Chapter 1

“You made a fool of me ... But them broken dreams have got to end... “Hey, woman, you got the blues; ‘Cause you ain’t got no one else to use...”

I hit the button on the radio, changing to one of those all-night talk shows that ramble on about seeing Bigfoot or UFOs. I had heard that same song repeatedly in the last few hours and I was sick of hearing it. Why, you ask. Simple – it reminded me too much of the woman I walked away from. I take that back. I didn’t walk – I RAN!

Let me start from the beginning. My name is Stan Shipman and for the last five years, I’ve been married to Lucy, formerly Lucy Dalton. We were sweethearts in high school and I thought we were soul mates. We married right out of high school – yeah, a big mistake, I know. But we were so much in love with each other we thought we could make an honest go of it. Boy, was I wrong.

Money wasn’t an issue. I’m a welder by trade, been doing it since I was a kid. My dad was a welder and he taught me everything I needed to know. I’ve been putting metal together since I was big enough to handle a welder safely. I always wanted to join my dad on job sites when I was younger, but couldn’t – union rules and insurance regulations prevented it.

But my dad did fabrication at home on the side and he was always giving me stuff to do. It was a great learning experience for me and I enjoyed doing it. I went to school for welding after I graduated from high school, but got bored with the classes since I already knew all this shit, so I tested out, blowing all the instructors away.

I got my certificate and went straight to work. Because I already had lots of experience and could do fabrication and fitting in addition to welding, I got paid good money, especially when I had to travel for big jobs out of state. I even did underwater welding and made a ton of money doing that. I made enough to put Lucy through college and now she’s a paralegal working for some hotshot law firm downtown.

So why am I running? And why am I now on the freeway in the middle of the night? The answer to that is the two-legged creature I married and her evil “friend.” Oh yeah, Lucy was all sweetness and light when we were younger. But things have a way of changing, and they did.

Don’t get me wrong. I loved the woman, and I was more than happy to pay for her college. Her parents were convinced I’d have to go into hock up to my neck to make it happen. They underestimated me, though, big time. They were just as proud of me as they were of her the day she graduated. Better yet, she graduated without having a dime of student debt to pay back, thanks to me.

But things went to shit after she started working for the law firm of McMaster and Fredricks. The first couple months were okay, but as time went on, they got worse.

To start with, some of her female colleagues were, for lack of a better phrase, a bad influence on her. Lucy began going out with them for “girls night out” once a week – usually on Wednesday nights. I didn’t mind at first, since she was normally home early enough for us to enjoy the evening together and I was frequently away on a job site busting my ass.

But as time went on, she started going out Wednesday AND Friday nights. What pissed me off was that Fridays used to be our date night. When I reminded Lucy, her response was, “We can always go out on Saturdays. I deserve this time with friends.”

Then she started staying out later and later. It got to the point that she was out until early Saturday morning. If I tried calling her number to see if she was alright, the call always went to voicemail. I finally had had enough and sat her down to talk about it.

“We need to talk,” I said one Saturday morning over coffee.

“About what?” she asked.

“These Friday night parties of yours,” I said. “Friday used to be our date nights. But lately, you’ve been out until nearly 4:00 am Saturday mornings. What the hell’s going on? I hardly ever see you anymore.”

“The girls from the office and I like to go out and unwind with a few drinks,” she said. “And sometimes we dance. That’s all.”

“I know those clubs are usually closed by 1:00 am at the latest,” I told her. “But you’ve been out a lot later than that. What’s going on? Are you seeing someone else?”

“Of course not,” she said with a heavy sigh. “If you really must know, we sometimes go get a bite to eat afterward.”

“Yeah, but until 4:00 am?” I asked.

“Sometimes,” Lucy said.

“Well, this shit needs to stop,” I told her. “You have to make a decision. You’re either my wife or their friend. They already see you more than I do. I didn’t mind one night with the girls, but I feel like you’re taking advantage of me.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “If you want, I’ll stop going out with the girls on Fridays.”

“I think that would be a good idea,” I said. “That way we can maybe spend some time together.” She nodded her head in agreement and went to take a shower. I took the opportunity to grab her phone out of her purse and installed a phone finder app so I could keep track of where she was. Part of me hated doing it, but I felt as though I needed to, just for my own peace of mind.

Things were okay for a few weeks, but Lucy went right back into her old habits and soon, she was right back to going out on Wednesday and Friday nights. I had to find out what the hell was going on, so I fired up the phone finder app and figured out where she was.

After I got off work that Friday, I cleaned up a bit, then headed to the club where she and her friends were. It wasn’t really much of a club, more like a bar with a DJ and a dance floor. I walked in and spotted her right off, sitting with a group of about four women and three men. I noticed that Lucy was pretty chummy with one guy sitting next to her. Too chummy, if you know what I mean. I also noticed she was wearing something much sexier than she had put on that morning.

