In Search of the Final Freedom: Chapter 70A

In Search of the Final Freedom: An Erotic Socio-Political Novel

Book 5

Sexual Counterrevolutionaries

Chapter 70

The Temperature Begins to Rise

Wednesday morning Bonnie headed to Hartsfield International Airport. Speaking at The University of Texas would be a pretty easy venue, a sympathetic audience, good to get Gayle acclimatized to her new role. It would be Bonnie’s first time traveling with her. Last week had actually been Gayle’s first trip for the FFF, but since Bonnie had been in St. Martin, Amy had taken Bonnie’s speaking slots, so Gayle had been with her on Thursday and Friday nights. Since Bonnie had been the one who had effectively recruited the young PhD to join the FFF team, she was looking forward to beginning working with her as a colleague. For this trip, Gayle would be little more than a tag-along for the FFF material, but she had her own lecture based on her soon-to-be-published book. Next week, however, she and Gayle would jointly do the FFF presentations. So one of their tasks for the next few days was to work out how to do that.

Bonnie and Gayle were to meet in Austin, Texas. This would be Bonnie's second trip to that city. The first time had been one of her first university presentations and she’d had just over twenty people. But evidently, she had reached the right people to get her invited back. This time the FFF would be part of a large University of Texas sponsored conference on sexual politics. She’d seen the speaker list, she was a small potato with this group, but she was part and that was important.  She would do the same lectures she had been doing since December, one on Wednesday afternoon and one on Thursday morning. Gayle’s lecture was a summary of her book which was developed from applying her dissertation research to her new professional focus on sexual politics and freedoms. Some of the foundation’s board members had been working over the past month to help refine and edit the book since it would be published as an authorized FFF work. 

There was one interesting new thing on this trip, Bonnie would speak to the local chapter of the Final Freedom Society on the University of Texas campus. It seems that while she’d not spoken to all that many people in her first trip, she’d planted a seed and now there was a group of a couple dozen students who had been meeting regularly to discuss the goals and issues Bonnie had introduced half a year before. Though meeting with them was not an official part of the conference, they’d reserved a lecture hall and, as Bonnie understood it, had been promoting her talk. She’d known nothing about this additional presentation until arriving in the office Monday.  Since then, she’d had an ongoing email conversation with a representative of the group. In particular, Bonnie wanted to see what they were interested in her speaking about. Her contact, Gretchen Transon, wrote that they were interested in her speaking candidly about the practical aspects of ethical non-monogamy in a way she might not be willing to do in an official lecture. Bonnie thought that was an interesting proposal. From what she gathered, the student group seemed to believe that all too many speakers have to pull their punches when presenting in “public.” They were probably right. The group also wanted time for Q&A.

As a nobody at the main conference, she didn’t get a greeter or escort, but it appeared that she was something of a celebrity to the students who were part of the Final Freedom Society: UT Chapter. In point of truth, as far as Bonnie knew this was the only local chapter of the society. The members of the group had been kind enough to offer to provide an escort for both Bonnie and Gayle.

Since Gayle’s flight would not arrive for over an hour after Bonnie landed in Austin, she took the opportunity to see if she could reach Ronda by phone about Lamar’s night at her house. While she’d rather have spoken to her in person, she thought it was better to deal with the issues sooner rather than later.

“Ronda,” Bonnie said into her cellphone, “do you have a few minutes to talk?”

“Sure,” Ronda replied, “may I assume you want to discuss our children’s evening last night?”

“I do. Do you have privacy to speak?”

“Oh, one of the perks of being Director of Human Resources is that I have my own office.  Let me say right off that I spoke to Bethany and she let me know that Lamar felt her sister’s behavior was inappropriate.”

Bonnie came back, “I don’t know that inappropriate is the right word. Lamar made it really clear that he very much enjoyed everything they did. He went on some time about it in fact. Had Haley simply asked him to do those things, rather than told him what she expected him to do, he said the night would have been perfect. According to him, they didn’t do anything he wouldn’t have been happy to agree to do had she asked him. The issue was that she didn’t ask.”

Ronda replied, “That was more or less what Bethany said. It’s likely my fault since I drilled into Haley the need to stay in control of her sexual encounters. Understand that for her first three years of being sexually active, nearly all of her sex with males was with cowboys. While I didn’t want to tell Haley she couldn’t engage in sexual activities if that was what she wanted, I also didn’t want her taken advantage of. So, maybe I went overboard in teaching her to stay in control.”

Bonnie understood that and said she and Misty both felt sure that once Haley is aware of how she came across, it won’t be an issue in the future.

“I’m glad you see that, and I’m sure you are right. From what Bethany says, she expects I’ll be seeing more of your son at my house.”

“It sounds that way,” Bonnie agreed. “And he understands that including Haley at least occasionally will be important to Bethany. You have to know that I don’t have any problem with any of what happened last night, and neither does Lamar.”

Ronda quickly said, “Oh, that was one of the reasons I was on board with the plan. I knew my girls could be themselves around Lamar without fear of how he would react. From what I saw, the four of them seemed to work together quite well. I would never have known that it wasn’t two long-term couples in bed. Oh, you should know, when Bethany came home after spending the night with Lamar last week, she positively glowed for days. By the end of Spring Break, I think I heard every detail of what they did multiple times: the first time they did it in the speed sex game, the hour they spent in your playroom with just the two of them and then I guess Bethany, Lauren and Lamar went on half the night in his bed. Oh, I heard about it all. She even made it clear that both of them appreciated how well Lamar is hung.” Ronda gave a snort, “I heard that part over and over.”

Bonnie laughed.

“I guess neither of them had been with a guy that size before.” Then Ronda, in a more serious tone said, “The truth is that as soon as she started talking about it, I knew why Bethany had been so pleased with her first time in bed with your son. I felt the same way the first time I spent the night with Cooper. I was so happy to hear about her experiencing that kind of love. You have to know that most teenage girls don’t ever have that kind of affirming sexual experience with boys. Maybe one of the things that went wrong last night was it did not go off as planned. The last part of the night was supposed to be just Bethany and Lamar in her bed. She really was looking forward to that part, but they lost track of time.”

“Oh,” Bonnie said, “I didn’t know that. I’m not sure Lamar did either. He did say that when they took their mid-point break it was just the two of them making out in Haleys’ room. According to him, those few minutes with just him and Bethany was one of the best parts of the night. So, I think that you are right, spending the last part of the evening with just Bethany likely would have made a big difference in how he felt about it afterward.”

Ronda continued, “I thought about letting them know they were running out of time, but every time I looked in on them, it seemed they all were really enjoying what they were doing. Believe me, had his behavior even given me a hint he thought something was wrong I would have intervened.”

“I’m sure you would have,” Bonnie said. “But as I said, Lamar loved all the things they did together.”

“Well, Bonnie, I know Lamar has his relationship with Sarah too, but I’m happy he and Bethany have finally gotten together. Your son and my daughter make a beautiful couple. I kept looking in on them over and over because … well because I enjoyed it. Shoot me but I did. Let me put a bug in your ear, if this works out the way I think it will, I’d love Misty to shoot a photo of Bethany and Lamar to go in the hallway beside the one of Haley and Caitlin. Sort of a matched set.”

Bonnie laughed, “How about one of you and Ashely too? You can have a trio of sexy family photos with your lovers on the hallway wall.”

“Really?” Ronda asked, “Would that be OK? I’d love it if she could.”

Bonnie hadn’t actually been serious, but upon thinking about it, she said, “I think it can be arranged. And I have no doubt that Misty can shoot one of Lamar and Bethany that would stay inside the legal limits…if barely… like the one of Haley and Caitlin.”

After her call, Bonnie was quite comfortable with what happened with Lamar the night before. However, she’d completely forgotten to bring up the failure to use a condom, but she figured that could wait till she got home. She also wanted to talk to Slosh to see what her take was on the game of relationship musical chairs the kids were playing. But that could also wait.

By 12:30, Bonnie and Gayle were approaching the conference center & hotel on the university campus. The graduate student who had picked them up at the airport was chatty and full of questions for both of them.  Since Gayle’s solo lecture was on Thursday, the plan was for her to shadow Bonnie Wednesday night to help her prepare to start doing the main FFF lecture on her own in the coming weeks.

Bonnie had been expecting to present in a mid-sized meeting room with perhaps a hundred people; however, after checking in she was told she’d be speaking in a large lecture hall with three hundred fifty seats. Not that Bonnie was intimidated, but given the quality of the speakers present, she was gratified.  Even better, once she got there, the hall was at capacity.

At Jefferson Davis High School it was not the attack ad’s that were creating a new problem, it was Lamar’s adolescent inability to understand the concept of prudence.  By Wednesday the two pix that he had sent to Byron on Saturday had multiplied until they were on literally thousands of phones across the country and several internet sites. Most significantly they were on dozens of phones being carried around at Jefferson Davis High, even though the three initial recipients (Sarah, Bailey, and Byron) had wisely removed the pics from their own phones. Even still, it was only a matter of time before an incautious freshman was showing off the pix to his buddy in math class when Mr. Duffy snatched the phone from his hand.  As in nearly all schools, cell phones were to be off and out of sight in class, but what fifteen-year-old boy could resist showing off pictures of one of their classmates and a pretty teenage girl at a nude beach?

