Over the next couple of weeks, life went on mostly as normal. Maddie and Aidan went to work every day. Having another man in the condo was a little weird for Maddie. Zack was trying overly hard not to be a burden, cleaning up after himself and keeping himself apart from them, but still, she was aware of him being there. After she'd wandered out of her bedroom one morning to make coffee wearing her little boy shorts and cami and had run into him in the hall, she'd been more conscious of not walking around half dressed.

One night she got up around two in the morning because she couldn't sleep. She slipped out of the bedroom and down the hall to get a glass of water, and her heart leaped up into her throat at encountering Zack in the kitchen. She slumped against the wall, hand at her throat. "Jesus. You scared the life out of me."

"Sorry." He stood in the dark room in shadows, wearing a pair of boxer shorts and nothing else. He held a book in one hand. "Couldn't sleep. Thought I'd come out here and read a bit."

She flipped on the lights beneath the cabinets. Zack's face wore tense lines and his shoulders carried tension in them. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He rubbed his face. "Had a nightmare."

"Oh." She reached out a hand to touch him, fingers hovering over bare skin. She drew back. "Have you been having a lot of nightmares?"

"Not that many. I had some when I first escaped. Since I've been here, they've been less. Don't know where this one came from. Fuck." He scrubbed his hand over his mouth again. "Wake up with my heart pounding, sweating, thinking I'm about to die. Hard to come back to reality."

Sympathy swelled inside her. Now she did rub his arm. "I'm sorry. That sucks."

"Yeah. I'm okay." He tried for a brief smile. "Usually if I read a bit, it sort of resets my mind."

"Want some tea? I have some herbal tea that's good for sleep."

He tipped his head. "Uh. Sure. But you don't have to lose sleep yourself looking after me. I'll do it."

"I was wide awake too. It just happens sometimes. I start thinking about problems at work, or...other stuff. I'll make us both some tea."

"They gave me some sleeping pills." He watched her plug in the kettle and find mugs and tea bags. "But I hate taking them unless I really have to."

"Yeah. Try the tea, see if it helps. What have you been doing this week?"

He'd gone out, but hadn't said much about where or what he'd done. She knew he watched a lot of television. He'd used her computer to do some stuff although she didn't know what.

They'd tried to include him in some of their social events, like a dinner out with another couple, a movie, a friend's birthday party. Sometimes he'd gone with them, sometimes he'd declined and stayed home. He'd accepted Aidan's offer to use his bike. He looked healthier, had put on weight, had gotten a little color from the sun. He still didn't talk much about what had happened.

"Gone for some bike rides. And some walks. Found a gym and bought a one month membership." He held up the book. "Borrowed some of Aidan's paperbacks."

She nodded. "You'll let us know if there's anything you need, right?"

"Sure. But I'm good."

They shared some quiet conversation as they drank their tea in the dim kitchen, then Maddie stood. "I'll let you read a bit. Hope you get some sleep."

"You too. You're the one who has to get up and go to work in the morning."

She gave him a wry smile. "Yeah. Good night."

"Night Maddie."

Yeah, having someone else living in the condo was different. But it was fine.

She couldn't blame Zack being there for the fact that sex between her and Aidan had not gotten any more satisfying, although trying to keep their sexcapades quiet didn't help. Normally they both liked to make a lot of noise, but knowing Zack was in the room next door did put a little damper on that aspect of things.

Aidan had come home one night with another toy, this time a vibrator intended for couples to use. They'd had a laugh trying to figure out how to work it, and it did create an amazing orgasm. Then he'd brought home some handcuffs. The idea of being helpless caused a little rush of warmth inside her. Yet somehow, when he'd restrained her, she hadn't felt the excitement she'd thought she would. Maybe because she didn't actually feel helpless. She felt if she'd just said to Aidan, "Take these off me" he would have. And where was the fun in that?

And as with the flogger, he also wanted to be cuffed. She did it because he wanted it, and it was no hardship exploring his body at her leisure. The muscles he worked so hard to maintain were beautiful. Her hands had explored smooth skin and rough hair, lingered over his nipples, breathed in his scent. She shifted between his legs and took her time exploring there too, making him groan and gasp as she weighed the heavy sac of his testicles, traced over the puckered seam with her tongue, then finished with a blow job that had seemed to really do it for him. Again, never a hardship-going down on Aidan was a great pleasure. She loved the taste of him, the weight of his cock on her tongue, the scent of aroused male. She was glad she'd made him feel so good, but still felt...hell, she couldn't even explain it in her own mind.

Then one night Aidan brought home a strap-on dildo.

Maddie was in bed when he showed it to her. She studied it. This time it was pretty clear who was going to be using it, because Aidan had no need to attach a fake cock to fuck her. His real cock was damn fine enough.

Unless...no. She'd never even told him about that double-penetration fantasy. That was a deep, dark secret.

