Dark Marbles

Philip Johnson

Chapter One

"And I'm out."

"Did you have to do that, Paula?"

"I sure did," and the game was over.

"Who the hell ever invented card games anyway?" The six of them were at it again. It was their chronic poverty that brought the three couples together in the beginning to play cards. Though now they could afford their pizzas, or some other take out, or even go out for a cheap dinner, they still gathered around the table most weekends to play cards or some other silly game like Yahtzee. Cam tossed his cards on the table and suggested, "Let's try Yahtzee. Maybe my luck will change, the first one to roll a full straight, orders dinner."

"Why do I think that will be you?"

"Thanks Ray, I needed that vote of confidence." It wasn't ten minutes later when Cam ordered their dinner.

His wife Sharon patted his arm and said, "It could be worse, we could have been playing strip Yahtzee, and you lost your pants or something."

Paula and Rachel laughed, and Cam stood smiling and said, "Tonight is not the night for me to play strip anything."

The six of them had survived their financial hardships by helping each other. One might be skilled as a carpenter or mechanic, and another might be handy as an electrician or computer nut, so among the six of them they managed to keep going as jobs and money slowly became less scarce. The result was the close bond that they had formed along the way. They were still anything but flush with money, but in comparison they all felt a lot better about the future.

With their dinner ordered and delivered they sat at the table and the women started talking over their food about the programs on reality TV. It was more than Tony could stand and moaned. "God, those shows are so phony."

All three of the women said at the same time, "They are not."

"They're phony and annoying to the extreme. Ones like, 'Sell This House,' or a better example, that wife swapping one. You can't tell me that a cameraman with a forty pound camera following so called adults around, will encourage the participants to behave as they always do. It's all staged."

Paula finally added, "Okay, I'll grant you they work hard to find couples that are total opposites and put them together, but that's all."

"So you admit it is staged then."

"Not staged exactly, but to make the show more interesting is all."

"About the only thing that might be authentic are the bratty kids they find. All those kids need is a dose of discipline applied everyday from those dysfunctional so called adults. And another thing, do you really think that for a whole season, couples live with somebody else's spouse for a whole week at a time, and there is never any sex between them?"

Sharon reminded him, "They never say whether there is or isn't."

"I'm sure they don't. All of those emotions flying around have to cause the urge to spawn once in a while at least."

"So you think some of them end up sleeping together?"

"Screwing together, sleeping together wouldn't be any big thing."

"Okay, screwing. I can hardly imagine that."

"I can hardly imagine every week, some duo spending a whole week with somebody else's wife for twenty six weeks or whatever, and not have something happen once in a while through the season."

"But you have to remember they are strangers. You're thinking of them as friends like us."

"No, I can even see it with strangers. I don't mean every couple, or every week, but it has to happen."

"I think they end up hating each other."

"Hate and love are in the same family of emotions and the lines can get blurred."

"You must read some strange books." That ended that topic at least for the time being.

Dinner was over and as the table was cleared. Tony was standing behind Paula and started to massage her neck and shoulders with his strong hands and she let her head drop forward and moaned in appreciation. Without moving, she said, "God, that feels good. Rachel, your husband is seducing me."

"Tony be good."

He leaned down and Paula turned her head toward him and they shared a light kiss as his hands continued to please her. He smiled at her and asked,

"Was I good?"

"Lover, you were very good." Tony smiled and straightened up and returned to his chair so the games could continue. At the end of the evening, as Paula and Ray headed home he said, "You really enjoyed the massage."

"He's really good."

"I thought you were going to climax before he quit."

"That's stretching it a little, but he did a good job. Are you jealous?"

"Hell no, but it's hard to imagine somebody like Tony having the right touch for that kind of stuff."

"I don't know where he learned it, but he's good." At that same time Tony and Rachel were getting ready for bed, and she asked him, "What prompted the massage?"

"I don't know, I was standing there and I just started."

"You sure got Paula's attention."

"She's a sweetheart."

"You even got a nice kiss for your efforts."

"Seems fair to me, I gave her one too." When they went to bed, Rachel lay on top of Tony and after kissing him said, "It's only fair that I get a massage too."

