A New Way of Seeing Things Pt. 03 Ch. 23

Standard disclaimers.

This is a story about sexual exploration and, open relationships. Open relationships can and do happily exist; but they are not for everyone. If you do not believe it is at all possible for open relationships to exist without damage to any and all involved parties, please do yourself a favor and don't waste your time reading this.

Also, this story takes place in a world where STDs don't exist and only babies planned for and wanted do—in other words, a fantasy world. Any resemblance to real-life people is purely coincidental.

*****

The boat was drifting in a weedy cove at the south end of the lake, a man at both bow and stern, quietly sending lures out to imagined targets with a flick of the rods in their hands and slowly reeling them back in. Tim was glad he had been able to talk Charlie out of heading further up, "near where all the nudies go," for fear they might run into the McCallums and introductions might become necessary. He knew it was unlikely Bob and Yvette would reveal the nature of their friendship with Nelsons, but anything was possible.

Charlie squinted out across the sparkling water into the shade where his cast had landed, satisfied he had dropped it close enough to the weeds to not get entangled but still draw out the bass that had to be in there. He looked down into the hull of the boat for his beer. It was only ten in the morning, but it was a Saturday morning, and he was fishing, so normal drinking rules didn't apply. "You guys almost done over at Fleetwood Homes?"

Tim set his almost-empty coffee mug down and began to reel in his own apparently unsuccessful cast. "Just about. Billy must've been somewhere else when his crews did the subfloors on a couple of 'em...fucked 'em up real good, made my life miserable for a while. I took some pictures in case anybody bitches about some fixes I had to make before I ran lines." He put the rod down and reached for his phone, opening it up to the evidence before handing it to his friend.

"Tried tellin' Billy not to hire those clusterfuck Lamie brothers...hell, I fired 'em for being screw-ups." Charlie thumbed through the images, grunting in agreement with Tim's appraisal. The view of poorly hung joists changed after a few more swipes to one of an intricately-carved bar...and a pair of bare legs spread wide on top of it. The photo ended at the woman's shoulders and the size of the screen made the level of detail less than what Charlie would have hoped for, but he hoped—he knew, it was Gwen-fucking-Nelson. "Holy fucking shit," he muttered, swiping quickly, hoping for more, instead getting a close-up view of a newly-installed drainage pump.

"Yeah, pretty bad," Tim agreed, knowing it was not subflooring the man was commenting on; the photo had been put it there on purpose. He gave the wide-eyed man another few seconds to swipe back and stare before looking over. "Oh shit—forgot that was on there! Gimme that!" He reached for the phone with faked urgency, Charlie turning his shoulder to block him while his opposite hand held the phone out of range.

"Hold on, hold on," the big man reasoned, trying to fend off his friend. "That ain't Gwen, is it?"

"Yeah, it's Gwen," Tim replied, still appearing to look like he was serious about getting his phone back. "Who the fuck else would it be? She'll kill me if she finds out you saw it."

"Relax, she ain't gonna find out, at least not from me," Charlie laughed. "This from the country club?"

"Yeah it is and gimme my phone back, you asshole."

Charlie relented, handing it back with a smile after one more look. "I really thought you were shitting me about fucking her in the locker room, but I guess you weren't. You got any others like that?"

No..." The album in his underwear drawer was ignored, and the video from the weekend wasn't a picture, technically...

"Gonna take some more?"

"Maybe, why the hell do you care?"

"Can I see 'em?"

"That's my wife, you asshole!"

I know, I know, but you can't blame me for wantin' a better look...she's damn hot when she ain't all covered up. C'mon, I always let you see any pictures I take. All I wanna do is look." Not completely true, Charlie admitted to himself, the thought of plowing the ice queen just to see the look on her face—whether it be shock or orgasmic joy-had always been something he frequently enjoyed imagining while rubbing one out, and having a visual reference would only enhance that. "I just wanna see some more of what I thought I'd never have a chance in hell of seeing. Maybe a close up? Send me that one so I can pull it up on a bigger screen? I always sent you mine," he repeated in a voice that coming from anybody else would have been a whine.

"I didn't ask you to."

"You didn't tell me to stop..."

