The Key
by Jim Baker

Don woke slowly. He shook his head, stretched his arms wide, and opened his eyes as his fingers brushed against the warm body in the bed beside him.

He lifted the sheet and feasted his eyes on Sally’s firm round breasts. He bent and took a nipple between his lips, running his tongue around the flesh as it stiffened.

She came awake, yawning and stretching, and then sighed with pleasure as his fingers stroked her thighs. Her hand crept down and explored his stiff cock.

“My lord and master wants more? After last night?”

“It’s Sunday morning. All married couples make love on Sunday mornings. It’s the law.”

“Well, we mustn’t break the law. How would you like me, my lord?”

“On your knees, wench!”

She laughed, rolled on to her stomach and knelt facing the end of the bed, with her buttocks thrust high. They had been married for only six months, and their hunger for each other’s bodies hadn’t lessened one iota in that time.

Don settled behind her and guided the tip of his cock between the soft pink lips. Her flesh was slick from their lovemaking the night before and he slid into her easily.

He placed his hands lightly on her waist, luxuriated in the feel of the hot, tight flesh and began to thrust in and out slowly, his eyes closed.

“Faster, Don!”

She forced her buttocks back against him.

“Oh sweetheart, it’s starting already.” She panted out the words. “Touch me, baby, please touch me now!”

He slid his hand under her. She screamed as his finger found her swollen clit and he opened his eyes – and screamed himself at the sight of a small, skeletal figure standing at the end of the bed. Teeth grinned obscenely in its fleshless skull. Its hand was raised, and a bony finger was raised high.

His head spun and he fell backward, his erection shrivelling away.

“Don, are you all right?” Sally squeezed his hand as she sat beside him, her face white and scared.

“It was like a kid!” Don croaked the words as he lay shivering on the bed.

“A kid?”

“At the end of the bed. It was a like dead child, a skeleton. It pointed its finger at us. You must have seen it!”

Sally put her arms around him.

“Hush, love. I had my eyes closed. Did you have a bad dream last night? You woke me up with all your thrashing about.”

“Well, I did have a nightmare,” Don admitted. He had stopped shivering but the picture of the ghastly figure stayed in his mind’s eye.

“It was a memory from your dream, sweetheart, it wasn’t real. Let me take your mind off it.”

She took his cock between her fingers and played with it, her teeth nibbling at his ear. “Let’s see if I can get our friend working again,” she whispered.

Don body warmed as a feeling of arousal spread through it, and his cock grew in her hand. She ran a fingernail across the slit and a pearl of pre-come formed. She flicked it off with the tip of her tongue, and took the head into her mouth. Sucking gently, she ran her tongue round and round the swollen flesh until he was fully erect, and then slid back up the bed and planted a sloppy kiss on his lips.

“I want you back inside me,” she whispered. She rolled over, and pulled him on top of her. Her legs clamped high around his back as he slid into her.

“Quickly, Don, quickly!”

Her body arched up to his as he began to thrust with long, steady strokes. “Faster, baby, faster!” Don increased the pace as her voice panted in his ear and the bedsprings creaked as he rammed into her. “Hard, Don, really hard! Harder!”

She moaned, and dug her nails into his shoulders, urging him on, writhing under him, and Don became lost in a world where there was nothing but the feel of his cock pounding in her hot flesh and the orgasm that was getting rapidly closer.

“Oh, Christ, Don … I’m going to come again!” Sally’s nails dug into his back.

She gave a long, ecstatic scream and Don came in a blinding flash of pleasure, pumping frantically inside her. His climax seemed to go for ever – jet after jet spurted from his cock until he collapsed, spent.

She propped herself on one elbow and looked down at him.

“Wow! That was one of the best ever. I bet that made you forget the monster.”

She got up and pulled on her dressing gown. “I’ll make some tea.”

Don smiled but the word monster had made him feel cold again, and he shivered.

On Monday morning the sunshine was streaming through the kitchen window as Sally

washed the dishes.

Don had been quiet through Sunday afternoon, but seemed to have shaken off his disquiet by dinner time. They had shared a bottle of wine and gone to bed early, dropping off to sleep almost immediately.

The ghostly figure had not been mentioned again.

Sally had awoken at seven o’clock to find her husband naked beside her, lying on his back with a huge erection. She slipped out of bed, found a bottle of baby oil and anointed the long rod of flesh. Then she lay back down beside him and watched his face as she gave him slow, gentle hand-job.

His eyes opened and he stared blearily at her.

“Hello, darling,” she whispered. “Having a nice dream?”

Before he could reply she swung a long leg across his waist, straddled him and lowered herself on to his cock. He came wide awake very quickly as she rode him to a gloriously sticky climax.

Now it was ten o’clock, and she had the house to clean before taking Jack, their cocker spaniel, for a walk. He was sprawled under the kitchen table, watching her every move.

