Once and Again Ch. 02

I was nervous walking up to her door, knowing this was what I considered our "first" date -- and implicit with that was that we would not be having sex. I had not been without sex since my wife died, but every experience I'd been in had been casual -- no strings attached. I'd had sex with a few women that I met at different locations, but I'd always followed my own self-imposed rule of no sex on a first date. Although many of them had not been averse to going out on a date once, and returning for sex, most had been surprised when I turned down their proposition, their offer to let me "come in for a bit?" In every single case, those casual pickups had told me later that my refusal to take them to bed with no strings attached had made it special, later, when we did make it into bed.

The other thing about refusing first-date sex was, except for Meredith so many years before, I'd never had a one-night stand. Several women I had gone out with once, but we didn't have sex, and we both knew it wasn't right. Those women I never dated again. I had hooked up with several women over the last 10 years where we'd dated for several weeks or even months, and had wonderful, fun, sex; but they had all flagged eventually. The only one that I'd seen consistently was my work buddy, my "about once every week or so" fuck buddy, Loretta.

Loretta had approached me about 6 months after my wife had passed. We'd been working late which, after my wife died, became much more common as I had nothing to go home to. Afterward, I realized Loretta had dropped a few 'feelers' before as to whether I was interested, but I hadn't been looking for them. I was still feeling sorry for myself and lonely, so just missed them. She'd said 'goodbye' that evening, and I'd looked back at my computer screen, only to feel her hands on my shoulders a minute or two later. I started to look around, realizing it had to be her, only to have her hands grip my head and hold it in place so I could not look back. She leaned over my shoulder and whispered, "Jerry, I'm horny and I need to get laid. If you want to turn that damn computer off and take me home, I'll rock your world and you can rock mine. No strings; we're both single." She said nothing else for a moment and then said, "If you want to turn that computer off and join me, I'll be in the foyer for the next two minutes, and if not, I'll deny that I was ever here." She let go of my face, and I felt her moving away.

Loretta was usually the instigator in that relationship. I'd see it in her eyes, and then sometime in the afternoon, she'd question whether I was working late that night or not -- her virtual clue to me that she was horny and wanted sex. I always wondered whether anyone in the office suspected us, but one night, after I'd gone down on her, she laughed and said, "Oh My God, if they only knew how good you are with your tongue." I asked what she was talking about, and she told me that the secretaries and some of the women at work had been talking about me and whether I was "getting any" since the death of my wife. They all suspected I was, but since I didn't share tidbits of my love life with anyone they didn't any of them guess Loretta and I were fuck buddies. Nobody knew anything about my personal life, except Loretta. "And I didn't tell," she confirmed.

The thing about Loretta was that our relationship was just sex: no strings attached, sex. We didn't do other things together, but about once a week, she let me know she was horny, and we took care of each other. I never had to outright say anything to her, but she always understood my non-verbal query if she was interested. Perhaps just a bit of a lingering look in a meeting, a slight nod of my head to her, or hers to me in return. Sometimes, it was just with my eyes, eliciting a slight nod of acknowledgment from her in return, or occasionally a slight negative shake if she had something else planned that night. When that happened, she almost always came back the next day, usually just catching my eye and with a slight nod of her head, telling me she was up for some lusty entertainment. We never met at work, never traveled together, never did anything in the office -- and nobody ever suspected anything. Seldom did we ever exchange words during the workday, with perhaps the exception of that first time, after working hours, where she'd unquestionably told me she wanted to get laid -- by me.

I knew that going out with Meredith didn't feel like that. Since I'd bumped into her at the restaurant a few days before, she'd been essentially non-stop on my mind. Especially memories of that one night, 47 years before, sharing her with her husband, being his "Valentine's Day" present to her, having her fuck me silly, suck my cock while he was fucking her, and then the final straw: Rick saying that he'd "given" Meredith to me in payment for my tutoring services.

Meredith had a large expanse of cleavage displayed when she opened the door for me, the body-conforming dress quite reminiscent of her sweater dress from so many years before, although, that night, she hadn't been displaying any cleavage. I remembered her completely covered from neck to calf, the gentle bounce and sway of her boobs, the lack of panty lines on her bottom.

"Still showing off the girls?" I stated with a sheepish grin. Her response of, "You mean you like my boobs?" pegged me perfectly. I did like her boobs, they were very attractive and sexy, but that wasn't the only reason I had asked her out.

Our conversation started light, just normal banter of people who didn't know each other, gradually sharing about ourselves. A bottle of wine slowly disappeared, followed by sharing a portion of a slice of Molten Chocolate Lava Cake. Only a portion, as it was large enough that four of us could have shared it if there had been four of us.

"Would you like to come in?" Meredith asked at her door. I'd pulled the car into her driveway and almost got around to her side to open the door before she'd already pushed it open. Still, I took her hand and walked her to her door. Old habits die hard, I knew my father would roll over in his grave if he knew I hadn't escorted my date to her front door.

I didn't answer immediately, knowing that, without a doubt, her offer was to have sex with me. I did want to have sex with her, but I knew I also had that self-imposed "never on a first date" admonition that she didn't know about. Meredith and I had our weird fling, oh so long ago, and I had walked away then as I didn't just want sex with her. My attraction to Meredith was still more than just physical, although, here, again, she had dressed to accentuate her physical attributes.

"No," I said, shaking my head and reaching for her hand. "I don't think I better."

She didn't quite manage to control her face, her expression showing surprise, if not shock, at my refusal. "My wife died 11 years ago," I continued. "Since then, I've dated multiple women and had sex with many of them. I've got a fuckbuddy at work who I get together with once a week or so, purely for sex. Half a century ago, dating was all about possibly getting laid, and you know, and I know, that if I come in with you now, we're going to have sex. But for the last 11 years, I've never had sex on a first date. For me, it's no longer about just getting laid, no matter how much I'd like that. We're going to have a second date, and if you want to invite me into your living room for a glass of wine or into your bedroom for something more after that next date, I'll accept. But for tonight, I'm going to say no. I'll kiss you goodbye. But no, I won't come inside."

Meredith was looking at me, her head slowly bobbing in thought. "Nobody has ever just walked me to my door before. At least, not anyone that I've invited inside." We stood there looking into each other's faces momentarily before she pulled on my hand, pulling me closer.

My hand slipped up her arm and around to her back and shoulder as I bent my face to hers. Her face turned up, and her lips met mine, lips meeting lips until her mouth opened slightly, my tongue and hers meeting, greeting, inviting, and tantalizing. I felt her naked back under my hand, confirming as I'd known all evening long that she had no bra on. Pulling her to me, I felt her breasts press against my chest. Her hand slipped to my lower back, pulling me, and the erection that had sprung up in my pants, against her. She didn't reach between us, but she did keep her hand against my back, pushing her hips and belly forward against me. She pulled away from the kiss, not releasing her body pressed against mine.

"Are you sure you don't want to come in?" she asked, wiggling her pelvis against me. "It feels like you actually like that idea."

"There's no denying that," I answered, "but this is all new to both of us. If this is a good thing, it will be next time, too. So no, I'm not going to come in with you tonight. There's a lot about me that you don't know, and I'm sure there's a lot about you that I don't know."

Meredith stepped back slightly in my arms, looking into my face. "You like me?"

I nodded. "I do."

"I like you too," she said and stepped another step back from me. Unexpectedly, she reached to her hips, and her hands went to her hips, and I know my eyes must have grown wide as I realized she was working her underwear down under her skirt. When they got low enough, she reached under the hem and caught her underwear directly. Lifting one leg at a time, she slipped them off while I watched her eyes, my peripheral vision watching what she was doing. Reaching up with one hand, she took my hand and turned it over, and with the other hand, she pressed her silky panties into my hand.

They were damp.

"Jerry," she said, "you've had me wet all night. I've been looking forward to having sex with you ever since you called, and I can tell you want me, too. Next time, I'm not going to take no for an answer. But for now, I'm going to go in and diddle my bean and dream of making love with you again, and you're probably going to go home and masturbate, thinking of me, too. Do what you want with these, but if you want me to wear panties for our next date, you're going to have to bring these back." With that, she turned and opened her door. I watched her swing it open, only to turn back and purse her lips and blow me a kiss. "Call me," she said, stepping inside and pushing the door closed.

