Chapter 15: Exploration

“Hey, Roger! So, how many women are you dating this week?” Jim asked, as he suddenly appeared at Roger’s office door on Monday morning.

Frowning, Roger looked up from the technical manual he was reading and said, “Jim, we’ve worked together for two years now. Why do you think today is the day I’m going to start talking about my love life?”

Jim raised an eyebrow questioningly and said, “Things must be getting serious. Back when you were dating two or three different girls a week, you didn’t mind sharing the highlights of your dates. Suddenly, you’re tight lipped.” He paused contemplatively, then continued, “If my intel’s right, you’ve got at least two fillies in the stable right now.”

Roger furrowed his eyebrows, surprised at Jim’s awareness of his love life. He responded, “What makes you think I’ve got ‘at least two fillies’, as you so eloquently put it?”

Jim chuckled. “Hey man, I know people, and I’m an engineer. I can put two and two together. Sheila’s sister said she saw you with two women at the Lilly Pulitzer fundraiser, plus I talked to Jamie and she mentioned that you were very cozy with a woman you met for dinner in Atlanta. By my count, that’s three women.”

Roger smiled politely and said, “Well, I’m not about to start sharing details of my love life with you. However, I will tell you that the woman in Atlanta was one of the women I took to the Pulitzer fundraiser. But, that’s all I’m going to share. Let’s just say that I’m seeing someone, and things are going well, and leave it at that.”

Jim maintained his casual and jocular demeanor, as he responded, “Okay, Roger, whatever you say. Anyhow, I talked to Fielding at Pratt about the F-119. He says that’s the design their using as the basis for their JSF engine.”

Roger took Jessica to dinner on Wednesday night. On the drive to the restaurant, Jessica was a little tense and they didn’t say much to each other. They held hands as they walked into Red Lobster, where Jessica liked the endless popcorn shrimp.

They sipped wine while they waited for their dinner. Roger had been doing most of the talking so far. During a lull in the conversation, Jessica put her glass down and leaned forward in her chair. Roger noticed the change in posture and leaned forward to give her his full attention.

Jessica took a deep breath and started, “Roger, we’ve been together now for over three months. Besides Blake, I’ve never been with someone this long. I feel like I need to know where this is going. I know you don’t intend to settle down with one woman, and I’ve accepted that. But, what does that mean for us? Marriage has certain ... commitments involved. If we’re not headed for marriage, where does that leave us? Where is this going?”

Roger took a breath and let it out, then said, “I’m not surprised you brought this up. I’ve been thinking about this a lot myself, lately.” He picked up his glass and took a sip of wine. He looked down and took another deep breath, then looked up into Jessica’s eyes with a calm and steady gaze.

Roger continued, “When I started dating again last year, I had this grand fantasy of seeing lots of women and having lots of sex. I hoped I would find a woman who I could connect with and she would happily share me with other women.” He paused. “When I shared my vision with you, I hoped you would be that woman. In most respects, you are that woman. Except you’re clearly not ‘excited’ about sharing me.”

Jessica took a breath to interrupt, but Roger held up his hand to forestall her. He said, “Let me finish before you respond.” He took a quick breath and continued, “Fortunately for me, you were willing to continue our relationship, while I dated other women. As it turned out, Rose was the only other woman I wanted. Now I’m in love with both of you. If I were just dating one of you, the answer would be obvious. But, under the circumstances, I’m not sure what to do. Right now, I think I could marry either of you, although I need a little more time before making that kind of commitment.” Roger took another breath and finished with, “So that’s how I feel. Given the option, I would probably marry both of you. What do you think we should do?”

Jessica glanced down and took a sip of her wine. She returned her gaze to Roger and reached across the table to take his hand in hers. Smiling, she started, “I’m actually going to help you out here. Rose and I have talked a few times since we got together at your house. We’ve agreed to help each other, rather than compete over you. So, just keep showing us love and respect and we’ll make sure that everything works out.”

Roger stared at her in stunned silence for several long seconds. When he finally gathered himself, he said, “Wow ... that’s amazing. How did I get so lucky?”

