Christmas Unicorn

"Amber, this was a crazy good time. I haven't had so much fun in I don't know how long. Thanks for helping make it such a wonderful trip." She threw her arms around me and squeezed hard before relaxing enough to give me a loving, warm kiss.

"Yeah, Steff's right. Your being there made it perfect. Let's plan on another trip together some time, OK?" Dan also gave me a big hug and a kiss before they headed out the door and drove away.

As I sat there that evening with my glass of wine, I realized I had enjoyed my time with them immensely. And it wasn't just the sex. We had fun doing our little daytime activities, playing those stupid board games in the evenings and waking up together in the mornings. I wanted more of that. I wanted more time with them doing fun things together but deep down I knew that could never be. After all, they were a couple and I was the third wheel.

After such a crazy trip, it took me a few days to settle back into work. Emma asked a few questions about where I had gone and with who. I was a somewhat evasive saying only I went with 'friends' to a chalet in the mountains. Emma was pretty cool with people and their occasionally odd living arrangements but I wasn't sure she'd understand my arrangement with Dan and Steff, so I avoided giving too many details.

The three of us settled into our off and on weekends together for the rest of the summer. I looked forward to those times together and when I soberly thought about it, I realized I had developed very strong feelings for the both of them. I loved Steff's gorgeous body, her zany attitude and her almost ditsy way of dealing with life but most of all, I knew I had fallen in love with her. And Dan, I loved him, too. He was a strong, stabilizing influence in the threesome but would still defer to Steff or me when we wanted to try something new or fun. And he was a major hunk who could get my juices flowing just by slipping off his shirt. At moments of true introspection, I found myself asking how this would all end. I mean, Steff had indicated she wanted kids at some point and as the third wheel, I knew I'd be nudged aside when that huge change hit them. But I was having such a good time with the two of them that I decided to play it casual. I figured at some point in the future I'd have to cross that bridge but I'd wait until I had to.

It was in mid-September that I got a call from Steff while I was at work, something she as a text-fanatic had never done before.

"Amber, can you talk?"

"Yeah, just doing some paperwork. What's up?"

"I just got a call from Dan. He's at a medical conference about three hours from here and told me he's sick."

"Oh, no! Is he OK?"

"Yeah, got a fever and cough, tested negative for Covid, and is driving back this afternoon."

"Will he be OK driving?"

"I think so. Anyway, he wants me to leave so I don't get sick from him."

"Yeah, good idea."

"Could I bunk with you for a few days?"

"Sure, absolutely. I'll be home around sixish and feel free to come by after that."

"I'm going to put in a supply of soups and easy to fix foods for him, grab my clothes and head over after that."

"Sure. Hey, we could have some fun watching rom-coms."

"Yeah, we don't have to worry about what he'll think of 'em. Yeah," she giggled, "Should be fun."

Once she hung up, I began to wonder about our sleeping situation. Should she sleep with me or alone in the guest room? I knew I was the third person in a threesome and to be together with just one of them could potentially upset that delicate balance, so I decided I'd put out fresh sheets in the guest room and have her sleep there.

Once she arrived, I could tell she was worried about Dan. She wondered if he could make his own meals, watch his temperature, you know, things like that. I tried to reassure her, reminding her he was, after all, a certified ER doctor and should know how to handle himself. As if by magic, my phone pinged an incoming message.

OK having Steff w you

Y, will u b OK?

Y, just flu

Call her or me if probs

OK, u 2 have fun

'Fun?' I thought to myself, 'That can have different meanings.' I stewed about it and decided he was probably meaning watching the movies, having girl talks, you know. A few minutes later, Steff's phone pinged. She read the message and quickly sent one back. For the next couple of minutes, they were texting each other quickly and it seemed she was getting frustrated. Finally, she called him.

"Honey, do you really mean that?"

"But you won't be there, uh, here, whatever."

"I don't know, it just doesn't seem right."

"OK, you can talk with her." She handed the phone to me. "It's Dan."

"Hello? How are you doing?"

"Feel like shit, actually."

"Is there anything I can do, we can do to help?"

"Yeah, you can convince Steff it's OK if you two, you know, if you, uh, have sex."

"What? But you're not here."

"I'll be there in spirit. Look, Steff adores you and why shouldn't you two enjoy yourselves?"