I was holding Meredith's panties in my hand as I moved the gear shift and began to drive away. You've had me wet all night, she had said, and from the dampness of the cloth in my hand, I didn't doubt that. I'd pulled out onto the street and up to a stop light, the headlights of cars approaching from behind illuminating the inside of my pickup. Keeping my hand closed, I raised it to my face, the sexy aroma of an aroused woman assailing my nose. Only once before had Meredith and I had sexual relations, but the smell of her panties was distinctly hers, the aroma of her sex that had lingered in my mind for nearly 50 years. For years, my wife and I had been exclusive, but since then, I'd had multiple sexual partners. Every woman has a distinct smell and a distinct taste, and while often quite similar, I'd noticed differences with every woman. Now the smell of Meredith's panties, the smell of her pussy permeating the silky cloth, took me back to that evening. The taste of her pussy on my tongue as I'd caressed her clit, the feel of her mouth on my cock as she'd sucked me, and later the feel of her pussy as she'd ridden my erection, all came flooding back.

I didn't realize at first just how much her giving me her panties had tweaked my imagination. I didn't want to put them down, but I did so just momentarily as I got ready for bed. Climbing into bed naked (I haven't slept in anything in years -- even before my wife died, when we both usually slept naked), I, unusually, still had an erection. I thought back, trying to remember the last time I'd gone to bed with an erection and really couldn't come up with when it had been. Sure, I'd aroused myself and masturbated multiple times over the past years, and many had been the woman who had shared my bed and gotten me aroused so that we could pleasure each other, but I couldn't remember the last time I'd walked around my bedroom with an erection, sliding into bed with one. That was something that the 24-year-old Jerry of 47 years before experienced regularly -- but not something that often happened to the 71-year-old Jerry of today.

Gripping my cock with one hand I slowly stroked, remembering the feeling of Meredith's breasts against my chest, her belly pushing against my cock, just minutes before. Raising her panties to my nose, I inhaled, smelling her arousal, and realized that she was probably at her home, possibly masturbating at that exact moment. Eyes closed, I visualized her sitting on my face so many years before -- and without thinking why, pushed her panties to my face. I opened my mouth, pushed it between my lips, and inhaled, sucking against the cloth. The panties had been damp, and although not soaked, I could taste her juices as they entered my mouth. I imagined her pussy on my tongue, my tongue slithering between her labia, trying to penetrate her vagina, running against her clit, and pulled her panties away. Reaching down, I swapped hands, gripping my cock with the silky cloth. Almost like masturbating with lubricant, the feel of the satin against my skin was exquisite, and soon enough, I erupted. I had them wrapped over my cock head as I ejaculated, preventing making a mess in my bed.

At first panting, I slowly relaxed, although my cock shrank much faster than it had when I was a teen, or during my first marriage. I thought about my arousal, how I no longer was a walking erection looking for an outlet, and especially that for the first time in ages, I'd had a complete erection and had ejaculated without using Viagra first.

I lay there thinking of Meredith, our date, and what she'd told me of her life so far. Thinking about her and what I wanted to do, a thought popped into my mind. Reaching for my phone, I flipped to my address book and pressed her number.

"Couldn't sleep?" she said as an answer when she picked up.

"Getting there." She didn't say anything for a moment. "I really liked being with you tonight."

"Me too."

"Are you in bed?"

"Yes." She didn't say anything for a moment and then giggled. "Have you made a mess of my panties yet?"

I didn't answer instantly, but a moment later said, "Yes."

"You better wash them before you bring them back to me."

"Who says I'm going to bring them back? I think I'll keep them here until you come to get them."

"Hmm. Should I not wear panties next time so I can put them on to come home?"

"That could be fun." I didn't say anything for a moment. "Do you sleep naked?"

"All the time. Except when I want to seduce a lover, and that stuff doesn't stay on long.

Do you?"

"Sleep naked?" I asked, her uh-huh confirming. "Yes."

"When am I going to see you again?"

"How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow night?"

"Actually, I was thinking about tomorrow morning."

"Oh." She didn't say 'no' but was silent for a moment. "I'm supposed to go to work."

"Can you take a sick day?"

"Maybe. Have you got something in mind?"

"Depends," I answered, "have you got any hiking boots?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Good. Then I'll pick you up at 7."

"Just wearing hiking boots?"

I laughed. "Well, that might be fun, but I think you better wear pants along with them. I would suggest you wear different panties, though -- I'm not going to get these washed before then. You'll need a jacket or at least a Pendleton. It might be a bit chilly."

~

I was up before 6, but had everything ready and arrived at Meredith's just before 7. "Where are we going?"

"Have you ever hiked Cuyamaca Peak?"

"No."

"Back when we were in college, there was a fire lookout tower on top, but they took it down years ago. They don't need fire spotters anymore, but the fire road to the top is still there. It's not a bad hike, about three miles, except that it's continuous uphill for most of it, and I've got a picnic lunch in my bag. I figure two to three hours up, and 1 hour back down."

~

"So?" Meredith said after just a few hundred yards of walking up the road. On the eastern slope of the mountain, the now mid-morning sunlight was filtered through the nearly impenetrable canopy of incense cedars and the occasional stand of Douglas firs. Icy drifts of snow were in places that remained in shadow most of the day, but the temperature was quite pleasant. "Tell me about your life?"

I looked over to her, wondering how much to tell, or where to start. I didn't care to hide anything, but truthfully, talking about 70 years of life could easily take months if I didn't pare it down quite a bit. "Starting when?" I asked.

"You were married once before we met?"

"You remembered that?" I asked.

"Yeah. I thought you were about my age, and then you said you'd been married before. What happened?"

"What can I say, except that we were young and stupid? Sue and I started dating in the last half of my senior year in High School. I asked her to our senior prom, and we had sex for the first time the week before then. I got us a hotel room for after the prom, and... well, we had sex virtually all night. I never asked her about birth control, she never asked me, and we didn't use condoms. It was just a few weeks, probably even just a few days later, that she missed her period, and we knew she was pregnant. Nobody even talked about birth control in those days -- the thought among most adults, including our parents, was that if you talked about it, you were condoning it. We got married almost immediately, and then she miscarried about 4 months later. Luckily, the doctor we were seeing had us go to a sex education class. A real one, not like the half-assed BS they taught you in high school biology classes. Afterward, they asked us, since we were married and therefore "legitimate," if we would consider participating in teaching sex ed to others -- particularly high school and college kids. The idea was that these 18-year-olds were pregnant, and right there, in front of everyone, would be more powerful than some old doctors and nurses preaching. We agreed, and they taught us more about sex and how it works than I thought possible."

"Why'd you separate?"

I shrugged my shoulders and repositioned the backpack. "When she lost the baby, we started using birth control. We hadn't needed to until then as she was already pregnant. We were heavily in lust with each other; the sex was virtually non-stop for maybe a year, a year and a half, or so. But it wasn't long after that, without a baby to keep us together and nothing in common except sex, we started bickering and fighting and realized that there wasn't much of anything common between us."

"You left her?"

"Sort of mutual. We knew it wasn't going to work so she moved back in with her parents. We got divorced a few months later. You know, the funny thing is, once we weren't together, we got along quite well. For a couple of years after that, we'd get together, and both of us knew it was strictly for sex. Sexually, we were very compatible, otherwise, we were cats and dogs. We were too young."

"How old were you when we were studying together?"

I had to go back in my mind and calculate. "23, I think, maybe 24. I just turned 71. I think we'd been divorced for three years. What about you? How old were you?"

"17."

"What? Really? You were in college at 17?"