Tim remembered all of Charlie's photos, from the earliest Polaroids of girlfriends and wives through his latest conquests, anything from titties to spread legs to cumshots. Tim hadn't saved any of them, of course, not wanting to risk Gwen finding them, but he remembered them... "Man, I dunno...it took a lot for Gwen to send it, and she's gonna kill me if she finds out you saw it, and if she finds out I sent it to ya, she'll make it slow and painful—and expensive."

Charlie understood the expensive part, divorces were like that... "C'mon man, don't be so pussywhipped..."

"I wanna stay married and I want her to keep sending me pictures like that. So fuck you. I'm not pussywhipped, I just don't want this to get out."

"It won't, it won't, you know I'd never fuck you over like that, it'd be just between you and me..." something clicked in Charlie's brain. "Wait—I thought you took the picture. Why'd she have to send it to you?"

Tim thought fast. Natalie had taken the picture..."Don't be a dumb ass. I took it with her phone."

Charlie smiled at him, accepting the explanation. He pressed on, confident Tim had not reached his breaking point yet. "So if you take some more, can I see 'em?"

"I dunno, maybe, if you're not bein' an asshole..."

"Titties make a nice picture, or maybe one like the one you got, only a close-up, know what I mean?"

"Holy shit, you're putting in requests now? This is my wife you're talking about, not one of the girls at Scandals, remember?"

"Just makin' some suggestions is all..."

Tim smiled grimly. "Here's a suggestion. Keep it in your pants and be happy with what you get, or you don't get nothin' at all.

***

Gwen hurriedly reined Tigger to a halt just before they broke the tree line above the barn. Dart had shown his indignation with her choice of the Arabian as her mount that morning, but she knew KD's horse had gone the longest without riding and needed the exercise. Marvin was not particularly happy about being left behind either; Cricket was in Atlanta for the weekend, 'volunteering' at a home-loan workshop sponsored by her employers.

She had let the horse choose the pace up and over the ridge that morning, giving him his head for a bit before pushing for more control and crisper response to her commands on the return trip. He responded well to the call for a sudden halt just before they broke cover, hooves sliding over the hard-packed dirt as he shifted his weight back and up the incline. His rider looked through the trees at the truck and boat parked down below in the yard; Tim and Charlie had returned, and descending to the barn topless was no longer an option. She patted the Arabian's neck and praised him for his attentiveness, then reached behind her to grab for the shirt tied to the saddle. Gwen guessed Charlie was between her and her nearest bra back in the bedroom, but nothing could be done about that now, and the shirt would have to do. After a quick scratch of the horse's cheek she gently touched his flank with a boot heel to start him forward and break cover.

The truck and boat were still there when Gwen finished grooming her mount and turning him out, and she briefly thought about finding something to do in the barn until they were gone. It wasn't that she disliked Charlie, at least not any more; despite his opinion of her he had always been the kind of friend to give Tim, and by extension Gwen, the shirt off his back if necessary. In fact, the house as well as the barn she was now standing in had in large part come about because of quite a few weekends of his labor and expertise paid for with nothing more than lunch and beer.

Still, there was something about him, about how he was so different from her husband and so like the kind of man her mother said all men were like, that gave her pause. Maybe it was the fact that despite his loud and quite often crude nature women still seemed to find him attractive; he couldn't keep a wife or girlfriend, but he certainly had no problems finding somebody to share his bed. Or perhaps it was that while he appeared to treat the wife of his best friend with the required level of respect, she would occasionally catch him looking at her. Undressing you, the Lady corrected, while the Slut pointed out he looked at most all women that way, even the ones he had already seen naked. Her mother was right about that part, Gwen decided. Men just had to look. They lacked the self-control not to.

And I now apparently lack the self-control to not encourage them, Gwen thought grimly. Her customary cautious nature had quickly begun questioning the wisdom of letting Tim share that country club photo as soon as the lust that had made it seem like a good idea had worn off. Almost daily she considered telling him she had changed her mind and wanted it kept private if not deleted altogether, delaying, all the while wondering if it was already too late.

Gwen sighed. A missing bra seemed pretty tame in comparison to what her husband's friend—or friends, the Lady quickly reminded her, who knows how many people he's shown, although Gwen doubted that—may have already seen. She looked down at her shirt, telling herself he probably wouldn't even notice anything different, choosing to ignore the nipples pushing against the damp fabric, and purposefully strode across the yard.

