It's Complicated

Mona insisted on meeting me for lunch again. She opened with an apology.

- "I'm sorry, Chris. I should've figured this out a lot sooner."

- "This?"

- "The swapping thing. It was all her idea, wasn't it?"

- "She told you that?"

Mona shook her head. "No. But I should've put it all together right from the start. You were asking me where these new ideas of hers were coming from - you even thought that she was getting them from me! Carol talked you into it, didn't she? Or did she pressure you?"

- "Somewhere in between. But it's more complicated than that."

- "And you're not happy. You don't hide it very well - not from me, at least. And you're punishing Carol by withholding romance. And love. And oral."

- "Geez, Mona."

- "Am I wrong?"

- "It's -"

- "Don't you dare say 'it's complicated' again."

I took a deep breath, and then decided to take a calculated risk.

- "I also said that I didn't want to put you in the middle of this."

- "And yet here I am."

- "Alright. Then maybe - for your own better understanding - you should ask Carol when she first hooked up with Steve Harmon, the city councillor. I don't mean back in college. More recently."

- "Wait - City Councillor Steve Harmon? That's who you've been swapping with? And Carol knew him back in college?"

- "She says she fucked him twice back then. She was tutoring him in math."

Mona's mouth fell open. "The basketball player?"

- "She told you about him?"

- "Chris, Mona only had sex with two guys in college. One was a nerd that she thought she might end up marrying. The other was this basketball player she tutored. I can't believe that he's the one you're swapping with."

- "Quite the coincidence."

- "No." said Mona. She was steaming now. "I know very well who this guy is. Was. Carol and I don't keep secrets. She told me that you were swapping - but she doesn't tell me who it's with? I'm going to rip her a new one."

- "When you do, could you find out when she took up with him again? Without letting her know that I'm the one who's interested?"

- "Oh, I'll be getting

everything

out of her. Count on it."

Mona was thoroughly upset. I tried to change the subject.

- "How's your Mom doing?"

- "No, no - no. Did you just bring up my Mom in the middle of a conversation about swapping and lying? Forget that. Tell me more about this group; I want to know if it matches what Carol told me. What's Harmon's wife like?"

- "Quite pretty. Built much like Carol, actually."

- "Interesting. Have you ...?"

- "Yes. She's nothing like him. I have to say I like her. But I'm beginning to think that she's a submissive."

- "Ooh -

very

interesting."

- "It's ... complicated."

- "You need a new word, Chris."

***

For our fifth swap, we were joined by Diana and Richard. She was a university professor, and he was a real estate developer. They'd been travelling during her sabbatical year.

Richard wore tinted glasses and used big words. Diana was petite, outgoing and opinionated. But she had one adorably crooked tooth, and the most amazing bright blue eyes. The combination of her eyes with her dark brown hair was spectacular.

She held my hand a little longer than necessary when we were introduced.

- "So

you're

Chris. I've heard a lot about you."

- "Mostly good, I hope."

- "Oh, better than good. Excuse me for just a minute." Diana went straight over to Steve. I didn't even have to guess what she said to him, because he immediately looked straight at me.

I couldn't hear him, but it was easy enough to read his lips. 'Alright, alright.' he was saying.

When Steve revealed his 'magic cards', Diana drew me as her partner. It was an amazing stroke of luck, an incredible coincidence.

Diana was probably an entitled little bitch. But I sensed immediately that she could be a valuable ally in my campaign to destroy Steve. I probably would have done my best anyway, but now I had extra motivation to show her a good time.

She liked to be in charge. She had me stripped naked before she would let me take off a single article of her clothing. Then she posed for me so that I could appreciate her expensive lingerie. I made the appropriate noises.

Diana had small but exquisitely-shaped breasts, and a delightful little tushy. Her sparkling blue eyes were also a turn-on.

- "It's probably time to find out if Terry and Julie were telling the truth." she said.

Diana didn't shave, but she trimmed carefully, leaving a landing strip above her meaty pussy lips. She was fresh and clean; obviously she had come prepared. The only scent she gave off was of arousal.

"Oh, yes!" she called out, the moment my tongue made contact. "Richard tries, but he just doesn't have the - oh, fuck! You

are

good. That's it, Chris. Right there."

Diana was

vocal

. She never stopped. Some of it was encouragement, or praise; some of her comments were directions. I

like

hearing what my partner enjoys, or what she wants. It's not always easy to guess. But Diana's running commentary made her sound like a play-by-play broadcaster, or a color commentator.