"I actually started college when I was 16. When I started kindergarten, I wasn't quite 5, and then I skipped a grade and tested out of several classes my senior year, mostly because Rick was a year ahead of me, and I didn't want to be away from him. I graduated when I was only 16, started college that spring semester, and turned 17 almost immediately." She stopped on a turn, looking out over the valley below, and I stopped next to her. "Rick and I started dating when I was 14. We wanted to get married, but my parents wouldn't say yes until I turned 17, and they had to sign off. We got married after that first semester."

"I remember you showing me your ring."

"Yeah. I so hoped you'd be jealous."

"Well, I was that." She looked up at me.

"I never got that feeling."

I shrugged. "Yeah, I've always been pretty traditional in that way. I thought you were hot. Still do for that matter, but once I found out you were engaged, you were off-limits as far as I was concerned."

"That night with Rick and me... that wasn't so very traditional."

"No, it sure wasn't. I guess that's part of why I left. One taste of you..." I didn't intend it as a pun.

"You were pretty tasty too," she said, with a giggle under her breath.

I laughed, realizing how it had sounded. "I didn't mean it that way.

"I know. But I did." She pulled my hand, and I turned into her as she stepped up into my arms. She raised her face to me, and I bent to her, her eyes closing as our lips met. "I'm glad you called me," she said moments later when I pulled away.

I nodded. "Come on," I said, stepping back from the view and starting up the road again, "the view is quite spectacular from the top."

"What about your second wife? How'd you meet her?"

"A birthday party for a co-worker. It wasn't until later that I figured it was a set-up. I'd refused a blind date several times, and then when he had a birthday party at his parent's house, with multiple of us from work there... well... we hit it off almost immediately. It didn't hurt that we were the only two single or unattached people there."

"And how long did it take for you to get into her panties?"

She giggled, and I knew she was trying to pull my chain. "I don't think that's any of your business!" I answered with a pretend huff and then added, "About 4 hours."

"Ah. Just a quickie then, huh?"

"Yep. A thirty-one-year quickie. We knew we were meant for each other almost immediately. She moved in a week later. We got married just 6 months after that, and her brother was my best man."

"Thirty-one years. That's a long time to be with just one person."

"Yeah, you've got to be committed."

"Did you ever... stray?" I looked over; she was looking at me, so I shook my head no. "And you've been celibate ever since?" To this, I laughed outright.

"Not hardly. Believe it or not, I've had sex with more people since her death than I did before we got married."

"So, you're one of those monogamous people?"

"I guess. At least when I was married the second time. I dated multiple girls, had sex with multiple girls, after my first wife and I broke up, before the divorce was final, but yeah -- mostly monogamous my whole life." We were just coming up on the dirt fire road crossing our path that was also known as the Pacific Crest Trail. Stopping, I took my pack off and fished us out a snack. "When I was a kid, this was known as the California Riding and Hiking Trail. It got incorporated into the Pacific Crest Trail a few years later. I always thought it would be fun to hike it from the Mexican Border to Oregon at least, although it goes all the way to Canada now. But I think those days are long gone for me."

"You're not too old, you could still do it."

"I guess." I really didn't guess -- I knew it wasn't anything that I was ever going to do. I closed my pack back up and looked over to Meredith, where she was sitting on a rock. "Ready? We're more than halfway."

"Let's go," she said, standing and stepping out in front. "So? Married 31 years. Kids?"

"Yeah, two daughters, both of them married now. Two grandkids from the older one, none from the younger yet."

"You?"

"Nope. No kids. Never wanted kids." I just nodded at her answer. I hadn't particularly "wanted" kids, but also hadn't "not" wanted kids, but once they came along, I had a hard time understanding my own thoughts of how I'd never had a desire for them. Kids, and likewise now with grandkids, were the center of our entire family's existence.

"Still monogamous?" For this one, I paused before answering. Was it any of her business? I guess it was, as I knew, if she was willing, we were going to be having sex. But what did I want to tell her?

"No, not really."

"More than one?"

"Not at the same time," I answered without hesitation.

"Why not? We sure had fun that one time."

Instantly, my mind went back to the memory that had never gone away since that night. Meredith riding my tongue. Meredith riding my cock. Meredith sucking me, on her hands and knees, as her husband pummeled her from the end of the bed. "Yeah, we did," I acknowledged. "That was my only threesome, ever." I didn't ask her if it had been her only threesome.

"So? What about now? Are you seeing anybody? Got a girlfriend? Dating anybody? Getting laid by anybody?"

"You're certainly blunt about that, aren't you?" She laughed but didn't answer my question.

"No sense in beating around the bush, is there?" She paused momentarily, waiting. "Well? Are you?" She repeated.

"Yes." It was a simple answer, but somehow, I knew she wasn't going to accept it as enough information.

"Is it serious?"

This time I contemplated what to say before I spoke. "I guess you could say we're fuck buddies." She waited; I could tell she wanted more. "She's a co-worker, but nobody at work knows about us. Not that I know about anyway. We get together every week or so, whenever one of us is horny."

"You're sure nobody at work knows?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Hmm. You might be surprised. Women, in particular, I think have a sixth sense about such things. We treat people differently when we're fucking them, even without realizing it. Women just seem to notice those things." I just accepted her statement and kept walking.

"How much further?" she asked a few minutes later. "Can we stop for a rest?

"Not too much further," I answered, stepping to the side of the road next to some boulders and shucking my pack once again. "Another couple of switchbacks from what I remember. Getting tired?" She nodded. I took out the water bottle and passed it to her again. "I've got lunch in the pack; we'll have a picnic at the top."

"So, you've got a fuck buddy, and you said you've been with more women since your wife died than you ever had before you were married?"

I glanced over to her. "So what, you want to find out all about my love life?"

She smiled wryly. "I figured if you're going to get into my pants that you should tell me about your lovers."

"Am I?" I asked, knowing perfectly well that I'd told her last night I never fucked until a second date and then had called her, thinking exactly that.

"Well, are you saying you didn't get into my panties last night? Have you thrown them in the wash yet?"

"Actually, they seemed pretty delicate, and I thought perhaps I should get some more delicates to add before running a load."

"And just how many delicates does a bachelor have these days?" she teased.

"None. I think you're going to have to contribute."

"Maybe I should just take them home and wash them myself?"

"Not if I have anything to say about that. Much better if you contribute to the cause." I laughed, and she took my hand, standing again.

"So?" She questioned after a few yards. "A fuck buddy, and who else?"

"Nobody who's turned out to be special. I had one woman I saw for about 6 months. She was pretty clingy, though; I think she thought she was going to lock me down." I started counting in my mind, realizing that over 11 years, I'd had sex with quite a few. "I think 17."

"That you've had sex with?" I nodded. "That's not that many. Over 10 years, that's not even two a year."

"After 31 years of being with just one, it's a change for me." I looked up ahead and realized we were almost there, the last switchback turning into what used to be a parking area. "Almost there. A hundred yards."

Turning the last corner, suddenly, the entire view became visible as the edge of the mountain dropped away. "Oh My God!" Meredith said, "I had no idea." I stopped and looked with her, just watching as she wandered from one corner of the mountaintop to another. "What's that?" she asked, pointing.

"The islands?" I questioned in return, her nod confirming that I was seeing what she was asking about. "Those are the Coronado Islands. They belong to Mexico. They're about 50 miles from here."

"The Hotel is there?"

"The Hotel Del?" I asked, getting an affirmative nod from her. "No, the Hotel del Coronado is in the City of Coronado, just across the bay from the airport, over here," I said, standing behind her and running my arm over her shoulder and beside her head. moving my arm slightly right to point it out. "That spur of land just beyond is the Point Loma Peninsula, with the Cabrillo National Monument on the end of it."

"The old Spanish Lighthouse?"

"Well, it's the old lighthouse, but it was never Spanish. It was built by the US a few years after California was ceded to the US by Mexico. See that jet?" I asked, moving my finger just slightly. "Watch. It's going to the San Diego Airport. That's the city right by the airport."

"It's so clear you can see forever."

"See this?" I said, turning 90 degrees and pointing north. "That big white mountain is Mt. San Jacinto, and the one behind, just slightly left, is Mt. San Gorgonio."

"How far?"

"San Jack is about 60 miles, and San Gorgonio is about 90 miles."

