Horner Springs the Institute

"Welcome to Marbled, Dr. Bindre, are you ready to order?"

"Hello, Bindi, yes I am. I'll have the family bowl of Caesar salad, the tureen of black beans and the cowboy cut rib eye—and three plates. I've got friends coming along in a few minutes."

"Wow, I hope they're hungry. The cowboy rib eye alone weighs three pounds. And can I get you a carafe of the house red or maybe a pitcher of beer to start?"

"A pitcher of Horner Gold Lager, I think, and three mugs, please. How are you and the guys coming along?"

"Oh, I keep them in line. If they don't stick to their books I threaten to go sleep with Amanda and they put their noses back on the figurative grindstone. I just wish the men at Arts and Letters were as serious about their studies as the guys over at Tech. When I compare my partners' attitude to what Justin's was when we took Intro to Bondage together, I want to shake my head. I love Sam and Henry but they just aren't as—serious."

Laurie Binder leaned back in the comfortable booth and smiled benignly at the young Indian-American. She remembered watching her and her classmates perform in the 'lab' on closed circuit TV and nodded mentally. While all students at Futter College were required to take twenty-four units of Human Sexuality, the Arts and Letters and the Technical Institute campus pupils took different approaches to the discipline. The A&L kids were just in it to get laid but the techies and engineers put the same effort into quality sex as they did to differential calculus. As an experimental scientist herself, Professor Bindre had a very warm spot in her heart for the TI community, especially young Justin Hightyme.

"Oh, they'll come around, Bindi. Once they graduate and it comes time to earn a living, I expect that your men will do what most all of their predecessors have done, buckle down and get on with life. Sam and Henry will be fine. I'm sure they'll put as much care into keeping you in a lifestyle of comfort as they do in making you scream in ecstasy."

Bindi blushed a darker shade of tan. She'd been voted 'Most likely to break windows' by her classmates and was known campus wide as the screamer's Screamer. She couldn't help it. Orgasms just did that to her, especially when both her partners were doing her together. She put her order pad back into her apron.

"Are these 'friends', Dr. Bindre, or 'friends with benefits', if you don't mind my being nosy?"

"I don't mind, at all, dear, but I suspect that the most accurate term would be 'potential family.' After years of being single I seem to be acquiring a triad of my own. It's quite a surprise, to be honest, but a happy one."

"Well, congratulations. And now I'll go get that pitcher."

Laurie looked around her. Marbled had been a rather ordinary café for ages but after changing owners five years before, it had morphed into the best-reviewed steakhouse in the state. It had augmented the dude ranch and fly-fishing industry becoming quite a tourist draw in its own right and the cowboy rib eye was the chef's signature piece. Local grass fed prime beef cut into what looked like a small prime rib roast seared on a bed of rock salt—you had to either get there on a weekday (like today) or reserve one for the weekend if you wanted it. The thought made her start to salivate just as Willow McAllister blew in the room blowing kisses to everyone she recognized. The curvaceous little blonde hurled herself into Laurie's arms for a passionate hug and then slid across from her in the booth.

"So, where's Jake?"

"He texted me that he was going to stop by the construction site before he came. He should be here any minute. Oh, it's going to be wonderful having our own home, especially since it's next door to you."

Laurie's nose wrinkled mischievously. "You just want to be next door to my basement playroom."

Willow grinned. "Well, I have to admit that it doesn't hurt but I think the best part will be watching you and Jake in bed. You're so endearingly—

normal

. And to think I first believed you to be a genuine dominatrix. Funny how things turn out."

"Willow, are you losing weight?"

"Mm-hmm. The doctor said I that since he expected me to gain when I get pregnant, he wanted me to start lower. I don't think Jake is terribly pleased. He does like the way I jiggle. It's about the only part of spanking me he enjoys though I know he is really turned on when my ass is all red. Oh! Here he comes now."

Professor Jacob McAllister's long frame ambled through the door and across to the two women who shared (and managed!) his life. He bent down to kiss both of them and then slid into the booth next to his wife. A puzzled expression spread across his face.

"Willow, when was a 'small' change made in the blueprints?"

The art historian giggled. "You mean the slight modification to the foundation and basement?"

"Mm-hmm. I'm a little curious as to why there is what looks to be a tunnel between our basement and Laurie's."

