The Neighbor [The Complete Collection] (18 page)

—By all means, Luke said.

He hadn’t spoken a word to Janey since he’d gotten into the car. Janey wondered if he’d picked up on how jealous Ben had become after last night.

Ben got out of the car and came around to Janey’s door and opened it.

—Get out, he said.

Suzy had been right. It was getting chilly out there. Still in the little dress she’d been wearing since the night before, Janey wished she had a jacket or some jeans to pull on. She looked anxiously around the deserted parking lot. It really did look like the kind of place men would bring women to murder them.

—Ben, she said. What’s going on? Why are we here?

Ben looked her over as if assessing her appearance. He reached out and brushed a loose strand of hair from her face. It was the most affectionate thing he’d done for her in a long time.

—Thank you, she said.

—Follow me.

Janey tried to pull the short skirt of her dress down as far as she could and then hugged her bare arms for warmth as she followed Ben across the lot. The uneven surface made it difficult to walk in her heels. They were walking toward the public washrooms and Janey followed Ben around to the back of the little cabins. They couldn’t see the car now. They couldn’t see anyone, and no one could see them.

Janey shivered in the chilly evening air. How had she gotten herself into this situation? It was incredibly foolish. Ben was her husband but he’d also been acting erratically. He’d put her in hospital. She should have known better than to allow him to lead her here. This wasn’t safe. She felt the beginnings of a panic overtake her but she maintained her composure. Letting him know she was afraid wouldn’t do any good.

She thought of Henry Walden, the care and security and kindness he’d shown her. And what had she done? The first chance she got, she’d left him and the safety of the hospital to come find Ben. Now she was here, in a deserted parking lot in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and fields. Anything could happen.

Why had she come here with Ben? She knew the answer. It was because he was still her husband. Despite all the crazy things that had been going wrong in their relationship, his cheating with Suzy, handing her over to be used by Luke like a whore, her own unfaithfulness with Henry and his strange friend, despite all of that, Ben was still her husband. And she wasn’t ready to let go of that bond. Ben had been her life, her security, for five years. They’d been planning a future together. They wanted to start a family, to rise up in the world and find success, and they wanted to do that together. At least, Janey hoped they did. She didn’t know if she loved Ben, but she knew that she was his wife and that had to still count for something.

Ben took her hands in his. She wondered what he was going to say or do. So much had happened in the past few weeks that nothing would have surprised her. If she knew one thing, it was that anything was possible. Ben was holding her hands lovingly, at least she thought he was holding them lovingly, and she wondered what he was going to say to her. Was he going to apologize for everything that had happened? Was he going to commit to a new beginning, to starting over with her and trying to build the future they’d always dreamed of? She thought he was. He was standing there, her husband, holding her hands in his and looking into her eyes.

Is he still in there? she thought. Is the man I married still there?

Ben lifted her hands up to his mouth and kissed one and then the other, gently. Tears welled up in Janey’s eyes. Was this really happening? Was he coming back to her?

He took her hands and put them on the wall of the cabin. What was he doing? He maneuvered her so that she was facing the wall of the cabin with her hands splayed out on the wall in front of her. Then he spread her legs with his foot the way a police officer might do when arresting someone.

—Don’t move, Ben said.

Whatever it was in Ben’s voice told Janey that it really was over. The marriage she had known, the life she had known, was gone forever. Ben wasn’t coming back. Things weren’t going to be getting back to normal, not tonight and not ever. This was a new man and he wasn’t the man she’d fallen in love with.

From behind her, he reached under her skirt and took a hold of the lace g-string she’d been wearing since leaving the house the evening before. With a strong jerk, he ripped the little panty from her. It hurt. She was bare now, exposed completely.

—You are
my
wife, Janey.

—I know, she said quietly.

And then, for the second time that night, she felt the powerful smack of Ben’s firm hand on her rear. She couldn’t take this, not again. Tears began to pour down her face. The grief took hold of her. What was he doing? Why was he doing this? Again, his hard, firm hand rushed down and struck the tender cheeks of her bottom. Her poor bum was already raw from the spanking he’d given her earlier.