"Why are they so white? Snow?"

"Yeah. They rise well over 4,000 feet higher than we are here. I think San Gorgonio is just over 11,000 feet high, but I don't remember exactly."

"What's that one?" she asked, pointing just a bit further west.

"Mount Baldy, above Los Angeles. That one's about 120 miles."

"I had no idea it was possible to see so far in California."

"You can see a lot further when you're standing on top of the world like we are." I still had one arm over her shoulder, my other on her waist, her back pressed against me. My face was just above her head, and I realized I could smell her hair. Bending my face to the back of her head, I inhaled. "You smell good," I whispered.

Her head leaned back into me just a bit more. "You feel good," she whispered in return, her hand coming up to grip my arm where it was over her shoulder, lowering it to her breast. She didn't have to ask twice; my second hand rose to her other breast while her hand snaked between us and onto my crotch.

"So do you," I whispered, "feel good." Even though this was new with Meredith, and my wife had long been gone, just wrapping my arms around her, filling my hands with her breasts, was a comfortable feeling. Just as I had so often with my wife, I was just holding her breasts -- without thinking about it.

"Pretty mountains, aren't they?" I asked, my eyes running down the ridge line to the snow-covered peaks ahead of us.

"Which ones?" She giggled naughtily. "The snow-capped ones or the pink tipped ones?"

"I think both," I whispered in her ear, "although I haven't seen the pink tipped ones in about 40 years."

I turned her in my arms, and, almost instantly, our hands were caressing each other everywhere. On top of clothes, inside clothes, searching out skin. I pulled her shirt from her pants, my hands sliding in, under her bra and finding her nipples. Whether erect from the cool air or my cool touch -- I couldn't tell, just that her nipples were erect, a shiver running through her body as I fondled them.

I had dropped my day pack as we'd come to the top, and with her indicating she wanted this as much as I did, I pulled away for a moment. Opening the pack, I pulled the food off the top and set it aside, pulling a small blanket out of the bottom. "I brought us a blanket to sit on for a picnic," I said. Turning back, I saw that she was sitting on the ground and pulling her shoes off. She already had one off, and when I turned, she let go of the shoe and reached to the bottom of her shirt, pulling it up and over her head, leaving her in just her white bra.

"I don't think I'm interested in a picnic right now," she said. Reaching behind her back thrust her gorgeous breasts forward as she unhooked her bra. "But I am interested in something else that a blanket is good for."

I gawked at her gorgeous tits, still as admirable as they had been so many years before. "Are you going to get undressed, or do I need to do you, too?" She said, reaching again for her other shoe. I didn't have to be asked again as I spread the blanket and sat to begin pulling my boots off. She stood, feet on the blanket once her shoes were off, and moments later rose to shinny out of her pants. I reached for her hand, pulled her down in front of me, and pushed her onto her back. My mouth dove for her breasts, her nipples hardening to my mouth, her hand stroking the back of my head.

Meredith had pulled her shirt and bra off for me, but except to unbutton her pants, I pulled them and her panties off. I laid her back onto the blanket, letting my eyes stroke her body before I let my hands do the same. Her nipples were hard to my touch, her pussy already wet when my fingers found it, but not as wet as I remembered from years before. My finger slipped between her lips, smearing her wetness upwards toward her clit. Her lower lip went between her teeth, and moments later, perhaps realizing her wetness was dissipating before my fingers had adequately spread it, she said, "I don't get wet as fast as I used to."

"Oh?" I said, pulling my lips away from her nipple, "perhaps a little saliva would help?"

"It usually does," she whispered, her hand stroking the back of my head. I moved to her other nipple and began to kiss down her body, gradually moving between her legs. I slipped a finger into her pussy, adding a second a moment later, stopping my downward trend of my mouth as soon as my tongue found her clit. Although half a century, it seemed like just yesterday that I'd been here before, remembering her asking me if I'd do her with my tongue before we fucked. Her body rose, pushing her pussy against my lips and tongue, and with my fingers fucking her, she came surprisingly rapidly.

"Oh my God," she said, pushing my head away from her crotch. I rolled onto my side, and she rolled with me, her upper body coming up on top of my chest. Repositioning, she pushed against me and rolled me onto my back. "That was awesome," she said, her lips again joining mine as she rolled on top of me. "I never get tired of a tongue on my clit." Lifting her leg, she straddled me, her crotch pressing against my erection.

"That's two days in a row," I said, feeling her pussy pressing against my cock.

"What's that?" she queried, not understanding my reference.

"Two days in a row I've had an erection without using Viagra."

Reaching down, her body lifted off mine, her hand finding and gripping my cock, guiding it to her pussy as she settled back in place. "Did I do that to you?" she giggled.

"Hmm, yes, you did."

"I hope you don't mind," she said, rising more upright, "I like to be on top." I remembered lying on her bed the last time and realized it was the same position we'd been in that time also.

"I don't mind, I think I just like being in you."

"I like having you in me." Leaning forward, Meredith prostrated her body against my chest, her breasts pressing into me, her hips rising and falling as she drove herself against my cock. I raised my hands and found her nipples, eliciting a coo of pleasure as I tweaked them. "Are you getting close?"

"Not yet." She rose again, sitting upright on me. "Play with my clit? Rub me and I can cum again."

I reached down with my hand, found it difficult to use my fingers on her in this position, but spreading my hand I was able to find her clit with my thumb. She was much wetter now; my thumb easily found her excess wetness to spread to her clit. "Oh yeah, just like that..." she said, her back arching, pushing her clit forward to my thumb, and without warning began convulsing again in orgasm. She shuddered and shook for seconds before her hand came down to grip mine, moving my hand away from her pussy.

She had stopped her pivoting momentarily when she came, but now began rising and falling on my cock. "Is that good?" she asked. "Can you cum like this?"

"Yes," I confirmed, flexing my cock inside her. "I don't cum as easily as I used to."

"I'm sorry," she said, a look of concern on her face.

"I'm not. This is right where I've dreamed of being for the last 45 years." I played with her breasts and nipples as she rode me, but realized that for some reason the matching wasn't quite perfect. "Pull off," I said, "it's a little too dry. Rub your clit against my cock and I can cum."

"Uhmm," she said a moment later as she did exactly as I asked, "I always like this too. Was I too dry? I almost always use artificial lube anymore."

"Just a little..." I panted, feeling the burning sensation in my cock rising.

"Oh my God..." she said, "I'm going to cum again too..."

Her eyes were latched on mine, growing wider as she approached orgasm yet again with my hips rising to force my cock against her. I grunted as my cock began spewing between us, the added semen lubricant all that was needed for her to cum a third time. Almost instantly, she collapsed forward onto my chest.

"Wow, that was really nice," she said a moment later as she began to recover from her orgasm. I didn't say anything, just lay there with her on top of me, my hands stroking her back. A shiver shook her body, and I realized her back felt cool to my touch. I ran my hands to her bottom finding her ass was quite cold.

"I think we might need to get dressed if we're going to be comfortable having a picnic."

