Six months after May and I had our brush with disaster my wife sprung a lulu on me. The intervening months had been unbelievable. Despite my catching my devoted wife in the midst of a tryst with my erstwhile best friend Ralph, we were truly a happier couple. We really did love one another more deeply and completely than we had before though I had not thought it possible at the time. And to my immense and complete surprise I actually trusted her more implicitly than I had before. Don't ask for an explanation, it just was. And I certainly do not recommend it in place of marriage counseling. We just seemed to be more open to one another than we had been before. Part of the reason I guessed was that we had each faced one of our worst dragons, wrestled with it and actually came out on top.

That situation was one of the strangest I'd ever come across. May had never intended to cheat, but got caught up in a situation dating back to her college days.

Before she met me she and Ralph had dated. They never got intimate, despite his pressure but May had come very close to becoming Mrs. Ralph. There was just some little thing that kept her from agreeing to spend her life with him. They never really broke up formally, but May's college roommate and Ralph slowly drifted together, became a couple and finally married. When May and I met, fell in love and married, Ralph and his wife Crystal became our closest friends.

There had remained with May a lingering attraction for Ralph, who was a real hunk. Ralph was maybe the only one who was aware of the hidden attraction he held for May. May swore to me even though Ralph held a special place for her, she believed it was no more than that of a dear friend.

That attraction was the basis of what happened. I don't believe May was really aware of it herself. That along with a strange "contract" she had signed with him in college after a few too many drinks. Then after a few too many drinks at a two family barbecue earlier this year when I was off on a beer run and a lot of peer pressure from her best friend Crystal that ridiculous agreement took on new life. She found herself agreeing to one night's passion with Ralph. She couldn't explain it to herself later, but it all came together just as her body was going crazy hormonally with her first pregnancy and it made some kind of crazy sense to her at the time. Those feelings, along with the belief she had made an uncoerced promise to her two best friends led to our troubles.

Tragically, or maybe luckily, I ended up witness to the whole disastrous episode. Disastrous that is to May, Ralph seemed to think he had triumphed and won a convert to his rough and demanding sex. It was lucky for May and I, as the fallout seems to have made our very solid marriage stronger yet.

Go figure!

May had enjoyed only two deep attachments before she met me. Ralph was one of those. The other guy she broke up with when she discovered the he was carrying on with several other women while he and May were planning to spend their life together. They were out shopping for rings when she found out, but that is another story altogether.

Still there had been very close emotional attachments between my wife and Ralph, apparently stronger than anyone except Ralph understood.

After the explosion following my discovery of Ralph collecting on the contract, one of the changes was May's vow never to deny me anything in bed. She had been pretty open before, but now she was open to anything I proposed. She told me she knew I would never harm her, and of course I can't. As a result we both had benefited from the wider sexual boundaries. Benefited to such an extent we now knew we were perfect lovers for each other.

To get back to May's lulu; late one Friday evening after May had experienced an incredible orgasm she nestled her head on my shoulder, threw an arm and a leg over me, and told me we had to talk.

"Yeah, sexy chick, what's up?" I answered. "Certainly not me at the moment. You'll have to wait a bit, love."

She just grinned, "Gary, let me go over a couple things we have to be careful about for the next 6 to 8 weeks. You know them already, but let me remind you. This pregnancy has become high risk, which means I can't enjoy vaginal sex with you, that is number one. Number two, with the kind of earth shaking orgasms you give me with anal sex I don't think I can risk that either while I'm carrying your child."

She grinned again at the dismay on my face.

"Lover, I can take care of you with my mouth and hands. Don't look so stricken!" She giggled for a moment then added, "I think you can handle me, too. It's just that when we put your tool to use, we don't seem to be able to avoid earthquakes. Using your tongue... Uhmm, and those lips and mouth... damn it Gary! You're making me horny, and all I'm doing is talking about what you do! Now keep those hands to yourself for a few moments!"

Pushing my straying hands away, she moved away toward the edge of the bed and continued. "So we can keep your hunger from consuming you, and keep mine under control. Still I won't be able to give you the complete relief you deserve."

She laid back and looked at me, and I knew I wasn't going to like what was coming.

"Something else Gary, I have a burn in my stomach when I think of what Crystal and Ralph set out to do to us, and how close it came to leaving our child in a one parent home. And yeah, I know that wasn't their intention, but that's what it almost led to."

She fell silent for a moment and looking at her I could see tear drops glisten in the moonlight shining into the bedroom.

