Chapter 10

On the way back to the cottage Colette again spent time walking alone with Sioban. Not only had she become more invested in Arthur she was also captivated by his friends. It seemed to her that the moment she had spied Arthur sitting alone in his aisle on the plane she had begun a serendipitous journey she hadn’t experienced before. It seemed that Arthur was not only a young man who touched people, he seemed to charm them. Based on her feeling about Ryan and Sioban she saw them as high-quality people. Colette found Sioban particularly intriguing and wondered why she hadn’t tried to go to bed with Arthur again. “So,” she said, “since you have known Arthur you and he have only had sex once?”

Captivated by the intensity of the older woman’s interest in Arthur Sioban thought I have never been asked these kinds of questions by ANY female, young or old. The odd thing for her was that she didn’t feel uncomfortable about it. Having only met Colette this morning she felt as if she had known her for a long while.

“That’s right,” Sioban said. “And as I said before he was FANTASTIC, which I still have trouble believing.”

“And you appear to be such good friends.”

“We have a class together every day and have coffee together quite often, but our circumstances don’t make having sex convenient.” Explaining further she went on, “My quarters are crowded and don’t allow for it. And I won’t put Ryan out again the way I did when Arthur and I used their room that night. When I am with a man, I prefer being with him for a long enough time to enjoy it, preferably under civilized conditions. We could have some quickies, but I hate that. It makes me feel tawdry.”

“But you didn’t have trouble with Ryan today.”

“I know, but ... um ... this is an adventure, the kind I haven’t had before. I would have trouble passing that up.”

“It’s obvious that you enjoy good sex, so how do you handle your urges regularly?”

“With a tenured professor, I met in my first year. He’s in his fifties, a widower who chooses not to remarry. Both he and I are happy with the arrangement of being friends with benefits. I would love to have the same kind of arrangement with Arthur. It’s hard for me to imagine he’s only seventeen and I care for him so much. He’s of an age where sometime down the road—I mean when we are both out of the University and into our jobs—where I suppose he could be a great candidate for a husband. But it would be foolish to even consider something like that now and our living accommodations at the moment just don’t allow for comfy sex.”

“Do you think if they did you and Arthur would have a more tenable arrangement?”

He and I are best friends in the sense that a male and female can be. Yes, it would be more amenable because we are so much closer in age than my professor friend. Monty is a seasoned lover, who is hard to come by with Uni students. Arthur on the other hand—thanks to you I’m sure—is even better. I can’t believe I am even saying this. Though I would very much prefer the same kind of arrangement with Arthur. Ryan is a particularly good bloke Colette, but he is no Arthur. Then again for a Uni student, he is surprisingly good.” She sighed. “If I had a place to go with Arthur Monty would not even be part of the scene.”

“And there are no others?”

“I’m not promiscuous Colette. I love sex but I’m selective. Arthur sees other girls too and I have no problem with that other than if the circumstances were right I would rather it be me.” She didn’t know if she should say what was on her mind but decided to be bold. “But I would certainly love to have more sex with Arthur if we could just find an acceptable place in which to do it.”

Eyeing Sioban with a feeling of having once been in a similar place Colette said, “Just between you and me Sioban, I had hoped to make tonight a kind of group night. I haven’t done anything like that for some time. And those mirrors?” She grinned. “They make a group grope an extremely interesting experience.”

She’s presuming a lot, Sioban thought. “I’ve never done group sex before other than that threesome in high school. It was fun but nothing special.”

Colette laughed as she saw the threatened look on Sioban’s face. “And maybe we don’t know each other well enough for something like that anyway.” It was another shot across Sioban’s bow though. “But if you enjoy this weekend enough to consider something like it again with Arthur and Ryan ... I have to be honest with you, I would like to experience a “swinging” weekend with you three somewhere down the road.”

She enjoyed how her guest’s expression changed with the reprieve from an assignation in which she probably would not have agreed to participate. “But how about this? In light of what you said about hoping to have some quality sex time with Arthur, why don’t the two of you and sex were still percolating, she thought my gosh, she would let us do that. She thought about how Ryan had called it the “Hall of Mirrors” when they had inspected the premises. “Oh COLETTE,” she said, “You would DO that?”

With a pleasant smile, Colette said, “Let’s just say that I am beginning to think of you as a friend Sioban. I was looking forward to spending the night with Arthur but since you consider yourself his best friend and have only been with him just once due to your unacceptable bedding arrangements, I can at least let the two of you enjoy one another. I’ll spend the night in the guest bedroom discovering what Ryan has to offer.” She winked.

Sioban wasn’t sure whether Colette was being sarcastic or not. In a way, she had been in awe of the classy older woman from the moment they met despite being intimidated. She thought about insisting that Colette spend the night with Arthur in her bedroom but decided to test her sincerity but was hopeful when she asked, “Are you serious about doing that Colette?”

With a confirming smile, Colette said, “Of course dear. I told you that I’m thinking of you as a friend. Arthur is a long-term project for me. I have designs on seeing him when he goes back to the states when his term is up. Perhaps you might consider coming on some of those adventures. I can get you complimentary airline tickets you know?”

