“A little. I’ve never been with a man before. I do not want to do something wrong.”
“You can’t do it wrong. There’s just no possible way. And Justin being the man he is will take control. Follow his lead, he’ll sort you out. However…” She leans in closer, lowering her voice further, which I am grateful for. I don’t know why but I only feel comfortable talking to Lindsey about these intimate things. “Get on birth control as soon as possible. So much better without a condom unless you want some little Cunninghams running around.”
The moment the possibility leaves her mouth, images flash through my mind in slow motion.
A child.
Dark-haired boy.
With brown eyes and a heart just like his father.
“Perhaps someday.”
“Then talk to him about it.” Lindsey takes a sip of her wine.
I’ve lost count of how many glasses she’s had but there are three empty bottles on the table already and all the girls are sporting rosy cheeks and there is mirth in the air.
“I’m not ready for kids either. I’m too busy having fun,” she says, raising her glass to her husband who stands talking to the guys a few feet away.
“How long have you and your husband been together?”
“Five years. Married last spring.” She takes another sip.
“How did you meet?”
A mischievous grin tugs at her red lips. “He arrested me.”
I gasp. “Arrested you?”
She nods.
“What on earth for?”
Dropping her voice to barely a whisper, she confesses, “I’m a voyeur. I like to watch people having sex.”
Shock and confusion wash over me but what is even more surprising is the lick of desire I feel, too. To watch someone in such an intimate act, in the throes of pleasure. I squirm in my seat, curious to hear more.
“Ah, that curls your toes too, huh?”
My cheeks flush. I’ll admit the thought is enough to evoke desire but I’m not sure how I would feel about invading someone’s privacy like that.
“So what happened was, my neighbors were like rabbits. They had sex all the time and they weren’t shy about it. I’d watched them fuck in the pool. On the balcony. Through their windows at night. I became obsessed with watching them. And I didn’t see the harm in it. I mean, they were the ones doing their business for me to see, why can’t I look? But one Saturday night, I went too far. I hadn’t seen them in days. Every time I glanced over with my high power lens telescope they had the drapes drawn and the windows closed. So I snuck around back, through their gate, and peeked inside a window. And there they were right there, fucking in the living room. He had her leg pinned back, slamming inside of her so hard and so fast, I couldn’t help but put my hand down my pants and watch. I couldn’t control myself. In my own lonely existence, I’d been reduced to fingering myself while I watched my neighbors get nasty. I was so pathetic. Well, little did I know, they had a dog. A little ankle biter that I’d never even noticed or seen before. The fucker attacked my legs and they caught me wet handed, as Larson likes to affectionately say.”
She smiles wickedly.
“They called the police and he was the one who showed up. He took me into custody. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I didn’t want to have to call my parents or my sister to come bail me out of jail because I’d been caught peeping into my neighbor’s window. I begged him not to take me in. Even offered sexual favors but he wasn’t having it. That badge on his chest wouldn’t allow it. He took me in and booked me, and nine hours later, he bailed me out.”
“What?”
“Shocked the shit out of me, too. He talked my neighbors into not pressing charges and somehow, magically, it never showed up on my record. I didn’t go without punishment.” Her smile grows wider. “He made me pay for what I did.” Her gaze shifts over to him. “I’m still paying to this day.”
I swallow thickly, nearly on the edge of my seat with anticipation. “How does he make you pay?”
“See that belt he’s wearing?”
I nod slowly, glancing at the thick leather belt holding up his faded blue jeans.
“He whips me with it.”
