Chapter Five: A Different Sort of Encounter

 

The whole morning has been quiet since Marcy came back home. Neither of us has said a word about what happened last night after the ladies drew for keys at the party. For my part, I’m embarrassed that I got a blow job from Sadie. What’s even stranger is that she didn’t push me for sex. She insisted that we sleep together while fully nude in bed, but nothing else sexual in nature happened outside of that. As a matter of fact, she cuddled up close to me, her perky breasts against my shoulder, and fell asleep. It was as if we were a married couple simply enjoying each other’s presence. By the time I awoke this morning, she had already left my house.

 

“Jake,” Marcy finally says quietly after taking a sip of coffee. “You know I love you, right? That will never change.”

 

I nod my head. “I know that. And I love you too.” I stop short of asking her anything about what happened between her and the other man she was with last night. It could have been fairly innocent. They might have just sat and talked to each other all night, though I have the feeling that it didn’t stop with just that.

 

“Sadie was the one who came over,” I blurt out suddenly. The declaration causes me to wince as Marcy looks over at me, surprise on her face.

 

“Sadie?”

 

“Yeah. I’m sorry.” I take a sip of my own coffee as I ponder what my wife’s response might be.

 

“Sadie,” she says again while looking back down at her cup. “I think she might have set that part of the drawing up. She was talking about you a lot when I went with her before the drawing. She constantly asked questions about you and what you liked. Some of the conversation was even a little sexual.” Marcy stops herself as she looks over at me. “Just tell me, Jake. Did you have sex with her?” Her green eyes focus on me as she awaits an answer.

 

“Honey,” I begin as I avoid eye contact. “We didn’t have sex.” The answer is a bit misleading.

 

“Then what did you do?”

 

I shake my head. “First, whose house did you go to? Did you stay there with Luke?”

 

Marcy sighs. “No. I went to another house, Jake. It was a man named Dawson who met me there.” She swallows hard as she glares at me. “Things did happen, though.”

 

My heart beats hard as I ask, “What exactly happened, Marcy? Just tell me.” Now I’m asking my wife to do the same as she asked me. We both want to know what went on in our respective roles in the key game. Still, will either of us be completely honest?”

 

“Did she give you a blow job?” my wife asks me. I shake as I begin to wonder if she has already spoken to Sadie.

 

“A blow job?”

 

“That’s one of the things she asked me, Jake. She asked if you liked oral sex. I told her that you loved blow jobs. Did she give you one?” Marcy’s eyes watch me closely as her expression changes. “She gave you a blow job, didn’t she?”

 

“Honey…”

 

“She did. Sadie gave you a fucking blow job. Fuck.” Marcy turns her face from me for a moment as she considers how I have cheated on her.

 

“Please don’t be angry, baby. It wasn’t like I was trying to get her to do something with me. Sadie came in here and she just did it. I didn’t stop her, though. I know I should have, but…”

 

“I slept with him, Jake,” my wife interrupts as she turns back to face me. The admission almost seems to be retribution for the fact that I allowed Sadie to mouth fuck me.

 

“What?”

 

She looks at me, her demeanor almost stern. “I had sex with Dawson. I even orgasmed twice.”

 

“No.” Frowning, I try to understand whether Marcy is being truthful with me or simply vengeful. Surely my wife of nearly ten years wouldn’t actually screw another man. Right?

 

“He was powerful,” she tells me softly. “It was something that I didn’t expect, but he convinced me that we could do that, even though we are both married to other people. I told him that it wouldn’t be right, but he insisted. One thing led to another, and then we had sex.” Her green eyes look intently into mine. “I don’t blame you for what happened between you and Sadie. It all makes sense now, though. That key thing they did is a community-wide game and they do it every three months or so, Jake. This is the way of life in this place.”

 

“Fuck.” I shake my head as I realize how far Marcy and I have strayed from the sorts of people we were when we first moved to this gated community less than a week ago. Before coming here, we were fully into each other and had a very active sex life. After what happened last night, though, I wonder if anything will ever be the same between us again.

 

“We need to talk to Sadie and Luke.”

 

“Why?” I shake my head. “We aren’t even supposed to tell each other what happened. They said it’s one of the rules, Marcy.”

 

“I don’t give a shit about the rules,” she replies as she picks up her cell phone. She finds a number in her contacts list and selects it. Her phone begins to dial the number as my wife puts it on speaker.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Calling them,” she says with a grimace on her face. “I want to know the truth. I want to know exactly what we have moved into, Jake.”

 

Sadie’s voice suddenly comes across on the phone’s speaker. “Hello?”

 

“Hey Sadie,” my wife replies as she folds her arms and sits back in her seat at the dining room table. “This is Marcy.”

 

“Good morning, Marcy,” she answers. “Sleep well?”

 

“I slept fine,” my wife says as she grimaces. “Jake and I have been talking. We need some answers.”

