Chandeliers Ch3: Bourbon On The Rocks

Story by Merl on SoFurry

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#3 of Chandeliers

Persuade the wife of the fox you're screwing to flirt with your own husband, so that you can then flirt with said fox right in front of her?

All in a night's work for Leah, though no one remembers to check the strength of the wine...


They linked arms and walked through to a stained-glass door at one side of the restaurant. Their waiter held it open and led them through to the lounge area.

Leah's eyes took a moment to adjust to the dark, oval-shaped room. It had a large central bar and secluded booths set in regular intervals along the wood-panel walls. Several canines and a few felines occupied three alcoves to one side of the room, so they gravitated towards the empty half at the other side of the bar.

Their alcove was a cozy circle with a small, high wooden table for drinks in the open middle. Red cushions ringed it in a single seat around the edge with a thin shelf for more drinks just behind. The males stepped back and held their partner's paws while they took their seats, then sidled up beside them.

"Alfred will be your bartender tonight. I hope you have a pleasant end to your evening; we hope to see you again soon." Their waiter gave them a farewell nod and disappeared back through the door.

Jake slid back to the edge of the seat and turned to them all. "What will it be?"

Mark lifted a paw. "Bourbon on the rocks."

Leah eyed him: just how drunk were they all going to get? "Another glass of that nice red."

Tess crossed her legs beneath her flowing dress, the parting giving a glimpse of her white inner thighs, and leaned back against the cushions. "A glass of house white for me."

"Got it." Jake got up and walked towards the bar.

"Hold up: I'll help." Mark got up as well and headed away with him out of ear-shot.

Tension flashed through Leah. She glanced over and saw Tess watching her from the other side of the circle. She forced a smile and shifted to get more comfortable on the cushions.

Tess smiled back at her, leaned forward, and pushed herself around the circle until she was right beside her. She leaned in closer and kept her voice low. "You were playing footsie with Jake, weren't you?"

Shock struck her heart, but it died away when she realized she'd said 'Jake' and not 'Mark'. "A little bit."

Tess giggled and slid closer against her side. "I thought I felt you under the table. Me and Mark got a little carried away; I think his socks are still back there."

Anger and hurt cut through her yet again. She kept her small smile fixed in place.

"This was such a good idea. I've talked to Jake a little before, but it's so nice to spend the evening with you as a couple. He's adorable, isn't he? I'm sorry about before: I couldn't stop myself laughing when you got him all hot and bothered over dessert. The poor canine was practically whimpering into his cake with those looks you were giving him."

Leah glanced away into the room and at the dimly-lit oval bar in the middle. Jake and Mark stood together at the bar, leaning their arms against it, their heads turned back towards their wives. They were talking with grins and nodding towards her and Tess.

The bitter spite within her mixed with the four glasses of wine in her system: she turned her head back and stared meaningfully down at Tess's bare feet together on the floor. "I wasn't the only thing getting my husband hot." She drew her stare upwards along the vixen's legs and met her shocked expression with cool calmness. "He's been drooling over you all night."

"What? Oh, no, he hasn't..." Tess cringed down on her seat, clearly caught off-guard.

Sadistic delight washed through Leah. She broke into a grin. "Don't worry, I don't mind. In fact, I'd like to thank you. I haven't seen him this turned-on in a while."

The vixen glanced sharply away at the two males at the bar, her beautiful face marred with worry and guilt.

Leah gazed at her, loving every moment.Mark might love you more than he'll ever love me, but at least I can make your feel some of the guilt you should, bitch.

"No, I don't think you're right, Leah." Tess looked back at her, guilty and concerned. "His eyes have been on you tonight. Not on me."

"Oh, they've been on you every time you weren't looking. Don't worry about it, I honestly don't mind. In fact, I think it's cute. I like seeing him happy, and he's happy when you're smiling at him or when those gorgeous legs of yours are showing."

"Leah, surely you don't mean that?" Tess shook her head, still cringing, her paws clasped chastely over her lap.

"Of course I do. You're a beautiful vixen: it's only natural." She grinned. "We all know what our boys are like around vixens."

"But..." Tess glanced away at the bar again.

Hah! You really believe me, don't you? This is too delicious.

"...I still don't think you're right," she offered weakly.

"Try flirting with him a little, then. When they get back."

Tess whipped her head back around and stared at her. "What? No, I don't think I should-"

"Oh come-on. It'll just be a little bit of fun between us. It's harmless because I know you love Mark and you know I love Jake, so there's no way it can be anything but a game."