"I don't know. It just doesn't seem fair for us to have fun while you're so sick."

"Maybe thinking about what you're doing will help me pass the time, make me want to get better faster. You know, you don't have to but I think you two should enjoy yourselves. Think about it..."

His last words were lost in a round of loud, congested coughing. When he came back on the line, I wrapped things up. "Dan, you need your rest. Take some Tylenol if you've got a high fever and some cough drops. I'll, we'll call tomorrow and check in. OK?"

"OK, will do. And Am, think about it."

The line went dead and as I handed her phone back to her, Steff stared at me. "Well?"

"You know what he wants. He says it's OK if we have sex. Sounds like he wants us to, even."

"I'm not so sure, I mean, we've always been a threesome. It'd be weird if he wasn't here."

"Look, he's not here and we can do what we want. I vote for wine, a delivered veggie pizza and a silly movie. OK?"

And that's what we did that night. We killed a bottle of wine and made a dent in a second one, ate yummy pizza and indulged ourselves in a couple of movies which we watched sitting next to each other on the sofa. Halfway through the second movie, Steff took my hand and laid her head on my shoulder. It was so comfortable and so sweet that I found myself paying more attention to her soft breathing and the faint smell of her perfume than I did to the movie. Once the movie was over, we got ready for bed. There was still some awkwardness about our sleeping situation: was she sleeping in the guest room or with me? She answered the question with one of her own.

"Am, I'm not sure I want sex but I would love to sleep with you. OK?"

"I'd love that. Yes, let's."

We snuggled into bed with our arms around each other and after some wonderful, sexy kisses, we drifted off to sleep. The next morning was a bit of a rush. I had forgotten to set my alarm and woke up to hers, thirty minutes later than I usually do. I had to rush through a shower, dress quickly and skip breakfast. I remembered to give her a key and tore out the door on my way to a coffee shop and work.

Work was work, nothing exciting to report there, but my mind kept going back to Dan and Steff. How was he doing? Did he need anything? And was she thinking about what we might do that night? I know I was. It would still feel weird to have sex without him there, but I had found myself turned on with her at my side and again in bed.

At lunch in a small bistro across the street from our office, I spent the whole time thinking about her, about him and about me. I was crazy about them. I even knew I had slowly fallen in love with them. But they were a couple and I didn't feel I should get in the middle of their relationship. After all, I was the unicorn helping them explore their wilder side. The rational, thinking part of my brain was saying 'No' to having sex with her but the reptile part of my brain was saying 'Why not?'

When I got home, I was met with a wonderful aroma of spicy, Asian food. She was in the kitchen mixing a sauce of some sort and I noticed a pile of vegetables off to the side.

"Hey, smells great. Can I help?"

"Oh, Hi. Yeah, please could you dice those veggies for me?"

We stood side-by-side talking about our days and about Dan but the big topic looming over us, or at least over me, was, plain and simple; were we going to have sex? I decided to let her take charge on this particular issue. Dinner was wonderful and we quickly tidied up in the kitchen before grabbing the half-empty wine bottle from the fridge. She took my hand and pulled me to the living room.

"Sit here," she commanded.

"K."

"We gotta talk."

"About?" I knew full well what the topic was going to be but that little devil in me wanted to force her to say it.

"Us. You. Me. Tonight."

"And....?"

"You know Dan said we could, he even said we should have some fun together."

"What do you say?"

"I'm torn. You're so sexy I want to jump your bones right now but we've always been a threesome. It might feel odd, uncomfortable."

"Do you think he meant it?"

"There's one thing about Dan you should know: he doesn't play little head games. If he said 'Yes,' he meant it."

"And he said 'Yes,' didn't he?"

"Umm-hmm," Steff replied, "He even encouraged me."

"Yeah, me too."

"So, what'll we do?"

My mind was racing. Here was a chance to spend uninterrupted time with Steff, hopefully free of guilt. We could always go back to threesomes in the future, couldn't we? "A one-off. We do it, see how it feels and tell him. If it's 'wrong' for us, we'll never repeat it. OK?"

With a little squeal, she jumped up from her seat, came over to me and sat on my lap. "OK, you twisted my arm," she giggled as she dropped her lips to mine.

