Three's a Crowd

*Note to readers: For anyone who thinks a man could convince his wife to have a threesome in a single conversation either isn't married or that person lives in a fantasy world. Most women would absolutely shut the idea down the first time it was mentioned. Others, like Jill Winslow, would need a lot of time and a lot of convincing to agree to it. They'd have a lot of questions and a lot of concerns.

Oh, sometimes erotic stories don't have the typical ending you expect.

*****

Jill had been back for a week and still not called her best friend. No matter how much she loved her, she was really dreading this call. But she couldn't put it off any longer so she punched in her number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hey! It's about time you called me. I want details! How was it?"

"It was really a lot of fun. We saw pretty much everything there is to see in in Italy from the Vatican to the Leaning Tower of Pisa to the canals in Venice."

"That sound so romantic!"

Jill had no interest in revealing just how unromantic their week-long vacation had been. It was a ten-year, second-honeymoon vacation and it should have been very romantic...or at least satisfying. But it was such a disappointment she could barely even think about it, let alone share her frustrations with her best friend. She'd confided in Lori over the years just as she had in Jill. But this was different. Things seemed so hopeless and what good would it do to verbalize her feelings? Especially when she couldn't even sort out exactly what it was she'd been feeling.

Maybe it was just the kind of thing every couple experienced after being together that many years, but Jill had this...feeling. Call it women's intuition or whatever you like, but she could just tell something was wrong. In her heart of hearts she couldn't let herself believe her husband could cheat on her, but what else could possibly explain the way he ignored her now?

Although all of her friends and co-workers let her know she was an attractive woman, she didn't need their confirmation. She wasn't vain, but she very well aware she was a good-looking woman. People just intuitively know where they are on the pecking ladder of life. Whether it's looks, intelligence, wealth, popularity, or even fitness, people understand without being told where they stand relative to others of their age and gender. And Jill Winslow was what her husband, Jordan, called an 'uninflated 8.'

She laughed to herself when she thought of how he explained the 1-10 ratings of hot-or not women. According to him, people tended to add at least one point and many awarded an extra two or three to anyone they found even attractive. Therefore, many nines were actually sixes or sevens and so on. In Jordan's mind, the most attractive person in any given high school was an eight, not a ten. And even though Jill hated the whole silly rating thing, she was flattered when Jordan told his friends he thought Jill was that hot.

Judging by the way men still came on to her, she had to at least assume Jordan was in the ballpark. And yet, he just didn't seem to care anymore. They'd gone from having sex 5-6 times a week when they were engaged to 3-4 times a week the first few years of marriage to once or twice a week to now...maybe twice a month. Maybe. What drove her crazy was that Jill thought Jordan was also an 'uninflated 8.' He was just so handsome and she not only loved him, she was still very much in love with him. And to make matters worse, she knew he was spending more and more time looking at pornography of some kind on his laptop.

She was no prude. Jill had no issue with pornography, per se. If women wanted to make money using their bodies, that was their business. As a Libertarian, she'd even be fine with legalized prostitution anywhere in the country. Well, as long as her husband stayed the hell away from them. For that matter, she believed drugs should also be legal and controlled by the FDA. So it wasn't an issue of morality, it was more the kind of thing that made her ask what it was those women provided her husband that she wasn't providing.

"Well, to tell you the truth, Lori, it was kind of a bust in the romance department."

"Oh, Jill, I'm so sorry! That's just awful. I mean, you guys go on the most romantic vacation imaginable and it turns out to be a disappointment. Somehow, that just doesn't seem fair."

Jill knew Lori wanted to know specifics, but she also knew her best friend well enough to know she wouldn't ask. They had a few generic conversations on the topic in the past and those gave Lori Taylor a pretty good idea of what was going on. Or more specifically, what wasn't going on.

"After the things we've talked about before, I really hoped this vacation would you know, jump start things for you guys again. Sometimes, all it takes is getting away to a motel or going on a vacation to rekindle the flame. But if Rome didn't do it...I'm just so sad for you, hon," Lori told her sincerely.

