Going Home Preparations

It was dark when I woke. The room was cold. The fire had gone out in the Franklin stove because I had neglected to damp it down for the night. I could see the water vapor in my breath when I exhaled.

I opened the stove and saw there were a few embers glowing on the grate. I shoveled the ashes into the pan, stuffed some old newspapers and kindling into the stove, then added an appropriate mix of small and large logs. I lit the newspapers and watched for a moment to make sure the fire caught. When I saw logs burning and heard crackling, I closed the door and climbed back into bed, shivering. I drifted back to sleep as my body warmed.

I woke again when I heard Ian and Edith talking in the living room. It was still dark but they were getting ready to go to Boston for the day. Edith had last-minute Christmas shopping to do. Ian was taking her. I overheard their plan for the day. Breakfast with Alice at The Elms. Shopping at Filene's and a couple of other stores. Lunch and dinner in Boston. A movie before coming home. They would be gone well into the evening.

The door closed with a bang when they left the house. I heard their car start right outside my window and drive away. A look at my watch told me it wasn't 7:00 AM yet. I could go back to sleep. Gwen and I had no specific plans for the day.

A little while later, I felt the blankets lift off me. Gwen moved up against my back and put her arm over me and kissed the back of my neck. When I rolled toward her, she gazed at me. I could still see sleep in her eyes. Her hair was a frenzied, unruly tangle. She looked positively angelic.

I kissed her forehead and pulled her close, happy to have her near. Ready to drift back to sleep.

'Mom came in to my room last night. She said she and Dad would be gone for the day. They won't be back until late.' Gwen told me.

'I heard them talking before they left. Christmas shopping, dinner, a movie. Sounds like a full day.' I said. 'What should we do?

'Well, I don't know about the rest of the day. But I was hoping for more than a kiss on the forehead this morning.' Gwen smiled while she watched her fingers playing with the hair behind my right ear.

'Did you?' I smiled. 'I haven't even had breakfast yet. I'm not sure I'm up to it.' I teased.

'Why don't we find out?' Gwen giggled as she threw the blankets aside and climbed on top of me. 'Oh, I see someone's ready to play!' she added, noting my morning erection.

'Don't read too much into it,' I told her. 'That's just morning wood. It'll be gone after I go to the bathroom.'

Gwen reluctantly let me get out of bed. When I headed for the bathroom, she followed. While I emptied my bladder, she ran water in the bathtub until it was hot, then plugged the drain, adjusting the faucets until she got the temperature she wanted.

As promised, my erection deflated as my bladder emptied. 'What are you doing?' I asked when I was finished.

'I thought we'd take a bath first.'

I was skeptical. 'In that little tub? We can't both fit into it.'

'Sure, we will. We can get cozy and squeeze into it together.' Gwen teased.

Gwen brushed her teeth while the tub filled, I did the same. When we finished, she turned off the water.

Gwen pulled my tee shirt over my head then pulled down my boxers. Gwen stripped off her nightdress and stood naked in front of me, immediately stirring me to half-mast. She stepped into the tub and turned to me. 'Get in,' she told me.

I stepped out of my boxers and put a foot into the tub and immediately put it back on the bathmat. 'It's too hot.' I told her.

'It's not too hot,' she told me as she stood in the water. 'Get in.'

I put my foot back in. Slowly. Cringing as I submerged it. It was too damned hot for my taste. I stepped in and reluctantly set the other foot down. Gwen grabbed a washcloth and a bar of soap and sat down. The heat seemed to have no effect on her, though I noted body parts in the water had turned bright pink.

Gwen spent the next few minutes giving me a sponge bath. I thought the hot water would peel my skin off. She pointedly avoided my cock, not that being stimulated while standing in scalding water would be particularly arousing. She soaped up my cock and groin last, using her hands. My cock grew in length as she stroked, but I didn't really get hard.

When I had been lathered up from head to mid-calf, she rinsed the washcloth and dripped water over me to rinse away the soap.

'My turn,' she said when finished, handing me the washcloth and soap. 'Sit and start at the bottom and work your way up. Just like I did.'

I accommodated her request. The cast iron tub had cooled the water a bit so it wasn't quite so bad when I sat in it, but it was still hot. I duplicated Gwen's process. I stood when it came time to wash her upper torso. She turned her back to me so I could wash her back. Then, rather than turn around to allow me to wash her front, she pulled my arms around her. She pushed her soapy butt cheeks against my cock and wiggled as she guided my hands around her breasts and nipples.

