"Talk to your husband like there's nothing going on."
Only Sarah knew just what demons she'd faced in the early stages of her office romance with her lover. Those conscience jerking moments had quickly faded from her memory though, just like the knowledge that Dave was so easy to dupe because he trusted her. She chose to see her sister's question as rhetorical and ignored it.
"After I managed to get off the line with Dave before he asked to speak to the kids, Paul and I got down to business. I have to say it was a bit of a letdown. In the motel it was rushed, different and fun. When he bent me over the desk at work and just fucked me, it was basal and exciting.
"I suppose, I'd built an all-nighter up in my head and the reality couldn't compete. It was routine and, dare I say it, a little dull. Paul isn't big on foreplay. I was hardly wet the first time he entered me. Just as I getting into it, he came, rolled over and went to sleep. He'd drunk most of a bottle of wine at dinner. I dozed for a little while then roused, still feeling horny.
"I woke him by sucking on hisβ" Sarah broke off mid-sentence at the look on her sister's face. "Sorry. You're right. You don't need all the detail do you? Anyway, once he was hard, I didn't want to make the same mistake again, so I made to sit on his face, but he said I needed to shower first. I'd no sooner gotten the water to the right temperature and Paul had joined me, when all the lights went out.
"He told me it was an old house and was always blowing fuses. He got out and I heard him fumbling the doorknob back into the bedroom. I thought he'd grab a torch from somewhere and go and replace the fuse before coming back to the shower. I waited the best part of ten minutes, but he never came back. I yelled out to him and I think I heard him shout back from the bedroom that he was waiting in bed. I wondered why he hadn't fixed the fuse or lit a candle or something. It was still pitch black.
"I turned the water off and called out, but there was no answer. I couldn't understand why he was being such an annoying prick. I groped around until I found a towel, yelling that I was just going to get dressed and go home. My clothes were in the bedroom though.
Wendy yawned. It was very late, and Sarah's words and demeanour contradicted her claim of rape. Besides, the story was getting boring. Sarah saw she was losing Wendy and hurried on.
"I felt my way into the bedroom, thinking I'd feel my way to the bed. I knew my clothes were on the floor between the bed and the door. All of a sudden, Paul grabbed me from behind and pushed me forward. I fell onto the bed. The next thing I know his hands are lifting me by the hips and I feel a very erect cock on my ass. Dave and I have sometimes role-played the whole forced sex thing, it's a fantasy of mine, so I decided to give it a go and spread my legs a little."
Heat warmed Sarah's cheeks and knowing she was blushing at the admission of one of her sexual fantasies to her sister, she fidgeted and dropped her gaze to her hands, watching with detachment as she twirled her rings around her finger.
"Anyway, um, I felt one hand leave my hip and the next thing I felt lube being trickled into my crack. It was cold. I shouted to Paul that he didn't need that shit; I would be wet enough. I have to say, the scene was hot. When I felt his hands spreading my cheeks, I put my feet further apart. I felt his cock penetrate me a couple of centimetres and yelled at him to just stick it in."
Sarah paused in uncomfortable remembrance for a few seconds. Wendy yawned again just wanting the whole sad and sorry tale over.
"The bastard pulled out of my vagina and just rammed it up my ass, full depth and full speed. I've never liked anything up there and I have to say, Wendy, it hurt like hell. It still does."
Sarah paused, shifting uncomfortably in her seat, frowning at the ache in her ass. Memory of the pain that put the ache there came flooding back. Not just the physical, but the sudden realisation that someone she thought really cared about her could possibly treat her like that.
"What did you do?"
"Well, I screamed at him, didn't I. Yelled and told him to stop."
"And did he?"
"No, he just kept a firm hold of my hips and kept sodomising me. Fuck, it hurt."
"How did it end?"
"The prick must have loosened his grip at one point which allowed me to escape and I shuffled up the bed. As I did that my hands felt something strange. I'll go back a bit. When I first went in Paul's bedroom there was a baseball bat leaning against the wall near the bed. I asked him about it and he said there'd been some home invasions in the neighbourhood recently and he wanted to be prepared. Somehow, that bat was on the bed. Now, I come to think about it, it seems strange."
Sarah's face took on a strange expression for a moment.
