A Cure For The Birthday Blues Ch. 02

Ryan stared at her speculatively, obviously making up his mind whether or not to trust her, then nodded and ducked his head. Chloë had to lean closer to hear what he was saying.

"Livvie...Olivia and...and me, we go back a long way, we were kids together, we grew up together...in the same house. That's because Livvie...she's my sister..."

Chloë stared in amazement, her mouth hanging open; that had come straight out of left field. She'd heard of this, but had never expected to ever encounter a real-life... situation like this, whatever it was; she didn't know what to call it; but Ryan and his...sister were her friends, she'd promised to help them if they trusted her; well, he'd trusted her, now it was her turn. She squeezed his hand even harder.

"Poor you, poor, poor you, and poor Livvie, too, having to hide this constantly, always dodging around and backing away when people get too close. I'm so sorry, Ryan, I really am. I can only imagine how Livvie feels, then with the baby as well, it must be terrible for her to have no-one to confide in, no-one to share this with. Do you have any other family, anyone who knows, that you can turn to for help?"

Ryan looked up at her again, and she saw the tear tracks on his cheeks, her throat catching in sympathy for his loneliness and distress.

"No-one, just you; you're the only one who knows..." he whispered.

Chloë stared at him for a long minute, digesting everything he'd said so far; at first, it had seemed to her that Livvie was pushing him away because she was feeling guilty and isolated: guilty because of what she and Ryan had done, and isolated because she was at the other end of the country from everything she knew, and now her loneliness was preying on her.

And then it came to her, as her subconscious mind finally put all the pieces together, and it was so simple she wondered that he hadn't put it together himself, but of course he was so busy shouldering the cares and woes of the world, and wallowing in his own guilt and self-pity that it had never occurred to him to look at his problem in any other way than to find a cure. They didn't need a cure; they needed a solution.

Her instinctive reaction was to shake him by the shoulders and tell him to go to his wife and fix this; Livvie was feeling rejected and alone, and with good cause; this was Ryan's fault, he'd done this to them, to himself, and now he needed to undo it.

"Ryan, I know why Livvie feels the way she does, and what you need to do to fix it. Think about this: you brought her here, far from everyone and everything she knows; OK, so you had to, if you wanted to make it work, and I know she wanted to come and be with you, but now your career's taking off in a big way, you're the youngest engineering design manager this company's ever had, and now, with the 'Devastator' project under your belt, you are officially the company golden boy; things are only going to get better for you. And to get there, you lived at your desk while you let Livvie sit alone day after day. Even when you went home you were still here. Is it any wonder she's ready to check-out? Really Ryan, she's only human, you left her out, no wonder she feels left out, not part of your life, discarded."

She held up her hand to forestall his denial.

"I know that's not the way it is for you, Ryan, and I know you didn't pick up on this, but it's still down to you; She feels like you've left her behind, and in many ways you did; the brighter your star shines, the less you're going to need her, and one day you're not going to need her at all, and you'll be done. She needs to be reminded of why you set out to catch her in the first place, and she needs to feel that excitement again, that thrill of the chase. Believe me, I wish my Pete had been half as sneaky and devious, and one tenth as inventive, the first time he sweet-talked me into bed with him! You need to woo her, Ryan, you need to woo her, and win her back; she needs romance and excitement, maybe a little naughty but nice, even something so far off her radar she'd never think of it; you need to get inventive again, to make her feel like a naughty girl and your dirty little sex-bomb at the same time; you need to bring back everything she felt when you tied her up and teased her, and made her want you, and showed her how much you wanted her. Think outside the box, Ryan; if you're going to win her back, it's all you have left now."

Chloë had been intrigued and then excited when Ryan unfolded what he'd done to seduce Livvie, how carefully and stealthily he'd moved on her, and how he'd kept her dancing with intrigue until the very last second; now he needed to do that again, but in a different way, and Chloë thought she knew just how that should be.

"Ryan, I need you to trust me here; the way you originally seduced and showed Livvie what she meant to you? I think that will work again, but you'll have to change it up a level, get just a little more down and dirty, if you follow me. I know someone who...helped my younger sister and her partner through something very much like this, and in pretty much the same way. Don't worry!" she held up her hand as Ryan started to object. "It's not another man, but she is very, very good, and she's very discreet; you'll never even see her properly, but I can almost guarantee she'll help you and Livvie find each other again. And don't worry, you won't have to do anything; she's not interested in men, so you're safe!"

