The men exchanged another glance. You can keep your panties on, if you want, Don said. We can do vibrator play over them.

Relief washed through her. Even better.

The men continued talking with her, and she realized theyd ventured into s.e.xual history. And why.

No, they werent having s.e.x, and yes, it was one-sided, but this was something Marcia had talked about in her cla.s.s. Negotiations, full disclosure, all of it.

If she wanted this to be part of her life, as Marcia had emphasized, she needed to get used to discussing it and comfortable talking about it, because it got easier every time you did.

Marcia stopped by to check on them while they were still talking. Everything okay?

Im going to let them do some o.r.g.a.s.m play on me, she admitted, her face heating. Panties on.

Marcia arched an eyebrow and glanced at them, then back to her. Your idea, or theirs?

Mine.

Oh. Good. Carry on. She left, the men watching her go.

Mel watched their reactions. Youre a little scared of her, arent you?

Sort of, Don admitted. Not scared as much as we are respectful.

She left her panties on but took off her bra, sundress, and shoes. The men had clarified what they would and wouldnt do to her. They were going to tie her up, give her a bare-handed spanking, and then do o.r.g.a.s.m play with her over her panties.

They could also fondle and touch her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and nipples, if they wanted to.

She sure as h.e.l.l wanted them to. They were both cuties, hunks compared to Mike.

It took them over half an hour to tie the harness around her. She sat there, eyes closed as they did it, enjoying the attention, enjoying them talking to her, the feel of their hands on her.

Human touch.

d.a.m.n, how shed missed it.

With her arms immobilized in front of her, they rolled her over Dons lap. She flinched when his hand caressed her a.s.s through the fabric of her panties, which she was pretty sure by now had a wet spot on them.

You can say red at any time, he a.s.sured her once again. Understand?

Yes.

Good girl. His hand stopped, lifted. Then, the first smack, a fairly light blow that didnt hurt at all. He must have been testing her, because he steadily increased the force, until she was squirming in his lap from the sting.

Then Carl turned on the vibrator and pressed it between her legs from behind her.

She froze, the o.r.g.a.s.m shocking her with its suddenness and intensity. Gasping for breath, she moaned, arching her back to press against the vibrator even as Don continued spanking her.

Finally, as she lay there gasping over his lap, Don stopped the spanking and Carl turned the vibrator off and draped a towel over her.

She felt Don lean in. Are you all right?

She nodded, processing, unable to speak yet. She hadnt been ready for the o.r.g.a.s.m to stop.

And, d.a.m.n, that had been far better than any o.r.g.a.s.m Mike had ever given her.

Ever!

She heard Marcia talking to them, then felt her lean in. Mel? You all right?

Super green, she mumbled, remembering a line from Marcias cla.s.s that had made everyone laugh.

Marcia stroked her hair. Okay. If you need me, holler.

She didnt want to open her eyes. She sensed the men waiting on her to recover before they started untying her.

She really didnt want them to untie her. She wanted to lie there all night with them, but knew that was unrealistic.

They now probably thought she was a clingy psycho or something.

Gathering herself together, she raised her head. Okay.

They helped her sit up and started untying her. As much as she could, she kept her head tipped over against one or the other of them, just wanting the d.a.m.n contact.

How long had it been since shed been able to snuggle?

Forever, it felt like.

When they finished, she was afraid they might say okay, see ya, but they didnt. They helped her get her dress back on. She shoved her bra into her purse and nearly cried tears of grat.i.tude when they suggested going over to one of the couches to sit and talk for a while.

Yes, please!

As she sat there with them, a blanket wrapped around her, Marcia checked on her again and brought her a bottle of water.

Wow, a fire cupping and a forced o.r.g.a.s.m scene with spanking. So what do you think of your first night?

She gave her friend a thumbs-up.

Marcia smiled. Glad you had fun. Then she leaned in and whispered something to the guys, first Don, then Carl.

When Marcia left, she asked. Did she just threaten you?

Don laughed. No. She thanked us.

She snuggled more deeply between them, enjoying the contact. Thank you, she said. I really enjoyed that. You have no idea how much.

We enjoyed it, too.

It was almost closing time when Carl and Don left Venture. Marcia, Derrick, and Mel would be staying until closing.

The men sat in the car for a moment after getting in.

Wow, Carl said. That wasamazing.

