Emerald Binds

He pulled into his driveway about ten minutes before noon, apparently beating Donna as her black Explorer was nowhere to be seen. He left the garage door open for her. Walking into the kitchen, Kyle grabbed a beer from the fridge before turning to the counter, where a typed note had been weighed down by an empty coffee cup. He made it halfway through the note before almost spitting his beer across the kitchen.

Go to the bedroom. Take off your clothes. Get the mask from your nightstand and put it on. Lie down. Don't move or say a word until I tell you to.

Quickly finishing his beer, Kyle sprinted upstairs, hurriedly stripping as soon as he stepped foot inside the master bedroom. He took the time to hit the bathroom to wash the taste of beer out of his mouth and do a quick clean-up job on the important areas. As he walked back into the bedroom, he glanced at the nightstand. Four long, thick emerald-colored scarves had been laid across the surface. Sitting next to the scarves was a black velvet eyeless sleep mask. Kyle's cock throbbed as he looked at the scarves. It was almost painful how turned on he was at the thought of being completely at Donna's mercy.

He pulled the quilt down before climbing into the bed. Slipping the mask over his eyes immediately plunged him into utter darkness. He spread his arms and legs, making an "X" so Donna would have an easier time tying him up. As he lay on the bed, Kyle found himself losing track of time. He became aware of his own breathing, along with the gentle sound of his heartbeat.

Eventually, Kyle heard footsteps from the direction of the kitchen. He almost called out before remembering the instructions on the note. It took all his control to lie still as someone walked up the steps and entered the bedroom, coming up alongside the bed. Kyle could hear the newcomer's quiet breathing. He imagined Donna looking down at him with a bemused smirk, a thought that both angered him and made him harder.

Suddenly, a sharp bolt of pleasure drilled into him as a single finger ran lightly down his erect shaft. Just the barest touch was enough for his entire body to jump as if he had grabbed onto a live wire. While he recovered, Kyle felt his hand being taken. Before he knew it, one of the scarves was expertly tied around his wrist and, he assumed, similarly knotted around the bedpost. He was able to move his arm a few inches, but sliding his wrist free would be almost impossible. As he tested his restraint, he could feel each limb being tied to a separate bedpost. Once all four limbs had been restrained, Kyle was barely able to move.

He licked his lips in anticipation as the bedroom fell quiet. He could hear someone breathing beside the bed. They didn't say a word, and per the note neither did he. The anticipation was building inside of him. What was going to happen next? This was a bold new step in their affair. His mind whirled with the possibilities. Would he be ridden without seeing his lover? Would he be teased with another handjob, or maybe a blowjob? What if another picture was being added to the blackmail portfolio? Even that thought only served to heighten his arousal. His body began to tremble as his imagination ran wild...

"Hello, Kyle."

He froze. Anticipation was immediately replaced with icy fear. "Cl...Claudia," he ventured cautiously.

The mask was taken off. As his eyes adjusted to the light Kyle saw his wife standing next to him. "Claudia," he exclaimed, "what are you doing here? I thought you were having a spa day with Tara!"

"We did have one. Last Saturday. So I had a picture to send you this morning." She put her foot on the edge of the bed, revealing her toenails which were painted a bright apple red. "I've been walking around with painted toenails for four days and you never even noticed."

"What is this? Is this like a sexy surprise? Because," he added, thinking quickly, "I kind of like it..."

"You're sleeping with that bartender from Speakman's." At Claudia's words, the icy fear melted underneath him, sending Kyle plummeting into a lake of cold panic. "I found out several weeks ago when I came back early from Turquoise Lake."

"Claudia," he sputtered desperately, "I can explain..."

"If you truly love me, you won't insult my intelligence by trying."

"Look, untie me and I'll tell you everything..."

"No." She leaned over him and firmly tapped his finger against his chest. "You and I are going to have a tough conversation, and I want you to feel as embarrassed and exposed as I do."

"Seriously?" He began struggling against the scarves but they refused to give an inch. "Come on, Claudia, get me out of here!" Claudia didn't respond, and after a few moments Kyle gave up. The frustration from being restrained fizzled out, leaving him swimming in a mix of despair and guilt. His body went limp as best it could in the grip of the quartet of scarves. "Fine," he sighed. "I admit it. I'm having an affair."