"But, I still don't... well..." Tess looked down at her bare toeclaws in her silver heels.

"How about I flirt with Mark a little as well?" Bold, shivering adrenaline raced through her. "Just to make it even, and see how both of them react? It'll be funny and spice things up a bit; our little game for tonight."

"I don't know. It's such a bad idea, Leah. They could get really upset."

"Well, if they start getting upset, or we know they're not interested, then we'll agree to stop straight away, okay? It'll just be a little bit of fun to see how they react."

Tess looked back up at her. "You'll stop straight away if Mark gets suspicious or annoyed?"

"Of course, I swear. It can be our little prank on them."

"Well, if it's just going to be for a bit of fun..." Tess regained some of her smile, the alcohol in her own system finally having its effect.

"Great. I'll distract Mark over here, and you start talking to Jake over on the other side. We can turn things up a bit from there."

"This is a really bad idea," she laughed, but with the mischievous excitement Leah wanted to see. "If they end up fighting I'm putting the blame squarely on you."

"That's fine - they're coming. Ask him about his collection of Antigen fossils."

Tess's smile dropped into confusion and she mouthed, 'His what?'

Leah nodded in encouragement and turned on the cushions to greet them. "Hiya boys. Thanks so much." She lifted her paws and accepted the large, full glass of red in Jake's offered paw.

"No problem," her husband said. "The guy had to go fetch another bottle - took him a bit, but never mind."

"Jake?" Tess stood up from the bench, lifted her own glass out of Mark's paw, and strutted to the husky's side with her hips swaying and her tail swishing. "Leah tells me you have the most amazing collection of Antigen fossils. Is that true?"

Leah watched his face light up and his chest puff out. "I certainly do; one of the most comprehensive this side of the country."

"Ah, so it_is_true." She smiled into his eyes, holding his gaze, and sat down on the other side of the circle. She slid up a bit, still looking at him, her legs showing through the parting in her dress. "Tell me why you started collecting them."

Jake looked like he'd forgotten where he was. He quickly sat down beside her, slid to her side on the cushions, and dove straight into the twenty-part story that Leah was sure would keep them occupied long enough for the vixen to work her plentiful wiles.

She looked up at Mark's slightly confused and surprised expression and smiled a deep smile. "Mark? Come sit with me."

He turned, blinked at her, and shrugged. "Sure." The fox sat down by her, on the opposite side of the circle to his wife, and took a sip from the thick glass in his paw.

Leah slid closer, picked up her drink, and took a sip of wine. She gazed steadily at him the whole time.

Mark cleared his throat and shot her an uncomfortable look.

She darted her eyes over to the other side of the circle, and his followed. Tess was sitting comfortably, facing Jake, her attentive smile taking in all of his enthusiastic explanations.

Mark turned back to her with slightly narrowed eyes.

Leah grinned at him and slid even closer. She lowered her voice to a whisper that no-one else would hear. "Hiya, you."

His eyes narrowed further and he whispered back, "What are you up to?"

"Oh, nothing." Leah lifted the glass to her muzzle and swallowed three deep gulps of the burning, acrid liquid, getting a third of the glass down before it could choke her. "Convinced your wife to flirt with my husband."

He blinked. "What?"

She brought the glass up again and took another two gulps, her throat burning, the excitement keeping it down. Gasping, she grinned at him again and eyed the last third of the glass. "Don't say it isn't hot. And now I get to flirt with you right in front of her."

"What?" He looked downright angry now. "Leah, this is way too far."

"No..." She darted forward and licked his muzzle, letting her breath warm his fur and his lips, then looked into his eyes from half an inch away. "This is too far."

He flinched back, stared her in shock, and glanced sharply behind him.

Tess had her arm up over the top of the seat and her legs crossed outside of the parting in her dress. One of her feet dangled idly in the air, her silver shoe catching the light, her other balanced on the floor. She nodded and giggled at whatever Jake was saying, her eyes sparkling with fun and seduction.

Leah reached out and placed her paw against Mark's cheek. She drew his head back around and licked his muzzle again. "Kiss me."

"Leah!" he hissed. His nose flared and sniffed at her. "You're drunk. Do you know how risky this is?"

"We're all a little drunk." She smiled into his eyes, feeling the wonderful warmth of that day in the closet come back to tingle though her. "You've been ignoring me tonight."

"What?" He glanced back over at Tess for a second.

"See? You can't keep your eyes off her." The warmth of the wine made her feel like she was in a dream, a dream that she could control. "You love her so much it hurts, don't you?"

"Leah, don't do this." He glared at her. "Don't be like this. I haven't been ignoring you."