—Why are you doing this? she said between tears.

—Because I’m your husband. I’m your master and you’re supposed to obey me. You’re supposed to follow me through anything.

Again, the fierce slap of another smack on her pink, tender flesh.

—You’ve been disloyal, Janey. You slept with Luke and you enjoyed it. I know you did.

The spanking continued without any lessening or easing. She could almost feel the shape of Ben’s hand, the palm and each of his five, long fingers, as each slap landed on her bum. And again she began to feel the world she knew, the world she was comfortable in and accustomed to, disintegrate. All she could remember was her childhood, the feeling of helplessness and terror she’d experienced as a child when a man, her father, had taken control of her and done things he never should have done to her. He’d done things that no man ought to do to his child. She had buried those feelings and all her associated memories deep into the recesses of her mind. She’d put them in a chest and locked it and hidden the chest in a closet deep in her memory, somewhere she could no longer access it. But standing there, leaning against the wall of a public washroom at the back of some public parking lot, the cool night air chilling her, the fear, her legs spread, her bum and vagina bare, she went back to that dark part of her past.

—Please, Ben, she said.

—I am your
husband
, he said. I am your
master
.

Janey was crying. Her bottom felt as if it was on fire. Each slap sent a wave of pain and fear through her. Ben showed no sign of stopping. The humiliation of the spanking grew and grew until it utterly overcame her. She bent forward against the wall, holding her weight on her hands, almost as if to give Ben a better angle from which to spank her. She pushed out her bum, arched her back inward, and began to writhe with each hard smack.

—I’m yours, she said.

She didn’t know what she was doing. She’d been through so much that she didn’t think she knew anything anymore.

—What? Ben said, harshly.

—I’m yours, she said again, louder.

She could feel herself giving in to him. She didn’t know why she was doing it. It wasn’t because she still hoped to save her relationship. It wasn’t because she wanted to please him or make him happy with her. She didn’t care about that anymore. The only reason she was giving in was because she no longer had the strength to resist. She was capitulating, surrendering to his stronger will. If this was what he wanted, she would go along with it for no reason other than because he was stronger than she was and she didn’t feel she could fight back.

She could see the headlights of more cars entering the parking lot. Ben saw them too and stopped spanking her. At last, the pain had come to an end.

—Come with me, Ben said.

She struggled to follow him in her heels. He was rushing back toward the car and she hobbled after him. Her bum was stinging but the cool, night air soothed it.

—Hurry, Ben said back to her, harshly.

She crossed the parking lot after him. She could see that there were quite a few cars in the lot now. She counted six of them. They’d parked in a circle, all facing inward toward Ben’s car, their headlights shining toward the front of Ben’s car. It looked like they were creating a place for some ritual to occur, or worse, a stage for some sort of show.

When they reached the car, Janey could tell that the way the other cars were positioned, they were expecting something from her and Suzy. Ben’s car was facing the other six, which formed a semi-circular around it. Their lights were all on, shining on Ben’s car. She couldn’t see who was in the other cars. Their engines were off and it seemed that men were inside, sitting their, waiting to watch whatever was going to happen.

—Get over here, Ben said to her.

He was at Suzy’s door. He opened it and Suzy climbed out of the seat. She looked a little like a movie star stepping out of a limo with all the lights that were shining at them. She shielded her eyes the way Janey had seen actresses do a million times as they stepped out of their limos, onto the red carpet.

Suzy was still in her office clothes from work. She didn’t exactly match Janey in her little black dress. Suzy hugged herself against the cold the way Janey was doing. At least she was wearing tights, Janey thought. The cool air was rushing up around the inside of her skirt. Her bare legs had no protection at all. She shivered.

Luke was out of the car too. The two husbands huddled around Suzy and Janey.

—Take off those tights, Luke said to Suzy.

