Give & Take Among Friends

Give & Take Among Friends Ch 5 Fighting through the shrubbery

I slept restlessly, tossing and turning, thinking about the events of the previous evening.

Toward morning I fell into a deeper sleep, and had a weird dream with erotic imagery: I was on a medieval estate, and encountered a maiden whose facial features were unclear, but I felt great passion for her. We went into some bushes bordering the manor house and I began fucking her standing up against the wall, a few feet below a balcony overhead. Then a princess wearing a crown and long gown come out on the balcony looking intently toward the distant horizon. I saw to my discomfort the princess was Lila, and fearing she would look down and see me fucking the maiden, I put my hands on the girl’s shoulders and pushed her down, trying to lower us further into the bushes out of sight, even as I continued fucking her. She yelled “Hypocrite. Coward.” I looked down to shush her, and her features wee now discernible. She had morphed into Rachel.

That woke me up. The light of mid-morning was flowing through the windows, brightening the room. Birds chirped outside the open window. I looked to my left and found I was alone in bed. The aroma of brewed coffee wafted upstairs from the kitchen. Groggily, I washed the sleep from my eyes, threw on shorts, followed the coffee scent to the source, poured a cup and proceeded to the sun room.

Lila was seated on the small settee. She was still in her robe, knees drawn up, bare feet resting on the cushions. A half-empty coffee cup was in hand, as she looked out the windows. I dropped down beside her. She did not look at me.

“Overslept,” I said, needlessly. She nodded. We sat there without speaking for the eternity of 20 seconds or so, a palpable tension clouding what would otherwise have been a beautiful late-August morning.

“I don’t know how to say this,” she uttered in a heavy voice, indicating she had not slept all that well either.

I felt a tension growing in my chest.

“After you and Rachel went away last night, I had sex with Eli.” She continued gazing out the window, seeming to hold her breath, as if fearing my reaction.

“I know,” I said. I also found it a little difficult to breathe.

“You know?” Pause. “He told you?”

I thought a moment, and decided I did not want to make a voyeur’s full confession just yet. I wanted to hear more first.

“He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. The fact that he was there all alone when Rachel and I got back, silent and serious, spoke for him. And you seemed in another world when I came upstairs. It was evident something significant happened.”

She was quiet for a moment. She looked down at the floor.

“Do you hate me?” she asked, her sad voice almost choking.

I put my arm around her shoulders. “No. The grass was strong, the atmosphere charged. We’re only human. If anything, I blame myself. If I had stayed in the room, it probably wouldn’t have happened. I didn’t stay because I felt it better to butt out and let you navigate according to your own instincts.” There was another pause. I asked her, “Do you want to tell me about it.” Pause. “And about how you feel now?”

After a moment, she answered, “It’s so hazy, almost like I dreamed it. Like one of those very realistic dreams, where you’re not sure whether it’s fantasy or reality.”

I could relate to that, but had to ask. “Well, let’s say it was a dream. Was it a good dream? How would you rate it on a scale of one to ten?”

She looked at me curiously. “The dream?”

“No, the… Oh hell, for starters, was it better sex than you get from me?”

She looked at me. Her expression was still serious, but her lips quivered slightly. Was she trying to suppress a smile?

“It could never be that good — either in a dream or the real world.”

“Truly?” I asked, that heavy feeling in my chest easing some.

“Oh, yes,” she said, tentatively touching my cheek with her fingers, her lips almost forming a smile. “You’re my love,” she said. Her eyes grew moist, as she quoted a lyric from one of her favorite songs, but not Solomon’s this time: “Nobody does it better.”

I put my other arm around her too, pulling her close. We kissed, tenderly. She threw her arms around my back and pressed her cheek next to mine.

“I was so afraid you’d hate me,” she said, breaking into tears. I stroked her hair.

“I could never hate you, darling Lila. I love you.” There were tears in my eyes too. After a pause, I added, “Anger doesn’t enter into my feelings at all. My biggest emotion is fear. I’m afraid of losing you, that you’ll realize there are other guys out there who you can feel strongly about, and maybe some of them are better than me.”