Initially, Lamar got a break. Mr. Duffy taught the remedial and practical math classes, so he did not recognize the boy in the photo was a Jeff Davis student; but, when the phone was passed up the chain of command to “examine the evidence,” Dr. Collins recognized Lamar immediately. It was just before dismissal when Lamar was called to the office. This was the second Campbell child she’d had in her office for essentially the same thing. The first time she had tried to punish a Campbell she had not been as successful as she had wanted, and Lamar knew that before he entered her office. Thus, when the principal demanded he turn over his own phone, assumably to see if Lamar could be punished for having pornographic photos on campus, he was all too glad to comply.  He simply laid his phone on the desk. He couldn’t help but notice that nobody made any effort to examine it. Then why did they demand he produce it?

Lamar did not want her to think he was intimidated or afraid as she made him stand in front of her desk, so in a calm level voice he said “Dr. Collins, I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t send two phone pictures, legally taken at a public beach to a few friends on Saturday afternoon.  I know that even though those pictures are perfectly legal, they are not appropriate at school. I have never brought them to school, nor did the people I sent them to. I know what happened before, and those weren’t even photos that anyone in my family had taken.”

Firmly the principal said, “I want to know who you sent those photos to?” 

But again Dr. Collins was thwarted because for the past two days as he began to get acclaim from the guys, he knew the pics would get to the wrong person soon enough. He knew that Sarah, Bailey, and Byron had taken the photos off their phones before bringing them to school, and they had told the people to whom they had sent the pics to do the same.  But even still he said. “Even though I’m sure they do not have them on their phones here at school, I do not believe I have any obligation to tell you who I texted during spring break. Since I was out of the country, there is no way that anyone but me in those photos go to this school. But if you really want to know you could try to get a court order, but I doubt you could do it.”

She became red in the face. “You will tell me. I can suspend you.”

Now he got sarcastic. “And how’d that work out for you last time? I sent two perfectly legal photos from our family vacation showing the differences between how we do things and how the French do things on a Saturday. If you want to suspend me, go ahead. My mom’s friend at the ACLU is just itching to go after you.”  He knew that was a little exaggeration, but not much. However, the principal’s face betrayed the effectiveness of his bluff.

The vice-principal, who had been standing against the far wall moved forward and said “Lamar, we know you are not telling us the truth. As I understand it there are dozens of different inappropriate pictures on people’s phones that include you.”

Lamar couldn’t help himself. “You aren’t too up on tech are you? Those pics were circulating before our plane landed in Atlanta on Saturday. I couldn't even send pic messages until then because my phone didn’t work on the St. Martin phone network. We found out Sunday night that pictures other people had taken in St. Martin had showed up on the net days before we got home. And yes, they included me and the rest of my family on the nude beach”

Dr. Collins burst out “Then you shouldn’t have gone to that beach should you?”

Lamar crossed his arms and grinned. He loved it when adults get caught in their own lies. “So, that’s what this is about. You think you should be able to tell my parents how to raise their children. You seem to think that you are the universal standard for what constitutes good parenting. That seems awfully arrogant if you asked me. What this is really about though is that you are trying to get back at my parents for making you look foolish to your superiors last time. The ACLU lawyer will love this admission from you.”

Dr. Collins was red in the face, but said nothing before the vice-principal sent him out of the office.

Lamar wanted to gloat, but he knew he was in real trouble at home. He thought he could already hear the lecture. Sitting there in the outer office waiting for his father to come get him, Misty’s warning about objectifying those girls and disrespecting the shared time he had with them came back loud and clear. He also knew she’d been right about how their mother would react. So, while he was quite pleased with himself for outwitting the principal, he knew he was in trouble with his parents.

He sat in the outer office after his dad came to pick him up and could tell a heated discussion was going on. When it was over the secretary gave him back his phone and told him he could go. Oddly, his dad just said that it would be dealt with after his mother got home. He would have to stew for four days until Mom got back from her long speaking trip.

Sarah picked him up from his house at 5:30 for the evening at her place. It had been decided that the guests his dad had coming over tonight might be uncomfortable if he were home. Not that he minded spending time with Sarah. Though he was counting the days until he could convert his learner's permit to a full driver’s license, he didn’t mind riding with Sarah like this.

When he slid into her car, she greeted him with a kiss, as always. Pulling out of the circular drive, she said, “I talked to Bethany. I know you told me last night that you didn’t like the way Haley acted, but from the way she talked it was the best night ever for her.”

“Yea,” Lamar said, “she is used to how her sister acts and it doesn’t bother her. But, I think it will be better with just Bethany and me next time.”

“And Lauren too, from the way she talks.”

“Yea, and Lauren,” Lamar agreed. “We aren’t exactly sure how this will play out though.”

“Well from talking to her, I’m absolutely sure she wants you guys to have a full boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. She’s wanted that since way before you and I became a couple.”

Lamar shook his head, “No, she said she doesn’t want to be my girlfriend. She said we are just too busy for that.”

Sarah glanced over to him as she drove, then said, “What a girl says and what she wants aren’t always the same thing. Trust me, she wants to be your girlfriend.”

Lamar didn’t know what to say. The truth was, he’d been a little disappointed when she’d said she didn’t want to be his girlfriend. He just didn’t say so.

Sarah went on, “I think it would be great if you build that kind of relationship over time. Really I do.”

All Lamar could say was, “I guess we will see. We don’t have a date set to get back together yet.”

Sarah chirped, “Because you are booked this weekend. Your threesome with Mimi and your sister on Friday after the club meeting, Nora Perkinson on Saturday then our regular foursome with Bailey and Byron on Sunday. She is right you are busy.”

Lamar chuckled, “Yea, I guess I am busy this weekend. But with her softball schedule, she’s really busy too.”

“Well,” Sarah said, “I’ll be busy for the next few weeks as well. I want you to know that Dave and I are coming out as a couple this weekend to his friends at GCSU and with the theater troop. We don’t have but about three weeks before the end of his semester and it's important to him to be able to call me his girlfriend before he leaves. So we’ll be seeing a lot of each other for a little while… but mostly on nights that I have play practice. But I want you to know that I will be with him while you are with Mimi and Nora this weekend. When I leave the club event on Friday, I’ll be going out to dinner with him. Afterward, he will be spending the night with me. We will go together to play practice on Saturday afternoon. From there we’ll be going out with another GCSU couple to a nice place in Milledgeville, then he’ll spend the night again on Saturday. But, you & I and Bailey & Byron will still have our Sunday afternoon time together. So, I’ll be as busy as you.”

Lamar for the first time in a very long time felt like she was leaving him out, which he knew made no sense because she was right, he was booked all weekend. He looked for the right words to convey his feelings while not seeming jealous or whiney. He knew that Bethany had been right, his relationship with Sarah wasn’t like other people’s. Normally he reveled in how they did things, and how they shocked people with how their relationship worked. Then why was it bothering him now?

But Sarah knew him all too well and spoke up before he said anything. “Don’t worry, you are not being sidelined. While Dave will be my Milledgeville social boyfriend, you are the love of my life.” She took his hand, “You are my soulmate and as long as I live there will be a place in my heart for you that nobody can take.  He knows that. He also knows that after I’ve been with him, I come to crawl into your bed and I will continue to do so because he and I will never have what you and I have.”

He hoped she did not see the relieved look on his face as she drove. It was uncanny how she always seemed to understand him. Perhaps that was why their unusual relationship worked so well.

At the Marshals, Lamar found that Ms. Slosh had invited Mrs. Vincis and Anson Whipple over for dinner, hot tub, and of course sex. He knew that Ms. Carlotta had moved into Anson’s large home around New Year’s. While Lamar had never had Mrs. Vincis for a class, she was Sarah’s American Literature teacher this year. It had been quite the talk when the students found out that Mrs. Vincis had moved in with her boyfriend, who just happened to be the father of freshman Andy Whipple.

Though Lamar and Sarah knew quite a few of the salacious details that other students were guessing at, Lamar and Sarah had been very careful to say nothing.  As far as Lamar was aware, nobody at school, outside of Mrs. Marshal and the teens whose parents were in The Circle, knew that she and Mr. Whipple were now fully active in the group. Not only was Anson Whipple Ms. Slosh’s regular lover, but last week, while Sarah and her mother were gone, Mrs. Vincis had come over to “keep Mr. Marshal company” one night.  Ms. Slosh had arranged it well before Sherry had invited Mike over to her place on Wednesday.

As they were eating dinner, Lamar was shocked when Sarah asked, “Mom, Andy and I have been talking. We want to know about your relationship with his mom and dad before she died. Like how close did you guys come to having sex? I’ve heard you talk about the fact you and Mrs. Whipple talked about sex a lot, but from what I can figure out, you didn’t actually do it.  So, what was going on?”

Lamar looked at Sarah in disbelief, then at Andy’s dad, and then at Ms. Slosh. Yes, he and Sarah had talked about this very thing more than once, especially after the first time they had sex in the Marshal’s living room while Ms. Slosh and Mr. Whipple were making love not ten feet away. Even before Sarah had confirmed it, Lamar was sure that for her mother, Anson Whipple was more than just one of her fuck buddies.

Rather than answering Sarah, her mother looked right at Andy and asked, “Is my daughter really asking for you? I know you two talked a good bit in her bedroom last time you were here. And I know that in intimate situations like you had with her, you might be willing to talk about things that you would not ordinarily do. So, is this something you want to know?”