It didn't seem to diminish her enjoyment, though. She came fairly hard, grabbing twin handfuls of my hair.

- "Think you could come again, if I keep going?" I asked her.

- "Oh, baby, we are so going to get along!"

I ate her to a second orgasm. Diana then gave my cock a lick and a promise before climbing aboard in cowgirl position. She had herself a good ride before she dismounted and went on all fours.

"I like it from behind, too."

- "I can't think of a part of your body that I would change - but your ass is incredible."

She giggled. "Oh, am I ever glad to be home. I like - oh, fuck!"

Diana did like doggy, but she wanted to finish on top again, so she had me lie back down and then climbed back on, in reverse cowgirl.

I was enjoying her ride until I felt her tense up. The bedroom door had been opened.

- "What the hell?" she said. "Oh, fuck no! Get that thing away from me!"

I slid my upper body to the side, so that I could see. There was Steve, completely naked, trying to stick his enormous dick in Diana's face.

"Fuck off!" she said. She slapped the offending member away.

- "Oww! Fuck!" said Steve. He beat a hasty retreat.

Diana climbed off me, and went to lock the bedroom door.

- "Damn it." she said. "That sure spoiled the mood."

- "It's not the first time." I said. I told her about my last experience, when Paul interrupted me with Kim.

- "What the hell is going on?" said Diana. "I go away for a couple of months, and everything goes to shit? That does it - we need some ground rules."

We had a very interesting, very promising conversation, lying side by side, naked. Diana agreed with me about the stupidity of Steve's 'magic cards'.

"I hate that shit." she said. "Honestly - do I look like I want to fuck John? Even Steve ... I mean, sure, he's got a big dick, but he just sticks it in and he's off to the races. Plus he doesn't seem to give a shit if I get off or not. Honestly - I was thinking of finding a new group. But then I heard from Julie, about you. And Terry said the same things."

- "Thank you."

- "No, thank you. We were off to a great start until dickhead interrupted us. What can we do about it?"

- "Make a few rules?"

- "We only have a couple of rules. No means no. No singles ..."

- "Oh?"

- "Singles are bad news for swingers. They always seem to get emotionally involved. Honestly, they can't distinguish between sex and love. It's annoying."

Interesting. I had a couple of ideas for rules, too. But I suggested that we consult with some of the other women. "We have to bring Julie in on this. Terry, too."

- "What about your wife?" asked Diana.

- "Carol?"

- "Listen, Chris. I don't know if anyone told you, but ... I go both ways. You know? And from I what I saw today, I'd love to do her. Would you be okay with that?"

I had to laugh. "It's okay with me, Diana. You might want to ask her, though. If she's up for it, you're good to go."

Diana smiled, and gently touched my cheek. "I like you, Chris. That's not just the orgasms talking. You've got a good head on your -" She couldn't finish the sentence, and broke out laughing.

- "Yeah. I get it." I gave good head.

- "So we should have a rules meeting?"

- "That's a great idea."

But I wasn't going to leave today without having a word with Steve. I found him with his buddy Paul. I didn't bother with subtlety.

- "Don't

ever

do that to me again. Either of you!"

Steve went for bluster. "Hey, man, that's how we roll. We share. It's a swapping club, you know?"

- "Bullshit! Kim didn't want Paul's dick in her mouth. And should we go ask Diana how

she

felt about your interruption?"

- "Get real, Chris." Steve stepped closer to me. Did he really think that I'd be intimidated by his height?

- "I'll tell you both, right now - that's two strikes. On the third strike, I'll just quit your club, and take Carol with me. I might even move back home."

Steve blinked. He was trying to guess how serious I was, and to calculate if he could still fuck Carol if I wasn't around. Would I cause trouble? And was I serious about moving away? He wasn't 100% sure.

He chose to go with the big smile. "Hey, brother - I'm sorry. I just got carried away. Hadn't seen Diana for two months, you know?"

That swap changed the group dynamics. Diane and Julie put together a short list of rules, after consulting Terry and Carol (it was interesting, though, that they didn't bother to ask Kim).

Steve's magic cards were officially dead. The women insisted that they should have freedom of choice. They managed to suggest, though, that they might want to try out more than one partner per swap. The door was open for threesomes, foursomes ...