"I can't stop thinking he's having an affair," Jill said somberly. "There's nothing to indicate he is like, you know, staying late or text messages coming in at all hours or a strange perfume on his clothes. There's no evidence of any kind, but I just can't shake this feeling."

"I'm guessing you tried the sexy lingerie or high heels or whatever he likes thing already?"

"I brought three sexy new outfits with us and he barely noticed. He just kept telling me he was tired. Who gets tired on vacation?"

"You already wear the things you said he likes most of the time—and you look amazing, by the way—so if it isn't an affair, then I just don't get it." Lori sat there for a moment then said, "Maybe he has low-T."

"What's lowtee?" Jill asked.

"Low-T. L-O-W T. They have commercials for it all the time. You know, low testosterone levels. Could it be something like that? If it is, it might be as simple as taking a pill or a shot. Seems like it'd be worth checking it out, don't you think?"

Jill sighed and said, "Maybe. I never thought of that. If a man's levels drop with age then I guess that could be it. But Jordan's only 35. Do you really think it could that at his age?"

"I don't know," Lori told her honestly. "But I do know if my husband was ignoring me that much, I'd drag his ass to the doctor and get it checked out immediately!"

Jill finally managed a small laugh. "You keep me sane, Lori. I don't know what I'd do without you. I guess I'd better run. Thanks for listening, okay?"

"Anytime, hon!" Lori told her as they both hung up.

When Jordan got home around 6 o'clock, Jill had dinner ready with a bottle of their favorite wine.

"Wow! Something smells great," he told her as he sat his things on the counter and gave his wife a peck on the cheek.

"I thought you might like something other than pasta after our week in Italy," she said. "Good old fashioned fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy."

"My all-time favorite. Very nice!" he told her.

After dinner, Jill poured each of them another glass of white wine and asked Jordan to sit with her on the couch. "Honey, I've got a ton of papers to grade."

"This won't take long. Come on, sit down with me so we can talk."

Jordan sat next to her and sat his wine glass on the coffee table. "Am I in trouble?" he asked jokingly.

"That depends," she said as she took a drink of the chardonnay.

"On?"

"I don't want you to get upset with me when I ask you something, okay?" she said setting the stage.

"I guess that depends on the question. This sounds serious. What is it you want to ask me?"

Jill set her glass down, too, then looked directly at her husband and said, "Are you...seeing someone else? Are you having an affair?"

Jordan's eyes opened wide in astonished disbelief. "What? Are you serious? Jill, what in the world would make you think that?" he said with genuine incredulity.

"Honey, we just went on a vacation to Italy and you barely even touched me!"

"Wait just a minute. I believe we made love the night after we got there. Did you forget that or something?" he said defensively.

"Oh, right. One time in seven days. And how many days had it been before that, Jordan? And we've been back for a week now so it's been nearly two weeks again since the last time."

"You're keeping track of the days between our love making now?"

"Somebody has to around here. Lord knows you must not be. I don't get it. Am I unattractive to you or something? You used to not be able to keep your hands off of me. What's changed?"

"Nothing's changed," he said very unconvincingly.

"Lori thinks you might have Low-T."

Jordan bristled. "You told Lori about our love life? Jesus, Jill. What's wrong with you?" he said with a bit of an edge to his voice.

"The better question is what's wrong with you, honey? It's not normal for a man your age to show virtually no interest in his wife. And you didn't answer my question. Do you find me unattractive? Are you tired of my hairstyle or something? Do you want me to dye it or bleach it to spice things up? Is it the kind of clothes I wear? I mean, I try to wear what you like fairly often but lately, nothing seems to matter. So what's going on?"

"I told you, nothing," he said again. Jill noticed he didn't look at her when he answered.

"Jordan? Are you having an affair? Yes or no?"

"No! For God's sake, Jill. I am NOT having an affair. Jesus!"

"Am I unattractive to you?"

"No! You're beautiful. How could you even think that?"

"Then what in God's name is going on here? Why are you no longer interested in me? Talk to me. Please!"

"I really have to get these papers graded. The kids turned them in the day after we left and I have to get them back to them. Can we do this later? Please?"

"Later or never?" she said caustically as she picked up her glass and went to the living room. She turned on the television but had no idea what was on. Her husband was either lying to her or he wasn't telling her something which was a form of lying. Neither choice was a good one, but she needed to hear the truth no matter what it might be.

