After the End Ch. 08

"As long as you promise to make me come again."

"Gladly."

The next day, I made plans to meet Vik after supper, while Dr. Atherton could cover any patients currently being treated in the wood-and-canvas structure that in this embattled wilderness passed for a medical facility. Avery and I had agreed that I would do the negotiating alone, partly because he lacked experience in such matters, and partly because he found the prospect far too embarrassing.

Vik and I kept the conversation casual as we walked together down to the creek that ran closest to the fort, but his sidelong glances betrayed the weight of uncertainty. The sun hadn't quite reached the horizon, but the shadows were welcome after another hot southern day. At the creek's bank, we settled on an old log that served conveniently as a bench.

When it comes to arranging sexual encounters, I'd learned that direct is best.

"Avery and I would like to take you up on your offer," I announced once we were seated. "Provided we can all agree on parameters, of course."

Some tension left Vik's shoulders, and his expression softened into something more subtle than a smile, but just as warm. "I'm sure we can."

For a moment, my gaze lingered appreciatively on the handsome man I was inviting into my bed. The lines of his face were rounder than mine -- less classical, perhaps, but only because the classicists worshiped European beauty to the exclusion of African, Asian, and American. His coffee-colored eyes were set deep in round sockets, balanced by a strong brow and shapely lips. His olive complexion was similar to mine, although his family had emigrated from India, whereas mine had originated in Greece. He was tall and trim but not particularly muscular -- a build that I imagined resulted from highly stressful work with little time off for meals or exercise.

Vik was waiting with his trademark gentle patience and open expression for me to begin.

"I've known you for a couple of years," I opened, "and Avery and I get along well with you. So I don't anticipate this being an issue, but I need to be very clear on page one that the two of us are fully devoted to each other. If this arrangement with you ever jeopardizes our marriage, we'll have to end it immediately. We're including you strictly on a recreational basis, with no implied commitment or obligation. Any emotional attachments that develop will need to remain subservient to the marriage, or this won't be viable."

"Of course," Vik confirmed. "That's always been my position as well."

"Good." We listened to shallow water flowing in the creek while I considered how to proceed. "Based on what you've said, I gather you'd be open to establishing a substantial power differential in our sexual relationship. Is that correct?"

"Yes. I'm most comfortable with a clearly defined role, following the instructions of someone I can trust. And I'm most satisfied by being of service to my partner, or partners."

Vik seemed at ease in this conversation, and I wondered who he'd previously partnered with. Was there a sub-culture here that I didn't know about? He was my age, not quite thirty, so he'd had some time to explore.

"I think that would work well for us," I replied. "Avery and I enjoy experimenting with power play. I usually take the dominant role, but with you involved, I'd probably delegate some of the authority to him. Would you be comfortable with that?"

"Absolutely." From the golden notes in his tone, that seemed to be Vik's version of Avery's "God, yes." There were definitely going to be fireworks when I got those two naked together, and I couldn't wait to watch.

"Can you give me an idea of your scope of experience?" I asked next. "I've been involved with various levels of dominance and submission in the past, mostly on a temporary basis. With Avery, it's been pretty mild -- orgasm control, some light restraint. Primarily psychological; a lot of teasing, very verbal."

Vik answered readily. "I spent a year in a committed D/S relationship with a competent partner, so I'm well trained." He offered a quick smile, modest but with a trace of pride. "I enjoy restraint and control of various kinds. Anything that pushes me into truly liberating surrender. And again, my primary goal is to please my partners, so I'll adapt to whatever their interests are. I'm not hugely into pain, but I can handle some. I don't do degradation, but I obviously don't get that vibe from you or Avery."

"No," I affirmed. "Emotional security is very important to us."

"I appreciate that."

A couple dozen whistling ducks flew overhead, filling the turquoise sky with their distinctive squeaky calls. That Vik clearly understood and could communicate his own needs was a promising indicator for our success.

I turned to him again. "Do you mind if I ask what happened to your previous partner? Does he live here?"