She gulped.

"Um. You want me to wear that?" She looked up at him and was surprised by a hint of uncertainty in his eyes. Her stomach tightened.

"Yeah. Thought it would be fun to try."

This disturbed her for some reason, raised questions in her head that she didn't even want to acknowledge, but also made her heart go warm and soft. Clearly, he was hesitant about broaching this idea. Yet he trusted her enough to do it. They loved each other. In no way did she want to make him feel uncomfortable or embarrassed about what he wanted to try.

She'd do anything for him.

"Okay." She held out a hand to take it from him. "That's hot."

"We'll need this too." He produced a bottle of lubricant.

She swallowed. "Good thinking." She swiped her tongue over her bottom lip. "How does this thing work?"

"Wait. Wanna make out with you first." Aidan pulled off his clothes and slid into bed with her, sliding his hand into her hair, kissing her with his delicious mouth. Such a good kisser. She drifted a little, her body heating, her pussy aching as their mouths ate at each other in long, hungry kisses.

Aidan's hard cock pressed against her hip and she shifted so it slid between her thighs, along her pussy. She wore a pair of cheeky boy shorts. He rubbed back and forth there, moaning into her mouth, caressing her cheek, her neck, her shoulder, and then her breast through the thin camisole top she wore. Her nipple, already hard, tightened even more. She arched her back and pushed her breast into his palm.

"Oh yeah," Aidan murmured. "Hot. Take this off." He reached for her cami, eased it up her torso, then tugged it off over her head.

He rubbed her breasts, brushing his fingertips over stiff nipples. Tingles rushed through her body, her abs tightening with pleasure. He bent his head and closed his lips around one nipple, tugging the bud into his mouth and sucking. Pleasure flowed through her right to her core, intensifying that ache with a sharp heat. Her pussy ached with need, his lips and tongue and hands on her body exciting her to the point she desperately wanted him inside her.

He was hard, so hard. Her fingers closed around his cock. She wanted that, needed that...but instead he rolled away to reach for the strap-on. She blinked and caught her breath. Okay. She could do this. He'd got her all wound up and needy, but she could do this, give him what he wanted.

Together they fastened it around her hips, nice and snug. When she looked down at herself, she closed her eyes. This was so not her. But she could do it.

Aidan helped her lube up the cock-shaped dildo, then handed her the bottle and rolled to his belly. Her heart thudded and she dragged her tongue over her bottom lip, staring at his ass. It was a sexy ass, muscular and round. When he shifted position and flexed, deep dimples appeared. She'd enjoyed playing with that ass other times. Now...this would be fun too.

She drizzled lube up the crack of his ass, then massaged it in with her fingers, going deep, over his anus. He groaned. "Yeah. Gonna need to use lots...go right inside with it."

They'd played this way before, a little. This was just taking it to another level. He pushed up his butt, giving her better access and, on her knees, she took hold of the dildo and rubbed it up and down the crevice. Then, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip, she pushed the tip inside him.

It was kind of hot. Watching his hands curl into fists, his hard-as-rock ass muscles clenching. The fake cock gave her a weird sensation of being apart from it all. Normally when they had sex, they both felt it-him inside her was good for him and for her. This just felt...like she was observing. But this was for him.

"Don't want to hurt you," she whispered, going deeper.

"Fuck," he groaned. "It does hurt...but Christ...it's good. Keep going."

She did so, not sure how deep exactly she should go.

"Ah yeah, there...fuck yeah." She'd hit a good spot apparently. Good to know. She began to fuck him, in and out, using her hips, steadying the base of the dildo with one hand. Her other hand held his hip. His hand went beneath him to his own cock, fisting it and jacking himself.

That was hot too.

"Not gonna take long," he moaned. "Oh yeah...Jesus. Jesus fuck. Gonna come..." And he did with a loud roar of pleasure that had Maddie's eyes widening and shifting to the wall that separated them from Zack's room.

She slowly pulled out. She wanted this thing off. She fumbled at the fasteners and got rid of it, then stretched out on top of Aidan, who was now flat on the bed and breathing heavily. Her body clung to his damp skin as she kissed his shoulder.

"Fuck that was hot." He panted. "Maddie, sweetheart...I love you so much."

"Love you too." She paused. "When do I get my orgasm?"

His body shook with laughter beneath her. "Give me a minute. When I can move I'm gonna make you come so hard."

"Mmm."

He made good on that promise, rolling her to her back and going down on her with slow, luscious nibbles and licks and sucks. She bent her legs, let her knees fall open and threaded her fingers into his hair while fiery pleasure built inside her. Heat rushed through her body, sensation burning and twisting. His teeth scraped over sensitive flesh and she jerked and tightened her fingers in his hair. Then he sucked her clit into his mouth and intense pleasure tore through her. She let out an ecstatic cry, not even realizing until long, shuddering moments later that she'd been almost as noisy as Aidan.