"Do you think Paul meant to use it on me if he couldn't overcome me with his strength? He's not a big man."
Wendy watched Sarah's face as she glimpsed the true nature of her office husband's intentions and how much worse the situation could have become. The colour left Sarah's face and she lapsed into silence, forcing Wendy to prompt her to continue.
"What happened next?"
Sarah shook herself out of her reverie.
"Well, I grabbed it with both hands, didn't I. I twisted around and lashed out with it as hard as I could. I felt it connect with something and heard Paul yell in pain. It was still pitch black but I made my way as quickly as I could back to the bathroom. I shut the door and groped around until I found the lock and snibbed it. Oh, Wendy, it was so scary; I could hear Paul trying the lock and banging on the door. I knew it wouldn't keep him out for long so I felt for the window but couldn't find how it opened. My foot hit a bin on the floor, so I grabbed it and broke the window with it. Then I started screaming and hollering. I saw the lights go on in a neighbour's house so I just kept yelling for help and shouting for them to call the police."
Sarah was trembling with the recollection of the fear she'd felt at the time all this was going on.
"What did Paul do?"
"I dunno, but he stopped trying to get in the bathroom. I waited five or ten minutes and, although everything was quiet, I was too scared to open the door. Then, I heard the siren of a police car. The next thing I know a cop is shouting at me to open the door. I did and came out. There were two of them with a torch and guns. I was stark naked so they could see I was no threat and there was no sign of Paul. I was still scared, so I ran downstairs. One of the cops followed me and the other stayed in the bedroom. Shortly after that I heard him yelling into his radio for an ambulance. I told the other guy I didn't need one. He went back upstairs and grabbed my clothes and I got dressed. He took me out to the police car and started asking me a bunch of questions. I told him how Paul had raped me and how I'd hit him.
"He drove me to the hospital and they ran a rape kit on me, then brought me here. They took a formal statement, then asked if I wanted a lawyer. Of course, I said I didn't. They then charged me with assaulting Paul and fingerprinted me. They'd found Paul unconscious next to the bed. After that, I was told they were keeping me here until a bail hearing tomorrow. I couldn't ring Dave, of course, so I rang you."
Sarah looked at her sister pleadingly, hoping Wendy could make her feel less lonely and confused. Wendy thought about finding a policeman and asking why her sister had been charged for what at face value seemed like a clear case of self-defence. However, her sister's pitiful condition pulled at Wendy's heart stringsβSarah always had had a knack for getting others to take care of herβand Wendy didn't feel she should leave Sarah alone just yet.
"I really can't see how you're going to keep Dave finding out about all this. What's your plan?"
"Well, as soon as Paul wakes up, he'll tell them I only hit him in self defence and they'll drop the assault charges."
Wendy looked with pity at her naΓ―ve sister. She knew that to clear her, Paul would have to admit to rape and, though she didn't know the guy, someone who seduced a married woman was very unlikely to be that honourable. She was spared the pain of trying to enunciate this to her desperate sister by a plain-clothed detective coming into the room and asking her to leave.
When she'd gone, the detective sat in her vacant chair and alternated staring at Sarah and reading her statement. Sarah tried to read his expression, hoping Paul had told the truth. Finally, the detective set the document aside and addressed the hopeful woman.
"So, let me get this straight, Mrs. Brown. You've been having an illicit affair with your 'work husband' for some months behind your husband's back. Tonight, with your husband out of town, you decided to spend the night at your lover's house. During your sex session you paused to have a shower, during which the lights went out. When your lover didn't return, you re-entered the bedroom, at which point you claim he assaulted you and anally raped you. You 'found' a baseball bat on the bed and hit him once. Is that correct?"
"Yes, I've already told you everything. Has Paul regained consciousness? He has to tell you that everything I said is true."
"Um, no, I'm afraid he hasn't regained consciousness. In fact, it is my responsibility to tell you that you've gone from 'office wife' to 'office widow'. Mr. Paul Smith died without regaining consciousness after being found on the bedroom floor between the bed and the wall, with massive, multiple head wounds. The doctors says that he was struck up to seven times, mostly while he was lying on the floor, probably unconscious. A baseball bat recovered from the scene had on it two sets of fingerprints, yours and the deceased.