Now she was crying and laughing at the same time. She broke our embrace and looked at me.

“I never realized you were so insecure. You always seem so sure of things.”

“Well, that’s an illusion,” I said. “At least it is this time.” We hugged again.

“Rachel told me once,” she began, “guys always put their prowess as lovers near the top of their ego list, and are always insecure about it, thinking that the girls they take up with measure them that way too. Rachel said that’s why guys put such an emphasis on size — they’re afraid they don’t measure up to a woman’s expectations, and we’ll leave for the king size. If it makes you feel any better, I think you measure up fine.”

I was glad to measure up, but did not need a Rachel channels Freud through Lila scenario.

“Thanks, but my status as Head Stud is only part of the equation. Another insecurity is that you’ll enjoy other guys more than me emotionally and intellectually, as well as physically. Eli evidently wasn’t a disappointment to you, and so, that may open the door to further exploration and evaluation.”

She lowered her eyes. “I still feel too guilty to think much about this,” she said. “I’ve liked Eli for a long time. You already knew that I had some small fantasies about doing with him what just actually happened. But a fantasy come true doesn’t change the way I feel about you. If you weren’t so big in my life, who knows how my feelings about Eli or other men might grow to fill the void. But you are in my life, thank God, and I’m so happy that you seem so… understanding… and forgiving.”

We kissed again. On this high note, I thought it time to notch things up, rise from the mental bushes of my recent dream.

“I have a confession too,” I told her. “You were concerned about my reaction to you and Eli. Now it’s time for you to decide if you’re going to be upset with me.” She looked at me curiously.

“While you and Eli were having your tête-à-tête, Rachel and I were not innocently taking a stroll the entire time.” I paused a moment. “We got involved too.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re telling me you and Rachel… had sex too?”

I nodded.

“All the way?” she asked.

I nodded. “When she came out here to the sun room last night, I confessed to being anxious about you and Eli, and she tried to comfort me. We kissed, got turned on, and went up to the bedroom.”

“Our bedroom?” she asked.

I nodded. She did not say anything for a few seconds, seeming lost in thought.

“You know, I’m not surprised that you did it with Rachel. I would have to be blind to miss the way you look at her sometimes. And I’m sure in no position to… judge, or be mad. But I am a little surprised that…,” her voice hardened, “that you did it with her in our bed.”

I sort of renewed my acquaintance with psychological dream shrubbery. “When the hormones kicked in, I didn’t think of protocol. After all, you were doing it with Eli on our couch, where we’ve cuddled and made love ourselves,” I added defensively

She did not say anything, seeming lost in thought, but her eyes suddenly widened even more.

“Oh, my god, the vent! You could see us while you were in the bedroom.”

I conceded. “It was impossible to miss. We weren’t exactly doing the voyeur thing,” I lied, “but it was evident what was going on.” Another pause, as I thought fast and managed to put both feet in my mouth. “That actually helped push Rachel and I over the edge. You guys were really going at it and that served as an aphrodisiac.”

She looked away, eyes open, mouth agape. Then she began laughing. I did not know if this was good or bad. I soon found out. She turned toward me, eyes flashing and said loudly,

“Here I was turning it over and over in my mind, feeling like such a slut, wondering how I was going to tell you. And you knew it all along. Hell, you had a ringside seat to enjoy it. No wonder you seemed to already know it when I confessed. Eli’s body language tipped you off, you said. Bullshit!”

I looked down. “Okay. But… ”

“And you were so concerned that Eli was a better lover. I bet you and Rachel were analyzing us. Were you amused at my clumsiness and how awkward I was — at my Innocence Lost! Maybe you two were rating me on a scale of one to ten. Tell me, is there hope I may become good enough for the big time?”

