The Bet - Chapter 27.5

Hello Everyone!

Still collecting alpha feedback for Cumbunny 15, but I can't wait to share it with you! In the meantime, here is a short update to The Bet.

So why is this a .5 chapter rather than a full chapter? Basically because it's shorter that an average chapter and it doesn't have a sex scene in it. So why didn't I just include it as part of chapter 28? For two reasons. First, because I think chapter 28 is already going to be super long. Second, because I think the choice at the end of this chapter, clarifying what Claire's intentions are in regards to Dan, will have a major influence on the ending, and I already know what I want the final choice at the end of chapter 28 to be, so this was the only place to put it.

So this does not count toward the "last two chapters" count, and I didn't want to pass it off as a full chapter either.

I hope to get the finale of Cumbunny out soon!

...

[Please. You've got to tell me. Is it her?]

Dan tossed his phone to the table and buried his head in his hands, trying to ignore the insistent throb of his cock. He had just jerked off 20 minutes ago, but even though his cock was sore and chapped, he was ready to go once again. 

His phone buzzed in response, and he scooped it up only to read:

[I don’t know, Danny Boy. You ought to know your own wife better than me. Does it look like her? Does it sound like her?]

It did. That was the problem. The woman who had just made her debut appearance on Zane’s website had her face blurred and her voice altered. Added to that the regular black boxing of her nipples and pussy that came with Dan’s “Beta Edition” of the website, and a great deal of the woman on the screen was obscured. Really, it could have been anyone with a curvy build and dark hair. 

But that didn’t stop her from ringing a bell. Part of Dan’s subconscious brain told him that the way she moved and the cadence of her altered voice were the same as his wife’s, even though he knew Claire would never get a bear tattoo in a million years.  

[I don’t know.] He texted truthfully. He and Claire were already packing for their upcoming cruise, which was supposed to be the celebration of their love and marriage… but there was a reason why this sudden new video update had him more worried than he would have been normally. Claire had been oddly distant lately.

And there had been that day last week. She had disappeared in the middle of the night, and her only excuse was some vague work emergency. She hadn’t come home until the following evening, and when she did, she went straight to bed with scarcely a hello. 

[Tell me the truth, Dan. Is this turning you on?]

Dan groaned. His sore, chafed cock was at full-mast again, dribbling precum. God help him… Leah had put her finger right on the truth again. After he had won the bet, he felt like the troubling, humiliating arousal and suspicion were behind him, but recent events had brought it back to the surface, stronger than ever before. 

But he couldn’t tell Leah that. Not even if she was helping him think through things. She already thought he was a loser as it was. 

[No. Of course not.] He stared at the text for a solid minute before he sent it. It sounded a lot more confident than he felt, but maybe he could fake it until he made it. 

He waited a little for a response, but it seemed like Leah was done for the day. Dan sighed and set his phone aside. He really should finish packing. But first, he squirted another blob of lotion into his hand and scrolled the progress bar back to the beginning of the video. He would watch it one more time, just to be certain that it wasn’t her. 

…

“Fuck!” hissed Claire, seizing Perlah’s silky black hair tighter in her hand as she ground her spasming, climaxing cunt all over her cute little assistant’s face. 

Despite the petite Asian servicing her under the desk, Claire's attention was laser-focused on the screen of the tablet in her other hand, where her debut video played over and over. 

She couldn’t fucking believe she had let Zane talk her into this. Even thinking about the fact that there was a professionally shot porn video of her live on the internet sent Cascades of erotic humiliation roaring through her. When she watched it, those feelings grew even stronger, letting her chain orgasms together as she watched her pussy stretched open by Zane’s thick cock again and again. 

The comments were almost as erotic to her as the video itself. Hundreds of anonymous men gushing over how fucking hot she was… how much they wished they could fuck her… how many hot, sticky loads they had wasted jerking off to her body. The thought of so many strangers lusting for her sent pleasant tingles through Claire’s body. She had been checking and rechecking the comments for days, and it almost always led to another masturbation session. 

Her identity seemed to be well hidden, at least. Her biggest fear had been that her husband, who was intimately familiar with her naked body, might recognize her, but he hadn’t said a thing. 

And besides, she didn’t particularly care about hurting her husband’s feelings for the moment. 

Even thinking about Dan sent a wave of fury through her, turning her off and choking out her glorious rolling orgasm. She sighed and tossed the tablet onto her desk, digging the heels of her hands into her eyes.

