Chapter 30

“K ... Ka ... Kathryn, what are you... ow!”

“First of all, dipshit, I’m not your morning hummer service. Second, even you aren’t dumb enough to think you can get away with calling a chick you just banged by another girl’s name. I was actually considering it for a moment, just to see the look on your face when you woke up, but now you can fuck right off. Third, it’s time to get up.”

“Was it really necessary to yank on my penis that hard just to wake me up?”

“Of all the things we’ve done over the last eight or so hours, which among them would you call ‘necessary?’” Silence was his only possible answer. “That’s what I thought. Now, get your hairy ass out of bed and into the shower. You smell terrible.”

A few minutes later, clearing the cobwebs under a hot spray, he spared a moment to regret how the morning had started. He’d hoped for at least one more coupling before bringing their impossible rendezvous to a close, but clearly Wendy had different ideas. A shame. On the other hand, I have no reason to complain. If this is how it ends, I’ll still treasure the memory forever.

“Do you have a toothbrush I can borrow?” he called through the partially open bathroom door. Wendy was crashing around the bedroom making what he thought was a rather terrible din for such an early hour, and he had to repeat himself several times before she heard him clearly.

“What kind of dumbass forgets to pack a toothbrush?”

“The kind of dumbass who thought he was going to be sleeping in his own apartment.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, look in the left cabinet below the sink. I don’t promise it hasn’t been used as a sex toy, though.”

“Hilarious.”

“I’m not kidding. You’d better hope it wasn’t in someone’s ass,” she cackled. He eyed it suspiciously for a moment, decided that it looked and smelled clean, that he could just pretend it had been inside a beautiful woman’s unsullied pussy, and went ahead with his ablutions. No deodorant either, but as long as there’s no more sweating I’ll be fine until I get back to the lake.

When he emerged and started fishing through his bag for a change of clothes, Wendy was nowhere to be found. He’d almost finished dressing when she reappeared, wearing the same ultra-tight shorts she’d worn the day she joined them on the boat. What looked to be the very same yellow bikini peeked out from beneath her artfully ripped shirt, and she was sporting a fashionable pair of sunglasses. A bulging backpack was slung over her shoulder. I guess she’s got a big day planned, and I’m keeping her from it. “What’s taking you so long?” she impatiently demanded.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you had somewhere to be. I’ll be out of your way in a moment.” His dismay at their lack of morning intimacy was gradually being supplanted by mild annoyance. It’s as if she can’t wait to get me out of here. I guess she’s battling regrets about last night.

“Not if you don’t dress faster, you won’t.”

“Okay, okay. Talk about wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am,” he muttered.

“Yeah, that’s me. Fist ‘em and leave ‘em. But you’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

“Huh?”

“I swear, every conversation with you is like the first day of preschool. Your brain must be made of quicksand. No thoughts will ever escape!”

“What are you talking about?”

“So you don’t recognize this outfit?”

“Of course I do.”

“ ... and?”

“You’re going to the beach?”

“Something like that. What’s more, you’re giving me a ride.”

Typical of her to tell me I’m an idiot and then ask for a favor. “Sure, I suppose, as long as it’s not too far out of my way. I really should have the car back on the early side.”

“It’s exactly zero millimeters out of your way.”

He stared at her blankly, until what should’ve been a completely obvious insight finally hit him square in the forehead. “Are you coming with me? But...” His soaring heart rate and a rush of arousal were immediately dashed by logic. No, it won’t be a repeat of last time. Bill left yesterday and he’ll be back tomorrow. That means no sex, which means this is nothing more than escapist fun.

Giving him a condescending pat on the head, she turned and headed for the door. “By the way, now I can reveal the rest of what I was told: this is the fourth thing, whatever the hell that means.” Luke dropped his shoe, a little stunned at what this implied. “But it won’t be any damned numbered thing if you don’t hurry up!”

“So tell me what’s going on. Why is your panicky lover pimping you out to me? What are all these ‘things’ she’s talking about? And why do you look like someone shot you in the dick every time I mention your One True But Already Married Love’s name?”

