Swing Read online

  Swing

  by

  Nellie Cross

  Free Gifts

  As a Special Gift for acquiring this book you are entitled to another 31 Free Bestseller Romance and Erotica Books worth $92.69 PLUS incredible weekly deals on new books and collections! Do as over 12,700 people before you and grab it all — FREE for a limited time only!

  http://www.AmorBooks.com

  or simply

  AmorBooks.com

  Disclaimer: The material in this book is for mature audiences only and contains graphic sexual content and is intended for those over the age of 18 only.

  ***

  Kerry Lyons woke up staring at the ceiling of her bedroom. The sun filtered through the closed blinds, casting the room in a grayish glow. She looked over at her husband Anthony, sound asleep, nearly snoring even. She stared at the ceiling once again and sighed, before swinging herself out of bed. She slipped on her housecoat and slippers and shuffled her way into their bathroom.

  She caught herself in the full length mirror hanging off the bathroom floor. “Ugh,” she says.

  In the shower, she dwelled on her reflection. At 46 years old, Kerry was a long way from the slim figure that she had in her teens and twenties. Despite her four children, Kerry stayed active - running up to three miles every few days, yoga class and finding time for a quick visit to the gym - until a horrible accident a year ago at work limited her mobility for several excruciating months.

  That - combined with the general place that her life was in - accounted for her weight gain.

  After her shower, she went back into her bedroom, where her husband was still asleep.

  “Kenny,” she droned, “What do you want for breakfast?”

  Kenny snorted. “Eh, cook me whatever.”

  “You always say whatever and then you don’t like what I make for you.”

  He snored again. Kerry threw up her hands and got dressed.

  Kenny woke up an hour later. He went into the kitchen and saw that everything looked exactly the same way it did last night after Kerry did the dishes. He opened the microwave. Empty.

  “She didn’t make me anything to eat?”

  He ran to the refrigerator. There was nothing in there. He grabbed the milk and some cereal from the top of the refrigerator.

  Thirty minutes later, he was dressed for work. He stood at his front door, head rested against the door.

  “…fuck this traffic, fuck this job, fuck this car I’m driving, fuck my life….”

  He repeated this mantra three more times before he left.

  ***

  Dinner was a quiet affair. Kerry barely touched her food, poking at it with her fork. Kenny was working on his second plate. Their youngest children - the twins Jake and Lucas, seventeen years old - were playing with their cell phones while inhaling their food.

  She looked at this scene - she and her remaining boys - and sighed.

  “Can you not do that now?” Kenny said derisively.

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  “You sighed. Obviously something is bothering you, let it out.”

  “It’s just too quiet,” Kerry said.

  “Because we’re eating. If you wanted someone to talk to, you should’ve kept in contact with all your girlfriends.”

  Like a synchronized routine, the twins picked up their plates off the table and put them in the sink, retreating to their room.

  “See, now you ran the boys from the table.”

  “Oh, so that was my fault, just like everything else is my fault.”

  They argued.

  “Fuck it,” Kenny threw up his hands. “I’m going to bed.”

  Kerry stared at the ceiling once again, this time in complete darkness.

  Kenny climbed into the sheets next to her. “Would you like to make love tonight, dear?” He said this with a huge amount of bitterness in his voice.

  “Oh fuck off Kenny.”

  “I decided to ask this time since any other time I try to just go in for it you push me away like I have rabies or something.”

  “Are we really having this discussion right now? I’m going to sleep.” Kerry turned her back to him.

  “Well, we have to discuss something, considering that you don’t do anything else anymore. Fine, turn your back on me like you always do.”

  He turned his back to her back.

  Kerry was waiting at the kitchen table when Kenny came in, not expecting breakfast, let alone her.

  “What?” he asked.

  “We need help.”

  “No shit.”

  “Kenny.”

  He sat down across from her. “So what do you want to do?”

  “I think we should see a marriage counselor.”

  “No, I don’t want to go see some shrink,” he said, shaking his head. “They’re going to give us the same advice that they give to everyone. They don’t know us.”

  “Well what do you suppose we do?”

  “I want us to go back to the way we used to be.”

  “We can’t.” Kerry looked down at the table.

  “Why not?”

  “Because we aren’t the way we used to be. Look at us. I’m fat-“

  “You’re not fat. Is - is that why you won’t have sex with me anymore?”