“Honey, don’t think…”

“And talking about innocence: Poor you! Lecherous Rachel takes advantage of you — “comforting” and seducing you in our bedroom. And I’m to blame for that too. I compounded the crime by having sex virtually in front of you with your best friend — your slut girlfriend betraying you in front of your eyes pushes you into the arms of another slut who consoles and corrupts you.”

Wow, I always knew she was perceptive, but was surprised at how she so readily found the holes in my story, and never knew her to use such biting sarcasm. I put up a hand like a cop would to stop traffic.

“Where do I begin?” I began. “In the first place, we weren’t clinically evaluating or judging you. We were… concerned. I was very concerned. Hell, you are my girl! And when it became evident that you were not being badgered into sex with Eli, that you wanted it and were actually enjoying it, that’s when a flood of emotions kicked in. And I certainly wasn’t enjoying the show. I had such a knot in my gut that I thought I might throw up.”

“So now you were sickened? You said just a moment ago you were turned on, that Eli and I were an aphrodisiac, a private, live sex show for you and Rachel. Like it’s my fault that you fucked her. I got you excited. You didn’t really want to do it.”

My darling girl was always quick thinking — much faster than me.

“Look, you are the most valuable, exciting, erotic thing in my world. What was turning you on, even fucking another guy, couldn’t help but get me excited too. And of course, Rachel loves sexpot shit, and her excitement just added to it. At the same time, because you are my girl and were fucking my friend, my gut was worked up.” I ran out of words, and waved my hand impotently.

Lila did not say anything for a moment, then asked with a little pout, “So, did you like fucking her? Does she do it better than me? Probably. She’s had a lot more experience. Are you going to fuck her again, maybe move her into our house?”

At this I could not help but smile. “You know, you suddenly sound as insecure as me. You just went from the Queen of Hearts making harsh judgments to the little girl who fell down the rabbit hole.”

She thought, then smiled too for a brief moment, helping chase away the storm clouds. Anger melted into a sad pout.

“I do so love you,” I told her. “Rachel is good looking, funny, exciting, but alongside you she’s irrelevant. Just say the word and I’ll call her up right here in front of you and tell her thanks but no thanks, that there won’t be any repeat performances.”

She looked interested at that. She did not say anything right away, but the pout changed to a thoughtful, almost wistful expression.

“Do you really think you could be satisfied with just me for the rest of your life?” she asked. She shook her head, smiling sadly as she answered her own question. “I used to hope so, but lately I doubt it. You said yourself… and Eli has said pretty much the same thing… that people are multidimensional. We have several needs and tastes, and need different people to address them. No one individual can satisfy all our needs and cravings, and it doesn’t have to be all or nothing with any one person.”

Then she surprised me with a further transformation.

“I wonder if… oh, shit, I’m tired of wondering. I’m a slut and Rachel’s a slut and you and Eli are the male versions of sluts. We’re all silly fuckers. Maybe it’s time to find out whether we’re still good fuckers.” She looked at me with an unmistakable hunger.

She still wants me., I thought excitedly. She wants makeup sex — the best kind. My pecker was already firming. “Let’s find out,” I said.

We broke into as passionate and entangled a kiss as our tongues had ever engaged in, then went quickly to the bedroom. Lila paused a moment by the vent, even dropping to the floor to look through it. “Well, I guess you did have a good view,” she said. But instead of dwelling on that, she stood and undid her robe, letting it fall from her beautiful body. She lay down on the bed.

In a clumsy moment I was out of the clothes I had put on just a short while before, my penis erect. A plan of attack formed. I was not only out of the bushes, but climbing the balcony. I knelt at her feet on the bed and kissed her beautiful toes, one after another, then sucked on a couple of them, looking to see the reaction. It was surprise — I had never done shrimping — but she smiled at the new sensation. Slowly, I worked my way up her long, shapely legs, kissing and licking, to her inner thighs. She spread her legs wider as my head moved up to her fur pie and my tongue played with her clit. A soft sigh escaped her. I licked her labia and clit until she was squirming and moaning, then dived her muff, my tongue probing her love box as my fingers continued massaging her clit other parts. She began gyrating her hips.