Grinning, Jessica replied, “You have really good taste in women. Rose is a really sweet woman. We both realized that we love you and you’ve made it clear that you don’t intend to choose one of us over the other. We agreed that we would all be happier if we accepted the situation and try to make it work. The alternative seemed to be stress that might break all of us up. All you have to do is keep treating us well and don’t play favorites. We’ll do our part to keep the peace.”

“What about living arrangements? I’ve been considering asking Rose to move in with me.” he offered.

She got a sour look on her face, but before she could speak, he held up his hands and jumped in, “I’ve also been thinking about asking you, but given our approach to clothing and Blake’s involvement, I wasn’t sure how it would work.”

“Yes, my children and ex do add some complications to your nudist lifestyle. We will need some time to introduce it to them and discuss it. Sadie will be the most sensitive about it. Her body has started to change, and she’s become more careful about what she wears around the house.” She took a breath and looked up towards the ceiling briefly, then continued, “Based on how they behaved when I met them, Rose’s daughters clearly like the nudity. I can see how it would be easier to ask her to move in.”

They sat silently for a moment. Then Jessica said, “Maybe Rose’s daughters can help introduce my kids to nudism and see how they react. You should have everyone over for a pool party. I’m sure Cindy and Sage will want to go au naturel again. Then my kids can see that it’s something that both adults and children do. They might even be curious enough to try it themselves. What do you think?”

Roger considered the situation and Jessica’s suggestion. After reflecting for a minute, he replied, “We need to make sure Rose is okay with this, but I think your idea makes sense. When should we do it?”

“I’ll have the children on the weekend in a couple of weeks. Let’s try to do it then,” she suggested.

“Okay. And since you and Rose are so close now, would you like to talk to her about it, or should I?” he asked.

“I’ll talk to her. That way we can come up with a plan on how to approach it with each of our children,” she answered. Roger’s face did not show his relief.

The rest of the evening was a mundane dinner date, ending with Jessica’s cheek pressed into Roger’s bed as he flooded her rear with his seed.

On Friday evening, Roger and Rose embraced when she opened the door to her apartment. As they hugged and kissed, Roger’s right hand drifted down her back. He noticed the lack of a panty line as he approached and then squeezed her bottom. To confirm his suspicions, Roger quickly squatted down, tightly wrapped his arms around her thighs and stood up again. This lifted Rose about six inches off the ground. As he held her with his left hand, his right hand came up under the hem of Rose’s knee-length, light sun dress with white and gray daisy pattern. He found her bare bottom and smiled.

“Hey!” She exclaimed and swatted his hand away, as he lowered her back to the ground.

“Someone’s feeling a bit frisky tonight,” Roger said.

“Yeah, I haven’t seen you in a while and I thought you might like that,” she responded.

Roger came into the apartment and greeted Sage, Cindy and Vicky while Rose retrieved her purse. The girls were seated on the floor around the coffee table in shirts and shorts as they worked on a jigsaw puzzle.

As Rose and Roger pulled into the parking lot at Macaroni Grill, she commented, “Ooh, big spender.”

Roger looked over at her and responded, “If you want something fancier, just say the word and you’ve got it.”

Rose smiled in response, saying, “No, I like this. Just wanted to keep you honest. Besides, if we went somewhere fancier, I’d need a nicer dress.”

After they were seated and had ordered their food, Rose kicked off the conversation with, “I talked to Jessica. She’s quite a lady. She told me about her plan for introducing her kids to nudity. That should be interesting, but I’ll play along. I haven’t talked to Sage and Cindy about it yet, but I think they’ll be okay with it. It won’t be much different than Sunsport Garden.”

“You’re both great ladies,” Roger responded. “I sometimes wonder if I’m dreaming. I not only found one wonderful woman, but two. And your willingness to share me just blows me away.”

Rose smiled at his appreciation for her.

“As for hosting Jessica’s kids, you and Jessica just let me know what I’m supposed to do, and I’ll play my part.” He paused to see if she had anything else to add. Seeing no sign of further comment, Roger asked, “Did Jessica mention the other topic that we discussed on Tuesday?”

“She mentioned that you might want to talk to me about something, but she didn’t think it was her place to bring it up. So, what’s up?” Rose asked.