He stretched out next to her, pulling the covers up and over both of them, snuggling her against him.

"Shit," she mumbled. "Made too much noise. Both of us."

"Ugh."Aidan kissed her neck. "Right. Damn."

"Oh well." She sighed. "Nothing to be done now."

"True that. God I love you, Maddie."

"I love you too."

The next morning she found the strap-on in their bathroom. Aidan had gotten up first to go for his run. He must have picked it up and washed it. She eyed it with doubt, then carried it out the bedroom and put it in the drawer of the bedside table where they kept their other toys.

She dressed and wandered to the kitchen. Saturday morning meant a lazy start to the day, for her anyway. She started a pot of coffee and wandered over to her computer to check email and Facebook. She stared at the monitor, tapping her fingers on the desk.

She'd had this crazy idea circling in the back of her mind for a while now. After last night and the strap-on, it was pushing its way to the forefront of her consciousness. It was crazy...

She started tapping keys, doing a Google search, sucking on her bottom lip as she studied results. Maison de Sade-premier BDSM dungeon in Chicago, owned and operated by Dominant women. Private and discreet.

She clicked onto the page with pictures of the women. Huh. They looked pretty normal. In fact, one of them looked a little like her hair stylist...good god, she was not risking showing up somewhere they'd run into someone they knew.

She moved on to the website for Mistress Marbella. She was...attractive, although the dark lipstick was a little scary. Maddie looked through the site, frowning.

Oh for god's sake, this was ridiculous. She could not be looking up dungeons and actually considering paying someone to dominate her boyfriend. He was a prominent businessman. That was just insane.

Why did they need someone else? They didn't. They loved each other and they'd keep experimenting until they found...something that worked for both of them.

She heard steps in the hall and quickly closed the browser, swinging around in her chair at the same time.

Zack appeared, wearing a pair of plaid boxers that sat low on his hips, and nothing else. His shaggy mop of hair hung over his forehead and curled around his ears. "Oh," he said, stopping. "Didn't realize you were up."

She smiled but as their eyes met, his skittered away and a flush climbed up his face.

The air around them went static and her skin tingled. Shit. He'd heard them last night. She immediately, intuitively knew that. And he was uncomfortable.

She considered apologizing, but acknowledging what was currently unspoken might only make things worse. So she pretended it had never happened. "Yeah, I'm up. Aidan's out for his run. Want some coffee? It should be ready now. I was going to take mine out onto the balcony. It's nice and sunny. I wonder how warm it is."

Christ, she was babbling like a fool. She rushed from the den to the kitchen. She grabbed a mug and sloshed coffee into it, scooped up the one spoon of sugar she took and picked it up.

"Coffee'd be great." Zack followed her.

She handed him a mug too, then scooted around the end of the counter to cross over to the balcony doors. She stepped outside, moved to the railing and curled her fingers around it, sucking in a long breath of already warm morning air.

"Nice day," Zack said behind her.

She nodded, closing her eyes briefly. "Lovely. We're going to go Taste of Randolph Street this afternoon. You coming with us?"

"Uh...I dunno..."

She whirled around. "Okay," she said. "Let's just get this out in the open. The sex got a little noisy last night. Sorry. Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

His face tightened, but he rolled his eyes. "Not like I don't know you have sex."

"Um. Yeah."

Heat rolled up into her face and she bent her head to take another sip of her coffee.

"Aidan's still into working out," Zack said.

"More than ever. He needs it. He's under so much pressure at work. They've taken on some really big projects, and he's in charge of them. He has all these people working for him, asking him questions, wanting him to solve problems. Right now they have this big project planned and they applied for a zoning variance but some historical preservation group is blocking it. Their lawyers are fighting it, but they may have to go back to the drawing board, which costs them more money and...anyway. He says working out lets him zone out, lets him shut off his brain for a while."

More babbling.

Zack nodded.

"Well. I'm going to get ready to go out." She pushed away from the railing.

"Can I use your computer?"

"Of course."

She headed to the bedroom with her mug to fix her hair and put on a little makeup.

Why was that so awkward? Their other friends all joked about their sex lives with each other, the guys alternating between bragging and insulting each other about the size of their penises, their endurance, their skills. Wives and girlfriends joined in the jokes. Once when they'd gone on a trip to Maui with their friends Ethan and Chelsea, they'd had rooms next door to each other. She and Aidan had heard the headboard banging against the wall between their rooms half the night. They hadn't let Ethan and Chelsea forget that. In fact the next night, they'd pounded on the wall and shouted "Oh yeah baby, do me harder!"and "Yes, yes, yes!", killing themselves laughing the whole time.

Jeez, if Zack knew exactly what they'd been doing, things would be even more awkward.