After a moment May gave a shudder, "Gary, don't think I'm evil, but I want to hurt those two bad for the way they tried to manipulate us. I want to have them feel a long term hurt. And I've thought of something pretty Machiavellian. It will help solve your need for release in the next few weeks and when it works it will put a permanent pain on both Crystal and Ralph. Can I tell you about it, and will you keep your mind open until we can at least discuss it?"

May got quiet and looked deeply and sadly into my eyes, "And it would allow me to pay some of the debt I owe you for being such a remarkable human being, and might even drain off some of the my guilt for what I almost did to us."

With that she started weeping and threw herself into my arms. Damn pregnant women anyway. It took most of an hour to calm her down and get her hormones in check again. Not, mind you, that I was upset with the need to cuddle my woman, best friend and one of the world's most incredible people for the biggest part of an hour.

When she at last had settled down she was holding me tightly, with her face buried in the light fur on my chest. When I heard her mumble, 'I love you," I pulled her face up for a kiss.

"My love," I said, "sleep. Tomorrow morning we can enjoy a cup of coffee on our patio. It will be bright and fresh, the night goblins will all be gone, and we can spend the day reviewing our life and it's joys. Sleep, love." I kissed her again and snuggled her as close as her marvelous belly would permit. As I drifted off to sleep I felt my child kick me from her womb. The warmth I felt from that contact colored my sleep. I enjoyed my dreams that night.

Next morning, a Saturday, I hopped out of bed to shower. Putting the coffeepot on, I got the morning paper and went out to the patio to relax, read and wait for the coffee to perk. I'd barely had time read through the comics and was only half way through the sports section when May appeared carrying coffee for the two of us.

Sitting down carefully, she was having trouble getting used to balancing with that baby sticking out in front of her, she gave a big sigh and told me now we had to talk. Her idea was indeed Machiavellian. It took me a while to really understand what she was proposing, and quite a while after that for her to get me to calm down. Then she explained it to me, explaining how her knowledge of Crystal and Ralph made her think this was a sure-fire success.

As she explained it, Ralph and Crystal were business partners in a very successful dry cleaning business, in addition to being married one to the other. To be successful, that business required Ralph as a full time manager and head 'cleaner'. They had a crew, which he oversaw, but he had a lot of expertise in some of the specialty things they did.

Crystal was the Office, the financial mind behind it, keeping the books and we both believe she was the one who planned their expansion. They now had a chain of at least a dozen shops, and it kept them very busy. Their financial affairs were so entwined one could not do without the other. May said they had very substantial Key Man Life and Disability Insurance on each other, to prevent complete poverty if anything happened to the other. They were that sure of needing one another to keep the business running. Dissolving the marriage would dissolve the business along with it.

The second factor she brought up was Ralph himself. He was the ultimate male egotist. He had been spectacularly successful with the 'ladies' since early in high school. The man was proud of his 'physical endowments' and abilities. May was very quick to point out, first, that he wasn't all that spectacular in his performance in bed, and second that I was every bit his equal in size, anyway.-

My response to that was an ironic, "Thanks!"

Then I laughed as I am just average in equipment, but I also believe it isn't what you have, it is how you use it. She agreed with that, but told me sweetly I was as much as a girl could handle in both areas. That led to a break while I tried to prove her correct, though somewhat constrained with the medical limits we were operating on with the bundle of joy she was hiding under her apron.

It was times like this when I was real glad we had the seven foot fence around the back yard and none of our neighbors houses had a view into our yard.

When we were able to get back to business, May tossed out our cold coffee and poured fresh. Then she continued with her explanation. As she now understood Ralph, he was a domineering and demanding lover, in the worst possible way. He did seem to satisfy his partners in sex, but as May now understood, the women were being overwhelmed by his male dominance and his physical size. After 'sampling' his wares, she didn't believe he was more than a competent sexologist. And barely competent at that, because his techniques must invariably lead to some pain in his partners. While she understood that to be a part of the process, it took a whole lot more. In other words, he was a lousy, selfish lover who left his partners only partly satisfied. He also used pain, a much easier sensation to induce than pleasure, to get their attention. In her estimation, the main cause of the satisfaction the girls received was due to their expectations and not Ralph's abilities. She told me some girls were so excited by seeing a pecker as big as his, their minds took care of their enjoyment.

The last card she threw at me was a surprise. She told me Crystal had nurtured a hidden crush on my since first we met. The was sure he reason Crystal had abetted Ralph's designs on May were her own designs on me.