~

"So?" I said as we started back down the mountain. We'd gotten dressed and moved the blanket into the sun for more warmth, but even then, it was still exceptionally cool, probably just a few degrees above freezing as the afternoon sun hadn't yet warmed this portion of the mountain. She was surprised that I had a bottle of wine; we shared a lunch and the bottle of wine, but as cool as it was without much physical exertion, we soon agreed it was time to head back down.

~~~

We had simultaneously reached for each other's hand as we started down the road. I squeezed hers when she didn't respond, and she glanced over to me. "So?" I repeated, "What about you?"

"How so?"

"I told you about my life, my wife, my kids, my fuck buddy. What about you? What do I need to know?"

I saw her head bob in acknowledgment of my question, but she still didn't answer immediately. "Well," she said, "I guess the most important thing is that I'm not monogamous."

I had to admit, so far, I knew very little about her. She'd been married to Rick, he had turned out to be a real jerk, had pimped her out to me, and from what she'd said previously, to others. Together, they had been swingers, and eventually she'd left him -- but what had her life been like since then?

"That's important?" I questioned. We had just had sex for the first time in nearly half a century, and I knew that I had not been celibate since my wife died. I knew I had a semi-regular fuck buddy at work that I was going to have to rethink a relationship with if this relationship with Meredith expanded, but what did I know about her and her love life? Did I really think she might not have been having sex with others? Not in the least.

"It is if we're going to have an ongoing relationship."

"And are we?" I asked, looking over to her. "Going to have an ongoing relationship?"

"I think I'd like that," she answered.

"Me too," I added, nodding as I did. "So, what does that mean? Non-monogamous. Have you got a boyfriend...?"

"No, not a boyfriend, per se." She didn't expand on that.

I picked up on her emphasis on the singular "a" of the answer and nodded in understanding. "I see," I said, thinking that I understood. We were again passing the Pacific Crest trail crossing, and I asked her if she wanted to stop and rest. She said that she was fine; going downhill was so much easier, so we continued. "So, you're saying you've got more than one lover?" Her head bobbing confirmed my assumption. "How long has that been?"

There were certain portions of our conversation that included looking at each other and her evaluating how I, or me checking out how she, was taking statements, and this was one. I sensed her head turn to me, and I turned to look at her. "Since you."

Once again, out of context, her answer didn't seem to make sense. "Since me?" I questioned. "Since me what?

"Since I fucked you the first time."

"You mean when you were married to Rick?" Her head bobbed in confirmation. I waited a few seconds and said, "I'm not sure I understand."

She squeezed my hand. "You were my second."

"Your second? Your second what?"

"My second lover. Ever. Rick was my first. He was my one-and-only for three years, and then... There was you. Studying at the next table, day after day. I couldn't get you out of my mind, out of my imagination. Oh my God, Jerry. You were so handsome, so sexy. You can't imagine how many times I went to my next class with my panties soaked. And then when I told Rick about how there was this dude that I'd been studying near, he started teasing me about how I'd love to take you to bed and have you fuck my brains out... and it made our loving that much more intense."

"I didn't know you were his wife."

"I know. I didn't know that you were the Jerry that had helped him study before, either." I nodded but didn't say anything. "And then, when I came in that night, I was completely surprised by you being there."

"Me too. I didn't know that Rick knew you until I saw your wedding photo on the nightstand."

"That was the first time you knew about Rick and me?"

"Yeah. I have no reason to lie about that. Why?"

"He asked me to make dinner, and then when I went into the kitchen he came in and told me that he knew you were my fantasy lover and that he'd brought you home for me to fuck. I told him, 'No way,' but he told me it was both of our fantasy to include someone else in our lovemaking, and that I should go in and shower and put on that sweater dress that I had, without anything underneath, and that after dinner we could put on that porn movie and we might all have a good time."

"And you did."

"I did." Neither of us said anything for a moment. "So, you were the second person I ever had sex with."

Her words of "since me" were now explained, but that didn't explain the 'non-monogamy' portion of her life. I didn't have to wait or query, however. "It was certainly that night that let me know that Rick wasn't all that I thought he had been for me. We'd been having sex exclusively together, but it was you who made me realize that I'd been doing more for him than he had for me." She didn't continue immediately, but soon said, "You were the first person that ever gave me an orgasm from fucking."

"Rick never did?"

"He did a couple of times, later, before we separated, but you were the first. Before then, he'd get me off with his fingers or his tongue, but never from intercourse. Even then, usually, I had to get myself off. He was always happy for me to give him a blow job or a hand job or fuck me, but as soon as he came, if I hadn't taken care of myself, I was left out." I tried to remember all that had happened, but truthfully, I didn't really remember Mary's orgasm. I knew she'd sucked, and then climbed on and ridden me, but had she cum while we were fucking? I remembered trying to pleasure her, knowing that any time I ever tried to make sure my lovers were taken care of, it was better for both of us -- but that time had been so unexpected. And then Rick instructing (or was it demanding? I couldn't remember) that she suck me while he took her from behind... Even now I could look back in my mind and remember that she'd done what he asked, kneeling over me, her gorgeous breasts swaying from his thrusts from behind, but it had all been over as soon as Rick dropped his nut in her pussy. And then, the jarring realization that Rick thought he was paying me for tutoring him by letting me have sex with his wife.

"Do you remember what he said? Afterward, when you were heading into the shower?"

"No. Not particularly."

"He wanted to know if I liked having sex with you as payment for tutoring. He asked if I'd ever been paid with sex before."

"Oh." It was a bit later that she spoke again. "I don't know why I didn't hear that or, at least, remember that. It makes sense, though. That was probably the first time that he gave me away for money, or at least in payment for something else."

"The first time?" I repeated. Her head bobbed in response.

"That first time with you. After that, for weeks, all he could talk about was how hot it had been seeing me with you and then fucking me while I was blowing you. And then one day, he came home with that ad from the school newspaper about the "Sexual Freedom League." He told me he'd already called, and there was to be a party on Saturday night. He said that all we had to do was get a blood test showing we didn't have VD, and we could come party with them."

"VD?" I laughed, "Oh my God. I haven't heard a Sexually Transmitted Disease called VD in forever. They're STDs now, but back in the day, we talked about Venereal Diseases. VD."

"Yeah, I think they now call them Sexually Transmitted Infections, STI's."

There was something in the way she said this that made me realize she must have been intimately acquainted with an unwanted infection. When she didn't say anything for a moment, I asked. "You had something?"

"That was the final straw with Rick. I should have left him before then, but I hadn't." Again, I waited, and she continued. "We started going to the Sexual Freedom League swingers parties and well, I guess I became quite the slut. Ricky loved to watch me fuck other people, and I did. I found out that, for me, sex with others was better than sex with Rick."

"He forced you?"

"Oh my God, no. It's funny, after having had sex with you, I was a very willing participant."

"You were both... having sex with others?"

"Yes. But me more than him."

My thoughts went to my fantasies over the years. How many times had I fantasized about being in a threesome, or with someone else, or perhaps multiple 'someone else's?' Sex, with no strings attached, for sex itself? My affair with my fuckbuddy Loretta, although we had mutual respect for each other, we both admitted our relationship was purely sexual, and mutually satisfactory. "What was that like?"

"I wasn't exactly gung-ho that first time, but Rick had made doctor appointments for blood tests. We went in on a Tuesday, had a clean bill of health by Friday, and went to a party on Saturday. I'd told him I would go along, but there was no guarantee I was going to participate in anything. He had me dress in my sexiest going-out clothes. I had a mini-skirt and tube top that was probably too small on me."

"Like that one you occasionally wore at school?"

"You remember that?"

"How could I forget?"

"We were about to go out the door, and he told me to take my panties off."

"And you did?"

"He had his fingers in me the whole way there." She didn't say yes, but her explanation made it clear that she had gone without panties. "We arrived and were greeted by the hosts, a middle-aged man and woman, I don't remember their names anymore. It was their home; they greeted us, welcomed us as newcomers, and asked for our blood test results before they let us in. They said that most everyone would be nude, but there was no requirement for that, and that except that names were to be shared only if offered, that many preferred to remain anonymous, and that "No means No", but other than that there were very few rules.

