Chapter 8

Hamako sat down on the edge of the bed. She looked at the floor, now. Bob flopped down on the bed, up by the pillows, lying on his side. She darted a look at him, but then looked back at the floor.

"I'm not Hiroto Nakimura," he said.

"I know."

"Then you don't have to be all submissive, and look at the floor."

"Where am I supposed to look?"

"At me."

Slowly, her face turned. Her hair, which had fallen in front of her collar bones, made a shield she could look out from behind. Bob almost laughed, but he knew she was nervous and upset.

She turned to face him.

"We have talked a little about becoming close. I have kissed you. How do you feel about me?" he asked.

She frowned. "I cannot say how I feel, because it changes. Sometimes I want to do everything with you. Sometimes I'm terrified to be with you."

"Like now?"

"Yes."

"Why? You know I won't hurt you."

"Yes, I know that. I can't explain it. Sometimes you just make me crazy. I don't know how to feel, and when I do feel something, I don't know how to explain it."

"When I kiss Raleigh, how do you feel about that?"

"I am happy for her."

"Really? You aren't jealous?"

"No. It makes me impatient to get to do that myself, but I'm not jealous. After you have kissed us ... touched us ... we kiss and touch each other, and it is very good."

"How about if I did those things with Megan?"

She thought. "I would be worried that you wouldn't want to be with us any more."

"That's why Raleigh is so upset," said Bob. "When she came into the room, Megan and I were naked, and about to get in bed together."

"Oh," said Hamako, looking away from him. Finally she looked back. "Does this mean you have fallen love with Megan?"

"Sort of," said Bob.

"What does that mean?"

"Well," said Bob, "according to Megan, I've fallen in love with all three of you."

Hamako's reaction to that comment was delayed by the arrival of Megan and Raleigh. Megan came in first, and acted like nothing had happened. Raleigh entered after her and stood, uncomfortably in the doorway.

Hamako lurched up off the bed and skipped to her friend. They hugged, and stayed that way. Bob could hear Hamako say something, but he couldn't understand it. Raleigh's response was clearer. She said "I'm okay."

The girls relaxed their hug, and Hamako moved sideways. They ended up side-by-side, blocking the exit to the room, though that wasn't intentional.

There would have been an uncomfortable silence, except Megan spoke.

"I have a theory about all this, but I'm going to keep it to myself," she said.

"That's helpful," said Bob, who was still lying on the bed, topless, looking like he was trying to impersonate a male swimsuit model or something.

"I'll say this much," said Megan. "I have no claim on Bob."

"What does that mean?" asked Bob.

"It means that you don't owe me anything. You're not beholden to me. What has happened between us does not negate any of your options."

"Options such as?" he asked.

She swallowed. "Options such as having a girlfriend." She swallowed again.

Bob thought about that for a minute. He looked at the girls, standing in the doorway. Each had an arm around the other. "Are you referring to them, by chance?"

"I am," she said. She looked at the girls too. "Raleigh? Do you have any claim on Bob?"

"No," said Raleigh. Her voice was tight, but her face didn't show the stress that was in her throat.

Megan looked at Hamako, whose eyes got round. She held up her free hand.

"I'm just a visitor here."

"You're far more than a visitor, Hamako," said Megan. "Whether you know it or not, you're part of the family now."

The girl looked down at the floor. "I like you all. I don't want there to be any unhappiness."

Megan looked at Bob.

"So ... let me get this straight," said Bob. "I get to do whatever I want. Is that about it?"

There was a pause as Megan looked at the girls again. Raleigh gave a fractional nod.

"Yes," said Megan.

"Well then, I'm glad that's settled," said Bob, pushing himself up so that he could sit on the side of the bed opposite the door. "Since I have things to do tomorrow with Hiroto and Akio," he paused to point at Hamako, "and you, we should probably get to bed."

All three women stood, waiting.

"We need to know, Bob," said Megan.

"Know what?"

"Which one of us you're going to choose."

"Oh," he laughed. "That's easy. I decided that already."

"Oh?" Megan sounded upset that he could be so casual about making a decision that quickly.

He stood up and walked around the bed. He stopped, looking back and forth between the girls and Megan.

"I want all three of you," he said.

There had been some outcry, but he cut them off.

"I want you all, but not at the same time ... as in a foursome. Not yet anyway." He grinned, but none of the women laughed at his levity. "We'll work something out. Any or all of you can opt out. I don't want to limit your options either, but for my money, I'd be crazy to turn down any of you. Besides, I love you all."

He then went to the girls and gave each of them a peck on the lips while they stood, stunned.

"Now, you interrupted us earlier," he said. "So it's only fair that you wait for your turn. That will be tomorrow. Unless I wake up in the middle of the night, horny, and feel like terrorizing the villagers. In that case, I'll come crawl in bed with you two." He grinned, and pushed them backwards out of the door.

There had been some more outcry, but he managed to get the door closed. He turned to find Megan staring at him as if he had sprouted antennae or an extra eye.

"You can't have us all," she said.

"Why not? I love you all. You all love me. I don't see a problem here."

"You wouldn't, you pig," she snorted.

"I'd love to continue this discussion," he said, "but you're seriously overdressed."

He shoved his shorts to his ankles and stepped out of them.

He was erect again.

"When did that happen?" asked Megan, staring at his member.

"When you said I could have whatever I wanted," he said. "I started thinking about the possibilities, and my little friend immediately wanted to vote for all three."

"This is insane, Bob," she said.

"No it's not. I think I know what your theory is, and I agree with you."