Lamar knew that Ms. Slosh was referring to the last time Andy Whipple had come with his dad and Mrs. Vincis to dinner at the Marshals. Just as she’d done for DJ Connelly, with both her parents and Mr. Whipple’s permission, Sarah had taken Andy to her room and introduced him to sex with a girl. She’d told Lamar a few days later that while she’d had sex with Andy, they had talked about the relationship of his dad with her mom. So while the question was not new, the fact she’d asked it out in the open like that was a bit shocking.

Andy nodded. His acknowledgment that Sarah was asking for him explained why she would ask such a sensitive question. Sure, it had been over three years since his mother had died in that car wreck, but that does not mean bringing her up wouldn’t hurt Andy.

Before she answered Ms. Slosh looked over at Mr. Whipple and asked, “Do you mind?”

Quietly he said, “Andy and I have been talking on and off about the relationship his mom and I had with you and Mike for some time. Even he can tell that what you and I do is more than just fun sex. I didn’t know that he’d read between the lines about the changing nature of our relationship back when his mother was still with us.”

Slosh nodded, “I see. OK, Andy, I will answer. In short, your mother and I were very, very close. While I never told her about my life as Slosh exactly, I did tell her that I was flexible about sexual morality. She found the stories I told her fascinating and opened her up to ideas she’d never had before.” She paused to gather her thoughts up, “Yes, I do think we were on the path to becoming lovers, and she knew I was attracted to your father.” She laughed, “Your mother thought I was terrible when I told her about my fantasies about having sex with men I knew… like men at church. And she knew I fantasized about having sex with your father… and with her. Not long before her accident, I had begun hinting that Mike and I might be open to having a sexual relationship with her and your father. I say hinting because I was not sure I was ready back then to resume my life as Slosh; but I was ready to begin thinking and talking about it. But no, we had not gone past the point of just talking about sex outside of our marriages. When she was killed, I was devastated, just like your father was. We both loved her very much. Her passing left a huge hole in both of our hearts.”

Softly Anson said, “Yes, it was very difficult on both of us. And Marcy, I knew where your relationship with Jan was headed. I’m not sure I’ve ever told you, but I was fully supportive of whatever you two wanted to do.”

Slosh just nodded in acknowledgment, then to Andy she said. “In the months after her funeral, I was tempted to try to fill the void in your father’s life… I mean by beginning to sleep with him, but he was simply not ready for that and I’m not sure I was either. Then he went into his shell for several years. Mike and I wanted to help but he wasn’t ready. Then last summer he finally began to reach out to Mike.” She turned to Anson and asked, “When did you finally understand that Mike and I were no longer monogamous?”

“In September. Word of your trip to Miami with the girls began to spread among the youth group. While Mike had laid out broad hints in our talks, it was not until DJ Connelly told Andy the story of the Arabian Nights party at the Campbells, and he relayed it to me that I finally saw it all clearly. And that was the first time I heard the name Carlotta Vincis. So, when you invited me over in October, I had a vague suspicion… well hope, that it would end in you and me having sex. I hadn’t done it since Jan died and I’d developed quite a fixation after I learned that you were open to having sex outside of your marriage. The surprise was Carlotta.” He looked over at his girlfriend, “I was stunned by how beautiful you were… and you just got naked like it was something you’d been doing for years.”

Carlotta quipped, “Oh, that was all bravado. Taking my clothes off in front of you that first time back in early October was harder than you can imagine. But for me, having sex with Mike after hot tubbing was not a surprise. I’d been sleeping with them since right after that party.”

Slosh extended, “Yes, while Carlotta knew what we had on the agenda, I wasn’t sure you did. Though you’d not been as discrete as perhaps you thought you were. I knew without a doubt you were more than ready to have sex with me.”

Anson chuckled, “I didn’t know I’d been that obvious. But, you were right. I really wanted it, more than I wanted to admit to myself. But initially, I didn’t see beyond that you got naked in front of me and I knew we were finally headed to your bed. It was only later that I realized that night was a weird sort of matchmaking date for me and Carlotta. While it was unconventional, I see how sleeping with you that night, while Mike was with Carlotta, was exactly what I needed to open my heart up to a new love. Had you tried to set me and Carlotta up right off, it would not have worked. I would have resented you trying to put someone in my life to fill the void left by Jan. But by inviting me into your bed that night, I knew that you were offering yourself as a connection to Jan, a physical connection as well as an emotional one. After that, from what I remember, we had sex like five times in the next few weeks and you even spent the night at my house. Which I know Andy remembers.”

Andy nodded with a smile and said, “Oh yea. How can I not remember? But you talked to me in advance and I knew Mrs. Marshal had been Mom’s best friend. And like you said, by then DJ had told me how she and Mr. C. had sex in front of everyone at the party at their house the month before. By the time you guys went to your room and shut the door, I was actually happy for you. And you guys were really noisy… well Mrs. Marshal was.”

That got some laughs.

Anson went on, telling Slosh, “It was a big deal to me that you and I went as a couple to that Halloween party at Chad & Ashley’s. Beyond the fact I saw things that night I’d only fantasized about, it was you filling that need in my life that allowed me to open my eyes and heart to Carlotta… and that has changed everything for me.”

To Andy, Slosh said, “You see, your mother and I weren’t just best friends, we were as close as sisters and we looked so much alike that people often thought we really were sisters. I don’t know how many times we wore each other's clothes over the years and for a decade we were all but inseparable.”

Anson said solemnly to his son, “When I am with Marcy, and especially when we make love, I feel a connection to your mother that is unlike anything else.  Marcy knows that is a lot of what I get out of our time together.” He reached over and took Carlotta’s hand. “And, so does Carlotta. She knows I will always love your mother, but that does not mean that I don’t love her in a way that I did not think I would ever feel again. My feelings confused me until I talked to Sherry, who is also a widower who still loves her late husband even though it's been more than a decade since he passed. In her case, her love for Maggie LeCroix brings her close to her first husband because the three of them shared a bed for many years. And yet she is now married to Herb, and she loves him too. She likens it to having different rooms in her heart. Each of those rooms is different, but they are all important to her. The room filled with love for her first husband is as large as it ever was, yet she says it is more of a museum of a love that will never change, while her love for Maggie and Herb is always changing as life brings new things into their lives.”

Andy nodded as he followed his father’s words.

Slosh spoke up, “I know I’m a stand-in for Jan with your father. I’m honored to fill that role for a woman I loved so much. I don’t know how much the girls have shared about my life, but when I was your age, I was a stand-in for my mother in the same way. All through high school I was the lover of the woman who was the love of my mother’s life. Many times, many, many times, while we were making love, Margarete used my mother's name when telling me how much she enjoyed what we were doing, or just said she loved me using my mother’s name. I always knew I was a surrogate for my mother. Rather than making me feel used or diminished, I was honored and thrilled that I could do that for her. So, Andy, acting as your mother’s stand-in with your father is an honor to me, not something demeaning.”

Carlotta spoke up, “And I understand all of that. I’ll admit that a year ago these things would have set my head spinning. The idea that I have a man in my life that I love beyond words is amazing in itself, but I also have a wonderful sexual relationship with my best friend’s husband; while at the same time, she is my love’s lover. Not only am I good with that, it thrills me to know Anson has his relationship with Slosh. Such an arrangement was completely beyond my comprehension last year, but now I think what we all, all four of us have, is a beautiful thing. I guess the only part that ever bothers me is a nagging jealousy that Anson’s late wife had a kind of love from her husband that I never had from my ex… the father of my children. No, jealousy isn’t the right word, envy is the right word. It just seems like I spent half my life cheated out of the kind of total love that I should have had in my marriage.”

Anson leaned over to kiss her, then said, “You have that kind of love now.”

She replied, “I know. I know I do. And I love you so much. I am so thankful that God… and Marcy, brought you into my life,” and she began to cry.

Lamar just thought that adults were really weird. But he fully grasped the idea of loving multiple people in different ways. After all, he was in the process of letting go of Gabby while moving toward something new with Bethany… yet he still loved Gabby even as he was letting her go. And of course, he loved Sarah with everything he had, yet she now had a new boyfriend. She’d not said it, but he was sure that she already loved Dave, though not in the same way she loved him. So, he could see that the four adults at the table had an interlocking set of loving relationships even while Mr. & Mrs. Marshal loved each other totally and Mr. Whipple and Mrs. Vincis were (as he understood it) talking about marriage. So perhaps it wasn’t so weird that Mrs. Vincis was struggling to fully understand all the new things she was feeling.

As they were wrapping up dinner, Ms. Slosh asked Sarah if she and “the boys” would be joining the parents in the hot tub. Andy’s eyes widened at the question. Since they’d not been part of Sunday Swim Days last summer; Lamar was sure that he’d never seen his father’s girlfriend naked before. Just as likely, Andy had never gone naked with his dad like that.

Ms. Slosh looked over at Mr. Whipple and asked, “Oh, had you guys not discussed this already? I thought last time he was here with you two for dinner, the decision was not to invite him to join us in the tub because it was the first time. Well, this isn’t the first time, and in a matter of weeks we will be starting the Sunday Swim Days, which I thought you all were going to attend.”

Mr. Whipple just looked over at Carlotta with a questioning face. She in turn looked at Andy and asked, “Would that be too much for you?”

Lamar almost laughed. He knew without a doubt that Andy wanted to see his father’s sexy girlfriend naked. The only question was that of his willingness to say so. Andy gave a vague, “That would be OK,” answer, but Sarah stepped up and assured her that Andy would love it.