"While they were telling us this, another couple arrived. I thought they were probably in their late twenties, maybe early thirties, just a little older than us, but they had been there before. They were greeted by name, Stef and Jay, and after giving hugs to the host and hostess, were directed to the front bedroom to put their clothes. They looked at us, said, "You must be the newbies," and told us to follow them to where we could put our clothes.

"We followed them down the hall and found the bed already covered with piles of clothes. I still wasn't sure about this, but when they began taking their clothes off and Rick did too, I was still hesitant. Stef must have recognized this, as she said, "You've never done this before?" I just shook my head no, and she said, "Don't do anything you're not comfortable with, but if you don't get naked, you'll probably be the only one." I just looked away from them and took my skirt off first, thinking I wasn't going to immediately expose myself, but I'd completely forgotten that I didn't have any panties on." Meredith giggled, "God, telling you this now, I can't believe how naïve I was."

I didn't say anything, and she continued. "By that time, Jay and Stef and Rick were all naked and watching as I took off my shirt and bra. "Oh, wow! Gorgeous tits! Gonna let me play with those?" Jay said as he ogled me. Stef jumped in and said, "Down, boy! Let her get used to this before you jump all over her," and then she took my hand. "Stick with me, and I'll introduce you and show you around." I looked at Rick, who nodded at me to go, so I followed her into the hallway. "Are they all going to be that forward?" I asked, and she said, "Listen, don't be intimidated by that. The rule is that you ask for anything. If you want to fondle a cock or a boob or a pussy, just ask. Jay knows that, so although it may have seemed blunt, he really was asking if he could play with your tits. If you want to fuck someone, just ask if they want to fuck. If you want to give a blowjob, just ask. If you want to have a tongue on your clit," she said, looking over at me, "just ask if there are any volunteers with a willing tongue, and I'm sure you'll have many volunteers." We were almost to the end of the hall when she said, "I do love eating pussy, so if you need a volunteer, come look me up."

"Did you?" I asked.

"With her?" she questioned back, looking up to me, and I nodded. "Not that night. We had our times later.

"Anyway, Stef walked me around and introduced me to practically everyone. They were all really nice. After Jay's initial query about feeling me up, I thought most every other man might be the same, but most just commented that they would enjoy playing sometime. It's kind of funny, it was mostly the women that commented on my tits though -- saying things like "I was sure to be popular with tits like those."

"You did like to show them off."

"Still do," she laughed, "although I'm not quite as popular as I was at 18."

"What happened then?"

"We'd pretty well been around to see everyone. Like they said when we came in, most everyone was nude, although many, the women especially, were wearing lingerie only. We finally got to one couple that Stef knew, and the woman asked Stef if Jay was up for grabs and if the two of us were going to stay and play with her husband. Stef said she was ready to play and turned to me and asked if I wanted to join her. I told her not just yet, that I was going to go find Rick, and left her."

"I started back around the house, finding Rick looking for me, along with a guy named Tim. He gave me a hug and told me that I was the talk of the party, everyone talking about the "hot young new chick" that had come in. He told me that Tim had outright asked, when he found that Rick was my husband, if he could have a go with me. He said "Whadda think babe? Wanna have a go with Tim?"

I could hear those exact words from Rick in my memory. "That's what he said to me... way back when," I told her.

"I know. That's what he always said when he wanted me to fuck someone."

"I remember."

"You fucked him? Fucked Tim?" I asked when she didn't say anything for a moment.

"I asked Rick, "Do you want me to?" who said he'd like nothing better than to see me do that. I wasn't sure about that, Tim had to be older than my father. Probably in his 50's. He wasn't in bad shape, just so old compared to me. I told Rick I would if he wanted me to, and he said, "He's not very hard, so show him how good you are at sucking cock."

I stepped to the side of the road, stopping at a large boulder, and taking my pack off. I took out a water bottle and offered it to Meredith, who accepted it and took a swallow of water before handing it back. "Tim wasn't a lover I would have chosen, but I learned from him to never judge a lover before you've tried him. There was no way I was ready to fuck, even though Rick had fingered me to orgasm while we were driving there, I wasn't feeling very aroused at the time. I don't know whether Tim recognized that, but he knew to take his time. He complimented me and my body, stroked me with his hands, fingered me, and then went down on me. When I pulled him to me to suck his cock, he only got partially hard to begin with, but eventually he said he was hard enough, although he barely was. He took me missionary to start with, working his cock inside me, and then the longer we fucked, the harder he got. He was barely hard enough when I came the first time, and then he kept going. I never came down from that first orgasm, and with him continuing, I came a second time. After that, he rolled us over, and by then he was totally hard, and I rode him to a third orgasm. I hadn't even been looking at Rick, but when Tim rolled us over, I saw that Rick was standing there stroking his cock and watching. He stepped up to me and pushed his cock up to my face, so I sucked him while riding Tim and came the third time before either Rick or Tim came." She paused her story momentarily before saying, "That was the first time I ever had multiple orgasms, at least so close together." A moment later she added, "It turned out Tim was a really good fuck. Probably because he took so long to cum. I did him many times over the next two years. He'd always start soft, but he always got me off two or three times before he came."

I hadn't had to ask much as we were walking along, she'd begun talking, and I'd just listened. "So, I was sitting there on Tim, his cock had finally shrunk up as soon as he came, when this voice behind me said, "My God, that was hot! Mind if I tap some of this sweet pussy?" I didn't even know who it was when Rick said, "Oh yeah, go ahead, she loves to fuck." I'd moved forward onto my hands and knees as Tim rolled out from under me, and I started to turn and look, when the voice said, "Stay right there, honey!" and this stranger pushed his cock right in me. "Oh, Fuck! I love sloppy seconds!" He said, "Always so wet and juicy."

She stopped talking for a minute. I wasn't sure what to say, so I didn't say anything, and she started again. "So, I fucked Tim, some other guy who I didn't even know who it was, and I was just about worn out. Rick had finger fucked me to orgasm, I'd had three orgasms with Tim, and another from this stranger, and I was worn out. I told Rick to take me home. He wanted to stay a little longer, but I told him I was ready to leave, and he agreed. We started toward the bedroom to get our clothes and were stopped by a younger couple who appeared to just be arriving. They seemed to be about 30, and both of them were really good-looking. They introduced themselves as Bob and Sheila and said they hadn't seen us there before. We told them it was our first time, and they admitted that younger couples like us were the rarity; most of the people there were in their 40's or 50's. We told them we were just thinking about heading home, and they said that was too bad, they had spotted us and had hoped we might like to play with them. They said they liked to play, but they always did it together. When they asked if maybe we'd like to go back to a bedroom with them before we left, Rick said we'd love to. I really didn't feel like it, but he said we would, so we did. As soon as we started moving toward the bedroom, Sheila stepped up and grabbed Rick's arm, and Bob stuck his hand out to me."

"They were pretty good lovers; Bob and I matched well, as did Rick and Sheila. I hadn't even thought about it until then, I'd been so involved with Tim and that other guy, that I didn't even know if Rick had fucked anyone else. He'd just watched Tim and a stranger and was now mostly watching Bob fucking me. I always knew that Rick liked to do me doggie style, and that's how he was doing with Sheila when I looked over, but I just ignored them. Bob took good care of me, a very considerate lover, and then after we said goodbye to them and asked if maybe they'd like to meet again, they agreed they would like that."

"All Rick could talk about on the way home was how hot it was to see me fucking other men. I didn't have panties of course, and he had his hand on my leg and pussy all the way home. I'd thought I just wanted a shower and bed when we got home, but just like in the car, Rick had other thoughts. No sooner were we in our apartment than he was attacking me: kissing me, fingering me, pushing me back onto the bed, and going down on me. I'd had three different men cum in my pussy since we left home, and I hadn't had any time to clean up at all -- and my husband went down on me."

She didn't say anything for a bit, apparently, her story over for the moment; what she had so long-windedly told me had reached an end. Hearing it all and just listening, I'm not sure when it all clicked in my mind, but I knew. "Rick was gay, wasn't he."

"Yeah." It was a simple response, followed by silence for several minutes. "I didn't know, I don't think he knew it."

"I've heard that before, many men who enjoy other men fucking their wives, especially watching, are living a gay life vicariously." It was then that I realized what she'd said to start with. "Is that how he gave you something? What was it, the clap?"

