Chapter 21: A New Man

“So that’s what you call ‘dating?’ Or is it an actual relationship?” Beth had asked me for my opinion as soon as we had a non-professional and private moment late Monday morning.

“Can it be both?” she responded. “This is mostly your fault, you know. You and Tethys – and even Megan and Hera. You’ve all been a bad influence on me.” She grinned mischievously. “You were the one who helped me realize I can never have a successful monogamous relationship.”

“I don’t remember saying quite that,” I interrupted. “I just mentioned that you shouldn’t consider it a character flaw.”

“And I’ve decided not to. I’m non-monogamous, and I own it. Thinking that way might just improve my character, actually. My last affair was with a married man. I’ve always had this strange attraction to men who are in a committed relationship, which is a character flaw. But I can’t change that, it’s deeply embedded in me, for whatever reason.”

A revelation suddenly hit me. “So the two guys in the video are in a committed relationship with each other?”

“Yep!” she nodded happily. “Dan and Nathan have been together for a couple of years, and until I came along they’d assumed they were gay.”

“Wait a minute...” I had to protest. “I’ve heard this trope before. There’s always been this myth about women who are attracted to gay men, and think that with the power of their feminine sexuality, can ‘cure’ them, at least for themselves. That’s not what you’re doing, is it?”

“Not at all. I didn’t even know they were gay for a long time. I knew them from Rancheros. They’re great dancers, and I’d dance with them fairly regularly. I didn’t even know they were together.”

“Were they in the closet?”

“Maybe kind of. At least there. Rancheros has kind of a redneck vibe sometimes. So anyway, I got to know them gradually, and eventually realized they were a couple, but of course that didn’t bother me. I wasn’t dating, after all.”

“And now you are.”

“Well, there was a lull in the good music one night, and Nathan and I just happened to have come off the dance floor, and I got to talking with him and Dan. We decided we were hungry, and it just seemed natural to head someplace quiet and have a snack. By then I was feeling totally comfortable with them. They’re smart and funny – hilarious, actually – confident and, I guess, safe.”

“They sound like good guys,” I nodded.”So who was attracted first?” I couldn’t believe I was asking a question like that, which was none of my business. Not too long ago I would have been angry and offended by such an intrusive line of questioning. Somehow, though, Beth and I were now in a place where she would welcome this kind of curiosity from me, and she did.

“It was totally mutual. Maybe mutual isn’t quite the word if there’s more than two.”

“No, it works,” I assured her.

“Well, I just had this feeling that we were bonding, and I thought the idea that they were attached to each other, but interested in me as well was a little intoxicating. And no, I’d only been drinking a tiny bit. So the conversation went there, and they said that they’d both been attracted to me for a while and had already discussed it with each other.”

“Discussed what, seducing you?”

“No, the biology of attraction. Dan said that when they first got together, they both assumed they were gay, but when they realized they were attracted to me, they started to understand that there’s a spectrum, or a range, I guess, of what can attract people. They said that they could consider including women in their lives, as long as those women accepted that Dan and Nathan were the primary relationship.”

“And you accepted that, I’m guessing,” I guessed.

“Enthusiastically!” she grinned. “I’ve always had a hidden fantasy about being with two guys, and especially two guys who were also into each other, I think my predilection to cheat on my boyfriends with married men may have been some sort of twisted way of pursuing that without knowing what it was I was after. In a way, I had two guys, and at least one of them was in a relationship with someone other than me. But I couldn’t be part of a threesome with a married heterosexual couple, because I’m just not into women, and I can’t even make myself imagine it.”

“So you need a polyamorous tribe, but one that’s the opposite of the one I’m in?” I suggested. “In our tribe, the women are all into each other, as well as the men, but we guys are all as straight as a plank.”

“Well, planks warp all the time,” she said, “but yeah. I mean, I really enjoy the videos you all send me, even when there’s girl on girl going on. It’s aesthetically beautiful, but it doesn’t do anything for me sexually, and the idea of doing it myself actually dries me out. But seeing your ladies being pleased by more than one guy, now that totally inspires me! And I knew I wanted that for myself. With Nathan and Dan, they have no qualms about doing anything I ask them to, even if I don’t ask. And them doing each other doesn’t bother me at all, it just adds to the excitement.”

“Yeah, that’s a difference,” I acknowledged. “I’m just not wired that way, and I don’t think any of the other guys in our group are either, although we’ve never explicitly talked about it.”

