by Hadley Knox
I was shocked to see Betsy right behind them. She squealed in delight as she peeled off her shirt and bra, and then slid her skirt down her legs. I hadn’t seen her naked in a long time, but she still had the same body that she had back in high school. I suspected that she might have had a little help from a certain doctor whose card she kept in her wallet, but I would never think of broaching that subject.
The only ones left on the patio was Greg, Pearl and me. I figured the three of us could just stay up near the grill and talk while our more crazy friends enjoyed their nude time together.
However, that came to a crashing halt.
“If I come in there, you won’t judge my body, will you?” Pearl asked over her shoulder.
“Hell no,” Derrick yelled back. “Thick women are beautiful.”
Pearl turned back to me with a big smile on her face. “Well, isn’t he just the sweetest young man.”
“Grab my beer when you come in,” Derrick called out again.
“Pearl, I can’t believe you’re going to do this,” I said.
“Honey, it’s time I lived a little. I’m full figured and fine and I’m going to put my naked ass in your pool.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. She was definitely a thick girl, but she had never been ashamed or self-conscious. Her confidence was definitely something I could applaud, but the view of her naked, dark butt was not.
I turned back to Greg and smiled at him. He was watching the pool and then he turned his eyes back to me.
“What are you thinking?” I asked, afraid of what he might say.
“I’m thinking it would be good for you if we joined them,” Greg said.
“No way.”
“Seriously, it’d be good for you.”
“How would that be good for me?”
“You need to break out of your shell and live a little.”
“In case you forgot, I have a stalker who is going to call at any minute with instructions for me to bring him his imaginary hundred thousand dollars.”
“Seriously. Live a little.”
“I think I’ve done enough living in the last few days. I don’t see how I can top becoming a Madam for a pack of gigolos.”
Greg ignored my comment and stood up. I thought for a minute he was going to leave me sitting alone, but he held out his hands.
I turned away, but he was persistent. He reached down, took my arms, and guided me to my feet.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“We’re going swimming,” he said.
“I’m not taking my clothes off.”
“Then I’ll throw you in with them on.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I don’t see the problem. Your friends are swimming. It can’t be the fact that you’re insecure about your body, because it’s absolutely perfect.”
“I don’t do this kind of thing.”
“The Lana that I met in the bar wouldn’t have done something like this. The Lana that I’m looking at right now would definitely do it.”
“What do you mean? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Sure it does. I have seen you evolve over the last few days, and I’m liking the new Lana more and more.”
“I haven’t changed.”
He didn’t come back with anything else. Instead, he reached down to the bottom of my t-shirt and began lifting it up. I fought the urge to swat his hands away, but I realized then that I wanted this to happen. He was right.
As stupid as it sounded, skinny-dipping with a group of people was something I needed to do. My old self was peeling away, leaving behind a new person that I was morphing into, and I actually found myself liking this person.
Sleeping with two men numerous times in less than a week might classify me as a whore in some circles, but I didn’t think so at all. I had never been able to find myself while married to Frank and the man I married and motherhood had defined my life. Now that motherhood was becoming less time consuming, I had the chance to get to know myself in different ways.
He threw my shirt on the ground next to me and then slid my shorts down to my feet.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I refuse to be the first one of us naked,” I said with a big grin.
“Oh really?”
I reached out and pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his perfectly toned torso. Throwing his shirt on the ground, I grabbed the top of his pants and tugged them down; making sure that my fingers got his underwear on the way down. I had to stop when they went lower on his thighs or else my face would have been level with his crotch and then there was no way to predict what might happen.
I stood back up and he was smiling at me. I wanted to look over at the others to make sure that they weren’t watching us, but at the moment, I didn’t really care.
We finished removing the last of our clothes, and once I was fully naked, I felt the vulnerability that comes with the territory. With a scream, I ran to the pool and dove in before anyone would have the chance to gape at me like I was a stripper on the stage.
When my head resurfaced, Pearl and Betsy were near me, splashing each other with water and squealing like we did back in high school.
Ray jumped up and down in the water, creating a tidal effect. Ben jumped out of the pool and ran over to the diving board, while Derrick swam the length of the pool while underwater.
I was about to say something to Pearl, when I felt something soft rub against my rear. I whirled around in the water to see Greg down in the water to his neck next to me, both hands underwater. He smiled at me, and I felt one of his hands slide down between my legs. It was hard to pull away from, but I knew that the others were too close.
Pushing against the water, I propelled myself backwards towards my girlfriends. He made as if to follow, but when Pearl swam towards me, he stopped.
It was nice just to cut loose for a brief moment, even if that meant swimming naked. I had no idea what the rest of the night would bring, so I wanted to cherish this time while I still could.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Our revelry continued for a while. It was at least a few more hours before Mike returned and saw what we had been up to. He shook his head, got a beer and sat down in one of the patio chairs.
