The Good Neighbor Ch. 05

After Rascal was fed, watered, and exiled to the backyard, Jack prepared for his overnight with Diane. He packed a change of clothes, toiletries, and rose-scented massage oil. Diane had worked unusually hard today, and probably would appreciate a good massage, along with a very happy ending. He smiled to himself. One of the few things his ex-wife never complained about was his massage prowess. Well, she did complain about not getting them often enough.

Just because Jack couldn't have normal, penetrative sex, that didn't mean he couldn't make Diane feel satisfied. Maybe. Hopefully. His performance anxiety returned. Before he chickened out, Jack crossed the road to get to the other side. As he walked up her driveway, she came outside, pulling a suitcase behind her, and looking distraught.

"Diane? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Jack. I have to go to my daughter's and stay with my grandchildren. Her father-in-law is in the hospital. They think he had a heart attack. He lives in Maine, so they'll be gone for a while."

Taking her suitcase, he said, "I'm so sorry to hear that. Call me when you can and let me know what's going on. Don't worry about anything here. I'll keep an eye on the place while you're away."

After placing the suitcase in the trunk and closing it, Jack turned and embraced Diane tenderly. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too." She hugged him tight, and said, "I've already made dinner. It's on the table-nothing special, just leftover lasagna. Would you please clean up after you eat?"

"Of course. Don't worry about anything here. Go. Take care of your family."

They kissed lovingly before she entered the car. As Diane backed out, she said, "Remember, you owe me an overnight!" then blew him a kiss and sped off.

He waved until the car was out of sight.

The lasagna dinner was delicious, although sad and lonely. Jack washed the dishes, dried them, and then searched the cupboards for their designated storage. The thought occurred to him he'd never been given a tour of her house. Since Diane wasn't there to be a guide, he might as well go on a self-guided tour. After all, she snooped at his house, turnabout is fair play.

The downstairs was clean and tidy. No television, but lots of plants he'd have to water if she was gone long. He stuck a finger in the soil of a spider plant. The dirt was moist. No need yet, but a good reason to text her later and ask about a watering schedule.

Diane was a reader. A paperback sat on the table beside a ragged recliner. The bare chested man and busty woman on the cover suggested it was a romance novel of some kind. The bookmark was in the first chapter. Kind of like their relationship.

"Well, Diane. I guess you'll have to lower your expectations with me."

Jack climbed the stairs to the stuffy second floor. It was a three bedroom house. The two guestrooms had double beds. One room looked girly - flowery, pink spread and lacey curtains. The second looked masculine with dark wood and a solid blue quilt. They were probably decorated for her visiting grandchildren. He moved past them to the master bedroom. This was the room he was most familiar with, at least through the window. Orchids were in bloom - white and purple. A care and feeding guide, stuck in the pot, listed the watering requirements: Three ice cubes once a week.

"When are you due?"

No answer. He'd have to ask their owner - another good reason to text Diane.

Paint samples were taped to the front wall, all different shades of green. "Were you going to ask me to help, Nature Girl?"

An air conditioner sat on the floor beneath the window facing the side yard. "It would be nice to have it running when I have my sleepover. Were you going to ask me to install it?"

Family photos adorned the dresser. One viscerally significant, one that made his stomach knot now that he knew their intimate history, was a portrait of her friends-with-benefits, Sharon and Lou. He took a deep breath and let his anxiety slowly out. Moving on, he thought about looking through her dresser drawers, but decided against it, not wanting to see lingerie before Diane modeled it. Turning away, Jack noticed the bedcovers were folded back, as if she'd prepared in advance for tonight. The bed was massive - a four poster California King, the head and foot boards a dark oak. Then he noticed the finish was worn off the nearest post, down to the bare wood, close to the mattress. Upon further inspection, the same ring of wear was on all four posts.

The first thing that popped into Jack's mind that would cause such a mark was, "Restraints?" Try as he might, he could not think of any other plausible explanation for such odd and uniform wear.

Shaking his head, he moved to the nightstand and opened the drawer, and unsurprisingly he found an array of adult toys - ten in all. Some looked battery powered, some solid, and some flexible. Some were short. Some were long and thick. Accompanying them was a large bottle of Liquid Silk lubricant.

"Well, she said she masturbated." He lifted out a particularly complicated unit with branching appendages. "I wonder if there's an instruction manual." He let out a heavy sigh. "How am I ever going to satisfy this woman?"

