The Proposal

"The lonely girl on her own. Vulnerable."

"Not exactly."

Christ, he never answered a question straight, did he? It was always another in return, or a deflection.

"So why me?

Or am I just one in a long line of conquests?"

I wasn't crumbling under his gaze. The fight in me stayed strong. I wanted to understand how much of a victim I'd been.

"You were the prettiest girl in the bar. Alice was taken with you as soon as we saw you. And you're the first. We only need one."

One? One what? Plaything? Sex slave?"

"No.

A friend. A partner.

You're a nice person. Our kind of person. You were someone who we thought would fit in."

That sounded far too much like he wanted a regular thing. I openly looked him over.

"I know enough to recognise an expensive suit." I said.

"I buy my clothes in Matalan and Primark. I'm really not your kind of person. I'm just... well. I get by.

I imagine you have a good job, a nice house and money in the bank."

"We do."

"And Alice? What does she do? Trophy wife that sits at home making sure she looks good for you? She looks like a model. You don't work and look like that."

"You do."

"I don't look like a model."

I was more of a tabloid Page Three kind of girl. I wasn't naive. I knew I looked pretty and I knew my tits were my outstanding feature. That wasn't the same as looking like I should be on a catwalk.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

There he was again. Deflecting.

"Where you shop doesn't define your character. We don't judge people by their monetary worth.

"So... on what? On the size of their tits?"

His eyes flicked down momentarily and I regretted saying that. Thankfully he went back to my face.

"More on attitude. Intelligence. A sense of humour. A sense of adventure."

My coffee had cooled enough to drink at last.

"Compliant?

Willing to put out?"

"Lucy. You're a bright girl."

He sat up straighter and the flippancy left his voice. Suddenly he became more serious.

"I can see you're in need of some friends. Real ones who can help you. And I'd like to help you. We both would."

"Help me what? Out of my knickers again? I'm not that sort of girl. It was one stupid thing I did."

"So why do you sit in bars if not to pick up men?"

"Men?

Man." I corrected.

"One single man. Not couples."

I felt the sadness of being hit with a truth that weakened my voice.

"I just want... someone.

Someone special that cares for me."

I drew in a breath.

"And... it doesn't work anyway. No one ever approaches me."

"I find that hard to believe. You're gorgeous."

Perhaps that's the trouble. Anyone decent always assumes you're taken, or they're too insecure to approach the pretty girl."

"Or I pushed them away because..." I refused to voice it.

"I just want...

It doesn't matter. Not an orgy though."

He sighed.

"Look. The sex was fun. You admitted it yourself. But there's more to life than sex. Good company. Great food. A movie on Netflix with friends.

You should come up to the house."

I baulked at that.

"I really shouldn't come up to the house."

"Dinner." He said defiantly.

"That's not all you want though, is it."

"Just dinner.

We can get to know one another properly.

Come on. You didn't even say goodbye. You owe us that at least."

"Dinner, so I can say goodbye?"

"Well. Hopefully not. Friends shouldn't say goodbye."

"We're not friends.

I don't even know you."

"All the more reason to get to know one another."

"No. You just want to get me drunk and... repeat the other night."

"It's just dinner.

Stay over if you like. In the spare room. We won't do anything you don't want. Just let us be your friend."

"I'm twenty-two. Why would you want to be friends with me? You're both..."

"Old?" He pulled an offending face.

"No." I laughed.

"Not old. But you are older. Mature. You're at a different stage in life. You're married and I... fucking hell, what am I? I can't even get a boyfriend."

"That bothers you doesn't it."

I looked down again. Not wanting him to see the depth of the sadness in me.

"Yeah. Yes, it does. I don't like being alone."

I swallowed deeply as I felt the wave of despair lurking in the background. I hated feeling like that.

"All the more reason for good friends."

Suddenly he looked so disarming and I felt myself weakening. It showed on my face.

"Do you know why no one chats you up when you sit in the bar?"

"If I did I'd solve my problems wouldn't I."

He studied me for a moment and I knew a revelation was coming. One I didn't want to hear.

"You go through the motions. You dress right and sit in the right places. Then you keep your eyes down or on your phone. You cross your arms. You refuse to make eye contact with anyone. You aren't approachable Lucy. Your whole persona tells people to stay away."

"You didn't."