A bet. A fucking bet. As if her virtue was a fucking horse race or a college football game. And even worse than the flippancy of it was the direct effect that the bet had. Dan had practically turned Zane loose on her, giving his perverted pornographer friend free rein to harass and seduce his wife. 

No wonder he had been jerking off to Zane's website and exhibiting cuckold tendencies. He had practically served her up to Zane on a silver platter. 

Honestly, Claire wasn’t sure how she felt about Zane anymore either. On the one hand, his pursuit of her was rendered even more crass and chauvinistic by the fact that it was all a dick measuring contest and competition. But, on the other hand, he had always been an asshole. Zane wore his disgusting, lustful heart on his sleeve and had never pretended to have pure motives when it came to conquering Claire. So… maybe that made it better?

Claire didn’t know what to think. She had met up with Zane a few days after he told her the truth about The Bet, but they hadn’t talked about it. Instead, Zane had spent the evening slowly teasing her with his cock until she couldn’t think straight, and getting her to agree to post the porn video. It had been good to turn off her brain and enjoy herself, but seeing Zane again hadn’t gotten her any closer to figuring out how she felt about him. Dan was easy. A husband should never make a bet like that. But Zane had her stumped. 

Perlah’s nuzzling and licking between her thighs felt as good as always, but Claire wasn’t in the mood anymore. She reached down to tap her assistant on the head when an unexpected guest interrupted them.

“Wow,” said Leah as she peeked in the door, a wicked smile lighting up her face. “I thought you guys did design here. I would visit way more often if I had known that cunt munching was your main pastime.” 

Claire scooted back from Perlah and clapped her thighs shut with a blush and a scowl. “What are you doing just waltzing in?” she asked irritably. 

Leah shrugged, entering the room. “Door was open. You two should be more careful in case a client makes an unexpected stop.”

Claire made a little frustrated sound as she leaned down to pull her panties back into position. Truth be told, business had been slowing down a little. Claire was still producing good results for her current clients, but her efforts at scouting new projects had suffered from her distraction, and the client list was a little light these days as a result.

“And I’m surprised at you, Pearls,” teased Leah as Perlah got to her feet, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, “I didn’t take you for the type of submissive secretary who serves her boss under the desk.”

Perlah grinned at her and winked. “I’m not. She had to promise me something pretty special so I would help her out. Zane broke her ass in the other day, and I want to be her second ever with my strap.”

Leah giggled and started to say something that Claire certainly did not want to hear, so she cut through the chatter with an annoyed, “Leah, if you don’t have a reason to be here, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

Leah’s jovial, teasing air fell away with a sigh, and she dropped into the chair across from Claire's desk. “I didn’t just come to make a pest of myself, Claire. We need to talk about your husband.”

Claire snorted in derision, but Leah's now-serious expression didn’t budge. Claire couldn’t imagine what an obnoxious slut like Leah had to say to her about Dan, but she was confused anyway. What could it hurt to hear what she had to say? The worst that could happen was that it was useless and she needed to kick Leah out. 

“Fine. Perlah, can we have the room?”

Perlah seemed to read the serious atmosphere and ducked out gracefully, leaving the two women alone in Claire’s office.

“Well?” said Claire with a raised eyebrow, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. 

“Dan is falling apart,” said Leah simply. “He still doesn’t know what’s going on exactly, but he suspects enough that it’s eating him up inside.”

Claire shook her head. “So you’ve been in touch with him, huh? I should have known. Well, I’m not shocked he’s beginning to worry. Dan is an idiot, but even he should be putting the pieces together by now.”

Leah’s sad eyes were beginning to piss Claire off. “If you keep going down this path, you’re going to crush him completely. Is that really what you want?” Leah asked.

Claire leaned across the desk, the molten magma of anger that had been building inside her all week erupting from her mouth. “Maybe that’s exactly what he deserves! I’m going to give him a good, clear look at the results of his actions when we go on that cruise. He made a bet knowing for a fact that it meant Zane would try to seduce me! What kind of husband offers up his wife like that?”

Leah sighed. “A husband who trusts his wife completely,” she said dryly. 

Claire thought that she was just about done with this conversation. If Leah thought she could tear-jerk Claire into forgiving her idiot of a husband, she was barking up the wrong tree. 

But Leah did something unexpected. She pulled out her phone, saying, “I want you to take a look at something.” She passed the phone across to Claire, who had to admit that she was curious in spite of herself. 