Jack looked back in the drawer, and underneath the toys he spotted one of the photo albums seen earlier in the kitchen, and thought, 'What if it's the explicit album? Do I really want to see Diane with other people?'

After a pause for thoughtful consideration, Jack decided to take a quick peek, and stop if it was too unsettling. He felt a weird mix of relief and disappointment when the album turned out to be the family oriented volume. Putting it back, he realized Diane must've placed the toys on top of the family album in preparation for tonight. 'She wouldn't leave these things where one of her grandchildren might discover them by accident.'

His face warmed with the thought of a night playing with Diane and her toys. The only things he planned on using were his hands and mouth, and thought 'How naïve am I?' Pulling out his cellphone, Jack took pictures of the playthings so he could do some online research later, and then closed the drawer.

As he looked around the room, he said, "So, Diane, where do you hide your toys from prying eyes? The closet, maybe? Let's see what's in there."

The walk-in closet was large and dark, flipping on the light revealed rows of hanging clothes and shelves with boxes. "Wow! I could hide in here and not be found for a week."

He turned to go, until the corner of a wooden box sticking out from under a row of long dresses caught his eye. So he knelt down for a closer look and discovered a foot locker. Jack pulled it out. The box was about three feet long, two feet wide, and one foot high. It was made of unstained plywood that had darkened naturally with age. The lid was held down with a hasp and a combination lock, but the lock was open.

Jack's heartbeat quickened. 'Had she left in such a hurry that she forgot to put away the toys and lock the box?'

He'd gone this far, curiosity and temptation had won out over good manners about twenty minutes ago. He removed the lock from the hasp and lifted the lid, hoping to explore the time capsule of Diane's sexual experience.

Inside was another photo album, which he picked up and set aside to dig deeper.

"I knew it!" he said, lifting a set of furry handcuffs with leather straps. But after the initial elation of guessing correct came a feeling of guilt for prying into someone's most guarded secrets. But the remorse didn't last long.

He rationalized it away, by thinking, 'Why would she keep this stuff around if she was ashamed of it? I'm just trying to get to know her better.'

So he kept rummaging, and pulled out a black cloth bag with the word 'Hulk' in green letters. "What have we here?" he said, opening the drawstrings, and pulling out its contents. The Hulk was appropriately named. The super-sized green phallus was connected to nylon bands. "Is this what they call a strap-on?" He looked into the back end, "And it's hollow." He suddenly pictured himself wearing it with his flaccid dick inside and the green monster inside Diane. Maybe there was a way to please her like a man, after all.

The only thing remaining in the foot locker was a zippered case the size of the photo album. Jack lifted it out and set it on his lap to unzip. It opened like a book to reveal individual pockets filled with compact discs. Handwriting on each one identified its content. The titles in themselves were innocuous, but because they were in the foot locker, Jack had a good idea what kind of graphic biopics they contained. Titles like 'Four', 'Shlou', 'Dilar' were obviously abbreviated names of the recorded participants - 'Four', for both couples, 'Shlou', for Sharon and her husband Lou, 'Dilar', for Diane and her husband Larry. Then, on the second page, the initials became a jumbled mixture of letters that made no sense without a code key. Jack looked inside the box, but no such key existed. So he scrutinized the letters and tried to decipher their meaning. The ones that attracted all of his attention were discs with the letter "D" in the title. Diane, the only participant he felt compelled to watch. In the pretext of better understanding Diane, Jack decided to watch one of these before he went home.

"Okay, let's see. Which one?" Jack looked over all the obscure titles and settled on 'Difant', guessing it meant 'Diane's fantasy'. He removed it from the sleeve and went out into the bedroom. There was a small, flat screen TV in the corner with a built in DVD player. He turned in on, slip in the disc, and the video began to play. Jack sat down on the bedside to watch.

A time stamp appeared: May 30, 2008. Larry's face filled the screen. "Hi, Honey. I have hidden the camera to record everything. Remember when you said you'd fulfill my fantasy about taking advantage of you while you're restrained? Well I've arranged for it to happen, with a twist. So let the fun begin!"

Jack shook his head. "Restrained and taken? I just don't get it."