"I met him when I apprenticed in Houston, actually," Vik said. Thankfully, the memory seemed to be a happy one. "He tended bar near the hospital where I trained. I must have looked lost...which I absolutely was, hundreds of miles from anything familiar, surrounded by twenty times more people than ever in my life. He took me home, and even though I had very little time to spend on a relationship between classes and interning, he made it simple, and safe. I've been looking for that ever since."

"Was it difficult to come back to Louisiana?"

"I considered staying. City life just wasn't for me, not long term. And I wasn't willing to leave my community without a doctor." He glanced somewhere south of the setting sun, where Houston would be, one of the last surviving bastions of civilization on the gulf coast. "I still miss him, but I know he's happier there."

He turned back to me with that same calm, receptive expression. "More questions?"

I was ready to move forward. "There are a few terms I'd like to set, at least to begin with, and you can let me know if you're amenable. If things go well, we can always renegotiate."

"I'm all ears."

"Ok. One, just to reiterate, you will not attempt to pursue a romantic relationship with either Avery or me that would interfere with our marriage."

Vik nodded, and I watched his non-verbal responses closely while I listed the remaining terms.

"Two, there will be no sexual contact between you and me or between you and Avery, unless all three of us are present and have verbally consented."

Another nod of agreement.

"Three, in a session, you will do whatever I instruct, and if I've put Avery in charge, then whatever he instructs as well. You will also allow us to do whatever we choose, subject of course to limits and safe words."

Still no sign of concern from Vik. If anything, he seemed more peaceful. "Understood."

"Four, when you're with us, you will not orgasm unless I give you permission." I fixed him with my most penetrating, authoritative stare. "Which I'll warn you now, I'm not planning to do."

His answering gaze welcomed my threat with smoldering readiness, and his voice was soft with surrender. "Yes."

Damn. I had to take a moment to keep my blood from vaporizing. There would be time later to devour and deny him.

"Finally, hopefully it goes without saying, but Avery and I are revealing a very private part of our lives to you. You will not share our personal information without our permission. And of course, we'll extend the same consideration."

Vik gave me another smile that was mostly expressed in softness around the cheeks and eyes. "I gratefully accept your terms."

"I'm glad," I told him sincerely. I was feeling increasingly confident about this experiment. "Do you have any questions for me?"

For the first time, he turned a little shy. "I was wondering...why now? I'd pretty much given up hope."

I tilted my head to formulate the answer. "I'd always hoped we'd get to do this. I only waited to be sure Avery was ready, and that our relationship was stable enough to support a third person." I considered another moment. "Avery's had...a difficult past, as I'm sure you know. It didn't help that I broke things off with him last year, no matter what the reason. I didn't want him to view you as a threat."

"I see. I wouldn't want that either." A gentle pause. "We all remember what happened with Ariana. And Diwata."

No doubt Vik had been closer to the situation than most. He'd have been early in his training back then, but in such a small community, those must have been notable deaths.

I was about to ask if he had any other questions, but he spoke first. "Thank you, for this conversation, Delta." Some of the shyness lingered, and suddenly I perceived the risk he was taking by asking for this type of relationship. "You're good at this. I thought you would be."

An unexpected desire to kiss him stole through me. I couldn't, not after I'd just made it one of my terms. But at that moment, words didn't seem enough to reciprocate his courageous offering.

I settled for a hand gripping his shoulder. "You're welcome. And thank you, for deciding to approach me."

He acknowledged with a nod, and I released him.

"One other thing I should mention," I said, "so it isn't confusing when we meet. Avery calls me by my given name, Julian. As long as we can't be overheard, you may call me that as well."

"Alright." He smiled again. "Julian."

I returned the gesture. "So, when are you free?"

"Tuesday night, barring catastrophe."

"I'll put it on the calendar," I joked. "September 23, 2127: No catastrophes."

Vik laughed, and we headed home in the gathering dusk.

* * * * *

Avery:

Our quarters weren't really big enough to pace in, but I was too keyed up to do anything else. I only got about eight steps before hitting a wall, but I kept covering the same eight steps anyway.

Julian, meanwhile, sat quietly on the bed against our wood-slat headboard, reviewing the records he kept on Fort Laurel's daily operations. From time to time he angled the page to add a notation in his compact, angular handwriting.