"Oh?" She lifted her paw and stroked the side of his face. "Like, when I shoved my pussy in your face? Did you enjoy that?"

He sighed, but couldn't help the tug of a smile at the corner of his muzzle.

She kept stroking his face, her cheek against the material of the couch. "I wore this for you. Not for him."

Mark looked into her eyes, sighed, and then down to the floor. "I know."

"Kiss me."

He looked back up, frowned at her, and glanced over to his wife. The vixen sat even closer to Jake now, their conversation mutual instead of just one-way, her bare legs and dangling foot closer to the male husky's paws. She held Jake in her smile and leaned towards him slightly, giving him plenty of room to see down the front of her dress.

"Want to watch her seduce him?" Leah whispered. "It won't her take long: he's ga-ga for her."

Mark glared back at her. "They wouldn't."

"Want to bet on it?" Leah turned his head back with her paw. "Then kiss me. It'll give them permission to kiss too. Then we'll find out."

"You're actually crazy. Did you hear what you just said?"

"Oh, I did. I just think you're getting jealous." She stroked her paw over his head and ran her clawed fingers through his hair. "How does jealousy feel for you, Mark? I'd love to know, because I know how it feels for me. Like a knife in my heart. Twisting. Every time she laughs and you laugh with her." Leah blinked the water from her eyes and forced her voice to stay steady and quiet. "Why do you keep stabbing me in the heart, Mark? It_hurts._It hurts so, _so_much..."

The fox stared at her with something between horror and agony, trapped against the couch, unable to look away or move.

"I give you my soul, and you throw it in the trash and go home to her instead. I'm your plaything, aren't I, Mark? Your toy. Your fuck-toy. Your willing pussy at 409 Green Acre Street."

"Leah, god, stop it, please..." His paws came up and wiped at the tears falling freely from her eyes. "Oh fuck,fuck..." Mark stood up and walked in front of her, blocking Tess and Jake's view of her, and hauled her up by the shoulders. He turned to his wife with a smile. "Had a bit too much to drink. Just going to get her some air."

"Oh, do you need any help?" Tess asked.

Jake tutted, shook his head, and tried to peer past the fox's bulk. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine: I got it. You carry on. Be back in a bit." Mark slung his arm around her shoulders and walked her forwards with him. She stumbled slightly in her heels and had to lean against him for balance; the fact it backed up his story didn't even register with her.

He walked her to the back door that lead out to the courtyard, saying nothing, and helped her outside and into one of the chairs. He dragged another one over the concrete and sat down facing her.

Leah hung her head. She watched water run through her blurred vision down to the end of her muzzle. It pooled on the end of her cold nose, caught the halogen light on the back of the restaurant, and fell away onto the bare white fur of her thighs.

"What the hell is all this, Leah? Hm? What's with this crazy, psycho scheme of getting them to flirt so I'd feel jealous?"

She shook her head; the drops of water flung outwards from her nose and missed her legs. "I want you to know how it feels."

His chair screeched backwards over the ground. His paws grabbed hold of her head, hard, and he yanked her up into his stare. "You think I_don't_know it feels? How do you think I feel when you're in his bed, when I know you're with him? That he gets to spend as much time as he wants with one of the most amazing women I've ever met, and I get a few snatched hours every week or fortnight?"

Leah glared up at him and hardened her voice against the lump in her throat. "You don't love me like you love her."

"No, I don't! I love her as the woman I want to grow old with, as the woman I'll have kits with. I love you as the woman who blew my mind and made me realize that there's another incredible person out there that I have to be with no matter what."

She sniffed and blinked stinging water down to her cheeks. "You know I love you more than Jake. But I know you'll never love me as much as her."

"So what do you want, then?" His paws gripped her head tight, his arms hard with tension. "Do you want me to divorce her? Is that the only thing that'll make you happy?"

Leah looked up into his eyes, weeping steadily, and couldn't make any more words come out.

"Look." Mark sighed and relaxed his hold against her temples. He leaned over, dragged his chair up against hers, and sat down against her side. "You were gulping wine like a fish: you're not making sense."

"No," she choked. "I'm not, and I am. I want to say these things." She looked up at Mark again, at her hunky fox with his kind, bright eyes and winner's smile, and felt her heart bleed from the deep wounds he'd scored there. Her eyes welled and he blurred into watery light, becoming an orange and black blur against the halogen lights on the back of the restaurant, and drops poured freely down into her furry cheeks.

The blur shook its head and let out a sigh. "Come here."