They were completely oblivious to my presence until I was right at their table. Everyone but Lucy looked up at me and the guy next to her spoke up.

“What do you want?” he asked, putting on an attitude as if he was going to kick my ass.

“I just got off work and thought I’d get a beer,” I said, causing Lucy to look up at me, surprised. “So here I walk into this bar and look what I find. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?” Lucy looked around, nervous. She was obviously embarrassed.

“Everybody,” she said. “This is Stan. He’s my husband,” she added as an afterthought. “Stan, this is everybody.”

“Well hello, everybody,” I said sarcastically. I saw that she wasn’t wearing her wedding or engagement rings. “Did you happen to forget something?” She saw that I was looking at her left hand.

“I, uh, took my rings off so I wouldn’t lose them,” she said. Bullshit, I thought to myself. But I decided not to push it.

“I see,” I said. The guy next to her stood up and puffed out his chest. He offered a hand so I took it.

“Jake,” he said. “Jake Rollins. Lucy and I work together. A lot,” he added with a smirk. The others chuckled a bit, except for Lucy. He squeezed my hand in a vain attempt to intimidate me and establish himself as the alpha male. He wasn’t able to, so I returned the squeeze and did my best to crush his soft, effeminate hand in mine. I could see he was in pain, so I let up. “I was just gonna ask your wife to dance, if that’s alright,” he said, rubbing his hand. I looked at Lucy.

“Is that right?” I asked her. She looked at me and slowly nodded her head. I thought this might be a chance to get some insight into what was really going on so I nodded my head and gave him permission.

“Yeah,” I said. “Just watch your hands. And know that’s MY wife and I WILL be watching you.” He nodded his head as Lucy scooted out of her seat. After she was up, I sat in the seat formerly occupied by Jake and ordered a beer. Most of the others had already left for parts unknown.

“You don’t own her, you know,” the girl next to me said as I waited for my beer.

“And you are?” I asked.

“Marie,” she said. “Marie Compton. I’ve been mentoring Lucy a bit. You know, show her the ropes, that kind of thing.”

“So, Marie, Marie Compton,” I said, taking a jab at the way she and Jake introduced themselves. “Who are you that I need to take marriage advise from?”

“I’m Lucy’s friend, and like I said, I’m mentoring her,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. “The partners like her work and they have big plans for her.” I didn’t like her smug attitude and wondered what kind of bullshit she’s feeding Lucy.

“Well, Marie,” I said. “I never said I owned Lucy, but I AM her husband. If there’s something going on that’s interfering with our marriage, I need to know about it.”

“The truth is, Stan, Lucy needs to expand her horizons a bit,” Marie said. “All she’s ever known is college and you. She needs to, you know, spread her wings a little.”

“Broaden her horizons and spread her wings, huh?” I asked. “Anything else she needs to spread? Like maybe her legs?”

“There’s no need to be crude,” Marie said. “But since you mention it, yes, maybe she needs to experience other things. Of course, you’ll benefit in the long run.”

“Oh? How?” I asked.

“Well, maybe she’ll learn a thing or two that she can bring home to you,” Marie said with a smile. “After all, you’re probably getting some on the side when you go away for jobs, aren’t you?”

“No, Marie, I don’t,” I said. “I go to work, I bust my ass, I put in my hours, get paid, then come home. I love Lucy and I’d never do anything to hurt her or put my marriage in jeopardy.”

“Well maybe it’s you who needs to broaden your horizons a bit,” she said with a smirk.

“I take my wedding vows very seriously,” I said. “And I trust Lucy to do the same. I don’t see any rings on your finger. Have you ever been married?”

“A couple times, actually,” she said.

“Let me guess, your husbands caught you cheating on them, didn’t they?” I asked. She shrugged her shoulders.

“Yeah, so?” she said. “No one owns me. I do what I want with whomever I want.”

“Well, Lucy’s taken, and I expect you to respect that,” I said. She chuckled.

“Yeah, you keep right on thinking that,” she said. By then, Jake and Lucy returned from the dance floor. I stood up to let Lucy sit between me and Marie. I sat down, keeping Jake from sitting next to her. He didn’t look too happy but I didn’t really give a shit.

“So, Lucy tells me you’re a welder,” Jake said. “What do welders make these days? $15.00 an hour?”

“Actually, I make over $35.00 an hour,” I said. “More if I have to work underwater. Didn’t Lucy tell you I paid her way through college?”

“You’re paying her student loan, then?” he asked.