  “I’m fat Kenny.” She stood up. “Look at me.”

  “I see the same woman I married. Kerry, I think you still look great. Why do you beat yourself up?”

  “You don’t make me feel like it. You don’t make me feel anything anymore.”

  “I don’t think you appreciate me anymore. I go to work that bullshit job for you and the family, not for my health.”

  “I don’t think you appreciate me anymore either Kenny; and here you go complaining about your job again.”

  Silence fell between them.

  “Let’s go to dinner tonight. We haven’t done that in ages,” Kenny said.

  “And that’s supposed to fix everything?” Kerry said, throwing her hands up.

  “No, but you said let’s go back to how we used to be. Please, go to dinner with me. I’m trying to make an effort here.”

  Kerry sighed. “Where are we going?”

  “We’re going to the place I took you on our first date.”

  Kerry’s face brightened. “D’Amato’s? We haven’t been there in so long. I didn’t know it was still open.”

  “Yeah, it’s still there. Do you like the sound of that?”

  “I do.”

  “Wear something nice.”

  “I don’t have anything nice.”

  “You think you don’t have anything nice, but you have something nice. You look good in everything you wear.”

  “Kenny…”

  “You said I don’t make you feel anything anymore, I’m trying to make you feel beautiful. Let’s try to have a good evening tonight dear.”

  Kerry nodded. “Okay, we’ll have a nice night tonight.”

  ***

  For the first time in ages, Kerry and Kenny were laughing with one another, sometimes to the point of tears.

  After she took a sip of wine, Kerry said, “This was nice. Thank you dear.”

  “You’re welcome. You had a good time, right?”

  “I did.”

  He nodded. “I didn’t know all of that was going on at work with your supervisor. They didn’t fire her?”

  “She has seniority, so it’s going to be really hard to get her out,” Kerry shrugged.

  “Christ.”

  “I didn’t know you hated your job that badly.”

  “I don’t even think hate is strong enough of a word to describe it. I feel like it’s too late to start something else though. I definitely don’t want to go back to school.”

  The waitress walked up to the table. “The gentle
man across the way has paid for your meal tonight.”

  Alarmed, the Lyons looked across the restaurant and found a man, seemingly well off sitting with a trophy of a woman, who tipped his glass in their direction.

  “Do you know him?” Kerry asked.

  “Never met the man a day in my life,” Kenny replied. He tipped his glass back at him.

  “I mean, that was a nice gesture, but….”

  Kenny looked harder at him. “Never met him,” he muttered. He shook his head and went back to his meal.

  Thirty minutes later, arm in arm, the Lyons waited for their car. They made light conversation.

  The gentleman and his companion came and stood next to them. Kenny gave him a slight wave. “Thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome,” the gentleman said. Holding out his hand, he then says, “Remus Atkins, and this is my wife Penelope.”

  “Hi,” Penelope said with a Texas drawl.

  “I’m Kenny Lyons, and this is Kerry.”

  “Hello,” Kerry said.

  “How long have you two been together?”

  “Oh, wow, it’s been… what, twenty-five years of marriage,” Kenny said.

  “Oh, that’s so wonderful,” Penelope said. “Me and Remus have been together for fifteen.”

  “Hey, we were wondering,” Remus said, “me and the Mrs. are going for a little nightcap, and we would like for you to join us.”

  “Oh, um…” Kerry and Kenny stumbled over their words.

  “You don’t have to get back home for a babysitter do you, it’s okay if you do.”

  “No, our two remaining kids are in high school, they’re fine. Kenny?”

  “Kerry?” he said back to her.

  “I’m not ready for the night to end,” she said.

  “Yeah, we don’t mind joining you,” Kenny said. “We’ll follow behind you.”

  “Kenny, these people could be setting us up.”

  “I’m taking my knife inside with me.”

  They followed behind Remus’ Cadillac.

  “Looks like we’re going to a house,” he said.

  They were in a residential area, on a dimly lit winding road, and with big, spacious homes.

  “Do you think we could’ve afforded to live in an area like this if we had started saving early in our marriage?” Kerry asked.

  “On our salaries? We’d still be where we are now.”

  The Cadillac turned into a driveway that had just as many curves as the road leading to it. Many cars were parked along it.

  “So this isn’t their house,” Kerry said.

  “I guess not. You think they might try to do some type of sacrifice with us?”

  “Shut up.”