We finally got out of the water and ran around the patio like crazy people trying to get towels and both dry ourselves off and cover our nude bodies.
I, in particular, was rather embarrassed and shy to be showing my body off to everyone. Despite my new epiphany to let go, and the courage that I mustered to get in the pool in the first place, it wasn’t enough to make me comfortable with the whole getting out process.
After wrapping the towel around my body, I sat in one of the nearby chairs and grabbed a fresh beer from the ice chest in the center of our little circle.
“So how’d it go?” I asked Mike.
“It was kind of strange,” he said. “That lady Dixie is a little crazy.”
“How so?”
“Well, for one, she is a little rough around the edges. She likes tanning beds, huh?”
“Actually,” Derrick said as he sat down in a chair in the circle. A towel hung loosely off of his slim hips. “She tans naked. She’s one of my clients and half the time I go into her backyard, she’s butt naked and then tries to come on to me.”
“Have you ever taken her up on the offer?” Greg asked as he sat down next to me. Like everyone else, he had just slung a towel around his waist.
“Oh no,” Derrick shook his head fast. “She’s been tanning a lot for a long time. If she ever donated her skin, they could make about fifteen pairs of leather boots out of it.”
“That bad?” Greg asked.
“Oh yeah,” Mike said. “She was fully dressed when I got there, but then when the session started, she made me rip all her clothes off. I had a hard time holding a straight face because that brown and leathery look on her face extends everywhere.”
“Oh no,” I gasped.
“
But I remembered what Greg said,” Mike continued. “I stayed professional and made sure not to react. It took me a minute to get past the whole outer appearance thing, but eventually I could get into it.”
“Really?” Derrick laughed.
“This may sound strange,” Mike said. “But even though she looks a mess, that woman knows what the hell she’s doing in the sack. She’s freaky and she really gets into it.”
“So you had a nice time?” I asked.
“It wasn’t bad,” Mike said. “I’ve been with women that could pass for super models that were worse in bed. Plus the money was really good. I put your share under your laptop.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“So is business picking up that much?” Pearl asked.
“We’re starting to really get some calls now,” I said. “When all of this stalker stuff blows over, I’m going to update our ads to reflect the diversity of our men, and then I think it will really rake in.”
“You definitely have some diversity,” Betsy said without taking her hungry eyes off of Mike’s enormous arms.
“I don’t mean to be politically incorrect,” Greg said. “But you might see about broadening our diversity just a little more. With a business like this, women will actually start requesting different types of guys and you want to make sure you can supply.”
“I can definitely work on that,” I said.
Of course, I was thinking about my Chinese food delivery boy named Hung. He was built like a gymnast, with slender, yet muscular arms and legs and a handsome face. I had no idea how he would feel about being propositioned for such a job, but it never hurt to ask.
“I’m glad to see everyone else had a good time, too,” Mike said, looking around at all of us.
“They forced me to,” I said.
“You needed to loosen up,” he said. “But we really should get back to business, focusing on this whole stalker thing.”
“You’re right,” I said.
“Okay, guys,” Mike said. “You all go get dressed and let’s do a good perimeter search of the house now that it’s dark. We’ll let the girls stay inside and keep an eye on Lana.”
“Come on, Pearl,” Betsy said. “Let’s go start cleaning the kitchen.”
“I can help,” I said.
Reluctantly, everyone stood up and started making their way back inside. I was preparing to stand up when Greg put his hand on my leg and looked at me. He was shaking his head, but in that slight way so as avoid anyone else taking notice.
I waited a moment for everyone to go inside and then he turned to me.
“Are you okay?”
“Of course, I’m okay. Why?” I asked.
“I’m worried about you, because you seem to be blowing this whole thing off.”
“What do you mean?”
“I guess it’s just the way you cope with stress, but you’re acting like this whole thing is no big deal. I’m afraid that inside you’re hurting, but you refuse to let anyone see that.”
“Maybe I am, but I don’t see a reason to start freaking out.”
“You can’t keep all your pain bottled up. You have to let it out if you need to.”
“But that’s the thing. I don’t need to.”
“Why are you so stubborn?”
“Because for the past two years, I’ve had to keep myself together. My children need me to be strong.”
“They’re not here now,” he said.
“I know that, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to fall apart.”
“I’m not asking you to fall apart.”
“Then what are you asking me to do?”
“I’m asking you to show a little emotion. That’s okay.”
The lights on the patio suddenly went out. I turned to see Pearl standing on the other side of the glass patio door, her right hand on the light switch. She smiled, waved at us and then walked off.
She had known about Greg’s and my encounters, and she thought she was being cute by egging him on. I was definitely going to have to have some words with her later.
“Your friend likes me,” he said.
“Well, good for her. Go see if she will sleep with you.”