Larry moved away, revealing the camera focused on their bed. It was the same four-poster that sat in her room today. The screen was quiet for a time, and then Larry led a towel clad Diane into camera view, saying, "Today is all about you, Sweetie. I going to tie you down so that you can't do anything but enjoy the moment."

Diane resisted, saying, "That's sweet, Honey, but I have a lot to do today."

"Too bad! I have time now. Stop arguing. You agreed to this. It'll be fun. I promise."

"Prick." Jack watched with mixed emotions, as Larry removed Diane's towel, began kiss her neck, and fondling her breasts. She stood unresisting and compliant to her husband's affection. Jealousy welled up in Jack's chest. But why? Larry was dead. 'Diane wants ME now,' he thought, but felt the reoccurring twinge of uncertainty.

Diane's towel fell to the floor, as Larry backed her up to the mattress and forcefully pushed her down. He rolled her over and spanked her once, leaving a hand print. "You do what I tell you, Bitch!"

"Whoa!" Jack had heard about roleplaying, but this was too extreme for his tastes, bordering on abuse.

Larry put his hand to his ear, and yelled, "What? I didn't hear you!"

Diane's tremulous voice became clear. "Yes, sir!"

"Now get in the middle and lay on your back, Woman!"

She scrambled up and got into position.

"Spread your arms and legs."

Silently, Diane obeyed and lay spread-eagle, as Larry fastened restraints to her arms and legs.

He then put a blindfold over Diane's eyes.

As Jack watched, he rationalized his unease with the video. 'If Diane was really a victim here, why did she keep the video? Why would she keep any of this stuff? She must've been into it. Was their marriage a Dominant and Submissive relationship?' Of course he'd heard of such a thing, but never knew anyone involved in the lifestyle.

After pulling a sheet over Diane, Larry stood back and typed something on his phone, saying aloud, "Now you lay there and be quiet. I'll be back soon."

"Where are you going?"

"Shush! I said be quiet." Larry walked out of the picture. The door creaked open and shut.

The video continued for a few minutes with only Diane tied, occasionally licking her lips. She tested her restraints twice and quit.

The bedroom door creaked open and Larry entered the picture. He looked back, put his finger to his lips, and waved come in. A woman and a man tiptoed on screen, Sharon and Lou.

Diane lifted her head, and said, "Larry?"

"Yes." he said, from the far side of the bed, and motioning to Sharon to sit on the near side.

With the mattress shift, Diane's head turned in Sharon's direction, "Who's here!"

Sharon rubbed Diane's leg through the sheet, and said, "It's me, Honey."

"Sharon? What's going on? Larry, why is Sharon here?"

Larry sat down on the other side, and said, "This is my fantasy... and Sharon's... and Lou's. You're fulfilling all our fantasies at once. We've fooled around in the same room. Seen each other naked enough to be comfortable and enjoy each other's company. Now it's time to take the next step."

Diane groaned. "I don't know-"

"But we do!" said Larry, forcefully. "I know you're a little reluctant, that's why you're restrained. I'm telling you that you don't have a choice. We are here to give you pleasure. Only give. This way, you don't need to think about doing anything in return."

Instead of arguing, Diane laid her head back and bit her lip. "Do I need to keep the blindfold on?"

Jack's jaw dropped. "She's giving in!"

Larry said, "Yes. You're blindfolded so you can't see us and become embarrassed or self-conscious. For you, it'll be like the times in the hotel rooms."

Diane gave a soft, sarcastic laugh.

"The only input you'll receive is touch and sound."

"Is Lou here, too?"

"I'm here, Di. And let me say that Sharon and I are so excited about adding this new level of intimacy to our friendship."

Sharon began to rub her hand up and down Diane's leg through the sheet, and said, "I'm thrilled to be your first woman experience. I'm looking forward to many more times together."

Diane's brow wrinkled as if she wasn't so sure, but she still did not refuse or argue.

Taking her acquiescence as consent, Sharon lay down beside Diane and caressed her face. At first Diane pulled on her bonds in surprise, but then relaxed.

"Don't be afraid, Sweetie," said Sharon, kissing her cheek. "My only wish is to make love to you." She kissed Diane's nose and then moved to her lips. Sharon kissed her sweetly at first, while her fingertips lightly played back and forth over Diane's sheet covered breasts. Then Sharon kissed harder with increased passion. Diane moaned when Sharon's palm covered her left breast and squeezed. Hard nipples created little bumps in the sheet when Sharon's hand slip down to make circles on her tummy.