Sally pulled the plug, turned on the cold tap and stared in surprise as the running water revealed a large, rusty key beneath the remaining soapsuds.

She reached into the sink and picked it up, quite sure she had never seen it before. She bent down and held it out to Jack. “What’s this, Jacky?”

The little dog stretched his nose forward, and sniffed. Then he backed away, stiff-legged. Sally watched in amazement as he bared his teeth, growled deep in his throat, and slunk out of the kitchen. She dropped the key and ran after him. He was huddled under a coffee table, quivering. She called him and eventually he crept out and relaxed as she petted him. She sat with him for a while, then went back to the kitchen, picked up the key and dropped it into the cutlery drawer.

When Don arrived home, she questioned him about it.

“Don, did you leave a key in the kitchen last night or this morning?”

“No. Have you lost one?”

“No, I found one.”

She told him what had happened and he looked at her quizzically.

“You found a key in the washing up and it scared the dog. Been at the cooking sherry?”

“No! If you don’t believe me, see for yourself. It’s in the cutlery drawer.”

Don went into the kitchen and returned immediately with the key in his hand.

“Where did you say you left it?”

“In the cutlery drawer.”

“You must have been on the sherry. It was on the kitchen table.”

Sally looked at him in disbelief.

“Don, I put it in the drawer this morning. It can’t have been on the table.”

He shook his head and started to laugh when the expression on her face stopped him. “Okay, love,” he said. “It’s only a key. It can’t hurt you.”

“I don’t like it, Don. Get rid of it.”

Don walked out of the back door and tossed the key into the dustbin.

“There, it’s gone. Funny though, I think I know what it was for.”

“What?”

“The shed.”

Their converted cottage had a garden, at the bottom of which stood an old wooden shed.

“The shed? But surely that’s got a padlock on it?”

“It has. But there’s an old lock on the door as well. Come and see.”

They walked out into the warm summer evening, and down to the black shed.

“There.”

Sally saw the lock in the door, painted over with the same black paint that covered the shed. Long disused, it had been replaced by a hasp and padlock.

“I reckon that old key belongs to it,” he said.

As they started back to the house Sally took his hand in hers. “Don? Would you mind if we eat a bit late tonight?”

“I don’t mind. Why?”

“I’d like to stay outside in the sun for a bit. I’ll get some wine.”

She went back to the house; Don turned and ran his fingers over the lock. Suddenly he felt cold, and the sunshine seemed paler. Then the feeling evaporated as he heard Sally’s voice. She was carrying an open bottle of wine and two glasses, and a blanket was draped across her shoulder.

“Come on,” she called. “Help me spread the blanket.”

“Blanket? What’s wrong with the garden chairs?”

“Oh, don’t be stuffy. You used to enjoy the blanket before we got married. Or are you getting too old?”

She dropped the blanket and poured two glasses of wine.

“Cheeky. I’m not too old to give you six of the best on your pretty little backside.”

“Promises, promises.”

Sally drank half her wine, dropped to her knees and straightened the blanket.

Don held out his hand. “Let me top you up.”

Sally gave him her glass and then squealed as he dropped down beside her, grabbed her and turned her face down across his knees.

“Too old, eh?”

He tugged her skirt up around her waist. “Silk panties, no less. Right, two with them on, and four with them off.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Oh no?”

He spanked her lightly, just once on each silk-covered cheek.

Sally squealed, and wriggled frantically as he hooked his fingers under the waistband and slid the panties down.

“Lovely,” he whispered. She tensed as he caressed her with the palm of his hand and then screeched with indignation as it fell sharply, twice on each of the firm, round globes of flesh.

She began to struggle, and then stopped as his hand moved down between her legs and a fingertip found her clitoris.

The spanking had already excited her, and very soon her hips were jerking across his knees until she came to a shuddering climax. He held her until her body stopped shaking, pulled her pants up, smoothed down her skirt and let her go. She rolled away and lay on her back. Her hair was dishevelled and her eyes were shining.

“Nice?”

“Fantastic!” She stretched up her arms.

Don lay down, put his arms around her and as they kissed Sally worked her hand down and freed his rigid cock.

She took the shaft in one hand and ran the tip of the index finger of the other up and down the glans, making him shudder.

“So hard,” she murmured. She wrapped her fingers around its swollen head and moved them up and down, agonizingly slowly, then took it inside her mouth.

She worked slowly, licking and sucking, sliding up and down on his cock in a steady rhythm. Gradually she increased the pace, taking more of him inside her mouth, sucking harder.

Don felt the first warning tingle spreading quickly up through his body until he shouted out loud as he exploded in her mouth.

