“Kind of a rocky start,” Kevin observed to his wife the following morning as he poured a cup of coffee for her into a blue pottery mug.

Karla looked great to him. Her hair was tousled yet still had billows of auburn surrounding her face. She wore a simple, light, white peignoir that hid little of her features. She eased onto a stool at the breakfast bar and smiled as he handed her the mug.

“True,” she admitted after her first sip. “But the finish was fantastic. That’s what really matters.”

“Jasmine reminds me a lot of you. She has that same take-charge attitude you do.”

“Hmm,” Karla replied.

“She’s the one who made Jeremy come around.”

“Well,” Karla smiled, “I made him come. But I see your point.”

“You’re such a trollop,” he chuckled. “I love that about you.”

“I am not a trollop,” she protested with a grin. “I’m just sexually liberated.”

Kevin nodded. “And you tend to sexually liberate those around you.”

“You don’t seem to mind reaping the benefits of that,” she laughed.

“Does that bother you?”

“That you get laid? Not at all. Remember, I’m the one who insisted.”

“I do remember. Just wondering if you regret it?”

She laid a hand across his cheek. “No, my darling. It gives me the freedom to really enjoy it. I don’t worry about your reactions to what I’m doing anymore.”

“You never had to worry about that.”

“I know. But there was always something inside me that felt a little guilty because I was having all the fun and you were just watching.”

“I loved watching. That was fun for me. I still love watching.”

She grinned broadly. “And now that tinge of guilt is gone, so I can give you a really good show.”

“Is it just a show for you?”

She paused, sipped her coffee and looked out at the brightly sunlit yard. “Okay. I’ll admit I’m a bit of an exhibitionist. It excites me to think of you watching. But I really enjoy it, you know? The penetration, the sensations. Coming on a cock that isn’t yours. All that is really great. Knowing you’re watching and enjoying it just multiplies the excitement.”

“So you don’t want to quit yet?”

“You want us to quit?”

“Nope,” he said decisively. “Just want to make sure you still get a thrill out of it.”

“Hmmm,” she hummed into her cup. “Well, we’re building our stable. Jasmine and Jeremy, Tom and Tanya. Who do you think we should add next?”

“Don’t forget Julian.”

“Julian is special. He was my first. But there’s no Julianna for you.”

Kevin grinned. “That’s all right. I think Julian is special, too. I mean, he’s the one I could send you off with for a week in Rio or Buenos Aires and not be jealous or concerned.”

“You’d do that? You’d send me off alone with him?”

“I could.”

“What would you do?”

Kevin shrugged. “I don’t know. Yard work, maybe. Some little repair chores. I’d keep busy.”

“But who would you sleep with?”

He gave her a questioning look. “Nobody. I mean, I could manage for a week.”

“Okay,” she said with determination. “That’s not happening.”

“Why not? You’d come home, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course I’d come home. But that’s not the point. I’m not taking off for a week of fucking and sucking and behaving badly and leaving you in our bed alone.”

“Well, I’m just saying that’s how much I trust Julian. And you.”

“Hmm,” she hummed shortly. “I appreciate that, but it’s not going to happen.”

“I remember when I was the one who had to encourage you,” Kevin laughed. “Now look who’s in charge.”

Karla leaned forward and cupped his cheek in her hand. She kissed him tenderly. “I always was in charge,” she whispered sweetly. “But I couldn’t have done it without your love and support.”

Kevin sat in his comfortable office chair in the chrome and glass cubicle that served as his workspace, reviewing various memoranda that others had created. Always change, he thought to himself. The young Turks consistently thought they had a better way to accomplish the objectives. He knew his subordinates considered him an excellent boss because he always managed to find some redeeming feature in their submissions. Kevin regarded it merely as an element of his management style and he scanned the document of substantially inoperable ideas that had been previously rejected as either unwarranted or unworkable for some nugget that could be integrated into the generally workable system already developed.

The unobtrusive tones of his cell phone distracted him from the task at hand. Very few people had the number, so he pulled it from his pocket without resenting the interruption. What surprised him was the portrait of Jasmine that identified the caller.

“Jasmine,” he spoke tenderly. “Wonderful to hear from you.”

“Sorry to bother you,” she replied. “I’ve got something I need to talk to you about.”

Kevin smiled and suppressed a chuckle at the grammatical asymmetry. “Certainly,” he replied. “How can I help you?”

“Not on the phone. I need to see you in person. Can we have lunch?”

“Should we have lunch?” he asked. “Would that be appropriate?”

“Appropriate?” she responded with exasperation. “I’m not asking for a fuck, Kevin. I just need some guidance. What the hell has happened? Has every man in the world gone fucking insane?”

“Does this have anything to do with what happened last weekend?”

“Yeah, you might say that.”

“Don’t you think you should be talking to Karla about this, Jasmine?”

“I feel closer to you, Kevin. It’s about Jeremy. I need a man’s perspective and I trust you. Please don’t make me say any more about this on the phone.”

