Lyon's Den

Doctor Jacobs patted Jenifer's hand one last time and stood. "A nurse will take you to see your husband as soon as he's settled."

She said, "Thank you," and sat quietly with eyes closed, until the patter of hurried steps entered the room.

A breathless Mary Fuller sat down and hugged her. Fresh tears began to flow.

"How's Bruce? Any word?"

Jenifer told her everything she knew.

Leaning over, Mary kissed her hair, and rubbed her back. "I'm sure they're taking good care of him."

Resting her head on Mary's shoulder, Jenifer sighed. "All I can do is wait and hope he comes back to me."

They sat huddled together until a nurse came in. "Ms. Baxter, you can see your husband now."

"Can my friend come, too?"

After a brief pause, the nurse said, "Sure. That's fine."

They followed her down the hall, through automatic doors that seemed to moan as they opened, and into a patient care area filled with wall hung, flat screen monitors, displaying wavy lines of vital signs. Jenifer grabbed Mary's hand for support.

The nurse stopped outside room number 12 and motioned inside. "He's heavily sedated, so he won't know you're here. Don't be alarmed by his appearance. He's still filled with IV fluids from the operation. The puffiness will go away in a few hours. If you have any questions, go to the nurse's station over there." She pointed, smiled, and left them alone.

Squeezing Mary's hand, Jenifer edged inside the dim room. Bruce's head was encased with bandages, his face swollen and nearly unrecognizable. Bags of intravenous liquids hung bedside. A catheter bag hung below, hooked to the bedframe.

Jenifer placed her hand over mouth and stifled a mournful cry. "It's all my fault. He'd be better off if we'd never met."

Mary hugged her sideways. "This is not your fault. Don't blame yourself for something you had no control over."

Reaching out, Jenifer lightly stroked Bruce's bare arm. "He feels so cold. Maybe he needs more blankets."

"We can ask, but I bet reducing his body temperature is part of the treatment."

Jenifer turned to face Mary, and asked, "Why isn't Daniel here? I need to talk to him."

"The police still had some questions. He wants me to bring you to his place for the night. You shouldn't be alone."

"I can't leave Bruce. I'm staying here."

"There's nothing you can do here. You need to clean up and rest, and be here when he wakes up."

After much back and forth, Jenifer felt exhausted and agreed to go with Mary. They gave the nursing staff several emergency cellphone numbers to call if anything happened.

"We'll stop at your house and pick up some clothes," said Mary, leading Jenifer by the hand to her car.

"Okay. I need my cellphone, too."

The next thing Jenifer knew, Mary was gently shaking her.

"Wake up, Jen. We're here."

Together, they entered the silent house and gathered toiletries and clothing. More tears flowed down Jenifer's cheeks as she stood at the foot of her marriage bed, staring at the rumpled sheets left by their love making just a few hours ago.

"Come on, Honey. Let's go." Mary took her hand and led her away.

They drove separately to Daniel's, so that Jenifer would be free to leave at a moment's notice. They climbed the stairs to the apartment and entered the kitchen. Daniel sat at the table, nursing a glass of whiskey, no ice. He stood, opened his arms, and Jenifer fell into his embrace.

"How's Bruce? Is he going to be all right?"

Jenifer retold everything the doctor said with a shaky and strained voice.

"I'm sure he'll pull through. He's young and strong," said Daniel, looking over her shoulder with questioning eyes at Mary.

Mary stepped forward and rubbed Jenifer's back. "Why don't we get you cleaned up and ready for bed. You must be so tired."

Pushing away from Daniel, Jenifer held him at arm's length to look him in the eye. Her voice suddenly anxious, she said, "Detectives came to the hospital and asked questions about you. Are you in trouble? Are you involved with Virile Desires? Why were you at our house tonight with a gun?"

"I think you should sit down," he said, leading her to the chair opposite his.

She flopped down heavily, reached across the table to take possession of his whiskey, and drained it in one swallow. The burn going down ignited a new fear that she was about to learn something she'd rather not know.