Having spent much time over the last two days thinking about this, Roger started with, “Rose, over the last few months, our time together has been the happiest time of my life since Stacy’s death. As you know, I’ve also been dating Jessica while we’ve been together. You haven’t pressured me to choose and she tells me that the two of you have actually decided to cooperate where I’m concerned. I thank you for your understanding.”

Rose listened intently and Roger took a short breath before continuing, “While I don’t have any doubts that I love you and want to marry you, there are two reasons I won’t ask. First, we’ve only been dating a few months and it just feels too fast.” He paused again, giving Rose a chance to speak. When she didn’t, he went on, “Second, I can’t choose between you and Jessica, and since I can’t marry both of you, I won’t marry either.” He took another quick breath before concluding, “With all that being said, whenever we’re apart, I can’t wait to see you again. So, I don’t want us to be apart anymore. I’d like you and the girls to move in with me.”

She straightened her back and widened her eyes in surprise at the proposal. After a momentary pause, she said, “Wow, Roger! That’s a lot to take in. Do you really think we’re ready to live together?”

He smiled and responded, “Yes, I do. I started to think about it a couple of weeks ago. I wasn’t quite sure, when I mentioned it to Jessica on Tuesday, but I’ve thought about it a lot over the last couple of days. I’ve thought about how well we get along. I could name all the ways I think we’re a great match, but I think the most important thing is, I respect you. I love you and I don’t see anything about you that will make me lose respect for you.”

Pausing briefly to let her absorb his comments, Roger continued, “I’m sure you have some quirks that will drive me crazy once we live together.” She frowned at that and he raised his hand to prevent her from speaking. He continued, “But, let’s be honest, all couples have that. You already know some of my bad habits – like making rash decisions that affect you. I’m sure we can overcome the difficulties. If not, we’ll find out soon enough and we can move on from there.”

Rose relaxed and thought about his words. After a moment of silence while Rose examined Roger’s face, she spoke, “As you know, I usually like it when you make decisions. Probably not as much as Mary. However, for such a life changing decision, I’m going to need some time to think about this. Let’s talk about it again next week.”

He nodded in silent agreement.

She raised an eyebrow and asked, “So you already talked to Jessica about this?”

“Yeah. When she mentioned that you and she were talking, it got me thinking about how quickly you two had become friends. This was on my mind and I just blurted it out,” he answered.

“I see. And what did she think?” Rose wondered.

“Well, at first, she was a little miffed that I wasn’t asking her. But when I reminded her that her children had not been exposed to nudism and she has an ex who might object to our lifestyle, she agreed that we aren’t ready for that step, yet,” he explained.

“I see, so whose idea was it to host a naked swim party?” she asked.

“Hers,” he casually replied.

“Reaaallly ... there’s more to Ms. Carlson than meets the eye. Well, we’ll figure it out,” she off-handedly dismissed the topic.

A little later, Roger started, “We haven’t talked about advancing your professional life in a while. Have you been thinking about it?”

“Yeah. You know, fashion is one of the things that Jessica and I have been bonding over. I think that’s something I’d really like to learn more about. You know the dress that Mary wore to the ball last month?” she asked, excitedly.

Roger nodded.

“I designed and sewed that dress.” She paused. “If I get the chance, I want to take some courses at the fashion institute. What do you think about that?” She asked, hopefully.

He considered her words, impressed by her obvious enthusiasm. He smiled and agreed, “You certainly have the right attitude to pursue your interest in fashion. And that dress you made was quite impressive. If that’s the kind of work you do with your innate ability, I think you could definitely do well in the fashion industry. Is there anything I can do to help?

She beamed at his praise and offer to help, replying, “Not right now. Your encouragement and support are all I need. Maybe later, when I take some classes, I might need some help. Thanks for offering.” She leaned across the table and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

They finished their dinner with lighter topics of conversation and then went out to his car to head to his house.

When they pulled onto State Road 7 in the Z3, Roger reached across the console and placed his hand on Rose’s bare leg, just above her knee. As they cruised up the road, he gently stroked her leg with the tips of his fingers. By the time they turned onto Route 441, he was teasing her inner thigh very close to her exposed vulva. Every few seconds Rose would grunt out a small breath as her arousal increased.