We did end up making love that night, several times, actually. We went down south on each other before I opened my toy drawer. A couple of my newer toys intrigued her and we sat there naked, side by side to get ourselves off. Once she got over her bashfulness of masturbating in front of me, she got off a couple of times playing with my Clitorizer and my rabbit vibrator. It was so sexy watching her explore herself with my toys I was able to climax with the lightest of strokes with my fingers. As we fell into a deep sleep, arm in arm, my last conscious thought was how comfortable I was and how I never wanted to lose this feeling.

I woke up the next morning craving coffee. Fortunately, it was a Saturday and there were no time pressures to deal with. I brewed up a batch and brought it with sugar and cream to Steff. She grumbled when I sat on the bed but began smiling when she smelled the mud.

"For me? How sweet."

"Yup. Cheers."

We sat there drinking the coffee and talking idly for a few minutes until Steff talked about the big issue. "Are we, uh, are we OK?"

"I'm OK. You?"

"Yeah. OK. Great, even."

"Any guilt?"

"No. None. You?"

"Me, neither."

Steff sat there with her cup at her lips hiding what I knew was a smile, at least her eyes were smiling. "It's a lazy Saturday morning. Whatever should we do with our free time?"

"I dunno. Maybe I could steal a kiss?"

And we were off on another round of mutual exploring and pleasure. A few hours later her head was lying on my chest while I gently rubbed her back. It was so peaceful to be with her, with not a care in the world, enjoying her presence.

"Amber?" she asked.

"Umm."

"This was so nice. I'm glad we, uh, I'm glad we did this."

"Yeah, me too."

"Think Dan meant for us to do so much?"

"I bet he doesn't mind a bit."

"I'd better text him and see if he's awake and if there's something I can do to help."

"Yeah, you do that," I answered as I straightened up to get out of bed.

"Don't go."

"Potty. I'll be right back." I went to the bathroom to pee but mainly to allow her the opportunity to communicate in private with her husband. I also took my time brushing my teeth and fixing up my hair. When I went back to the bedroom, she was still nude, sitting up using her phone for a video call.

"Yes, Honey, we've had some fun, haven't we, Am?"

"Hi, Dan," I called across the room, "You doing better?"

"Yeah, Amber, I am. Thanks. I think I'll be OK by tomorrow and I'll be free of my quarantine," he chuckled. "Say, I've asked Steff what you've been up to and from her phone, looks like there might have been some fun."

"A little," I admitted.

"Look, I'm feeling better and could use a little pick-me-up for the next twenty-four hours. Could you join Steff so I can see you, too? Please."

I went to the bed and sat next to Steff where she held the phone allowing him to see both of us. I was totally comfortable knowing he was seeing us nude. And he looked ragged but not deathly ill, so I was pleased for him. I decided to tease him and leaned over, dropping my lips to her boob. He couldn't see anything because my head was in the way but the message was received loud and clear.

"You tease! I can't believe you're doing that to a dying man!"

"Dan, Honey, you're not dying. You already told me you're getting better."

"But watching you will kill me!"

"If you think that'll kill you, watch this." Steff put the phone on the bedside table and began to make out with me over the faint groans coming from the phone. It was so funny I began to giggle and we both ended up laughing at his fake grumblings. "You're feeling a lot better, Hon. We're going to hang up now and unless something wild happens, I'll see you tomorrow. OK?"

"OK. Love you."

"Love you, too," we both said simultaneously.

Once I realized what I had said, I held my breath a few seconds waiting for a response from Steff but none ever came. I figured she either hadn't heard me or was doing her best to ignore what I had said.

For the rest of the day, we hung out, treated ourselves to long soaks in the tub and generally goofed off. We went out for a quick bite at a Vietnamese restaurant and watched another movie after dinner. It was a fairly spicy romantic movie that got my juices flowing and from the way she acted, I believe it affected Steff the same way. Once our teeth were brushed, she pulled me to bed saying something about our last night together should be one to remember. And it was. By that time Steff was quite skilled at oral sex and when she went down on me, I must have come half a dozen times. I was able to pull myself together and return the favor before we collapsed exhausted in a deep slumber.