"I couldn't agree more." Unlike Paula's massage, Rachel received a whole body massage, and it wasn't long before he was on top and sliding his cock into her. Afterward Rachel was on her back and said, "I'll bet I liked my massage a lot better than Paula liked hers."

"I don't know, I made her moan once."

"You made me moan a lot more than once, lover." He rolled onto his side to face her and slowly playing with her left breast as he said, "I like making you moan best."

"I'm glad."

Tony was the amateur carpenter of the group, and was putting new cupboard doors on Ray and Paula's kitchen cabinets. He had spent the last few weeks making them in his spare time, and on this Wednesday evening, was on his way over to install them. When he arrived, he carried a few of the doors in with him. Paula poured him coffee and the three of them took a minute to talk, and Tony showed them one of the doors. It wasn't much more than an hour later when he and Ray hung the last door and they stood there admiring the look. Paula stepped in front of Tony putting his hands on her neck again.

"One more time, okay?" After just a minute of him massaging her he stopped, pulled a chair out and turned it around.

"Sit on it backwards and lean forward toward the back with your arms hanging by your side." She did as she was told, and he gave her a serious upper body massage as she relaxed and moaned repeatedly. When his hands arrived at her hips he paused, and then worked his way back up before stopping. "The labor for the doors is free, but there will be a charge for the massage."

"How much?"

"I haven't worked up a fee schedule yet."

"It's worth it whatever it is."

"I'll keep that in mind when I write the bill."

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"A friend taught me, and I worked with him in a spa for a short time as a trainee, but since I wasn't licensed, I couldn't keep doing it as his student."

"I'll bet you got to see a lot of naked women."

"No, it was all very carefully done, you know with towels and so forth. I did get to work on some very good looking women though. Of course, I also had to do the really fat ones too. Now I'm going home and tell Rachel I made you moan as many times as I made her moan."

Paula got up and kissing him on the cheek said, "I'll bet you made her moan for different reasons though."

"Well yeah, I guess you could say that."

Chapter Two

Sharon was an artist and did wildlife paintings in watercolors, and her studio, as she called it, was what had at one time been the guest room. She was very good, but it had taken her a long time, and winning a number of competitions to get any name recognition. She was just now starting to cover her expenses and adding to their income, and her contribution to the group was to do something special for each couple. For Ray and Paula it was a rural scene with a fox in it, and for Tony and Rachel it was a clutch of quail in the weeds. She was still working on the one for their living room wall.

The next time the group got together, the subject of reality television didn't come up until late in the evening. It was Sharon that brought the subject up again. "Tony, I'm sure you didn't watch it last week, but the one woman actually hit the guy."

"That's still so much side show to me."

"Let me get this straight, you couldn't be in the same bed as somebody else and not make love to them."

"I didn't say that. I just said it might be pretty damn hard to do it for seven days, and I just can't imagine them going through the whole season without somebody having a fling."

"But we don't even know if they sleep in the same bed."

"Then that isn't even swapping of any kind I don't think. I mean if they're having trouble, why not just have a professional come in for a couple days, and bang their problem could be diagnosed and help could begin. It wouldn't make much of a show, but it would be a lot more believable and a lot more helpful to the people involved. Of course, I doubt they are interested in help anyway, they just want to be on television."

"You are so negative."

"Just about most reality programming, other than that I'm an optimist."

Tony was in trouble, because Cam and Ray stepped in. Ray started it with, "I could sleep with either Rachel or Sharon for a week and not make love to them. Not because they aren't sexy, but because I have control."

Cam added his part with, "Same with me. I could sleep with Paula or Rachel and stay on my side of the bed."

In his own defense, Tony reminded them, "Like I said, I could do it, but it wouldn't be easy, and not every guy is going to try very hard to resist temptation. Hell, I massaged naked women for two years without making any passes at them."

"You would have been fired and arrested if you had tried I'll bet."

"Not necessarily, there were a few women that would have invited it."

Paula smiled and admitted, "I can see where some women would want more after one of your massages."

Sharon was surprised. "Paula, you amaze me."

"Girl, it feels wonderful I'm telling you. Tony, massage Sharon for a minute so she can see what I mean."

Tony looked at Sharon and said, "I'd be happy to, but it's up to Sharon."

