Queen of Hearts

by Kirsten McCurran

  “I’m not sure who the bad influence is,” Alycia said.

  “I think it might be a tie. We should probably get inside. I’m sure your date is wondering where you disappeared to.”

  ~~~

  Finn did wonder where Alycia was, but he was having fun on his own, mixing in a few rounds of pool and talking to the guys. He and Eric stood by the side watching Don and his brother, Scott, playing pool. After Scott turned down an offer of a drink the conversation turned to Scott’s faith.

  “I can respect that. And it doesn’t bother you, being around all these other people drinking?” Finn asked.

  Scott took a shot and then it was his brother’s turn. “There’s a little temptation, I guess. But it’s nothing I can’t handle. I know I can be an asshole when I drink, and I’d rather not be an asshole. I’m trying to be a better person.”

  “It’s ever since he found Jesus,” Eric commented.

  “He did turn around my life, yeah. But I wouldn’t want to be a drunken asshole even if it wasn’t for my faith.”

  “Booze isn’t the only thing my baby brother has given up. Tell them the rest,” Don said. He sank a ball in the corner pocket and moved onto his next shot.

  “I haven’t given it up. I’m not looking for casual sex. It has to be in a committed relationship. Hopefully, one leading to marriage.”

  “So you’re celibate?” Eric marveled.

  “Not with the right woman,” Scott protested. He watched as his brother gradually cleared the table. It was not looking like he was going to get another shot.

  “And you’re not with anyone right now?” Finn asked.

  “No.”

  “So you don’t… Like if you go out a couple times and you’re really hitting it off…”

  “No, it’s worth waiting for,” Scott answered, sounding a little annoyed.

  “How long have you been waiting?” Eric asked.

  Don looked up, waiting for their reaction to his brother’s confession.

  “It’s been a while,” Scott admitted.

  “Like six months?” Finn asked.

  “Longer…”

  “A year?” Eric asked.

  “A bit more than that. Hey, don’t judge me. I’m trying to stay true to something I believe in. I didn’t say it was always easy.”

  “Do you date?” Finn asked. He knew some guys who had gone that long without getting laid, but it was not by choice. Those guys weren’t getting any dates. Scott wasn’t a bad looking guy. He was tall and looked fit under his punny costume. He wore all black under an oversized foam strip of bacon. He wore a name tag that said Hi, my name is…Kevin.

  “Of course I do. I would love to meet the right girl.”

  “How do they react when you tell them sex is off the table?” Eric asked.

  “I mostly try to date Christian girls who get it.”

  “Wow. Well, good for you,” Finn said. “I don’t know a lot of women in their 30s who’d just give up sex like that. If you find one she’s a keeper.”

  “Yeah, Cerina would be out the door if I dropped that on her,” Eric said. “You could say goodbye to Aly, right?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  Of course Eric was right about Alycia, but Finn wondered how he sounded so certain. He was more sure than ever that his girlfriend had a past with Eric. It only really bothered him because she hadn’t said anything—like she had something to hide.

  “Speaking of Aly, I really should go and find her.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Don said.

  Finn ignored that and headed back upstairs. He found Alycia leaning against the kitchen counter. She pushed off to greet him and wobbled dangerously on her heels. It appeared that a lot of her missing time had been spent drinking.

  “Hey baby,” Alycia said, laying a deep, hard kiss on Finn.

  He knew it as one of her you’d better fuck me soon kisses. So what else had she been doing, besides drinking? Finn felt guilty for suspecting his girlfriend of bad behavior, but he could not help it—just as he could not help enjoying the kiss. He held her tightly, hand on her butt, and just like that he was thinking of dragging her off to a darkened bedroom.

  “Where did you go?” she asked. Alycia did not quite slur her words, but she was less than clear.

  “Just playing some pool. I waited for you, but you didn’t come back.”

  “Sorry. I got caught up talking to Debbie.”

  Finn kissed her again and said, “It tastes like you were doing more than talking.”

  “You can tell?”

  Alycia looked genuinely surprised—too surprised for it to be about his tasting the sweet alcohol on her kiss. The tingling suspicion in his brain kicked up a notch.

  “Tell what?” he asked.

  She flashed a guilty smile and then pulled him close and whispered in his ear, “Debbie and I kissed.” She nibbled his ear.

  Finn was knocked back on his heels. That was not something he expected to hear, though he was not sure what he expected to hear. It felt like he should be angry, but like a typical guy all he could do was picture his girlfriend making out with Debbie, and that got him so hard his brain short circuited. He would have felt different if it was a guy she had been off with, but how could he be angry that she was making out with another woman? The only thing that bothered him was that he wasn’t there.

  “You should have come and gotten me, babe,” he said.

  “Billy wasn’t there either. And besides, it just sort of happened. We didn’t go off to mess around. We were just reminiscing about the old days.”

  “Did that happen a lot in the old days?”

  “Often enough.” Alycia smiled and kissed him.