Strong, warm arms wrapped around her and pulled her into the embrace she needed every moment of every day - Leah threw herself forward and grabbed him like it was her last chance to, burying her head into his neck and nuzzling in so hard he had to lean back. "Whoa there, hey..."

"I love you," she whimpered, her eyes closed tight, "so,so much."

His chest filled with air, then slowly sighed it all back out again. He lifted his paws to her back and her head, stroking her hair and rubbing circles against her dress. He made a sound as though trying to speak, but just ended up sighing again and holding her close.

After a while, when his warmth had soaked through her and her throat had let go of the lump filling it, she nuzzled his neck and spoke into his fur. "I wanted to get drunk, so I wouldn't be afraid."

Mark seemed to pick himself out of thought, his paws stroking her, his arms tight around her. "Hm?"

"I'm so scared," she whispered.

One of his paws fell down her side, down to the skimpy hem of her dress, and then onto her bare thigh. He stroked her leg gently. "Why?"

"Because I can't live like this." Leah shook her head against him. "Not any more."

Mark sighed again, but with more conviction this time. "Look. You love Jake, don't you?"

She blinked her eyes open. Memories of her honeymoon with Jake flashed back, images of them strolling along a Caribbean coast, gazing into his eyes over a cocktail, and then again from the pillow of their honeymoon bed, watching the sheer rapture close his eyes and draw groans from his muzzle while she gazed up at him in sly, gloating delight...

"Leah?" Mark's paws lifted to her head and drew her back from his neck, his pads against her cheek.

She searched his eyes, finding their kindness tempered by an edge of hard determination. "I'll tell you the truth."

He blinked, suddenly worried.

"I do," Leah said, "but not like I used to."

Mark frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Why?" Leah grabbed his neck and pulled herself closer to him, her muzzle an inch from his. "Don't you want me?" It hit her - an idea so horrifying it stabbed through her and her face fell into terror, her eyes searching his, her voice barely a whisper. "Don't you?"

"Of course I do," he said, gazing back.

Doubt played around the edges of her face. "You love me?"

"Leah." He sighed again and moved his paws to her shoulders. "We shouldn't be doing this here."

"What?" Her voice lifted several octaves. "Don't you!?"

"Leah!" He gripped her shoulders and glanced back at the restaurant, terrified.

She stared at him, though him, the words coming from the depths of her soul. "Say it! Why won't you say it!? SAY YOU LOVE ME!"

His paws snapped up to her muzzle and clamped her jaws shut. "Shush, they'll hear!"

Her tongue caught between two of her canines and her mouth filled with the taste of coppery blood. She yowled and yanked her head back, but his grip was absolute and he pulled forward with her.

Her heart welled open and she threw her claws across his face. Mark barked in shock and let her muzzle go - she jumped backwards onto her heels and felt her left ankle twist hard. She cried out, but the wound within her was so much worse that she ignored it and stagger on towards the alleyway at the other end of the courtyard. She broke into a jog in her heels, every care or through gone, and fled into the narrow passage through a blur or alcohol and loud clacks of her shoes on the concrete.


"They're really quite amazing."

"Mm-hm." Tess nodded, her smile bright and interested. "I'm sure they are."

Jake held his paws about three feet apart over his lap. "It was this big. They'd never seen one like it."

Tess let her smile widen with the laughter inside. "That big?"

"Easily. They used to live on the sea floor, apparently. Scavengers."

"Is that right?"

Leah's husband nodded, his tongue almost poking from the end of his muzzle in enthusiasm. "I have twelve of them now. They're in these large glass cabinets in the study with the other big pieces. Leah wouldn't let me put them through the whole house, just a few rooms. I can get the door open now that I've re-shuffled them."

Tess let a giggle show through and held his eyes. He was so_cute_. "That's a shame. Poor Jake - I'd let you put them through the house. They sound wonderful."

"They are." He brightened even more and relaxed into the cushions by her side. His second gin and tonic fizzed in his paw, already half-gone, and it seemed to be calming his nerves.

She let her bare foot dangle beside his knee, her lacy silver shoe hiding nothing, and flicked her long hair over her shoulder, her eyes never leaving his.

Jake stared. He seemed to have forgotten their conversation. He smiled into her eyes for a long moment, but then seemed to remember himself and blinked away down at her foot.

Tessa watched him stare at her toes. They could talk about fossils all night, but if she wanted a juicy story to outdo Leah with later, she needed to turn things up a little. Besides, this was just too much fun. "Jake..." she leaned in closer, bringing him back into her eyes, letting a knowing slyness into her smile.

