The silence was palpable, marked only by the occasional clink of heavy silverware against stoneware plates.
Dave opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again. Not for the first time. He glanced at his wife but found her focused on her own food, seemingly oblivious to everything around her. Dave's step-daughter, Jessica, shifted and huddled in her seat.
The young girl's normally cheerful, bouncy personality seemed to have drained away. She mumbled something quietly to herself, rolled her head in a small circle and then itched behind her ears before shifting again with a heavy sigh.
"So," Dave tried. "Uh. How was school, Jessica?"
Jessica glanced up with her head bowed but ignored the question. Dave frowned and looked over at his wife, Leanna. They'd only been together three years, married for one but Jessica had been a joy to be around in the brief time they'd been together. He thought they'd bonded on the nights they'd been alone during his wife's frequent business trips but the sudden shift in her personality made him doubt himself.
"Did anything-" Dave began.
"Can I be excused?" Jessica interrupted, overly loud.
Leanna's head shot up, her eyes narrowing on her daughter. "No, you may not. You may be eighteen but you still live beneath our roof. And you will answer when spoken to, young lady, especially to your father."
So she
had
been listening
, Dave thought. She didn't seem to miss much so he wasn't surprised. He watched the two women. He wanted to say it was alright but, despite how gentle she was most of the times, he knew his wife's temper could flare unexpectedly.
Jessica grimaced, shifting again in her seat. She placed her hands on the edge of the table, staring down at her bright pink fingernails. Her platinum blonde hair fell thick and straight in front of her. She shrugged her shoulders, muttered something again and then looked her mother straight in the eyes. "I'm going to my room."
Dave's eyebrow climbed his forehead and he held his breath. This was something he hadn't seen before but he almost felt sorry for the girl. He watched Leanna's jaw muscles clench and fire light in her eyes.
"You will not. Now. SIT. DO-" Leanna's head lifted slightly and her nostrils flared. She stole a quick look at Dave and her eyes calmed.
What the hell?
Dave wondered quietly. Leanna looked down at the floor. To his side, Jessica's knuckles whitened on the table.
"No, you're right," Leanna said finally, looking up. "Go to your room. We'll talk about this again later tonight."
Dave's wife smiled at him as his step-daughter pounded off loudly to her room, slamming the door. For just a moment, her wide smile seemed almost proud before it slipped into the sweet grin that tugged at his heart.
"More steak, darling?" She asked.
--
Sitting on the edge of their bed, Dave quietly watched his wife go about her nightly ritual. She seemed distracted again and nearly aimless. She walked back and forth into their large closet, circled the room a few times and then finally went into the bathroom to clean the makeup from her face.
Dave looked at her happily, bent over the sink with the curve of her right breast showing through her silk nightgown. She was tall and lean and beautiful and he couldn't believe she was his. She loved him gently but he could see the fierceness beneath it all, in bed and sometimes in public. He'd found it oddly arousing the time a drunken lady had hit on him at the bar. Leanna came out of the bathroom, made a beeline for him and it'd taken three grown men holding her back after she'd backhanded the poor woman. The sex that night had been
ferocious.
Leanna patted her face with a towel and then stepped into the bedroom, nonchalantly letting her gown slip to the floor. She paused, her head titled with her eyes far away and then smiled again. Dave drank in the sight of her lithe body from the curve of her neck, the swell of her breasts and down to the wild tangle of soft white hair between her thighs. He felt his cock stir beneath his boxers and Leanna flashed her teeth as she noticed him.
"I want to do the ropes tonight," Leanna said.
"Tonight? Are you sure?" Dave asked. Sometimes it freaked Dave out how casual Leanna was with sex around her daughter. She wasn't ashamed of being loud with her daughter sleeping on the other side of the house or going without a bra sometimes or just discussing some sexual things casually. Still, they usually saved the kinkier things for when Jessica was out with her friends.
"Yes," Leanna purred, leaning over to kiss Dave's lips softly. She kissed his neck and his thick chest hair - just now starting to show a few white strands - and down to his cock, hidden behind his boxers. She breathed deeply of him, nuzzling against his crotch.
WIth one hand, Leanna gently pushed Dave down. He settled himself into the center of the bed, watching her as she tugged his boxers off, freeing his throbbing erection. She kissed the tip of his cock and laughed playfully before turning to find their toy chest.
Neither of them were experts in bondage but they enjoyed it immensely. Leanna had introduced him to it and he'd been surprised to find he enjoyed being tied up. More so that Leanna had been the one to ask to do the tying. He had a book on Shibari techniques hidden away for her birthday next week and was excited for her to experiment with it.
Dave lay back with his eyes closed, enjoying the occasional touch of his wife's fingers mixed with the black rope sliding against his skin. She tied her simple knots expertly and tightly and he occasionally tested them, feeling how little they gave.
"And the gag," Leanna said. He turned to see standing beside him with the loop of rope in her hand.
"I can be quiet.
You're
the loud one," Dave replied. He hated the gag.
Leanna leaned over him, her nipples brushing his body as she kissed his cheek. "Please," he whispered.
Dave shivered and nodded, lifting his head to allow her to slip it over him. The few times she'd used it, he couldn't stop thinking of the old movies with the doctors having their patients bite down on rope when they had their leg amputated. He watched his wife expectantly, his cock half-hard against his belly.
Leanna traced a fingernail down his chest and along the length of his manhood. Her expression was distracted and thoughtful at the same time.
"Are you comfortable, darling?" Leanna asked. Seeing his nod she smiled, a small quiet smile this time. "Good. I'll be back in a moment."
Dave looked at his wife in surprise as she opened their door and walked out, closing it behind her. As open as she was with sex with her daughter, he was surprised she was taking the chance of sneaking out naked. Especially with her night gown on the floor. He waited patiently, expecting her to return with some water but the minutes passed and he began to worry about her.
When the bedroom door opened, Dave turned his head in relief and excitement.
His step-daughter, Jessica, crouched next to his wife.
Dave's eyes snapped up to Leanna and he pulled at the ropes around his wrist but they simply dug in without give. Leanna's attention was on her daughter.
"No, we stand," Leanna said, gently pulling her daughter up. "Two legs. Always two legs. I know it's a little hard to understand me right now but you must listen. We're not animals."
Leanna walked into the room with her hand under her daughter's elbow, guiding her. Jessica's eyes were huge and bright and the color of burnished copper, reflecting the overhead light. She trembled slightly and licked her lips with a groan as she took in Dave's naked body. She wore white panties and a matching white bra and Dave hated that he noticed how much she'd filled out in the three years he'd known her.
The crotch of Jessica's panties were darker. Damp. Even from where he lay, Dave could smell her. An unusually strong sex scent, as if she'd spent hours fucking and cumming.
Dave pulled at the restraints again, trying to yell through the gag.
"I thought I had a little more time," Leanna said, holding her daughter. She was looking at Dave now as she spoke. "I was grooming young Brian Jones. You remember him, right? On the debate team? I'd invited him over quite a few times to help Jessica with her homework. It takes time to find a proper mate. But, she's eighteen now and we're always late to our first heat."