As they merged onto Southern Boulevard, Rose reached across and gently groped Roger’s penis, which quickly went from mildly aroused to fully engorged.

When she felt it at full hardness, Rose unbuckled her seatbelt and said, “Drive carefully.”

Roger’s eyebrows raised in surprise as Rose brought her knees up and knelt on her seat. She leaned across the console as she unzipped his pants and extracted his cock. Her mouth descended and hungrily engulfed the first few inches of his erection. He lifted his left leg to the steering wheel to maintain control as he used both hands to gather her hair into his right hand and hold it away from her face. He returned his hand to the steering wheel and focused on the road. For the next few minutes, Rose enthusiastically bobbed on his cock while gently stroking it with her right hand. Roger drove carefully down the road in the right-hand lane at fifty miles an hour. He paced the car ahead of him in the lane to his left, preventing anyone from passing him and witnessing Rose’s activity. No one saw her ass as it was exposed in the early dusk light when her skirt fluttered in the wind.

After a few minutes of Rose’s efforts, Roger showed no signs of cumming. Rose lifted her head and sat back in her seat with a smile on her face.

“Wow, you really are in a frisky mood, aren’t you?” Roger observed, with a grin.

“Yeah. But your hand on my leg really got me worked up,” she responded, panting.

“Do you want to have a little more fun?” he asked.

Rose grinned and cocked an eyebrow in question and said, “What do you have in mind?”

Slyly he instructed, “Lift you skirt up to your waist and spread your legs a little so I can see your pretty pussy; and keep stroking me until we get back to the house.”

She followed his instructions keeping him erect as they continued their drive back to Roger’s house. As he drove, Roger continued to massage Rose’s clit, whenever he didn’t need his hand to shift gears.

They pulled into Roger’s dirt driveway and around behind the house to the parking area. Roger set the parking brake and turned off the engine, then instructed Rose, “stay there.”

Coming around the car and opening her door, he reached for her hand to help her stand. He then closed the door and spun her around. She let out a surprised “oh” at the sudden movement. He applied pressure to the top of her back and Rose leaned over the car door. Sensing his intention, she braced herself on the dashboard and seatback. Roger lifted her skirt, exposing her smooth, milky white buttocks. With his other hand he unbuckled his pants and pushed them down to the ground with his underwear. Using his left hand, he steadied her and stepped forward as she moved her legs apart. He grabbed his cock with his right hand and aimed it at her slick vulva. Pushing forward a little, his helmet pierced her lips. He pulled back slightly, then pushed forward slowly and steadily until the whole shaft was encased in her warm, moist tunnel.

For the next few minutes, Roger vigorously slammed his crotch into Rose’s butt while pounding her from behind. It didn’t take her long to build up to a screaming release.

Roger stayed pressed against Rose as he lifted his leg, reached down to remove his shoe, and freed his left foot from his pants leg. He spread his legs a little and, in an effort to delay his pending orgasm, started to slowly pump into Rose. As he continued his steady rhythm, he kept his left hand on her hip and with his right hand, reached up to her shoulders to pull down the top of her dress and release her heavy breasts. Reaching around to her pendulous orbs, he gently pinched her nipple while continuing to thrust in and out of her warm tunnel. He gradually increased his pace over the next couple of minutes, while Rose built to another orgasm. Hearing her scream of release, Roger pulled his cock out and stroked it a couple of times before squirting his warm ejaculate on her lower back.

While Rose stayed bent over the door for a few seconds to regain her strength, Roger finished removing the other shoe and his pants. He used his undershirt to wipe the cum off her back. Rose straightened up and removed her dress. Roger scooped up his clothes, took her hand and led the way into the house as their breathing gradually returned to normal.

In the bathroom they took turns cleaning each other’s bodies in the shower. Once clean and dry, they cuddled together, naked, under a blanket on the couch to watch the final episode of Seinfeld. After the episode ended, they dressed, and Roger drove Rose home. Knowing that money was tight for Rose, Roger paid Vicky for her sitting services that night.

Mandy’s eyes struggled open and she looked over next to her as she awoke. She saw Dennis, already dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, propped up against the headboard and reading the morning newspaper.

