SHAFTED: an erotic thriller by Rachael Hayden

into my usual camisole and undies and turned off the lights to head to bed. It was unseasonably cold and the wind hadn’t abated. I listened to the mournful cry whisking around the house and the bed welcomed me into its comforting warmth.
    About 30-seconds after I’d snuggled into the covers, I heard the front door open.
    They’d returned.
    I didn’t want them here anymore.

CHAPTER 11
    I stayed in bed . I saw no point in getting out of the warm covers to greet them. I did, however, turn the bedside lamp on.
    But strangely, I only heard one set of footsteps ascending the stairs. They were heavy footsteps, which could only have meant Dan.
    Sure enough, a moment later, Dan walked into the bedroom. He was dressed in loose-fitting jeans, a t-shirt and a heavy jacket. His hair was mussed from the strong wind and he had a few days of growth on his strong jawline. Yummy.
    “Hi,” he said and he dropped his keys on the chest of drawers near the door and a bag on the floor.
    “What are you doing here?”
    “I wanted to see you.”
    “Where’s Candice?”
    “With another one of her many lovers.” Dan sat on the side of the bed, his tone neutral.
    “God, that woman’s insatiable.”
    “You’ve noticed?”
    “Hard not to. How do you not mind?”
    “I can’t keep up with her. It was an agreement we came to even before marriage. It suits as both.” Dan swung one knee onto the bed and leant back on the end bed post. He scrutinized me quietly.
    “Surely there has to be some boundaries?” I asked.
    “Yes, no emotional attachment. If it’s just sex, we just say when we’re going out , the approximate place in case of trouble and that’s it.” He raised his hands in an ‘I don’t care’ gesture.
    “Candice said you’d told her about us.”
    “Yes, but I left out most of the details.”
    “So what did you tell her?”
    “Only that you were… are, an amazing fuck.”
    “Gee, thanks. I thi nk. So what didn’t you tell her?”
    “That I had an emotional attachment right from the moment I met you.”
    My jaw must have hit the covers. It took me a moment to form the word, “Seriously?”
    Dan looked me directly in the eye.
    “Yes, seriously.”
    “Ahh… wow.”
    Dan moved up the bed and sat beside me. He reached out a rough finger and ran it down my cheek. It was a loving gesture and I fought the urge not to curl into it and purr. All my harbored dreams of marrying Dan again surged from my subconscious.
    “May I stay the night? With just you?”
    I could only smile in affirmation. Dan took of his boots, jacket, pants and shirt and dressed in very sexy jockey underwear that sculpted his muscled abdomen and butt, he slid in beside me. I cuddled up to him, resting my head on his shoulder and ran my fingers through his chest hair. Dan caressed my hair, his fingers threading through the entire length, and kissed my forehead.
    We lay silently, listening to the wind. I felt so safe wrapped in Dan’s smooth, warm embrace . Dan’s strong heartbeat thudded rhythmically under my ear and his gentle caresses melted me into the mattress and across his body.
    I thought briefly of Candice and realized I didn’t know much about Dan and Candice as a couple. The few conversations we’d had (between our epic sex sessions) just didn’t go there.
    “How long have you been married?” I asked.
    Dan was quiet. I could imagine he was thinking how much to tell me.
    “Almost 14 years.”
    “Wow, that long. You must have been young when you married.”
    “Yes. Too young, probably, but it made sense at the time.”
    “Did you know each other in school?”
    “No. We met at a sex club, which probably won’t surprise you.”
    “Nohh, really? ”
    Dan tickled my neck gently in response to my teasing.
    “I’d turned 21 and had just finished my builder’s apprenticeship. I thought I’d celebrate by going to a sex club I’d heard about through some friends. There, I met Candice.”
    “How old was she?”
    “Eighteen and