"I know, Kyle. I saw you and Donna." Kyle froze at the mention of his lover's name. "You two were having sex right here." She thumped the mattress with her fist. "Here. In our marital bed. The bed we've shared for over thirty years. Where we conceived our children. Where we told each other our hopes and dreams. Where I would look at your side of the bed every time you were off fighting a fire and pray that you'd make it home safely."

Claudia steepled her fingers over her nose and blew out a deep breath. "And to come home and find you having sex with a woman half your age...where I sleep, Kyle. You brought your mistress into our bedroom. And I want to know why."

The anger that laced Claudia's words was quiet and subtle. Only thirty-plus years of marriage allowed Kyle to pick up on it. "I know how this is going to sound, but I was tricked..."

She shook her head vigorously. "I already know that. I confronted Donna the day after I found out. She's a horrible human being. She practically bragged about getting you drunk and then blackmailing you... and she also told me that you liked being... being... being forced to fuck her." Claudia spat the vulgar word from her mouth like a piece of rotten fruit. "I know how it happened. I want to know why you went along with it."

"I went along with her because I didn't want to hurt you. That first time, I thought I could sweep it under the rug. A mistake I had never made before and never would again. But then she showed me those pictures, and I didn't want you to get humiliated if those photos got out..."

"Is that why you had sex on a table and finished on her face? To save me from being humiliated? I'm already humiliated. But worse, I feel betrayed. I have never hidden anything from you. My life has been an open book from the first time we met. You hid this from me for over a year..."

"What was I supposed to do," he shot back. "Come home and tell you that I got tipsy and banged the bartender?"

"Yes!" He flinched at the unexpected volume in Claudia's rebuttal. "You should have told me that night! I would have been mad, but we would have worked through it. And the second Donna threatened to blackmail you should have pulled out your phone and called me. That's how this marriage has always worked! You and I, together!"

Her trembling fist shot into the air as Claudia quivered with constrained anger. After a moment a look of stark realization crossed her face. She took a deep breath before closing her eyes and carefully unclenching her fingers. "Hiding this from me was so much worse. It implied you were OK with all of this. That you were fine with being blackmailed, fine with having an affair, and fine with keeping it from me. I have one question. And if you love me, you'll answer honestly. Did you like it?"

Naked before his wife, Kyle's sins were now laid bare. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "Yes," he admitted. "I liked it. I liked being told what to do, and... I liked being taken advantage of."

Claudia felt the anger inside of her coming to a roiling boil. It was taking everything she had not to explode in a torrent of fury. The only thing stopping her was not having a single target to focus her rage against. Kyle, her cheating husband. Donna, the facilitator of the affair. And herself, for not realizing earlier.

Claudia remained quiet after Kyle's confession. She looked down at her restrained husband, trying to find the right words. "Claudia," he pleaded, "I'm sorry. Look, just untie me and we can talk about..."

"So that's what you liked," she interrupted. "You liked that Donna had control over you. That she told you what to do and could make you do anything she wanted. She enjoyed that she made you cheat on me... and you enjoyed that she made you cheat on me."

"No, I didn't want to embarrass..."

"Don't." The one word came with a wave of brief anger that sparked like a distant rumble of thunder. "That excuse stopped holding water when you started enjoying yourself. When was the last time you tried to truly end it? Did you ever try to grab her phone when she was distracted and delete the photos? Or even try to call her bluff?" Kyle's silence was all the answer she needed. Her stomach twisted at his acceptance of the affair, wringing out sadness that only added to the bubbling anger she was trying to control. "Has this always been a thing?" she asked. "You wanting to give up control?"

He shook his head. "It's been building over the past few years. Every time I turn around, there's another fire or avalanche we have to deal with. I'm trying to train a new generation of rescue workers that I can't relate to. And with the kids out of the house, it's just the two of us and you never take the lead. You were always so passive. From the day we got married, you relied on me to make all the decisions. When we argued it felt like we were disagreeing about where to order dinner from rather than an actual fight. And whenever you needed to make a decision about your life, it felt like you gave my opinion more consideration than you did your own."

