The Circle Ch. 06

Chapter 6 - Realizing love. A secret or two revealed

"This isn't turning out quite the way I thought it would," Jim mused to his best friends. The way he expressed the sentence, anyone could tell that he was happy.

Matt nodded in agreement.

Bob asked, "What do you mean?"

Jim started, "Well, I thought I'd set this goal of fucking 'Sheila the Ice Princess,' I'd fuck her maybe a few times, and then I'd forget her so to speak. Instead, I've fallen in love with her ... and with Monica and Zoey, and I've gotten to fuck Zoey too, except I don't feel it's all lust ... I like the term making love. There's Alice too; I love her."

Bob put his palm up to the others, a signal that he had something profound to say, "Pleasure without conscience is one of the great social sins according to Gandhi. You have always been a principled person. I never thought you'd just fuck her and forget her, although even I am surprised by how I am feeling too. I've never felt this way about anybody before, and now I feel all mushy towards four of them at the same time. If I were to tell this to someone on the 'outside' of our group, they'd think I just stepped off of a spaceship and was an alien. We're only supposed to like one person, and only one person is supposed to really like us - I mean with sex and everything."

Matt said, "I think we need to do something special for all of them - I mean really special that forms some kind of commitment deeper than just showing up occasionally. I'm worried that they'll think all we want from them is the sex."

Jim said, "Good idea. Let's put that on the front burner, particularly after Monica gets back from vacationing with her parents. In the meantime, let's pick up dinner and get over to Alice's apartment. I texted the address to Zoey and Sheila."

When the three men walked into Alice's apartment they found Alice and Zoey talking on the sofa. They'd not met before, but Zoey arrived earlier and introduced herself to Alice. They seemed to be hitting it off, although the level of conversation wasn't too deep at that point.

Jim laid out dinner and place settings on Alice's small kitchen table and gathered the chairs around it for the six of them. His familiarity with Alice's apartment wasn't lost on Zoey; however, she didn't say anything about it. About the time he finished Sheila arrived. Bob introduced her to Alice, and they all migrated to the kitchen to eat. Matt called it refueling.

The dinner conversation mostly revolved around the various jobs people had, with a tilt towards the girls learning more about Alice. The gorilla in the room did not come up, specifically how the plan to have sex in Alice's apartment would play out.

Sheila asked in the general direction of the three men, "How'd you come to know Alice?"

The guys looked to Matt. He laughed, "Alice - or Aunt Alice as she's known in my family - is not a relative, but was a best friend of my real Aunt Amy - my mother's younger sister. They were always together when they came to visit since both Amy and Alice's families are on the west coast. Amy moved back home, but Aunt Alice stayed in touch as a pseudo-family member that we always involve her on special holidays. Since she's closer in age to me than my parents, I sort of adopted her as someone I could turn to once in a while, and I introduced Bob and Jim to her too. She was like my big sister and is loaded with wisdom. My younger sister visits her too, although Alice and I are much closer."

Jim and Bob both crossed their fingers and hoped that there would be no follow-up question, but there was.

Sheila pushed a little more. She turned to Alice, "So you advised Matt and the others on various parts of their lives?"

Alice smiled. I think she knew where the discussion was going. "Yes, on and off, but the tempo picked up recently."

Sheila dove deeper, "About their dating Monica, Zoey, and me?" There it was. The men each cringed inside but tried to look cool on the outside.

Alice nodded, "These three guys are infatuated with you three. I happen to think it's sterling that they feel that way, and that you are responding in kind." She smiled warmly at the women.

Sheila turned to Jim, "So you told her about everything we've done?" There was a tone of disapproval in her voice, as though he'd done a bad thing.

Jim blanched. "Errr, sort of. Yes."

Bob stepped in, "Sheila - and Zoey, we're not as confident as we have let on about how to date you, let alone date all three of you at once. We wanted the relationships to grow and thrive, but weren't always sure how to make that happen. Alice helped us. She's experienced and cool with everything going on with us, including our sharing."

In a complete shift of tone and demeanor, Sheila smiled at Alice, "Since your advice seems to be working I'm glad. Would you be up for advising the three women in this mix as well? I mean we have a lot of questions about how to behave going forward and what to say to other people about this craziness." She waved her hand around the room at everyone.

