Snowed In

"This is a deer camp?" Shawna Miller stood in the entry of the cabin, her eyes wide, "It looks more like a log-built resort!"

"Hey," Mason Holloway replied from the bar, "just because we men-folk shoulder our responsibilities manfully and trudge forth into the wilderness seeking meat for our beloved families doesn't mean we have to suffer while we're at it. A touch of the creature comforts helps us stay longer and insures success."

"A touch? Separate bedrooms, king-size beds, sofas you need a map to get out of and a fireplace big enough to park a truck in? This looks more like a royal hunting lodge to me. All it needs is gold leafed chandeliers."

Bill Miller pushed his wife the rest of the way inside and shut the door behind them. "And since everything in the camp is powered by firewood, propane gas or lamp oil we're completely independent in the event of really bad weather. And that, from the look of the drive up, is what we're in for."

Angela Holloway set down her drink and snuggled up next to her husband. "I know. The weather report began predicting snow. Then it started talking about serious snow and now the prediction is blizzard followed by freezing rain. It's a good thing the guys really stocked up because I kind of expect we're going to be here for a few days."

She watched Bill shuck his down coat and ski hat. She noted that he had lost quite a bit of weight since their last get-together and that his trousers were in danger of sliding off. The image was enticing and she licked her lips in appreciation. He caught the glance, blushed darkly and pulled the offending garment higher.

"In my opinion," Angela continued, "bad weather can be a really good thing. Shawna, you have just got to watch the guys wax all caveman with their dutch-ovens and high-speed, low-drag housekeeping. It will be enough to make you want to sell off that fancy condo of yours and move up here permanently. The only drawback is that no one has invented a propane television. I don't know what we'll do for entertainment."

Elliot Boxer looked up from the fireplace where he was checking the condition of the big kettle of venison stew and the sourdough biscuits. "We usually play poker and tell lies butsomeone forgot the cards . . ."

"Don't blame me!" Mason was indignant. "My job was seeing that we were well provisioned for this trip. No one said a word about entertainment."

Karen Boxer handed each of the Miller's a glass of red wine and pushed the cheese plate toward them. "Somehow I don't think that three or four days of poker would be something that would appeal to the women. We were planning on cross-country ski picnics, weren't we ladies?"

"I was," Angela refilled her glass, "but since that's a faint hope we will just have to come up with something else. I suppose we could always have an Air Corps party . . ."

Brenda Corleone burst out laughing. "My mother told me about those when I finished flight school."

Elliot carefully lay the ladle aside. "Yourmother? My grandfather claimed his squadron invented the car key party back in World War II. I didn't realize they were still going on during Viet Nam."

"Oh definitely. I think it was her way of explaining why I look like her but nothing like my father and older brothers. Not that it mattered. Being the baby as well as the only girl I had Daddy wrapped around my littlest finger clear up until I was commissioned. Genetically or not, I was Daddy's Little Girl."

"Excuse me?" Shawna looked around the room in confusion. "Just what is an Air Corps party or a car key party? And what might that have to do with Brenda being the brunette in a blond family?"

Mischief ruled Brenda's face as she glanced aside to Elliot. "You wanna start?"

"Shawna, back in World War II fighter pilots had a really dangerous life. A lot of them were either shot down or crashed into the sea. The ones who had gotten married were worried about their new wives and wanted to make sure they were taken care of in the event they were killed. They finally hit on the idea of the car key party. Basically it was supposed to bond the squadron into a single family that would take care of its members, no matter what. They did it with sex. On Friday nights they would meet at the officer's club and the men would all put their car keys into a bowl. The wives would close their eyes, reach in, pull out a set and go home with the man whose keys they got. It was, I suppose, really tribal."

Shawna's big brown eyes stood out in her dark face like headlights. "No—they didn't! Regular Army officers being swingers back in the forties? I don't believe it."

"Believe." Joe Corleone's voice was dry. "I grew up with a 'Great-aunt Alice' who lived with my grandparents. She wasn't really related to my mom but she was definitely family all through my childhood. It wasn't until after she died of pneumonia that I got the whole story. Her husband was a member of Granddad's bomber squadron and he was lost in the final days of the war. The grandparents just gathered her in and brought her home with them. It took a long time before I had the nerve to ask if she had continued to sleep with the old man all the years she lived with them. When I finally raised the question, Mom gave me the 'you're such an idiot' look and said 'Of course she did! It was part of the understanding.'"