I had known for some time that Ralph and Crystal had been in a key club, a wife-swapping club. If May had known that, they would never have been successful in persuading her to honor that strange contract where she agreed to spend a night with Ralph if there were no chance of getting her pregnant. Of course once she was expecting my child, nothing Ralph could do could get her more pregnant, and somehow Crystal and Ralph made it seem reasonable.

I don't understand the reasoning, and neither does May at this point. We both have finally blamed it on judgement clouded by the strange cocktail of hormones her pregnancy was washing through her system at the time.

Then she threw a fastball at me.

She wanted me to take Crystal as a lover while May couldn't perform due to her medical problems. Before I could shut my mouth to protest, she had her hand covering it, preventing breaking in until she had finished.

May told me it would be easy, because Crystal was HOT for me, in capital letters. Crystal was also used to sleeping with a variety of men, all of whom apparently compared unfavorably to Ralph in their ability to love a woman.

- May was sure Crystal would fall on her back if I just smiled at her.

- May was sure Crystal would be consumed by my ability to pleasure a woman. It would be something she had never even dreamed possible.

- May was sure Crystal's own talents to love were as deficient as Ralph's.

- May was sure once Crystal had been given a full course of my loving, she would never be satisfied with Ralph's poor brand again.

And because the two were tied inextricably together. It would be years before they could work out of the hole we would put them in.

If ever.

May assured me she would not be jealous of the time I spent with Crystal in the next six weeks or so. She had no doubt she, May, would be kept more than satisfied herself and didn't believe she could do enough to take care of my needs until after the baby was born. She was very concerned that she could not 'do her duty' as she told me, while giggling.

I tried to convince her I would be content with her efforts, but she'd have none of it. Her contention was that I didn't deserve discomfort just because she was temporarily out of service, so to speak. None of my arguments swayed her in any way. She just came back to the point that I deserved better.

In a nutshell, May wanted me to seduce Crystal and then subject her to several weeks of intense and soul shattering sex. It was her conviction that it would destroy Ralph's ability to satisfy Crystal. Furthermore, once she had been shown what ecstasy really was she couldn't hide Ralph's lack from him.

In effect, she wanted to destroy Ralph's confidence in his own ability to love, and at the same time make Crystal dissatisfied with a lover of lesser abilities than myself.

It stunned me! First of all, because while I know I'm a competent lover, I also know I'm not world class. When I told her this, May just snickered. It also seemed ludicrous that a woman as experienced as Crystal would not be an accomplished lover. My wife came back with the old saw about, 'ten years experience as opposed to one years experience repeated ten times'.

May confided that Crystal liked to talk about her bedtime experiences, though she had never hinted about the wide variety of partners she had been enjoying. In my wife's mind, there was a jarring sameness to her descriptions. In her estimation, it was of negligible importance.

I finally agreed to consider it, with the provision that she also consider her own feelings. She was proposing I take a lover, with her permission. She had to think seriously of the long-term effects of what she was proposing. On my side, I flat out disliked the lady she was throwing at me. Of course, neither did she and that was the reason for it. It would certainly be novel to mount a woman and boff her out of a feeling for revenge.

And that's where we left it. I knew she wasn't going to drop this, and I worried about it all weekend.

May said nothing else until Tuesday. She was a tiger in bed, but of course we were limited and May was upset that I gave her such a strong orgasm. It was going to be difficult for me to tone down my desire to bring her to ecstasy.

Tuesday she met me at the door with a scotch and soda. The drink was welcome, but I knew what was coming and had been dreading it. "OK, love. Give me your sales pitch," I said. She just laughed at me, before sitting on my lap.

"Gary, give me a moment to explain my thinking on this again before we get to don'ts and wont's, OK?"

I nodded.

"Let me describe the sex Crystal is used to, and thinks is the epitome of pleasure. Her husband is a big, bluff man who tries to overpower when dealing with other people. In sex he manhandles the woman, and plays a very dominant role. He's proud of the size of his cock, which is a little longer and maybe wider than most men have. So what does a woman do with a man like that? I'll tell you."

"The gal tries to pace herself with the man. It's damn easy to know his pace, because he pays no attention to hers. With a hot woman, she can work her own orgasm. Heck, she can have more than one if the guy likes to take his time. And since the guy is kind of overpowering the cum she gets can be overpowering too. Understand lover?"