I thought I detected a subtle difference to the taste of her love juices, and wondered if it was a trace of the fluids Eli had injected into her about 12 hours ago. Surprisingly, the thought did not turn me off, but actually had the opposite effect. It was my mission to erase all traces of his substance, replacing it with my own, and my tongue lapped away even more feverishly. Eventually I surfaced from her vagina and continued licking up her belly with detours to her beautifully-shaped breasts, where I suckled and nibbled at her erect nipples. She continued to make soft noises interspersed with heavy breathing. I reached her lips and our tongues found one another in a long kiss. At the same time, I inserted my hard dick into her — it slipped in very easily, the moving parts well-lubricated between her juices, whatever was left of Eli’s and my own pre-cum.

Remembering Eli’s technique that had seemed to pleasure her so, observed through the “secret viewing portal,” I glided slowly in and out, gradually and steadily deeper with each thrust. I was happy to see her eyes were closed, a look of happy pleasure on her beautiful face, just as when he fucked her. Her hips and pelvis got into the rhythm, her body rising to meet my down thrusts. We kept that rhythm for a long time. I wondered if I should turn her over and finish her doggie style, as Eli had, but decided to stick with what I was doing — my own art form.

Lila gradually lessened her own motions and with a little exclamation wrapped those long legs around me in a tight hug while I proceeded to direct the pelvic movement. She massaged her clit as I gradually picked up the pace, her breath coming faster along with little sounds. I felt really happy when she started making small exhortations to continue because it felt so good, as she had with Eli. She drummed her feet on my butt, and not just the heels; because of her long legs she was able to slap my butt with the soles of her bare feet, as she did when she got really aroused. We soon built to the climax, and came together with mutual cries of success.

I stayed inside her a long while. The first words from her mouth as we started descending from the Elysian Fields were, “And you were afraid you’re not a good fucker. That was wonderful. Thank you so much, my love.”

“You were tops,” I said. “‘Nobody does it better,’ to quote someone very special in my life.”

“Something else too,” she said, “You do not have to make that phone call to Rachel. There are no limiting conditions attached to this relationship. I love you and can’t imagine life without you. As for the rest of the world and all the temptations and side distractions and insecurity and guilt feelings, we’ll just have to see how it goes. If Pandora’s Box has been irrevocably opened, we’ll deal with it.”

“May the contents be of value, and not a curse,” I said.

“One thing for sure,” she added. “I’m going to have to change these sheets. They’ve had a lot of use lately.”

 

* * *

 

As the week went on there were the usual diversions required for making a living. But when Lila and I managed to spend time together I found myself with a partially or fully aroused pecker much of the time. As Eli and Rachel had predicted, recent sexual events had an aphrodisiac effect on both of us, leading to more sex, not only the number of acts but methods of execution.

Mid-week, while we were preparing for bed, she asked what position I had used with Rachel. Her interest was analytical now, not marked by anger or insecurity. I told her I had just lied on my back while Rachel did most of the work.

“Was she facing you or looking away?”

“Facing me,” I replied.

Lila pushed me flat, saying she wanted to emulate it, and for me to critique her. Well, that seemed a little weird, but wow, sure, happy to oblige.

She started kissing and licking my prick, quickly bringing me to arousal, and after a suitable period of foreplay positioned herself above my erect member and lowered herself around it. We fell into the rhythm we often used when doing it that way.

“Is the tempo the same as Rachel’s?” she asked.

“She was actually very turned on, and went fast,” I said.

“Like this?” Lila asked, speeding up her movements, exceeding Rachel’s pace if anything, because the bed was creaking in time, which it had not on that weekend night. But it felt good.

“Yeah, pretty close,” I said.

“What else did she do?”

“Squeezed her pussy muscles around it while she was going up and down,” I replied.

“Like so?” Lila asked, as she tightened her grip around my dick.

“Not a full meat grinder,” I told her, and she eased.