They hadn’t even finished exiting the parking garage when Wendy began her interrogation, but for the majority of the ride Luke did most of the talking. She interjected an occasional request for clarity, but otherwise just listened as he spooled out the events and emotions — those he could share without revealing the details of Kathryn’s trauma, that is — of the past few weeks, and especially the rising tension and conflict in the aftermath of what he’d thought was a glorious foursome.

“It sounds to me like you bit off more than you could chew.”

“But how was I to know it would dredge up her nightmares?”

“Since you can’t tell me what happened it’s hard for me to answer, though it’s not too hard to read between the lines and I’m pretty sure I’ve got the reprehensible idea. Please don’t confirm or deny, and anyway I’m not going to speculate about something I don’t know. But I don’t mean the sex. I mean the emotions. You weren’t ready, and now you’re completely off-balance.”

“I guess, but when you take it apart none of the pieces were all that unfamiliar.”

“Ah, but you didn’t take it apart. You did it all at once. When we had our threesome, the only things about it that were different for Kathryn were me and the DPs. Even then, she’d already had plenty of sex with women; I was just her first in a while. Nor was it her first threesome, though it was her first with a man involved. But then you serve up an enormous prong attached to an old lover, with all the dredged-up emotions that entails, dive right into a foursome and the kind of mind-altering DPs she really wanted, toss in a sex-crazed supermodel who sounds like she might be the one and only person on the planet who can sexually intimidate your girl, and reduce her to a pile of snot and tears with that whole big submission drama. Which is what you said led to her breakdown.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It was new for us, anyway — we’d played around with it before, but this was much more serious and intense — and it’s kinda what triggered everything that followed.”

“Luke, you’ve used an out-of-control train analogy a few times. You even used it before we had sex ... or maybe it was during, I can’t remember. The problem is that you’re on the train, which means that you can’t see the train. You think everything that happens is completely comprehensible because you’re in the middle of it, but anyone standing alongside the rails could tell you that you’re headed for a cliff. So, let’s review: she’d been with Alejandro before, but even though all my own experiences are either artificial or forearms, I can tell you that having something that big rearranging your innards is a struggle, physically and emotionally. Then you’ve got a horny supermodel who’s apparently something Kathryn’s never encountered before: a true sexual peer. Who you ask on a date, you fucking moron ... and don’t think that didn’t fire up your lover’s jealousy. I’m right, aren’t I?” He nodded guiltily. “And then there’s the crazy whips-and-chains roleplaying that got you into this mess. After which you trudge home to a situation in which she’s already under intense pressure, expecting to wake up as if nothing’s changed? Your relationship — the intensity of it, the realness of it, but also the conflict and confrontation that’s been built into it from the very beginning — took a huge, scary leap forward, and you weren’t able to handle it. Neither of you were, though I’ve no doubt this is mostly her fault.”

“How is it mostly her fault? We did everything together. I’m the one who couldn’t handle her past.”

“That part was all on you, yeah. But it’s her fault because she knows you can’t say no to her.” Luke nodded contemplatively, remembering Irina telling him essentially the same thing. “Almost no one can, of course. Look at what we did last night and notice where we’re headed right now, after all. But you really can’t. She’d already gotten everything she knew she wanted from you — which was, individually and collectively, what she’s not getting from her husband — and then you had to go and force her onto Alejandro’s elephant dick.”

“Now it sounds like you’re actually blaming me.”

“In a way. It set off a chain reaction of events and emotions neither of you were prepared for. You took the control away from her. In a vacuum, that’s a smart enough gesture and, ultimately, what she wants if she’s truly a submissive, but when you did, you also took her stability and surety away, and you didn’t have any of your own to offer. So far, everything that’s happened between the two of you so far has been her leading, enticing, or seducing while you float through your sexual nirvana like a horny goddamned mime. You gave her something unexpected ... something she didn’t plan or prepare for ... and now she realizes that she not only wants to bang the universe and everyone in it, but that there’s someone out there who’s actually willing to give it to her. Except there’s a huge roadblock. That one great big thing she doesn’t yet know. That enormous, threatening cloud of indecision looming over everything. And when it comes to that, all you have to offer her is your own anxiety and indecision.” She sighed. “If you’d attempted this little romp back in the early days of your relationship, you might’ve had enough time to get your feet back on the ground. Now? I don’t know if you do. You have to be almost done with work, right? I mean, I helped move an entire winery’s cellar from one building to another, and it didn’t take this long.”