  The visions in his head progressed, and now the girls were pulling each other’s clothes off and they were falling back onto a bed upstairs. Finn imagined Debbie’s big tits popping out and Alycia being all over them. In his mind, Alycia was the aggressor. Debbie’s hand moved up Alycia’s dress when he snapped back into reality.

  “Maybe we should wander upstairs…” Finn suggested.

  “In a few minutes. I promise.”

  Alycia pulled Finn back through the crowd and she got talking to another handful of people she hadn’t seen in ages. She felt bad because she didn’t like being a tease, but at the same time she had come to the party hoping to connect with old friends. There would be plenty of time for them to sneak off later, when the party began to thin out. Alycia was so engrossed in talking to her friends that she didn’t notice Finn had drifted off to get another drink.

  Finn was relieved to be out on the back deck. The house with stifling with all those people packed into it and all of the windows closed. He did not even particularly mind that the deck was being used by all of the smokers. Don was out there, so was Cerina, and some other people Finn had not been introduced to. He tried his best to keep up on the small talk, but he couldn’t keep his mind from wandering back to Alycia and Debbie—a task that became more difficult when Debbie came outside for a cigarette. Finn said hi and was determined to pretend he knew nothing. He was going to head inside when he was pulled out of his thoughts by Cerina.

  “Is this weird for you at all?” she asked.

  “Is what weird?” he replied, focusing on not staring down at her tits. He was feeling rather tipsy and his self-control was slipping.

  “Being here with Aly while Eric is here. You know what I mean.” Her words were slurred and she was clearly too drunk to realize that Finn did not follow her. “Have you gone to a lot of parties where exes were there too?”

  “Uhm, no. I guess not. It’s weird for you?”

  It felt good to know he was not paranoid, but at the same time he was annoyed to learn the information from Eric’s girlfriend. What did Alycia think Finn was going to do if she told him? He was a reasonable guy. He would have still gone to the party. Eric and Alycia were together years ago. It shouldn’t mean anything now—unless there were lingering feelings. Was that why Alycia was so tight-
lipped? Panic swelled inside him as he realized that he and Cerina were outside together while Eric and Alycia were…where?

  Finn noticed Cerina looking at him funny and he realized his paranoia must be showing on his face. He did not want her jumping to the same conclusions, so he tried to appear reassuring. “Listen, it was years ago, right? I don’t think they’ve been pining for each other all these years. That would be crazy.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Cerina agreed.

  “Besides, it’s Alycia never even talks about him.”

  Cerina’s sour expression said it was not the same with Eric. That could mean Eric was looking to revisit the past. Finn knew he should trust Alycia, and he kept telling himself he did, but was it really such a jump from Alycia drunkenly making out with Debbie to her doing the same with Eric. Alycia had some kind of past with both.

  “You’re a good guy. I’m glad we had this talk.”

  Finn was startled when Cerina hugged him tightly and then kissed him. It didn’t linger, but it was definitely a kiss.

  They went inside and found that Eric and Alycia were indeed together, but they were talking to a small group of people. Finn tried to get a grip as he found himself reading into every little gesture and word between the former lovers. He looked at his sexy girlfriend, with her luscious body barely contained in that Halloween costume and his mind could not help going to dirty places. Alycia looked like she was ready for action.

  Surprisingly, Finn’s mind led him to dark places—places it had never gone before. Instead of imagining Alycia and Debbie off in some dark corner, he pictured Eric pulling her into some dark corner. At first, Alycia resisted, told him she was there with someone else, but as Eric pressed and kept trying to kiss her, she melted. She pressed her supple body to his and gave him free reign to roam it. Before long, Alycia was sinking to her knees, pulling at his pants…

  Finn came back to reality. They were sitting on the couch, Alycia on his lap, and everyone was chatting. It must have been later than he realized because everyone was only a small group that remained, including Don and Sue, Eric and Cerina, Don’s brother Scott, and another guy, who’s name might be Wayne. Everyone in the group—except Scott—was inebriated at some level, and now a vape pen loaded with THC juice was being passed around. Pot had never been Finn’s thing, but he still took a hit. He’d always been curious what it was like to vape the stuff. He heard it was a much smoother high. Alycia also took a deep hit, despite her protests that she’d never liked pot either. Only Scott abstained. Finn thought it was cool that Scott could hang, regardless of his convictions.

  “So are those just props?” maybe-Wayne asked Cerina.

  “What do you mean?” she replied.

  Cerina sat next to Eric on a loveseat, maybe-Wayne was half-sitting on the arm. The two other couples were on a long couch opposite, and Scott leaned against a brick wall beside the dark fireplace.

  “Are those just props for your costume, or is that stuff you already had?”

  “What do you think?” she asked. Cerina looked to Eric, who just winked at her.

  “I think the rest of us know the answer,” Sue said with a laugh.

  “Oh yeah?” It came from Scott, of all people.

  “She’s a dirty, dirty bitch,” Sue said.