Laurie Bindre sucked in both lips between her teeth to keep from laughing out loud. This should be fun to watch, she thought.

Willow's face was the very picture of eyebrow-batting innocence. "Why I should think that would be obvious to any Montana boy. One, when the next blizzard hits, you wouldn't want poor Laurie to get half frozen coming over to 'get warm', would you? And two, it will prevent having to explain things to the police (understanding as they are) why the some neighbor called in that you were carrying me naked and screaming from our house to hers. I don't understand why it wasn't in the original plans, actually."

Very slowly and deliberately, Jake's face went from puzzled to resigned. That was more than either of the women could ignore and they burst out laughing.

"Mercy," Laurie said to Willow, "the stage lost a great comic talent when Jake went into Soil Science. Nobody, and I mean nobody does put-upon like our Jacob."

"Honey," Willow turned to her husband after the giggles subsided, "if it makes it any easier I've decided that while getting clothes-pinned was amazing that one time, from now on I'll be quite content with plain, old spanky in our hanky-panky."

About that time Bindi returned with the pitcher and mugs and poured each of them a drink. They were about to toast the new construction when movement caught Laurie's eye and she looked across the room to a slight, freckled young man walking over to the bar.

"Justin!" she called out and waved him over to join them. Then taking his hand she dragged him into their booth and pulled him next to her before skooching against him, making him blush through his freckles.

"Uh, hello Dr. McAllister," he said to Jake.

"Hi, Justin," the big man replied, "I don't believe you've met my wife, Willow?"

Justin rose as well as one can in a restaurant booth to shake hands with Willow who took his hand warmly and squeezed it. "I've never had the pleasure," he said, "but Amanda says that if I can ever fit some time between my Environ-engineering classes, I really need to take your introduction to Indian Art. She says the temple carving lectures alone are worth the price per unit."

Willow dimpled. "I'm glad she enjoyed the class. It's great fun to teach. Some day I'm going to have to take enough yoga classes that Jake and I can give those positions a try."

Jake looked strained so Laurie quickly changed the subject. "Justin, after Intro to Bondage I would have put money on you and Amanda pairing up but I see you haven't."

Justin sighed. "We could have, I think, but our career plans are completely incompatible. She's dead set on going home to Charleston and joining a landscape design firm turning out high-end gardens for the city's moneyed classes. I suspect that I, on the other hand, will be traveling the world from one environmental project to another and when I am back stateside—well, I've become so fond of Horner Springs that I think I'd rather have a little place here, one I could lock up and leave for months at a time without worrying about upkeep. She doesn't even want to negotiate the point."

Jake nodded sagely. "Never argue with a women, Justin. Either give in or politely say good-bye. I said good-bye several times before I met Willow. Now I just give in—a lot!"

Willow started to haul off and punch him in the shoulder when the salad arrived.

"Bindi, dear," Laurie spoke up, "could you bring us another mug and table setting. Justin will be joining us for dinner—and he won't argue about it, will he?"

*****

The following Saturday, Willow bustled into Laurie's kitchen just as the older women was laying out several fat, fresh-from-the-stream rainbow trout. The plump art historian smiled benignly and, reaching into her coat pocket, produced a bag of sliced almonds.

"Whoa, when you reach for the fly rod, you don't fool around. I'd have thought that with so many tourist anglers playing catch and release on the local water the fish would be so educated you'd need a seine to be sure of catching any. Those look wonderful."

"Under toasted almonds? With hash browns and eggs? They will be. And catching trout isn't as hard as people say. Too many fly anglers make a fetish of matching the hatch, insisting on #18 midges on 7X leaders. I think it's all hogwash. A black ant or a good wooly worm will out-fish the dry-fly purists 24/7. And being of the school that holds you only release the ones you aren't going to eat, that suits me just fine. Is Jake back from Kalispell, yet?"

"Not yet, but I expect him within the hour. Of course, he'll have to unpack Ponca and make sure he's settled in before he joins us for breakfast. Thank-you so much for letting him stable his horse with yours—even before the stable extension is built. Just knowing Ponca is close by will do wonders for his peace of mind. It's a good thing Mother never comes to visit. If she ever saw him in Levi's and boots I think she'd just faint. She just can't abide the thought that her son-in-law is only incidentally a professor, that he's really a cowboy at heart."