- "And watching is fine." said Diana. "But wait for an invitation, or ask politely before you just decide to join in." She glared directly at Steve as she said this.

Julie repeated the rule about no singles. This was one that might affect her directly, because her husband John was easily the least popular of the males. Was he going to be the odd man out? Unless some of the women were prepared to toss him a pity fuck now and then, he might be reduced to the role of spectator instead of participant.

The balance of power had shifted. Steve was no longer the master of ceremonies (or absolute dictator). Diana and Julie had made the club much more democratic, but it seemed as if the women's votes weighed more heavily - except for Kim's, of course.

I loved it. It was just a beginning, though. I had plans for Steve Harmon.

***

I didn't see or hear from Mona for two weeks after our lunch. Then she sent me a text, asking if I could meet her after work. I agreed.

She chose an upscale little bar that was fairly quiet. I got there first, as usual. Mona arrived a little later, looking subdued, and even a little nervous.

- "How are you?" I asked.

- "Feeling like a fool." she said.

- "I know that feeling."

- "You kept saying 'It's complicated', and I still couldn't put the pieces together. I thought I was so smart - that I had it all figured out. But I forgot who I was dealing with. You

never

wanted to swing, did you? Why would you ever want to share Carol? You two were perfect together."

Yes, I noticed her use of the past tense.

"So answer me this, Chris: why did you? Why would you swap with another couple? It doesn't make sense. Just because Carol wanted to try it? You wouldn't let her try hard drugs. Why did you give in on this?"

- "It's ... complicated. Sorry."

- "It's so not like you. Why did you do it?" she persisted. Mona wasn't prying out of curiosity, or a desire to uncover some salacious gossip. She was concerned. But I couldn't tell her.

"

You knew, didn't you

?" she said, softly.

I had to take a sip of my drink, to wet my suddenly dry lips. I still found it difficult to speak. I just nodded my head, twice.

"Oh shit ..." said Mona. "That must have been awful." She sighed deeply, and slowly shook her head. "How did you find out?"

- "Too many strange signals. When I found out that it wasn't your influence, I knew that she had to be getting her ideas somewhere else." I told Mona some of the clues that had alerted me. "Then I had a private investigator follow her. She goes to their house every Wednesday afternoon."

- "No." Mona was well aware that most of our lunches together had taken place at the same time that Carol was fucking Steve Harmon.

- "She talked me into a soft swap, so were having sex -"

- "I know what it means." said Mona.

- "Well, the first time Steve said 'Switch', Carol just looked at me, and asked if I was okay with it. She didn't wait for an answer. She went. And the moment I saw them together, I knew that it wasn't the first time since college."

- "Chris ... I'm so sorry."

- "Yeah. Me too."

- "What are you going to do?"

I just looked at her. I didn't want to spell it out.

"I thought so." she said. "But why are you waiting? Why are you drawing it out?"

- "It's complicated." I said. "I'm not out to punish Carol, but I don't want to reward her, either. I

will

punish Steve Harmon. But there's also Kim to consider."

- "His wife? The submissive? Poor thing."

- "Mona, you can't tell -"

- "I know. And I won't. I can't betray your trust - just as I didn't tell you what Carol said until I realized that you already knew. She actually admitted it. She was excited, to finally be able to tell me what she'd done. I'm just so ... so disappointed with her. After all these years of me telling her to look after her man ... she does

this

? It's like ... it's as if I never really knew her. The Carol I knew could never have done these kinds of things. I barely recognize her now."

- "Me too."

- "I don't know what to say, at this point."

We'd been too serious, too tense. I decided to change the subject and lighten the mood at the same time.

- "How's your Mom?" I said.

Mona laughed out loud, and waved her hand at me as if she was slapping me.

- "You're bad." She looked at her empty glass. "Not sure that I should have another. Not without eating, anyway. Want to grab something?"

- "Sure. Just let me text my wife. I'll tell her that I'm ... having dinner ... with a friend. Done."

It turned out that we didn't even have to leave the wine bar. They had a small but interesting food menu. I started us off with a dozen oysters. The price was outrageous, but I didn't mind throwing away a few more dollars.

- "I can't remember the last time I had oysters." she said. "Lemon. Horseradish?"

- "Definitely."

- "You'll have to coach me a bit. It's been a while."

- "Mona?" I said. She looked me in the eye. "Thank you."