"The people you want to meet are your age. They haven't any experience of reading people. They haven't studied body language.

And let's be honest. The average twenty-something wants an easy shag. He doesn't want to have to work at it. He looks at you, sees hard work and looks around for the next one."

Fuck. That hurt. And I couldn't say it wasn't true when he described me.

"You didn't have to work that hard." I reminded him.

"I saw through you, Lucy. I saw the little girl hiding behind the shield. And I'll admit..."

He held his hands up.

"I took advantage of that. We both did. But that doesn't mean we didn't care about you.

I suppose you see us as taking what we wanted. But we gave you what you wanted in return."

"I didn't want a threesome."

"You wanted companionship. You wanted sex. We gave you the latter and we offered, are still offering the former. You just need to let down your guard a little and grasp it."

"I let my guard down and look what happened."

He ignored that and continued his disarming act.

"We really do want us to be friends."

I stared at him. Everything he said about me was true. What he said about himself and Alice I wasn't so sure about. Why would a couple want to be my friend if it wasn't to get in my knickers again?

He was watching me. Waiting for a response. I just didn't have one.

"Here."

He pulled a pen from his pocket and scribbled on a napkin.

"This is our address. And my number is on there if you change your mind."

"Change my mind? I haven't agreed to anything."

"Yes, you have. You haven't said no and you're still sitting here.

Saturday. Seven o'clock. We're easy to find."

He smiled as he stood up.

"Sadly, I have a meeting I need to go to.

Don't let your life go to waste Lucy. Recognise an opportunity and grasp it. We might surprise you."

The next few days were confusing to me. I didn't know what to do. I had no illusions. I knew full well that Wil and Alice just wanted to fuck me again. But they also offered an escape from my loneliness. A few hours I could practice being a normal person. But then there was a price. I would be expected to put out again. Even that held attraction in my weaker moments.

At times I thought the risk too much and was adamant I wouldn't go. At others, I convinced myself I could keep them at bay.

And then there were the times I laid in bed half asleep with my clit raging. The moments I reached for my stimulator and let thoughts of that night help me to orgasm.

Those were the times I thought about just letting them fuck me. Accepting that it was the only way I would get a shag. That was when I was disgusted with myself. Not in the moment with the stimulator rhythmically buzzing away on my clit. That was wonderful. I loved cuming. But after. When the urges were satisfied. Then I hated myself for even thinking about it.

Four

I sat in the rear of the cab kaking myself. I could have just not gone. And heaven knows I'd considered it.

But Wil had been so alluring in Starbucks. I couldn't help but like him. And Alice. The pair of them were nice and I couldn't be a bitch. I knew what they wanted and I told myself I could handle it. I wouldn't sleep with them again. I'd go for dinner. We'd chat, but then I'd leave. No staying in the spare room. And certainly no staying in their room. We'd part on good terms and they'd move on and find someone more amenable to their quirks.

For one evening though. I wouldn't be alone. Then I'd go back to my toy in the drawer next to my bed. It wasn't as satisfying but it was honest and decent.

I'd try harder to look open and approachable next time I went to the bar. I'd keep my head out of my phone. Then perhaps Prince Charming wouldn't pass me by looking for an easier lay. And I wasn't that hard. I'd proved it three times. I was easy. I hadn't intended to be, but that was the reality of my pathetically short list of experiences.

"Christ. Is this the right place?"

I leaned forward and stared as the cab came to a standstill at the top of a long gravel drive.

"It's a castle."

"I just drive the cab miss, and the SatNav says this is the address."

Okay. It wasn't an actual castle. But it might as well have been. A big grand house built of stone. Modern, but styled on something from a fairytale. One side was gabled. The other had a protruding turret that rose to a separate, circular roof. It should have been made from gingerbread.

I think I'd figured Wil and Alice were wealthy. But wealthy to me was anyone who had a new car and a mortgage. This was something else. Millionaire territory.

It couldn't be the right place. Could it?

I paid the cabbie.

"Do you mind waiting until I've gone in, please? Just in case."

"Fair enough."

"Thank you."

I stepped out and closed the car door, looking up at the house as I questioned what I'd do when some confused homeowner answered the door. At this point, I was wondering if Wil had set me up. Sent me to a stranger's home to laugh at me.

