Up until a few months ago my wife and lived a pretty uneventful life, filled with the normal routine of work, weekend errands, and paying the bills. We have been married for almost twenty-five years and were moving into the same kind of rut that most people fell into as they reached their mid-forties.
For most of the time we have been together I have been trying to get Mary to open up a little bit sexually in the area of other lovers. I've never stopped to analyze why the thought of her with another man turns me on, but it is a recurring fantasy (like it is with many men) and our sex life has been sprinkled with sessions on that theme. She has consistently told me she has no interest in actually pursuing that lifestyle, although she has come around to being open with it for fantasy purposes. Many, many times over the years she has responded strongly to the little stories I've told her, but then always insists that it isn't really the story getting her aroused, it's the fact that she was already aroused that allowed her to respond to the story. I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that this was how it was going to be.
About six months ago we were invited to a party given by a friend of mine, Ray. Ray runs his own business as a consultant, and he offers a range of financial services. We're something of an odd couple. Ray is black and I am white and we live in a county that is about 98% white so the fact that we're friends raises a few eyebrows. Ray is very well off, living in a house that at least four times bigger than the one I live in. I've been over there plenty of times and there are TVs in every room, including the bathrooms.
Ray has told me that one of his clients owns a Gentleman's Club and that twice a year he goes down there to audit his books. The guy arranges for Ray to be entertained in a private room. Ray's thing is to watch two young girls going down on each other, and he always tells me that they don't touch him so he isn't really cheating on his wife by watching. He touches them and watches them get each other off, but I guess in his mind that's a line he hasn't crossed.
There were probably fifty or sixty people at this party, which didn't surprise me. Ray literally knows everybody. All of the people were clients or their spouses and Mary and I walked around doing the party thing of small talk and drinks and finger food. After a bit we split up and Ray and I got into a conversation about college basketball while Mary wandered off on her own.
Mary is a very attractive woman who weighs the same now as she did when she was in college decades ago. She was wearing a dress that showed off her cleavage and for the first time in a long time was wearing make-up, which showed off her dark eyes and features. Her hair had turned silver when she was in her thirties but it was long and thick and usually acted as a magnet for attention because she still has a young looking face. She could easily pass for her mid-thirties and the contrast with the silver hair draws comments all the time.
Ray and I were standing in one corner of his huge living room talking when he looked over my shoulder and said, "Well, well."
"What's the matter?" I asked as I turned around. I didn't see anything wrong. Mary was on the other side of the room talking to a tall black man who was obviously hitting on her, leaning down to whisper in her ear so others couldn't hear what he was saying. Mary was smiling and shaking her head, but didn't look the least bit uncomfortable so I figured it was just some harmless flirting.
"You might want to go get Mary," Ray said.
"Why?"
"That guy that's talking to her is Ashad, the owner of that club I've told you about."
I laughed. "So? What do you think he's doing, recruiting her?"
Ray got a weird look on his face. "That's exactly what he's doing. I've seen him do this kind of thing before."
"So he uses your parties as tryouts, does he?" I joked, still thinking Ray was kidding around. "Do you get a cut or something?"
"Listen, man, I'm not kidding. He has gotten women from some of these parties. He's a big client of mine. Just from him alone I do about a quarter of my business so I'm not going to stop inviting him. But once or twice over the years he's convinced a wife or two to go into the business and make a few bucks on the side."
"I hardly think Mary is going to become a stripper. She's a little old for that, don't you think?"
Ray shook his head. "He's got plenty of twenty somethings for the dancing part. He'll be looking for women to be what he calls hostesses, taking care of high rolling clients in private rooms."
I wasn't convinced. "That may be so, but Mary would never do it anyway."
"You know that for a fact?"
"Of course. Come on, I've told you about how hard it is to even get her to do other men in a fantasy much less real life." Ray and I had often traded stories about our respective sex lives.
"Okay, just remember I warned you. Ashad can be very persuasive. And if Mary agrees, she's getting in to something that won't be all that easy to get out of."
I shook my head. "I still think you're way off. She'll never do it. Hell, it's even been one of the fantasies we've done over the years and she usually insists she wasn't into it."
Ray looked at me for a second. "But maybe she was?"
I shrugged. "I still don't think it would happen."
"But would you want it to?" Ray asked.
I smiled. "Fantasy-wise, sure. But Mary won't do it for real."
"What if she would? Would you interfere?"
I shook my head. "No, not if that was what she wanted to do. Even if I told her no, if she wanted to she could just go behind my back anyway. But since you seem to think your friend can talk her into it, maybe I should consider the possibility. Sure wish I could hear what he's saying."
Ray nodded, thinking. "Maybe you can. You know the spare bedroom downstairs? There's a big empty storage closet there. You go down there and I'll go pull Ashad aside and tell him that if he's going to hit on my guests he should use the downstairs bedroom."
"Don't you think he'll get offended that you're accusing him of hitting on your friends?"
"Why should he? That's what he's doing and he knows that I know his routine. He'll go for it, don't worry."
"What would make Mary go down there with him?"
Ray laughed. "She'll come if he goes, don't worry. You go ahead and they should be there in about five minutes. If he turns me down, I'll come get you."
Feeling a little bit foolish, I slid away from the party casually and made my way down into the basement. Ray had a nice little bedroom fixed up there so he could sleep there if he was working really late instead of waking his wife up getting into bed. The closet was a walk-in type and the door was the kind with adjustable slats. I pulled a chair in, adjusted the slats enough so I could see most of the room, and settled back to wait.
I was feeling a strange mix of excitement and nervousness. I was pretty sure I could handle Mary doing something outside our marriage bed, but what would I do if Ashad tried to force himself on her here in the bedroom? I couldn't allow her to be forced into doing anything, but how would I explain my presence in the closet? It would be obvious that I was in on this whole thing and Mary would be pissed, to say the least. I was hoping it wouldn't come to that.
I heard footsteps on the stairs and got ready.
Mary and Ashad came into the room and looked around. Mary had a little grin; the look she often got when she had a little alcohol in her but wasn't really drunk. She took a seat on the bed. Ashad quietly closed the door, and I noticed he locked it before turning around.
"Ray sure has a lot of bedrooms," Mary said. "I've never been in his house before."