Alice nodded, now not sure where things were going.

Zoey had been quiet but observing the guys and Alice in the interchange. She put her hand on Sheila's arm to thwart further questioning. She said, "Let's put the dishes and food away. There's another agenda item we're here for."

Sheila nodded and they all pitched in to help put things away. Jim noted that Sheila was not through with the discussion; it had only been tabled for the time being.

Matt whispered to Jim, "How's this going to work?"

Jim turned to the group. "This needn't be awkward at this point. Alice knows why we're here, and wishes to help in the imbalance between men and women. She has her bed - a lovely king-size bed, a twin in her guest room, and of course there's the living room sofa."

Everyone was paying rapt attention to Jim's comments. As he talked about Alice 'helping' he checked with Zoey and Sheila to see if they reacted. The implication about sex with Alice was there, but it hadn't been stated explicitly. Neither woman seemed to realize that Alice would be participating.

He reached in his left pocket and pulled out three slips of paper. "I hope this is acceptable to get us started. I have in my left hand the names of we three men. I propose that each girl draw a name, and we start there. I'm sorry if this appears too mechanical and unromantic, but on future visits maybe we can all just go with the flow."

Sheila laughed, "I expected nothing less from my nerdy, computer jock of a boyfriend." She stepped forward and pulled one of the folded pieces of paper from his hand. She turned to Matt, "I win you, but I also win the big bed - if that's OK with Alice. I promise we'll change the linens later."

Alice nodded, and gestured that the pair should head to her bedroom. As they started in that direction, Alice said, "You don't need to change the linens unless you make a really big mess. I love the smell of sex."

Sheila's eyebrows rotated up in her head, however, she just smiled back at Alice.

Jim gestured to Zoey, who came over to Jim and pulled a slip of paper from his hand. "I win you Jim. Where would you like to be?"

Alice asked in a soft tone, "Are you a bit of an exhibitionist? If so, you can stay out here with Bob and me. We'll join you. We can put on a show for each other."

Zoey jerked to a highly alert status. "You'll ... you'll have sex too." She looked towards where Sheila might have heard, but she'd already left the room and didn't hear the remark.

Alice and Bob nodded.

Zoey had obviously missed the implications of the 'helping' reference. Zoey said, "Oh, I guess that's all right ... and yes, I'm becoming more of an exhibitionist every day with this crew. I just never got my thinking far enough into what the extra guy would do ... or what Alice would do. Duh. Sort of obvious, right?"

After she saw the two of them glance at each other, Zoey probed, "You've had sex before?"

Alice and Bob nodded.

"Alice - with all the men?"

Alice nodded.

"At the same time?"

Alice continued to nod.

"Was that part of how you were helping them date us?"

Alice nodded and explained, "I was trying to slow down their hormones so they wouldn't jump all over your bodies when they got near you."

Bob offered in a defensive tone, "It worked. We were much more calm and careful in our progression with you. We went at your pace, not ours."

Zoey said, "Why?"

Alice said in a low tone, "When the men first came to me for advice, they labeled you all 'ice princesses.' Please don't be offended or mad at them. This was what they thought. They said that wasn't a secret, and that you knew you carried that reputation."

Zoey nodded. "We did, but we'd set out at the start of the summer to change."

That piece of news caught Jim and Bob by surprise. The women had wanted to change, had wanted relationships, and perhaps had wanted the kind of sex that seemed evident in The Circle.

Alice went on, "Well, they didn't know of your intent. I had grown up as an ice princess, so I knew how you thought and how you might try to change. I went through a similar transformation at about the same time in my life as you're at - right after college."

Bob said, "I never knew that about you."

Alice ignored Bob's comment. "The one thing that helped me along in my change from icy to ... well, slut, if you will, was slow deliberate change. I had a boyfriend at the time, lord knows why he stayed with me, but he took things nice and slow as we moved from our friendship to kissing to making out to petting to breast play to oral sex to intercourse and beyond ... way beyond. We crawled around the bases if you know the baseball-sex analogy."