"Cow handing grows on you," Laurie relied with a wink. "Your mom ought to give it a try here for a summer. I'll bet she'd convert. I mean, look at Justin. Boston Brahmin born and bred but wants to make Horner Springs his home base when he finishes school. I tell you, the big sky and the mountains—there's just nothing like it."

There was a fairly long silence while Willow carefully worded her next question.

"You're fond of Justin, aren't you?"

Laurie chuckled through a wistful smile. "Willow, if I wasn't nearly old enough to be his mother I'd knock him down, hogtie him and drag him to the nearest justice of the peace. The first time I laid eyes on him he was a sophomore who had just turned eighteen. Yeah, he graduated from high school at sixteen and came directly here. The kid is positively brilliant but since he entered so young he has had to sort of double up on his Human Sexuality requirements. In fact, his advisor forcibly sent him to my intro to bondage class. He wasn't happy about that. Worse yet, he was a virgin! Fortunately, it just happened that I paired him up with Amanda Tighe, you know, the one they call Randy Mandy? He not only became a sexual enthusiast but threw himself into the class work so hard that he had the highest score ever recorded."

Willow grinned in response. "He sounds kind of—obsessive?"

"Obsessive he can be. Anyway, he was invited to Van Kanaal's summer seminar, something that doesn't happen to undergrads very often, and on Mandy's recommendation enrolled in Intro to Tantra. Mandy and Bindi were taking Intro to Pompoir so on a whim I volunteered to be his partner for the class. I'm not sure whether that was a mistake or the best idea I ever had. Naturally at first we worked on muscle control and since he was fairly fit it didn't take long before he could repeat orgasms. So far, so good, no? But once he had that down the little devil sat down in a full lotus and pulled me up onto his lap. He fixed his gaze on my right eye and then he synchronized his breathing with mine. I suppose I should have avoided his look but he was so compelling . . ."

"What?" Willow's blue eyes grew wide. "The Wave of Bliss? He

compelled

you into the Wave? But—but that's instant love."

Laurie's smile twisted. "Got it in one. Yeah, over the rest of the summer he kind of overwhelmed me. Why? I don't know. To see if he could, I expect. But I am not a cougar, thank-you very much, so you know the saying, 'If you love something, let it go'? I've let him go."

Willow carefully kept a poker face but behind the mask her brain was on overdrive.

Let him go? Pushed him away, more like it. He could follow Amanda to North Carolina but he wants to stay in Horner Springs so he can be near you whenever he's in the States. Laurie Bindre, we're going to make a great trio together but if I have anything to say about it, from time to time, it'll be a quartet. Now, just how do I arrange this?

About that time Jake came in through the mudroom door, shucked his boots and left his Stetson on one of the wall pegs. He gave both his wife and his mistress tight, affectionate hugs and poured himself a mug of coffee. "So what kind of diversions have been taking place while I was gone?"

Willow put her hands on her hips. "Well, if you must know, Debra Weatherspoon propositioned me!"

Laurie looked pleasantly surprised. "Did she, now. And you responded by . . .?"

"I thanked her for the compliment but told her I was a strict het, not a girly's girl, at all."

Jake took a sip and wisely kept quiet, the mug hiding his grin.

"Really?" Laurie asked, "You should reconsider. Wendy's very, very skilled. She did her dissertation on why women's sexuality is so much more flexible than men's and since she came here she's been working very hard to prove it—and she has a bit of a fetish for seducing married women. A night or two in bed with her and I'll bet you'd be singing a different tune."

"Laurie! I—I'm shocked, I really am. You've had sex with her? I'd never have guessed."

Laurie lowered the cup from her mouth with a sly smile. "Well, dear, I am chair of the Human Sexuality Department, after all, and I would be very remiss in my responsibilities if I wasn't as knowledgeable on the subject as possible. Of course I had sex with her, several times in fact. It was pleasantly different. You really should think about giving it a try."

*****

That night, Jake climbed into bed next to Willow who, to his surprise, had a laptop on top of her lap. He was about to reach for her when she turned a thoughtful face toward him. "Honey, I think we ought to get another horse, something with a really smooth gait like a Missouri Foxtrotter or maybe one of those Icelanders."

Jacob blinked slowly and deliberately. "And the reason we need an easy-riding horse is?"

