This story is part of a series. Chapters 1 through 13 will provide context. Hopefully, however, this story may also be enjoyed as a stand-alone work.
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We dropped Trish at Orlando airport the morning after our "going away" party. Sara and I were driving to Captiva to visit my friend Karen and her husband, Dr. Rick.
I think that I have written about Karen before, but she merits a repeat. I had first met Karen several years ago. Originally from New Jersey, Karen had gone through the Cornell hotel management program and then found a job at a well-known high-end resort on Captiva Island. She rapidly worked her way up that management food-chain, and then took a position as the number 2 manager at the other substantial resort on Captiva. After a couple of years in that position, Karen decided to go out on her own as a resort management consultant.
I had met Karen about a year after she set up her consulting business. I represented some folks who were limited partners in a resort up in Michigan on Lake Michigan. The business had been hemorrhaging money due, my clients felt, to imbecilic management by their general partner. Karen had been recommended to me as a possible expert witness on resort management.
I first met Karen in a Ft. Myers restaurant to talk to her about the potential expert witness assignment. Everything about Karen is, consciously I think, slightly understated; and she wore a conservative business suit to our meeting. Nonetheless, just a moment's observation disclosed that Karen is an extremely beautiful lady. There was no doubt that the suit concealed an extraordinary body. Even before she smiled, her face, framed by longish, straight dark hair, would win anyone over. The magnetic smile sealed the deal. Our conversation revealed that Karen is also very bright, charming, and has a good sense of humor.
To make a long story short, Karen agreed to work with me on my case. With her substantial help, both in forming unassailable opinions supporting our case and in working with us on the settlement, we were able to settle by selling the resort at a significant profit, all of which went to my clients. In the course of our work, Karen and I discovered some shared views and interests and became good friends.
Karen had met and begun dating Dr. Rick shortly before I met her. Dr. Rick, also from the New York City area, had trained to be a cardiac surgeon at Harvard Med and Johns Hopkins. Dr. Rick had just joined a fairly substantial practice group in Ft. Myers when he and Karen met. I had dinner with them one evening as I was passing through Ft. Myers. It was obvious to me that Karen and Dr. Rick had each found their perfect partner and were deeply in love. Rick was about the most low-key surgeon I have ever met, confident but not egotistical.
I was not surprised to learn that Karen and Dr. Rick were getting married, although I was secretly chagrined as I had quite fallen for Karen myself. About the same time as their wedding, Rick had finely perfected and patented a new artificial heart valve that could be implanted through an artery rather than using an open procedure. Fortunately for Karen and Rick, his heart valve had made them quite wealthy at reasonably young ages. Among other things, it enabled them to acquire a Gulf-side mansion on Captiva.
Naturally, my contact with Karen had dwindled to almost nothing after her marriage until we ran into them on St. Martin. In the interim, I had found the absolutely perfect partner in Sara. However, after our unexpected encounter, Karen and I had stayed in touch regularly by e-mail. I got the impression that Karen derived some vicarious joy from our nude adventures. When I told her that Sara and I would be in Florida, she insisted that we pay her and Rick a visit on Captiva. I was certainly up for that idea. I've liked Captiva ever since my first visit and seeing Karen is always a pleasure.
Although we were up quite early to get Trish to the airport, we dawdled over the several hour drive to Captiva. Karen and Rick both had meetings that day, so our invitation was to meet at their mansion on Captiva in late afternoon for drinks and dinner. Sara and I would leave pretty early the next morning to drive to Miami International for a mid-day flight home. Not too far outside Orlando, we found an outlet mall that was opening for the day. Oddly, even a lady as committed to nudism as Sara still enjoys clothes shopping, so that killed a few hours.
Karen and Rick have one of those houses which you can't see from Captiva Drive. All you see from the road is a mailbox with a street number and a driveway entrance going through huge tropical bushes. We followed the shell driveway a short distance west which brought us to a large Mediterranean style house set up on pilings to raise it out of any storm surge. From a center point, two wings curved away from us towards the Gulf. Beyond the house, we could see the water of the Gulf of Mexico shimmering in the late afternoon sun.
As we parked and got out of our rental car, Karen come down the front steps, looking as beautiful as ever in a short flower-print sundress. I re-introduced her to Sara, and Karen gave me a quick but delightful hug.
"Harry, it is really great to see you again. Sara, welcome to Captiva." A very young looking, very tanned man appeared in the doorway, causing Karen to add, "You both remember Rick, don't you?" Of course we remembered Dr. Rick, even though he and Karen wore considerably more clothes than the last time we had seen them.