She sighed. "We been going to swingers parties every month for about two years, and then, for some reason, we missed a couple. I think I know why now, Rick was out cheating on me. It wasn't long after that, perhaps a few weeks later, that I started getting this burning when I was peeing. I gave it a couple of days, drank lots of cranberry juice in case it was a UTI, and then went to the doctor, where they diagnosed me with the clap. They gave me some antibiotic, one of those "cillins", I'm not even sure which one, and told me I needed to refrain from sex for a couple of weeks until I tested clean. I went home and told Rick he needed to go get evaluated and a prescription to clear up the clap, and then when he came home, we'd have a talk about how he'd given it to me."

"He denied it at first, claiming we must have gotten it from our swinging parties, but that didn't make sense. The numbers didn't add up. I'd asked the doctor about the incubation period, and I got diagnosed well after our last party. He finally admitted that he'd been seeing some male hookers. He said he didn't like to fuck them, he just liked sucking cock, and I remembered how ravenous he'd been that first time, and every time, after we'd been to a party and other men had fucked me. Every last time, we'd come home and it was practically guaranteed that he was going to eat me to orgasm once or twice more before he let me go and wash up."

"So, you filed for divorce?"

"Not too long after that. Rick and I hooked up for three years before we got married. We married when I was 17, and we divorced at 20. I haven't seen or heard from him in over 40 years now. Of course, we had to tell the group members, but I knew something was wrong and caught it before we gave it to anyone else. But, for a while, they demanded clean blood tests from everyone, every time, at least until Rick was gone."

"Hooked up," I said, commenting on her use of the modern euphemism, "Back then we used to say we were 'going with' someone."

"Yeah, you're right. Back in high school, I always said I was "going with Rick."

"So now you're single," I returned the conversation to her story, "you hooked up at these swinger parties with a couple of guys, but then you're dating again?"

"A couple?" she laughed. "I'll bet I fucked at least 50 different men. Every time we went to a party, he'd hook me up with multiple different men. He would watch me fuck 4 or 5 every night, often three or four at once."

"He was just watching?"

"Not always. Many couples, like Bob and Sheila, would only play together, to swap partners and he would fuck women doing that, but his thing was more watching me be his slut."

"I don't like that word. Such a negative connotation."

"I've got no problem with it, it's a good description of what I was back then. I loved being fucked and didn't mind that it was by different men. Two or three or 10 at a time."

"Ten?" I didn't quite believe that number.

"Yeah. I think that was just before Rick started seeing male prostitutes. One of the guys from the club, I don't even remember who, had a brother who was having a bachelor party and told Rick if I'd go they'd pay a thousand dollars for a slut that would fuck everyone. He didn't tell me about the thousand dollars until later. That was big money for us back then, and suddenly for a few days we seemed to have lots of money. I finally asked where all the money came from and he confessed that he'd pimped me out." She looked over at me and added, "Again." I nodded.

"You did them all?"

"Ten of them, Rick just watched, at least until we got home. Three of the guys I knew from the swingers club, but the others were friends of the groom. But since I didn't know all of them, I wouldn't do them without condoms. One of the guys disappeared and came back shortly with packs of condoms."

"And you did them all?"

"Many of them more than once."

"You don't think you got the clap from one of them?"

"No. The Freedom League parties were really strict about requiring current blood tests, so we had to get a monthly blood test. Of course, we didn't know about AIDs yet, so I guess we were just lucky. But getting the clap, that was maybe 6 months later, anyway."

"So, Rick gave it to you and then you divorced him?"

"Pretty much. Not all instantaneously, but when he confessed that he was more into men than me..."

I nodded, and even though we'd been walking side by side, I reached over and took her hand. "I'm sorry. That had to be hard, thinking you've got your true love and finding he's not really into you at all."

She shrugged. "When I came down with the clap, I called the club and told them I'd been diagnosed and was being treated, and although I thought it had all happened since we'd been there the last time, they should pass the word and everyone should be checked. I heard back later that everybody else checked clean, but I didn't feel like going back and facing them, at least, not immediately. "But it was over between Rick and me. I moved back with Mom and Dad until I graduated the next year and gave up on men, at least for a while."

"You went from having a gangbang with 10 men to being celibate?"

"Yeah, hard to believe, isn't it?" She giggled. "It didn't last long, though. Do you remember Stef and Jay?" I didn't, but she explained, "The first time we went to the Sexual Freedom League party, the couple that came in behind us and sort of showed me the ropes?"

"Oh yeah."

"Stef and I exchanged numbers and had often talked, but after Rick and I split, she didn't have contact with me until I called her. I had to tell her the whole story, and since I wasn't with Rick, I didn't want to go to the parties alone, and now that I was back at my parents' home, my parents constantly wanted to know where I was, where I was going, all of that parental making decisions for me type of thing. It was kind of funny, they wanted more control over me as I was about to graduate from college than they ever had when I was in Junior High or High School and hooking up with Rick. They always wanted to know where I was going to be or how to check up on me if they hadn't heard from me. I couldn't tell them I was going to a swingers' party and I really didn't want to go alone, so I just quit going at all. Anyway, I told Stef that I hadn't had sex with a man in months and I was about to explode if I didn't get laid. She said that Jay had, just that week, asked if she'd heard from me recently and suggested if I wanted, I could get together with him. She said they had an anniversary weekend already planned in Palm Springs, with the kids staying with her parents, and asked if I wanted to come with them. I told her I'd love to, but until I graduated and got a paying job, I couldn't afford to do anything. She told me not to worry, it would be on them, that I could be her Anniversary present for Jay, but she would only ask for one thing in return. I asked her what that was, and she said, 'I've been dying to eat that sweet pussy of yours."

We were nearly back to the parking area when we met people for the first time, another couple heading up the mountain. We greeted them in passing and told them we hadn't seen anyone else, as far as we knew the mountain was theirs. Back at the parking area there were now, unusually, just two other cars with nobody else in sight. I expect that the winterish temperatures and midweek had much to do with that very popular hiking spot being virtually deserted. I was just glad that the couple we had passed hadn't shown up a couple of hours earlier.

Rather than immediately turning back toward town, I turned north. "You up for dessert?" I said, to let her know what I was thinking. "Julian is about 20 miles and they're well known for apple pie."

"A la mode?"

"If you want."

"Sounds Yummy."

"Good. I thought so, too. So..." I prodded when we were on the road, "You're to be an anniversary present for Jay? I take it you'd fucked him before?"

"Yeah, several times. I'd never been with a woman, though. Stef was my first. Oh my God, what a great couple of days. Stef and me, Jay and me, all three of us. We became good friends and lovers. We're still good friends."

"And lovers?"

I glanced over to see her head nodding. "You've seen Stef."

"I have?"

"That night at Outback? The taller woman that was with me? That's Stef." I shook my head and shrugged. Although I remember that she had been with two other women, I didn't remember a thing about them. My thoughts had all been on Meredith.

"Yeah, I don't remember them in particular. She's still a lover?"

"More like a lover again. It's funny, they were the ones that introduced me to my second husband. They had a party and invited me, and he was there."

"Swingers party?" I clarified.

"Oh no, no. I think it was Jay's 30th birthday party. A big backyard bar-b-que. Both of their parents, multiple friends, including Duane."

"Duane?" I repeated, not knowing who he was.

"Oh yeah, sorry. He was my second husband."

"But wasn't that later? Weren't you like 25 when you met him?"

"28. Yeah, I was 20 when Rick and I divorced, and I met Duane when I was 28."

"So you went from being a, well..." I paused, looking for the right word.

"Slut?" she filled in with a laugh. "I don't think of myself that way now, but let's face it, I was a slut. Ricky was having me have sex with many people. I still do like sex with many different people, but unlike with Rick, it's because I want it."

I nodded. I had trouble with the negative connotation of "slut," but she was right, from what she'd told me, it did seem to fit. I mulled over other possible words for her sex life. Indiscriminate? Promiscuous? Willing? I thought back on all the males that I'd known in my life who had jumped from sexual relationship to sexual relationship and had never thought of them as "sluts", and realized that most had just acknowledged their own sexuality and I hadn't thought anything (well, not much) negative about them. I didn't contemplate this any further at that time, just moved on. "So, you went from being a 20-year-old slut, to what? Dating? Seeing others?"