"Then you should have said something!" This time the thunder in her voice came with a sharp flash of lightning in her eyes. "You should have told me that you needed me to step up, or that you needed a break, or that it wasn't fair that you did all the work. And if you wanted me to be more forceful in the bedroom, you should have asked."

"You've never been the forceful type," he responded. "Our sex life has been vanilla for as long as I could remember. You've never been interested in trying new things or experimenting."

"Because you never asked. I believed you were perfectly happy with what we had. If you wanted to try something different I would have at least considered it. If you wanted me to be more assertive, or order you around, I would have given it an honest try." She gestured to the emerald scarves tying him to the bed. "You obviously like being tied up, because before I took that mask off you were harder than Mount Tyler. And I would have done this if you had asked, but instead, you coped by... by ... BY BURYING YOUR DICK INSIDE A WOMAN HALF YOUR AGE!"

The only thing that stopped Kyle from recoiling was the emerald restraints as Claudia screamed at him. Her face reddened with rage and her eyes filled with the fury of a summer downpour. One hand lashed out and snatched the brass lamp sitting on the nightstand. "I'M EMBARRASSED, HUMILIATED, AND WORST OF ALL I'M FUCKING DISAPPOINTED IN YOU!" With a cry of furious anger, she ripped the cord from the wall and hurled the lamp across the bedroom like a spear. It slammed into the tall mirror on top of their dresser. The mirror shattered, spilling a waterfall of silver glass onto the piece of furniture.

Shoulders heaving, chest rapidly rising and falling, hands clenched so tightly that her fingernails dug into her palms, Claudia loomed over her husband. "For better or worse, in sickness or in health, till death do we part! We stood before a goddamn priest and said those words! Asking me to try something different shouldn't have been that hard! But instead, you drowned yourself in a bartender's pussy because you were too much of a fucking coward to ask your wife to maybe pull your hair once in a while!"

He was looking at her with abject fear. Even during the brief moments where she had seen him fight a fire, Kyle had never worn an expression like that. Realization set in, and she quickly tried to bring her anger under control. She focused on her breathing, willing herself to calm down. Her hands relaxed, but her heartbeat refused to slow. She pressed her fingers against her forehead in a futile attempt to quell the rush of blood making noise in her head. "Damn it, Kyle. All you had to do was ask. That's all."

"I'm weak."

She opened her eyes. The fear in Kyle's eyes had been replaced with concern. "I never wanted to make you mad," he tried to say reassuringly. "I've... I've always wanted you to be happy, Claudia. To not have to worry about anything. And I've been strong for so long... I didn't want you to think I was less of a man if I asked you to do something weird. We've become creatures of habit, and I said you wouldn't rock the boat. Turns out I was the one who wouldn't rock it. I would have rather had an affair than risk being embarrassed if you turned me down or didn't want to do what I asked. I thought I was protecting you, but... I was being a coward. A fucking coward. I'm sorry, Claudia. I'm so sorry."

His eyes fell closed. "I love you," he whispered. "Please don't divorce me."

"Do you really think I love you so little that I would ask for a divorce?"

The dam didn't break for Kyle, but the water was pouring over the emotional spillway. But when he opened his eyes, Claudia was still staring angrily. "Until last week I never thought you were a coward," she told him. "You've raised three wonderful children. You've kept this town safe. You've pulled people out of burning cars and gone to different time zones to fight forest fires. You're one of the strongest, bravest men I know. This is just a long moment of weakness. I'm absolutely furious with you but I still love you."

She turned her body to face him directly. "I should have noticed you were struggling. At the very least the drinking should have tipped me off. That's my fault. You always did the heavy lifting and I should have done something, anything, to lighten the load. But you still should have told me. You and I both have work we need to do. And we're going to be there for each other because that's how it's always been."

"I'm sorry, Claudia. I never meant to hurt you or make you think I didn't love you. I do love you."