The image on the screen shocked her so badly that for a moment, she wasn’t even mad. It was a selfie of Leah and Dan, taken on an unfamiliar couch. Dan looked uncomfortable with his pants down around his ankles, and Leah looked smugly triumphant with her hand wrapped around Dan’s cock. 

Claire rose from her chair, the shock wearing off to be replaced by white hot rage. “You… you fucking slut,” she growled, deep in her throat. “What are you trying to do here? Did you come in here wanting me to slap your face off? If you want me to forgive Dan, why show me this? It just makes me want to cuck that asshole even more!”

Leah looked like this was exactly what she expected. She grimaced wryly. “I’m not surprised that you’re angry. I would be too. But can you guess who told me to give your husband a handjob?”

Claire paused for a second, thinking quickly under the roaring, white hot rage on the surface. “Well… I’m guessing you’re going to say Zane did. But it doesn’t fucking matter! Why didn’t Dan just fucking refuse?”

Now, Leah looked a little frustrated. “Just like you refused each and every one of Zane’s games?’ she asked sarcastically. “That’s what I'm trying to say, Claire! Zane has been working on your husband just like he’s been working on you. How can you blame Dan for failing to resist when you couldn’t either?”

Claire huffed, refusing to let go of the anger warming her from within. “Dan was the one who started this in the first place! All he had to do was say no when Zane suggested the bet. Then we wouldn’t be in this mess at all.”

Leah gave her a flat glare. “Let me describe a situation, Claire, and you tell me if it sounds familiar. Zane is being a cocky ass, acting like he is unquestionably right when you know for a fact that he’s wrong. He’s being so obnoxious that it feels like it would be incredibly satisfying to prove him wrong and wipe that smile off his face.”

Claire frowned. She wasn’t stupid. She knew what Leah was saying. She had taken Zane on in similar circumstances more than once and lost her cool every time. 

She sank back into her chair, no longer feeling lit up with rage, but as cold and dry as ash. “So… what?” she said wearily, “you just want me to forgive Dan? Ride off into the sunset with him and pretend it never happened?”

“No,” said Leah soberly, “Dan isn’t blameless. Neither are you. Maybe whatever sordid fucked up show that Zane is planning on that cruise needs to happen just to teach you both a lesson. But I want you to ask yourself… are you’re doing this because you truly want to see Dan suffer… or because it’s what Zane wants.” 

Claire frowned at Leah silently for a moment, unsure of what exactly she meant. Of course going along with Zane on this was her decision. Sometimes Zane had managed to push her hard into decisions she wasn’t sure of. He had done it just the other day by convincing her to post the porn video online. But the idea of showing Dan the results of his actions on the cruise ship hadn’t been one of those times. Claire had pounced on the idea immediately. Dan deserved to be punished for his foolishness, and even if she wasn’t sure what to think about Zane, fucking him in front of her husband would certainly accomplish that. 

Leah noted the disquiet on Claire's face and nodded knowingly. “You know what I mean,” she insisted, “even if you don’t want to admit it to yourself. Take it from me, Zane can be frustrating at first, but most women discover he can be strangely charming and fun beneath the surface.”

Claire found herself nodding back. Zane wasn’t the crude monster that she thought he was in the beginning. There was more to him, beneath the performative crassness and ugly exterior. 

“But, you’ll make a second discovery if you stick with him for too long,” said Leah dryly, a faint bitterness in her expression. “Zane isn’t as evil as he first appears, but he is… hollow. There’s something missing in him that means he’ll never be satisfied. In the end, he always loses interest in his latest obsession and begins working on a new girl. Always.”

Claire scoffed. “What? Who cares?” she asked incredulously, “Do you think I’m planning on dating Zane?”

“Aren’t you?” said Leah with a raised eyebrow. “You might not think of it that way, but you’re burning your bridges with your husband and planning on exclusively fucking Zane. And I bet if he wants to take you for dinner or on weekend trips, you’ll allow yourself to be persuaded. Call it whatever you want, but that might look like dating to an outside observer. Be careful, Claire.  You’ll think that you’re different. That you’re the one who’s captured Zane’s interest forever. You won’t be the first. Or the last.”  

Now Claire was getting angry again. Not because Leah was being ridiculous, but because she was making too much sense. She recognised that she was reacting emotionally, but Leah was the last person she wanted to point out how her knee-jerk reactions might backfire. 

“You know what? This just sounds like jealousy,” said Claire haughtily. “You’re not talking about me, you’re talking about yourself. I have absolutely no emotional attachment to the little troll. But you do, don’t you? You’re the one who wants something more from him, and this is just your pathetic attempt to scare me away so you can pursue whatever twisted little relationship you’re after.”