When the parents were cleaning up the table, Lamar told Andy, “If you want a good look at Miss Carlota, we should be the first ones out there. I don’t know about you, but I definitely want to watch her getting into the water.”

Sarah seconded Lamar’s suggestion and so they were waiting when the adults came out into the backyard. Rather than sinking into the water, Sarah took a seat on the side of the tub, so Lamar followed suit. When Mrs. Vincis dropped her robe and Mr. Marshal and Mr. Whipple helped her into the tub, he was glad he’d come out first. Her tits were nothing short of magnificent. He knew he’d be whacking off thinking about her for weeks. He was not at all surprised that from his seat in the water, Andy was staring at his father’s girlfriend, practically drooling.

 What Lamar had not expected was how the adults would sit in the tub… though he quickly realized he should have expected it. Ms. Slosh and Mr. Whipple sat together as a couple while Mr. Marshal and Mrs. Vincis snuggled up. Sure, even before the discussion at the dinner table, he knew that Ms. Slosh and Mr. Whipple were lovers even before he and Mrs. Vincis had started dating, but still he was a little surprised. Then later when the adults went to the house, Ms. Slosh and Mr. Whipple went to their guest room while Mr. Marshal and Mrs. Vincis went to his bed.

All three times Bailey’s mother had joined Sarah’s parents in their hot tub, she’d had sex with Mr. Marshal right in front of Lamar, her daughter, and Sarah. With Mrs. Hildebrandt, it was now fully expected she would do that. Nothing like that happened with Mr. Whipple and Mrs. Vincis. They were all naked though. Lamar was sure this was a huge deal for Andy, but for him, it was rather anti-climactic.

That did not mean he didn’t enjoy that part of the evening. Mrs. Vincis was very attractive, so much so she might challenge Mrs. Simms for his favorite of the older group of moms in The Circle. He also enjoyed hearing Ms. Slosh tell about her trip to Miami, and Andy’s hard-on made it clear that he liked her story even more than Lamar did. Ms. Slosh had to stop and let Andy know that it was fine, even expected, that he’d get an erection. When she asked if he wanted Sarah to take care of it for him, he turned beet red and shook his head. Lamar was sure Mrs. Vincis and Mr. Whipple thought she was kidding, but Lamar knew better.

Much of the hot tub time was taken up with Ms. Slosh’s Miami story. Lamar had heard Sarah’s version of their trip, but Sarah had not even seen any of her mom’s sexual encounters all week, so she hadn’t had much to tell. Sarah had told Lamar that she had spent a lot of time with Holly’s 11-year-old, Mira. The girl had become Misty’s pen pal last summer, but she had more questions for Sarah last week. It seems since last summer, puberty had hit the girl full force and she’d developed breasts and had begun feeling the beginning of her libido. Sarah was happy to answer all of her most personal questions. When she’d asked her mother, Ms. Slosh had made sure that Sarah knew that she couldn’t show the girl how she masturbated.

What Sarah hadn’t quite understood at first was that when she and her mother went nude at the Feldman’s swimming pool, it was the first time anyone had done it in front of Mira’s and Holly’s children. Yet, by the second day, everyone (including their combined four kids) went bare. It had been a big shift for them all. And when the three mothers and their combined five children (including Sarah) went to Haulover one afternoon, that was also a first for that group. So, while Sarah had enjoyed herself, it was nothing like Lamar’s Spring Break.

While Sarah was celibate, Ms. Slosh was anything but sex-free in Miami. In the hot tub, she told that not only did she sleep in the bed with Elijah & Holly Feldman all week (twice joined by Mira and her husband), but she also went to two swinger parties with them. The Saturday night that she and Sarah arrived in Miami they went to a house party and then the Friday night before they left, she went to the upscale swing club she’d been to on her first trip. At both events, she had sex with multiple people. It seemed evident to Lamar that she enjoyed telling the story including the details about all her sexual encounters at the two parties. It was also clear that Mr. Whipple, Mrs. Vincis, and Andy were enthralled by what she said.

 Once Ms. Slosh was done, it was Mrs. Vincis who asked Lamar about his family’s trip to St. Martin. He gave an overview of things like the family’s days on a nude beach, Mom & Sis’s day on the pirate ship, and after hearing Ms. Slosh’s lurid tales, he had to include some of his sex stories as well. Although he’d not planned on saying a thing about it, he got carried away and told about his night with the two high school teachers. Mrs. Vinci's interest in the story led to him spilling out way more than he meant to… well he told them everything.

Mrs. Vincis had quite a few questions as to what he did to make such an impression on the adult women and how he knew they really had enjoyed themselves. It seemed to Lamar that she was a little skeptical until he relayed what Della had said in the email to his mother. “She told Mom that it was good we live so far from her or she’d find a way for us to continue sleeping together no matter the risk.”

Ms. Slosh seeing her friend's incredulity said, “Come on Carlotta, haven’t you ever had a crush on one of your students and fantasized about having an affair with him?”

Mrs. Vincis looked shocked, “No! Of course not.”

Ms. Slosh smiled, “Well I sure have. How many times have I drifted off during a play practice imagining the good-looking actor bending me over on the stage in front of the other students? This year has been even worse since I know that two of my senior guys are Euro Club boyfriends. Not only have they seen my nude photos but they’ve seen video clips from last summer of me having sex with guys who are their age. More than once, I could swear I’ve seen them undressing me with their eyes right in class.”

Sarah jumped in, “Oh yeah, the way I hear it, Devin and Connie play a game where she pretends to be you while they have sex. Mom, all you’d have to do is say the word and he’d do you in a second… and he’s eighteen now so you could if you wanted.”

Her mother shook her head and said, “Don’t tell me stuff like that. No, I can’t do him, not as long as he is one of my students. You know that he’s got a major part in the spring production, now that is all I’m going to be thinking about when he’s on stage.”

Sarah laughed, “Why do you think I told you?”

Her mother shook her head saying, “My daughter is a real problem child.”

Lamar thought it was too funny.

It was no surprise that once the adults had gone to the bedrooms Sarah wanted to see the pics on Emily's Photobucket. That is because earlier, when telling about his time with the two teenage girls in St. Martin, Lamar had mentioned how it was odd to take pictures with Emily’s iPad. Lamar walked her through how to open Emily’s account on her laptop. All the while, Andy was right there watching.  Without initially considering the consequences, when Andy asked if he could share how to get to the Photobucket with DJ Connely, Lamar said, “Sure, fine.” It was only later when he got home that he realized his mistake and sent an email telling Emily to change the password in addition to deleting the actual sex pics.

Not surprisingly after the photo viewing, came sex. The threesome with Andy and Sarah was fun and energetic. What the freshman lacked in experience, he more than made up in enthusiasm, gratitude… and recovery power. Even when he climaxed, his erection barely softened.  An hour and a half in, the freshman had ejaculated three times already (twice in Sarah’s vagina and once in her mouth). Up until then, Byron was the only guy who’d cum in Sarah without a condom while Lamar was there. Mimicking what he knew his dad would do in that situation, twice just as Andy was pulling his spent cock out of Sarah, Lamar went down on her. That was nothing new since he’d done that after Byron pulled out many times, but later on, Lamar was actually surprised when after he’d filled his girlfriend with jizz, Andy asked if it were all right if he ate her out afterward.  It was while he watched Andy slurping up his cum from Sarah’s pussy that drove home to Lamar that for Andy, the night with him and Sarah would be a templet for his future relationships.

At about 8:30, they were taking a break, but even then, Sarah sat on Andy’s ever hard erection moving her hips as they talked. Looking down at him below her, she asked, “So, are you and Jasmine Hartsell like moving toward becoming an item? From what I heard, she really likes you.”

Jasmine was Lannie Hartsell’s little sister. While Lannie was one of the soon-to-be Euro Club girls for next fall who’d been meeting (and fucking) at the Jackson’s since last summer, Jasmine was just finishing 8th grade. The Hartsell girls (and their little brother Bobby), like Lamar, Sarah, and Andy, had all grown up at St. Thomas. Because of that, Lamar knew Jasmine by face, but she was too young for him to know well.

“What have you heard?” Andy asked Sarah.

“Oh, not much other than she told Natalie Foster that if she had you alone she’d be in your pants in a heartbeat.”

“Really?”

After giving a demonstrative thrust of her hips she said, “Really. You know that she’s part of the cosplay group that her sister hangs out with. Lannie is one of the girls who will be Euro Club members next fall. I’ve gone down on Lannie once, over at the Jackson’s place. Not a big thing, we were just messing around, but I did get her off.”

From Andy’s face, he clearly did not know that bit of information. 

Sarah went on, “I don’t think Jasmin has had sex yet, but from what I’ve heard she’s been blowing guys at the cosplay events pretty much all year.” She nodded as to give emphasis. “Oh, I’m real sure that is true. As I understand it her mom has both of them on birth control already… well, Lannie for sure, but I’ve been told Jasmine started a few months ago. According to what Natalie told me, she is considering which guy she knows would be a good first partner for her. Not now, but this summer. What I was told was that she promised her mother she’d wait until she was out of 8th grade to have sex for the first time. That was what Lannie did too.”

There was no doubt that Andy was excited about what Sarah was saying… even if she hadn’t been fucking him as she talked. In response, he told her, “Jasmine and I have made out a couple of times after Youth Group, but I wasn’t sure if she wanted to go further.”

Sarah gave him a grin, “She does. Should I tell Natalie to let her know that I’ve been training you how to please a girl? I’d be happy to say you’d make a good choice for a first partner.”