When her nipples were erect and hard, she turned around and said, 'OK, rinse me off. I'm clean enough!'

I repeatedly rinsed the washcloth and dripped water onto her to rinse the soap.

She rinsed off the soap I had on me and pushed me out of the tub, unplugged the drain, pulled the shower curtain around her and turned on the shower. I watched, wrapped in a towel, shaking my head. Gwen had taken us through an elaborate bathing and seduction ritual but then turned on the shower anyway. She quickly rinsed her hair and used her fingers to remove the worst of the tangles. When she was done, she turned off the water and stepped out of the tub.

Gwen's wet auburn locks were perfectly straight. I didn't say a word. I still remembered the glacial glare I got in Paris when I commented on how straight her hair was after she washed it. No way I was bringing it up again.

We dried off and hustled back to bed and got under the blankets. Gwen snuggled up against me, chest to chest. Her warm body against mine felt great. She ran a hand lightly up and down my back, sending chills through me and resurrecting my morning wood. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. Her lips sought mine and her tongue pushed its way into my mouth.

Gwen continued to run one hand up and down my back while the other moved softly across my chest. She lifted her leg over my hip and wriggled up my body. Gwen moved her hand from my chest and found my cock. She pushed it down and positioned it between her legs. She rubbed the head against her clit and then pushed forward, capturing me between her legs.

'I love you,' She whispered.

'I think I was already in love with you when we got off the train in Marseille. I was certainly in love when I got on the train to leave Paris.' I whispered. 'I'm glad we found each other again. I couldn't be happier.'

'Jonas, hold me. Make love to me. I want to feel you inside me. I need you inside me.' She spoke in a voice so soft that if Mike were with us, she couldn't have heard.

Gwen moved her leg and wriggled her hips. The head of my cock slipped easily into her. She rocked her hips and pushed forward slowly. Her eyes closed as I slid into her. She moaned softly. She drew in a sharp breath when I could go no further into her.

Gwen felt warm, wet, and silky smooth. I never wanted this feeling to end. But I wasn't covered. Gwen rocked her hips back but before they came forward again, I backed out of her. Her eyes opened in surprise, her look questioning.

'Condom.' I said softly. Her face showed her disappointment.

'Jonas. We don't need the condom this morning,' she whispered. 'We're okay without one. I was due yesterday.'

'You're late?' I asked.

'I'm not a clock, Jonas. Sometimes it's a day or two early. Sometimes it's a day or two late. But I'm pretty regular.'

'But . . .'

'Jonas, stop talking,' she whispered. 'Just love me.'

I stopped talking and kissed her again. She sucked on my tongue hungrily. She reached between us and guided me back into her. As my cock slid into her, she drew a deep breath through her nostrils while her tongue probed the inside of my mouth. When I was all the way in, she broke the kiss and exhaled a hard, loud sigh.

'That feels nice,' somehow came out with the sigh.

Gwen maintained a reputation, with friends and faculty, of a curious, assertive, and strong-willed woman. Serious about her academic endeavors and her pursuit of personal goals and ambitions. In the bedroom, her public persona of the good girl, studious, serious, innocent and chaste evaporated, leaving no trace.

Gwen's passion and desire could be overwhelming. When we made love, we might start slowly, but Gwen almost always quickened the pace soon after we began. Our lovemaking became passionate, feverish, frenzied, unbridled, thrilling, overwhelming.

Not that morning. Gwen wanted slow and gentle. Soft caresses, gentle rather than passionate kisses were her desire that morning. Our coupling was leisurely. She made almost painfully slow advances down my cock and equally slow retreats. Gwen still had repeated climaxes, her body wracked by sensory overload. Her vaginal muscles massaged my cock while she shook like high voltage electricity surged through her body.

Somehow, she kept me on edge, my rock-hard cock constantly on the verge of eruption, so engorged it felt like it might burst. She had me nearly breathless. Not from exertion. From fighting to maintain control of my senses each time Gwen me took to the brink but stopped me short of finishing. Each time, the sensations grew more intense. And the retreat more frustrating. But with each retreat from the brink, I knew the next climb would be worth the suffering.

Gwen was having a never-ending series of orgasms. Each slow, torturous thrust pushed her to another peak. Each time I withdrew from her, she made a sound somewhere between a groan and a cry. My body was a bundle of ragged nerve endings. Every muscle screamed out for relief.