  Sue jumped up and snatched the riding crop from her friend. Cerina made a token attempt at grabbing it back, but it everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves. Sue grabbed Cerina’s arm and pulled her from the deep loveseat. She was surprisingly strong for such a lithe blonde.

  “Bend over, bitch,” Sue ordered. She was laughing so much she barely got the words out.

  “Be gentle,” Cerina giggled. She bent over and the short dress naturally rose up to where it hardly covered her butt.

  “Careful, hon. She hits hard,” Don warned of his wife.

  “You would know,” Eric said.

  Sue gave Cerina a hard whack on the butt with the riding crop. Cerina jumped and rubbed her butt, but Sue was already swinging again, harder than the first time. Cerina tried to turn and stop her friend, but Eric grabbed her and forced Cerina to stay bent over. Sue laughed and pulled up the back of Cerina’s dress. Cerina’s cheeks, laid bare by a black thong, were already red.

  “Anyone else want a shot?” Sue asked.

  “Ooo, let me try,” Alycia said, jumping off of Finn’s lap.

  Finn’s head was spinning. This sort of thing did not happen at his friends’ parties, even as a joke. He remembered a few games of strip poker breaking out in the past, but people chickened out before things got out of hand. He didn’t know how far this group would take things. Eric didn’t seem to mind his girlfriend’s ass hanging out. But Cerina wasn’t the only one. Alycia was drunk and stoned and did not bother to fix her own costume when she stood, so her ass was half-hanging out as well. Finn admired his girlfriend’s shapely ass and decided not to warn her.

  Alycia rolled the riding crop in her hand. It was smooth leather and expertly stitched—obviously not just a cheap prop from a costume store. It had been a long time since she’d seen a good riding crop, but back then she’d been on the receiving end of it. She glanced at Eric and wondered how freaky he’d become in the years they’d been apart. He was no prude, obviously, but when she’d tried to get him interested in some Dom play, he’d never been able to pull it off. His heart just didn’t seem to be into it. Had Cerina brought out a side of him that Alycia couldn’t? Her competitive side came out.

  “Brace yourself, girl,” Alycia warned.

  “Bring it on.” Cerina was ready for the challenge.

  The riding crop whistled through the air when Alycia brought it snapping down on Cerina’s ass. Cerina yelped and jumped, but Eric kept her in place. Alycia smiled evilly. Finn watched her with a mixture of fascination, lust and fear. The tool came whistling down again and Cerina cried out. Alycia whipped her one more time before she could react, and the whole group winced while laughing.

  “Okay, my turn. Both you bitches bend over,” Cerina declared.

  Sue and Alycia shared a look, and then did as they were told. They moved over by the fireplace and put their hands on the wall while they bent at the waist. Scott tried to move out of the way, but they did not leave him room to escape. He looked confused being so close to both sexy women, who were sticking their asses out on display. He ended up staring right at Alycia’s butt as he tried to avoid looking at his sister-in-law’s exposed assets. Sue had a cute, petite ass, framed by black, lace-trimmed panties.

  Cerina surveyed both women’s behinds, and then whacked Sue’s with a hard swing of the riding crop. Sue jumped and a red mark appeared on her smooth, white bottom.

  “Hey, I’m not the one that whipped you so hard,” Sue protested.

  “Just take it like a woman!” Cerina ordered, and she whipped Sue again. The blonde whimpered, but took it. Without a break, she turned and whipped Alycia’s ass even harder.

  Alycia took the whipping stoically at first. Being spanked with the riding crop hurt, no doubt, but it also reached a primal place inside her and the pain triggered a jolt of excitement in her pussy. Cerina, apparently pissed by her lack of reaction whipped her even harder the second time. Alycia’s ass stung, but she still held firm, squeezing her thighs together. It felt strange to be submissive to another woman—she preferred a man—but it was so exciting. She could feel her panties were soaked through. When Cerina went back to Sue, she felt a pang of disappointment. Sue yelped, and then Cerina was right back to her. Alycia whimpered this time, but it was a sound of pleasure, not pain.

  “I think she likes it a little too much,” Don commented.

  Finn knew just what Don was talking about. He knew damn well what Alycia sounded like when she was turned on. It almost looked like Alycia was wiggling her ass, begging for more. Cerina also looked like she was enjoying herself too much. Did she see it as revenge to spank her boyfriend’s ex? Finn stayed focused on Alycia’s sweet ass. He was rock hard. They’d played a lit
tle with submission in the bedroom, but he’d never seen his girlfriend like this. He was scared and excited to see how far it was going to go.

  “Beg for it girls,” Cerina demanded.

  “You’ve got a natural Dom on your hands, Eric,” Don said. He looked eager to see his wife keep taking the spanking. “Enjoying the show, little bro?”

  Scott looked bewildered. He was staring at the exposed women like he didn’t know what was going on. If he thought he should leave the room, he was resisting the urge.

  “Ooo, give it to me, mistress,” Sue cooed comically. It didn’t sound like this was her thing.