Payback (18 page)

The following Friday, I wore my camisole without a bra under my thin
, V-neck sweater. You could see my nipples plainly through the thin material of both tops. Jason and Caden walked in and neither looked me in the eyes. They watched every bounce of my breasts, and boy, did I make sure they bounced. I stood near Caden’s face as I fed him, my breast practically in his cheek.  He fiddled a little and adjusted his pants before he made an effort to focus on his meal.

That night
, he came to my bedroom. After our last sexual union, he had instructed me to pick a bedroom to sleep in so that he didn’t have to get his sheets dirty. I had chosen the large guest bedroom with the en-suite bathroom overlooking the mountains to the east. It had a huge picture window with blackout curtains, which I left open to enjoy the view. Having lived below grade and in a small tack room for several months, I felt like I was living in the Hilton. Without saying anything, I threw the covers back and opened my legs to invite him in.  He looked at my crotch and began to quickly undress. Within minutes, he was back in his own bed and I was cleaning up the wet spot.

Chapter 9

Resistance is Futile

The craving was getting worse.  He constantly wanted to feel her under him, slip inside her, smell her neck and share her bed, if only for a few minutes. He knew that he should put up walls—not touch her breasts, not look into her eyes, not kiss her, not talk to her. If he didn’t put up the walls, he might cave, he might not be able to hold back the desire. Each day it was becoming harder, the battle to remain vigilant, to stay firm in his desire to punish her. It was eating at his soul. 

Those moments of weakness, when he heard her singing in the kitchen, laughing with Jason,
saw her cooking his meal, or just being nice to him, confused him, and he had to open his mind and let the vision into his head of her being fucked by his friend.  But now the vision easily faded, and her face, as they laughed in the snow or when he put his scarf around her neck, would erase it. The sounds of Gordon grunting as he penetrated the woman he loved were vanquished by the same woman telling him she wanted him to be happy, asking him if she could help, teasing him about his cowboy outfit. The more he was around her, the more confused he was about what punishing her was accomplishing, except making him look bad to everyone around him. Still, when he did think about it, when the vision of Gordon inside her managed to fill his thoughts, he wanted to hurt her…hurt her badly.

February 28th was Jason’s birthday
, and Caden had asked Chris to invite Jason’s friends to the ranch for a party. Caden paid the local barbeque restaurant to cater it because Jason was partial to pulled pork and beef ribs. Another friend was bringing the kegs and liquor that Caden had ordered.

February tended to be a depressing month due to the extremely cold weather and high snowfall
, so a party was the talk of the locals. They were all happy to have a break from the last three months of snow and winter. At three the day of the party, the caterers arrived and set up the barbeques on the snow covered deck inside a heated tent that was vented on the top to let out the smoke. The smell of mesquite and roasting meats filled the house and made Marie very hungry. Inside the kitchen, baked potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil filled the double ovens, and vats of baked beans sat on the stovetop. She helped set up for the party while Caden took care of the animals. 

Around six
, the partygoers started to arrive.  The party started early because many of the partygoers had to get up early or wanted to drive home before the roads iced over. Caden had hired several young men to drive home the drinkers who hadn’t brought a designated driver.  Before you could drink, you had to give the bartender downstairs your car keys or prove you had a designated driver. You got your keys back if you could either prove you were sober or someone sober was going to drive you. This wasn’t typical for Montana, but people had come to accept Caden’s rules if they wanted to party at the ranch. Caden felt obligated to arrange for transportation since his ranch was so remote and especially since Marie had demonstrated how dangerous his driveway could be.

Very skimpily clad women received their instructions from the caterers on who would serve and what they would serve. The four women would circulate with appetizers while the main meal was prepared. Twelve outdoor heaters were placed around the deck to keep the chef and those w
ho smoke warm in the thirty-one-degree night. Caden had a strict rule that there would be no smoking in his house. The buffet was set up downstairs on the pool table, which was covered with a piece of plywood and a white table cloth over it.  On top were chafing dishes full of barbeque delights and side dishes. The dessert, a large sheet cake with an intricate photo of a cowboy sitting on a horse with the mountains in the background, sat on the main table upstairs, along with cookies and gourmet cupcakes. Under the horse’s hooves, it simply said, “Happy Birthday, Jason.”