After a quick breakfast, Steff called Dan to confirm he was improving. His fever had broken and he was up, showered and dressed so she figured he was well on the road to recovery. We hugged at my door and she thanked me for the wonderful time we had together. After she left, I found myself in a grumpy mood. Spending time with her was fun and fulfilling and I realized I already missed her. I sat around in my PJs the entire day reminiscing, drinking and wishing I could have them in my life all the time. But I knew I was the third wheel and I couldn't expect anything more than an occasional roll in the hay. And they were always the ones to determine when.

The three of us got together a couple of weeks later for a wonderful night of wild and crazy sex. As best I could determine, there was no residual worry or angst about Steff and me being together while Dan was sick.

On a Friday evening two weeks later, I received a quick call from Steff.

"Hey, can we pop in for a few minutes if you're not busy?"

"Sure, I've got the whole weekend open."

"Great. Be there in ten."

When I opened my door to them, I was struck by Steff holding Dan's hand and him holding a gym bag in his opposite hand.

"Hi. What's up?"

"Amber, would you do me a favor? Could you take this man off my hands for the night, please?"

"Uh, I guess. What's up?"

"She's got a bunch of coworkers coming over in thirty minutes for a retirement party for one of them..."

"Yeah, and we don't want this ol' stick-in-the-mud putting a damper on things."

"I promised I'd hide out in the bedroom but she says that's not far enough."

"Right. So, I figure him being here would make more sense. I apologize for the lack of warning but can you handle him for the night?"

"Sure, I'd be willing to try."

"Oh, and Amber, turnabout is fair play. He's all yours tonight. Take care of him for me, please."

"Uh, are you sure?"

"Yup. And don't bring him home too soon. There may be some hung-over coworkers that I'll have to clear out first."

"OK, sure, come on in, Dan."

"And show him a good time, OK?"

"If you're sure..."

"I am. Bye, Honey, see you late tomorrow."

And suddenly I was alone with Dan, that beautiful hunk of male I'd slept with numerous times but always with Steff there. And she wanted me to sleep with him that night.

"You OK?" he asked.

"Yeah, just surprised, that's all."

"Look, we don't have to do anything if you don't want to."

"God, I'd love to do something to you. Are you sure it's OK with Steff?"

"She proposed it. I think she wanted to let me have the same freedom she had when I was sick, I guess."

"OK, then. Let's get started. Take your bag into the bedroom and come back for a drink. Wine or beer?"

"Whatever you're having is fine by me."

It took a couple of drinks for both of us to relax and once we did, we played a couple of silly card games while teasing each other mercilessly. It was so comfortable simply spending time with him, bonding even more. But I was also horny so I ended up dragging him to my bedroom and having my way with him. We ended up with straight ol' fucking, nothing gentle, just hard in and out, first missionary and then doggy style. I enjoyed both immensely and fell asleep a very satisfied and well-fucked gal.

The next morning, we had a more leisurely romp in the hay with me riding him, teasing him until he was begging for release. I didn't come but I was more than satisfied from the night before. As we chatted idly over coffee, I found myself loving the mood and the closeness with him. And in my heart, I was in love with him just as I was with Steff. But I knew my feelings could not be reciprocated; they were married to each other and I was the odd one out. They had a great marriage and only called on me whenever they wanted to spice things up. As I was thinking about our relationship, I realized they were always in the driver's seat. I had never been the one to call on them for sex, either individually or together. This seemed to create an unusual dynamic between them and me with them always being in charge. And in a true loving relationship, no one is 'in charge,' the dynamic must be back and forth on equal footing.

After pondering all of this, I knew I would have to pull myself away from them if I was ever going to find that special someone for me. I couldn't spend my life waiting for them to call, could I? The next time they invited me over, I pretended to be busy and declined. I heard some hurt in Steff's voice but I was determined to slowly wean myself from them and them from me. I did go over one night in early November and at Thanksgiving and both times we had fabulous sex making it even harder to try to back away. It was at Thanksgiving that Steff mentioned Christmas.

"You doing anything for Christmas, Am?"

Without thinking, I told her 'No.' Dammit, I knew I was trapped. They'd want to invite me over and now I had no excuse since they knew I wasn't going to be busy.

"Dan and I would love to have you over, you know, for Christmas and for a little anniversary."

"Anniversary?"

"Yeah, you know, one year ago we became a throuple."

I had never considered us a throuple because we simply weren't a throuple. We had occasional sex as a threesome but there was no mention of anything beyond that.