Afterparty: The Complete Series: Open Relationships Aren't For Everyone... (3 page)

William nonchalantly tugged up his jeans, slipping his phone in his pocket. He reached for her wrists. She raised them obediently and the sight of her, kneeling on the bed, face and hair a glorious mess, hands raised in near-supplication, made him want to push her back, shove open her legs, and bang her again, this time letting her scream. 

Instead he unwound his sweater from her wrists, shook it out, and pulled it over his head. She slowly replaced her bra, clasped it, started to button up her shirt. 

"There's a bathroom at the end of the hall," William said. "Check yourself over before you come down."

She nodded, not looking at him.

"Call me in a few days."

He turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him. 

William confidently trotted down the stairs. They'd been gone about 45 minutes. The makeup and effects crew were still dancing in the middle of the room. He could see through the living room windows that the producers and the friends of the film had gone outside, to the porch, probably to smoke. Music thumped and laughter and chatter swirled through the room. 

He looked around. Olivia and Aaron were gone. He wondered where Olivia had taken him. Possibly to their van. They had a comfy mattress back there, and some blankets, and the night was mild for late October.

A moment later Catelyn appeared at his elbow. She'd smoothed her hair, fixed her eye makeup. Her lips still looked puffy and swollen and pink, and it was hard to not take her chin and kiss her again. 

"Hey there," he said casually.

She could hardly look at him. 

"Now now. You had fun, didn't you?" He turned to her, and against his intentions to play it cool, he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and gently tilted her head up to look at him. "I know you did," he whispered.

She blushed deeply. "You... you know I did," she stuttered.

He grinned. "You're so cute when you're nervous."

She gulped and he wondered if he'd made a miscalculation. 

She was pretty, that was the first thing he'd noticed about her. Married, and as far as he could tell, happily so. That was the second. During the shoot she'd proven to be very good at her job, which increased her attractiveness. 

He'd talked her over with his wife Olivia. Catelyn had seemed like a safe bet to add to his extracurricular activities: stable, sane, married, safe, unlikely to affect his marriage. William had introduced Olivia to Catelyn's husband Aaron and Olivia had found a mutual attraction there as well, and thus the set-up was fair.

But this... this shy skittishness, this anxiety following her complete surrender to him... it was starting to undo him at the knees...

"So, relax. You had fun, I had fun. We should enjoy ourselves, yes? Besides, the next shoot's scheduled to start in a week and then we'll both be so busy again that neither of us will have time to breathe."

She seemed to relax a little at that. 

"You're right, of course."

He nodded. "Never forget that." He tapped his chest. "William is always right."

She laughed, and he felt the uncertainty dissipate, felt them become friends again.

"I think I'm going to call it a night," William said. 

"If I can find Aaron I think I'm going to do the same." The last word half-vanished in an enormous yawn.

"Let me see if I can find him." William led Catelyn around the staircase to a small ottoman, sat her on it, then gestured for her to remain. "I'll be right back. Stay put."

She didn't argue. She leaned her head against the wall behind her and nodded. 

William headed outside, past the producers and friends of the film, who were passing around a couple of blunts. One of them raised one in offer to him but he shook his head.

His van was parked around the corner of the house and he found Olivia and Aaron sitting in it, the back doors open, the two of them dangling their legs over the bumper. They were chatting softly.

"Hey there."

Aaron looked at him a little guiltily. William shook a stern finger at Olivia. "Come on now. You told him our deal, yes?"

Olivia tilted her head at Aaron. "See? I told you. William took your wife upstairs while I brought you out here. Fair is fair so all is well, yes?"

Aaron shrugged. "I suppose. I mean, if you guys are OK with it..."

"We are," William said firmly. "Assuming I can see Catelyn again."

Aaron raised his eyes to William. "She wants to?"

"I think so. Right now, though, you should take her home."

Aaron looked at Olivia, and William turned back toward the house. "I'll let her know you're out here," he said as he walked away. 