 

“Answers?” There’s a pause on the other end before Sadie continues, “You told each other, didn’t you?”

 

“Of course they did,” Luke chuckles on the other end of the line with her. “You knew they would.”

 

“What? Did you set us up?” I ask.

 

“Set you up? What do you mean?” Sadie replies.

 

“He means that it seems odd that you came here to see him after talking to me,” Marcy tells her. “Did you tilt the odds in your favor, Sadie? Did you hold onto that key for yourself?”

 

There is silence before Sadie replies, “Of course I did. Your husband is just so...tempting.”

 

“Tempting?” I shake my head as I chuckle. “That’s not the way I would look at myself.”

 

“After last night I want you even more,” she tells me. “You didn’t try one time to fuck me, Jake. Why not?” My face turns red as I look down at the table in front of me. “You’re a gentleman, that’s why. You wanted to, though. You had a hardon all night long and you kept moaning in your sleep. I just wish you had let me take care of that for you in bed.” Sadie giggles.

 

“And you had a good time with Dawson, right, Marcy?” Luke asks.

 

Marcy looks at me and then replies, “Is this really what happens at these key parties, or did you just do this to toy with us and our feelings?”

 

“Feelings? There are no feelings involved,” Luke answers. “Marcy, this is a chance for neighbors to have a little fun with each other, no strings attached. Most of the people here in our little community never talk about what happened with their spouses. It helps to avoid any jealousies or other problems. We don’t talk about what happens and we don’t fall for the other person.”

 

“But, I can’t just not tell her,” I reply. “Marcy is my wife and I love her, no matter what happened last night. We both made a mistake, but we love each other too much to let it tear us apart.”

 

“Jake,” Sadie begins. “We are not trying to tear anyone apart. This party is the opportunity for couples to experience something different in the safety of our gated community. This wasn’t an orgy, right? It was just some time between two willing adults.”

 

“Willing?”

 

“Willing,” she reiterates. “You didn’t turn me down, did you? Jake, you liked what I did to you, right?” Sadie giggles a little on the other end. She’s enjoying talking about this in front of Marcy, no matter what she said to me about keeping what happened between us a secret.

 

“What now?” Marcy asks. Her face is pink as she looks across the table at me. “What do we do now that we have done this?” I’m not certain why my wife asks this question. Is she worried that from here on out our marriage will be marred with what happened last night?

 

“Now, you come see us,” Sadie replies. “You both come see us and see what we are really about.”

 

“Come see you? Why?” I don’t know what to think about Sadie’s reply to Marcy’s concern.

 

There is silence on the other end of the line before Luke replies, “We want to get to know you better as a couple, Jake. It would just be the four of us.”

 

“I don’t know,” Marcy begins as she shakes her head.

 

“Just dinner with us,” Sadie says. “Nothing will happen without the understanding and agreement of both of you.”

 

“But you’re thinking of sex, aren’t you?” I say daringly into the phone. “You want us to have sex with you both.”

 

“Sex is always on the table,” Sadie replies. “Luke and I never discount anything that might lead to sex. We are a very open couple, and if you’re not, that’s perfectly okay. We don’t expect you to do anything that you don’t want to do, Jake. Just come to dinner and we’ll talk.”

 

“When?” Marcy asks.

 

“Tonight.”

 

My wife looks at me, her expression of concern matching my own. We have already had extramarital relations with others. What will happen if we walk back into our neighbors’ home where the party began last night? Will we end up having sex or getting something orally from them? Will they expect us to do something to repay whatever they think they have done for us since coming to the neighborhood? The cult idea is still fresh in my mind and I’m worried that the Campbell’s might be trying to gain control of us through sex.

 

“Tonight,” Marcy finally answers. “Seven?”

 

“That will be fine,” Luke replies. “Surf and turf, if that’s alright.”

 

“Oh, you are both in for a treat,” Sadie laughs. “My hubby is great at making both lobster and steak.”

 

“We’ll be there,” Marcy tells her. “And we’ll just talk. I have lots of questions for both of you.”

 

“I know you do, dear,” the other wife replies. “We’ll see you this evening.” They hang up the phone on their side and we are left to look questioningly at each other.

 

“This is probably not the best idea,” I tell her. “They have already said that they would like to have sex with us.”

 

“I know,” she replies. “And we’ll just have to resist whatever they try on us. I want to know what is really going on here, Jake. It’s obvious that Luke and Sadie are the two people who know the most around the community. They are the ones pushing things around here.”

 

I nod my head. “Maybe they are. Sadie will try something on me, though. I know she will.”

 

“She won’t. Not with me there,” Marcy answers with conviction. “We will keep each other faithful.” She smiles uneasily at me before finishing her coffee. My wife wants to know more about the key club and why they do it. If this happens every three months and we plan to stick around, we’ll want to know what is really going on. Is there some sort of control being enacted throughout the neighborhood? Whatever it is, we will have questions tonight as we eat at the neighbors’ house.