"Shouldn't he be here by now?" I complained on my next pass.

"You know he has patients to look after," Julian replied without looking up. "Sawyer cut her hand pretty badly on that scrap of metal earlier. I'm sure he'll be here as soon as he can."

How could he be so calm, when someone we saw every day was about to watch us have sex? I used to hook up with women all the time, but this felt different. I'd been in control of what happened, then. I'd always stuck to things I felt safe doing, which was mostly ravishing their hot female bodies and then going about my business. I'd had threesomes, but that just meant getting to fuck two different hot women in the same bed, while they made out with each other. There was no Julian, knowing everything about me, getting me out-of-control horny while barely touching me, reading my every reaction with those scary-intense eagle eyes.

I mean, I love it with him. A thousand times better than the best sex I'd ever had, before him. But it did make me fucking nervous that someone else was going to know what I like, how I feel, what sounds I make. God only knew what kind of embarrassing displays Julian had planned for me. Because of course he wouldn't tell me, because he knows how worked up I get when I don't know what's coming, and he fucking gets off on it, and it's fucking unfair.

Ok. I get off on it too, and that's why he does it. But still. Nervous.

"Avery," he cut in from beside me, making me jump. I hadn't even noticed him getting up.

He anchored my shoulders with both hands. "Hey," he tried again. He'd broken out the soothing voice he used when I was melting down about something, which happened a lot more often than I thought it should. "You're under no obligation to do anything you don't want to do, or anything at all. If you're not up for this, we can postpone. Or cancel."

I didn't say anything, too preoccupied by the whirling carousel of my thoughts. One of his hands moved to cup my jaw and carefully guided me to meet his gaze, where affection softly lit the sapphire gems of his eyes. Even after two years, sometimes I still didn't expect to find such gentleness in someone who could be so terrifying when putting a rebellious subordinate in their place or slamming an elbow into an attacker's windpipe.

"Vik will understand," he told me. "He wouldn't want you to be distraught by his participation."

Julian's composure slowed the carousel to a more manageable speed. "I'm not...distraught."

He could have argued, but he just stroked his thumb across my cheek and waited.

I took a full breath and released it. "What if he..." I started but didn't know how to finish. What if he has a terrible time and never speaks to us again? What if he likes you better than me? What if he's disappointed when he sees me without clothes? What if he gets turned off by me doing something stupid? What if he thinks less of me after I beg for you?

"What if it doesn't go well?" I settled on.

"I really don't expect that to happen." Julian had filled me in on the conversation with Vik a few nights ago, and he'd been involved in things like this before, so he had his reasons. "But if it's not a good fit, I don't think there will be any harm done. Vik is a generous and reasonable person. I wouldn't have agreed to this with someone who wasn't."

I didn't want to be any more explicit about my worries, so I stole a quick kiss from Julian's lips and then moved closer, where his arms could enfold me into the safe space against his chest. My own arms wound around his strong back, and he rubbed soothingly across my shoulder blades. I sighed and nestled my head against his.

"You say the word, and I'll call this off," he murmured beside my ear. "Now, or at any time during the session."

His hand smoothing over my back made my fears seem less immediate. I leaned into his perpetually warm, comfortingly powerful body and took a few more breaths. Then I shook my head.

"I don't want to call it off."

"You sure?"

I thought back to how blazingly hot I'd been the other night just imagining playing with Vik, and automatically I started to get hard. "Yes."

Julian tightened his arms around me. "Then please try to relax. You know I'm not going to do anything that would hurt you, or upset you, or whatever you're worried about. And neither is Vik."

"Yeah," I said non-specifically, but I did calm down a little.

"I'm going to keep it simple," he reassured me. "Nothing too adventurous. Find out how we work together, and we can always meet again if we want to try more."

"Ok."

He pressed a kiss into my hair and held me while the adrenaline started to process from my bloodstream, then his tone lightened. "I think the real danger here is that Vik finds out how adorable you are and falls irrevocably in love with you."

I let the last of my tension drain out with the next exhale. Reason restored, my panic already seemed silly, but I indulged in Julian's embrace for another minute, hiding my chagrin against his shoulder. "Please don't tell him I was being like this."