William found Catelyn where he'd left her. She was sound asleep, snoring softly, a strand of hair in front of her face. With each exhale, the hair floated up a little. 

He considered shaking her awake, then decided instead to slide his arms around her and pick her up, as though she were a sleeping child. She kept sleeping while he carried her over the threshold, past the producers, who saw this and chuckled softly. 

"Our still photographer's all tuckered out," Barnaby laughed. 

"Goodnight everyone," William whispered, and to a chorus of muted "Goodnight"s, he carried Catelyn to her car. 

Aaron unlocked it with his fob when he saw William approach. 

"You could have woken her," he said, opening the passenger door so William could lower her in. "She's kinda heavy."

"Much heavier than she looks," William agreed. He positioned her carefully, then clicked her seatbelt on for her. 

"You drive safe, alright?"

Aaron nodded, then looked at William. "I'd like to see Olivia again," he said, and his tone had a hint of a challenge to it.

William had run into this in the past and he merely nodded. Olivia was devoted to him; he wasn't worried about Aaron whisking her away, and he had no intention of whisking Catelyn away. A lot of newbies to their lifestyle had difficulty grasping this. Aaron would get it eventually. 

"If she would like to see you, you're more than welcome to," William said. 

"She does," Aaron said.

"I'm glad to hear it. Catelyn knows she's welcome to call me if she likes."

Aaron looked at his sleeping wife through the car windshield. 

"If you're stepping away from convention, remember that she has just as much right to do the same," William said softly. 

Aaron shook his head. "Of course she does. Of course."

William stuck out his hand. "It was a pleasure working with you. I look forward to seeing you on set in a week's time."

Aaron looked at William's hand for the briefest of moments, then extended his own hand and shook William's firmly. "Of course. Drive safe."

"You too."

The men turned from each other. William walked to his van. Olivia was already inside, in the passenger seat.

William settled into the driver's seat and turned the key. 

"So," Olivia said.

"So," William said.

"Aaron is a nice guy," Olivia said. "Eager to please."

"Is that so?" William put the van in reverse. Aaron and Catelyn's car was heading down the driveway. He turned the van to follow them.

"He was so nervous. He really thought I was cheating on you. He had some trouble with the idea."

William smiled, keeping his eyes on the road. "You had fun?"

Olivia nodded. "I did. I think I could have a great deal of fun with him. He was very sweet." She paused. "Considerate. Thoughtful. I would like him to be a little rougher next time, and I think he's up for it."

"That's good."

"And you? You look... you look quite happy."

"She was much more submissive than I would have expected." He took the turn to the main highway, going in the opposite direction that Aaron and Catelyn had taken. 

"That's good?"

William smiled. "We had fun."

They drove in silence for awhile. 

"So Barnaby and Janet are putting together the same crew for the next film?"

"Yes. We're very lucky; all of us at the party got hired on for the next one. We've got the week off, then it's back to 12 hour days."

Olivia sighed. "It's hard, but that week off will help. We'll take a nice break."

A companionable silence followed. By the time William took the next turn, Olivia had fallen asleep.

Aaron woke Catelyn once they arrived at the house. She sat up and looked around with confusion.

"You fell asleep at Barnaby and Janet's," Aaron said. 

"Did you carry me to the car or something?" Catelyn unbuckled herself and stretched. Her muscles felt pleasantly loose and relaxed. 

"William did."

A hot flush raced over her face at mention of his name. "Oh. That was nice of him."

"He said you were pretty heavy."

She laughed, and the tension in the air eased a little.

Catelyn hesitated for a moment, then said, "William told me that you were with Olivia."

Aaron nodded. "That's right. You have a problem with that?"

Whatever tension had eased returned immediately.

She looked at him, surprised and hurt, and he registered it. "Sorry. I just..."

"Don't be," she said curtly. "Let's go inside, I'm exhausted."

He nodded, got out of the car, and went to unlock the door. 

Catelyn followed. Once in the mudroom, they both kicked off their shoes, hung their jackets, and headed directly up the stairs to the bedroom.