She fell back, grabbed the wine bottle and took a long drink. Don rolled over and sat up. As his eyes refocused, three small, ghastly figures appeared in front of the old shed. Their empty eye sockets were fixed on him and their fleshless fingers pointed at Sally’s back. He screamed, and fell back on the grass as the world went dark around him.

From somewhere far away he heard Sally’s frightened voice, and he struggled to sit up.

“Lie back,” she said. Don kept still for a moment then pushed himself up on to his elbows.

“What happened?” he whispered; then as the awful memory flooded back he sat up abruptly and looked frantically about him.

“You fainted. Don, what is it?”

He clenched his fists and forced himself to calm down. “I’m not sure, Sal. Let’s get inside.”

Don poured a large whisky, gulped it down, and refilled the glass. Shivering, he put off Sally’s questions. He stood for a long time under a hot shower, dried himself, and pulled on a heavy dressing gown. Sitting in the lounge, he told her what he had seen, not mentioning that the figures had been pointing at her, not him.

They talked for a long time, not eating but drinking their way through most of the bottle of whisky. Finally, Sally stood.

“Come on,” she said. “We both need some rest. I’ll ring in tomorrow and tell Charles you’re sick.”

Don stood and stretched. “I need some water after all that whisky.”

“Bring me some please. I’m off upstairs.”

Don went into the kitchen and switched on the light.

The key was lying in the centre of the table.

Don looked at in disbelief, then picked it up and examined it carefully. It was the same key he had thrown in the bin, of that he was sure. Eventually he shrugged and dropped it into the pocket of his dressing gown. He poured two glasses of water and took them upstairs to the bedroom, saying nothing to Sally about the key.

They slept late. Sally called Don’s boss to explain that Don had come down with a bad stomach. She took Jack out for his walk mid-morning, and left Don alone in the house.

He took the key from his dressing gown, went downstairs, and sat on the couch. He turned the rusty piece of metal over and over in his hands. After a long while he took the bunch of keys from the hook behind the back door and walked down to the shed.

He removed the padlock and pushed and pulled at the door, but it wouldn’t shift.

Reluctantly Don took the rusty key from his pocket, forced it into the lock and twisted it. It turned easily and silently, as if the lock had been freshly oiled. The door swung inwards. Don stepped into the gloomy interior and wrinkled his nose at the musty smell.

There was a noise behind him and he jerked around to see the door swing closed with a thud.

He stood in shock in the darkness. As he was about to move he realized that there was a faint greenish light glowing from above him. As it grew brighter he could see that he was in not in a wooden shed full of tools and boxes, but in a stone cave with a rocky ceiling high above his head. The air in front of him shimmered and for the first time in his life Don experienced absolute terror. The skeletal creature he had seen in the bedroom appeared before him with its bone finger pointed at his heart.

He turned to run, then froze when he saw he was ringed by a dozen of the child-sized, skeletal figures, all with their fingers raised towards him.

Soundless voices filled his brain. “Be still!” They screamed. “We don’t want you. We want the child.

Don fell to his knees. A frozen fingertip touched his brow, and Don felt a dreadful pain as he fell senseless to the stone floor …

… Don jerked awake as a warm wet tongue rasped across his face.

“Hello, sweetheart,” said Sally. “We had a good walk, didn’t we Jack?”

Jack leapt up and licked him again, as Don stared blankly at his wife’s face.

“What’s wrong, love? Were you dreaming again?”

“No. Uh … yes …” Don stuttered. His mind cleared rapidly. “No, it’s all right. I must have dropped off.”

He jumped to his feet. “How about a cup of tea?”

“Well,” said Sally. “If you’re so lively, how about sorting out a problem in the kitchen first?”

“What problem?”

“I think there’s a leak. Could you have a look?”

Don sighed, and went into the kitchen. Sally followed. He felt fine, but he could remember nothing of what he had done since getting out of bed.

Maybe I’m going nuts, he thought.

“Where’s the problem?”

Sally opened the cupboard door under the sink. “In there somewhere. I’ll turn the tap on.”

Don sank to his knees and peered into the dark cupboard. “I can’t hear anything dripping.”

“Just a minute.”

He heard Sally moving around behind him and he edged forward.

“I don’t think …” he began, and banged his head hard as he received a tremendous whack across his backside, followed by a second.

Bemused, he struggled back to his feet.

“Spank me, would you?”

A bowl of icy water was dumped over his head. Sally dropped a big wooden spatula on the floor, dashed out of the kitchen, and fled up the stairs.

Don stood for a moment in shock, and then grinned. He stripped off all his clothes and dropped them in a heap on the kitchen floor. He found a tub of soft ice-cream in the fridge, removed the lid and took it with him to the bedroom.

Sally was lying on the bed, her short skirt up around her thighs. “What do you want, naked stranger?” she purred.

He dropped the ice-cream tub on the floor, hopped up on the bed and straddled her waist.