“No, she has no student loan because I paid her way,” I told him. “I also bought that new Toyota for her.”

“Damn, I didn’t know welders made that much,” he said. “I’m in the wrong racket. I bet you get lots of women on the side when you go out of town, huh?” he asked, poking me with his elbow.

“No, I work when I go out of town,” I said. “I typically work 16 hours a day when I’m on a job site. Like I told Marie, I take my wedding vows very seriously.”

“I’m sure you do,” Jake said smugly. I didn’t like the direction this was going and these people were beginning to royally piss me the fuck off. I turned to my wife.

“Did you drive here tonight?” I asked her.

“Yes,” she said.

“Good,” I told her. “Because I’ve had about as much fun as I can stand here tonight. I’m going home. I expect to see you close behind me.” I started to get up and “accidentally” knocked my nearly-full ice-cold beer into Jake’s lap, coating the crotch of his khaki trousers.

“Oops,” I said. “Sorry about that. Guess you’d better get home and change your britches.” He jumped up, furious and looked like he was going to take a swing.

“You’d better make it count, pal,” I told him. “Because I WILL put your dick in the dirt when I get up.” He saw the look in my eyes and backed down. “Smart move,” I told him. I turned back to my wife. “You coming?”

“I’m right behind you,” she said quietly. I noticed the look Marie was giving me. Believe me, if looks could kill, I would probably already be dead. I headed out the door, not looking behind me.

Lucy pulled into the driveway a few minutes after I did. Good for her, I thought. I grabbed a beer from the fridge and waited for her in the living room. She stormed in, her face red.

“What the hell was that all about?” she demanded. “You embarrassed the hell out of me!”

“I embarrassed you?” I asked rhetorically.

“Are you following me or something?” she asked. I shook my head.

“No, I was actually just looking to grab a beer and I was surprised to see you there with your friends from work,” I said, realizing that I had just lied to her for the first time since I had known her. “If anyone had any reason to be embarrassed, it was me. Imagine what went through my head when I saw my wife, the love of my life and my best friend in the world sitting there with some pussy hound acting like a giddy school girl. Then imagine how I felt when I saw you had removed your wedding ring. It was like you were embarrassed to admit you’re married to me. Is that it?” Her face softened and she sat down next to me.

“Of course not,” she said. “It’s just that I have to work with these people and Jake is the attorney I work with the most.”

“And Marie?” I asked. “What’s her role?”

“She’s higher up in the food chain than I am,” Lucy said. “She’s been mentoring me, showing me the ropes.”

“Does that include marital advise?” I asked her.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Well, while you and Jake were dancing, she was telling me a bunch of crap about how you need to broaden your horizons and spread your wings,” I said. “I asked if that meant spreading your legs as well, and she all but admitted you had and would going forward. Be honest with me. Have you cheated on me?”

“No, I haven’t,” she said, looking down. For some reason she couldn’t look me in the eye. Was she lying to me?

“I hope not. Because you know that’s the one thing I could never forgive,” I told her.

“Well, Marie has said it’s possible you’re getting some while you’re gone,” Lucy said. “Are you?”

“No,” I told her. “We’ve known each other, what, since the sixth grade. Have you ever known me to be unfaithful to you, ever?” She shook her head.

“No,” she said quietly.

“I have never cheated on you and I never intend to,” I said. “I love you too much to disrespect and hurt you like that. Besides, when I’m gone, I’m too busy working. I wasn’t kidding when I told Jake I often work 16 hours a day.”

“I know,” she said. “I’ve seen your pay stubs.”

“There you go,” I told her. “What do you think put you through college, bought you that new car out there, kept you in nice clothes all that time? That’s on top of paying our normal bills. You know, I’ve been saving up to put a nice down payment on a house. So you can tell Marie to shove her bullshit up her ass and shut the fuck up about things she knows nothing about.”

“You didn’t care for her much, did you?” Lucy asked.

“No, not at all,” I said. “I don’t like the bullshit she’s been feeding you. Same with Jake. I don’t trust either one of them. You know she’s been divorced twice? For cheating?” Lucy looked at me, shocked.

“How do you know that?” she asked.

“She told me,” I said. “Seemed awful proud of it, too. I get the feeling the two of them are up to something and they intend to bring you down with them. You haven’t done anything wrong, have you?”

“No, Stan, I haven’t,” she said. “It’s just...”

“Just what?” I asked her.

“I enjoy going out with them,” she told me.

“Well, I enjoy going out with you as well,” I told her. “Think you could start spending some time with your husband?”

“Of course,” she said, wrapping her arms around my neck. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay,” I told her. “You know there’s only three things I’ve ever wanted in life.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“First, to be married to you,” I said. “The second, to be the best welder around, and the third, to have a family with you.” She smiled as she snuggled in closer to me.

