Chapter 2: Skye

Dave sauntered up to the patio bar at what was euphemistically called the ‘changeover time’. He was only wearing a towel around his waist. It was the time of evening when copulating coupes declared the first round of lovemaking finished, and when many in the Circle sought new partners for a second round. Usually, that was around ten p.m. or a little later.

As Dave sipped on a bottle of chilled water, he felt arms wrap around his body and the hard nipples of a medium-height woman etch into his back halfway between his shoulder blades and his waist. She wiggled her assets back and forth to stroke his body and reinforce her own nipple stimulation.

Dave said, “I need to guess who this is don’t I?”

The nipples moved up and down his back, and the hands found Dave’s own nipples and lightly stroked them.

Dave glanced down at the hands. The light was dim, but there were no wedding rings on the fingers. That eliminated a few women from consideration. Most of the women in the Circle had chosen to remain single, but many described themselves to others as being married to ALL the Circle men – about a hundred of them. Some had children and were seen as raising them as single mothers, but even that paradigm was often erroneous as they would have a steady male friend living with them most of the time.

Dave teased, “I am guessing this is a pledge.”

The nipples again moved up and down on his back, signifying a ‘Yes’ answer to his speculation. The female giggled. A pledge to the Circle was someone spending their first six months to a year getting to know everyone in the Circle and being sure they wanted to live in the sexually-permissive atmosphere. At the time, there were twenty-one pledges, all but two were female. Dave still expected a few more from his travels to show up sometime.

Dave said, “And does this pledge have natural blonde hair?”

The nipples moved up and down his back again – a ‘Yes’. That eliminated several brunettes from the mix as well as a few bottle blondes. As he stood facing the bar with his back to the woman, he felt a brush of long hair sweep across his back. This gave him a further hint as to height and the length of her hair. There was another giggle.

Dave said, “Skye?”

The pretty blonde slipped under his arm so they could kiss. “You’re too smart. I thought it would take you longer to guess. You should be on the police force; you ask a few questions and you can deduce who the culprit is. You’re a natural.”

“That was a lucky guess. You’re slightly taller than many of the other women. When I felt your hair on my shoulder it gave me a clue to your height. Are you unattached?”

“Not any longer. I’m hoping that we can reconnect for the rest of the evening.”

“Where are you staying? I don’t know where many of the new people are living.”

“I’m staying in the guest room of Jim and Mandy Hotch, although I’ve often found myself in their bed all night.”

Dave nodded, “So, the police force is sticking together – the blue wall of silence or sex or something?”

“Detective Lieutenant Hotch and Crime Lab Supervisor Grafton are good company. Besides, Jim is mentoring me as I segue into the local police department. I’m doing duty in the city right now.”

“Walking a beat?”

“Actually, I am. Part of the familiarization process is to know the geography and feel of the territory. My duty station is at the corner of Main and Lemon Avenues downtown, but I’m supposed to wander five or ten blocks in each direction. It’s pleasant work. Further, being in uniform in this city, most of the citizens have a great deal of respect for law enforcement, so I get some nice greetings. People stop and chat even. Moreover, I get to wear shorts and sneakers on the job as part of the uniform. I think I have the best cop job in the world.”

Dave teased, “And the homeless population loves you, too?”

“Not always. I have to refer them to a city program for the homeless. They need ID in it to escape my hustle. The result is that they have a bed at night and good meals, so most are willing to go for it. The downside to them, perhaps, is that they get various kinds of counseling and some mental health and drug screening. Some also get referred to the VA for help; so many are older veterans, even going back to the Viet Nam war.”

Dave opened a bottle of water for Skye. He asked, “Are you just arriving or were you here earlier? Sorry, I didn’t notice you at dinner.”

“I was here. I went off with Stan Carter to his home just outside the gates. He didn’t come back. I think I left him non compos mentis.” She giggled again. “We had several very engaging lovemaking sessions.”

“You don’t mind talking about them?”

“It’s been an adjustment to how I was raised. No one talked about sex, and certainly not with one boyfriend about the boyfriend you just fucked and left. This is one of the nice things about the Circle; I don’t have to cage my words carefully. People don’t get jealous or angry because they feel glad that something nice happened for me.”

Dave teased, “Speaking of being raised, how’s Mariah?”

Mariah was Skye’s widowed mother living in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, and running the only bed and breakfast inn in the small town. Dave had stayed there, he and Mariah had mutually seduced each other, and then Skye had been added to the fray. She’d caught Dave and her mother in flagrante delicto. In her local police uniform with her weapon drawn, she’d thought her mother was being attacked, only to find this was a long sought-after liaison that started her mom living again after six years of widowhood and a longer span with no sex.

