Chapter 54

STILL MONDAY AFTERNOON — SEPTEMBER 16

In their suite, Jeff's wives listened to Joyce tell about Caitlin's father as Joyce leaned back against a pillow at the head of the big bed.

"The house is in Caitlin's name now. It's about five miles this side of Idaho Springs, uh, this side of Denver. She finished her nursing degree at the same time I finished my criminal justice degree. We've been living in the house she inherited from her father and just share expenses on everything."

Biting her lower lip, she looked around her. "Uh, this would never work with Jeff — although, I'm flattered more than you can imagine. You see, Caitlin and I..."

" ... love each other," Diana broke in. "And with Ben gone, you continued your relationship, together."

"Yeah. That's about it," she sighed. "But we're not lesbians ... I guess you could call us bisexual, but somehow I don't feel like I am. I mean, we ... did things when Ben was there, then after ... it just happened one day when we had been crying, and we still do it. We talk about him all the time."

Taking another sip of wine, she said, "Thank you for the wine, but I almost feel guilty for drinking it, since it's so expensive, but it helps with..." Shrugging, she started again, "Caitlin dated a couple of different guys since then, but she said she about freaked out when they put their hands on her breasts. It just didn't seem right. It was like she was cheating on Ben.

"Jeff is the first guy that has kissed me since Ben died. I can't believe that I let him do that, let alone..." She sighed, then almost giggled, " ... had a tremendous orgasm and fainted from it."

There was quiet laughter from the wives. "He does that to all of us almost every night," Ann interjected.

"When he thinks we've had enough, he does something. We have this tremendous orgasm that just goes on and on until we pass out," Melissa said, leaning forward, her eyes sparkling.

Diana sat frowning. "So you're saying that you can't join us? Or are you saying it's a twofer?"

"A twofer?" Joyce started, then "Oh, yeah. I guess that's what I mean. I mean I can't leave Caitlin. We just can't be separated. We promised each other. So I guess I need to leave. I mean, I really did like what Jeff did to me, and I feel so close to all of you for some reason, but I think it would be best..."

Jeff walked into the bedroom, obviously having been listening. "No," he said, then again, "No. Please forgive me for eavesdropping, but I started to walk in just as you were telling where you and Caitlin lived. I didn't want to interrupt, so I just waited. I have, uh ... excellent hearing," he again understated, "and I couldn't help but hear what you said."

Sitting on the side of the bed near Joyce, he took her hand. "As I've told my women, this thing, whatever it is, goes both ways. Whatever I am — and I may just be a man who cares — women sometimes seem very strongly attracted to me in a short period of time. Diana says it's pheromones and something else. Whatever. It works both ways. Let's just start at the point that you aren't going to just up and leave — and go from there."

Leaning over to a startled Joyce, he kissed her for a few seconds. Pulling back, he said, "Now tell me what I've missed in this conversation."

"So like Diana said, we have a twofer," Jeff said, grinning at Joyce.

"I can't believe we're having this conversation..." she started.

"Kiss her again, Jeff," Diana said. "Really kiss her. She needs a refresher. This is a lot for anyone to accept that hasn't been around you."

Joyce had, at first, thought that Diana was kidding, but Jeff knew she wasn't. Taking Cramer into his arms, even as she blushed and tried to say something, he kissed her. A full minute later, he pulled slowly back as Joyce absently touched her lips with her fingertips.

"If you leave now, Joyce, you'll be miserable before you even get home. And it will get worse. He's an Alpha Male, and even more than that, I think he's a Prime. What does Caitlin look like?"

Amazing everyone there, Jeff didn't even blink.

"Well, uh, she's a lot prettier than I am," Joyce started.

"Seen through the eyes of love," Helen inserted. "Do you have a picture with you?"

"What she looks like doesn't make any difference," Jeff interjected. "Joyce can't abandon someone she loves."

The women looked at him as if he were mentally challenged. "We know that Diana said. But we want to see what our future sister-wife looks like."

"But she might not even like me," Jeff tried to get out.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Melissa said.

"You could always unzip your pants," Jennie said. "She would follow you home, then."

"Jennie, that's not..."

"Oh, Daddeee," Arlene dragged out the word. "We're just teasing, and you know it."

"We'll let Joyce explain everything to her, then you can sit beside her. By the time she inhales those pheromones for a few minutes, she'll be ready to kiss you. Later, you can turn on whatever it is that you do, and kiss her. She'll be ready to come up and stay a day or two with us by then. She'll never want to leave after that," Diana reasoned aloud.

"But I don't know whether she'll go for ... well, you know. We never thought about anyone having so many wives. With Ben, it was ... different." Joyce looked around at the bed, then at all the women smiling at her. "How could you want me? I mean, there are already seven of you."

Helen leaned back in her chair near the bed and crossed her legs, swinging one leg back and forth. "You're comparing Jeff to a normal male. And ... well, you also said that Ben wasn't young. And there is something going on between us as wives. There is absolutely no jealously between us. So many women to get along this well, is straining probability. We think that this may be caused by our Alpha Male, but I also suspect that our Alpha Female — our Queen Bitch — has something to do with it."