“How is that?”

“A very pleasant sensation,” I replied, feeling myself starting to build to the inevitable explosion. “But you better slow down a little if this is to go on much longer.”

I was enjoying this, but a little unnerved at the same time. I needed a Lila, not two Rachels, or Lila channeling Rachel.

She slowed, gyrating sensuously while I massaged her clit. Bending forward, she kissed me, breathing heavily, “Did she do this?”

“No, in fact, it didn’t last all that long. While she was riding me, I think she had a view of you and Eli through the grate. That got her so turned on that she picked up the pace again, squeezed her vag-muscles and I came pretty quickly.”

“Did she come?” Lila asked, also speeding up and squeezing.

“Yes,” I replied, breathlessly, feeling myself build to climax again. “Damn, it’s going to happen,” I warned her.

She writhed, shut her eyes and gave a short exclamation as I groaned and pumped my load into her. I wondered if she had faked her orgasm in trying to replicate Rachel’s performance. She usually took much longer to come. But from my point of view, it was a fine experience.

“How was it?” she asked, opening her eyes and looking earnestly at me. “Be honest. Did I do it as good as Rachel, and what should I have done better?”

If only my conversations with women went as smooth and easy as my orgasms.

“You were great,” I replied truthfully. “It was never better with Rachel, not even when we did it doggie style.”

She looked puzzled. “You two did it doggie also? I thought you just lay there while she rode you.”

“Oh, well, yes. I was…” Deep breath. “I was thinking about another time.”

Her look changed from puzzlement to astonishment. She hopped off me in a sudden motion, my still-firm dick whipping side to side.

“You fucked her other times too? You son of a… When? Where? How many times?”

Those concealing bushes below the balcony in my dream of the other night had been completely defoliated. Full confession time.

“We spent a night together while you were in California. Eli was away and… It’s kind of convoluted. Eli asked me to stop and… take care of her needs.”

“He asked you to fuck her?”

“Yeah,” I said meekly. “He had to be away for a week and was afraid she was going to hook up with someone he didn’t like. Do you remember Mike? Anyway, he asked me to… fill in, keep her satisfied until he got back.”

She was off my dick but still straddling my legs, and I could feel my warm come dripping onto them from her vagina. She was just staring, wide-eyed.

“You were away, and I was horny,” I added, in a whining tone that even I despised.

She smiled humorlessly, incredulous. She was clenching and releasing her fingers. I had a vision of her trying to scratch my eyes out, or worse, trying to pull my dick off. I moved one hand down to cover my deflating tube.

“How many other times have you ‘filled in’ for Eli? God, no wonder Rachel acts so familiar around you, brushing up against you all the time, running her hands over you, smiling and winking.”

I didn’t know Lila had noticed all that. She continued, “I thought it was just Rachel’s way. I didn’t know you two were fuck buddies. How long has this been going on?” she demanded. “How many times have you ‘filled’ her?”

“Just last Saturday and that one other time when you were away, I swear.” I raised myself to a sitting position, and put one hand in the air as if taking an oath, immediately feeling even more ridiculous. I tried to reach out and touch her, but my back started hurting because she was still straddling my legs.

“And I was so proud of myself for resisting Alfonso in California, even though he turned me on and my instincts were telling me I should expand my horizons. What a disgusting, timid little mouse I was — protecting my ‘honor’ and ‘being true’ to my ‘faithful’ love.”

She sprung from the bed and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind. I laid back, stunned, and trying to think how to recoup from this setback. The only positive aspect to it was that at least now all the facts were out, and there could be no more shocks for her.

She did not come out of the bathroom for quite a while. I thought I could hear her crying silently. Damn, this was really bad. I found my clothes, got dressed and knocked at the door, receiving no response besides a shouted command to “Go away.” I went downstairs to the dark sun room. Two beers and a lot of worried thoughts later, she appeared at the door in her robe.