"Well, yeah," I said, "and there's no way I can do or compare to that. You know I'm not into the rough stuff honey. How do you expect me to make a woman who likes to be dominated forget her lover of choice. It is a loser from the very beginning!"

"Not so, Gary," May stated. "There's dominance, and there's dominant. You dominate a woman, Gary. You do it using the woman, not your muscle. You know, like the old saying of playing your woman like a fine violin. Let me tell you what you do with me every night. First you get me relaxed and enjoying your hands and lips and mouth and tongue. Then you spend the time to get my body going. Lover, you get me SO hot and you keep at it. You never start the main course until I've spasmed at least once, often three times or more depending on how much you want to please me. And Gary, there is nothing I can do about it. THAT is being dominant!" She gave me a squeeze, and buried her face in my throat until her breathing returned to normal.

"What I was thinking was you making it a project to leave Crystal gasping and almost comatose from the pleasure you give her. I know you don't like her after what they did, and I know I'm asking you to do more for her than you can do for me at the moment. And I want you to do it every time you can get her in the sack."

Looking at me, she added, "Hopefully every day for six weeks and maybe more; at least once."

"What I think will happen is Crystal will get addicted to your kind of loving, and a selfish son of a bitch like Ralph has no concept of how you do it. So we end up with Ralph suddenly feeling inadequate, and Crystal deprived and frustrated. They can't go find another partner, their whole business life is inextricably tied together. On top of that, Crystal has been telling her friends for years that she married the worlds greatest lover." She paused and smiled evilly.

Leaning back and looking into Gary's eyes, she whispered, "I think it will be almost a lifelong penalty for what they did to us. And Crystal at least will think she is being rewarded, until maybe two, three weeks after you quit servicing her." Here she stood up off my lap, stepped back with her hands on her hips and looked me square in the eye. "And if I ever even suspect you of touching her or any other woman after I've had this baby, you may never screw a woman again."

Laughing, I said, "Fat chance of that, Mata Hari!"

"I know husband, I know." Sitting back on my lap she continued, "And in a strange way, I will feel I have made up to you just a little bit for what I did to you. I know I can never repay what I did..."

"You hush up, you little minx!" I broke in. "You put that behind you, like I've put it behind me. I don't ever want to hear about that again. You agree my wife, mother of my child?"

My arms were about her, almost smothering her, and she loved it. Fighting back tears she kissed her husband. We were both silent as we cuddled.

Finally I leaned away and asked, "OK, Agent 007, when is our target coming over, tonight? Or has it been set up for tomorrow? And does she know I'm going to be dragging her into bed?"

Dimpling, Amy answered, "Tomorrow night, lover. And no, she has no idea she's going to get screwed. Knowing her history, I don't think we need to be too careful how we set it up. Now come on, dinners waiting in the oven."

May called me at work the next day just before I left for home to tell me Crystal would be there when I got home. She took the opportunity to give me instructions on how she wanted the evening to go. I love the woman, but she is a constant surprise to me!

As much as I was against May's idea she was getting me excited about it. Sure enough, Crystal's car was in the driveway when I got there. Walking in I gave May a kiss and somehow managed to greet Crystal nicely. Crystal was wearing a blue full skirt with the hem falling to just above her knee, and a pale blue sleeveless blouse.

After changing into more comfortable clothes I found the two women in the living room and joined them. It was nice to see the gin and tonic May had poured me, I thought I might need it. May was in the midst of explaining how tough these last few weeks of her pregnancy were going to be. It was serious enough, but she was really laying it on thick.

On cue (a serious look my way from May accompanied by a wink) I excused myself for a moment and stepped into the garage. May had the living room sound monitor I had installed turned on and as I stepped into the garage I heard, "... and I just can't take care of him now, Crystal." My wife went on, "He keeps me satisfied. Oh God does he! But all I can do for him is use my hand and my mouth. And that just isn't the same. He needs his relief! I even suggested Gary might think of using a whore, but he absolutely stopped that idea. I love him too much to let him go so long without relief. I'm embarrassed to tell you this, but I've even considered asking you or another of our really trusted friends if they would maybe take care of him a couple times this next month. I hope you're not disgusted with me for that, but I don't want him thinking of looking for some stranger. He gets so raunchy when he's not drained, and as much as he loves me I don't want to put that kind of pressure on him."

Crystal made some soothing comments and then May's voice came in again. This time it was clearer and louder than before, and I knew she had walked over near the sound pickup. "And that minx of a secretary of Gary's, Carole! I can't trust her a minute! She's had a thing for him since she came to work for him!"