With a shrug of her shoulders Sharon said, "Sure I don't care, but don't expect me to rip my clothes off and attack you."

"Well then, what's the point?" Then he smiled at her and said, "Just as long as you enjoy it. If you don't, I'll stop."

Rachel upped the ante saying, "Honey, get your mat out so you can do it properly." He retrieved the thick pad from their bedroom and put it on the living room floor.

"Okay Sharon, lie on your belly for me." When she'd done that, Tony knelt next to her and instructed her to put her face in the opening at her head and look down. He then pulled her arms down along her side and talked softly to her. "Okay, now just relax and let your mind wander wherever you want it to go, and tell me to stop at any time."

"Okay," and she put her head down as instructed.

Cam sat on the couch and relaxed as he watched Tony start the massage. As it went along, he would occasionally talk softly to her but she was quiet. As his hands worked on her he said, "Of course you have to imagine this with your clothes off, because a massage through clothing isn't nearly as beneficial. That's why spas have you take everything off and you cover yourself with towels. That way, we can use scented oils on your skin to increase the soothing effects." Sharon was being resistant to prove her point, but Tony's magic hands caused her to moan and sigh in spite of herself. When he reached her pelvis, he gently massaged across the upper part of her butt saying, "This area gets tired if you have been sitting a lot, like playing cards tonight. It's the sacroiliac region and the source of a lot of discomfort for a lot of people." He finished up by working his way back up and massaging her upper back and around to her sides stopping short of the sides of her breasts.

Tony stood up and said, "Without a table and oil, and having you undressed, that's about all I can do," and helped Sharon up.

Her face was a little flushed and she smiled admitting, "That really did feel wonderful, thank you, Tony."

"You're welcome."

Rachel then asked, "Now how did we get to this from our argument about reality television.

Sharon shrugged her shoulders and admitted, "I don't remember."

"There is one thing that hasn't been brought up. What if the woman doesn't want to be left alone?"

"Rachel, you surprise me"

Sharon said. "That wouldn't be me of course. I could sleep next to Tony and not be tempted beyond control even with a massage."

Cam shocked the group when he said, "Hell Sharon, sleep with Tony and get this settled." Five pairs of eyes stared at Cam until he said, "Well nothing will happen, so what's the difference?"

Rachel was still staring at him and asked, "But what if it did."

"But it won't."

"And another thing, where would I sleep, with them?"

"No. I don't know I hadn't thought that far ahead."

Sharon raised her hand and said, "Excuse me everybody, but doesn't it matter how I feel about this?"

Paula was getting into this too and added, "Okay, what if Rachel slept with Cam or Ray, and I slept with the other one?"

"You guys are talking about switching partners."

"No, just to sleep, it's no big deal."

"It sure as hell is. We better consider the possibility of somebody being weak and giving in to the urge to merge." That caused the six of them to pause for a minute.

Then it was Sharon again. "Look all of us have openly announced that they are strong enough to behave, so where's the risk?"

Rachel added, "This reminds me of a Seinfeld show where they bet on who could resist masturbating the longest, and in the end none of them resisted it long enough to win the bet. Plus it goes back to what Sharon said earlier. The women have to be as strong as they guys. It only takes one moment of weakness by one person. We're all young, and pretty healthy sexually, I'm sure."

"This is starting to feel like a college dare situation."

"Well I for one am seeing this as a challenge now."

"Listen to brave Cam talk. Sharon, how do you feel about Cam sleeping with somebody else?"

"I trust him. I don't even care if they share a goodnight kiss."

Paula stood up and added, "Okay, here's another one. Who sleeps in pajamas?"

Not one hand went up until Sharon said, "I sometimes sleep in a tee shirt, or a silky top and I'd be okay in panties."

"So do we get undressed in the dark?" Tony flashed on the image of Sharon in panties and a silky top and wanted to volunteer to sleep with her.

Rachel added, "I hate to wear anything to sleep in, but I could come up with something I guess, what about you guys?"

Cam said, "I have a pair of silk boxers that I could wear."

Ray didn't say anything until he finally offered, "Yeah, I could too I guess."

All eyes were on Tony until he said, "Yeah, okay, I can come up with something too." Paula was getting into the experiment and asked, "Okay, how do we decide who sleeps with whom and where, also, for how long and when."