Marie had spoken to Chris
, who was bringing Jason up to the ranch at seven. Caden had told Marie to expect Jason to stay over. Chris had to work the next day, so she would be leaving the party around ten. Marie wanted to know if Madeline, the girl Jason fancied, was going to be attending and staying over. Chris whispered, so that no one else could hear, that Madeline had moved away to Missoula to pursue her master’s degree. Marie felt bad for Jason; they had once talked about his feelings for Madeline, and Marie knew that her departure had probably been devastating to the cowboy. Chris assured her that there would be plenty of single women coming to the party to make Jason feel better.

The bedrooms were off limits and so was the theater. Caden had locked it, afraid that drunk cowboys would probably end up vomiting on the beautiful leather chairs. Marie secretly agreed with him
and was relieved that it would be one less room to clean in the morning. The area rugs were removed from the downstairs and placed in the theater, leaving the heated Italian tile exposed. The disc jockey set up in the corner and started playing country western music before the party even started.

Caden had slipped upstairs and was showering.  Since Marie had not been asked to attend
, nor given permission to stay, she planned to retire to her bedroom after welcoming Ona and her husband to the ranch.

“I can’t believe that you have to slink off
to your bedroom,” Ona remarked when she arrived around six-thirty.

“I’m not
Caden’s friend. I’m his employee, one which he didn’t really want.”

“But you’re Jason’s friend.”

“I’ll wish Jason a happy birthday sometime during the night. But you have fun,”

“This place doesn’t look that big from the outside
, but it’s very roomy, isn’t it?”

“Yes. It’s a lot to keep clean,” Marie moaned. “Well, I better scoot upstairs before he comes down.” She gave Ona a kiss on the cheek and started up the stairs but soon heard voices coming out of Caden’s bedroom.  At the top of the stairs, he was exiting with a beautiful woman in her late twenties. The woman was the spitting image of what Marie expected
“
Jolene”
of Dolly Parton fame would look like--auburn hair, intoxicating green eyes, and just the right curves. She was dressed appropriately in tight jeans and a plaid cowboy shirt tight enough that her breasts bubbled up into full view.

Caden had stopped to give the redhead a very sensual French kiss. It wasn’t meant for Marie’s view, so she stopped, unable to move forward without bringing attention to herself. His hand went around the woman’s ass and cupped it, pulling her into his groin. The curvaceous woman ground her hips int
o Caden’s,as he continued to give her several open mouth kisses.  Rather than continue downstairs, he pulled her back into the bedroom and shut the door. 

Once again
, Marie felt jealous and sick to her stomach. She was tired of having her emotions jerked around, and recently everything Caden said and did sent Marie on an emotional roller coaster.  She hurried into her bedroom and closed the door.

The woman was a screamer. She sounded like a badly acted porn movie.
  There were lots of, “Oh, God!” and “Oh Yeah” and “Harder, harder” followed by a howl of ecstasy that Marie was pretty sure was fake. In the meantime, Marie was curled up in a ball, wishing she was in California lying on a beach listening to the waves.

Sounds of
Caden and the woman exiting his bedroom could be heard. They continued down the stairs laughing and whispering to each other. Less than half an hour later there was a large cry from the partygoers as Jason made an appearance. Marie felt disappointed that she couldn’t be there to watch Jason’s grand entrance. Creeping to the top of the stairs, she listened to the crowd start up with a round of “Happy Birthday.” There was laughter and shouting, but Marie couldn’t make out what was being said. Frustrated, she went back into her bedroom and continued to read her book.

Two hours later
, she heard some arguing at the bottom of the steps. The voices were coming from Caden and Jason. Opening the door, their voices echoed in the foyer.

“Why are you being such an asshole? Why?  I don’t give a sh
it what you want. She’s my friend and I want her at my party,” Jason growled.

“This is my house and she’s not welcome. Damn it, Jason, I invited
all these people and you still want her to attend?”

Marie’s heart started pounding and her stomach began to turn.  They were arguing about her?

“Marie!” Jason yelled. “Come down here.  Marie!”