“I have some questions for you,” she said in an authoritarian manner. “Number one, I want to know how badly I’ve been manipulated. Did you and Eli agree on a swinger swap, probably with Rachel’s eager cooperation?”

“No, Lila, at least it didn’t start out like that,” I said, adding, “Although, I’ve been sitting here thinking and am starting to wonder whether we’ve both been set up.”

“Explain that,” she demanded, arms crossed.

“Eli asked me to… satisfy Rachel. He said she was going to screw Mike or someone else if I didn’t. Frankly, I thought it was a weird request, but he is my good friend, and…” I paused, losing my train of thought. “Alright, I admit it, I am sexually attracted to Rachel, so with you being inaccessible and me horny as hell it wasn’t exactly a hardship request.” I waved my hand in the air. “I’m guilty of that. I went over to their house mid-week. She and I went skinny dipping in the river and wound up doing it. I stayed the night. And then we did it again last Saturday while you were fucking Eli. That’s the entire extent of my sexual relationship with her.”

“We can go into that later,” she said. “What did you mean we’re both being set up?”

“Eli started suggesting he should ‘return the favor,’ but I thought he was half-joking and didn’t think he had a chance anyway since you had always limited yourself to me, and I seemed to satisfy you. That was my second mistake. It soon became apparent he was serious, and also that you were open to expansion.” I paused. “I can’t help wondering if Eli didn’t set me up with Rachel to undermine any high ground I had for resisting his play for you.” Another pause. “Or maybe Eli and Rachel hatched this thing together to get us involved in the ‘swinger swap,’ as you put it. On the other hand, maybe I’m just being extra cynical, and it simply evolved out of a surplus of love and lust all around. I honestly don’t know.”

She was quiet for a while, seemingly lost in thought. She looked beautiful standing there in her robe, which did not hide her curves.

“Okay,” she said at last. “That’s another thing to follow up on later. Meanwhile, question number two, I want to know how many other women you’ve fucked since we’ve been together.”

“Only Kim, the one who you temporarily broke up with me over,” I replied. “It’s not that I’m oblivious to attractive women, but in the last four years I haven’t made a serious effort to score with any that crossed my radar, with the recent exception of Rachel. We almost got into it one time last year — the vibes were there — but I walked away. That’s the truth.” I patted the empty seat cushion beside me. “Please sit down.”

She continued standing a moment, then complied, without enthusiasm. I was afraid to touch her.

“That answer pretty much exhausts the major questions I had for you,” she said, looking me straight in the eye. “But if you’ve lied about that, now is the time to say so. If I find out anything later, it will mean I can no longer trust you. And if I can’t trust you, it will screw our relationship. The sex I can overlook. Deception is something else again.”

That caused a chill to run down my spine. “I swear, there is nothing else, no one else. And if I had known how this was going to go down, I would have told Eli to find another proxy to take care of his wife. I fucked up. I’m sorry.”

“Another thing,” she said, still looking intently at me. “If you ever even think about getting it on with anyone else, I want to know. I want no surprises after the fact.”

I thought briefly about mentioning Amber, the good looking 18-year-old at the dairy bar. After tennis with Eli last week, I had doffed my sweaty shirt and was bare-chested, in tight shorts, when I stopped to order a hot fudge sundae at the take-out window. She looked me over from head to foot, not hiding that she liked what she saw and would not mind seeing more. Handing me the sundae with a sexy smile, she brushed her fingers against mine and in a good movie siren imitation said, “I have to apologize. I’m out of cherries for this, but is there anything else you’d like, maybe later?” There was a little firming in my crotch, but I simply replied I’d have to think about that. Eating the sundae in the car, I noticed Amber had autographed my napkin with her name and phone number.

I decided I was in the clear, and that was not the type of transgression to warrant a confession under Lila’s new ground rules.

“Agreed,” I said. “But it goes two ways, you know. If you ever have second thoughts about going exploring with Alfonso or any of his cousins, I should be entitled to a heads up.”

She did not smile, but the intense look softened a little.

