'Drink your coffee. We came inside for coffee didn't we?' he said. 'Don't shake your head. Drink your coffee!' Janet obeyed. His tone frightened her, and she picked up the cup, sipping at the laced drink. Surprisingly the liquor he had poured into the cup wasn't bitter at all. It added a little something to the taste, more of a tang, than an alcoholic taste. She took a big gulp. Martin smiled.
'Martin, I was going to try to make Greg jealous. I wanted to use you. I'm sorry for that. I didn't mean it to go so far. I–I just got carried away.'
Martin laughed. He spilled some of his coffee. Use me, he thought, that has got to be the ultimate. She wanted to use me. He couldn't stop laughing.
'What's so funny? What did I say, Martin? I didn't mean to hurt you.' His laughter increased to an almost roar. 'Stop it! Please stop it!' she screamed.
He settled down for a moment, still smiling his contemptuous smile. Neither said anything for almost a minute. Janet was terrified at the grin on his face. For the first time since she had known Martin, she was aware that there was more to his smile than mirth. 'Why-why were you laughing at me?' she asked.
'I suppose you could call it a private joke. I've never been used by a woman before, not to go to bed anyway.'
Janet sipped at her coffee. She was beginning to feel slightly dizzy again. The movements in the room were slowing down. The fire made it much too hot for her. She wanted to hurry and undress upstairs and climb into bed. The thought of bed unexpectedly excited her.
'I told you,' she said. 'I didn't want it to go that far.'
'Sure you did. But do you think for one minute that I'm going to believe you. You work well, and fast. I never saw a woman so eager to fuck.'
'Martin!' she exclaimed, unable to say any more. The word had shocked her, but the thought it conjured only excited her. She could not understand the sudden erection of her nipples as he had said it. She was afraid of the eyes that looked intently at her.
'What do you plan to do, Janet? Tell Greggy boy that his little wife took his best friend out and screwed him in his car like a teenager?' he said, his grin widening. 'No, I don't think you will. I'm still his best friend, and a deceitful man would believe a friend before he would believe a deceitful wife.'
'What do you mean deceitful man?'
'For Chrissake, don't tell me you don't know that your precious husband is a thief.'
'What? You're wrong. You're lying, Martin. Why? Stop it. Please don't.'
'He didn't tell you, did he?' Martin said, knowing that she was innocent of her husband's wrong-doings. 'How do you think that you can afford this nice house, or the new car or the color television and stereo? Do you think Greggy boy did it all with his own little hands. Well, on second thought, he did,' he laughed again, 'but with sticky fingers.'
He watched her shocked look. Tears streamed down her already tear stained face in long black streaks from her mascara. Impossible! she thought. Greg would never lie to me. He would never steal. Martin watched her for a moment. 'Your display of loyalty and shock is touching, but entirely useless. If you didn't know before that he was stealing, then I'm doing you a favor by showing you that your husband is a man you can't trust to tell you his most important secret, the one that is haunting him, keeping him out of your bed. But then, he may have found another bed more to his liking. If he could lie to you about this, he could certainly lie to you about screwing another woman.'
'Please,' she sobbed. 'It's not true! I know it's not!'
He ignored her plea. 'I can prove every word of it, at least about the embezzlement. And if I tried hard enough, I could probably find a mistress of his somewhere in town. I know him well enough. Probably better than you do.'
Janet absorbed his words slowly, one at a time. The drug had already taken effect, accenting his usual precise speech and manner. He took another sip of coffee. 'He can't trust himself, how will he be able to trust you either.' He said. 'Imagine the look on his face if he had seen us in the car.'
'Oh, Martin, how could you? I thought you were so…'
'So sweet? Wasn't that what you said earlier? It's about time you learned that there is very little in this world that is sweet, starting now.'
Janet could not comprehend the full impact of what had happened to her in the last few minutes. Her world was tumbling down on top of her like a fallen fortress, whose walls had been demolished by a tremendous onslaught of cannon fire. Fear was building in her, but so was another unexplained emotion. For the first time in her life she knew that she was completely at another person's mercy, but she wasn't as frightened of that fact as by the uncertainty that life now held for her.
'Do you think you could afford to expose us to Greg? Would it be worth his life in prison to you? You are going to do everything I tell you Janet, and without delay. If not, Greg will spend the best years of his life in jail.'
'Martin…' she started to argue with him, but knew there were no words that would change his mind. 'What about Darleen? she'll find out sooner or later.'
'You still haven't caught on, have you? Darleen knows all about this tonight. Do you think she could get a headache after spending half the day getting ready to go out with us. Not on your life. She was out getting herself screwed half silly, just like you. The only difference is, she'll never see him again. But I plan to see a great deal of you.'
Janet sat motionless as he moved across the couch to her. Her coffee was gone and the drug held her in complete submission to whatever would be demanded of her.
'I'm going to see a lot more of you,' he said. 'Starting now.'
'What do you mean?' she asked between the soft heaving sobs coming from her throat. The girl had begun to regain control, but still did not completely understand what he wanted of her. The shock she had suffered, realizing that he was not the kind man she had thought still clouded her mental senses. She could not quite grasp what he wanted. Afraid to admit that he wanted her for a part time bed partner, she tried to find other solutions, but nothing would suffice.
'You're not stupid, Janet. Figure it out for yourself.'
'You don't mean that you expect me to continue…'
'Precisely. You enjoyed it as much as I did, probably more. We can continue for a long time, with no annoyances from your husband. His mistake has become our good fortune. He can't object, and for his sake, neither can you.'
It was true, she thought. There is no way out of this but if he will only leave now, I'll be safe until I can think of something.
'You're trembling. Are you afraid?'
Janet could not answer. Her voice was caught in her throat. Though she felt the heat from the fireplace, her body shivered with chills. It might have been easier for her if she hadn't already submitted to Martin once. But the thought of his lovemaking moved another shudder through her body. She had enjoyed it. There remained no doubt of that. Martin was more experienced than Greg. He knew how to make her feel like a woman wanted to feel. But… The nagging fear, the strict Midwestern upbringing, the morals of a church centered society still plagued her. She was married to Greg for better or worse. I just can't, she thought. I just can't do it again with another man.
'I want some more of that tight little pussy of yours.' Martin said grinning lewdly and looking down at her exposed knees.
Janet reached nervously for the small pot trying to stall him off. 'I don't mean coffee, baby, we're going upstairs, to bed. There's enough aphrodisiacs in the two cups that we've had to keep us going all night.'
Janet recoiled at his words, she didn't know what to think. Had she really been drugged? Was all of this such an evil plan, that every detail had been taken care of. Janet suddenly realized that more than a victim of circumstance, she had become a victim of a drug, a horrible drug that took her control away.
Aware of the cause, she now knew why everything had gone into slow motion. She knew why his touch had been so satisfying, so intriguing. 'Let's go,' he said. 'I don't like to waste time.'
The girl refused to stand and he pulled her to her feet. 'We're going to screw in your husband's bed. Won't you like that?' he said smiling. 'I'm going to fuck you like never before, and you won't stop begging for it until you can't take anymore!'
His words were true. She knew that he could do all that he said and the sounds that vibrated through her