It was a taunting barb intended to get Leah angry, but shockingly, she just sighed and nodded.  “Yes. Yes, I fooled myself into thinking the twisted, fucked up threeway relationship that I had with Zane and Bill was special before you came along. But you’re wrong about my intentions here. I’m not trying to scare you away to get Zane all for myself. In fact, regardless of what happens, I’m disentangling myself from Zane’s entire situation. It will be hard, but not impossible, now that his interest is flagging. He actually asked me to go on this cruise with him as a sort of… facilitator. It will be my last hurrah. I need to cut ties before things get pathetic.”

Claire stared at her in bewilderment. “But… you have his initials tattooed on you! You were…” she lowered her voice to a scandalized hiss, even though there was no one there who could overhear them, “You were going to let him knock you up for God’s sake!”

Leah laughed. “Well, let’s just say that I’m glad that I had this little epiphany before things went too far. Yes… Zane left his mark on me. And on my relationship with Bill. Maybe we’ll find another man to fill that role… or maybe it will always be the memory of Zane. But, even if my relationship with Bill has changed… I still have him. I made sure of it. Zane has already moved on to you, but Bill is there for me. Can you confidently say that you will have someone waiting for you when Zane loses interest?”

Claire didn’t know what to say. She disagreed fundamentally with some of Leah’s interpretations and insinuations, but the things she said were disturbing enough to at least give her pause. She stared at Leah, hand on her chin, for the first time in a few days, more thoughtful than mad. 

Leah smoothly stood, not waiting for a response. “I’ve rained on your parade,” she said apologetically with a little smile. “You’re enjoying your debut, and plotting some very satisfying revenge on a husband who even I admit should have known better. Just… for the sake of my friendship with him, promise me that you’ll think carefully over whether you want that revenge to teach him a lesson… or burn him to the ground.”

Claire sighed. “I’ll… consider what you’ve said.”

Leah waved and left the office, and Claire could hear her chatting and giggling with Perlah for a few minutes. She didn’t listen in, though. She had too much on her mind. 

What exactly were her intentions with Zane? What were her intentions with Dan, for that matter? Zane was… intensely arousing. Every moment with him felt dangerous and heartpounding. Claire still held an intense dislike for him inside her, but their sexual chemistry was electrifying. Claire still didn’t believe that she had any interest in a relationship with him beyond sex, no matter what Leah said, but when he was around, it was hard to focus on anything else, including her marriage or her career. 

And Dan… Zane had opened her eyes that there had always been problems in her marriage. She just hadn’t been willing to see them for what they were. She and Dan weren’t sexually compatible like she was with Zane. It was hard to get past the fact that Dan had sold her out for a stupid bet. But was it true what Leah said? Was she being hypocritical by holding her husband to a higher standard than herself? And, as angry as she was right now, Dan was a good partner. Getting rid of him to focus on a purely sexual relationship was perhaps short-sighted. 

Claire had a choice to make. 

Option A) Focus on Zane. Maybe Leah was right, and Zane would forget about her someday. And maybe Claire couldn’t imagine Zane as a boyfriend or God forbid, husband. But belonging to him and submitting to him sexually made Claire feel more alive than she had in years. It was rawly addictive to feel his intense sexual control, and Claire thought that maybe if she didn’t embrace her relationship with the odious little man and explore this aspect of her sexuality fully, she would regret it. Her relationship with Dan was over. Time to see what twisted delights Zane had to offer. 

Option B) Zane just wasn’t something she could bet on long term. Dan had fucked up, and Claire had every intention of teaching him a lesson on that cruise ship. But maybe Dan was still what she needed long term. Whether that was a cuckold like Bill, or just an apologetic husband who promised to show her more respect, remained to be seen. Zane was a fun distraction, but maybe Leah was right. Maybe he just wasn’t someone she could rely on. Maybe she could even transition into seeing a man a little less wily and dangerous than Zane to fulfill her sexual needs, while Dan remained her life partner. 

Option C) In fact, maybe Claire didn’t need either man. Just because she had sexual chemistry with Zane didn’t mean that she needed to throw her life away for him. Just because she had wasted some time with Dan didn’t mean she needed to keep up with that charade. There were lots of fish in the sea, and surely she could find a man who was more sexually dominant than Dan while being kinder and more trustworthy than Zane. Perhaps she should use the cruise to punish Dan, then punish Zane himself for his part in the Bet, and leave them both. 

What should Claire do?