Ryan looked at her in open-mouthed astonishment, then his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Are you seriously suggesting I drag Livvie into some kind of...of threesome? What the fu.., no, absolutely not, I've never heard anything so...!"

Chloë held up her hand to cut him off.

"No Ryan, for once, just shut up and listen to what the people around you are saying! You made this happen. This is your mess, and it's a big one; you need to clean it up now, before it's all gone to shit and you and Livvie really are done! Now, are you going to shut up and pay attention, or do I just leave you like this and you can kiss Livvie, your life, your family goodbye? I'm offering you a way back, it's a strange way, but it's what you need, so make up your mind, Ryan, clock's ticking!"

Ryan stared at her, his mouth hanging open in shock at the harsh truths she'd just battered him with; his eyes searched hers, looking for any sign of relenting, but there was none; Chloë really meant what she was saying, and now it was crunch-time; go along with her preposterous plan, or watch his life shatter. His eyes dropped, and he hung his head, defeated.

"Ok, let's do this; how much worse can it get...?" he murmured.

Chloë gazed at him sympathetically; she had an inkling how he must be feeling; she and Richard, her sister's partner, had been here once, at this same juncture, going through the same dance, having the same conversation, for pretty much the same reasons. It had worked for them; there was no reason to suppose it wouldn't work for Ryan and Livvie.

"Ryan, what I'm suggesting is a way for you to win your wife back; from what you say, from what you've told me, you need this, you both need all the help you can get, so listen to me; I'm offering you a way to do it discreetly, privately, and with no strings attached; the other party will never know who you are, she'll never be anything except a way for Livvie to find her way back to you, and for you to win back that girl you took so much time and effort to win in the first place! Isn't that what you want; couples therapy at the sharp end? This girl can help you, she's good at what she does, trust me, Ryan, she'll make a difference, I promise!"

Ryan dropped his head into his hands.

"I don't know, it just seems so...so...sordid, I dunno...Livvie's never going to agree to this..."

Chloë grinned as she patted his hand.

"That's why you're not going to tell her! Just go ahead with how you did it last time, be as sneaky as you can, and don't worry about Jack-Jack, I'll look after him; just you make sure you keep Livvie in that bedroom until the two of you are straight again, understand?"

Ryan still looked bewildered.

"But how will I know...?"

Chloë smiled again.

"Just leave that to me; believe me, you'll know! And don't worry. Just make sure the door is unlocked. The young lady and I will take care of the rest, and I guarantee, by first light you and Livvie will be breaking beds again!"

Ryan looked doubtful.

"How much will it cost...?" and Chloë grinned.

"Not a bean; apparently it's so much fun for her she does it for free! Stop your worrying now, just go home, get yourself ready, and take it the way you did last time. You have to work on Livvie, Ryan, you have to make her see how much she means to you, and if you're going to trick, deceive, seduce, and dazzle her, then you're going to need a master of all of the above right there with you! This is the best way I can think of making it happen. Eleven o'clock okay?"

Ryan looked at her closely.

"Who is she, who is this person I'm letting into my house, into my wife's bed?"

Chloë shrugged her shoulders.

"A friend of a friend of a friend; that's all you really need to know; she's good at what she does, she's discreet, she's clean, and you'll never see or hear from her again; I'll bring her to you around Eleven, it'll be dark, and she'll never even know where or who you are; completely anonymous, Ryan, that's how she does things, that's how she likes it. Now, shall I make the call or not?"

Ryan gazed at her for long, apprehensive seconds, then reluctantly nodded agreement, and it was all set.

*

By nine o'clock, Livvie was bushed; Jack had been fractious and restless all day, and all she wanted was to get some rest. Ryan offered to put him down, so carried him around while Livvie readied for bed. When she started to put her frumpy sleep-sweats on, though, Ryan objected, saying they made him too hot at night, so Livvie swapped them for one of his old T-shirts instead, before crawling gratefully into the cool bed.