“Finally,” she said, “and this is another two-way street, if either of us starts to fall out of love, that has to be revealed to the other person right away so there are no surprises later!”

I felt both relief at her implication that we were still “in love,” and a renewed chill. “I take that as evidence our relationship may be strained but is still alive, if not in robust health. That’s the good news. But I also feel a stab in my gut because a few days ago we were saying we couldn’t imagine living without each other and now you’re raising the possibility it could end.”

I felt myself blinking hard, a tear running down my cheek anyway. What a tough guy I was — going from cavalier to wuss in a broken heart beat.

What was left of that intense look melted from her face. She brushed a lock of hair on my forehead, and leaned closer, saying, “Oh, you shit.” We kissed, long and deep. When we broke, she said, “It’s past our bedtime. Let’s lay down and cuddle ourselves to sleep. We can talk more tomorrow.”

 

* * *

 

The next two nights, there were more details to discuss, and also more positions Lila wished to emulate. Her bitterness at my errors and omissions had seemed to give way to insecurity once more. “I want our sex life to be as good as it can be,” she said. “I want you to be truthful about how I can improve in bed.”

Sixty-nining and doggie-style fucking, which had been part of my repertoire with Rachel, were nothing new for Lila and I, but I had to describe any nuances — subtle changes in positioning, different degrees of vaginal squeeze, and so on. I made the mistake of telling how Rachel cupped her hand to catch my semen dripping from her, then licking it all up. Lila looked a little grossed at that, but sure enough, she did the same, complete to opening her mouth and saying how good it tasted. But she quickly made a face, and we both laughed.

Much as I enjoyed any excuse for fucking Lila, I was again wishing she would ease up on the Rachel script. “I’ve never had any complaints about the way you do things,” I told her, as we lay side by side in bed. “You don’t have to be a carbon copy of Rachel.”

“She must be providing you something that I haven’t,” she replied. “If I was so great, then you wouldn’t have been so eager to fuck her.”

I told her that reminded me of the misgivings I had about my own sexual proficiency, seeing her enjoy Eli screwing her.

“Your sexual style is as proficient as Rachel’s,” I told her. “There may be subtle differences due to personality and taste, but they’re unimportant. You’re still my major love, as well as my favorite piece of ass. I’m attracted to Rachel largely because she’s new and different, the same way you are to Eli. It’s exciting fucking other people once in a while.” I thought a moment, then added, “Although excitement fades to insecurity and ulcers when your significant other does the same. Novelty is a rush, but has a price. Anyway, when it comes to a satisfying long-term relationship, you fulfill every dream I ever had.”

She threw her arms around me and we kissed. For a moment, I thought she was going to mount me again, and I doubted I could handle another go-around without a longer break.

Instead, her eyes fell upon the view of the parlor couch, through the vent. She traced some pattern on my chest with a forefinger and in a playful voice remarked that while she and Eli were “involved,” she thought she heard something a couple of times — muffled voices and a pounding sound. She had concluded it was outside the house in the distance, “not perverted voyeurs taking in a peep show.”

“Probably what you heard was Rachel pounding the floor. She got really turned on.”

“Or was it you pounding Rachel,” she countered, smiling.

“I didn’t really do the pounding. I was so emotionally drained by what was going on in the parlor I had little initiative. I just lay on my back and let her do the work.”

“Poor man — I am so bad — first I get him excited by making it with someone virtually in front of him, but that also gets him so sad that he can’t enjoy fucking someone else.” She laughed. Her sarcasm was not bitter this time, for which I was grateful.

“Did Rachel teach you that toe massage you did on me during our makeup sex?” she asked.

“No, that was original — a sudden inspiration. Did you like it?”

She nodded.

“You know,” I said, “this is another thing that works both ways. If I disappoint you or there’s something you’d like that I’m not doing, I want to know how I can improve. What did you like better about the way Eli did you?”

She feigned a serious, contemplative look. “Eli who?” she asked.

We both laughed and I kissed her.