Karen led us to our room to drop our small bags and then down a flight of stairs onto their back patio. "Patio" does not really convey the wonder of this space. The dominant feature was a large, but irregularly shaped pool. The pool deck was made out of a light-colored material with a slight grain to enhance footing. The entire area, including the Gulf side, was surrounded by bushes that provided a sense of isolation and which screened off the neighbors and anyone walking on the beach. Inside the bushes was a carefully landscaped area of various tropical flowers. Like Karen, the landscaping was very beautiful, but not ostentatious.
Dr. Rick, wearing cargo shorts, walked towards a large wet bar and Sub-Zero refrigerator on an outside wall of the house.
"May I get you something to drink?: he asked.
Drinks in hand, we listened as Karen gave us a quick oral tour of the patio, punctuated by an occasional amused comment from Dr. Rick. Even though it was already fall, it was quite warm in the Gulf Coast afternoon.
Finally, Karen exclaimed, "Oh, I've been so rude. I'm sure that you're both hot and sticky. Please, take your clothes off and feel free to use the pool. "
Sara and I needed no more elaborate permission. We quickly stripped and took a quick shower under the open-air shower at one corner of the deck. Having made sure we were comfortable, Karen excused herself to check something about dinner. We stood naked, chatting with Dr. Rick, until we finished our drinks. Then we took a quick dip in the pool.
Karen came back onto the patio as Sara and I were climbing out of the pool. Karen had decided to go nude as well. Despite her naturally pale skin, she displayed a healthy-looking tan with no tanlines in sight. Sara is a more beautiful lady than Karen, by an extremely slight margin. The two ladies standing naked on the pool decking talking to each other is probably the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. After a few minutes, Karen turned to her husband.
"Hey sailor, you're NOT staying dressed while the rest of us spend the evening in the buff."
Dr. Rick just smiled, pulled his t-shirt over his head, dropped his shorts, and put his clothing on a chaise. Rick was also devoid of tanlines. We spent about half hour chatting before Rick went to light an outdoor grill about the size of my last car. Then Karen called us to a low gate in the hedge between their patio and the beach to watch the sunset. The four of us stood nude about ten yards from a cluster of clothed people on the beach for the same reason. As was typical of my experience along the Gulf, the sun was obscured by distant clouds before it made its disappearance over the horizon. Dr. Rick expertly grilled grouper filets (is there anything Doctor's can't do other than invest?). Shortly before he was done, I helped Karen set up a table and chairs on the pool deck. Then I helped her carry some side dishes out from their kitchen. Karen said their kitchen was cramped. It wasn't, but I also wasn't complaining about the repeated brushes against her bare body.
Naked, the four of us had a marvelous fresh fish dinner followed by a Key Lime pie which Karen proudly informed us that she had made from scratch. As it got darker, a number of automatic lights built around the pool deck came on, giving the area a soft, almost romantic glow. I'm sure that the glow was enhanced by the steady flow of alcohol we had been consuming more or less since Sara and I arrived.
After dinner was cleaned up, the four of us sat around the pool talking. The question came up of Sara's and my travel schedule.
Karen asked, "Are you sure that you guys can't stay a day or two? That way you won't have to get up early. We can take you out on the boat tomorrow and then to dinner at the Mad Hatter."
There was no real reason why we had to be anywhere on a particular schedule. Sara looked at me and saw, apparently, that I was enjoying myself.
"Let me check," Sara said, as she reached for her smart phone in the small bag by her chair. After a few minutes pushing at the screen on her phone, Sara announced that we could stay another day and that we had a 10:00 a.m. flight out of Ft. Myers the day after tomorrow connecting to the afternoon flight to Martinique in Miami. Karen and Dr. Rick seemed genuinely pleased.
The evening went on. Karen, sitting in a regular chair, had pulled her feet up onto the chair seat. The put her knees almost on her chest, but left her vagina on clear view. Sara was sitting in a chaise with her legs spread. Both ladies were fully exposed. Dr. Rick and I were enjoying what can only be called an inspiring view.
It was getting a bit late when Karen, apropos of nothing, asked the group, "Do you think that it is possible to love more than one person at the same time?"
Sara immediately said, "Yes." Dr. Rick offered a "yes." I just nodded my head.
Karen went on, "But, do you think that you have to stay physically faithful to just one person?"
I smiled at Sara, who gave our joint position on that issue.
"Sex and love are two related but different things. Sex is about pleasure and, sometimes, variety enhances the pleasure. Harry and I have both had sex with other people, sometimes in front of each other. There is no jealousy because, while we have an intense physical relationship, there is so much more that bonds us than just sex. I want Harry to get as much pleasure in his life as he can, and I'm sure Harry has the same goal for me." Sara sounded very sincere as she gave this explanation.
