Chapter 1
It takes my brain a few moments to figure out what the annoying beep is. Groaning, I roll over and blindly fumble around the nightstand until I encounter the rubbery edges on my phone case. I crack my eyes open, swipe my alarm off, and blink at the illuminated numbers.
Ugh. I hate mornings.
The other side of the bed is empty and cold. My husband, Lucas, leaves for work by the time I wake up, which is probably for the best. I’m a grumpy bear before my morning coffee.
I force myself out of bed and stumble into the kitchen. Yawning, I notice Lucas sent me a text message.
He better not have forgotten to put the trashcan on the curb again. If I have to put shoes on, he’s going to experience the full fury of my inner beast.
Lucas
You never told me what costume you’re wearing tonight.
Oh right, it’s Halloween. Yeah, I need coffee for this conversation. Tapping my fingers on the counter, I stare at my drip coffee maker. Could it go slower? I’ll be forty by the time my drink is ready.
Fuck it. I type out my reply to Lucas.
Jessica
Ugh, do we have to go? My draft is due to my editor Monday.
I’m a full-time indie author and my life is pretty crazy awesome.
Since I was young, I’ve been writing stories on whatever scraps of paper I could find.
I’d spend hours daydreaming elaborate conversations between imaginary people.
I loved writing, but my parents didn’t think writing was a viable career, so I struggled through a business degree.
The only good thing to come out of my college years was meeting Lucas.
He was a nerdy math major who was the first guy to see the “me” beyond the petite frame, generous breasts, and blonde hair.
He claims he won the lotto with me, but in reality, we both won.
Before him, my dating life was a string of boys.
Oh, they were fun to toy with, but not worth sticking with long term.
We married right out of college. I worked boring desk jobs and wrote smutty fanfiction on breaks and in the evenings.
Four years ago, I got brave enough to self-publish an erotic vampire reverse harem novel, and it blew up.
I’ve been riding the high since, but even though I work from home, I sometimes struggle to stay on track.
It’s too easy to waste my day on social media or instant messaging my best friend, Miri.
Being an author is awesome, but it’s not the best part of my life. No, that’s Lucas. He’s the most amazing man on the planet, and being in a relationship where your partner lets you be the real you is everything.
I always struggled with the idea of monogamy.
One man for the rest of my life? It didn’t sound appealing until I met Lucas.
I wanted it all: a man at home, others when I wanted, and maybe some extra action on the side.
But just because I wanted it didn’t mean it was going to happen.
My parents taught me that marriage means you found the last person you’re ever going to fuck.
In the end, I decided Lucas was worth it.
I set aside my concerns about not being satisfied with one guy and said “I do” while still daydreaming of my own reverse harem.
I didn’t tell Lucas about my filthy fantasies of sleeping with other men, using my writing to explore those desires. My husband is a visual creature and prefers porn to erotica, so he didn’t read my stories. He didn’t realize I wrote about women fucking multiple men.
A couple of years ago, I noticed our computer browser’s history was full of wife sharing porno.
I watched a few for research — yeah… research — and I jumped Lucas in a frenzy when he got home from work.
After a round of sweaty sex and a fabulous orgasm, I questioned him about his porn preference.
He admitted to having fantasies of other men fucking me.
I never imagined I would marry a man who enjoyed sharing me.
Hell, I didn’t even know it was an option.
What followed was a wild year of sexual exploration that has settled into a comfortable, yet exciting, routine where Lucas selects men for me to fuck.
My dear husband has a kink about listening to me with the other guys and imagining what is happening, so he’s never in the room with us.
He finds the men, invites them over, and I fuck them in our spare room.
It’s hot as hell to be plowed by another guy, knowing that Lucas is listening from the other side of the wall and stroking.
Dammit. Not today. Lucas won tickets to a Halloween haunted house in a work raffle, and he expects me to go with him.
This is so not on my to-do list. I usually enjoy holidays, but I’m not feeling it this year.
I didn’t even buy candy to give out. My phone dings, bringing me back to my immediate problem.
Lucas
Yes, you promised. Now go figure out what you’re going to wear.
Bleh. I stick my tongue out at the phone and want to have a tantrum, but I have to be an adult since I agreed to go.
Jessica
Fine. I’ll decide after I get caffeine in me.
Lucas replies with a kissing emoji. I pout as I pour my coffee.
Dammit, why did you have to win the stupid raffle? Angst simmers in my stomach as my muscles tighten. The looming Monday deadline stresses me out, and wasting time at a haunted house doesn’t help.
I drain my first cup of coffee and pour a second before taking the mug with me into our walk-in closet. Now to find a dumb costume I can recycle from past years. I dig around. Fifteen minutes later, I have three options laid out on the bed and I’m sending Miri a text. I’ll let her choose.
Jessica
OK. I need your help with my costume. I can be a slutty nun, slutty cop, or slutty bunny.
It doesn’t take long for her reply.
Miri
You should probably be a slutty something tonight.
Her message ends with an emoji of a face with its tongue sticking out. I gaze upwards and count to four slowly. I’m going to need more coffee to deal with her and Lucas today.
Jessica
Come on, pick for me. He’s dragging me to this stupid-ass haunted house. Make my life easier.
Earlier in the week, I told her about the tickets that Lucas won.
She thought it sounded fun, and I offered to let her go in my place.
When she joked about fondling Lucas’s ass in a dark room, I rescinded the offer.
I’m assuming she was kidding, but she and her husband recently opened their marriage and she fucked a guy we went to high school with, so I wasn’t sure.
Miri
OK, spoilsport. Be a slutty Jessica bunny and twitch your tail at that sexy husband of yours. Make him wish you were at home.
I narrow my eyes and tense my shoulders when she says Lucas is sexy.
I realize what happened and roll them, snickering at myself.
Shit, I need to lighten up. She’s not trying to get with Lucas, and he is quite delicious.
He was geeky in college, but he filled out and gained confidence.
I’ve noticed women eying him when we’re out shopping.
Jessica
Thanks, bunny it is!
Well, that’s settled. Now on to important matters. Slumping my shoulders, I expel a huge, dramatic sigh as I carry my mug to the office to fix the plot hole I found in my story.