“Would I what?” Then he seemed to process what she’d asked. “Do you think it would be a good thing for her to know you and I have had sex?”

“I’ll ask Natalie what she thinks. Not to brag, but I suspect it will only help your case if she knows you have been with me.”

Lamar finally jumped in, “Yea, Andy. I think she’s right. Far from being a negative thing, I think Jasmine will see you as more of a catch if she knows Sarah thinks you are good in bed. Even more, I think she’ll be impressed that you got to watch us in action too, we are sort of well-known as a hot couple in the Youth Group.”

Sarah nodded, “I agree. But, now I think we need to get busy. I suspect the parents will be done soon and I’d like one more from you before we have to quit.”

With that, Sarah rolled off of Andy and took a position on her hands and knees more or less on top of where Lamar was lying. Andy didn’t waste a second and moved in behind her and slipped it in… again. Lamar just loved looking into Sarah’s face while someone else got her off. She was so expressive as to how good the person made her feel, and this time was no exception. He knew that taking it doggie was perhaps her most reliable way of cumming from being fucked. She was looking right into his eyes as the room filled with the sounds of Andy banging into her.

Motion from the back of the room caught his attention a little while later, Sarah’s mom had stepped in. Sarah had been right to suppose that their time was about up. He was not surprised that rather than disturbing her daughter’s coming climax, Ms. Slosh stood by the foot of the bed waiting for Sarah to finish (she’d done that a good many times over the past year). As this was nothing out of the ordinary, Lamar went back to watching his girlfriend’s face as she began the final assent to orgasm. But something else caught his attention. Mrs. Vincis was just inside the door, watching her boyfriend’s son hammer Sarah.

There was no doubt she was intrigued by watching the teen sex. From what Lamar could remember, her three kids were in college and grad school, so they would have been in high school just a couple of years ago. Somehow, he doubted they’d been allowed to have sex at home. However, when she noticed Lamar watching her, she got a horrified look on her face and quickly stepped back out the door.  

Once Sarah crested, and even as Andy was pumping a final load of semen into her, Mrs. Slosh walked around to the side of the bed to let Andy know that he would need to get dressed to go home. To his credit, Andy did not appear rattled. Instead, he gave a hard grunt as he shot his last stream of semen into Sarah, then slowly turned his head to face Ms. Slosh. Gasping for breath he said, “That’s all I’ve got for tonight anyway.”

Lamar was impressed with his cool. There was no way he’d been that composed if it had been him a year ago. Even more impressive was that he didn’t pull out, rather he slowly stroked while rubbing his hands on Sarah. Earlier in the session, she’d chided Andy for pulling out before giving her a chance to enjoy the post-orgasmic glow with him still inside of her. He apparently learned his lesson, and right in front of Ms. Slosh he slowly eased in and out of Sarah until she moved to get up.

Downstairs Ms. Slosh reminded Andy, “You can’t let anyone, I mean anyone, know that you went hot tubbing with Carlotta or that she was here while you had sex with Sarah… and certainly not that she’d seen you doing it. It's OK if you tell someone like DJ that you had a threesome with Sarah and Lamar while your dad played with me and Mike, but you can’t even hint that Carlotta was here too. Do you understand that?”

He nodded.

“Once summer is here, you and DJ and everyone else will get to see her hot naked body at the Sunday swim days, but until then, not a peep you’ve seen her.”

Again, he nodded before they left.

Much earlier, about 6:00 that evening, not long after Lamar had left his house with Sarah, Bonnie called Cooper from Texas. He was glad she called but did not tell her about their son’s indiscretion with the photos just yet. That could wait he thought.  Bonnie had great news, “Gayle just told me that the publisher wants to use one of  Amy’s paintings of us on the cover of her new book. How cool is that.”

“That is great. We'll be famous" he said with a laugh. Sadly, she assured him that academic books like that were not going to show up at the local bookstore. After just a few minutes he said, "I’d love to talk, but I gotta go. The house isn’t ready and I still need to get food together. Sue Ann and the others will be over in less than an hour.”

Bonnie told him, “Be good, and give your girlfriend a kiss for me when she gets there. Love ya, bye-bye.”

He hung up the phone and shifted his thoughts to his task of playing host. DeeDee showed up just past 6:30. He was very glad to have her there. While he could play host, he knew that Bonnie was far better at it than he was. However, his anxiety was abated because he was sure that DeeDee would be more than competent filling in for his wife. He’d sent Misty and Kelli to pick up a meat and cheese tray and soda from Piggly Wiggly for him. They had also volunteered to watch Ruthie’s and Stephanie’s kids while their moms were out in the hot tub.  Well, they volunteered for twenty bucks each.

The girls got back just in time to put out the snacks when Sue Ann and her new boyfriend arrived.

“Cooper, this is Wyatt,” She said introducing her boyfriend, “I’ve been wanting to bring him over all spring and just haven’t gotten the chance.”

“Glad to meet you,” Cooper said taking his hand.

“He’s with the Putnam County Sheriff’s office” Sue Ann continued.

“What do you do at the Sheriff’s department?” Cooper advanced.

“I’m a deputy with the K-9 and narcotics unit,” he responded in a deep voice. He looked every bit the southern Deputy Sheriff, stocky, short cropped hair, and a tattoo peeking out from the sleeve of his tee-shirt. Cooper suggested Sue Ann take her guy out back and get comfortable while he finished up the snack tray. He offered them a beer but for himself, he took one of the Diet Cokes the girls had brought, but did not get to open it before the doorbell rang again.

Cooper opened the door; he put out a hand to welcome Clayton Cook who was holding their two-year-old, and a portable playpen. Behind her husband, Stephanie guided their three-year-old and carried a diaper bag. He was surprised when she kissed him on the lips as she came in the door.  The kiss didn’t linger very long, but it wasn’t a peck either. After her last visit, where they’d had sex, she’d let him know she wanted to get together with him sometime, just the two of them. But with the trip to St. Martin, it had not worked out yet.

Looking at all the things they carried, Cooper said, “I had forgotten what an expedition even a simple visit to friends can be when you have two little ones.” He then introduced them to “… my paramour, DeeDee,” but did not elaborate.

Kelli took the baby and crib from Clayton and escorted Stephanie and the older child to the game room. Cooper said, “Excuse me, but I need to finish setting up the snacks in the kitchen.”  DeeDee waited with Clayton for Stephanie's return.

When Ruthie and her two kids arrived just minutes later, DeeDee greeted her at the door. Misty was on the spot and led Ruthie’s two boys off to the game room with a promise to let them play some of her brother’s video games. Moments later Stephanie returned to the living room. DeeDee escorted all four of the adults out the back door.

Once Cooper finished with the food, he went to the game room for one last check.  He hadn’t even thought of the pictures on the wall and how Ruthie’s son Connor was in 4th grade, plenty old enough to be drawn to all the exposed skin on the big poster-sized photos around the room. The two photos of the family on their Miami trip had been there nearly two years, and the one of Bonnie swimming nude had been on the wall well over a year by now. He didn’t even really see them anymore, but he knew first-time visitors always did. To an eleven-year-old boy from a “normal” home, those photos were eye-popping. As he walked in, Connor was staring at the photo of girls and moms on the sailboat wearing nothing but thong bottoms.

Approaching Misty, he said, "Maybe if you tell him the stories behind the photos, it will make them seem less shocking. It would not due for him to go home with tales that Ruthie would have a hard time tamping down.”

Misty seemed to understand, but said, “Dad, you have to know, even kids his age now know about the Euro Club. He might be too young to understand what it all means, but he won’t forget all the naked girls … and moms, on the walls.”

“Yes, you are probably right. All the more reason to keep the blinds closed. I don't think Ruthie wants the kids to see what is happening outside.  Connor is just finishing 4th grade and is just the age to take note of the nudity outside… even if he doesn’t happen to look out when people are having sex. More importantly, he could repeat what he sees." 

Misty understood and said, "We'll keep them busy and away from the glass door or the back window… which also affords a good view of the hot tub." 

He closed by saying, “I’ll talk to Ruthie and let her know that Connor couldn’t take his eyes from the pictures on the walls.” As he headed out to the back, he was sure that even with two elementary school kids and two small children to watch, Misty and Kelli would be fine.  Then he reflected how quickly he'd forgotten the difficulties of having a social life when you could not leave your children unattended at home. He wondered if perhaps it was no coincidence that he and Bonnie had opened up their marriage not long after their children no longer needed that kind of attention.

 When Cooper made it outside moments later, Sue Ann and Wyatt were in the big tub. Clayton was standing uncomfortably, waiting, sporting a half-erection while his wife, Ruthie, and DeeDee finished folding their clothes and placing them on the towel cabinet. DeeDee was already chatting away.

Cooper kicked off his shorts after laying the food tray on the table. He felt flustered without Bonnie. He never felt whole doing things like this without her. Fortunately for Cooper, DeeDee was making introductions on her own. He felt sure she would fill Bonnie’s shoes admirably tonight. Even before he got his feet wet, she was off and running. She quickly got the group conversation going.

Apparently, everyone quickly saw DeeDee’s role and when he got into the tub, there was a seat beside her for him. Even so, he felt it was in order to explain. “Sorry for all the bustling about. Without Bonnie here, I’m not very good at these things. She would love to be here, but she is at The University of Texas presenting for the FFF to an academic conference, then tomorrow she is off to Los Angeles to the largest convention of swingers in North America.”