Alice continued, "He hung in there with me, and coaxed me through the transition. Maybe I overcompensated, but I kept going. I loved sex - got so I craved it. I also liked the feeling of having significant relationships with more than one man at a time. I got into group sex, and hence I understand the feelings and motivations that go with that landscape too. I can imagine that part of you feels a little unsettled about now."

Zoey was nodding the entire time. Bob also paid close attention to Alice's comments.

Alice added a bit more before stopping, "More than once I found myself with a girlfriend when we were having sex with our dates. As you must know by now, men need some recovery time between pleasing us with orgasms. Girls don't, and so we slowly started to discover that it was also fun to be bisexual - and it could be just as romantic. We weren't lesbians, but we sure broadened our horizons."

Zoey asked, "Did you ever feel guilty?"

Alice laughed, "All the time back then. I'd been raised to be a 'good girl,' and to not think about sex because it was something we just didn't talk about. My parents and the others around me put a real stigma on anything related to sex. Given their relationship I thought that dishonor also applied to love, but I couldn't understand how so many other people were striving for love and having sex with wild abandon with no guilt at all."

Alice continued, "In my mid-twenties I fell in with a group of about ten other people and we formed a polyamorous group. We all loved each other freely and without reservation. Some of the guys were even bisexual. After a couple of years it broke apart because some of the magnetic members had to move away. It was a great experience, and taught me a lot about group love affairs - and loving both multiple men and multiple women. Let me assure you that you are on a track that will make you feel good all the time. Come and let's talk anytime you want, and I'll help you get over the hurdles you feel you're facing."

Alice stepped in front of Zoey. She cupped her face in her hands and kissed her, tenderly and lightly at first, but then with increasing zeal. Zoey kissed back.

Zoey whispered but we could all hear her, "I do need your help to get past some of the guilt. I'm a good girl too ... and so are Sheila and Monica. Will you help us? We don't want to be ice princesses."

"I will, and so will the men. They may not realize it or vocalize it, but they love you three dearly. I'm hoping they see me in that halo of affection too."

Bob quickly said, "Alice, we do. We've always wanted you included. We all love you."

Alice looked at him in a dreamy way. "Then come and make love to me. Let's all make love to each other. We'll involve the others soon enough." She gestured towards the bedroom where Sheila and Matt were fucking.

Bob wrapped Alice in his arms and kissed her. Jim captured Zoey's attention, and soon they were also kissing with renewed passion.

Clothes disappeared, and mouths went to breasts, cunts, and cocks. Shortly after that, the cocks penetrated the vaginas, and the moaning and serious fucking began.

Partway through the parallel, side-by-side fucks on Alice's sofa, Sheila and Matt appeared.

Sheila exclaimed, "Holy shit. Bob, you're fucking Alice! What the fuck!" Each word seemed to get angrier.

Before he could respond, Zoey jumped in, "Sheila, it's good. It's cool. Come and join us. We'll explain after we're through. Alice is joining our circle, I think, and that's a good thing for all of us."

Sheila looked skeptical again, but slowly came deeper into the living room holding hands with Matt. As they neared the two pairs of lovers, Matt leaned down and kissed Alice, and then urged her on with Bob.

Sheila watched the intimate kiss between Matt and a woman with another man's cock in her pussy. They all seemed so loving and caring.

Matt and Sheila snuggled into a large armchair, her nude body draped over his. They watched their partners working hard towards their orgasms, and even applauded when the last cum shot blasted into a pussy.

Zoey and Alice then talked to Sheila about Alice's past and her involvement with the men in the past. Sheila listened with a careful ear, but seemed favorably impressed with the new friend. The three men listened too, but knew that these moments were between the women.

The second round of fucking concluded with everyone on Alice's large bed. Alice pushed Sheila's legs apart and started to eat her wet pussy. As she did she hummed and made approving noises. Once or twice, she commented, "Oh, loads of good cum in here. Very good. Very good. You taste yummy."

Sheila had never seen anyone mop up cum the way that Alice attended to her pussy. Zoey watched too, and wasn't surprised when Alice moved to her next. She relaxed enough in the experience to have another orgasm.

To everyone's surprise, including her own, Sheila put her head between Alice's legs and started to lap and suck and lick. Even Alice, as experienced as she was, stopped and watched the neophyte slut clean up one of the messes the men had left.