Suzy kicked off her shoes and bent down to pull off her tights. She sat on the car seat while she did it.

—What’s going on? Janey said.

—You haven’t explained to her? Luke said to Ben.

—You’ll see, Ben said.

Suzy slipped her black heels back on. She was wearing a gray pencil skirt and a white blouse.

—Ok, Luke said. Time to fasten you.

Janey had no idea what was going on but she’d given up trying to control or understand the situation. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen. She’d lost the will to resist it any longer. If she could go back in time to the night she’d first found out Ben was having an affair, if she could have done everything differently since that night, she would have. But that wasn’t an option. She was where she was and there was nothing she could do about it now.

Luke was holding a long, black leather leash, about three yards in length. Suzy leaned in to him and allowed him to fasten one end of it to the metal ring that clasped her collar. Then he looked at Janey as if she was supposed to know what was expected of her. She leaned in to him and allowed him to clasp the other end of the leash to her collar. She was now attached by a leash to Suzy. Ben and Luke looked their two wives over.

Then Luke said, —Ok, show time.

Janey didn’t know what to expect. She understood that she and Suzy were going to be used for some sort of a display but she had no idea what it was going to be or how it was going to happen.

Luke led her and Suzy from the center of the leash. He pulled them around to the front of the car and they had no choice but to follow. They were illuminated by the flood of light from the six other cars that were pointing at them. Janey shielded her eyes and tried to see who was in the cars but she couldn’t. The light in her eyes was too bright.

—Don’t worry, Suzy said into her ear. This will all be over before you know it.

Janey said nothing. She just stood there, feeling awkward in all the light, the collar on her neck connecting her to Suzy.

Then Luke came over to Suzy and began unbuttoning her blouse. Ben got behind Janey and unzipped the back of her dress. She breathed in in surprise. She’d had no idea this sort of thing existed, men gathered in a public parking lot by the side of the highway, showing off their wives. It seemed to be some sort of club. How else did these men know where and when to show up? She allowed Ben to take her arms out of the dress and it fell to the ground. She stepped out of it and stood still as Ben unclasped the back of her bra. When the bra had fallen to the ground she was entirely naked, apart for the black heels she was still wearing. She felt like a pole dancer being shown off to the crowd. She strained again to see into the windshields of the cars but still couldn’t see inside clearly. Her eyes were adjusting to the light though, and she thought she could see that there was a man in each car, sitting in the driving seat, watching the display.

She looked over at Suzy. Luke had taken off her blouse and skirt and she was standing there in her heels. She still had on her underwear, a matching set of black lace panties and bra with pink trim.

—Get up on the hood, Ben said.

Janey did as she was told. There was no point putting up a fight. She put her foot on the front bumper and climbed up onto the hood. She looked back over her shoulder. Ben and Luke were admiring the view she presented. She was on her hands and knees and the men in the cars had a perfect view of her sore, red, tender ass. Ben reached out and spread open her butt cheeks, displaying her anus and pussy to the men in the cars.

She looked at Suzy. Luke had finished stripping her and she was now naked too. She climbed up next to Janey. The two of them were on their hands and knees, their backs to the audience, wearing nothing but black pumps. Luke held Suzy’s butt cheeks open for the audience too.

—That’s right, Ben said. Wiggle those butts for us.

They both wiggled their butts left and right. The cold air soothed Janey’s poor, tender flesh. She looked back over her shoulder and Luke and Ben were staring into the bright lights of the cars, presenting their two wives as if they were circus animals. Then she heard a car door slam. One of the men from the cars had gotten out and was walking over to enjoy the show from closer. He was followed by the five other drivers. There was now a small audience ganged around the front of the car, watching every move the two girls made. She could hear them breathing. The steam from their breaths in the cold air formed a fog around them.

—Have a touch, boys, she heard Ben say.

Immediately she felt cold hands all over her. One man was fondling a breast, another was rubbing the sore flesh on her butt.