That night Jill put on Jordan's favorite thing in the bathroom right after he went to bed then slid in next to him. "Make love to me," she whispered as she reached for his cock. She held it and stroked it as she kissed him but she got very little response. "Looks like you need some help," she said as she pulled back the covers and made her way to the middle of his body.

She took his flaccid member into her mouth and went to work. He'd been slow to respond lately, but this was ridiculous. After two minutes of trying Jill gave up. She sat up and said, "And you tell me nothing is wrong. If this is physical, we can get help. But if it's me..." She felt herself choke up as she tried to continue speaking. "Or if you are having an affair..." She began to sob as she said, "Then you have to tell me. Jordan, this is killing me! I love you and I need you to love me."

He sat up and offered her his arms. She fell into them and continued to sob heavily. "It isn't you, honey. And I am not having an affair. I swear. I have no interest in any other woman. I never have and I never will."

His words helped Jill stop sobbing but she couldn't completely stop crying. "Then what is it? What in the world is going on? You can't keep telling me it's nothing when I'm giving you a blow job and wearing this has no effect on you. I can't stand this, honey. Please, I'm begging you, tell me what's wrong."

He lay back and pulled her down with him. She curled up tight against him and he did his best to console her. "Please don't cry, honey. I love you so much."

"That's what you say," she managed to get up. "But everything else tells me something different."

Jordan pulled back and waited for her to look at him. "Jill. You can't possibly believe that. That I don't love you. Right? Tell me you don't believe that."

She lay her head back on his chest and said, "I don't know what to believe anymore, Jordan. So you tell me. And don't just say you love me. Tell me what's really going on."

Jordan drew a deep breath and said, "About a year ago, I found this website where they publish, you know, erotic stories."

"A porn site?" she offered assuming that's what he meant.

"Not really. Well, yes. Kind of. I mean, there's no nudity. There aren't even pictures. It's just...stories."

Jill finally managed to stop crying and said, "I've never heard of such a thing. What's erotic about it if there aren't any visual images?"

Jordan tried to explain. "People...amateurs...they write stories about erotic fantasies and stuff."

"Such as?" she said.

"Pretty much everything," he told her.

"That's a little too vague, honey. What kind of things specifically?"

"I guess I'd say if you can imagine it, someone's written about it."

"You mean like...orgies or something?"

"Okay, yeah. That's one thing."

"What else?"

"There are categories. You know, like..." Jordan paused as he was having a difficult time sharing this with his wife. "Like...anal sex and..."

"Eeew!" Jill said. "Does that interest you?"

"No! Not at all. It's just an example of the stuff that's on there. That's not something I have any interest in at all. All I have to do is imagine being on the receiving end of it and..."

"Okay! Okay. I get it. So what else is there?" She could sense there was something specific and if he didn't outright tell her, she was going to have ask him directly.

"Well, okay. They have a category about interracial dating and sex, they have one for gay and lesbian sex, they've got stuff for um...orgies...although they aren't called that anymore by too many people. It's called 'group sex' now."

"I see. So you're becoming quite the expert in areas of sexual perversion thanks to this...website."

"You see! That's why I didn't want to talk about this. You always say you're not a prude sexually speaking, but when it comes to any sort of...I dunno...variation...to what you think is normal you get like...this."

"Like what? Saying orgies...sorry, group sex is perverted is 'getting like this'? Help me understand that, will you?"

"Never mind. I don't want to talk about this anymore. Good night."

"Jordan! Don't do that!" She raised up to look at him and when he finally made eye contact she said, "I'm sorry. That wasn't very mature of me. I'm sorry." When she was sure he was ready to talk some more she told him, "I do want you to go on. I want you tell me what it is that has your interest. Is it group sex by any chance? Is that what you're hinting at?"

"No," he said dryly. "That's not it."

"It. Then something must be...it." She snuggled up close to him and said, "Jordan. I know things are well, routine in the bedroom. But, honey? I like routine with you. I love what we had and I want us to have a good sex life again. Maybe I'm not as open-minded as I think, but I might be open to something new if it isn't too far out there for me. So I promise I would judge. Please just tell me what this new interest of yours is, okay? I mean, it is one of these category thingies, right?"