“That was very naughty. I think it deserves a tickling. But first let’s get these clothes off.”

He stripped her, leaving just her panties, holding her easily in his strong arms. Then he tickled her mercilessly, turning her this way and that and using his fingertips all over her body until she begged him to stop.

Then he settled down above her and ran his cock slowly up and down in the valley between her breasts.

“Spanking? Or should I just tell you how gorgeous you are?”

He leaned down and kissed her. She looped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as his lips moved to her breasts.

He reached back until his searching hand found the ice cream tub. He scooped up a handful of ice cream, slipped it under the waistband of her panties and dropped the freezing mixture between her legs.

Sally shrieked and jerked as Don grabbed her and pinned her arms to her sides.

“You bastard!”

She wriggled frantically, kicking her legs, but Don held her tight and laughed against her breasts. As her struggles subsided, he released her, reached back down to the tub and dropped another large dollop of ice cream between her breasts. She gasped and shuddered as he smeared it across her nipples.

“Keep still,” he whispered. He lowered his head and began to lick, at the same time rubbing the front of her panties, pressing the melting ice cream into her pussy. Her breathing became heavier as he licked and sucked the ice cream from her breasts. He moved down, pulled the panties away and began licking the insides of her thighs, working his way slowly upwards.

She threw her legs wide apart as his tongue parted the lips of her vagina. He licked with long, steady strokes and she reached a hand to the back of his head to pull him harder against her. His tongue reached her clitoris and moved faster and faster until her body arched upwards and she sank back on the pillows.

Don sat up and took a deep breath. He kissed her and she reached down, twined her fingers round his cock, urging him upwards between her slick thighs until he slid inside her. He moved in and out deliberately, watching her face, refusing to speed up, playing with her, stopping and starting again. Gradually, she began to lose control. Her breath came in shorter and shorter gasps, and she began to moan deep in her throat. Don slowed his pace and she tried to move faster, straining frantically against him.

“Please,” she whispered as he stopped moving, his cock buried to the hilt.

Twice more he brought her near to the point of no return, only to stop just before she could come. Her eyes were pleading with him as he started to move again.

“This time,” he whispered, and quickened his pace. Her legs rose up around him as she matched his thrusts, until they came together with deep groans of mutual satisfaction.

They lay still for a long time then Don slipped out of her and stood up. “Good stuff, that ice cream.” He picked up the tub. “Some more?”

“Don’t you dare!”

He laughed and went into the bathroom.

Two days later, Don came home to find his wife in the kitchen.

“I’ve got something to tell you,” she said, eyes gleaming. “I’ll get you a drink first.”

“Something so bad I’ll need a drink?”

Sally laughed. “I hope not,” she said, handing him a glass of wine.

“Aren’t you having one?”

“No, sweetheart, I’ll be leaving the alcohol alone for a while.”

Don stared at her for a minute then a huge grin spread over his face.

“You’re pregnant!”

“Yes, sweetheart, confirmed this morning.”

“Great! Surely you can have a drop of wine to celebrate?”

“Well, maybe a little drop.”

Sally turned and opened the cupboard behind her then snatched her hand back.

“Don!”

He leapt to her side. “What’s wrong?”

The key was lying on the shelf, next to the wine glasses.

“You threw it away. I’m sure it wasn’t there when I got your glass! I know it wasn’t!”

She started to cry and Don put his arm around her.

“Stay here, love. I’ll sort this out.”

He went back into the kitchen and grabbed the key. As he did so, words echoed in his head and slabs of memory thumped down in his brain.

We want the child.”

“No!” he snarled and felt the key writhe in his hand.

Don strode out to the garage where a spare car battery stood in the corner. He dropped the key into a plastic bucket, unscrewed the cell caps from the battery, and poured acid on it. As the first drops hit it and the surface began to bubble, screaming filled his head and pain flared.

The screaming and the pain went on but he gritted his teeth and sat down heavily on the concrete floor, shaking the bucket to swirl the liquid inside and slowly the noise and the pain died away.

After a long time he stood and looked down. The key was gone. Don took the bucket into the garden, connected the hose, and directed a powerful jet of water into it. Steam rose and the bucket skittered across the grass, spun around and fell against the side of the shed.

Don turned off the hose and examined the shed. The padlock was still there but the old lock had disappeared. Dirty black wood stretched across the whole width of the door. He turned and went back indoors.

Sally was sitting on the couch, stroking Jack.

“It’s OK, honey,” Don said. “I’ve really got rid of it this time.”

Sally smiled. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Was I being silly?”

“No, love.” Don rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Forget it! You’re going to have our baby! A thought struck him.

“Uh, does that mean we can’t …?”

“Of course we can. For months yet.” She grinned. “In fact, if you feel like it now …”

Her words were left hanging in the air as Don picked her up and carried her up the stairs.