“Who says that I’m trying to sleep with you?” he asked.
“You’re always trying to sleep with me,” I said.
The hand that he had placed on my thigh before now began to move. Softly and in a clockwise direction, he worked his way up my thigh towards the edge of my towel. I could already feel the electric current power running through my body.
His hand stopped before it went too far. Greg was always gentle at this stage, which was one of the things that made me relish sex with him.
Leaning in close, he brought his lips down on mine. The soft flesh of his mouth grazed mine, and then he pulled back to look at me. Even in the darkness, I could see the green of his beautiful eyes staring right back at me. I wanted his mouth on mine again.
He obliged, kissing me, though this time with a little more force. He used his tongue to open my mouth and enter. Never moving the hand on my thigh, he reached up and cupped the back of my head with his other hand.
“We can’t do this,” I whispered into his mouth.
“Why not?”
“The other guys.”
“Come here,” he said as he stood up. When he did, I could see that he was already hard and it was pressing against the towel. I took his hand and stood to my feet. I wanted to rip my towel off right then, but there was still some light from the inside of the house where we were at.
I took one last peek inside and saw that none of the guys was visible through the glass, and I assumed that they could not see us either. Betsy and Pearl worked in the kitchen and neither looked in our direction, but I knew from the bouts of laughter that they were talking about me.
But I didn’t care. I had Greg.
He took me over to the chaise lounge chair where Derrick and I had spent our time together. He gripped me by the shoulders and massaged the bare, exposed skin. As he leaned in to kiss me again, he grabbed the edge of the towel and pulled it off of my body, exposing my nakedness again.
I refused to be the only one in this state, so I reached up, grabbed the edge of his towel, and tugged. It came off easily, exposing Greg’s entire body. As I continued kissing him, I reached a hand out and gripped him, massing his flesh in an upwards motion.
He moaned into my mouth. His hands slid from my shoulder down to my butt, gripping both sides with his large hands. He used the leverage of the position to push me against him.
After a moment, he lifted me gently off of the ground and held me against him as he stepped forward. He set me down gently in the chair, and one of his hands fell down between my thighs.
We continued kissing, and I could tell by his demeanor that he wasn’t happy with just a hand. He slipped it out from between my legs and gently nudged on my inner thighs. I followed his silent request and opened them.
This time, I was prepared for it. There was no pain, no shock, and absolutely no guilt. When he entered me, all I felt was the warm sensation of the physical intimacy and the hardness of his body entering my own.
My body seized up from the pleasure and I could feel my back arching. I bucked my hips, and this time, I was able to time it with his deep thrusts.
I don’t know if it was the lapse in time since we had made love or the situation, but neither of us took too long. I had to put my open mouth on his chest to keep from screaming out. He gritted his teeth and made a guttural sound of pleasure.
Exhausted and relaxed, he let his body go limp and lay down on me. I massaged his shoulder, but my eyes never left his. We lay there for a while and I lost track of time staring into his green eyes.
Neither of us said anything. I had come to learn that with Greg, silence was the best. It wasn’t that we couldn’t get along, because we hadn’t fought since we had met, and it wasn’t that we didn’t have things to say. No, we had plenty to say to each other.
/> Talking would only bring us back into the real world that existed outside of the amazing sex that we had. The reality of our lives had made it impossible for us ever to be together in any true sense of the word. Even sex was something we knew had to end if our professional endeavors were to achieve any level of success.
Maybe a half hour later, I finally managed to look away from him. I turned to look back towards the house to make sure that we hadn’t been seen.
Standing where Pearl had stood before was Jeremy Towers. I knew he could see Greg and me, because he had his arms folded and was watching us with a look that spoke disappointment and anger.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I nudged Greg and pushed him aside so that I could stand up. I found the towel near where I was laying and wrapped it around myself long enough to find my clothes and shove them onto my body.
Greg was shocked at first until he saw Jeremy standing in the doorway. He must have realized what had happened, as he was getting dressed quickly as well.
Once I had put my shirt on, I walked back into the house.
Jeremy was standing near the kitchen table, looking at the back of my laptop when I entered the kitchen.
“Hello, Lana,” he said.
“Hey, Jeremy,” I replied. I didn’t really know what to say to him.
“I’m sorry to have come over unannounced,” he said.
When Greg walked through the back door, he took his gaze off me a moment to stare disapprovingly at the other man. When he turned back to me, I could see definite pain in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Jeremy,” I said. “I really am.”
“You don’t owe me an explanation,” Jeremy said. Greg disappeared into the living room. “I came by to surprise you, but it is my fault for not calling ahead of time. I felt like you had been blowing me off lately, so I wanted to be a little more direct. Your friend – Ray, I think his name is – let me in the door when I told him who I was.”
“Yeah, Ray is my friend Pearl’s cousin.”
“It would seem that you have several men over here.”