“You think it might be just a social insecurity?” Beth asked.

“Maybe, maybe not,” I shrugged. “Probably not. It’s not like I’m morally opposed to it or anything. I’m just no more inclined to be sexual with another man than I am with a farm animal.”

“But you don’t mind seeing men fucking your girlfriends,” she pointed out.

“Of course not. But they aren’t fucking me!”

Beth smirked. “Well, your three favorite girlfriends have been very much cheering me on,” she said. “They don’t have the same hangup you do.”

“I wouldn’t expect them to,” I said. I don’t judge their inclinations, and they don’t try to change mine.”

“Anyway,” she added. “I do think we’re in a real relationship now, but I can also call it dating, because Dan and Nathan say I can see other guys, as long as they’re involved too.”

“I hope there’s a vetting process involved in that,” I warned. “We’ve had some serious discussions within the tribe about making sure any new person we allow in is safe.”

“Are you considering any new members?” she asked.

“Not really, it’s the principle involved. Why, are you wanting to join?”

“You wish!” she laughed, and as Bill approached to discuss an issue with a table relationship, we had to table our discussion about relationships.

“So, do you know anybody at all who is really monogamous?” Tethys asked with a smirk when I got home.

“Me,” I didn’t hesitate. “I just happen to be in a polyamorous lifestyle.”

“Bullshit. Don’t tell me you would be willing to give up Hera and Megan and the other ladies in the tribe.”

“I would if you sincerely wanted me to,” I answered sincerely. “As far as I’m concerned, my relationship with them is an extension of my relationship with you. You’re always my first priority, and I’ll do nothing to jeopardize that.”

“That’s sweet,” Tethys responded. “So if I got hit by a truck tomorrow, you’d simply drop them from your life because I’m not there to support them as extensions?”

“Of course not. We’d all visit you in the hospital and help you recover. You aren’t getting rid of any of us that easy!”

We were in our usual relaxing-after-work posture, Tethys resting her head on my belly as she would a pillow, gazing lovingly at my cock, which was of course as hard as she could get it. As we casually chatted, she just as casually stroked her fingers along the shaft, gently squeezed my balls or tickled them, grabbed the shaft again tightly while pumping it up and down, and occasionally dipping her head down to give the flesh a kiss or even a short suck. It was thrilling and ecstatic, but our tradition dictated that I keep talking casually, although I couldn’t help but intersperse it with moans.

About half way through, she mounted me cowgirl style, forcing me inside her and sliding up and down on my cock as she continued to chat about the day’s events. The main caveat was that I wasn’t allowed to cum, not yet. Technically we were engaging in our warmup for weightlifting at Carl’s later. I suppose it served the purpose.

I usually felt a bit guilty when Tethys sat astride me this way, essentially doing all the work. Yes, I was stroking her body and playing with her nipples as she rode me, but I really felt like I should have been giving her foreplay. Occasionally I was able to lick her clit or finger her pussy, while kissing her body, and I know she loved it, but she preferred to take the active role more often than not. She just wasn’t big on foreplay, unless she was playing with my cock. Otherwise, she simply wanted it deep inside her whenever possible. Her desire to fuck permeated nearly all of our activities.

That desire continued after we arrived at Carl’s. Megan was off from work, so she was there along with her mother Rena. Hera had just recently started working out with us. Her parents had begun attending the home gym of Jo and Joe, and she was the last holdout. Hearing her parents Phoebe and Herakles talking about their DOMS, the concept of “pain is weakness leaving the body,” and noticing her mother losing weight, her dad gaining weight, and both of them feeling stronger and more energetic, she was finally shamed to the point of joining us. She retained enough of her self-esteem to decide to work out with us, rather than them.

“I’ll fuck ‘em, but I won’t lift weights with them. I have to draw the line somewhere,” she chortled.

Part of my duty as Carl’s replacement, being the only male in the weight room, was to fuck all the women there at some point during the session. We wrote that off as aerobics. The complicated part was in determining who was going to receive my semen. That changed each time we went, I had to distribute the wealth fairly. Tonight it worked out to be Rena’s turn, and she was quivering with excitement. The problem was I had to fuck everyone else first so I could end in Rena, and those fucks has to be sandwiched between exercises. That in itself was a fitness challenge. I did five sets of bench presses, then fucked Tethys. I did five sets of squats, then fucked Hera. I did five sets of barbell rows, then fucked Megan. I did five sets of overhead presses, then finally fucked Rena. And even then we weren’t done. I still had several sets of chinups, stiff-legged deadlifts, and lateral dumbell raises to finish. Tethys acted as coach, and each of the girls had their own individual workout routine to follow, but we’d all break at the same time to cheer on whoever was getting my cock.