"You want to shower?"

"You go first." Catelyn hunted through the piles of laundry for her pyjamas. 

The house was a disaster. They'd been working six day weeks and twelve hour days and that did not leave much time for housekeeping. Catelyn was considering hiring a maid. Or perhaps selling the house and moving into an RV. What was the point in having a home if you were never there?

Aaron stripped down, tossed everything into the laundry pile on the floor, and headed into the shower. Catelyn smelled unfamiliar perfume, expensive and sweet. Olivia, she supposed. She felt a remarkable absence of jealousy.

She and Aaron weren't on the best of terms, hadn't been for a few months, but when they had to work, they worked well together. Hectic film schedules left very little time for petty arguments and squabbles.

While the taps ran in the bathroom, Catelyn sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her face. What the fuck had just happened? She liked William, thought he was good-looking, he was tall and dark haired and light eyed and stubbled, and extremely competent, which was an underrated attractive trait... had she really just had sex with him, and had William's wife Olivia really just had sex with Aaron? It felt dream-like, unreal.

She rose, wobbled a bit, and stripped out of her button-down shirt and jeans, dropping the dirty clothes on the floor that had become their laundry hamper. She caught sight of herself in the mirror, saw faint dusky prints appearing on her hips and thighs. Bruises. Bruises from William's hands, from where he'd hung onto her hips while he brutally banged her...

She swallowed at the memory. She could smell him on her skin, faint smells of cologne and beer and soap and his body, could smell his come from the warmth rising from between her legs...

She examined herself in the full-length bedroom mirror. There were scratches on her arms, little bite marks near her throat, on her shoulders. A suck mark on her left breast. 

Her fingertips trailed over these marks, and she shivered.

The shower shut off. Catelyn looked around for a robe, not wanting Aaron to see all the marks William had left. She didn't know why she felt guilty; Aaron had just had his own romp with Olivia. No need to feel bad, tit for tat and all that, right? 

Aaron emerged from the shower, towel around his waist, before Catelyn could cover up. He looked his wife over, eyes lingering on the bruises, the scratches. 

"Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head. "I need to shower."

He caught her arm as she went past. "Tell me."

She raised her eyes to his. "He didn't hurt me. At all." Her gaze softened. "It was good." She looked him over. He had a few scratches on his back. "Was your... did you..."

"It was good," Aaron said, and Catelyn sighed. 

"Alright. Now I'm going to shower."

She gently disengaged her arm from his grip, stepped into the bathroom, shut the door.

The hot water was a welcome rush of warmth. The nights were definitely getting much colder. 

Smells bloomed on her skin under the shower spray. Catelyn breathed deeply, eyes closed, letting water rinse over her, not lathering up yet.

It was like William was in the shower with her, she could smell him that clearly, musk and sweat, his come mingled with hers. 

She slipped a hand between her legs. The flesh there was tender, a bit bruised. He'd been so rough with her. She was swollen and puffy, her labia flooded with blood, her clit full and ready again. Just the smell of him made her want him again.

Catelyn showered quickly, scrubbing him away, wincing from time to time when she hit a tender spot, and after awhile she didn't smell him anymore. 

When she got out and headed to the bedroom she found Aaron already in bed, fast asleep. Olivia must have tuckered him out, she thought.

She crawled in next to him, planted a kiss on his shoulder, curled up close to him.

She thought she'd be asleep in seconds.

She wasn't.

She lay and thought about William, thought about what they'd done, what they'd do next time they saw each other.

Call me in a few days, he'd said. 

She thought about her plans for the next day. Edit her photos, run about fifty loads of laundry, vacuum. Aaron was heading into the studio to take a look at the rough cuts. She was going to be doing grunt work at the house. 

Maybe William would be free. 

She would call him in the morning, she decided.

With that decision, she fell asleep.

William and Olivia arrived at their home. Olivia slipped out of the passenger side and yawned widely. 

"He did a number on you," William laughed, and she smiled sleepily at him. 

"I'm heading straight to bed," she said, stretching.