  They laughed nervously.

  They parked behind Remus and exited the car.

  “Oh my.” Kerry gazed at the house. “This is probably the biggest one on the street.”

  “You have some friends in high places,” Kenny said to Remus.

  “This? This is nothing.”

  Kenny was stuck.

  Remus led them into the house, which was just as crowded as the driveway suggested. Instantly, the Lyons felt out of place amongst what seemed to be elite society.

  “What are we doing here?” Kerry whispered.

  “I have no idea.”

  Remus called them over to a circle of people. “This is Kerry and Kenny Lyons. These are the Robinsons…” a blond haired man and a redheaded woman; “the Leones…”

  an Italian couple; “and the Smiths…” a blonde haired blue eyed couple.

  “Hi,” the Lyons said.

  “Where did you find these two?” the Leone wife said with a smirk on her face.

  “I met them at dinner tonight. They seemed like they needed some more fun in their lives,” Remus said.

  Kenny and Kerry smiled uncomfortably.

  “Portia, Remus, I think you made them a bit uncomfortable,” Penelope said.

  “My apologies. This is a place where you shouldn’t feel such a way. We want you to be as comfortable as possible,” Portia reassured them.

  “How about that nightcap?” Remus asked.

  Kerry passed up a glass of wine in favor of a Sea Breeze, while Kenny had a rum and Coke.

  Gradually, they grew more comfortable with their present company.

  “Me and George,” said Katrina, the redhead, “are having a smaller gathering at our home, you should come.”

  “Yeah, definitely, we’ll be glad to come,” Kenny said.

  It was 3:38 in the morning when Kenny and Kerry left the mansion.

  “What did you think of that?” she asked.

  “They seemed like nice people,” he replied.

  “Yeah.”

  “Really nice people.”

  Kenny tapped a finger on the steering wheel.

  “Something is weird about this,” Kenny said.

  “Very weird.”

  They went inside their house and fell asleep cradled in one another.

  ***

  The party was a week later. Kerry and Kenny showed up to the address that Katrina gave them - another swanky mansion - dressed what they felt was more appropriately than before.

  He rubbed her shoulders, as she shook from slight nervousness. “What is it about these people that make me feel like this?” she asked as they walked up the driveway.

  “I feel it too. They seem so….” Silence fell between them.

  “They seem so… free.”

  Kenny snorted. “From what?”

  “Free from the things that plague people,” Kerry said.

  “Because they have money.”

  “It’s more than the money. They seem really content with themselves and their marriages.”

  “And we’re not.” Kenny sighed. “So why are we here with happy people then?”

  “Maybe they’re going to teach us how to be happy together in the long term.”

  They laughed uproariously after a pause. “They don’t even look like they’ve been married as long as us, what do they have to teach us?” Kenny said.

  “I know, right. Hey, maybe they’re into like swinging and orgies and stuff.”

  Kenny grabbed her shoulder to keep from falling over with laughter. “That would be hilarious.”

  They were greeted by the doorman who led them through the house to a den where everyone was already gathered. A bar, with bartender, was set up at the back of the room.

  “Kenny! Kerry!” Katrina was clearly already buzzed.

  “Hello everyone!” The greetings went around.

  Kerry whispered to Kenny, “Do you smell Mary Jane?”

  “I sure do. It takes me back to high school.”

  They got their drinks and sat amongst the regulars, talking and laughing about life, politics, children and the like.

  Hours passed. The bartender quietly took his leave.

  “Okay it’s fun time!!!” Katrina stood in the middle of the room, all eyes on her. “Who wants to start?”

  “Fun time?” As she started to ask, “But what’s fun time?” Portia and Remus came together and began kissing and rubbing on one another.

  Kerry’s mouth fell open as some of the others began to do the same. Kenny dribbled his drink out of his mouth.

  “Kenny?”

  “We have to go!” he said too loudly. Everything stopped and they were the center of attention.

  Kerry grabbed her husband’s arm. “Excuse us a moment.” They rushed out of the room, and barely heard Katrina say, “Remus, you didn’t tell them?!”

  “I was totally joking earlier,” Kerry said.

  “I know you were. The problem isn’t that you were serious about it, the problem is that you were right.”

  “They’re fucking swingers,” she said. “I knew there was something about them.”

  “Okay, okay, okay, okay,” Kenny said, putting his head in his hands. “We need to leave.”