When Alice was through, she went to Matt, and kissed him deeply, driving some of her collected fluids into his mouth. Jim and Bob's kisses of the same ilk followed in turn.

Sheila and Zoey watched enthralled with the seemingly gross action. Sheila mumbled, "I should have saved some to share with everyone."

When the kisses ended, Zoey asked, "Doesn't that taste terrible? Is it gross?"

Alice smiled at her, "Is it? Have you tried it?"

Zoey shook her head. Alice moved to her and kissed her, their tongues dancing between them.

Zoey broke away, "I can sort of taste pussy, and a slightly musky flavor, but that's about all."

"Sorry, I'm out of juice," Alice replied. She gestured to Sheila's hot pussy box, "You might try to get a little more out of there. I'm sure there's some left."

Zoey looked shocked, but moved with tentative steps between her best friend's legs, even pushing them up so Sheila's pussy was maximally exposed. She then lowered her tongue and mouth to Sheila's wet quim. Sheila jerked at the first contact, moaned softly, and slowly relaxed with joy at the cunnilingus from her best friend. Neither mentioned that the two of them had done this together the past two nights.

* * * * *

The car with Monica in it pulled into the driveway of her home on Friday afternoon. She'd texted Sheila and Zoey about an hour from home but got no reply. She got out of the back seat. Not to be missed was a large package of two-dozen roses on the front porch. Monica was surprised to find the roses were addressed to her.

She carried them inside to put them in a vase, and found the card inside:With love, Bob, Matt, Jim, Sheila, Zoey, and? The word 'love' had been underlined six times. She quickly hid the card, and wondered at the special attention to welcome her home. The thought of seeing her friends again warmed her heart, and had held her constant attention while on the trip with her parents.

Before she could go out to help unload her parent's car, her cellphone beeped to indicate a text message. 'Welcome home. We love you. We're planning on picking you up at 6 for dinner and to get reacquainted. RSVP. Jim.'

She quickly texted back, 'See you at 6,' and then started to bring in the suitcases and boxes for her family. Six o'clock seemed so far away.

Monica had limited contact her friends about the progressing relationships. She was living in close quarters with her snoopy younger sister and parents, and there was no telling who might pick up her cellphone and read a text message or email that was meant to be private. She had talked to Zoey once in what turned out to be a revealing conversation, but nothing since.

She did see a few photos on Facebook with Sheila and Zoey at the lakefront beach with the guys over a week earlier. Their entries had been unusually nonexistent since, leaving Monica making up stories and creating fantasies about what was happening. If anything, her thinking had been much too conservative.

After some unpacking and squaring off with her family, Monica called Sheila. "I'm back, and missing everyone so much it hurts. I'll never go away like this again. I'm positively aching to be with someone my own age - with people I choose."

"Well, welcome back. We have a lot to share with you."

"Tell me. Tell me."

Sheila laughed and teased, "Not until tonight. Jim will pick you up, and you should tell the 'rents that you might not be home until tomorrow morning. Officially, you're sleeping over with me, so bring a little overnight kit. The rest of the news we have to tell you in person, or show you, so don't even try to pry anything out of me. Don't ask Zoey either."

"You're terrible. OK, I'll see you in a couple of hours," Monica chided. She wondered what could be that important that it had to wait until they were all together. She'd speculated to herself that the relationships with the three men had gotten deeper and more serious. She was certain that Sheila and Zoey had had sex with somebody. She was also puzzled by the implication that she was 'officially' sleeping at Sheila's, when that may not be the case. She'd be sleeping somewhere else? With someone? One of the men? Someplace other than Sheila's house?

Jim arrived promptly at six, rang the bell, and had a short conversation with Monica's parents as she rushed to be ready for their 'date.' After having lived away at college and been totally independent for four years, she felt peculiar being back living in her parents' home. She felt as though she were regressing not moving ahead with her own life and career. Thus, she'd told her mother that she would be with Sheila after her 'date,' probably overnight.

Once in the car and out of sight of Monica's house, Jim pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. He pulled Monica to him gently, and the two shared a romantic kiss.

Jim said, "I've missed you a great deal. So have Matt and Bob. We can't wait to be with you again."