“I need a little over a week, but that’s only because I’ve been stretching it out and ... well, y’know, otherwise occupied. Mostly the latter, of course, and don’t tell me you’d make a different choice in my shoes. For better or worse I’m being given that week right now, but since it’s going to be followed by two weeks where it’s just us, I’m not going to try very hard to finish.”

“How ethical of you.”

“I’ve already heard this criticism.”

“I know, and you didn’t listen any better then than you are now.”

“Actually, you’re completely wrong about that. I hear you just fine, and what’s more I agree with everything you said then and everything you’re saying now. I just...”

“You just can’t let her go without a few thousand more shags.”

“I’m not even going to pretend to lie. You’ve been with her. Would you? Yes, the sex is extraordinary beyond anything I’ve ever imagined — I mean it; I’ve never even conceived that it could be like it is with her — and I don’t want to give that up until I absolutely have to. But what I meant was: not without some sort of fight for our future, or at least for closure. That conversation that keeps getting put off, but one way or another we’re going to have it. Otherwise, I’ll waste away in madness and regret, never knowing if there was a chance that we failed to take when we could, or if we were doomed from the start, or if there’s something that one or both of us could say or do that would make the choice clearer. Please tell me you at least understand why I have to do that.”

Putting her hand on his thigh, she squeezed reassuringly. “I understand perfectly well. And you’re right, you can’t go on without having that conversation. You know how I know you’re right?”

“Because you told me the same thing ages ago.”

“Exactly. Even before you were actually together, I warned you. And, unfortunately, I’m going to repeat something I said a few minutes ago: if you’d started having that conversation then, you might have some answers by now. As it is, you’re on a tight deadline and all it’s really going to do is fuck up the last few weeks of your otherwise endless fornication.”

“You really think it’s going to be that bad?”

“I’m sorry, Luke. I meant it when I said I love you, and that means I don’t want to hurt you or see you get hurt, but I think it’s going to be even worse than you imagine.”

“It sounds to me like you don’t think there’s any hope.”

She removed her hand. “To be honest, I’m less certain of that answer. She loves you, and I mean she really loves you. Only someone who loves you a great deal would’ve done what she did for you yesterday. She can probably see a future with you, and I’m sure parts of it look pretty appealing. But she’s seeing an idealized version of you based on a small fraction of an actual life, and when it comes time to decide, she’s going to realize that. Your biggest mistake, Luke, is that you’ve never tried to make it real.”

“I wish you’d said this to me before,” he offered through a pained half-smirk, half-grimace.

“You... insufferable...” she sputtered before he raised his hand.

“I know. I remember that you tried to tell me this as well, and I wouldn’t listen. Actually, it’s more like I couldn’t wrap my head around it. To me, it was no less real than any other relationship. It was only later, when it was clear even to me that it was spiraling out of control, that I finally understood what you meant. If this all goes to hell, you’re never going to let me live this down, are you?”

“On the contrary, I’ll never mention it again. I’m afraid this is a wound that’s never going to heal.”

“Sadly, I finally believe you. Any advice?”

“Next time a sage lebso pal is trying to tell you something important, listen to her.”

“It’s a deal. Anything a little more specific?”

“Not really. Not only don’t I have any particularly good advice to give, I’m not sure I want to give you any on this subject. I honestly don’t know which outcome I think would be better. It might seem obvious to you, but I feel very differently, and have from the beginning. I’ll just say this: do you remember last night ... this morning, whatever ... when I explained how I can get off magnificently while having sex with you, but be unmoved or even repelled by all the other things that should be part a physical or romantic relationship?”

“Sure.”

“What I was really talking about were thresholds. There’s a point beyond which I’m not sufficiently attracted to you — several points, actually — to want to keep fucking you. If those didn’t exist, I wouldn’t be a dyed-in-the-labia lesbian, I’d be bisexual, or have you as my one-dick-exception, or whatever. But they do. Even though you’re my best friend, even though there are innumerable reasons we should be a couple, even though we have shockingly good sex, I know I’ll never get past them. Are you with me so far?”