Jordan didn't answer immediately but eventually he did say in a very subdued tone, "Yes."

"Okay. Well, that's a start. I promised not to be judgmental so...I'm listening. Please just say what it is."

"You promise you won't be mad at me?"

"I promise," she told him.

He took several deep breaths and Jill could tell he was very nervous. She'd gone from being deathly afraid he was having an affair to wondering if he was wanting to tie her up in a dungeon or something. She was suddenly almost wishing it was 'only' an affair.

"What I've been reading about...the thing that...really turns me on...is..."

"Is what, honey? Is it some kind of bondage thing?" She couldn't help herself. She had to know if it was that and hoped to God it wasn't.

"No, it's not B&D."

Jill was about to come out of her skin waiting for his answer when he finally said, "I have this...huge fantasy about...I dream about seeing you...with...someone else."

When his words sank in, so did her heart. "I see. So your little fantasy thing is to get me to be with another woman so you can have sex with her, too." Her voice sounded hollow as she shared her comment with her husband.

"What? Another woman? No! No, I don't want to have sex with anyone else. I only love you, honey. I told you I have no interest in any other woman."

Jill was visibly relieved. "Thank God!" she said as she held him closer. "So you want to just see me with another woman?" Her voice rose as she asked for clarification. Before Jordan could answer she said, "I'm definitely straight, but I suppose that might be possible. It's just that, well...women really don't do it for me. But if this is something that's really important to you and if it could get us back on track, I could at least think about it."

Jordan kissed her on the top of the head and said, "That's very sweet, honey. Thank you. But I wasn't talking about seeing you with another woman."

Jill raised up again and said, "Then I don't get it. What are you talking about?" It was dark but not so dark she couldn't see his eyes. They had softened and that alone heartened her.

"My fantasy is to...share you with...another man."

Jill was stunned. She was caught so off guard she was speechless.

Jordan stroked her face with his hand. "You're upset, aren't you?"

She kept staring at him then finally said, "So the reason you haven't had any interest in me isn't because there's another woman, but because you have this fantasy about watching me...have sex...with another man?"

"You see, this is why I didn't want to talk about it. I know it sounds crazy. To use your word, it sounds...perverted. But you pushed me to tell you and now that I have you're angry at me."

Jill was still staring into his eyes. "Jordan, I'm not angry and I'm not upset. I'm...shocked. I'm just totally surprised by this. I had absolutely no idea. I just assumed you'd been looking at porn on the internet and...hell, I don't know what I thought. But I am not mad. Confused maybe but not mad."

"So you're not going to see a divorce lawyer tomorrow?" he said trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, maybe the day after..." she teased back. Once again, she lay on his chest. "I don't understand what you want me to do or why you want me to but I want you to know I am 100% relieved you're not having an affair. I'd die if you ever cheated on me."

"I never will, baby," he said as he stroked her hair.

"But you want me to cheat on you, right? I mean, that's what it sounds like anyway."

"No! Of course not. That would kill me, too."

"Jordan? I am completely and totally lost. How do I...do this...this thing of yours and not cheat on you?"

He held his wife close and said, "Sweetheart, if I'm there with you, if I choose the guy, and if I want you to be with him—assuming most importantly, of course, that you're okay with it—then how is that cheating? If you met someone at work or wherever and went out behind my back, that would be cheating. Hell, even having a male friend you went to for emotional comfort would feel like cheating. But this doesn't fall into that category. Not under those circumstances, right?"

Jill thought for awhile before answering. "But it would still be adultery."

"I guess if we were part of the evangelical Right, then sure, it would be considered adultery. But that's a religious term which, to me at least, is synonymous with cheating and I don't consider this cheating. Does that make sense?"

Jill couldn't help but smile as she said, "In a sick, twisted kind of way."

"Honey?" he said. "Whatever you may be thinking right now, please don't ever doubt that I love you again, okay?"

"Okay," she said without commitment. "So if I were to do this, would it make things better for us—just you and me—in the bedroom?"