Eventually, I knew I couldn't take another round of her brinksmanship. I rolled onto my back, pulling Gwen with me, and slammed into her fast and hard. Gwen gasped. Her face turned bright red. I held her hips and kept her impaled on my cock for a moment, then withdrew slowly before driving into her once again, hard and fast. I held her hips tightly, keeping my cock buried in her. I finally passed the point of no return. The end of my cock pulsed and throbbed as I pumped semen into Gwen. My testicles exploded in ecstasy as they emptied.

Gwen held on tight while my legs kicked and jerked uncontrollably. A loud piercing screech cut through the fog of my orgasm when Gwen went off, too. She pulled herself to me, holding onto my ribs while I drove into her, a seemingly endless flow of pleasure pumping out the end of my cock.

She fell beside me. We stayed in position for some time. Gwen's head on my shoulder. Her breast against my chest. My cock coated from our coupling. Both breathless and unable to move. Not wanting to move.

Gwen jumped up and ran toward the bathroom. A hand covered her pussy while she ran.

A moment later I heard her exclaim, 'My god, Jonas! I don't think it's ever going to stop coming out of me.'

I got up and wobbled to the bathroom. She was half sitting, half straddling the toilet. Her hand was covered in semen. More flowed out of her in a continuous stream. A bubble broke the string but the flow reestablished immediately. When the flow finally stopped, Gwen wiped herself and stood.

Gwen embraced me, looked up and smiled. 'I hope you have something left for later today,' she laughed. 'I want to do that again and again and again. I don't ever want you to stop doing that to me.'

'You kept bringing me to the edge, stopping just before I came. I doubt if I would have survived another trip to the edge. I couldn't stop.' I told her. 'I may need a little time to recuperate.' I added with a smile.

'It felt so good while you were fucking me. Feeling you inside me. I didn't want it to end.' She buried her face in my shoulder. 'I'm so hungry I can't stand it. Mind if I take a bite?' she asked as she nipped my shoulder.

'I could eat, too.' I agreed as I squeezed her to me.

'I still feel all wet and squishy inside,' she told me. "It feels good but we should get cleaned up. Let's go upstairs. The tub and shower are bigger. After we clean up, I'll make breakfast.'

I followed her upstairs where we cleaned up again. I padded downstairs, back to my room to get dressed while Gwen went to her room and dressed. Just as I emerged from my room, Gwen came down the stairs and we went into the kitchen together.

We had just finished breakfast and got up to do the dishes when we heard a car pull into the driveway. Gwen looked out the window and said, 'Mike's here.'

Mike knocked and came in without waiting. 'Good morning,' she said. She looked about as she took off her hat and gloves. 'The car's gone. Mom out?'

'Mom and Dad went to Boston for the day. Christmas shopping, dinner, a movie. They won't be back until late.' Gwen told her.

Mike looked at me with a smile as she took off her coat and then looked at Gwen. Her expression changed as soon as her eyes caught Gwen's'.

'I see you two took advantage of an empty house.' Mike said slyly.

'What do you mean?' Gwen asked, innocently.

'Don't try to play dumb, Gwen. I live with you remember? I've seen that happy, just-fucked-silly glow of yours too many times.' Mike turned to me. 'Well, Jonas? What do you have to say?'

'I'll neither confirm nor deny.' I'd let Gwen decide how to answer.

'We spent some time together this morning,' Gwen confirmed, her tone serious. 'Why not? We had the house to ourselves.'

'I hope there's a round two in the cards.' Mike said.

I put my hands up in surrender. 'Not real soon, Mike. I'm done for a while. Gwen wore me out.'

'Didn't we discuss going easy on him so he'd have something for the honeymoon?' Mike was teasing but I detected a tinge of jealousy.

'Mike, I agreed we'd go easy on him. Not I'd go easy on him. I'm going to be married to the man soon.' Gwen chided.

'I know Gwen,' Mike acknowledged. She sounded hurt.

'We'll include you again in the future.' Gwen said. 'But you weren't here and I wanted to spend some time with my fiancé.'

Mike was smiling again. 'You dirty girl, Gwen. Soon as Mom and Dad go out, you turn wanton,' she teased.

Gwen was smiling back at her. But it was more of a smirk than a smile. 'Of course. What did you expect? I couldn't be the good girl forever. I have needs.'