Without being asked, Mary retrieved two more tumblers from the cupboard, and carried the half full bottle of Jack to the table. She sat next to Daniel and filled all the glasses.

After a sip, Daniel said, "Let me answer your questions in reverse order. Mary and I came to your house tonight because we were worried about you and Bruce. Mary said you had a fight earlier." He paused to consider his words. "Neither one of you was answering your phone. We came out to be... mediators."

Mary interrupted. "I wanted to make sure you and Bruce were okay after what happened in the studio."

This made Jenifer smile into her glass. "We made up." Then she frowned. "We were planning to have a baby. But now..."

"You two have plenty of time to make babies," said Daniel, reaching out to stroke her forearm.

"I hope so."

Daniel continued, "When we arrived at your house, a strange car blocked the driveway. The house was dark, but the firelight in the distance revealed two silhouettes that appeared to be sneaking along the path. The gun was in the car," Daniel paused and took a sip with a trembling hand, "I locked it in the trunk before my flight to San Diego. I'd been to the range the day before my flight and forgot about it." He took another drink. "It was a fortunate accident that I had it," although the sadness in his voice did not echo feelings of good fortune.

They all sat quiet for a while, sipping their drinks.

"As far as Virile Desires is concerned, a few weeks after you met Bruce, he asked me where you worked and I told him. He seemed surprised, but didn't say anything more. I found out later that he went there secretly to check it out, and became suspicious with what he saw. He came to me with his concerns about the company's hiring practices. Bruce wanted to take you away from that life, and he succeeded. But then he wanted to shut them down." Daniel sipped his whiskey before continuing. "Frankly, I took advantage of a great deal on the property, which helped Bruce, as my web designer, to keep an eye on the place. He began making anonymous calls to the police, even after you stopped working there."

Jenifer sat back and stared at her glass. "I can't believe he did all that without telling me. That he still loved me even after he found out I lied to him." She glanced from Mary to Daniel. "When we first met, I told him I was an exotic dancer. I didn't want him to know I made porn. He never asked me about work again. Now I know why."

"He wanted to protect you. You'd been through enough. If you were part of the investigation it would've dredged up your past."

"God, I don't deserve him."

"Yes you do," said Mary. "Now stop it. This self-pity isn't helping anyone. It's time you cleaned up and went to bed."

Jenifer smiled. "Yes Ma'am."

They all stood and walked down the hall together.

Daniel asked, "Jen, do you remember where everything is?"

She glanced at Mary to see her reaction, and said, "Yes. I remember. Thanks for everything, Dan." Jenifer kissed him on the cheek, and then hugged and kissed Mary on the cheek. "Thank you both for being wonderful friends."

After sadly washing Bruce's blood from her chest, the hot shower felt wonderfully comforting. She stayed until the water began to cool, but forgot to bring her clean clothes into the bathroom. Jenifer wrapped herself in a towel and went to the kitchen where she'd left her bag. But it wasn't there. She went back down the hall, past the bathroom, and looked in the guest room. There was her bag, on the bed. She sat down and took a deep breath. Everything was so quiet. So lonely. With nothing to do and no company for a distraction, her fears started to crowd in on her again. Staying in this room would not help. No rest would be found.

Jenifer pulled a pair of clean panties from her bag, slipped them on, and went further down the hall to Daniel's room. The door was closed, but when she put her ear against it she heard movement. They were still awake. Well, she'd been intimate with both of them as individuals. Why would they deny her the warmth of their company tonight? There was no reason for her not to find comfort in their bed.

She opened the door and let the hall light wash over the king sized mattress. Mary, who sat naked astride Daniel, yelped is surprise and pulled the sheet up to cover her chest.

Daniel, much more casual about his nudity, propped himself up on his elbows, and said, "What's wrong, Jen? Do you need something?"

"Sorry to barge in like this, but I can't stay in the guest room. Can I stay in here with you guys?"