Blimey. “That sounds rather mysterious.” She liked Colette but wasn’t yet comfortable enough to trust her doing something like that.

“How about this Sioban? Next Thursday I will have a gap day in London. Would you like to come to my flat after classes are over and have tea with me? That would allow us to get to know each other better without the interference of those two blokes ahead of us. There is something I want to discuss with you that could be of great consequence to both you and Arthur. But I can’t in good conscience consider it seriously until I get to know you on my home turf.” She watched carefully as the perplexed Sioban processed what she could be talking about then explained, “I threw out the aspect of the four of us acting as a group which you appeared to balk at. Above all I want you to know that I am not interested in doing anything WITH you or TO you you’re not comfortable with. You may not believe me at the moment but I’m thinking about how I can help your and Arthur’s relationship flourish while he is in London. I would like to give it a go.”

Though Sioban would have liked to believe in what Colette had just said she was savvy enough to know that few people did things that might be advantageous to them out of pure kindness. For example, she had motives of her own, wanting to know more about the possibilities of getting into British Airways as well as seeing where Colette lived. “I would love to come Colette.”

“Come at 4:00.”

Following at about thirty paces Ryan said, “I wonder what those two are talking about.”

“My experience with Colette,” Arthur responded, “Is just to accept whatever she does.” He laughed. “After all, I seem to be getting some pretty amazing benefits with her that keep just getting better.”

“Do you think she might be gay?”

“Well, she seems to enjoy having sex with me, so I’ve ruled that out. And who knows, you might even get in on the act before we leave tomorrow.” He thought about what Ryan was getting at. He had also been stunned when he saw Colette kissing Sioban like that on the way to the pub. And he was surprised at how Sioban responded (they both seem passionately involved in a very sexual kind of kiss). Two women having sex was different from anything he had ever thought about before. Going on he said, “whatever Colette wants to do sexually with whomever she chooses is just the way she is. Though I was surprised at how much that kiss turned me on. Did it turn you on as well Ryan?”

“Well ... um,” he had heard about girls making out together but couldn’t help being macho about it, “I guess you could say it titillated me some, but...”

Arthur broke in with, “You’re such an asshole-bullshitter Ryan.”

Ryan blushed, shrugged, and said, “Yeah, I suppose you could think that.”

They walked around the village taking in the quaintness of the environment, stopped back at the pub for a couple of pints and chips then headed back to the cottage where Colette laid out some snacks and broke out a bottle of red wine. Relaxed and jovial she said, “It seems to me that the three of you make a quite comfortable trio. It’s nice to have you here with me.”

Looking at Sioban and Ryan, she smiled and then said, “Seems like our young friend here has made some nice friends. I’m pleased to be part of the group.” Arthur was sitting in a soft armchair while Sioban and Ryan were on the couch. To Sioban she said, “Do you mind Sioban if I take your seat next to Ryan?” You might want to go sit on Arthur’s lap.”

I’ll be damned, Sioban thought she WAS serious. Feeling a bit silly being directed in such a way she nevertheless got up, went to where Arthur was sitting, and settled her bottom on his lap. Looking back at Colette she saw that she was already smoothing back Ryan’s hair. He was trying to swallow a rather large lump in his throat

Smoother than the average seventeen-year-old, Arthur, touched his glass to Siobhan’s and said, “Here’s to the reflection of your naked body. Her blushing face seemed to be an extension of the heat she was feeling between her legs. As they sipped, they caught Colette and Ryan in a passionate open-mouthed kiss, her hand now caressing his knee.

With her hand now positioned on his groin, Colette felt his growing member. Breaking the kiss, she whispered in his ear, “It’s almost 7:30 dear. Do you think we should go into the other room early and figure out what we want to make out of this night?”

Wide-eyed Ryan caught Arthur’s who gave him a shrugging smirk. “Uh-huh,” he said hopefully, reaching for Colette’s hand, standing up, and pulling her to her feet heading toward the master bedroom door.

“Uh-uh,” she murmured, directing him toward the guest bedroom which produced a questioning look from Ryan then opened the door. Turning to Arthur and Sioban, Colette said, “Do something marvelous that you will be able to reflect upon,” and disappeared into the room.

“That’s a surprise,” Arthur said.

“Surprises me too,” Sioban replied, “She and I had a nice talk this afternoon. I told her that you and I only had sex once. Do you know what she said?”

“Uh-uh. But knowing Colette I can guess.”

“She said she intended being with you as well but understood MY need ... that you and I could have the master bedroom with all those lovely mirrors. Colette’s a genuinely nice person Arthur.”

“Yep, so I have found.”

Holding Sioban’s hand he led her through the door, turned on the light, and shut the door behind them. Looking at their reflection she said, “This is AMAZING Arthur. I’ve never considered anything so wild. Look. I have goosebumps!

Having been tutored by Colette that afternoon Arthur felt empowered, knowing how the older woman had responded to his commands earlier in the day he decided that he was going to give it a try with Sioban. He accepted that she might react differently ... might even be offended. But he wasn’t going to go through the night without trying the technique again. “Take off your clothes,” he said.