I was always enthralled and fascinated at the enthusiasm with which Megan and her mother cheered and encouraged each other as they were getting fucked. Each was totally rhapsodic to watch my cock, or any other cock for that matter, disappearing into the others sodden pussy. Their faces would be so close to the point of penetration that I could feel their breath on my balls, and often fingers and tongues. When they whooped with their enthusiasm, I could even feel their voices vibrating on the skin of my testicles. For them, it truly was a religious observance, and they loudly worshiped the Goddess at every stroke. At first it had been distracting, maybe even a little spooky, but by now we were all used to it, and it just added to the kinky excitement.

Just as kinky was the delight with which the girls went after my dripping cum as it slowly oozed from Rena’s satisfied pussy afterwards. Megan, as usual, demanded the first taste, she’d become unnaturally fond of eating her mother’s pussy, and the predilection seemed to be mutual.

Considering the type of activity we were enjoying among ourselves, we really didn’t spend as much time and energy discussing Beth’s situation as we might have. Tethys, Hera and Megan accepted it casually as nothing out of the ordinary, and the other tribe members barely knew who Beth was beyond my tales of embarrassment about my first day with her, so there was nothing to remark on. At work, it really was a non-issue, most of our time was spent on the database transfer project, and once we’d established the general parameters of Beth’s relationship with Dan and Nathan, there wasn’t much more to discuss. My dealings with the women of The Tribe were now part of Beth’s normal expectations of me, as were her relationships with her two men. She did casually mention a couple of dates where she’d brought home a third guy, and it sounded pretty kinky, but my only emotional reaction to it was to be glad that she was happy. Her work remained exemplary, the project was proceeding better than I had expected, and I was enjoying my job more than I could ever remember enjoying it before. Being comfortable and happy with Beth even made it easier to get along with my other coworkers, and Gil mentioned it with approval more than once.

Tethys and Hera had finally begun to collaborate on their art projects. Hera was of course still concentrating on her ceramic pieces and Tethys on her acrylic paintings, but they had pooled their sales efforts into a single partnership, and were offering their work online from the same website. Tethys was also doing some of the painting on a few of Hera’s vases and bowls, while adopting some of Hera’s sculptural motifs into the subject matter of some of her paintings. They also each modeled for each other. It made for some striking and memorable compositions. Jo and Joe actually bought a couple from each for their house. I was a little uncomfortable with that. I tend to try to keep financial dealings separate from friendships, but Tethys reminded me I had never hesitated to do business at Henri’s restaurant or tip the staff well, despite our personal relationship. I couldn’t really argue with that.

We continued to get regular updates from Sonia. I should say Sonia and Carl, but Carl let Sonia take care of the details of keeping in contact. I suspected he had never been much for Christmas cards, either. By now they were in Manila, having had extended gigs in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and Darwin, then two nights in Port Moresby in Papau New Guinea before jumping over to Davao City and Cebu City in the Philippines. It sounded like a real whirlwind. They’d had time to do a little sight-seeing along the way, but for the most part it was all business. They’d had good crowds, few breakdowns in the show, and even a couple of good writeups in the local press. There was some scandal, too. It was, after all, a relatively conservative part of the world, and Sonia’s stage act was not exactly family friendly. It was also a tourist part of the world, though, and their chosen venues were in tourist-heavy parts of the countries. The band, and Sonia, were getting exposure not only to the locals, but to tourists from Europe, the United States, and various parts of Asia. There would be an album following this tour, and Sonia was confident that they were building an international demand for it. For all Henri’s loneliness, he was proud of Sonia, and spoke of her with admiration. There weren’t many titillating details of Sonia’s sex life. Unlike the previous year’s tour, it appeared that Carl was the only one she was fucking – which was a big reason she had brought him along. Sex with her band or crew members introduced unpleasant side effects and complications, locals and tourists were out of the question, and Carl knew the score and exactly what was expected of him.