Skye had become as enthralled and as in love with Dave as her mother, but had the flexibility to leave the small town after quitting her job on the local police force. Jim Hotch in the Circle had helped her apply and get a job with the local city police department. Police departments all over the country were desperate for qualified candidates to hire.

Skye laughed, “She’s fine. She found a couple of guys to date, but they’re lacking in many ways. To show you how committed she is to you and the Circle, she put the B&B on the market to sell. As soon as it sells, she’ll be down here looking to pledge the Circle. She has dreams about the Circle and is unreasonably jealous that I’m down here and she’s not.”

Dave shook his head. “I had no idea she was THAT interested in the Circle. Did she ever think of starting her own Circle up there or joining in an existing polyamorous group? I think the fan club is starting to accumulate data on groups that are forming.”

“I’ll tell her, but I think you were one of the prime attractions.”

Dave said, “As you’ve probably noticed, I’m stretched pretty thin in terms of my availability for any one woman. I hate to put it this way, but they can always ‘make-do’ with some of the other men.” He laughed derisively at his choice of words.

Skye said, “I’ll pass on your droll wisdom on to her. I’d be surprised if the inn sold very quickly. The town has been bypassed by progress and is a backwater for about anything you can think of except Slinky toys. Anybody that would try to make a living running the inn would be sorely disappointed unless they can beef up the marketing, perhaps as a getaway from Pittsburgh. What allows mom to get by is dad’s life insurance payout.”

Skye kissed Dave again. “Enough about my mother. You can tell her yourself because she’s going to close the B&B for a few weeks and come down here for Christmas. She arrives next Thursday.”

“That’s great. She staying with you?”

“I set her up in your guest room. Alice made the offer when she heard I wanted to find a guest room for her and I accepted.” She giggled, “She’ll be right down the hall from you with high expectations about getting laid.”

“Oh, I’ll be sure she has a few episodes in my bed,” Dave teased.

“That’s exactly what she’s hoping for. She’s open to the other aspects and men of the Circle, but sure hopes to spend time with you.” After a pause, Skye asked, “Will you make love to me now?”

“Are you inured to being on the chaises?”

Skye smiled, “I think so. I’ve done some public lovemaking here, but ... well, I’m still getting over my modesty. Even being naked like this is still a small reach for me. Mandy helped me.

“What do you mean?” Dave asked as they stood drinking their water.

“Mandy told me how reticent she was about going all the way into the Circle culture when Jim first brought her here. She had me pegged exactly. She wasn’t sure she could plunge in and sleep with eighty new guys. She liked Jim and had dated a lot, but all her interactions were one-at-a-time, in private, and often in a dimly lit bedroom. You know, one candle for a romantic atmosphere.

“She told me about how she visited and had to get used to the partial nudity on the patio in the middle of the day, at the cocktail hour, and then even over dinner. She told me how she’d bugged out several times before the sex started, and then she’d loitered on the fringe and watched everyone a couple of times. She told me how she finally just focused not just on Jim but also on you. You were her gateway into the Circle.

“She made love with you in public – on one of these chaises, and that made all the difference in the world for her. Everything she told me, put my mind at ease. I wasn’t that different, and yet, here she was having made the transition to being a full member. I like her, too, and especially Jim.

“Well, Mandy declared the inside of their home a clothes-free zone. The three of us were naked all the time. Of course, that made me horny, so I’d make a pass at Jim, and we’d end up fucking. Mandy joined in, and I found I really liked doing something with her, too; and the three of us were sexually playful a lot of the time.

“Come time for my first Friday night on the patio, and it wasn’t so bad. Jim stuck with me for the first round, and Mandy connected with a cute university guy named Neo on the chaise right next to us. After the four of us had finished making love, Neo politely asked if he could be my next partner. I’d just watched him fuck my best friend and he was careful and romantic. I said yes. From then on, I’ve been more or less okay about being in public. I still have qualms now and again, but I get over them faster each time.”

Dave smirked as he led her to a relatively isolated chaise. He told her, “You should have been here when we first started the Circle or when our first group of children were only infants. We were fucking ALL the time. We were naked and if you were on the patio, it was considered an invitation. Moreover, we were all younger and more resilient, so making love in the morning, at brunch, after lunch, in mid-afternoon, in late-afternoon, over cocktails, and then a couple times after dinner was not abnormal for anybody.”

“Weren’t the women sore? Didn’t you get chafed?”

He chuckled, “You build up a tolerance. It was a blast and still is. Some of those couplings just went undercover, like you going off to Stan’s home where you couldn’t be seen by the others.”