Mary looked at Daniel with her mouth open, apparently at a loss for words.

Before anyone answered the question, Jenifer closed the door, returning the room to black. She walked to the bed and sat on the end, saying, "What were you guys doing? Don't let me interrupt. I just don't want to be alone."

Mary found her voice, and said, "I was just giving Daniel a massage, is all. He's so wound up from everything that happened, he can't relax, can't sleep."

Jenifer grinned in the dark. "Just a massage? I know a better way to relax a man, don't you, Mary?"

Daniel laughed. "I'm sure Mary was going to do whatever needed to be done. Right, Honey?"

"Uh... I was," she said, unsureness in her voice. "I will."

Jenifer's eyes finally adjusted to the dim light of the bedside clock, and watched Mary's shadowy form drop the protective shield of sheet and slide over next to Daniel. She kissed him, and said, "Absolutely," as her hand trailed down his chest and stomach to tickle his scrotum.

Mary was asserting herself as the alpha female in this bed, and Jenifer had no problem with that. She didn't want to usurp anyone's position; she just didn't want to be alone. To show her willingness to be the submissive third and not the third wheel, she moved behind Mary, pressed against her back, and whispered in her ear, "Thank you for letting me stay," and kissed neck. She felt Mary shiver - a good sign.

Daniel groaned.

Mary moved closer to him.

Jenifer felt the unmistakable rhythm of cock stroking through contact with Mary's body.

"You two are so good for each other."

This seemed to encourage boldness in Mary. She bent over and kissed him with a fierceness that could have been mistaken in the dark for cannibalism.

Jenifer let her hand slide down Mary's back, to her bottom, and began to knead a soft cheek. The muscle tensed at first and then began to writhe under her hand.

Daniel's arms wound around Mary and pulled her all the way on top. She straddled him again. At first she lay still while Daniel rubbed her back as they kissed. When he began to move his hips, she began to massage his cock with her pussy.

Jenifer propped up on her elbow to watch, excited by Mary's new heightened sexuality, her willingness. Jenifer loved sex, and she loved watching people enjoy it. She thought of Bruce, and how turned on he had been after watching Daniel and Mary fuck in the dressing room. They went home and made love for hours that night. Bruce had to get better and come back to her. She wanted him now more than ever. Tears welled up, but she wouldn't let her sadness spoil their fun. So she cried silently.

Daniel's hands slid up Mary's sides and fondled her breasts. When she moaned her pleasure, he reached behind her to position his cock for penetration, but Mary kept missing the connection in her highly aroused state.

Unable to resist temptation to lend a hand, Jenifer grabbed Daniels erection and pushed Mary up and into position. "There you go."

Mary sat down, fully sheathing him. "Oh god!" Placing her hands on his chest, she began to ride him hard, while Daniel continued to tease her breasts with pinches, and squeezes.

He started to buck upwards with her down stroke. "Mary, I'm close."

"Yes! Do it! Come in me!"

"Are you close?"

"Close. Not yet."

Jenifer slid her hand between the lovers and began to vigorously rub Mary's engorged clitoris to help her along. Mary's body gushed in response. She glanced over at Jenifer, and then closed her eyes. Her thrusts quickly became erratic. She shuddered and screamed in climax. At the same time Daniel reached his tipping point, arched up, grabbed her hips, and pulled her down tight, as his release pulsed into her. Then they both collapsed into a panting heap of sated bliss.

Mary cupped his face with her hands and kissed him sweetly, while Jenifer rubbed her back, happy for them.

"That was beautiful. You two are made for each other," said Jenifer, her voice cracking with emotion. She rolled away to hide her tears. There was movement behind her and then Mary pressed fully against her back.

She hugged Jenifer close, and whispered, "It's going to be all right."

Unable to speak coherently, Jenifer whimpered, "Mm hm."

Surprisingly, she soon fell asleep in the warmth of Mary's embrace, believing no matter what happened she wouldn't have to face it alone.