- "You're my friend, too." she said. Her lip was quivering a bit. "You were my favorite couple. My favorite people, really. This is going              to be weird for me. But I won't tell her. Maybe she'll ... is there still a chance for her, Chris? If she comes to her senses?"

- "No."

Mona looked sad again. "Thank you for being honest with me."

- "I always have been."

- "Well, in this spirit of full disclosure ... can I ask what you think of me - as a woman?"

- "As a woman?" I didn't really understand the question.

- "Come on. You pretty much friend-zoned me from day one."

- "Uh ... of course I did. You were my wife's friend. And gay."

- "Right. Let's not forget the gay part."

- "Mona. I'm not blind. You're a beautiful woman." Exotically beautiful, I might have added. Or I could have told the whole truth, and admitted that she was one of the most appealing women I'd ever seen. But I'd never thought of her in a sexual way, because ... well, obviously: wife's friend. And a lesbian.

- "Thank you." she said. "Did anything change when you found out that I was bi?"

- "No. Not really. Still Carol's good friend. And my good friend, too."

- "Off-limits? No go?" Mona smiled. "Because that was what I thought of you. Full disclosure?"

I spread my hands in resignation. "Seems like the night for revelations."

Mona took a deep breath, and then slowly blinked. I recognized that look:

she

was about to take the plunge.

- "I think that I fell in love with you at your wedding."

I could only stare at her. There was no answer to a statement like that.

"I was incredibly happy for Carol, that she'd found a guy like you. I was also jealous. I wondered if it would have made a difference if I had met you first. I did what you did: I put you in the friend zone. Forbidden. Untouchable. Taboo. I never said a word to Carol about how I felt. But she knew. Could you not see it? I was literally devouring you with my eyes."

- "I didn't ..."

- "Because you thought I was gay? My girlfriend broke up with me on our way back from the wedding because I wouldn't stop talking about you. She said: 'If you like him so much, why don't you fuck him? I won't stand in your way.'"

- "She

was

a bit of a bitch." I said. I wasn't trying to be flippant. I literally didn't know what else to say, at this point.

- "But hot, though." said Mona. "She was right, too. I took up with Lisa because she was like a female version of you."

- "I liked Lisa."

- "Duh. And then I took up with Pat. He was ... a pale reflection of you. I never brought him to see you and Carol, because you would have figured it out in a matter of minutes."

Our oysters arrived. I ordered more food - just because. The oysters kept us occupied, because you have to make sure they're not still connected to the shell. Then you have to choose your accompaniments: lemon, horseradish, wine vinegar, special sauces ...

It's fun. Mona liked them, too. It kept us busy - and yet I couldn't help thinking about the things she'd said.

"So - here's this thought I had." she said. "It's weird, but it keeps coming back. If I was a member of your swingers' club ... would you want me?"

- "Mona ..." That was hardly fair. She was an exceptional woman. It was no contest. I would have been stacking the 'magic cards' every time, to be with her. Except that she was Carol's friend.

- "I don't know what to think. Why are you having sex with these complete strangers, when you could be with someone who loves you? If Carol is going to give you away, why couldn't she give you to me?"

It took me a while to think of a response.

- "Umm, Rob ...?"

- "I only had to mention the possibility of a swap for him to start drooling. He thinks Carol is

hawt

. That's how he spells it, anyway. And in case you're wondering, we're pretty much done. He can't compare to you. But I'll keep him around if you're open to the idea."

- "That's ... dangerous, Mona."

- "I've resisted temptation for five years, Chris. This could be an interesting test. Rob wants Carol. Is she willing to sleep with him just to keep your swinging alive? And you and I can see if ... if the chemistry that I feel is real."

- "Mona ..."

- "Think about it." she said. Then she looked me in the eye. "I missed out on you once. I don't want it to happen twice. Please - just think about it?"

I

was

thinking about it - and that's what worried me.

***

I had done a ton of reading. I was pretty well convinced that Kim Harmon was a submissive. That did not, however, mean that she was a masochist.

Steve was a dick. He had no idea of how to treat her. He ordered her around - which she liked - but he never followed up, afterwards. He embarrassed her, and humiliated her - which she

didn't

like - and then ignored her.

He just used her. Period. Kim might have felt a slight thrill when he first gave her away to another man. But he simply ignored her after that. She had to have realized that he didn't consider her a valuable person - or even a valuable possession. He didn't love her at all.