No, s.h.i.t, Don said. d.a.m.n, that was fun. I usually dont like playing with brand new newbies because its so stressful, but d.a.m.n.

I want it said right now, that I would not mind playing with her again.

Me, either. Don finally cranked the engine. She was something special. Ill be taking a shower before bed.

Well, if youre going to do that, then Ill go out to the hot tub so were not fighting for the hot water, because I suspect youre doing that for the same reason Im doing that.

They laughed. Yep, Don said. Probably.

Mel rolled over in bed the next morning and felt disoriented until she remembered she was in Marcia and Derricks guest room.

And she felt strange aches and pains here and there. Nice, but strange.

The good kind of strange.

When she went to use the bathroom, she turned and looked in the mirror, lifting the hem of the T-shirt shed slept in. Yep, she still had faint marks all over her back.

A delightful shiver raced through her as she thought about the scene shed had with the men. Definitely nothing as severe as some of the people shed seen play, but it had changed her life. There was no way she could continue with Mike.

She needed out, before she was too old to enjoy the life shed been given. She only had one shot at happiness, and Mike had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he had no interest in being a part of that happiness.

And, who knew, maybe he needed some dorky little wallflower who wanted to do nothing but sit at home and watch sports with him.

She was not that woman.

She wasnt even the same woman shed been the morning before when shed awakened and taken off to the beach to think.

And this woman needed to make some serious changes in her life.

Chapter Seven.

Wednesday morning, Mel was in Eds office at eight oclock and seated in front of his desk.

No children, correct?

Just the house, Mel told Ed. No pets, even. He was allergic to everything. Including me, apparently, she added. Or might as well have been the way hes avoided me.

Ed took notes. Cars?

Theyre in both our names, but theyre paid off. Hes already signed off on the t.i.tle on mine, and I signed off on the t.i.tle on his.

Bank accounts?

I took exactly half of what was in the savings account, and in the joint checking account. Although, technically, since I made more than him, I should have been ent.i.tled to more.

Maybe, but good luck arguing that in court if its even close. Judges like simplicity.

I dont think he believes Im filing for divorce, she said. I think he thinks this is some phase that Ill grow out of.

Thats not uncommon, he said. Denial by the spouse getting served. Or he likely thinks its some sort of attention-grabbing tactic on your part.

You might be right. He even sort of laughed when he signed my car t.i.tle last night, like he was humoring me.

Whatd he say about the bank accounts?

I havent told him yet. We each had our own spending accounts that the other cant access. They were left over from when we were single, before we got together. He probably hasnt even looked at the bank accounts yet. I did it last night. I filed paperwork on Monday with my job to send my direct deposit to that account instead of the joint account, and that next paycheck wont hit until next Friday. Its like hes not taking this seriously.

Hes not. Not right now. What about your stuff?

I rented a storage unit yesterday. And everyones meeting me over at the house at noon today to move. But I was going through stuff yesterday while he was at work, getting ready, you know? Youd think after fifteen years together that Id have more stuff to take. Most of the furniture I dont want. It was stuff he picked out and I let him. Id rather get my own. I packed my dishes and stuff that I wanted, my clothes, pictures, books, DVDs, all of that. But I didnt realize until the time came to do this that Ive let him pretty much direct my whole life.

Funny how that works, huh? He stopped and took his gla.s.ses off to meet her gaze. Sorry, I shouldnt make light of it like that, but this isnt anything I havent seen before with divorces, unfortunately.

When did this happen to me? I didnt realize how I pretty much rolled over to him on everything all through our marriage. If there was something our opinions differed on, pro or con, hed basically badger me, or p.i.s.s and moan, or even pout, until I gave in and did things his way. He didnt really bully me, either. It just got easier to give in. I guess I got into a habit of automatically giving in without even thinking about it. What the h.e.l.l is up with that?

Again, not uncommon. One partner wants to keep the peace and subverts themselves, their personality, even. It can happen with little things, or on an abusive level.

He never abused me, she quickly said. Consensually or not. He never laid a finger on me.

Mentally?

Not really, no. Yeah, he reacted badly when I confronted him a few weeks ago about how bad things were between us, but its not like he called me a lot of names or bullied me around.

I thought you said he called you sick for liking romance and BDSM books?

Well She stopped to think.

Yeah, that was pretty much exactly what hed said. But it was just about that. Not about everything.

You sure?