“Well, you got the first two,” she said. “Wanna work on the third?” It was my turn to smile.

“Let’s go,” I said. We ran into the master bedroom and spent the rest of the night making love. Things seemed to settle down for another couple months. Lucy stayed home on Fridays and I made a special effort to be more attentive and loving. I purposefully didn’t mention Marie or Jake again since I trusted Lucy to do the right thing. Then it happened...

I came home one Friday night and found the house dark except for some lit candles on the dining room table. I could smell lasagna from the kitchen and figured Lucy had something special planned out. I went into the dining room and saw she had our best china set on the table. When I turned around, I saw her – my lovely wife, wearing one of the shortest dresses I had ever seen.

I loved looking at her legs, and she knew it, so she had chosen a dress that made sure I got a good view of her best features. The front of the dress was little more than two panels that barely covered her B-cup breasts. The dress was completely backless. She came to me and wrapped her arms around me, giving me a deep tongue kiss. Tonight was already looking good.

“Do you like what you see?” she asked. I nodded my head.

“Oh yeah,” I said, taking in her lovely form.

“I’m glad,” she said. “Tonight’s going to be very special.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“It’s a surprise,” she said. “Go get cleaned up, then take a seat while I get dinner.” I went into the master bedroom and cleaned up, changing out of my work clothes. By the time I had got washed up and back into the dining room, Lucy had the lasagna served up and had even poured us each a glass of wine. I loved Lucy’s cooking, and I especially enjoyed her lasagna, which was always dripping with cheese and filled with meat and mushrooms.

“I don’t know which is more tempting, you or the lasagna,” I said when I sat down. She giggled as she sat down.

“Well, I hope you enjoy both tonight,” she said with a smile. I dug into my lasagna and it was delicious, as always. I took a few sips of my wine, not wanting to get too buzzed for the sex I knew would be coming later.

After I finished everything, I found myself feeling just a bit strange. I tried to stand up, but I was so dizzy I nearly fell down. I looked at Lucy, confused. What had she done, I asked myself. I tried to speak, but found it very difficult.

“Wha...” I began, but the next thing I knew, I was falling to the floor.

When I finally came around, I found myself naked, secured to a chair in our bedroom. My arms were zip-tied to the arms of the chair and my legs were similarly zip-tied. There was a contraption around my waist and my cock was stuck inside a strange-looking tube. What the hell was this, I asked myself. I was royally pissed off and yelled out.

“LUCY!” I shouted. “What the FUCK is going on?” A few moments later, Lucy walked into the bedroom, but she wasn’t alone. Marie was with her. “What kind of bullshit is this?” I asked. “Get me the fuck outta this chair. NOW!”

“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Lucy said. “Marie said it was best.”

“Best for what?” I demanded.

“So you can see your wife expand her horizons,” Marie said calmly. “And her legs.”

“Was it your idea to drug me and tie me to this chair?” I asked.

“Of course,” Marie said. “Lucy told me you’d never go along willingly, so I gave her something to put you out for a while. This way you can watch your wife cuckold you and there won’t be a thing you can do to stop it.” I looked at Lucy, madder than I had ever been in my life.

“And you went along with this shit?” I asked. “You know what this means.”

“I’m really sorry,” Lucy said. “But Marie said it was the only way. Trust me. Please. This won’t affect us at all. It’s only sex. I still love you. Marie said that most married men fantasize about this kind of thing.”

“Well I don’t and never have. And yes, it DOES affect us. I told you I wouldn’t stand for any cheating. And what the fuck is this thing you put on me?” I asked her.

“It’s called a cock cage,” Lucy said. “It’s designed to give me complete control over you and let you know who’s in charge of our marriage.”

“I swear to God,” I told Lucy. “I have never fantasized about this and I promise you that if you don’t untie me from this fucking chair and get this thing off me right fucking now, we are finished.”

“Please don’t be that way,” Lucy begged. “It’s just one night. I’ll let you loose when we’re finished.” I shook my head.

“You’re not this fucking stupid, Lucy,” I told her. “Cut me loose right fucking now!” Marie walked over to me with something in her hand. The next thing I knew, she had put some kind of a ball in my mouth that kept me from speaking.

“You need to be quiet,” she said. “And let your wife get fucked by a real man. Or two.” I shook my head to try to keep her from putting the gag in my mouth, but wasn’t successful. I tried everything I could to break out of the chair, but wasn’t able to. Marie stood up and walked to the door of the bedroom.

Jake and another man from her office came into the room and looked at me, chuckling.

“Well, well,” Jake said. “The cuck is ready for his initiation?”