Brenda nodded. "And itwas still going on during Viet Nam. Daddy flew Thunderchiefs and those damned things were always getting blown out of the sky. So whenever they rotated back to the States the first week was spent fucking twice a day with their wives and the next week the car key parties would start. I went back and looked at photos of Daddy's squadron and I think I know who Mom slept with nine months before I was born. It wasn't Daddy."

Shawna glared at her husband. Bill responded with a lazy smile. "William Miller, you haven't said a word! Surely you aren't going along with this nonsense? Wife swapping? The very idea!"

"Oh, don't give me that!" Bill's usually amiable face turned grim. "I don't want to hear any innocent indignation from you, Miss Texas A&M Cheer Captain. Don't even try to tell us that casual sex never happened in your life."

Shawna shrank into her well-filled sweater. "Well, not when I was sober. Besides, that was part of a cheerleader's job back in the day. If you weren't willing to entertain the team you didn't try out for the squad. The reason I worked hard to become captain was so I would have first pick of the backfield. But I've been good ever since we got married, Bill. You've got to believe that?"

Bill pulled her onto his lap. "Now baby, of course I do. I just want to keep the discussion honest, hear?"

After all four couples were in bed Mason rolled up on one side and regarded his wife in the darkness. "Were you serious? Do you actually expect the other women to go along with a car key party?"

"Are you kidding? Brenda is already on board and Karen will do it if Brenda does. The only stopper is Shawna. She's trying to do the AME 'good wife' thing right now but you saw how Bill shut that off. We'll bring her around and before the end of the weekend you'll be cock deep in that little brown pussy."

"I don't suppose you thought far enough ahead to have stocked up on condoms . . ."

"Hell now, I didn't. The long range forecast didn't say a peep about this storm. Mason, I really was looking forward to X-C picnics. I even had my skis waxed and everything but since that's not going to happen I'm up for getting bonked. Seriously, lover, just the right pressure tomorrow and by the time we can get out of the deer camp you will have fucked all four of us." She reached down inside his pajama pants. "And you may as well start with me. Come on, stud, do me. Do me fore and aft. I need a good butt-fucking for being so naughty."

In the morning, Shawna looked out the window. One glance confirmed the worst the weather service could have imagined. While there was a streak of light along the top of the pane, the snow was piled up nearly to the eaves. Who knew how much was on the roof. They really were going to be in the deer camp for 'a few days'—at least! The good news was that the men did have the cooking and housekeeping under control.

"We don't want you touching anything, honey," Bill explained, "since we know where everything goes and we're usually working in the dark before dawn and after dusk, if you put something away in the wrong place it will be chaos next trip. Just curl up in front of the fire with a book or something and we'll take care of everything."

By the second game of cribbage, Shawna was feeling an itch she couldn't quite figure out how to scratch. "Brenda, I can understand why the last two generations had those car key parties but now all of you are flying RPV's. You're in no personal danger. Besides, today we don't need men to 'take care of us' they way they did fifty years ago. Are fliers still playing like that?"

Brenda snickered. "Shawna, today it's considered part of the culture. And it isn't confined to aircrew. When Joe and I got married I made sure that he understood clearly what he was getting into. And when we moved to the base here we went to the 'O' club and looked over each of the groups that hung out together. Once we decided which one we liked, he took home a really cute little Vietnamese nurse and I spent the night with an Intel officer who was hung like a horse. You bet your chocolate ass we still play like that."

"And you really think we ought to—toshare like that here?"

"What can it hurt? We've all been friends for years and none of us are carrying any unpleasant diseases. Unless you aren't, the only one not on the pill is Karen and if she gets pregnant with a boy, Elliot will be ecstatic. He's the only son in the family and they have three daughters. Whether it's genetically his or not is irrelevant. After all, by law the children of a married woman are presumed to be her husband's."

"Uh, I'm not on the pill, either. But in my case—well, I've never had sex with a white man before! And if I get pregnant everyone in the family will know what I did."