Ryan disappeared with Jack, and the sound of him crooning softly to the baby lulled her into a deep sleep. Even Ryan sliding into bed next to her barely registered before she once again dropped into a deep, dreamless sleep.

*

Something brought her out of her sleep, from deep sleep to instant wakefulness, but when she tried to move she discovered her arms were stretched up over her head, her hands shackled to the fancy wrought-iron bed-head inside softly padded cuffs.

At the same time, she realised her legs were also immobilised, more soft, padded leather cuffs holding her ankles in place, and a mask of some sort had been slipped over her eyes; she could feel the elastic across the back of her head.

"Ryan, what the fuck are you...!" she began, outrage stirring, only to feel a soft gag slip over her mouth, muffling her angry exclamations.

"Sshhh, no-one's going to hurt you, Livvie, I promise!" Ryan's soft, almost inaudible whisper came to her, his tongue brushing her ear in a quick, feather-soft lick giving her a gentle pang of pleasure, both wistful and needy, even through her anger and fear.

She bristled as she brushed that from her mind; how fucking dare he, what the fuck did he think he was doing? She struggled, hoping to slip her wrists out of the cuffs, but to no avail. As she slumped down, defeated, she sensed Ryan looming over her, and then, quick as lightning, he slipped the soft gag down and kissed her, crushing his lips against hers in a quick, heartfelt kiss, his tongue lightly brushing her lips, and then slipped the gag back up again before she could say anything.

Livvie's lips tingled from the swift kiss; angry as she was, it still felt good, a remembrance of how things had been between them, before...before the distance had begun to grow, before he'd gone away, back when they were still in love and he wanted and needed her...

She could still feel his presence, and then she felt him take hold of the hem of the T-shirt and heave, ripping it all the way up the front, exposing her beautiful, proud, protruding breasts; Ryan was silent with awe; he'd not seen his sister-wife properly naked in months now, and he'd almost forgotten what a stunning body, what spectacular breasts she had; firm, round and jutting, with no sag or droop despite recent motherhood; she looked utterly delicious; young, nulliparous, and almost overwhelmingly desirable.

Her stomach was flat, with just the faint hint of double-dome that spoke of perfect muscle-tone; all that time in the gym following Jack's birth had obviously paid dividends. Her thighs were long, firm and perfectly toned, the olive skin warm and glossy in the lamp-light, and Ryan felt his pulse quickening and his penis thickening at the memory of those long, sleek, beautiful legs wrapped around him or thrown over his shoulders as he pounded into her night after night.

Livvie tried to twist and get away from him, anger coursing through her, but still her nipples were reacting to both the cool night air and the knowledge that her husband, her brother, was feasting his gaze on her nakedness, the brown nubs quickly erecting into the long, fat little pillars it had always been his delight to lick, suck, and nibble, and gently bite when she demanded it from him.

When the cold metal of the scissors touched her thigh she jumped, but she knew what was coming, and resigned herself to it. Ryan quickly slit the sides of her panties, then pulled them off, exposing the full glory of her waxed mound to his eyes. Now his cock was at full stretch; the sight of Livvie naked would give a corpse an erection, and he was only human.

But they had all night. Tonight Livvie was going to recover and reclaim what she'd decided was already gone or had stopped believing: that her husband loved her with a passion and wanted her more than anything in the whole world, and that she was loved, and honoured, and treasured, the things he'd neglected to remind her of in his quest to reach the top, and that he needed her more than he knew how to say.

Livvie felt his weight shift as he moved up next to her, and then his lips were on her neck, kissing and nibbling softly, gently; try as she might to keep her anger close and hot at her captivity, goosebumps prickled up and down her back, arms and thighs as his lips traced out patterns and pathways on her skin she'd almost forgotten.

His focus shifted now to her throat, Livvie swallowing dryly as the old feelings threatened to resurface, try as she might to suppress them because they were a part of something she knew with iron certainty was gone forever. As he kissed and licked, a movement caught his eye. He looked up in quick alarm, then relaxed as a lithe, slender woman, with dark, glossy red hair bobbed in a neat bell, wearing a black velvet opera mask but otherwise completely naked, her small, conical breasts adorned with small, puffy nipples, and her sex waxed like Livvie's, slipped silently into the room and smiled at him, her finger to her lips warning him to be silent.

