"Would it be okay if she stayed here for a little while, you know, just till she can get back on her feet?"

We had just finished a passionate evening of good sex and Linda was curled up beside me playing with my chest hair. The 'she' in her question was her best friend Frieda. She had just lost her job after suffering a humiliating break up six months ago with her live-in boyfriend who dumped her for someone younger.

I grunted. I didn't want to commit to anything. Linda and I have been together for about a year. She had moved in to my place and had set up her nest. We hadn't spoken about marriage, but the idea was a strong undercurrent in most things we did.

"Dan?" she asked. I looked at her and smiled. I gave her no other indication as to what I felt about the subject. She continued to nuzzle against me.

The first evening Frieda moved in, we celebrated by having a grand dinner together. Both Linda and Frieda busied themselves in the kitchen, shooing me back to the living room while they prepared the elaborate meal for the evening.

We sat at the table, me at the head of the table and Linda and Frieda at either side. We all clasped hands and bent our heads as I said grace.

We dug in and for the first time I started to appreciate Frieda moving in with us. She was a far better cook than either Linda or I.

Several months later after another noisy night of passion, Linda hugged me and kissed my chest. "You are so manly! You've worn me out," she said. My ego puffed up with the breathing of my chest.

Changing subjects she continued. "I'm worried about Frieda, she is awfully lonely here. She hasn't even had a date since that jerk dumped her."

I shrugged and reached over for the glass of water on the night stand. Frieda had not been able to find a job and after the first week she was firmly entrenched in taking care of the house and meals. She was a wonderful cook and kept the house cleaner than it had ever been. In her own way she was paying her share. Linda and I tended to work later hours so it was always nice to come home to a house and food that didn't have to be dealt with by us.

Frieda was very careful not to intrude, and she was most welcomed into our activities like she was a room mate.

"I think her confidence is shaken," Linda said. "She doesn't seem to want to go out, she has no interest in men, and she has confided in me that she thinks she's ugly."

I sighed. "She's not ugly, far from it. She'll make some man a happy wife."

Linda looked at me. "I'm not so sure she will ever get that chance. I think she's depressed although she will not go see someone for help. Perhaps you can take more of an interest in her. She still is wary of men and even you."

"Me?" I said as I sat up and stared at her eyes in the darkness. "She's afraid of me?"

"Not afraid, just wary. She knows this is your home, your house and you haven't been the most welcoming to her..."

I started to get annoyed. "Linda, she's your friend. This was supposed to be something temporary. I've been accommodating..."

Linda kissed me softly. "I know you have, you've been wonderful, but she is so sensitive. She feels like she is walking on eggshells around you. I know you never loose your temper, but she thinks that one wrong move from her and you will throw her out. Do you know how stressful that is when you are at the mercy of someone else?"

I shook my head. I was well off. My family had money and now I had money. The house, more like a ranch, was mine, fully paid off. I had an inheritance that I lived off the interest from. My safety net was huge. I never had to worry.

"Ok Linda, what do you want me to do?"

She hugged me. "Show her some love. Let her know that she belongs here and that she is a valuable member of the household. She needs to feel valued."

"I can do that," I said.

I don't remember the movie. All three of us were on the couch cuddled up under the throw blanket watching it. The lights were dim and we had finished the second bottle of wine. There was a lot of giggling from all of us as Linda tickled me and I tickled her back. Then Linda tickled Frieda.

"You're not getting out of this!" Linda cried as she crawled onto my lap to reach Frieda better. Frieda squealed and jumped away from under the blanket.

"Crap! It's cold out here!" she exclaimed and then crawled back under the blanket with us. This time she pushed right up against my body. I looked at her with a grin and she smirked into a devilish smile and tickled me while Linda held me down, still in my lap.

We all wound up on the floor. The blanket twisted and bound us together as we all struggled in laugher. The tickling stopped as Linda looked into my eyes and kissed me passionately. I returned her kiss. Soon I was aware that Frieda was next to us, watching and stroking both of our bodies. Linda turned my face to Frieda and then with her other hand she guided Frieda's lips to mine and I kissed her.

It was soft and different. Frieda liked to push her tongue into my mouth. I wasn't used to that. She also liked to tilt her head to the left. I was always awkward kissing to my left. Our teeth clicked together painfully and I mumbled an apology. She moaned and just continued to kiss me.

Linda had disentangled herself a bit and was working on getting my pants down. I shifted my weight which loosened my hold on my pants and Linda pulled them down as Frieda shifted into my embrace.

Soon we all were naked on the floor as Linda lovingly allowed me to pleasure Frieda. At some point Linda decided to get a taste of Frieda as well. From that night on, Frieda shared our bed each evening. She had moved out of the guest room and now put her things in our room. I was treated like a king and reveled in the attentions of both my girls focused on me.

"It will just be for the weekend dear," Linda said. She was packing her luggage along with Frieda. They were going to visit Frieda's family. Her mother was sick and in the hospital and Frieda needed to take care of her aging father. Linda was going to give support to Frieda.

It was a month after that first evening and I was surprised at the passion these two had for each other as well as for me. We had done everything together and Frieda was blossoming back into the secure confident woman she once was.

"I'm just a little hurt that she hasn't invited me to come as well," I moped.

"Her family wouldn't understand. We're trying to ease their concerns right now, not add to them!" She kissed me and pulled her suitcase to the door.

Frieda came up to me next. "I'm going to miss you," she said as she hugged and kissed me as well. Then they were gone and I was left alone in my big house.

When they came home they treated me to a wonderful night of passionate sex. Once I was done, the two of them proceeded to continue hugging and caressing each other. Eventually they ate each other out till they had claimed a few more orgasms before I nodded off to sleep.