The gravel crunched and my small heels twisted threatening to break my ankles as I went towards the heavy oak front door. It was gigantic. Taller and wider than on any house I'd ever been to. It swung open as soon as my foot touched the first step.

"I was worried you wouldn't come." Alice greeted me.

"This is yours?"

"Yes. We had it built especially. Moved in a couple of years ago. Do you like it?"

My face broke into a grin.

"Of course, I fucking like it."

I gave the cab driver a thumbs-up and went inside.

"Wil is in the kitchen. He's the cook in the house."

I was still in awe. A big open hall. A room in its own right in any other house. It was as big as some houses on its own. And stairs, two sets that went off into each wing. I'd never been in a house with wings unless I'd been paying an entrance fee. I looked up to see a gallery linking the two under a vaulted ceiling.

"Christ, Alice.

What are you? Millionaires?"

My eyes went to her. She looked the part. So slender in her perfectly fitted dress. Like a model.

"Successful." She answered noncommittally.

"Come through to the kitchen. I'll fetch you a wine while Wil does his thing.

I hope you like pork and chicken."

I followed, feeling so out of place. And he thought I was his kind of person? As a maid maybe.

Wil was there, looking like he was enjoying himself as he checked the oven and stirred whatever was bubbling in the saucepans.

"Look at you, all domesticated."

He grinned at me.

"And there was you thinking I was Hugh Hefner. You wouldn't have found him in his smoking jacket cooking away in the kitchen.

Take a seat. Won't be long."

I slipped easily onto a fancy telescopic bar stool at the massive island. Alice slid a glass of something toward me.

"I'm not that wifey." She said.

"I can cook basic meals but when we have a guest and need something special, that's Wil's forte.

"You could impress me with beans on toast or a fish finger sandwich. There was no need to do anything fancy."

She grinned.

"The mark of someone who lives alone. Spag Bol and pizza. Uni student food. I remember it well."

"And now you eat two meats with one meal and serve it with wine."

"Don't be fooled by the expensive kitchen. It doesn't get this fancy most of the time."

Dinner was nice. Better than nice. It was the best-tasting and most elaborate meal I'd had since my Mum had made my meals for me. Wil was a good cook. And the conversation was normal. Mostly about their house. I loved it. And after, as we sat around talking and drinking, I learnt Wil was something in investments.

"I work from home mostly." He said.

"I do have an office I use for big clients. Companies and that sort of thing. They like face-to-face meetings in a formal setting. But I work with smaller clients as well. Some of them just come here.

"Must be difficult to make money. Stocks and shares. They go up and down all the time."

"More dealing with bonds and offshore markets. Or finding investment projects that guarantee a good return. Wind farms are a good long-term bet at the moment. Net zero offers a lot of opportunity if you can tie money up for a few years."

"You're saying it's easy to make money? I thought it would be hard. The economy isn't exactly all good news."

"Look around. I'm thirty-five. And this is all paid for by shuffling other people's money around and skimming a little off the top in fees. No. It really isn't."

"And what about you?" I asked turning to Alice.

"I just look good." She laughed sitting back on the comfortable sofa with her legs stretched out.

"But I do it well."

"Have you ever worked?"

"I trained as a hairdresser and beautician. But I met Wil before I needed to pay my way."

"She helps keep my books." Wil added.

"Don't let the idea she just paints her nails fool you. Alice has a good head for numbers herself."

"And of course, there's the house. A large place like this does need a lot of looking after." Alice added.

"I do everything except the gardens. We have a man in to do that. But even with just the two of us, the place needs constant dusting."

"I'd swap that for working in the shop."

Wil topped my glass up again before sitting next to Alice.

"Gets boring though." She went on.

"I like company and I don't see nearly enough people. I like to chat. Wil's lovely but I can't do girly talk with him."

"You're still lucky. You have each other. I'm just rattling around in my own head most days."

"That's so sad.

See. We'd make such a good little team. Wil doing the cooking and us doing girly talk. That's why we should be friends."

I sipped the wine, enjoying the fact that I wasn't quite so alone for once.

"I'm so not in your league."

"But you could be."

"Are you delusional? I'll never live in a place like this and dress how you do."

Alice smiled and I saw the first hints of conspiracy in her eyes. I interpreted that as the oncoming attempts to get me into bed. I looked at my wine glass realising I was letting them ply me with drink again. And what did I do? I took another mouthful.