Why that little tease! She and Carole were extremely close friends and Carole was as happily married as any woman I know. I almost broke out in a belly laugh. It was a good lead in for what she was planning though and it gave me another whiff of smoke to blow in dealing with Crystal.

I waited another ten minutes and came back inside. "How soon is dinner, May? And Crystal, you are staying for dinner aren't you? As I recall today and tomorrow are your husband's nights in the 'factory'. I'm sure we have enough. Oh hell, May must have asked you already, are you staying?"

Crystal gave me a strange look, glanced at May and said, "Well, I don't know..."

May broke in, "Crystal, you have to stay. I made a lasagna for tonight, and it's enough for four or five. And I can really use your company tonight, too. Sometimes I just need another woman around."

"Well, OK you two," she agreed, "if you really want me I'd love to stay, especially with a chance at your famous lasagna. Even if I'll have to diet for the next week or so."

May hoisted her pregnant body out of the chair and said, "Marvelous, and its time to take it out of the oven. Come on in the kitchen and help me set the table, Crystal." And the two women walked into the kitchen.

The meal was pleasant, and as always May's lasagna was something to write home to mother about. And complain that mom never cooked that well!

After the meal we adjourned back to the living room, where I served a nice Merlot to Crystal and myself. May because of her pregnancy took a glass of tomato juice. Truth be told, that's what I would have preferred but I had my instructions tonight, and wine was on the menu.

It wasn't ten minutes when May complained that she had to lie down for a moment, but begged Crystal to stay. Crystal demurred saying she should get home, but May wouldn't hear of it so very soon it was just Crystal and myself and two glasses of Merlot.

The conversation lagged for a bit until I asked Crystal if she would like to see a new short foreign film I had picked up on the web. It was one of the films I had read about that had scored so high at the Seattle Film Festival. She agreed, and I popped it in the VCR, sat down next to her on the couch and refilled her wine glass at the same time.

As advertised the film was very good. It kept us both laughing, and kept my target from noticing me continually topping off her wineglass during the show. By the time it was over, we were both relaxed and Crystal was talkative. Placing an arm behind her on the couch I began talking about how difficult a time May and I were having dealing with the troubles of her pregnancy.

Crystal was being very supportive, but it seemed obvious to me she was trying to keep some distance between herself and our troubles. To my mind, knowing what she had been told and aware of her tendency to enjoy sampling the male animals not in her own paddock it sounded very promising. I managed to fill her glass again, and the smooth red wine was definitely having an effect on her.

Maybe an hour after the video was over, Crystal asked where May had gotten off to, and I told her to sit fast and I'd check on her. I peeked in on my wife, who was reading in bed with the living room sound monitor on. I gave her the high sign before coming back and sitting on Crystal's right. This time our thighs were touching when I leaned back and put my arm behind her on the couch again. "She's asleep at the moment," I told Crystal. "Just the two of us."

She giggled a moment, and started to stand up, telling me she thought she had better get home. I slipped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her gently back to the couch. When she relaxed, her head seemed to naturally lean over onto my shoulder.

I changed the subject and started reminiscing about the last vacation she and her husband had shared with May and myself and she relaxed more into me. Turning slightly toward her, I placed my right hand on her upper thigh, and began slowly massaging the ball of her shoulder with my left hand which was cupping it.

As we talked, I began moving my hand slowly and gently up and down her leg through the silky skirt she had on. And began lightly tickling her neck with my left hand, running it from just below her ear and down following down the curve of her arm to her elbow. When my left hand began playing with the back of her elbow, the action of my right hand on her thigh began pulling her skirt up ever so slowly.

Crystal's breathing was very shallow as I played with the folds of her elbow, and then moved around and softly caressed the soft and sensitive skin inside her elbow.

When her head nestled more closely into the hollow under my chin, I began a slow pinching-massaging of her biceps with my left hand. Almost immediately after that I felt the hem of her skirt under my right palm. Sliding my hand under the skirt my caresses began falling on her naked leg, and her breathing seemed to stop for a minute as the sensuality flowed through her from the massage and petting.

This had taken maybe ten minutes, and I knew she was wallowing in the sensation from both hands. I kissed the top of her head, and cupping my left arm around her biceps I began stroking it from her elbow to the underarm. There I very lightly teased the smoothly shaven skin inside the arm hole of her blouse. I was very careful to avoid a tickle, allowing my knuckles to just brush the side of her breast as I was doing so.