Kevin suppressed a sigh. “All right. I can get free for an hour or so around one.”

“That place across the street from you? Cellica’s?”

“Fine. My treat.”

“My request, Kevin.”

“Don’t be silly. I insist. I’ll see you at one.”

Kevin was early. He told the hostess he was expecting a guest. “Dark hair, dark eyes,” he said. “She has a certain Goth appearance. You’ll know her immediately.”

“Yes, sir,” the attractive twenty-something woman replied. “I’ll bring her to your table.”

Kevin stood as the hostess led Jasmine through the dark restaurant. She was in full Goth regalia, with her midriff bare, black top, black jeans and a pair of black platform sandals. He stretched out his hand to her as she approached.

“Hello, beautiful,” he grinned at her.

The hostess cocked an eyebrow and gave him a strange look. He nodded toward her and she left.

“You think I’m beautiful?” Jasmine said as she eased into her chair.

“Of course I do. You’re dark, mysterious and beautiful. Quite the enchantress.”

“I wish Jeremy thought so.”

“I’m sure he does.”

“Well, you wouldn’t know it. He’s been acting very strange since…”

“How do you mean strange?”

“He seems to be mad at me all the time.”

“You’re going to have to give me more than that. What do you mean by mad?”

Jasmine leaned toward him. “He only wants to fuck me from behind. He won’t look at me. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

“I told you that Karla would be more help than I can be in this situation.”

“But you’re a man. I want to know what a man, my man, is thinking and feeling.”

“But I’m not Jeremy, sweetie. I wouldn’t have the first idea.”

“If you were Jeremy, though, would you be mad at me for fucking you?”

“That’s a possibility. But it’s kind of remote. I mean, after all. He was with Karla.”

The waiter approached and asked if they were ready to order.

“What would you like?” Kevin asked Jasmine.

“I don’t know. What are you having?”

“The pork tenderloin,” Kevin answered. “Sweet potato fries, and the apple-cinnamon dip on the side.”

“Sounds good to me,” Jasmine said. “Can I have that, too?”

“Of course,” Kevin said, nodding to the waiter.

“And to drink?” the waiter asked.

“A Heineken,” Kevin answered.

“You have Blue Moon?” Jasmine asked the waiter.

“Certainly. With or without the orange?”

“With, please,” Jasmine said.

The waiter nodded and left.

“You know what I’m thinking?” Jasmine asked Kevin.

“About Jeremy?”

“I think he’s feeling guilty. I think he liked fucking Karla so much that he feels bad about it.”

Kevin chuckled. “Could be. Really, Jasmine. Karla would really be better at this than I am.”

“No,” Jasmine said. “You really helped. He’s not mad at me. He’s mad at himself.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, for sure. Something, though. I have to make sure he knows it’s all right that he liked it with Karla. He has to know that I liked it with you and that’s okay, too. I mean, it was new for both of us and it was supposed to be fun. But, I still love him. Maybe he’s afraid I’ll leave him because he liked screwing Karla.”

“So you’ll reassure him.”

“Yeah,” Jasmine said. “I guess that’s what I’ll do.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. But, I still think you should talk to Karla.”

“Would you tell her for me?”

“Tell her what?”

“Tell her I want to talk to her, you know. And what it’s about?”

“I can do that. Sure.”

Jasmine was silent as their drinks were delivered. After sipping hers, she sighed. “You think we’ll do that again? You know. Like we did last time?”

Kevin gave her a smile. “I do hope so. I loved watching Karla seduce Jeremy.”

“What about me. Was I good for you?”

Kevin reached over to grasp the hand with the black nail polish. “You were wonderful, Jasmine. Believe me, I’d be delighted if Karla and you agree to another evening together.”

“I thought we were pretty good together, too.” Jasmine grinned at him.

“Do you remember my friend Alexandria Carlton?” Karla asked Kevin that evening.

“Alex? Yeah, sure. Divorced, mother of two teenage girls. What are they now, fifteen and twelve?”

“Twelve is not a teenager,” Karla said. “Seventeen and twenty.”

“Wow! Has it been that long?”

“It has, to quote her, been a long time.”

“So what brings this up?”

“I was just wondering if you remembered Alex.”

“Yeah, I remember her.”

“We had lunch yesterday.”

“Did you? Oh, by the way, I had lunch with Jasmine today. She and Jeremy are having some issues, apparently. I told her she needed to talk to you.”

“What kind of issues?”

“She thinks he feels guilty about, you know, having fun with you.”

“He shouldn’t. I mean, Jasmine was with you.”

“Well, I told her that she should talk to you. I’ll bet if the two of you gang up on him, Jeremy will snap out of whatever’s bothering him.”

“So is she going to call me?”

“Why don’t you call her? Tell her I gave you the brief.”

“Okay. I can do that. What about Alex?”

“What about Alex?”

“Will you help her out?”

Kevin gave her a confused look. “What do you mean? How can I help her out?”