They were seated at the kitchen table, both with a beer in their hand, Charlie with an empty before him as well. Gwen's plan to quickly walk past them and down the hall dissolved and she moved to her husband's side to bend and kiss him, the smell of sweat, gas and fish wafting up to greet her. "You need a shower." She smiled and nodded at his friend. "Charlie, nice to see you."

The big man smiled back and nodded. "Gwen, good to see you."

The Lady quickly pointed out the air of smug confidence about the man and the Slut didn't disagree. Like he knew something she didn't...he saw it, Gwen knew, he saw it, he saw my... "So did you two catch anything?"

"Couple a decent size bass," Tim volunteered, "not big enough to keep, though. We'll let 'em grow up another year."

Gwen paused, feeling a sudden surge of defiance, a need to regain some control. You want to look, Charlie? Look all you want. I'll make you beg for more, but you're not touching what your best friend can have any time and any way he wants. She took a glass from the cabinet over the sink and filled it. "How far up the lake did you go?" Running into the McCallums had been a concern of hers, as well. It was a big lake, but still...her defiance wavered a bit. Maybe he knew about that, too.

Charlie took the opportunity to more closely examine the backside now presented up close and at eye level. The seat of her saddle-worn jeans was sung against the muscle beneath, and it made imagining her without them even easier. That ass would feel like silk-covered steel, probably a cute little asshole to wink back at him as she spread her cheeks for his review... definitely fuckable. A quick glance further up failed to confirm the presence of a bra strap beneath her shirt. If he couldn't see it, it wasn't there..."Just to Martin's Point. Tim doesn't trust my motor."

Glass filled, Gwen turned and leaned back against the counter to face him. "I think Tim's got a good reason not to trust it. I seem to recall its left you stranded a few times."

"Aww, there you go again, taking his side." He imagined her sitting on the edge of the sink like she had been on the bar, near enough to get that close up of the twat he had been teased with...furry, really furry, he had always imagined, but the picture had given him doubts, and the thought of Gwen Nelson shaving her pussy just made things even hotter. Without anything else to go on her tits maintained the shape and firmness he had always given them, and the little bullets making faint impressions on the fabric made him think her nipples were just as he had always guessed them to be.

"He IS my husband," Gwen reminded their guest while moving past him on her way to the bedroom. "But even if he wasn't, I still think he's very smart." She paused long enough to pat the big man on his stubbled cheek. "He's also very handsome, and smart, handsome men can get me to agree with whatever they want. I'll leave you two to continue whatever you were doing; I'm going to go take a shower."

Charlie grinned in mild disbelief at his friend, waiting until she was out of earshot. "She said you need a shower. Ain't yours big enough for both of ya, smart handsome guy? Your dick probably needs washing..."

"While you sit in my kitchen and drink beer? No thanks. I'll wait 'til you leave."

"Let me finish this one before you kick me out," the big man laughed. "So what the hell was that?" he asked, turning serious. "She seemed almost, I dunno, like she didn't hate me. I thought she was gonna slap me, but that wasn't a slap..."

"She's never slapped you when you deserved it, and she never hated you," Tim argued. "She just thought you didn't like her, so she kept her distance."

"Well, I gotta admit, I didn't think she was the friendliest person in the world, and I always thought that she kept ya on too short a leash, and that you really needed to get laid a lot more. Maybe things are changing some."

"Maybe they are," Tim allowed. "She's not so serious as she used to be."

Charlie raised his beer in salute. "Amen to that."

"Amen to that."

***

Wen took her time in the shower, amazed by her boldness in the kitchen and excited to think she was naked in her house while Charlie was in it. Thoughts of walking back into the kitchen with nothing more than a towel were quickly dismissed with an embarrassed smile, and he was gone when she rejoined her husband in a fresh pair of jeans and a t-shirt, a bra added at the Lady's insistence just in case their guest had settled in for another beer. Tim took his shower alone and the afternoon passed uneventfully, small chores in the cool of the air-conditioned house and a simple dinner.

His phone buzzed to announce the arrival of a message as they were clearing the table. Tim checked it out of habit, smiling as he read the contents.

Gwen looked over and saw the smile. "Something good?"