"So? Take a 'morning-after' when you get home. On the other hand, might I point out how light-skinned Bill's younger brother is? Your kin will just think the baby takes after his uncle. Anyway, are you close to your most fertile time?"

"I don't know. I'm so irregular there's no way of telling. Besides, I promised to be faithful to Bill when I married him. I'm not going to break a promise."

Brenda's only response was a dubious nod.

Bill and Joe were digging a path through the snow to the well. Heat and light were no problem in the cabin but the water lines had to be kept clear and that meant the well needed regular checks to insure it wasn't frozen.

"You think the girls can bring her around?" Joe's reference was obvious to both of them.

"Oh, sure. The only question is how soon. Thinking about it, I really do want to get into all their panties and the longer Shawna stays obstinate the less chance I have."

"Dude, all we need to do this trip is slip a toe in the door. If they get her to yield the first time, after that it's smooth sledding. A little additional nookie on the side will do wonders for the annual deer hunt, the trout opener, Halloween—you name it."

"Don't I know it! Angela was giving me the beady eye when she saw how loose my trousers are. That is one horny minx and I hope to Hell she's the first one to pull my key."

Joe sniggered. "Brenda wants to pull more than your car key, Bill. You think Angela's hot for your cock? Huh!"

Brenda and Karen leaned on the kitchen counter, coffee mugs in hand. "You still up for the game?" Brenda asked.

"I think so. I can see Angela wants it badly and so do you. So I won't stand in the way. Heck, if I can get pregnant with a son for Elliot this weekend I'll have the happiest man in the city. The girls will be thrilled to have a baby brother to boss around, too. It's all down to Shawna, isn't it?"

"Honey, Shawna will fall. You just watch. And when she does, she'll fall hard. By the time we head for home she won't just be balling all the men, she'll be balling them all at once. We will get her to come around and I have a few other 'little helpers' to speed up the process. There's this Medical Marijuana I imported from Mendocino County up Northern California way? The first time I tried it I almost cut Elliot's clothes off with with a knife! I made that poor man fuck me three times in one night. He had to call in and ask for the day off the next morning. So--you know those chocolate chip cookies I baked this morning? I mixed in just a pinch of it into a couple of the ones on the end. I know which ones they are and guess who's getting them for dessert!"

Karen laughed. "I guess that means guess who's getting whom for dessert, no?"

Saturday wore on amid banter, war stories, lies and flirting. The women kept the last mild for Shawna's sake, at least for the present. They could see she was spending a lot of time deep in thought.

"Bill, honey?"

"Hmm?"

"This all started when you and Mason were flying Goblins over Iraq, didn't it?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean, it's a military thing, isn't it? Kind of like that movie 'Band of Brothers'? I've heard that combat units get really tight, even more than a lot of marriages."

"Mm-hmm."

"And in the Old Testament, if a man died his brother took his widow to wife, didn't he?"

"That's right."

"And after all, the chance of my gettingyour keys are pretty good."

Good grief. She's talking herself into this. Hot damn! I'd better play this cool so I don't screw it up. "That's true. There are only four couples here so you've got a twenty-five percent chance of getting me. I would call those pretty good odds, better than you'll get in Atlantic City, at least."

"Now don't get me wrong. I'm still thinking about it. And if I do agree to this silly idea it will be on the condition that I get first pick. Understand? And I haven't agreed, yet, either!"

"Of course, you haven't"Right . . .

Dinner was over and dessert was gone. The only light in the cabin came from the coals in the hearth and dim oil lamps in the bedrooms. Brenda smiled to herself as she watched Shawna squirm in her seat with an odd expression on her face. The cookies had done their work and now it was time to strike. She casually rose and walked into the unlit kitchen, opened a cupboard and took out a large black bowl. It rattled slightly as she took it down and laid a thick black velvet cloth over the top. The contents were invisible.

The conversation stopped dead when she re-entered the living room and walked over to the coffee table. She placed the bowl in front of the Millers.

"First choice you want? First choice you get, honey. One chance in four gets you Bill but three out of four . . ."

Shawna swallowed. She looked to Bill for support but got nothing in return but a sly smile. The others were grinning, too.Oh dear lord, I'm really going to do this. But I know what my man drives. I'll find those keys by touch! Boy are they in for a surprise.

