans made her open her eyes again.
The guys were sharing wet, open-mouthed kisses, and fondling each other’s chests and stomachs beneath the pullovers.
Whispering something into Micaela’s ear, Todd snuck a hand down to his own pants, leaned back, and pulled out his fully erect cock.
Oh God.
Anne stared in disbelief. This was getting seriously pornographic!
Smiling, Micaela moved a hand to Todd’s huge erection, grabbed it at the base, and leaned forward until close enough to touch its head with his half-open lips. His long, black locks slid down his shoulders, glowing in the soft light.
With a guttural sound of excitement, Todd closed his eyes, moved his hand to the other man’s shoulder, and stroked him.
Micaela opened his mouth and licked the tip of the thick shaft, letting his tongue glide around in playful circles before taking the length deep into his throat.
In response, Todd threw his blond head back against the couch, arched eager hips to meet Micaela’s sucking, and groaned. “Oh fuck, man.” He laughed.
Paralyzed, Anne blinked before shaking from her daze. She couldn’t watch this strictly private moment between two other people. Besides, at any moment, Todd could open his eyes and notice her sitting on the stairs. Then, what?
Encouraging his lover with his hand, Todd laughed again, and gasped.
All right, let’s get out of here.
Careful not to make any abrupt movements, she stood and retreated up the wooden steps, holding her breath—but the next stair gave a small, treacherous creak under her weight.
Oh, no.
The sound sent icy fear through her from top to toe, and the hair on her neck stood. She imagined the clank echoing between walls in the darkened living room. Frozen, she held her breath and tried to detect any sound above the heavy rain hitting the asphalt outside. A voice, a gasp of shock, something.
But, no, complete silence lingered behind her.
Maybe they hadn’t heard the noise, and she could walk up the stairs pretending nothing had happened. Or….
Curiosity gnawed at her. She needed to look, wanted to know for sure.
Inch by inch, she turned, careful not to make the step squeak again. She bent her knees to see underneath the ceiling and gazed at the guys on the couch.
Behind the dancing candlelight, Todd’s emerald eyes were wide and set on her.
Her heart jumped.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
She loathed it, loathed herself.
Meanwhile, Micaela’s head kept bobbing up and down in his lover’s lap, oblivious to her gaze.
Nausea tightened her stomach as she stared, holding Todd’s look. Sweat formed under her armpits, and cold droplets glided down her torso, meeting the waistband of her pants.
She couldn’t define what his steady, intelligent eyes were stating. In the dark, the flickering candle flame reflected his pupils, but he didn’t blink once. Maybe he just didn’t mind her seeing him getting sucked by another man.
She needed to leave.
The same moment she made up her mind to turn around, he threw his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes. A long groan of pleasure escaped his parted lips. Arching his whole body, he grabbed a fistful of Micaela’s long, black hair and yanked backward.
The Italian gave a throaty chuckle, but didn’t stop. As if encouraged, he moved his hand from the base of Todd’s erection to beneath the waistband and inside his pants. Though she couldn’t see him, she knew he was cupping Todd’s balls and fondling them, all the while expertly working his lips and mouth on the hard cock.
Pulling harder at Micaela’s hair, Todd grimaced and began to groan in rhythm.
His imminent release transfixed her. Heat filled her lower stomach. Jesus. She swayed on the stairs and leaned against the wall to steady herself.
Micaela brought his other hand to Todd’s engorged cock. With a playful grin, he withdrew his mouth and kept it open above the tip while giving it short, vigorous strokes.
A few more seconds of pumping, and then came his reward. Todd pressed his hips upward with a growl, and
long rushes of thick white liquid ejaculated from his cock into Micaela’s open mouth. As he swallowed, more semen ran down alongside the cock’s head and over his fingers, glistening in the candlelight.
Growling a last time, Todd let go of his lover’s hair and covered his grimacing face with trembling hands. “Oh my fucking God.” He breathed hard.
Indeed. Anne took a deep breath as well and shook her head. Having never witnessed anything like this, she didn’t know what to make of it. Of course, growing up, she’d seen porn magazines that boys secretly brought to school and drooled over behind the building. But these were always photos of naked men and women in all kinds of sex positions, never two men.
Micaela stuck his tongue out and licked the semen spilling down the tip of Todd’s cock and over his hand. Grinning, he glanced up, tossed back his long, black hair, and pulled Todd’s palms away from his face.
Todd opened his eyes and greeted his lover with a feverish look. He leaned forward to kiss him, and they shared new lustful moans.
When they separated, Todd gave his partner a smoldering smile. “Hmm, yummy. Thanks.” He didn’t look at Anne once, seemed to have forgotten she was watching them.
“Your turn.” Micaela spoke in a low, teasing voice.
“Uh-huh.” Todd brought a hand down to his partner’s pants and pulled out a rock-hard cock, pre-cum already spilling from the tip.
Oh mon Dieu.
The situation was getting crazier by the minute. If she stayed any longer, her pussy would begin to leak. She pictured herself leaving a wet stain on the stairs. Ha ha, wouldn’t that be something to explain in the morning!
Enough. She shook herself from the scene and stood. Her inner thighs on fire, she turned and walked up the stairs with the clumsiness of a zombie. But thanks to the divinities, who surely were her accomplices tonight, the wood gave no more creaks.
She reached the landing and went back to the bedroom, feeling her way through the blackened hall. Except for the continuous rain on the rooftop, the entire house had quieted. Again, she laughed, unable to believe the scene she had witnessed while everyone else was asleep.