"Is that so."

"That is so. Now would you please get naked? I brushed my teeth for you, woman!"

She wouldn't cooperate. It wasn't that she wasn't in the mood. He could tell she was in the mood again. He finally decided that she had decided not to simply capitulate, but would not resist either. So he undid the knot of her robe and spread it open as she lay limply. Her eyes glittered as her body was uncovered.

He sat beside her and stared.

"Ahhh, yes, I'm a tit man," he sighed. "And yours are unbelievable."

"I bet you say that to all the girls," she said, truculently.

"Of course," he said. "I never met a breast I didn't like."

His eyes ranged down her body.

"Have you ever thought about shaving?" he asked.

"They did that to me when Raleigh was born. The stubble is unbearable."

"That's why you enlist the services of a personal barber to keep you nice and smooth, and to massage the area carefully with soothing oils," said Bob. "I'd like to introduce myself. I'm your new personal barber."

"It itches," she said.

"That's what the soothing lotion is for. I know what I'm talking about. I'm a personal barber."

"I don't want to shave!" she said.

"Now that, is a valid argument against doing so," he said. He looked into her eyes for a long time. "If you're not in the mood for this any more, I understand. I meant it when I said your options are open too. I can sleep on the floor if you want."

She looked back at him and he saw her facial muscles relax.

"Asshole," she said softly.

"You're the one who gave me the options," he said.

"That's not what I meant."

"So what did you mean, then?"

"I mean that even when you're being an asshole, you're still very attractive."

"Why, thank you madam."

"Still, I don't think you should be rewarded for deciding to become a satyr. So yes. You may sleep on the floor."

He started masturbating.

"Stop that!" she barked.

"I have to do something with it," he said. "If you're not going to use it, then I'm going to make it go away."

"Asshole!" she yelped.

"I have an idea," he said, holding one finger up to his head. "You can use it, and then I'll sleep on the floor. That way everybody is happy."

She looked at him with a smoldering gaze, and then pulled her knees up and let them fall open.

"You'd better make me feel very good, Bob Tomlinson."

He saluted and crawled onto the bed.

"And enjoy it yourself, buster," she added, "because this may be the last time you ever get to do this with me."

He made her feel very good. In fact, he made her feel so good that she cursed at him, knowing that she'd never be able to resist him again if he wanted to bed her.

And the three orgasms he gave her with his lips and tongue were punctuated with three more as he slid his erection into her and prodded her relentlessly for fifteen minutes. Then, sealing his lips to hers, he lurched one last time, driving deep, and delivered his male nectar deep into her belly.

They lay on their sides, still holding each other, five minutes later, still panting from the exertion of their lovemaking.

"So ... am I forgiven?" he asked.

"For what?"

"For being in love with all of you."

"As long as I get some of that on a regular basis," she sighed, "then yes, you're forgiven."

"What happened to that maybe being the last time?"

"I changed my mind."

Then they stopped talking and traded long, passionate kisses. She writhed against him until the intensity of what she was feeling brought tears of almost hysterical relief. She had thought she'd never be able to feel this way again. The fact that she now could was a gift of unimaginable joy to her.

He, of course, didn't understand why she was crying.

"Hey," he said, kissing her tears. "I really do love you. I can't help how I feel about the girls, but I really love you."

"I know," she sniffled. "That's not why I'm crying."

When she finally explained it to him, their kisses got softer, shorter, more tender.

"I know what the male in me wants is impossible," he sighed, finally.

"Maybe," she said.

"Maybe? How can you say maybe? I want to live with three women. And love them all! I wouldn't blame you if you were planning on poisoning my food right now!"

"And kill off the guy who just did that to me?" She laughed. "You may be crazy, but I'm not."

"You'd let me ... with them?" He sounded shocked.

"That doesn't mean they'll settle for less than all of you," she said.

"But you would?"

"I don't look at it that way. When you're gone to work, I don't have you then. When you're asleep, I don't have all of you. If you're reading a book I don't have your attention. I'm pretty sure I could think about it that way if you were spending time with one of them, too."

"Wow," he said.

"Remembering of course, that they may not feel the same way."

"I can't believe they're even interested in me," he said. "I'm twenty years older than they are."

"Age has nothing to do with it," said Megan. "It's who you are inside, not what you look like on the outside."

"I don't believe that," he said. "Looks count for something."

"Okay, they count for something, but personality counts for more."

He ignored her and moved his lips to suckle a nipple.

"Don't start something you can't finish, old man," she said softly.

He took her hand and moved it to his brand new erection. She hummed happily, but let him give her nipple love for only a few more minutes before she pulled him on top of her again.

To her delight, this time, he was able to go even longer.

Sleep had taken them, finally, and wrapped its jealous arms around them for the rest of the night. Both were groggy the next morning when they woke. In a comfortable silence they crawled out of bed and did a sort of rotation into different parts of the bathroom, performing a dance of sorts, as they got ready to face the day. Twice, along the way, their hands touched each other, and they kissed.

Suddenly Bob stopped.

"We didn't use any birth control on the boat. Or last night."

She happened to be putting her hair in a ponytail at that moment, and with her arms up, her breasts were lifted, proud and jutting. She looked at him in the mirror.

"That's right."

"Meaning you're on the pill," he said.

"Why would I be on the pill?" she asked. "I don't have sex."

"If what we did last night wasn't having sex, then when we do I'll have a heart attack," he said.

"I didn't used to have sex," she amended.

"Are you saying I could have gotten you pregnant?"

"Is that a problem?"