“What time is it?” she asked

He glanced at the clock next to the bed and answered, “About eight forty-five.”

“How long have you been awake?” She wondered.

“I think I got up around 6:30,” he replied.

“That long? What have you been doing for the last two hours?” She asked.

He lowered the paper and said, “I emptied the dishwasher, walked a couple miles, and picked up the paper and coffee. I came back to bed about half an hour ago. I didn’t see any reason to disturb you.”

They continued chatting for another few minutes until Mandy needed to get up and relieve herself. Dennis headed to the kitchen while she took care of business. Along the way, Dennis stuck his head in his daughter’s room. She was still in bed, but her eyes were open staring at the ceiling. He informed her, “Tiffany, I’m making waffles, do you want any?”

“Sure dad. I’ll be there in a minute.”

As Dennis prepared the waffle batter, Mandy appeared wearing a salmon colored tank top and aqua short shorts with high cut thighs. She glided over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, then started getting out plates, orange juice, syrup and butter.

Dennis finished pouring the batter into the waffle iron and turned to survey the items Mandy had placed on the counter. He looked across the bar separating the kitchen from the dining room and saw Tiffany stroll into view. Naked as the day she was born, she was pulling her hair up into a ponytail and applying a scrunchy.

“Tiffany!” he barked. In an elevated and very stern voice, he continued, “I thought your mother talked to you about this. Didn’t she explain that certain social situations require you to wear clothes at home?”

She casually replied, “Yeah.” Then she noticed Mandy behind her dad, near the refrigerator, and said, “Oh, sorry.” She turned around and headed back to her bedroom.

Mandy had looked up when Dennis barked Tiffany’s name and saw the naked adolescent before she disappeared. “What was that about?”

Dennis’s shoulders slumped as he let out a long breath and said, “Over the last few months she’s started walking around the house naked. At first, it was a bit shocking, but her mother and I have gotten used to it. She claims she’s expressing herself and feels more comfortable without clothes. We’ve grown to accept it, but we’re still trying to teach her some social rules around it. I hope she didn’t offend you.”

“No, not really. I’ve seen naked women before and I even recognize the parts,” Mandy replied, as she waved her right hand up and down in front of her body. “She’s actually not the first nudist I’ve met. Roger has also taken to walking around his house naked. The last time I was there, he didn’t bother to get dressed.”

When Tiffany re-emerged wearing a t-shirt and short gym shorts, similar to Mandy’s, Dennis calmly said, “Sorry I barked at you. I didn’t want you to offend Mandy.”

A little irritated, she replied, “Yeah, well, if I’d known she was going to be here, I would have put something on.”

Mandy smiled, saying, “Don’t worry about it. As I was telling your dad, I’m not offended. You’re not the only nudist I know.”

Tiffany perked up and said, “Really?”

“Yeah, my friend, Roger, is also a nudist,” Mandy explained.

“Oh,” Tiffany sighed, deflated by the fact that Mandy’s nudist friend was a middle-aged man and not another young woman.

Emily walked through her foyer and opened the front door to her home. She was dressed in a form fitting black tube dress that stopped mid-thigh. The garter belts holding up her stockings were prominent below the hem of her dress, and the outfit was completed by four-inch black stiletto heels. She opened her arms to greet Roger, Jessica and Cathy and gave them each a brief hug as they entered her home.

Once they were all in the foyer, Emily turned to her guests and explained, “Since you’re all new here, let me explain the rules. This is a party for members of the munch so you may see a few things that you’ve only read about. First and foremost, ‘no means no’. If someone propositions you and you’re not interested, just say no. If they persist, yell ‘red’ and everyone will come running. It’s unlikely that will happen. You’re the only new people we are expecting tonight and everyone else knows the rules. Stay safe, but know that if someone yells ‘red’, the party ends. Understand?”

They all nodded their heads.

Emily continued, “Okay, now for the fun stuff. On the table behind you,” she gestured to the small entry table, “there are two baskets with bandanas. One basket has red, yellow and green. These signal your level of participation tonight and you wear that bandana on your right wrist. Red means you’re just watching. Yellow means you’re only participating with your own partner, no swapping. Green means you’re open to swapping. Any questions about that?”