"I love you too. But right now I don't fucking like you." Kyle blinked as anger laced Claudia's voice. "I'm nowhere close to forgiving you, and I'm sure as hell not ever going to forget that you shattered our marriage vows. The only reason I haven't kicked you out of this house is because that's a point of no return in my eyes. After this is all over, you and I are going to have a long talk about rebuilding trust. It's not going to happen overnight. Hell, it might never happen. But if you truly want to save this marriage, then things are going to change around here. This is your second chance. You don't get a third. Do you understand me?"

He nodded, only for Claudia to shake her head. "Say it," she told him. "I want to hear you say it."

"I understand."

"You don't see her anymore. If she emails you, you don't respond. If she texts, you don't message her back. She calls, you don't pick up. I have the right to look at your phone and your laptop anytime I want. I have the right to drop into work to make sure you're there. You let me know where you're going and when you're going to be there. For the time being, you're exiled to the spare bedroom. You use that bathroom and that shower. And don't even think about touching me unless I give you the go-ahead. Got it?"

"I understand," he repeated. "I have to ask, how did you know to email me to get me up here?"

"You didn't delete your spam folder," she answered, "so I knew your little code phrase. Donna bragged that she emailed you from brand new Gmail addresses so I made one of my own to send you that message."

"Huh. Maybe I wanted to get caught..."

"No. You don't get to rewrite what happened. You cheated, I caught you. It's that simple. And no one else finds out. This stays between you, me, and Tara."

"My sister knows?" Kyle sank into the bed as he groaned. "Can I just leave town now?"

"She promised she won't say a word. She thinks you're an idiot, but you're her idiot."

There was concern on Kyle's face as he looked at his wife. "What about the pictures? If Donna puts them out there, we aren't going to be able to show our faces in Emerald Pines ever again."

"Tara and I are going to take care of that tomorrow night." With that, she moved around the bed and freed Kyle from his restraints. "Now get dressed," she ordered him, "and get your ass back to work. We'll talk more when you get home. You're off work at 6, so you better be pulling into the driveway by 6:20. Got it?"

He nodded meekly. Claudia didn't say a word as he got dressed before heading out. She walked to the window and watched his green-and-white pickup pull out of the driveway. Once the truck disappeared among the pine trees she turned and walked back to the center of the bedroom. Silence reigned for a few seconds before Claudia let loose a primal scream of rage. She grabbed a thick down pillow and slammed it against the bed over and over again. When that wasn't enough, she began using her fists. The resonant thump of her hands against the mattress provided the bassline to her furious cries.

Red hot rage still poured through Claudia even after she exhausted herself. She desperately wanted to break something else. Shattering the mirror had been satisfying on a level that had both frightened and excited her. As she stood beside her bed, breathing heavily, Claudia found that she didn't want to calm down. Her entire body felt engulfed in flame. It scorched through her skin, racing along her tense muscles and causing her to vibrate like an engine about to explode.

Before she realized what she was doing, Claudia had taken off her shirt and flung her bra to the floor. She grabbed her breasts and squeezed them as hard as she could. As she had hoped, the flames intensified. Her screams of anger turned into cries of desperate need as she pinched her nipples. Twisting and pulling on them only added more gasoline to the fire, and she knew that her pants had to come off.

Her underwear soon followed. For the first time in a long time, a sizable wet spot was visible on the gray fabric. With no one around to see or hear, Claudia let herself go. One hand latched on to the bedpost to keep her upright as she began furiously masturbating. She shoved her fingers inside her soaked pussy, crying out at the feeling of penetration. Despite her rage at her husband, Claudia desperately wished it was his cock driving in and out of her, not her fingers.

Her knees almost buckled as a potent wave of heat rolled over her. She flung herself onto the bed and began humping her hand, not caring in the least about modesty or caution. Her other hand continued to pull on her nipples. Her wetness spilled onto the sheets, flowing around her fingers and making it easier for her to lewdly pleasure herself.

The scream she issued when she finally came could have been mistaken for that of a murder victim. Her hips wantonly pushed against her fingers, yearning for deeper penetration. Even as she spasmed on the bed, Claudia shoved another finger inside, more than she ever had before. She spurred herself on, using the rage and anger at her husband's affair to fuel an orgasm more explosive than any she had brought about on her own. Her pussy clenched with a tightness that almost forced the fingers from her body.