"Damn, I think our constitution was written with less effort than this, and all to prove something that isn't even important."

Sharon said, "I want to stay home, because I often get up very early to work in my studio.

Again, everybody was quiet until Paula said, "Okay, the guys do the changing then. Now for how long, one night, or three, or seven, or what?" Back to Cam again.

"Hell, if we're going to do it because of that damn show, then let's do it for seven."

Tony stood up and said, "This could take a while, and I can't believe we're going to do it. I need a drink, anybody else?" All hands went up, so it took him a while to come back with six mixed drinks.

Chapter Three

All of them drank in silence for a minute and then Tony started it again. "When is this grand experiment to begin?"

Ray shrugged his shoulders and said, "This is Saturday night, so we might as well start with tomorrow night."

"Just for the nights or do we stay switched full time for seven days?"

"That damn show is supposedly full time." Six people looked at each other waiting for somebody else to make the decision. The reality of it all was starting to sink in then, so it was some time before Sharon nodded.

"I agree it should be full time, or at least most of the time. I mean we don't want to move a ton of clothes around."

"Then no talking to the other's spouse, even if they do go home for something, we save it all until next Sunday."

"Now all we have to do is decide who goes where."

"That's simple. Three slips in a dish. We draw and go home with the name on the slip."

"God, this is stranger than a key party."

"Nah, those are just for one night."

"Yeah, but those are purely for sex and everybody knows it up front. No teasing involved."

"I don't think we'll be teasing each other."

"Are you kidding? It doesn't matter how good my new wife behaves, I'll be teased no matter what happens."

With three slips in a bowl, and Tony standing closest, he drew the first name. "My wife for the next week will be...Sharon." She flushed a little as she looked at him. Cam was next and drew Paula, so that meant Ray would be sleeping with Rachel. The three women were about the same height, with Rachel weighing more than Sharon, but less than Paula, and of the three, Paula had the largest breasts, though even hers weren't overly large. They were all attractive, but couldn't be considered beautiful and they were full of life.

Cam raised his glass and toasted, "To the next seven days" and they emptied their glasses.

Once alone, each couple would talk about their coming experiment with some trepidation, but also with a lot of excitement. Rachel asked, "What if one of us slips, do we admit it or just leave it alone?"

"I don't know. Keeping secrets might not be a good idea though."

"Maybe not, honey just for the record, I don't plan to be bad."

He kissed her and said, "It's when you're bad that you're at your best. But just for the record, I feel the same way." Ray and Paula had a similar conversation on their way home, as did Sharon and Cam. It was to be a long seven days of teasing for them it seemed. Sunday was a flurry of calls between the women, and they set it so each guy would leave for his new home right at seven o'clock.

Taking Tony for an example, he had a small suitcase, and after kissing Rachel goodbye, he headed home to Sharon. She was watching for him, and even though they had known each other for a long time, they had an awkward period before they settled down in front of the television. Of course, neither of them were paying a lot of attention to the program as they tried to grasp what it was going to be like in the coming days. On the surface, their lives wouldn't be all that different with Tony going to work and coming home at the end of the day, changing his clothes and playing on his computer for an hour to relax. But he wouldn't have his computer. He was losing one way of coping with temptation right off.

He tried not to look at Sharon a lot. He knew what she looked like and even knew what it felt like to hold her. But now, no matter how much he told himself nothing was changing, he was looking at her differently. That is, except he'd be in bed with a different woman for next seven nights. Other than that, it would be routine days. With all that in his mind, he did look at her when he could and kept seeing her with her clothes off. He kept seeing her as a love partner, and he kept wondering what it would be like with her. He hadn't been there two hours, and he could feel his urges stirring. She was the most reticent of the three women, so he didn't see anything happening between them. Sharon did her best to stare at the television, but when Tony went for a drink she watched his ass and crotch shamelessly. When he returned however, she was looking at his face and smiled innocently. She couldn't help but feel his hands on her as he massaged her just hours ago. When he massaged her low back and across the top of her butt, she was imagining what it would feel like to have him keep going lower, to feel his hands between her legs. She took a quick deep breath and refocused on the mindless show on the screen.