The men smiled at one another. Lou gave a thumbs up.

Larry turned away from the bed and approached the camera. The picture bounced around until he steadied it, and then the video moved close to the bed.

Sharon's head now rested next to Diane's on the pillow, lips close and whispering in her ear. Larry bent near them to pick up their voices. Only Sharon's lips and Diane's head were on the screen.

"Remember I told you I'd been sexual with a couple of girls in college - just for fun?"

Diane licked her lips and nodded.

"But I never loved those girls." The camera pulled back to show Sharon's fingers drift lower and circled above Diane's pubis. "But I love you, Diane."

Sharon gripped the sheet and began to slowly pull it down, exposing more and more skin. Diane's respirations increased, making her chest rise and fall rapidly. The sheet reached the turgid peaks and fell off. Her chest flushed a rosy pink.

"You're breasts are beautiful, Diane."

Jack hit the stop button. He was sweating profusely, and not just from the heat of a sealed room on a hot summer's evening. His emotions were all jumbled up. The video, although highly erotic, still made him feel queasy. This was his friend and lover, being bound and... raped? Was it rape? Was it coercion? Or was it just doing what Larry wanted - a wife releasing her inhibitions by giving in to her husband's fantasy. How could he ever look at Diane the same way again? She'd been a swinger - a lifestyle as foreign to him as the life of a bottom feeding bullhead. In fact, he felt closer to a fish out of water than to Diane's lifestyle. He didn't understand the desire to watch your wife in the arms of someone else. But he couldn't deny the sexual excitement that watching had produced. Is it possible that four people could love each other enough to overcome all the emotional pitfalls? What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't unsee what's been seen.

Jack needed a break. He needed to cool off. Putting everything back in the closet that he disturbed, Jack tried his best to leave Diane's bedroom the way he found it, everything except the DVD, which he ejected from the player and carried back home. He needed to see it through to the end to try and understand.

To get his mind right, Jack did routine things for a couple hours. He freed Rascal from backyard detention. He hitched the auger to the tractor for tomorrow's tree planting. He watered the saplings in the greenhouse, and walked around the blueberry bushes to check for pests. They'd be ripe for picking in another week. That would keep him busy; keep his mind occupied on normal things. Then he went to the pond, stripped naked, and jumped in - not a normal act for him.

As the sun disappeared below the hills, Jack sat by the pond watching the stars come out on the Eastern horizon, an evening breeze tickled his damp skin. This felt good, the kind of relaxing evening he wanted to share with Diane. Then a mosquito buzzed his ear, signaling it was time to get inside.

Arriving at the backdoor, he yelled, "Rascal!"

The black lab magically appeared out of the inky darkness, and trotted into the kitchen.

"Whoa!" Jack grabbed his collar. "You're a mess!"

Rascal sat, wagging his burdock encrusted tail enthusiastically. The next thirty minutes were spent deburring his prickly whip.

Now that all the chores were done and life returned to its mundane routine, Jack closed the drapes and placed Diane's debauchery into the DVD player. He sat down with his remote, a cold beer, and pushed play. The bedroom scene appeared much bigger and clearer on his 40" screen. He fast forwarded to where he left off.

Sharon said, "You're breasts are beautiful, Diane." She turned and the camera followed her gaze to her watching husband. "Don't you think they're beautiful, Lou?"

"Yes, they are," said Lou.

"Yes, they are," said Jack to the screen, and took a long swig of Molson.

From behind the camera, Larry added, "And they're very sensitive. Given enough stimulation, she will orgasm just by sucking on them."

Sharon rolled both nipples between her fingers, and said, "Really?"

Diane groaned and her back arched from the sensation.

"So responsive," said Sharon, before bending down and sucking the right nipple.

Larry zoomed in for a close-up. "Does that feel good, Honey?"

Diane pinched her lips together and nodded. Her biceps bulged from the strain of pulling against the straps.

Jack wondered, 'If her hands were free would she hold Sharon's head in place or push her away?'

The picture moved to focus on Lou, and then made several quick motions toward the bed. Lou smiled, walked to the other side, and sat down. Diane reacted to the weight by tensing up and turning her head in his direction. When Lou bent over her left breast, Sharon cupped it and held it up for her husband.