He stayed where he was and smiled back with delight. "Mm?"

"Are you-" she let a little laugh escape her, "-a double-V?"

His expression stayed the same and he blinked. "What's that?"

"Oh..." Tess dipped her head towards him and suppressed a giggle in her muzzle. She gazed at him through her long lashes. "I thought every canine guy knew. It means-" she slid a little closer again, her voice lower, "-a vixen virgin."

Jake paled. His face fell into something lost, his eyes wide for a moment, then he coughed and glanced uncomfortably down at the sofa.

"You are, aren't you? You've never..." she shook her head at him, grinning, loving every moment of his cute reaction.

It wasn't a surprise. She knew about seventy-percent of canine guys over the age of thirty were still virgins when it came to her kind, and that the ones who'd gotten lucky had a small number of vixens to thank.

Jake cleared his throat again and looked back to her, some of his composure regained, though with a schoolboy embarrassment that was heart-wrenchingly adorable. "Um, Tess..."

She dropped her grin to a smile and canted her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to embarrass you. It's just..." she let her eyes wander down to his waist, then up over his chest, "...I wondered if you were."

"Well..." he sighed the word, then glanced quickly over her with guilty eyes. He swallowed and ended up staring back at her bare foot dangling in her high heel beside his leg.

Tess watched him and lifted her foot higher, brushing her toes against the smooth material of his suit trousers. The parting in her dress was tight against her thighs now, ridden as high as she dared let it, her panties an inch from the edge of the thin material.

Jake breathed harder, uncomfortable, but more than just a little drunk now and utterly enthralled. "I am," he sighed, on the verge of slurring.

Hearing him admit it sent electric tingles through her. Her smile filled with pity and she lifted a paw to touch one of his ears, her fluffy cheek pressed against the leather of the sofa, her eyes fixed in his. "I'm sorry, Jake. I didn't know." Her paw brushed over his ear and she began to rub it between her thumb and fingers, her pads brushing over his short, wiry fur. He felt so different to a fox.

"Oh..." he glanced up at her paw, "it's all right, just..." he tried to look composed again, but couldn't pull it off with her touch against him. "Unexpected."

"You didn't think I'd ask you something like that?" Tess gazed at him, her heart starting to pick up with the excitement in her chest.

"Well..." he sighed again, "...it's not something a vixen would ask, usually."

"Because puppy boys can't be trusted around vixen girls?" She grinned and let her tongue poke between her front teeth.

"Well..." he laughed a little, the reference back to school days obviously carrying some memories for him too. "I guess not."

"Hmm. You're in the majority, you know. Just in case you don't."

Jake blinked and lifted his muzzle a little.

Her smile deepened. "You don't. You're really sweet." She canted her head and stroked further over is ear, her pads rubbing through his fur. "Most canine guys your age are still virgins."

Jake took on a concerned slant that grew a little more sly by the moment.

Tess giggled and gave his ear a tug. "Okay,vixen virgins."

He nodded. "Thank you."

She laughed and smiled knowingly. "Lots of canines say they're really still virgins until they've slept with a vixen, you know. Though..." she let her paw wander down his ear to his head and sunk her claws through his fur to trace lightly against the skin beneath, "...they tend to be the ones who have."

The breath left him in a rush and he stared, trapped in her eyes.

She giggled at him. "So, technically, that means that most of you are still are."

Jake raised his brows.

Tess brought her paw down and tapped the end of his nose with her finger. "Including you."

He didn't balk or shy away this time - this time he grinned back, lifted his own paw, and stroked his fingers over one of her tall, triangular ears. "Oh, really? You should ask Leah about that."

"Oh?" Tess giggled and pushed her head against his touch, moving his paw down against her hair. "Should I?" Her eyes sparkled, her grin edging from sly to evil.

Jake seemed to realize what he'd done. "Uh, well..."

"What would she say?" Tess closed her muzzle and brought her nose closer to his. "Were you a virgin when you met her?"

His head jerked back a little. "Of... course not."

"Hmm." Tess searched his eyes. "I'll say I believe you. What would she say, then?" Her heart hammered in her chest, thumping the wine through her blurry mind, Leah's voice echoing in her head." __It'll just be a bit of fun." She leaned closer, brining her muzzle alongside him and brushing their fur together. "Would she say you're a good kisser?"

Jake gazed into her eyes, absolutely still, so shocked that he couldn't even breathe.

Tessa's heart thumped like she was back on one of her teenage dates. She eyed him, her muzzle against his, her lips a little parted, her tongue curled and waiting within.