Tim looked up and smiled nervously. "Oh, uh, Charlie sent me something."

"One of his dirty jokes, I assume?"

"Oh, it's dirty alright, but it ain't a joke...you, uhh, listen, you said it was alright if Charlie, you know, saw your picture from the country club, right?"

"Did you—he...?"

Tim nodded. "While we were fishing today. Made it look like an accident—don't worry, he doesn't know you know. I told him you were gonna kill me if you found out he saw it...you're not, are you?"

She felt a small surge of adrenaline, her stomach knotting in response. "Oh...no...no, I said you could, if you wanted. Are you laughing because he's making fun of me?"

Tim laughed again. "Uhh, kinda the opposite. He's begging to see more."

"More? How much more is there? That picture pretty much showed everything."

"From the waist down," Tim corrected, "and from a distance. I think he's hoping for all of you, maybe in a little more, uh, detail. As a matter of fact," he continued, "I think he's trying to trade me for it." Tim waggled the phone at his wife. "Must want to see more of you pretty bad. First time he's ever sent me a video."

"A video? Of who?"

"Remember Corinne? I'm pretty sure it's her."

Corinne was Charlie's girlfriend from a couple years back, before Gwen had begun her slide into depravity, a very quiet and reserved woman, almost mouse-like, who seemed to be the polar opposite of her then-boyfriend. The old Gwen had never understood what she had seen in him, but appreciated that for once Tim's best friend had met a woman with moral standards, someone a bit more like her. Of course, they eventually split up, women always did with Charlie, and he was on to his next conquest. "Of her?"

"Well, both of them...together, if you know what I mean?"

"Oh...Corinne, really?" That didn't sound like her at all. Gwen thought a moment. "Can I see if it really is her, or is it private?"

Tim blushed a little. "Well, no I guess it's not private...are you sure you want to see it, though? It's uhh, pretty graphic."

"Is it of them having sex?"

"I guess you could say that, yeah..." Tim gave up trying to explain and slowly handed her the phone.

She hit the play button and was quickly reminded of the start of the video she had seen on Alison's computer, looking down a man's bare stomach to a woman kneeling below him, although this belly was much more abundant and hairy than her son-in-law's. It could not completely hide the fist-wrapped penis below, or the woman who kneeled beneath that, looking up. Gwen was sure it was Corinne. She was naked to the waist, perhaps further than that, the nipples on her small breasts visible as she looked up at the cock she was stroking just inches from her face. Gwen quickly guessed what was about to happen, still not believing this woman capable of such a thing. Where Alison had appeared to patiently await her fate, Corinne seemed enthusiastic, closing her eyes and opening her mouth as she energetically tugged , reminding Gwen of a baby bird about to be fed. She flinched a bit as the first hot jet painted a line across her forehead and right eye but held steady as four more landed on her cheeks and parted lips. Charlie shuddered after each spurt, his belly shaking as he shivered through the orgasmic pulse.

Gwen looked up at her husband, eyes wide in shock. "Oh my God! I had no idea she was like that! She's covered! And Charlie...I can't believe how much he had in him! Does he always...come...that much?"

"Don't know," Tim chuckled nervously, remembering some of his artwork from the pictures. "I'll have to ask him some time."

"She seemed like...she liked it. I never would have guessed she was like that..."

Maybe she was just acting to make Charlie happy. They were probably watching a porno and maybe he thought it would be fun to re-enact the scene..."

"You think they were watching a porno?"

"Charlie is always saying how they set the mood..." Tim didn't go into specifics, how his friend had always been adamant that women said they didn't like them, but turned into bitches in heat pretty quick once the action started.

"And they do—that-in pornos?"

He laughed. "It's not a porno unless the guy shoots somewhere on the girl. Faces are a popular target." He was surprised to see Gwen turn up the volume and replay it, the audio confirming Corinne's enthusiasm, and then she replayed it again. Tim decided on a small risk. "Did you, uhh, want to watch one of the ones we got in Atlanta, see what I mean?"

"We could do that," Gwen agreed, handing back the phone.

"Which one?"

"You pick."

Tim weighed his choices. One was girl-on-girl, that was out for the purposes of his "demonstration", and the other one might be a little too extreme for a woman who had never watched one of these kinds of movies before. That left the couples video...