Willow rolled her eyes. "Well, the obvious reason is so I can tag along when you and Laurie go for a ride. If we brought a tent and a really big air mattress it could be a lot of fun."

Now it was Jake's turn to look pensive. "It could, couldn't it? But Foxtrotters aren't the best choice for our climate so an Icelander or maybe a Rocky Mountain would be better. Both of them have really smooth ambling gaits. I'll start looking at Internet auctions."

Now Willow's face displayed a knowing mischief. "And the second reason is you need to teach Justin to ride."

Jake looked at her for a long time. "I know I'm going to wish I hadn't asked this but just why do I need to teach Justin to ride?"

Willow shut the computer down and slipped it onto the floor next to her. Then she slid over and leaned up against Jake's shoulder. "Justin needs to learn to ride so whenever he's in town and Laurie wants to go out, he can go along with her. Jakey, she's in love with him and I'm totally convinced the feeling is mutual. She's nearly old enough to be his mother and so doesn't want to get seriously involved. But even though he's from a upper crust Boston family, when he graduates he wants to base here. She claims it's because he's fallen in love with the country. Rubbish! He wants to stay close to her, even though she's trying to push him toward someone more his age. So I think we should help."

Jake put an arm around his wife and pulled her close. His other hand stroked her cheek. "I think my favorite Dominant Bottom should let other people's lives alone—unless there's another hidden agenda at work here. Tell me the truth, Baby, is it just Laurie who thinks he's cute?"

Willow blushed. "Well—he

is

cute. But I don't think that has anything to do with it. Like you said, I am the Dominant Bottom and I'm just trying to take care of the Service Tops who take such good care of me. So . . ."

She rolled over away from him, kicked off the covers and slowly pushed down her pajama bottoms. She arched her back to lift her ass up, closed her eyes and with a dreamy smile murmured, "Spank me, Jake. Make my butt all red and then fuck me silly. And tomorrow night I'm going to watch you fuck her silly."

Jake's big palm made a ringing smack on her ass, leaving a red handprint. "Don't bet on that. Maybe,

I'm

going to watch her fuck

you

silly. It's about time you expanded your experience. This is Horner Institute, after all."

With each resounding spank, Willow squeaked and squealed and shortly her pale bottom was bright pink. Jake knelt between her legs and rubbed her buttocks vigorously, increasing the blood flow until they were bright red. The sight was terribly erotic. It reached deep into some primate portion of his brain and stiffened his cock. He reached down and fingered her pussy. As he suspected, it was swollen and wet. Leaning forward on his hands he shoved his stiffy deep into her. She moaned. Slow withdrawal, trip-hammer thrust, he paced himself drawing it out as long as he could. Willow, for her part, moaned, chirped, whimpered and finally began to wail as orgasm after orgasm washed over her until she reached a state of constant climax. That was where he wanted her. Speeding up, he brought himself to climax, shooting his load deep into her. Pregnant she wanted, pregnant she was going to get!

*****

Laurie slouched in a big, rustic leather armchair grinning mischievously at her friends, her fingers steepled together in front of her face. Jacob returned the grin but Willow looked slightly alarmed.

"No, I

don't

think you should watch Willow and I get it on," she said thoughtfully to Jake, "Debra asked first so I think she should get 'right of first refusal' as it were. Willow, you should just give her a call and tell her that after thinking about it, you've decided to take her up on her offer and that you'd be happy to go on over and spend the night."

"But—but . . ."

"No buts, baby!" Though Jake was normally the mildest of men, without a Dominant bone in his body, this time he was pushing—gleefully, "If we're going to become a triad it should be an equal one. I don't want to be the center of it all; you and Laurie should get just as much fun with each other as I do with the two of you. Besides, I'll have fun watching until I feel like joining in. Will I want toned or jiggly? Shall I choose one or switch from one to the other? The possibilities are intriguing. Call Debbie. Say, 'yes'."

Willow's wide eyes ping-ponged from one to the other.

Actions have consequences. Oh dear lord, I never thought this would be the result. All I wanted was to try out endorphins and get Jake to start being more assertive. Now he has. I guess it really does do to be careful of what you wish for. You might well get it! And now they're insisting I go sleep with a notorious bisexual woman with a fetish for married women and they want it because Laurie thinks it will be fun for me and Jake thinks it will be fun for him.