In the morning I woke up on one side of the bed and I looked over to see them asleep in each others arms. I felt a pang of loneliness at that moment.

When you are on the outside looking in, you notice things. Linda and Frieda had their own special language and way of communicating. They were on the same wavelength and more and more often they would laugh and giggle about some in-joke that I was not aware of. One time when I was able to get Linda to myself, Frieda I had sent out to pick up some groceries, I asked her about when Frieda would be leaving.

Linda was shocked at my question.

"How could you think that she would be leaving? She's a part of us now. We both love her. She loves us."

"Linda, I'm getting uncomfortable about the closeness you share with her. I feel like I'm the outsider in this relationship." "That's silly, dear. We both love you."

"What's going on?" Frieda announced her arrival. Linda turned to her and said, "Our little Dan here is feeling a little insecure."

Frieda pouted. "Oh no! How did this ever happen sweaty? Well, we'll just have to show you how much you mean to us, right dear?" "Yes, honey," said Linda.

They led me into the bedroom and took turns turning my insides out. I should have been happy. I wasn't. It seemed like what they did to me was a coordinated attack on me. Instead of the three of us working together, I had faced a unified front that manipulated me into a sexual bowl of jello.

In the morning I woke up with both of them on either side of me.

We had another talk. This time we all sat in the living room and discussed things.

"I feel like I'm the person you have to schedule things around. Like you have to placate me until I'm satisfied and then you two can get back to your life together. I'm a stranger in my own home."

"You're just being silly," Linda told me.

"Silly? So now my feelings are silly?"

"No," said Frieda. "What she meant is that you are reading into things that aren't there."

Linda nodded with Frieda.

I sighed. "It used to be, Linda that you would nod for me when I was able to read and interpret what you were thinking."

"Honey, I don't know what you are talking about. You're upset, I give you that, but really..."

"Ok, let me spell this out for you," I looked at them. "Both of you, since Frieda became involved with us, I feel like the two of you are falling for each other deeper than for me. I'm worried that you two will leave me. Already you two share things with each other and leave me out of it. I feel like the fifth wheel here."

They were silent.

Then Linda stood up and she was furious. "Oh so it's okay if we both love you but it isn't okay for us to love each other? You expect us to share YOUR love yet you can't handle it when we fall in love with each other as well? What makes you better than us? You claim to love us both, that you can share your love but we can't?"

She grabbed Frieda and the two of them stormed out of the room. I wound up sleeping in the guest room for the next week.

We talked things out. They talked things out to me. It all seemed logical and rational, only it wasn't. The next thing I knew we had two new women move into my house. Linda and Frieda had found them and they were in need of a place to stay.

Of course this was all discussed beforehand. I had a suspicion, hell I knew, that Linda and Frieda had already discussed this and made the decision before I was even brought into the equation.

Yet how could I complain? Now there were two more women, both of whom were attractive, that were willing to share me. Four women and me. I never stood a chance. I was always reacting to them and I never had any alone time. Always one women would lavish attention on me.

Cindy and Sharon were from the mid-west. They were shapely, and they were kind souls. They had moved out here and then fallen on bad times. They had spent all their money and had never gotten a job. They were kicked out of their apartment and had been able to hook up with Linda and Frieda.

Cindy was a screamer in bed and pretty soon I noticed that someone would pair off with me each evening, sometimes it was tow people, but normally one of the women would follow me into bed and we would have sex. What did the others do when I was pumping away with the fourth one? I think they kept themselves occupied.

Linda and Frieda didn't pair off together. Now with the others here, they seemed a little more independent of each other. It looked like I had gotten my Linda back. She would share my bed at least twice a week alone. Together we tried to become intimate again, but I always felt that there was something holding her back.

I tried to bring up the subject on many occasions, be she would just shush me. "Let's just enjoy the moment Dan. Who knows what will happen tomorrow."

That would always send warning bells off in my head. What the hell?

"Just like you Dan, I have feelings for everyone in this household. It wouldn't be fair to them to not share our love."

I looked at her, tears were in my eyes. "Honey, I love you. I want you, only you." "Oh Dan, how can you be so cruel to the others?"

The next morning I told the girls that I had to go away for business. None of them really knew what I did, even Linda had a vague idea that I ran some company. They were sad but understood that I had to leave. What they didn't realize was that I couldn't go on living like we had been. It was tearing me up inside.

I ran away from girl trouble and soon enough on the road I met up with another girl. That's just how it is, isn't it?

Jennifer was vivacious and pretty. When our eyes met, we just knew there was a connection there. She was waiting tables in a diner I was frequenting down the trail from the cabin I had holed myself up in. I had decided to try some trout fishing and found that I hated it, but enjoyed just sitting out next to the river in the wild and enjoying the quietness of nature.

We went out to dinner. It was a long drive to a larger town that had a decent restaurant. There's only so many burgers and fries I could handle. I found the idea of one person focusing on me rather intoxicating. No one competing for attention, and no little voice in the back of my head wondering who will be in my bed tonight.

She didn't accept my offer of a nightcap, rather I just dropped her off at her place and she gave me a chaste kiss on the lips. I grabbed her again and kissed her deeply. She returned the kiss then scurried out of the car and through her front door.

After the third date, she accepted my offer and I took her back to the cabin. We were almost fully undressed when my conscience hit me. "I can't do this, Jennifer." "What's wrong Dan?" she asked. "I'm already in a relationship. It's a little weird, but it would be cheating if I didn't speak to them first." "Them?" she exclaimed. I nod. "It's more than one person. It's actually the reason why I'm out here, trying to get my head screwed back on straight." She geot dressed quickly. So did I. I took her home.