Opening the door
, she slowly walked to the top of the stairs in her nightgown, a cardigan pulled over it. Caden stomped off.

“Come here, Marie,
” Jason said gently.

Walking down the stairs, she folded the cardigan over her breasts and hugged herself.  “Jason, please don’t fight over me.  I’m fine upstairs.”

“At least come down and have a piece of cake.”

“
Fine, but I get the cake and take it back to my room, okay?” she said, as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Come here, darlin’,”
Jason said, as he put an arm around her shoulders. “That fucking asshole didn’t want to let you out of your cage. He’s starting to piss me off the way he treats you. I’m fixin’ to knock the shit out of him.”

They
walked into the great room, where there were only half a dozen people. Most of the people were downstairs. The music and the chatter on the lower floor was loud. Caden was in the kitchen by himself drinking whisky. One look at him and she knew he was drunk.

“Why are you down here? I didn’t
say you could attend the party,” he bellowed.

Marie quietly turned around to go back upstairs, but Jason yanked her arm in defiance to Caden.

“She’s staying.  I want her to have a piece of cake.”

“Why would you want this whore at your party?” Caden
sneered.

Jason started to
pull his fist back, but Marie grabbed his elbow. “No!” she cried out.

“Marie, don’t stop me. He’s had it coming for months.”

Chris walked in, and her smile immediately dropped when she saw the intensity of everyone’s demeanor.

“Maybe, but I don’t want you to fight over me,” Marie said.

“He called you a whore,” Jason reminded her.

Caden grabbed Marie’s upper arm and pushed her towards Jason. “Yo
u want her?  It’s your birthday. You can have her tonight. I’ll even pay for it.” He gave Marie another strong push, causing Marie to fly into Jason’s chest. “Don’t worry, she’s cheap. Three hundred bucks and you can do anything to her…well, I haven’t tried anal yet, but I bet for another hundred you can go through the back door.”

Jason lunged, but with Marie between the two men
, and Chris trying to hold him back, he was unable to get in a good swing. “You bastard!  How can say such a cruel thing about her?”

“You think I’m lying?”
Caden grinned sardonically. “Look at the whiteboard, asshole!  See all those negative three hundreds?  What do you think she did in one day that earned her three hundred bucks? Do you get it now?  I pay her to spread her legs, and then I climb on top of her and…”

The right cross landed squarely on his jaw
, sending a searing pain up to his skull. The world went black, and Caden Kelly hit the floor, out like a light. The small foot connected with Caden’s ribs several times before the others stopped the assault.

“Holy crap, Marie!  You have a solid hook and a mean foot!” Jason laughed
at the sight of a very bloody Caden coming to. Jason had his arms around Marie, holding her up off the floor, her legs flailing as she tried to get down and pummel Caden again. Jason put Marie over his shoulder and carried her upstairs to her bedroom. Once she was calm, he looked at her and shook his head. “Please tell me he was lying.” They both took seats on the edge of the bed.

Marie couldn’t look Jason in his eyes. “He’s not lying. I sleep with him for money. But you have to understand, Jason, I’m still in love with him. I’d sleep with him for free.”

“But Marie, he’s doing it to humiliate you.”

“I know. I know. But you were the one who said it would be better if I left. Each time I sleep with him, I’m
several days closer to leaving.”

The door burst open and a
scowling Caden flew into the room. Seeing them sitting on the edge of the bed, he pointed an accusatory finger. “So, this is how you both thank me?  You sneak off to screw?”

“What?” they both asked in unison.

“I’ve watched you two. You’re always laughing and talking…I bet you sneak off all the time to screw, don’t you?”

“Are you for real?” Jason asked. “Christ, Caden, you’re drunker than I thought. You are the sorriest man in Montana.
This beautiful, intelligent woman loves you more than she loves her own self-respect, and all you can think to do is grind her into the ground. If you could learn to forgive her, you’d probably be the happiest man in the world, but as it is, you’re pathetic. Now get out.”

Caden looked at Marie as if he was leaving the only thing in the world that mattered to him.
Turning, the door slammed behind him when he left.

“Marie, h
ow long is this going to go on?”