“Unfortunately, but this is all stuff you’ve said before.”

“Right. But what I’m telling you is that Kathryn has thresholds too. You might not see them because she’s apparently up for anything in the sexual galaxy, but they’re there. And the big one — the one that your entire future depends upon — is just how much external and internal pressure it would take to end her marriage. I’m sure you’re already a much more interesting sex partner, so it’s not about that. It’s not a simple matter of love, either. She might in fact love you more, yet still be unwilling to leave him. So far, the only thing you’ve asked her to do is transgress. If you’re really serious about a future with her, you’re going to be asking her to do something much worse: reject and destroy someone else’s love, right alongside some of her own. I think she’s capable of it, but I don’t know if you’re capable of convincing her that you’re worth it.”

He thought about this for a few minutes before responding. “That’s a lot to take in. But I’m also discovering something that I’ve never noticed before: you don’t like Kathryn very much, do you?”

“Actually, I adore Kathryn, though I’m a little wary of someone that attractive who wields that much sexual power. It’s the two of you together that I’m not sure I like.”

“So why are you in this car right now?”

“Because yesterday, before we went to my bar and long before the sex — when I was at lunch watching the procession of tearjerkers and romcoms and horror films screening behind your haunted eyes — I wanted to see what was happening for myself. I didn’t realize that I’d get an opportunity so soon, but I would’ve manufactured one. Because now that I’ve told you off as much as I’m going to, I think it’s going to be a fun day. And because I’m kinda hoping I’ll get laid.”

“I wouldn’t count on that. Kathryn has a rule about sex too close to Bill’s arrival or departure.”

“Which she’s never broken?”

He reddened a bit. “Uh, maybe once, or...”

“Uh-huh. I’ll bet you a very expensive dinner at a restaurant of my choosing that she’s going to break it again today.”

“You really think so?”

“Well, either way I came prepared.” At his puzzled sideways glance she added, “You’re not the only Luke in the car at the moment. Anyway, if the two of us in bed was the ‘third thing’ to make up for your big fight, why would a ‘fourth thing’ that involves me dragging my fabulous ass all the way out here not involve sex?”

“You make a reasonable case. I hope you’re right.”

“I’m sure you do. Which brings me to the final reason I’m in this car, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Kathryn.”

“Which is?”

“We’ve put our clothes on, but we haven’t walked away. That was the signal that we were done, and it hasn’t arrived yet. Even if I’m wrong about your lover, I’m not quite finished with you.”

Luke ran upstairs to apply deodorant and change while the women got noisily reacquainted in the driveway, a greeting that included a truly promising amount of kissing. Kathryn had already stocked the boat with food and beverage, so there was nothing else for them to do. While Wendy took the opportunity for a quick bathroom break, Kathryn pulled him into a tight, almost desperate embrace.

“Just so you know,” she whispered, “I’m suspending the normal rules.”

“I’m sorry if I’m supposed to act surprised, but Wendy already assured me you would. And Kathryn?”

“Yes ... Luke?” She didn’t say what she wanted to say. That’s a problem we have to start fixing right now.

“I love you.”

“Oh god,” she said, holding him even tighter. “I love you too. I’m so sorry.”

“Me too. But if you’re suspending the rules, I think there are better ways to apologize.”

Though her eyes were still a bit misty, an inviting smile spread across her face. “You’re right about that. Did Wendy bring your replacement?”

“I sure did,” the blonde announced as she barreled through the guesthouse door. “And given his pathetic performance last night, maybe we should just leave the original here.”

“At the very least we could let him watch. Anyway, I don’t believe you. I see the look in your eyes. It was fantastic, wasn’t it?”

“Well,” she admitted, grabbing Luke’s elbow and sensuously grinding against his hip, “since he’s such a supermodel-banging stud these days...” Kathryn’s eyes narrowed, and he held up his hands in defense.

“She guessed. It only took her about three minutes. I honestly don’t know how Faith keeps it a secret. I didn’t even say much of anything; I just sat there listening and still managed to blow her cover in the space of a single city block.”