Julian stroked further down my spine. "For all you know, he's just as nervous."

"Yeah, right. He's a doctor. And he knows what he's doing."

His reply was unreasonably fond. "No one really knows what they're doing, Avery."

I took a final bracing breath and moved out of his arms. Just in time for a knock at the door to startle me again.

"It's me," Vik's voice sounded from outside.

"You good?" Julian asked me.

I nodded, though my heart started pounding.

He gave me another kiss. "Go sit down. I'll let him in."

I retreated to sit against the headboard, knees drawn up protectively. I'd changed into a clean t-shirt and my soft hemp lounge pants for this meeting, but now it didn't seem like enough clothing. Julian opened the door and greeted Vik with typical self-possession.

I sort of knew Vik had liked me for the past few years, but since I'd been quite busy with Julian, I hadn't really considered what it would be like to...be with him. Vik was...really attractive, in a clean-cut kind of way, with black hair as short as Julian's. And he had those deft doctor's hands, attentive and skillful, capable of surgical repair to the most delicate tissues. I'd bet his shapely mouth was just as skillful. And what would his cock look like, full and straining beneath my fingertips?

Damn it, I was hard already.

"You can leave your shoes by the bench," Julian was saying. He sat next to me on the bed and indicated the space in front of us for our visitor.

When Vik was settled cross-legged facing us, Julian took the situation in hand. "Vik, you've already agreed to the terms that Avery and I established. Would you mind recapping so we can confirm we're all on the same page?"

Vik's medical-expert brain had no trouble reciting a list of five items. "No interfering with your marriage; no sexual contact without all three present and consenting; I do whatever you or Avery instructs; I don't orgasm without permission; and personal information stays confidential," he summarized.

Julian nodded approvingly. "Do we all agree to sexual contact this evening on those terms?"

"Yes," Vik said, with a muted kind of eagerness that for him was a lot.

They both turned to me. "Yes," I echoed, trying to ignore the fluttering in my gut.

"And I agree as well," Julian said. "For today, I'll be running the session. Avery has already consented to give me full control as well." He waited for me to acknowledge with a nod; the fluttering inside me amped up a notch.

"We use the safe words 'yellow' and 'scarlet.' If anyone says 'yellow,' we all pause, listen, and respond to whatever request is made. If anyone says 'scarlet,' all activity and all contact stops immediately. Agree?"

Vik and I both confirmed that we did. I'd never needed to use a safe word so far, but it was nice to have the option. The fact that Julian was so attentive to precautions like this meant he was also very attentive during sex, and he rarely ever missed a cue.

"For this initial session," Julian went on, "I don't anticipate we'll be doing anything out of the ordinary, but are there any limits we want to discuss?"

He looked at me, and I shook my head.

"Vik?"

"I don't think so."

"Are you comfortable giving and receiving anal stimulation? Digital, oral, penile?"

Geez, Julian could rattle this stuff off like it was nothing, like he wasn't asking his friend to his face if it was ok to fuck him, or if Vik would lick his asshole. And Vik seemed way calmer than I would be in that situation. Way calmer than I felt.

"I'm comfortable with all of that," Vik told us. And now I wanted to fuck him.

"Alright. Are we ready to begin?"

Vik said yes, and Julian's gaze lingered on me, apparently mindful of my anxieties from not very long ago.

"Yes," I told him, and I meant it. Whatever this turned out to be, I was at least willing to find out.

"Great." Julian shifted into his sexy, authoritative voice. "Vik."

Fuck. The way Vik looked at my husband just then, like he would give anything to fulfill Julian's most extravagant whim, got me hard all over again.

Julian's command crackled through the room. "Clothes off."

Vik got to his feet and started stripping: shirt, socks, belt, pants. He didn't labor out in the heat of the day like most of us, so I hadn't seen him shirtless since he was younger, when we'd all swim in the stream on summer nights. He didn't have the kind of muscle definition that Julian and I did, but he carried no extra body fat, and his frame was well constructed.

Finally, he slid off his trunks, and a thrill punched my gut when I saw that he was erect too. He had a nice cock -- not that I'd seen many, but it wasn't much different from mine.