Sue Ann blurted out, “I bet she’s going to have a good time there.”

Cooper laughed, “Well, it is work after all. But, yes I’ll be quite surprised if she sleeps alone either Thursday or Friday.”

“I bet she won’t” Sue Ann agreed.

Beside Sue Ann, her boyfriend’s eyes betrayed his surprise at the short conversation.

This was Cooper’s opening to address his relationship with DeeDee. “But, I won’t be sleeping alone either. It appears DeeDee had introduced herself, but I think I should point out, it was Bonnie who suggested she help me host tonight. I’m not sure how she introduced herself, but Monday night she and I agreed on the word paramour to describe our relationship, not because it's perfect, but it’s the best we can do. I think the word girlfriend is too trite for what we have and partner seems to imply more than we intend. We are lovers for sure, but we are also co-laborers in her mission to promote the idea of sacred sexuality.”

DeeDee stepped in, “If you want to think of me as Cooper’s girlfriend, that is not inappropriate. But I’m no longer anything like a girl, and yes, our relationship is very much premised on our shared goals. I have been involved with sacred sexuality since I was a teenager, and it is the core of who I am. Cooper came to it mostly through his own open-minded study and all I did was provide him a framework and a community that he did not know existed. A week from Saturday he will be presenting at my group's conference on sacred sexuality and Christian non-monogamy. And I want you to know, I am very much in love with him.”

As he’d hoped, her words opened the door for a discussion of sacred sexuality and Christian non-monogamy. In the discussion, Ruthie said that Stephanie and Clayton would be in his Sunday School class this week, and they planned on coming with their kids to the family nude swim days when they begin. When Sue Ann asked Ruthie if she would be coming too, she said if it were up to her, she would, but she was sure that Sonny wouldn’t go for it.

After the discussion, DeeDee continued to guide the conversation, but she moved to more usual topics. DeeDee did so well at entertaining that Cooper began to feel a bit out of place with these much younger people. He was actually surprised how easily DeeDee was able to carry on light conversation with this group. They talked about music and movies for a while before Sue Ann asked "So Cooper, I've heard bits and pieces about you guy's trip, and I looked at a website with photos of the whole family on a beautiful nude beach. You want to tell us about it?"

"St. Martin is beautiful and Orient Bay Beach is stunning" he began. He gave an abbreviated rundown of their week from his perspective. When he was done Sue Ann said "I heard from Tabitha that Bonnie found a hot lover out there. But you didn't say anything about meeting any women."

Cooper shook his head. "No, I had a quiet week. It seems that I am the only one in my family that does not have any wild sex tales to tell from our trip. You'll have to ask Bonnie about the details of her sail around the island with the French Canadian. She seems to have had a good time."

"When do we get to see the pictures?"

"That depends on when Misty is finished putting together a slide show. She took enough memory for 5,000 photos, but had to buy more for our last day at the beach. Partially that was because she also took video the day she and Bonnie went sailing."

Sue Ann said. "Wow! Well, I am looking forward to seeing them.”

It was clear to Cooper that she was not the only one interested in their trip, or had seen the photos online. He said “The whole thing at Lake Sinclair through us off kilter when we got back, but I think Bonnie has already made plans for a picture party a week from tonight. Of course, you are all invited.”

Sue Ann’s boyfriend asked about the party at Lake Sinclair which made sense because he was in law enforcement. Cooper explained what was now known. He said that the Baldwin County Sherriff’s office was seeking information on the organizers, which they knew had no connection to the Euro Club.

Then out of the blue Sue Ann asked, “So Clayton, what was it like watching Cooper and your wife fuck last time you were here? The way I heard it you seemed to like it a lot.”

Cooper wondered if she was taking this tact to let her boyfriend hear about other couples with open relationships. As he understood it, even though Sue Ann had been dating the burley deputy for something like two months, she’d not stopped having sex with Dwight & Brandy or her sister’s husband.

Clayton nodded in a slow way “Yep, it was pretty damn hot.”

“So, you guys going to be swingers now?” Sue Ann followed up.

Clayton looked over at his wife. Sue Ann picked up on the meaning of the look and pressed on. “So Stephanie, I guess your husband thinks it’s up to you.”

“I’m not sure I would call us swingers, but we have embraced the label of open marriage.” To DeeDee she said, “Back when I went off to college, we were already a couple. Despite that, he and I both had quite a bit of sex with other people while we were apart. When I came back to Sparta during holidays and such, we loved telling each other all about it, often while we were having sex. So having a non-exclusive relationship is nothing new to us even though we’d been pretending that wasn’t so for the last couple of years.”

Ruthie added, “The night before she got married, she had sex with two guys at her bachelorette party. Then when she told Clayton about it about an hour before the ceremony, it turned him on so much that he screwed her right then and there… in her wedding dress. They almost got caught.”

Stephany smiled and said “Yes, but until Cooper and I had sex last time I was here, I’d not had sex with another man since then. But, I knew my husband had never stopped doing other women, and he knew I knew but we just weren’t up to just saying that it is OK to have sex with other people. I was even pretty sure that if I told him I’d had sex, like with a guy at work, it would turn him on. So, the only thing new is that we are giving a name to the way we’ve always been.”

DeeDee stepped in, to Stephanie she said, “But words do matter. Being honest in saying openly that you are OK with your spouse having sex with other people is a big step. Just the discussion brings you closer together and thus improves your marriage. But I would not necessarily agree that you need to adopt the word swinger. Some people equate all consensual non-monogamy with swinging, but I would disagree. In our group, we share our bodies with our close friends in an act of love and community… a Christian community. Swingers focus on their own pleasure, but we focus on sharing the joys of God’s gift of sexuality and building relationships.”

Every time Cooper heard DeeDee talk he realized how much more she conceptualized sexuality in terms of Christianity than he did. While he had to work at finding those connections, they seemed to just flow out of her. She was an amazing woman. 

DeeDee continued. “Wyatt, I wasn’t here last time, but I heard what happened. And since you are here, I assume that you did too. I also assume that you at least have some idea that Cooper, Sue Ann, and I all belong to a group who share sexually, but we aren’t swingers. As I said, Cooper and I are lovers, but I also have a meaningful sexual relationship with Mike and Slosh Marshal, another couple in our group.”

Sue Ann agreed, “She’s right. In our group, we all have sort of an arrangement that any of us are free to have sex with any of the others, but in practice, we mostly do it with certain people.”

Cooper saw her eyes cut over briefly to her boyfriend before saying “In our group, I have an ongoing sexual relationship with one married couple and a married man. The important thing to understand is that nobody in our group, which we have recently begun calling The Circle, expects their spouse or partner to only have sex with them. Though nobody has said it out loud, that is sort of a prerequisite for being a member. But like DeeDee said, while free love is what we practice, we are first and foremost a church group. Stephanie, I really do think you will find people who are supportive of the way you live out your marriage with our group, and at our church.” She took her boyfriend’s hand, “I know this idea is new to Wyatt, but he is open to giving it a try.”

That explained a lot to Cooper. It seemed apparent to him that Sue Ann had been talking to her boyfriend about this, but she’d brought him tonight to show him how she lived.

Stephanie nodded slowly before saying, “More than the non-monogamy itself, what is hard for me to grasp is that you are a church group. You see sharing sex as an expression of your faith. I’ll admit, that idea is still mind-blowing to me. It is the total opposite of what my family’s church believes. The idea I can be who I am and not be made to feel guilty at church was beyond my comprehension until recently.”

DeeDee put in, “It's more than not feeling guilty, but actively embracing your sexual expression with other people as a positive part of your Christian life. I use my body as my tool for living out Christ’s command to show compassionate regard to those around me. For me my time ministering to the needs of the elderly as a nurse and my time sharing sexual joy are simply two methods of showing love to my neighbors.” She paused, seemingly to give her words a moment to sink in before asking, “So Stephanie, may I ask if you have acted on your new sexual freedom?”

Sue Ann pressed "Maybe tell us about the threesome with Clayton’s girlfriend. How was that?"

Now Cooper was sure, Sue Ann had been briefed and prepped for this talk.

Clayton got a huge grin. "It was simply the hottest thing ever.  I knew Becky liked Stephanie, but I didn't know she had the hots for her.  For like an hour I just watched the lezbo action. Then I took turns fucking them both. It was just the hottest thing I've ever done."

Stephanie added "Yea, it was pretty great. I wouldn’t have used those words for what happened, but it went really well. I’ve known Becky since our first year in high school and she is really sweet, and she has been in love with my husband all these years. All she wants is to feel his love from time to time. She doesn’t want to break up our marriage and she’s been feeling terrible for the last two years for carrying on an affair with him behind my back. It was hard not to feel for her as she told me all of this with tears. Those tears fed our lovemaking. Kissing the tears from her cheeks was the first step in our foreplay. Contrary to my husband’s characterization of it as lezbo action, I made love to her because she loves him but would give that up if that is what I wanted. She made love to me because I made it clear that I was not going to do that. It was a beautiful moment, and yes, it did last a full hour.”

DeeDee commented, “That is a beautiful story. You can feel good that you used your sexuality to do God’s work in her life.”

Stephanie got a puzzled look, then a smile. “Thank you. I’d not thought of it like that. But I do know she is very happy with the change in her status from being the other woman, to my friend and sometimes lover. She’s been by the house after the boys are down once a week for the last three weeks. Each time she and I make love first, then Clayton joins us. And he did say it right, he does fuck both of us good afterward. I think this may become our new normal.”