“Like I said, I can read you like a book, man-whore,” she joked. “Now, can we go for a sexy boat ride? I wanna get my tits out and hear all about your orgy. And then maybe recreate it in the water.” All three were laughing uproariously as they crossed the lawn, but in the back of Luke’s mind he wondered if there would be consequences for revisiting such a transformative event.

If there was any hesitation on anyone else’s part, it certainly wasn’t evident. As he had last time, Luke navigated the boat away from the dock and sped around the lake for a while, enjoying the speed and the head-clearing combination of wind and noise. By the time he glanced back to check on his passengers, Wendy was already completely naked and swapping saliva with Kathryn, who (as they were in direct sun) remained fully covered. Mischievously, he abruptly cut the engine and spun the wheel sharply to the left, causing Kathryn to tumble directly on top of the supine blonde. Her surprise lasted just long enough for Wendy to spread her legs in invitation ... an invitation Kathryn greedily accepted, once she’d given her breasts and her tight stomach a thorough oral tribute. Despite being painfully erect, he stayed near the wheel and watched, sure he’d soon get his turn.

Indeed, once Kathryn finished tonguing Wendy to several demonstrative orgasms, she got up and joined Luke. As sexily as possible, given its general formlessness, she lifted her linen caftan to reveal that she was completely naked underneath, fell to her knees, and extracted his cock, moaning with happiness as her lips and tongue worked his length. The blonde joined them a few minutes later, at first standing behind Kathryn to massage her breasts and fondle her swollen nipples, then kneeling right beside her, startling the redhead by wresting control of his shaft and pulling it deep into her throat. She took control of Kathryn’s head and pushed it downward until her lips were pressed against his scrotum, a task for which she harbored no distaste. Luke groaned as his arousal accelerated into overdrive.

If Kathryn was surprised by the eagerness of Wendy’s fellatio, it was nothing compared to the moment she sensed Luke’s onrushing orgasm. Several attempts to nudge the blonde out of the way were rebuffed, and so she attempted a verbal warning. “Wendy, he’s about to...” At that moment, Luke erupted. The redhead watched in shock and delight as he pumped thick gouts of seed into her mouth without resistance or complaint. The moment Wendy moved away, Kathryn’s lips replaced hers, greedily sucking and searching for a few more drops. But Wendy again took control of her head and brought her close for a kiss. Luke watched, mesmerized, as their mouths met. The redhead was enraptured, moaning and quivering her way to climax as Wendy fed his semen to Kathryn, fingering her drenched sex the entire time; a favor she soon returned. Back and forth they passed his cream until Wendy tenderly stroked Kathryn’s throat, gesturing for her to swallow. When she was finished, she gave the blonde a lopsided grin. “I’m guessing that wasn’t your first time. You handled it far too well for it to be no more than show.”

“Last night I took the opportunity to learn a few new things, though like I told the hairy ape I don’t know who’s gonna benefit. His is the first, last, and only dick I’ll ever suck, and the same is true for swallowing his cock paste. Anyway, you’re more than welcome to the rest; I just wanted to experience a ... what’s it called again?”

“Snowball,” the others answered in unison.

“Right. And I wanna try the other thing, too.”

“A creampie?” Kathryn’s other hand shot between her legs, entangling with Wendy’s as Luke spoke the word.

“Yeah. Don’t worry, I’ll pass that one back to you as well. Anyway, despite the source it’s really not all that bad, and I don’t know why I was so weird about avoiding it last time. That said, you love it and I only tolerate it, so from now on it’s all yours. As are his nuts, which still creep me out. Now, Kathryn ... everyone’s had their top blown off but you, and that small one just now doesn’t count. Sit in that chair and spread your legs so I can devour your delicious pussy. Quicksand-for-brains, get behind me and feed me that salami. I don’t care which hole. Both if you’d like. There’s lube in my backpack if you’re gonna do my ass.”