“She needs to get laid, Kevin. She needs it from somebody who cares about her but isn’t a complete jerk. When I told her about what we’d been doing it naturally came to me that you’d be the perfect man for the job.”

“Excuse me? You can’t be suggesting that…”

“Why not? It’s a great solution to her problem.”

“No, seriously, Karla. You just can’t hand me off as an available stud like that.”

“Oh, stop it,” she commanded. “It’s just sex, Kevin. You screw her. She gets laid by a decent guy who’s not interested in screwing up her life. You don’t have to do anything but enjoy it. She’s attractive, a willing and enthusiastic partner, and when you’re done you come home. It isn’t anything too different from what we’ve been doing. In fact, it’s pretty much the same thing you encouraged me to do.”

“It isn’t the same at all,” he protested vehemently. “What I encouraged you to do was for you, not for somebody else. I don’t care if they enjoy it as long as you do. That’s how it’s different.”

Karla puffed out an exasperated sigh. “Just do it, Kevin. Do it because I asked you. Just go fuck her and make her happy.”

“This is not part of the agreement at all,” Kevin objected.

“So, the agreement expanded a little.”

“You already expanded it by creating the swapping situation.”

She nodded. “I know, and it’s been great. So, trust me. She needs to get laid with no strings attached and you’re a great lover. You’ll give her everything she needs and then you come home to me, just like always.”

“Karla, I’m really not comfortable with this.”

“Oh, don’t be such a prig. Just have sex with her. I’ll tell you what. I’ll make a date for you with her on Friday and I’ll go take care of the Jeremy/Jasmine situation at the same time.”

“How do you plan to do that?”

“We’ll double up on him, like you said. I’ll fuck him and then she’ll fuck him, and maybe we’ll both get into the act at the same time. It’ll be like a threesome; Jasmine and me ganging up on Jeremy. Meantime, you’ll be with Alex and let her feel like a desirable, sexy woman again.”

“You’ve got this all figured out, huh?” he chuckled.

Karla eased up to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She spoke in a whisper. “Fuck her for me, Kevin. Make her moan and wail with desire. It makes me wet just thinking about it.”

“You’re kidding,” he challenged.

“No,” she whispered, her tongue licking at his lips, “I’m not. In fact, I think you and I should fuck right now. I want to feel what Alex is going to feel when you pump your seed inside her.”

“You’ve lost your mind, you know that?” he murmured to her.

Her eyes sparkled as she looked into his. “You did this,” she whispered. “We did this together. You encouraged me to fuck for the fun of it and I just love it. I want you to love it, too. Besides, as long as we love each other, what difference does it make? It’s just sex. And afterwards, we have each other.”

“I think it’s the idea of the threesome with Jasmine and Jeremy that has you turned on,” he mumbled, pulling her hips into his growing hardness.

“Some, maybe,” she whispered. “Mostly it’s the thought of you and Alex. She’s no Tanya, but she is still quite gorgeous.”

“Uh-huh,” he replied.

“She’s going to love the feeling of your cock inside her.”

“So you’ve decided I’m going to do this?”

“I have,” she whispered into his mouth. “And I think we need to go to bed and practice.” She kissed him moistly and tenderly and took his hand to lead him to their bedroom.

“No messing around with clothes,” she said softly. “Just get naked. We know what we’re going to do.”

As he stripped his clothing, Karla pulled the bedding back and twirled to find him naked and erect.

“That’s it,” she said, taking his hardness in her soft hand. She dropped to a knee and caressed him gently. “Pretty soon,” she murmured, “You’ll be pleasing my dear friend.”

Her lips pressed the end in a tender kiss. She opened them just enough to take the crown between them, her tongue pressing against the underside. She slid it moistly out of her mouth, kissed it, and reabsorbed it lightly.

“So smooth,” she whispered. “Firm but smooth. It feels like velvet on my lips.” She resumed the same procedure causing Kevin to groan.

“You think she’ll do that?” he gasped.

“Oh, I’m going to tell her how wonderful it feels,” she said softly. “She’ll want to try it.”

“Any other images of this prospective joining?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Um-hmm,” she replied affirmatively. “Before she rides your cock, she’s going to ride your face.”

“All planned out,” he groaned.

“Pretty much,” she said, releasing him to stand and disrobe. “The bed’s ready,” she noted. “Lie down with your head on the pillows.”

“More practice?”

“That’s right. Hurry up. My pussy’s aching for the touch of your tongue.”

“You’re going to tell her this, too?” he asked, taking his position on the bed.

“I am,” she said softly. “I’m going to tell her how wonderful and cool the wall feels on her hands,” she told him as she knelt across his head, “And about the contrast of your warm tongue when it first invades the flesh down there.” She settled herself until his lips and tongue were positioned correctly. She moaned softly as Kevin’s tongue made its first foray into her moist warmth.

“Oh, fuck,” she exhaled. “She’s going to love this. So will you.”