Sue Ann asked, “Clayton, do you see her other times, without your wife?”

He quickly said he did. “Stephanie says I can see her twice a week on my own as long as I am upfront about it. So, now I just call her and let her know I’ll be late because I’m stopping by Becky’s.”

Stephanie added, “But that does not mean I get shortchanged. Nearly every night when he gets home from being with her, we make love right off. I love tasting her on his mouth and he knows it.”

 Sue Ann said, “It sounds like you guys are way beyond just talking about an open marriage, and are doing it. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. After I joined Brandy & Dwight in their bed that first time after the Arabian Nights party, it just seemed so normal, like why didn’t we start doing that years before?”

Cooper spoke up, “Yes, it is like that. I think almost all of us in The Circle have asked ourselves why did we wait so long.”

Sue Ann then asked, “So Stephanie, since you’ve OK’ed your husband to have a girlfriend, did you do that hot doctor yet?”

 “Twice,” she said casually.

Cooper thought Stephanie was way too smooth to be surprised with that question. It would be a safe bet that all of the questions had been pre-planned by the women with some end in mind. After all, how would Sue Ann know about the doctor who’d been coming on to Stephanie if she hadn’t been told? Just like last time, this was a setup, but who was the target? Wyatt maybe?

“You go girl, tell us about it,” Sue Ann said enthusiastically.

“Well, the day after we were here last time, I just happened to see him in the cafeteria line, while I’m sitting enjoying my coffee. So, I make sure he catches me giving him a look.”

“One of ‘THOSE’ looks?” Sue Ann chided.

“Oh yes, one of those looks,” Stephanie grinned. “So, he comes over to my table and asks if he can sit with me. Now I may be rusty at this sort of thing, but I do remember how. I told him to feel free to sit down, but I had to get back to work. As I’m leaving, I casually let my free hand rub across his back”

“The next day, I went to lunch at exactly the same time, and guess who is sitting alone at a table just waiting for me?” She smiled broadly. “Yep, like a puppy waiting to be petted, he was there. He was there for three straight days. I was off for the weekend, but on Monday, he was back again.  This time just before I left, I casually said "Oh, I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but my husband and I have an open marriage. I’m free to have sex with whomever I choose." I left the cafeteria with him looking dumbstruck, but within an hour, I get a page to go to the radiology department, a place I rarely go. Sure enough, I find him waiting on me outside the room that once held the old X-Ray machine. It's more or less just used for storage right now.”

Sue Ann filled in, “So, the room was not being used and unlikely to be needed. Right?”

“Just so.” She reached down and squeezed her husband’s thigh, “I’ve told him this story before, but I know he loves to hear it… and he’d love to hear me tell it to you guys.”

Clayton grinned and nodded in agreement.

“We waited for the hall to clear out then quickly went in and he locked the door behind us. Since we’d been flirting pretty heavy for a week, we got right to it. We kissed hard, and he wasted no time in reaching up under my scrubs to grab my tits. That was awkward so I just pulled off my shirt and without pausing took off my bra. He was rough, but in a sexy animal way. He kissed my boobs and sucked them till my nipples were tingling before I had my hand down the waistband of his scrub pants. One nice thing about medical clothes is they come off easily. I just pulled on the waistband and down they came. He was nicely hung, no porn star, but more than a mouthful.”

“I was so horny, not that I wanted him to cum too fast, but I really was trying to get him off. I sucked and kissed and licked his really nice cock until the pre-cum was flowing good. I just “happened” to have a condom in my scrub pants pocket. I rolled it on him, kicked my pants off, and bent over a bed that had been stored in the room. After he’d gotten going good, I turned to lay back so I could watch him fuck me. I wanted to see his face, and I knew he wanted to see my tits. He was a wild man, I can’t believe he didn’t bruise me as hard as he was going.  He didn’t last all that long, he was in me less than ten minutes for sure, but it was quite the sweaty quickie.”

“So he didn’t bother to get you off?”

“He didn’t but I did. I used my hand on my clit. He came when he felt me clench as I had a hard orgasm. But for me, it wasn’t as much about cumming as about doing it. Fucking someone I work with. Showing Clayton I would do it. No, really I was showing myself I could do it.”

DeeDee said quietly, “Yea, been there, done that. Hot sex at the hospital is like nothing else.”

Both Stephanie and Ruthie’s heads snapped over.

DeeDee smiled, “That’s another story… and an old one. Remember, I’m an RN, and I’ll just say that I’ve had a fair amount of sex at hospitals. But, let Stephanie finish.”

Sue Ann asked Stephanie, “How was the second time?”

“About like the first. Fun, hot, but not a full experience and I have a feeling that is all he knows. I doubt I’ll do him again.” Then she corrected herself, “No, who am I kidding? Next time I’m really horny and he is available, I will do him again without a second thought.”

Even DeeDee laughed at that. Cooper was sure she totally understood.

“Well…” Sue Ann said. “if you’re up to it, I can assure you that Wyatt will not leave you hanging. He is sooo good.”

“Sounds tempting.” Stephanie looked to her husband, “Do you want to see me have sex again?”

“Go for it,” he said with enthusiasm.

Ruthie, who’d been quiet for quite a long time asked, “So Wyatt, would you like to have sex with Stephanie, right here, right now, while we all watch?”

Cooper now saw the endgame of the women’s plan. Sue Ann must have orchestrated this whole thing. That was what this night was about. It was about Sue Ann wanting to provide her boyfriend with a controlled environment in which to have sex with another woman in front of her and her friends. This was her way of bringing Wyatt into the fold… The Circle. And for that matter to fully bring Stephanie and Clayton in as well. And what was Ruthie's role in this? She certainly was a key facilitator.

The same thing must have also dawned on Clayton as well. He looked around and then right at Sue Ann with a questioning look.

She smiled broadly and nodded.

It took several seconds, but finally, Wyatt said, “What man could say no to an offer like that?”

Sue Ann gleefully clapped “Oh boy, I’ve never gotten to see Wyatt work on anyone else.”

To move to this new phase, it took a little rearranging of the people in the tub. By now, it was dusk and while not yet dark, the lights above the hot tub had come on. Sue Ann took Stephanie’s hand, “now sit up here,” she said indicating the side of the far corner of the tub. “I’ll make sure you don’t fall.”

Sue Ann physically spread the taller woman’s legs as wide as they would go. It was a blatantly sexual act in itself. Stephanie was surprisingly limber. Cooper noticed that Stephanie had kept herself shaved smooth as the day Bonnie had done it for her. Ruthie also moved to sit on one side of her workmate taking her hand, while Sue Ann held on to the other. All pretense that this was not planned seemed to fall away.

Wyatt moved into position on the seat between her spread legs, but he did not move to put his erection into her, rather he went to work orally pleasuring the very open labial lips. Cooper thought that was a good sign that he was first interested in pleasing his partner. It seemed likely that he was the kind of man who would fit in with their group. The effect of his work shown on Stephanie’s face almost instantly. It was good that Sue Ann and Ruthie were helping her stay balanced because after a few minutes, her hips began to rock and she surely would have fallen without the support.

Her big breasts, and they were indeed big, swayed as her hips moved. Bonnie had told him that she was likely a 36 DD.  Though their natural mass pulled them down some, her breasts were still full and round.  The pink centers with their little tips stood upward and proud.  Stephanie mostly looked at her husband across the tub as she worked to achieve orgasm; but several times she made eye contact with both Ruthie and Sue Ann, giving them knowing smiles.

Stephanie’s vocalizations soon indicated her orgasm was on its way. Cooper glanced over to Clayton, his eyes were fixed on his wife.

“OH GOD YES!” came Stephanie’s exclamation as she came. As she did so, Sue Ann put an arm around her to keep her from falling.

It took several minutes for Stephanie to work all the way through her orgasm and settle down enough for Ruthie and Sue Ann to let go of her.

Wyatt stood up. Of course, he had a full erection, and then Ruthie was there with a condom in her hand, already out of the package. Sue Ann took the ring of latex and said, “Hold still so I can put this on you.”

Once it was on, she gave him a deep and prolonged kiss, before stepping back and motioning it was time for him to act. Because of the seats, he had to put one knee on the bench while the other stayed on the floor of the tub. Stephanie gripped his shoulder with one hand and with the other guided his erection into her. When it hit home she let out an audible moan.

Just when Cooper was almost completely sure that this had been the plan from the very beginning, Sue Ann looked over to Clayton and said, “Hold on, you and I will be next. Your wife assures me that you are a great fuck, so I’m really looking forward to my turn.”

At her words, her boyfriend turned his head to look at Sue Ann with an incredulous face even as he worked at thrusting his erection into Stephanie. She just moved up behind him and pressed her big breasts onto his back and kissed his neck.

Rapidly though, it appeared to Cooper that Wyatt was having difficulty making the position work: the height was wrong and the bench was in the way. Had they asked him, he would have told them that their arrangement would not work the way they’d planned. Cooper was considering whether to just suggest they all go into his bedroom when from behind, a noise distracted him. He heard the door open to the house. He looked back over his shoulder. It was Misty. She crossed the ground quickly. When Stephanie saw her, she reacted by lunging for cover, which of course meant she fell right on top of Wyatt, pushing Sue Ann down with him. The water cascaded over the side of the tub as everyone scrambled to get upright.