Jessica lifted her hand and said, “Just to be clear, if you’re wearing a green bandana, the other person still needs to ask for consent, right?”

Emily nodded and said, “Of course. We’re all here to have fun and if you don’t want to play with someone, just say so.”

Roger jumped in once Emily finished her response, “And I assume we can switch colors during the night.”

“Of course. The baskets will be here all night and if you change your mind, you can just come over here and switch,” she replied.

Emily waited a moment to see if there were any more questions about the first basket. Hearing none, she gestured to the second basket and continued, “As you can see, that basket has pink, blue and purple bandanas. They represent your gender preference and it goes on your left wrist. If you wear pink, it means you only want female partners. Blue means you only want male partners, and purple means you’re open to either. This is primarily a heterosexual group, so you probably won’t see any men with blue or purple bandanas. We don’t normally see any women with pink either. We usually get a few women wearing purple in any given group. Okay?”

The trio each nodded briefly. Roger noticed that Emily was wearing green and purple bandanas. He looked at Jessica and Cathy and confirmed, “We’re just watching tonight, right?”

Both women nodded in agreement and they all put red bandanas on their right wrist. Roger took a pink bandana for his left wrist and his companions each took a blue.

When they all had their bandanas fitted, Emily spoke again, “So, let me show you around and explain the agenda for tonight.”

She turned and led them into the adjacent room, which turned out to be the living room. It had a couch and love seat around a glass coffee table and pointed at an entertainment unit with a large, twenty-five-inch television. To their left, double doors led to a sunroom. Straight ahead was a sliding glass door out to the backyard, and to the right was an archway leading to the dining room.

Emily gestured towards the couch and the man and woman seated there. She said, “That’s Tony and his wife Alina.” Tony was a mostly bald man with gray and brown hair on the sides of his head. He wore white slacks and a button down, short-sleeve shirt. His knee was touching the knee of the woman next to him. She wore a gold-colored, sheer, yoke layered, fringe dress and her brunette hair fell just below her shoulders. She had a glass of wine in her hand, while he held a tumbler with a couple of ice cubes and a finger of an amber liquid. They were talking to another couple seated on the love seat.

Emily gestured to the other couple and stated, “And over there are Dylan and his girlfriend Kristen.” Dylan sat forward on the couch as he talked to Tony and Alina. He was a well-muscled man with close cropped dirty blonde hair. Kristen had a very youthful face and light blond hair that extended past her shoulder blades. The casual style of her blue and white, tie-dyed, knee length sundress complimented his khaki cargo shorts and navy-blue polo shirt.

Roger and his companions nodded and waved to the seated group before Emily led them towards the dining room. As they walked, she explained, “You’re among the early arrivals. We expect about ten more people tonight. Most people will socialize in the living room or dining room until about seven forty-five. Then we’ll encourage people to go to the rooms.”

They arrived at the first door on the right at the beginning of a long hallway. Emily walked into the bedroom and explained, “This room is for people who don’t intend to swap tonight. It’s for watching and being watched. We have a game planned to get the ball rolling.”

Roger, Jessica and Cathy looked into the room and saw a modest bedroom with a queen bed and a small desk with a mirror.

Emily turned and pointed across the hall stating, “There’s one of the bathrooms.”

She led them down the hallway until they reached another door on the right near the end. Emily opened the door, flipped on a light switch and gestured inside. The group was greeted by a converted garage. Against the back wall was a queen sized four poster bed with straps extending from each of the corners. Against another wall was a Saint Andrews cross, equipped with restraints for wrists and ankles. Next to it on the wall was a rack containing several striking instruments including a cat-o-nine tails, a horse whip, and a bamboo cane. A few feet in front of the bed was an old-fashioned set of wooden stocks with openings for the neck and wrists.

Emily smiled at the blank looks on her visitors’ faces and explained, “This is where the intense action will take place. You may watch or use the equipment. However, if you’ve never whipped someone before, you should stick to watching, tonight. When done right it can be very arousing for both the striker and the strikee. When done wrong, the whipped person does not enjoy it and could be badly hurt.”