"I have to ask you something. About last month."

Here we go. Alice was about to make her move. But I was loosening up now. I could handle it.

"What's that?"

"Making love to me. That was your first time with another girl wasn't it."

I coloured up.

"I just wanted to know what you thought. I mean. I'd never done it before either."

That came as a surprise.

"I always wanted to. Had a couple of opportunities in college but never took the plunge. I wasn't as brave back then. So. What's your thoughts?"

I was sniggering.

"I still like men..."

"That's a relief." Wil joked.

"But... yeah.

I was honest. I should have lied but I couldn't.

"It was sort of fun. I was terrified I'd get it wrong though. I had no idea what I was doing. Not that I'm an expert with guys or anything."

Alice studied me for a minute with a smile playing on her face.

"That's exactly what I thought. I loved it."

She put her hand on Wil's leg and gave it a reassuring rub.

"You've no need to worry, darling. I'm still going to want your cock to finish off with."

I sniggered again wishing once more that I'd been more conservative with the wine.

"You're lucky."

I admitted my reality.

"I've only had one bad relationship and an even worse fumbling in the back of a car to lose my virginity. And of course..."

"Lucy. You're so pretty. You're wasting your best years. This is when you should be out there. Shagging around and finding out what you like."

"Chance would be a fine thing. Everyone decent is taken."

She smirked at me.

"Taken doesn't mean you don't get to join in."

"It does, usually."

"That's the boring people with no imagination."

She leaned forward, her eyes locking me in a star that weakened my resolve by another layer.

"I like to experiment." Alice said.

"I'll try most things once. More than once if I like it.

"Like girls?"

That I was there said she'd liked that and intended a second helping.

"Absolutely. Pussy is fucking lovely.

Or perhaps it's just yours."

I hid behind my glass as my thighs clamped together. This talk was waking my clit. The last thing I wanted.

"But yes. You get my meaning. I like to be adventurous.

How about you?"

"The most exciting my sex life ever gets is new batteries."

"Lucy. That's such a waste. And here you are saying no to us."

My facial response to that wasn't as strong as it should have been. Three glasses in and I could feel my objections to the repeat I was so certain they intended falling by the wayside."

"You ever tried bondage?"

That I did react to. With a flash of fear as I reminded myself I didn't know these people and no one knew I was here.

Alice jumped to reassure me.

"I don't mean anything extreme. Just blindfolds or handcuffs. That sort of thing.

"No.

My ex wasn't that... inventive. Apart from with his bit on the side. And I was too young to initiate anything... kinky."

"Ha.

That's not kinky. It's just normal between couples. Everyone does it."

She sat up and leaned across, getting close before squeezing my thigh.

"You've no idea how hot it is to have your responses under the control of someone else."

I don't know if it was her hand teasing my skirt higher or her words, but my thong was suddenly failing at containing my leaking fluids. I shuffled back on the chair and Alice took her hand away.

"I don't know about that." I said.

"Maybe one day. With someone I trust.

You know, as a couple. Not..."

"You should let us teach you."

I stared at her. Wil was quiet. Just watching us. He did that a lot I noticed. It was Alice who pushed the boundaries when they were together. Less intimidating from a woman I guess.

"This is why I didn't want to come."

"Come? Or cum?"

My agitation was obvious. I couldn't hide it. I was crimson and my constant squirming betrayed my heat.

"Alice. No.

It's..."

"It's what? Embarrassing? Taboo? Wrong?

Who says what you can do with consenting adults? It's your body. And from what I can see, it's going to waste when it's crying out for some pleasure."

I swallowed more wine to avoid answering.

"Do you fancy a little fun? Something different?"

She meant tying me up. I knew that straight away even as the alcohol swirled around my bloodstream numbing my thoughts.

"No. I don't."

Alice grinned.

"It's so sexy."

She lept to her feet and held her hand out.

"Come on. Let me show you something."

"Alice. No. Please.

I've enjoyed tonight. More than I thought I would. Don't spoil it."

"Aw come on. I just want to show you something."

I took her hand and let her lead me to the stairs. I knew as I climbed them I was being drawn in again. I wouldn't descend these stairs without having my panties removed. I knew that even as I took each step. I cursed my weakness. At the top, we went along a plush landing to one of the bedrooms with Wil following.