Helen took a sip of her wine, thought for a moment, then continued, "My introduction to the family was quite different..."

" ... But I really would like to stay tonight, but I just can't."

"But why? I know that you and Caitlin are close, but..." Diana began.

"She's a nurse, as I said, and works six straight twelve-hour days, then she's off for a week. We haven't been apart for a night since ... well since it happened, other than when I work an extra shift, or she does. I can't just call her and tell her I'm going to spend time with ... people that she never even heard of. Well, that's not exactly right. I did tell her about coming up here to thank you for the vests. I can't just say, uh, that I got invited to..."

" ... join a harem," Arlene supplied, giggling.

Before Joyce could say anything else, Diana spoke up. "Call her and tell her to come up here. Don't take no for an answer. We could go down to Winter Park and meet her there. Then let her follow us back, or leave her car there. We could pick it up tomorrow when we come back from Denver. Since it's going to be a twofer anyway, we might as well meet her as soon as possible. Well, more importantly, Jeff needs to 'meet' her."

Warming to the subject, Diana continued, "Yeah, we can meet her in Winter Park, have a nice meal in the secluded room where we met you, Helen," she said looking at her sister-wife. "That would be neat. That will be three wives that Jeff got in association with that one room."

"But, Caitlin is still in love with Ben. I mean..."

"And so are you," Laura broke in. "So what? Once our Alpha turns on the charm, his pheromones, and whatever else he does, she will be tickled to come back with us."

"Uh, there is just one teeny little problem with that," Diana mused. "Just how many waitresses are we going to bring home with us, too?"

"Uh, yeah, there is that, " Ann laughed.

"That's easy," Laura interjected. "Once our meal has been delivered, we'll tell them that we are going to have a conference and don't want to be disturbed. We'll make sure they leave the drinks with us, and we'll tell them that we will serve ourselves for refills. With the tips that we've left, not to say anything about how much money we've spent on food there, they should be glad to go along with whatever we want. Then our husband can turn on the pheromones to dazzle her."

"I can't believe that I'm setting up my best ... friend in the world," Joyce said, a frown upon her pretty face.

"Would you rather just forget Jeff and drive away tonight?" Diana asked, knowing the answer.

"But I just..."

"Shall we call him back for a booster?" Helen asked, a smile playing about her lips.

"Trust us. You don't want to even think about leaving our husband," Jennie and Melissa said.

Diana picked up the phone and dialed the living room. "Need you back here a moment," she said when Jeff picked up.

As Jeff walked out of the bedroom, Diana handed the dazed Joyce the phone. "Remember, kissing and a little more is as far as it is going for the time being. You will decide when the major step is to be. But we all know that you have gone too far to be without him now, so let's get Caitlin on the phone and get her started toward Winter Park."

Seeing the look on Joyce's face, and knowing that Joyce's panties were probably soaked after the long kiss, Arlene said, "We've got plenty of new panties your size. And there's no reason to be embarrassed. If he had kissed me the way he just did you, he would never have gotten out of here before he made love to me." Then laughing, she said, "Screw that ... before he had fucked my brains out, is what I really meant to say."

Noticing Jennie and Melissa oh so casually walking toward the door, Diana said, laughter in her voice, "Oh, no you don't. I want our Alpha Male to be full of pheromones, and, uh, other things when we get to that restaurant. If you two get in that living room with him as revved up as he has gotten all of us while he was kissing Joyce, we'll never get to the restaurant on time."

Busted, the girls grinned at her and sat back on the bed.

Having just gotten home bushed from work after the sixth twelve-hour shift in a row, Caitlin wasn't very enthusiastic when Joyce told her of the invitation to dinner and to stay the night at some retreat on a mountain. But Joyce wouldn't back down, and rather than make her mad, Caitlin agreed to meet them in Winter Park and bring an overnight bag for each of them.

Since it was a Monday night, the conference room was free at the nice restaurant. In the parking lot, they waited about ten minutes for Caitlin to show. As she pulled into the lot, Jeff got a glimpse of her. When she parked and got out, he knew that she was wife material as far as looks were concerned. He already knew that she was Joyce's age, and Joyce had told him that she was a redhead, but that was an understatement. She had fiery red hair, cut short, and although he didn't notice them in the poor light, later, he discovered that she had just a sprinkling of freckles.

Wearing a tight top that accentuated her medium-sized breasts and slim figure, she stepped confidently out of her car and met the group as they stood talking while waiting for her.

Amazing both Jeff and Diana, utilizing her training for remembering names, Cramer took over the introductions and got everyone's name right without the slightest hesitation. Introducing Jeff last, she stepped aside as Jeff put out his hand, then grasped Caitlin's hand with both of his as he moved a little closer than usual.

Joyce grinned as she saw her friend and lover start, knowing that she had probably felt the same thing she had when Jeff first touched her, and every time after.

After a brief chat in the lot, everyone started inside. Caitlin held back and whispered in her friend's ear, "What's going on? Why are we doing this? Who is that guy?"