Despite the smiles they wore, there was an underlying tension. Mike felt left out. Gwen was being defensive and a bit possessive. In the months I'd known them, they never exchanged a cross word in my presence. The three of us got along well on a day-to-day basis. Sure, there were times when one of us got a little snippy. But that was due to academic pressures or Mike's work. Mike was uneasy about her long-term job prospects after the way she had been dumped in Paris by the federal agency where she worked.

Making meals together was a cooperative venture. Household chores were never an issue and no one ever seemed to get stuck with being 'responsible' for any specific tasks. When something needed to be done, it just happened. Sure, I handled the repair-type tasks and cutting the grass. Though thinking back on it, maintaining the shrubbery was not addressed adequately in the beginning. None of us had a clue about it.

There was never any tension about sex. Mike was welcomed to our bed regularly, though she wasn't always at home, or with us, when Gwen and I were intimate. Mike had never been upset about it before. And Mike never initiated anything without Gwen. She occasionally alluded to the previous session or a made a joking double entendre when the situation was ripe for it. Despite the intimacy of our informal ménage-a-trois, if I arrived at the house when Gwen was out, physical contact with Mike was never more than a sisterly hug. I loved Gwen. I can't deny I enjoyed Mike's presence in the bedroom. Or that I loved her, too. But I had never expected, nor would have thought to seek or initiate, intimacy with Mike. They, together, had done that.

Was our upcoming marriage going to change the dynamic between the three of us? I couldn't see how it wouldn't. A legal commitment between Gwen and I, the likelihood of children, shared financial responsibilities, and a host of other things were sure to have an effect. Would it cause a permanent rift between them? I hoped not. Not because I wanted Mike to keep joining us, though I did, but because they had been friends for so long and were closer than sisters. Gwen had other friends, but no one would ever replace Mike.

While Gwen and I cleaned up our breakfast mess, the conversation changed in nature. Gwen and Mike both wanted to go into Boston. They, too, had some Christmas shopping to do. I wanted to get something for my father, Ian and Edith, and Jane. And for Sir Anthony. Plus, I needed to Americanize my wardrobe.

It was a bitterly cold day, windy, with clear skies. We bundled up and the three of got into the Cadillac front seat. Gwen next to me, Mike by the passenger door. While I drove, Gwen and Mike chattered like there had been no strain earlier. Their moods were upbeat. The conversation easy, punctuated by humor and laughter, and a little harmless small town gossip.

We began at Filene's, something of a Beantown institution. I found a couple of things my father would like. Gwen helped me pick out a rugged watch for her father, who was hard on watches. Mike suggested a music box for Edith, who had a small collection in her bedroom. I found one with an old Irish lullaby that Gwen said her mother liked and wasn't among the music boxes she had.

I bought several shirts, slacks, socks, tee shirts, boxers, two winter suits, two pair of shoes, and winter boots. Though the suits were off the rack, they fit well. Gwen picked out a couple of ties.

After we took our purchases to the car, we separated for a while. Gwen and Mike didn't want me around for a bit. It was easy to figure out why so I didn't argue. I needed to get something for Gwen and Mike so this was good for me, too. Mike was easy. She liked tasteful, understated jewelry. I found a nice set of peridot earrings with a matching pendant at a nearby jewelry store.

Gwen was even easier. She used a cheap 35mm camera all the time to take photos. The photos provided a reference when she couldn't easily return to something she wanted to paint. She had expressed an interest in getting into art photography but the higher resolution camera needed was far outside her budget. I stopped a beat cop and asked if he knew of a camera shop nearby. He was going that way so he invited me to walk with him. He was a friendly man in his mid-thirties. Second generation American, born of the children of Irish immigrants.

We parted company several blocks later when he pointed out the camera shop. I said my thanks and crossed the street. I told the store owner I was looking for a large format camera in response to his offer of assistance. He became very enthusiastic. After he explained the technical details of several cameras, I asked which would be best for an accomplished painter interested in art photography. He made several recommendations. I settled on a used Rolleiflex made in the late 1930's, added a tripod, and some film.

I didn't understand at the time what this gift would eventually lead to - a dark room and everything needed to properly equip it. Plus, an addition on the house, though there would be other reasons for adding on.

Sir Anthony was a challenge. I didn't know him well. I'd only spent about a week with him. And he sometimes had to leave me to entertain myself while he tended to his business interests, whatever they might have been. I knew he liked his beer. He drank quite a bit of it and expected me to drink with him. I never tried to match him pint-for-pint.