Ryan nodded, and smiled ruefully. Now it began, there was no turning back now, and so he watched apprehensively as the naked woman padded noiselessly across the carpet and knelt on the floor next to Livvie. Her eyes, deep-set and mysterious behind the mask gleamed darkly in the faint light from the hall, met his, and once again her finger on her lips told him to be silent and her hand gesture told him to wait; at his nod of agreement, she slipped her finger between Livvie's legs and stroked gently even as she bent to lightly caress Livvie's nipple with her lips, her tongue-tip barely flicking the turgid little pillar of flesh

Livvie squealed behind her gag, bucking at the two pronged assault, her eyes rolling and then squeezing shut, the muscles and tendons in her neck cording as she shuddered with the unexpected pleasure. Her back arched as the girl continued to gently frig her, soft, liquid sounds of pleasure coming from her as she felt the pleasure of what was happening to her.

Now the girl nodded to Ryan, but when he leaned over and took the other nipple between his lips and sucked, Livvie bucked and gurgled, and her eyes flew wide-open behind the blindfold with the sudden realisation there was another person in the room, someone else who was touching her intimately.

The girl tugged her own earlobe as she rolled her eyes at him, and Ryan understood immediately what she was telling him. He kissed his way up to Livvie's ear, biting and nibbling her, to her earlobe, to whisper in her ear, soothing her as she began to panic, and only calming once she realised that whoever else was there, so was Ryan, and he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

As she came to understand that, she relaxed, and as she relaxed, and paid attention to the soft tongue and gentle pair of lips kissing, licking, teasing and caressing her, it gradually dawned on her that it was a woman. Something about the gentleness, the attention to other, more tender places than a man would ever think of, gradually gave it away. Livvie was still mad at Ryan, but at least he'd not included one of his friends in this...whatever it was; she'd never have forgiven that; as much as she and Ryan were having problems, and had even begun to drift apart, she was still his, and only his, and no other man would ever touch her. So who was the other woman...?

Under Ryan's tender touch, and the soft caress of his lips on her nipple, between her breasts, the base of her throat, and that place just under her ear, Livvie relaxed, her body welcoming the doubled kisses and caresses, a place deep inside her opening up and reluctantly accepting them. As Ryan shifted against her, she felt the thick hardness of his own arousal brush against her thigh, a momentary cool wetness streaking her, and she realised he was erect, tumescent with need and arousal for her, the wetness a sign that his penis was exuding lubricant as a prelude to fucking her.

A little spark deep down inside her rejoiced at the knowledge that he still wanted her, much as she tried to hold on to her self-righteous anger at being subjected to this...this assault, this sick pleasure (and it must be sick; it was not of her choosing...) being inflicted on her whether or not she'd asked or desired it.

Ryan watched in silence as the girl began to kiss her way down Livvie's spectacular body, her hand once more staying him as he moved to joined her, so he remained in place instead, watching as the girl nibbled and licked Livvie's nipples, between her breasts, and began to move inexorably lower, while Ryan stared with bated breath.

Livvie, meanwhile was in a whirl of building arousal, gasping softly as a pair of soft lips gently traced a path between her breasts down her taut stomach, a trail of kisses leading to a probing tongue-tip dipping momentarily into her navel, flicking the sensitive tissue and popping a fury of goosebumps along her arms and thighs, her nipples throbbing almost painfully at the sensation.

As the soft, teasing lips moved further, lower down her body, Livvie's eyes widened under the blindfold as she realised where that questing mouth was going, but struggle as she might (and if she was being completely honest with herself, she didn't struggle as hard as she might...) it made no difference; the relentless lips moved down to that place, their touch light as spider silk, hot as a branding-iron, gentle as a baby's breath, still no clue as to whose lips they were, and so delight and horror and need and reluctance, tinged with desire, apprehension, and acceptance, throbbed, and pulsed and swirled deep inside her.

Livvie tried to scream at the first soft, cat-like licks at the apex of her slit; the sensation thrilled through her in a way she barely remembered, a warm wave of lust and longing washing through her even as her clitoris swelled and pulsated hotly, ready, waiting, needing that touch she'd almost forgotten, contrasting sharply with the banked coals of anger and rejection that even now still smouldered sullenly inside her.