"Yeah. I mean, no..." she corrected. "Not in the traditional sense. After Jay and Stef and I got together, I knew I couldn't be without sex for long. When we got home after that weekend, I asked if they were still involved with the Sexual Freedom League, and when they said they were, they just asked if I'd like to go along with them the next time. What I didn't know was that the Sexual Freedom League club was about to break up. Maybe a couple of times more that I went, both with and without Jay and Stef, and then the leaders of the group said that someone else was going to have to step up as they were bowing out, and after that, it just kind of fell apart.

"I hadn't realized before that there were quite so many singles attending as there were. Although a lot of people went with their date, a lot of them were single. And, particularly after I started playing with women, I found there were many of us that kept in touch. One friend asked if I'd like to go along with her to a sex club; she didn't want to go alone, so I went with her. From there, we received several invitations to sex parties or other sex clubs, so it didn't matter too much that I was single. I was still a happy slut, and getting laid quite often without having to cook and clean and put out for a self-centered man."

"So this Duane?" I asked, "What happened there?"

"He was at Jay and Stef's party, and... you know, in some respects, it was like you and me at our study tables at the University? How many times did our eyes meet?" I just nodded, understanding perfectly. "Oh God, he was so handsome. Almost as handsome as you. I saw him looking my way so many times, and we never even spoke to each other. He knew a lot of the people that I didn't, and then eventually I was looking around and realized he'd disappeared. After the party, I was helping clean up and asked Stef who that gorgeous hunk was, and she laughed. She told me she'd be right back and returned a minute later with a sticky note with a phone number on it. She said that as he'd been leaving, he'd asked who I was and if I was single. When she said I was, he'd stepped over to the desk, taken a sticky note, written his phone number on it, and then pasted it to the wall. He said that if I asked about him, she should pass it on, but otherwise, he was sorry that he hadn't gotten to meet me. I went home and called him, we talked for hours. He asked me out the next day. We moved in together a month later, lived together for 5 years, and then got married."

"The thing was, Duane was a... narcissist. He didn't ask about my number or how to get hold of me; he knew I was going to call; he knew he was going to get me. Everything was about him. He had to have the newest, the best, the greatest. He was an executive with an insurance company and made great money. He had his Corvette; he was a pilot. He had a small plane that he flew to different business meetings. And everything was about showing off. Flashy car, flashy plane, flashy clothes, flashy wife. To him, when we got married, I was the greatest. I was 5 years younger than him. I was beautiful. I had big tits. I loved sex. I was his beautiful 'trophy wife' that he could take and show off. And then, 5 years later, I was just "last year's model." At first, he took me to corporate meetings where I'd be on his arm at evening dinners, and then, about 3 years after we got married, he said he didn't want to bore me with just sitting in a hotel room at the resort while he was involved with stuffy old corporate meetings. It didn't matter that I said I didn't mind, I spent a lot of time at the pool, or getting massages, or doing fun things -- but suddenly I wasn't going along. I didn't think too much about it at first, but then I discovered that his new, 26-year-old 'assistant' was accompanying him to every meeting. I hired a private detective, and it didn't take long to get photos of them together, everywhere, including the two of them fucking on the balcony of his hotel room. I can't tell you how many times we had done that exact same thing. I always had the feeling when we were fucking in the open it was in hopes that someone who knew him, or knew us, would see us having sex. I filed for divorce, and the day after it was final, he married her."

"Did he... was he... into swinging also?"

"Oh my God, no. Everything about our relationship was me for him. The thought of anyone else with me... He couldn't even think about that. It was OK for him to have his new young side piece, but heaven forbid anyone else approach me. Once we started dating, he demanded I not see anyone else, except when he wanted others to see me. I was with him until we separated, and not once did I have sex with anyone else. Later on, I found out that he had several 'assistants' over the ten years we were together, and I'm pretty sure he was sleeping with all of them."

"Divorced after 10 years?"

"Only 5 years of marriage, but I could show we moved in five years before, so the division of assets was as if we'd been married for 10 years."

"So, he didn't leave you penniless?"

"Nope, and he's been paying me alimony ever since."

"You've been divorced the second time now for what..." I made the calculation in my head, "Twenty-five years?"

"Twenty-six years of being happily single."

"Happily?" I repeated, glancing away from the road and over to her, as I made the final turn into Julian.

"Happily," she repeated. "Ricky turned me into a slut. I spent six years fucking him, the final three fucking anyone that he wanted me to. When we split, at first I bought into the dating scene. From the first time I let Ricky into my panties, I've loved sex, and we'd been going to swingers groups for several years so I had no problem still being a promiscuous slut, putting out for any man that would show me a good time. But I also knew that something was missing. Do you remember Bob and Sheila? That first swingers party, when we were about to leave, they wanted us to go back to the bedroom with them?" I nodded, just as I turned into the angled parking in front of the Julian Pie Company. "I was at the store one day and ran into Sheila. I hadn't seen her in years, she asked if Rick and I still went to parties, and I told her that we'd separated and I hadn't been to a party in several years, but that I missed the lifestyle. She asked if I'd like to "come to dinner and if things worked out... perhaps spend the night?" I told her I didn't currently have a boyfriend, and she assured me that was ok, that they only played together." I shut the car off, and we climbed out.

"So the three of us played together regularly, for several years, until I met Duane."

"I thought you were playing with that other couple you met? Stef and Jay?"

She giggled as she took my arm. "Yeah, them too. And some swingers parties. At least until Duane and I hooked up, and then it was a one-man show."

"Ok," I said after the waitress had delivered a plate of apple pie, a la mode for Meredith, without ice cream for me. Midweek, the restaurant was practically deserted. "So you divorced Duane..."

"And... I realized that I was tired of being fucked over by men." I nodded in understanding, not saying anything. "I thought sex with Rick was OK, but later I realized he had never really taken care of me. I loved sex, but with him, my pleasure was never on his mind. He'd take care of me to get his own, but it wasn't uncommon for me to be left hanging. Duane took care of me, as long as it suited his mindset. Toward the end, when he was banging his assistant all the time, except for my fingers and toys I wasn't getting anything at all. And then with Stef and Jay and again with Bob and Sheila, I found out that I really like threesomes... or more..." she paused and looked up with a sly grin on her face, "Or maybe it's just when us women are playing together, we just make sure we don't get left out."

I just nodded, thinking about what she'd told me. Meredith still had an outstanding body, and although she had eschewed marriage for the last 20 years, she was telling me she was still quite sexually active. She'd outright told me she wasn't monogamous, but did that mean she had boyfriends? Or was it girlfriends? Or perhaps both? I wasn't yet sure.

"So, you've been single now for 26 years. Never found anyone else, or what?"

"Oh no, I gave up on men." I looked over at her, and seeing the waitress coming back, just held my question for a few moments. "What does that mean, you 'gave up on men'? You certainly seemed to enjoy me just a couple of hours ago."

"I gave up on men directing my life, particularly my sex life. Following Rick's lead, he had me fucking anything with two legs and a dick. Later, Duane was just the opposite, but both ways, I wasn't happy. My sexual needs were only occasionally met during the time between Rick and Duane, most commonly not by men, but when I met with my other friends, the ones who were open about their relationships and not afraid to share, my love life improved drastically. When Duane and I separated, I decided that I was done with marriage, I was done with letting men dictate my life. I'm now happily non-monogamous. I've got several couples and lovers that will gladly share my bed, or let me share theirs, virtually with just a phone call. It's just that now, I decide as to when it's going to happen and with whom."

"Couples?" I repeated.

"Yeah, I don't often have one-on-one sex, like we just had, anymore. I've found that a single partner wears out long before I'm ready to be done.

"So," I started for clarification, "If you wanted to have sex tonight, you would just get on the phone and say, 'Let's get together'?" It seemed a strange idea, but yet -- isn't that what I was really looking for when I asked someone out? Sure, I had my "not on a first date" rule, but after that first date, they knew as well as I did that we were quite possibly going to end up in bed. How much different was that from just giving someone a call and asking if they wanted to get together for sex?

I rose, taking her hand. We stopped and paid the bill, and I repeated the question as we stepped outside. "If you wanted to have sex tonight, you'd just get on the phone, give them a call and ask if they wanted to get together for sex?"

"I could, but not tonight."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"I think I've already got arrangements for tonight. The only question is whether we go to your place or mine."