For the next two hours they coupled and uncoupled ... snacking, washing down the taste of their union with bittersweet Americanos, diving into the lake to rinse away sweat and other fluids, groping each other under the water with such enthusiasm that staying afloat was difficult ... then returning to the shade of the forward canopy to join with each other in duos and trios. Wendy got her creampie straight from Kathryn’s freshly fucked cunt, while the redhead returned the favor from Wendy’s nether orifice shortly thereafter. After some consultation between the two women, Wendy decided to leave the Luke-replicating dildo in her bag, concerned that the boat’s hard surfaces would limit her ability to use it without raising the possibility of bruises; something his lover obviously wished to avoid. On the way back to the dock, however, Kathryn overruled the objection in a clever fashion: letting the blonde navigate back while the redhead stood behind her, driving the strap-on into her overheated pussy. Luke gave the redhead what was almost certainly not going to be her last double penetration of the day; shafting Kathryn’s silky ass while the other half of the double-sided dildo moved around in her sex. Making his lover scream with unbridled ecstasy while Wendy was trying to guide the boat homeward was as hilarious as it was thrilling.

As they unloaded the supplies, both Luke and Wendy admitted that they were on the verge of exhaustion. Their three-person nap got a slow start — Kathryn insisted on providing sequential oral climaxes before she’d let them sleep — but soon thereafter they fell into a tangle of limbs and satisfied organs. Wendy expressed immense relief at having Kathryn’s luscious body to embrace while she snoozed.

A few hours later, Luke woke to Kathryn’s familiar lips around his pole. Her oscillations eventually woke Wendy, who grumbled for a while and then knelt behind the redhead, fingering her pussy and aggressively rimming her ass until she came. Worried about his stamina should their bacchanal continue for as long as it he guessed it might, Luke gently lifted his lover’s face from his overstimulated organ, kissed her, and led everyone to the shower. It was a tight fit for three of them, but they managed it with only a few banged elbows and a handful of orgasms, all of them experienced by Wendy.

“So what should we do now? Wendy, you can stay for a while, right?”

“BTG’s closed tonight, so I can actually stay until tomorrow, if you don’t think you’ll get sick of me before then. I’ll need a ride back to the city, though.”

“I can do that. I have to be at the airport by nine.” Kathryn glanced guiltily at Luke, but he just shrugged and kissed her cheek. She hugged him back, grateful for his understanding. “Anyway, my question was more immediate. Should we stay in bed all day? Move the party somewhere else? Think about dinner? All three at once?”

“Since this entire experience is essentially one giant fantasy for me,” Luke suggested, “why don’t we defile this apartment a while longer, eat something, then reassemble in the jacuzzi.”

“A two-girl hot tub experience? Two hot ladies going down on you while you sit on the edge like a lazy-assed king? How trite.”

“I’m up for it,” Kathryn countered with a hungry smile.

“Wendy, you do remember that you told me your hot tub story, right?”

To Luke’s surprise, she actually blushed. “Oh ... uh, yeah. Right. But it wasn’t...”

“Yes, I remember the number. A little bit more than a threesome, wasn’t it?”

“Now I’m intrigued,” Kathryn interjected.

“Fuck it, let me tell the story so the perv doesn’t start embellishing it the way he probably imagines it. I was pouring wine for some bullshit corporate event at a hotel up in the mountains. All the men were drooling creeps and all the women were straight and/or boring, so I grabbed a few bottles of Champagne and headed for the hot tub. For a while, I was blissfully alone and pleasantly sloshed under a canopy of stars. Then a big group of giggling, already half-drunk, but undeniably hot sorority girls showed up on their way to ... hell, I don’t remember, probably because I didn’t care. Liquor was passed around, our tops came off, we played some bullshit drinking game and showered the deck with our bottoms, we ended up in someone’s suite, one thing led to another, and ... well, I guess ‘lesbian until graduation’ really is a thing for some girls. Though all their toys were too tame, whereas I think mine scared a few.”

“You had an all-girl orgy with a group of drunken sorority chicks, and you have the nerve to call my fantasy trite?” Luke’s teasing made her blush a second time.

“No, the trite part was that one of them decided she really was a lesbian and tracked me down for a three-week rematch. I got a nice cash bonus from Lesbian Human Resources for that one,” she added to Kathryn’s delighted laughter. “Unfortunately, she decided that I wasn’t femme enough for her. Last I heard she was with some actress, but since I can’t seem to remember her name, she can’t be that famous.”