Taking a deep breath, she slipped a hand under the velvet and reached in—to find that the contents were four identical cubes! Someone had put the keys in boxes and there was no way she could tell which was which.Oh, no! And now I'm committed. Bill will never forgive me if I back out now. Please, let this box be a big GMC . . .

At once the other women reached in and each pulled out a box. Karen was the first to open hers and found keys for a Jeep Commander. She looked sideways at Joe Corleone through lowered eyelids. Brenda opened her box and shook out a set for a Toyota 4Runner. She blew a kiss to Elliot.

Two down and two to go. Please, GMC, please . . .

With trembling hands Shawna prized open the little cardboard cube and shook out a set of keys. Land Rover! Her heart sank as she looked up to see Angela pop open her box and pull out Bill's truck keys, a predatory smile across her lips.

"Well, that turned out quite nicely, I think," the woman remarked, "a clean trade all around the room. Tell me, William; are those stories about black men true?"

The others tittered. Bill's face was wry. "Well, I'll guess you're about to find out aren't you? Maybe a couple of times, even."

He put his big hand under his wife's bottom and gave her a gentle push up off the couch. She stepped around the table and stood in front of Mason with the keys held out.

"I believe these are yours, Mr. Holloway?"

"Why, yes, Mrs. Miller, they are. And so, for tonight, are you. Come, don't play shy. Just settle down on my lap and we'll start the festivities."

Quiet giggles and murmurs behind her told Shawna that the 'festivities' were already under way. She tried to sit primly across Mason's knees but he pulled her close. One hand reached up and grasped a fistful of her Cleopatra braids while the other wondered down her back, gave a quick twist and undid her bra through the flannel. She gasped just as his mouth covered hers and his tongue began to explore the inside of her mouth. The incipient heat between her thighs flared.Oh god!

When a hand began to work its way down the row of buttons on her shirt, she broke the kiss and grabbed his wrist. "Mason," she hissed, "not here!"

"Yes, Shawna, right here! We all know what we're doing so there's nothing to hide. Besides, I want to see that gorgeous body of yours by firelight."

With a gulp, Shawna released her grip and watched as the man opened her shirt, then unsnapped her jeans and pulled down the zipper. As her shirt came loose, he pushed it aside and grabbed her bra in the center and pulled it away. Her breasts sagged slightly. Mason reached behind her and grasped the back of her jeans and panties together.

"Lift up, girl."

She raised her bottom off his lap and in a single, smooth pull was naked.

"There, now. I always knew my old roomy was a gentleman of taste and refinement," Mason whispered in her ear, "you really are lovely to look at. And I just know you are lovely to feel, too."

He kissed her deeply again, sucking on her lower lip while hands stroked the underside of her nipples. First one, then the other, he tickled and aroused. Soon he was squeezing and massaging. She threw her arms around his neck and returned the kiss with passion. Thought gave way to sensation as she mewed and whimpered softly into his mouth.

Around the room Karen knelt naked on the floor, her face buried in Joe's lap. Brenda straddled Elliot's thighs, hungrily undoing his clothing. Angela stood bent over with her hands flat on the coffee table. Bill's face was pressed against her ass. Whether his cock turned out to be exceptional or not, she thought, his tongue was among the best she'd ever encountered.

Mason bent forward, pushed Shawna up onto his knees and with one hand around her chest and the other under her knees stood up, lifting her into the air. She looked at her friends in amazement. She thought she knew these people and never suspected that they could behave like this. As Mason turned and headed for his bedroom, the others called out encouragement.

"Hey, you two, leave the door open. We want to hear all those moans and cries."

"Don't keep her up more than half the night, honey; you both need to be rested up again for tomorrow."

"Do me proud, girl. My old roommate deserves the best."

In the soft lamplight, the bed was turned down on one side. Shawna felt herself placed onto cool sheets. Mason stood up and began to take his clothes off giving her a triumphant smile as he did.

"I—I've never had sex with a white man before," she stammered.

"We're all the same in the dark, my dear."

When the last of his clothing dropped to the floor Shawna was mesmerized by his stiff manhood. It was as though nothing else existed, just this proud, solid flesh that was about to bury itself in her most intimate place. Her new lover slipped into bed with her and pulled the covers over both of them. He ran a hand down her belly and fingered her slippery sex.