Ruthie and Clayton laughed hysterically, but Cooper knew something was wrong.

“Dad!” Misty said, clearly frightened, “It’s Sonny Boyd. He’s banging on the front door and he’s real mad.”

Just then from the far side of the house, they heard the unmistakable sound of someone trying to kick in the gate to their fence.

“Go in the house! I’ll take care of this” Cooper told his daughter as a second crash was heard.

But before he could begin to get out of the tub, Wyatt, with speed and agility that belied his bulk had sprung over the side of the tub and was racing to his folded clothes. A third crash and the sound of splintering wood was the warning that an enraged Sonny was on his way.

Wyatt was quicker than Sonny. From inside the folded clothes, he drew a belt and a holstered automatic pistol. The leather holster fell to the ground and the weapon was up in firing position just as Sonny raced around the corner of the house.

Now Sonny might have been expecting to see a lot of things when he sped to the sounds of people laughing and splashing in the hot tub; but surely one of them was not to be looking down the business end of a .45 auto.

Like so many people in the church, Cooper had known Sonny since he was a small boy. And although he would never tell Ruthie so, he had always thought Sonny was a redneck punk. Now his face bright red with anger and alcohol, he looked even more the part.

Were it not for the look of sheer terror on Ruthie’s face, the scene would have been comic; an athletically built naked man, wearing only a green condom on his full erection, with a pistol drawn on a drunk redneck. The redneck, being drunk, took a little too long to comprehend the situation and came to a stop not a foot from the barrel of Wyatt’s Heckler & Koch.

Then everything stopped.

Like someone had hit the pause button. It seemed to Cooper that an inordinate amount of time passed with everyone frozen, but of course, that was only the way it appeared to someone who had never in his life seen a gun drawn in anger. Then the world resumed.  A calm bass voice with a stronger southern drawl than Cooper had heard Wyatt use before filled the space. “Now, would you like to tell me why you have broken into this man’s home?”

Sonny just stood blinking, confused.

In a louder voice he said, “Son, I’m talking to you! And you’ve pissed me off so you’d better talk and talk quick.”

The jovial guy who had been relaxing in the hot tub for the last hour had disappeared. Cooper thought there was a chance that Wyatt might just be putting on to frighten Sonny, but he was sure this was this ex-marine’s war face. He had mentioned the tattoo was from his unit in Iraq.

Sonny’s words burst out, like he was trying to fight back. “I want her! I want my wife!”

Ruthie was cowering down inside of the tub. Cooper could see that she was literally shaking with fear. So much for their facade of a successful marriage.  A whole book was written in her body language at that moment.

Ruthie’s response wasn’t lost on Stephanie either. Before Cooper could decide what to do, she stood up on the bench seat to use her big body to shield Ruthie from the enraged man’s view. Cooper had been impressed with Stephanie as a strong independent woman before, but now, she truly was a modern Boudicca, the Celtic warrior queen.

Sonny’s eyes betrayed his confusion.

With slow fluid precision, the gun lowered, slightly, and Wyatt said, “She is enjoying herself without you. I think it’s time for you to leave.”

Sonny looked at the gun, at Wyatt, and beyond him to where Ruthie hid behind Stephanie. Quickly realizing he was not going to be able to use force to get what he wanted, he began to yell “You sick perverts! What have you done to my wife?” then looking beyond Wyatt he yelled, “Bitch! I want you to come here now!”

Stephanie spoke up, strong and clear. “Can't you get it, you stupid shit. She is not going with you. So get your worthless ass out of here before this marine decides you’re a threat and hurts you. And if he doesn’t break you in two, I damn well will!”

Sonny was about to start yelling again when Wyatt took a menacing step toward him. Sonny backed up one step. Wyatt drew back his gun hand and moved nearly on top of the smaller man, as if to pistol whip him. This time Sonny turned and fled, yelling threats as he went.

That was the end of the sex play, but not the end of the evening.

Soon dressed, they were all in the family room.

Wyatt leaned forward in the easy chair toward Ruthie. “You know you can’t go home tonight. You and the kids will be in danger.”

Her eyes were puffy from the tears. The fear had given way to sobs. She nodded.

Wyatt then continued his instructions. “I don’t mean to complicate things,” Wyatt said, “But I was not here tonight. You guys do understand why?”

Cooper knew exactly what the deputy was saying. In rural Georgia, just being in a hot tub like that could end his career.

“The story has to be that Sue Ann came with just her kids. In his state, the only thing that drunk will remember is the front of my pistol. That he will remember.”

Trying to lighten things up, Cooper added, “Oh, I’m sure he will remember a naked Celtic war goddess protecting his wife and threatening to harm him if he didn’t leave.”

As Cooper had hoped, that got a round of agreements and laughs.

Stephanie got a sheepish look, but everyone knew what Cooper said was right on the money. Sonny would remember her… her and the gun.

Wyatt continued “Cooper, I’ll leave you my baby Glock for now, it’s my backup weapon. If he is fool enough to bring this incident back up, remember it was you who chased him off.” Then he glanced over at Stephanie, “Well, you and the Celtic war goddess.”

This time when everyone laughed, Stephanie took a threatening pose which got more laughs.

Cooper then told Wyatt, “I have my grandfather's Colt 1911 from WW2 in my closet. Just last year I taught Lamar how to shoot it. If I get asked, saying I pulled out that pistol would make the story believable.”

To Ruthie, Cooper said, “Why don’t you and the kids stay here tonight?  You guys take my room and I will go upstairs to the guest room. Misty can take your kids to school in the morning.”

She only gave a mild protest before agreeing.

Cooper added, “I’ll call Mike tonight and ask him about getting an order of protection for you and the kids. He is good friends with several of the local judges.”

Wyatt agreed, “That will give you safety, and even more importantly, it will prevent him from going to the school and demanding they send the kids with him. I’ve seen in too many of these cases the abusive man using their kids as hostages. Sadly it is legal to do that, but a protective order for you and the kids would cut off that route of attack.”

DeeDee said, “If you would rather, I can stay here with you. Perhaps we can talk a while, just the two of us.” Turning to Cooper, she said “When you call Mike, why don’t you ask him if Lamar can stay there and spend the night with Sarah? That way, Ruthie’s boys can have his room.”

Cooper replied, “I’m pretty sure it was the plan for him to spend the night, but I’ll make sure.”

Sue Ann said she would come back in the morning with her own car. “We can make a plan of what to do next then. Ruthie, at my place it’s just me and my dogs in my three-bedroom double-wide. So, you and the boys can stay with me as long as you need.”

Ruthie thanked her friend as Sue Ann and Wyatt headed out. Once Stephanie, Clayton, and their kids were gone, Cooper called Mike. When he’d finished that conversation, he went to the game room where Misty was still watching Ruthie’s two boys. He’d not realized she had witnessed the confrontation between Sonny and Wyatt before she’d gone inside. Misty however did not seem rattled. When he briefed her on the public story they were going to promote if asked, Misty laughed.

“Dad, do you really think anyone who knows you would believe you would pull a gun on Sonny like that? I’m not dissing you, but that is not you and anyone who knows you will question the whole thing.”

Cooper couldn’t help but laugh. She was right. Even had his father's Colt been within reach, the idea of doing what Wyatt did never would have occurred to him. “You are right of course. But I doubt we will ever have to say I pulled the gun on Sonny. Since Sonny has never met Wyatt, he will have no idea who had that gun. That will make him look confused and will just undermine his credibility. As you said, it is highly unlikely that anyone will believe Sonny’s crazy story that someone at our house pulled a gun on him. The tale it was me with the gun is just a backup plan.”

Misty thought for a moment, “How about tomorrow when you get home, we go in the backyard and do some target practice. It’s been a long time since I’ve shot that thing anyway. But importantly, if someone does investigate, having the neighbors hear us shooting will give credence to the story you stopped Sonny… at least to people who don’t know you.”

Cooper was impressed with his daughter's quick thinking on this. He thanked her for her help and said they would do just what she suggested. He then asked if she could stay with Ruthie’s boys for a while longer.  She said she’d do whatever would help Ruthie out.

In the living room, Cooper found DeeDee on the sofa with her arm around Ruthie, who was crying again. He went to go get the food and drinks from outside. When he returned, they were talking quietly.

“Do you want me to go upstairs or stay here?” Cooper asked.

Ruthie turned her bloodshot eyes to him, “Oh, please stay. And thank you so much for opening your home to me and my boys. It will give me the night to think before I have to make some hard decisions.”

Just like Cooper had seen Wyatt’s war face by the hot tub, for the first time ever, Cooper saw DeeDee’s professional face. He had no idea how much training and experience she had in these kinds of things, but she certainly looked like a pro as she worked with the difficult situation. Ruthie spilled out a tale of abuse spanning back to before their boys had been born. It seems that Sonny had been very good at hiding two DUI convictions from the church family. Cooper knew that if Pastor McBride had known, he would have pressed Sonny to get help. Even more concerning was when Ruthie said that twice in the past four years she’d called the Sparta police out of fear for her and the kid's safety. She said she regretted not pressing assault charges before.

All of it was just so far from Cooper’s world. It was difficult for him to process that such things went on so close to him. How had he missed this with a couple who were in his Sunday School class week after week for years? While he knew intellectually that spousal abuse was rampant in rural Georgia, until hearing it from Ruthie, it had always been an abstract. However, watching and hearing DeeDee, he was so very glad she’d come tonight.