Dana's Story Ch. 38-39

"Thanks," Carol said aloud. She turned to take James by the hand. "C'mon, you. I have plans for you."

James glanced at Dana, wordlessly asking if she were okay with this. Dana smiled faintly and nodded. She wiggled her fingers in a wave. "Have fun."

After James and Carol disappeared into the empty room, Suzanne introduced Dana to the rest of the conversation circle, though none of the names stuck in Dana's memory. Suzanne made a point of this being Dana's first play party, and insisted that everyone treat her gently. Everyone chorused their agreement.

Dana also received offers from several of the men to play with her when and if she wished. It was flattering and arousing--and also a little unsettling--to be so openly propositioned in front of everyone else. She smiled, a little weakly she suspected, and said she'd take their offers under advisement.

The men took her demurral cheerfully and resumed their conversations.

Suzanne led her to the doorway of another room, the one in which she'd heard voices earlier. Dana stopped abruptly, shocked by what she now saw and heard.

A crowd of mostly men, mostly naked, were gathered around one of the two beds that occupied the room. Between the spectators she caught glimpse of moving flesh--presumably people having sex on the bed. Now that she was closer, she could hear the sounds of sex. The slap of flesh against flesh, and the little gasps and moans of pleasure.

Dana was intensely curious--and embarrassed to reveal that fact by walking over to the bed to look. Suzanne had no such inhibitions.

"C'mon," she said, taking Dana's hand. She advanced, pulling Dana along. "Excuse me, pardon me," she said. The crowd parted for her, men and women moving aside at her touch. She drew Dana up to stand beside her at the foot of the bed, where they could see everything.

It took a moment to parse what she was seeing. The bed was crowded with bodies. At least five people that she could see, maybe more, sat, lay or knelt on the bed, kissing, caressing or fondling one another. The only person she could clearly see was a barrel chested man kneeling on the foot of the bed. He was fucking a woman mostly concealed beneath the mass of participants, her upraised legs resting on his shoulders.

A couple of the men closest to the bed were leaning in to caress and fondle some of the participants. Others were watching avidly and stroking their erections. Dana saw one woman in an open robe giving the man next to her a handjob while he and another man fondled her breasts and took turns kissing her when they weren't all watching the orgy.

It was nothing like she'd imagined. All of the participants were older than anyone in her fantasies, and she'd never envisioned anything like this. Threesomes, perhaps, yes, she'd experienced that. But a crowd of people entangled like this, indiscriminately kissing, licking, fingering, or fucking whoever or whatever they could reach? It had never occurred to her.

It was incredibly exciting all the same. Watching this knot of strangers writhing together in pursuit of pleasure, hearing the sighs, moans, groans and the slap of flesh against flesh was thrilling. The unmistakable smell of sex filling her nostrils was intoxicating. The butterflies in her belly were as active as ever, perhaps more so--she felt again the sensation she'd felt in the hotel lobby, the feeling of walking onto a stage. Stronger this time, more intimidating, stealing away her confidence.

But that sense of stage fright was accompanied by heat in her cheeks and on her chest, a tightening of her skin that left her nipples rigid. Heat bloomed deep in her belly as well, accompanied by the yawning emptiness--the almost literal hunger--between her legs she knew so well now.

She didn't think she could act on it yet. She wanted to. She desperately wanted to join them, or find some attractive, interested man and drag him onto a bed and experience the thrills and the physical pleasure of sex. She wanted to--but she couldn't. It felt like standing beside a busy highway, knowing she could simply step into traffic. Nothing prevented her. But she didn't.

She stood silently observing until she felt Suzanne's breath on her ear. "Mesmerizing, isn't it?" she whispered.

Dana nodded mutely. It really was. Watching a group of strangers having sex was every bit as exciting as she'd imagined it would be. Intimidating, too. It would take more boldness than she had to join in something like this.

"Almost as exciting to watch as it is to participate, isn't it?" Suzanne asked.

"Yeah," Dana replied, just as softly.

"But only almost," Suzanne observed. She pressed a finger to Dana's chin, turning her head. Dana looked away from the orgy to see the woman in the open robe leading her two playmates toward the doorway with a hand on each man's cock.

"She's got the right idea," Suzanne continued. "C'mon. Let's finish your tour and then I need to find someone to fuck me."

Suzanne took her hand and drew her away from the crowd around the orgy and a few steps to the other large bed in the room. Dana hadn't even noticed it until now. Two couples shared it, though they were focused only on their respective partners. On the far side, a black man big enough to be an NFL linebacker lay on his back fondling the ass of a small latina woman riding him like a cowgirl. She sat facing his feet, her hands on his knees.

On the near side of the bed, a bearded blonde man was on his knees and elbows, vigorously fucking a slender woman with short gray hair who was giving as good as she got, rocking her hips just as vigorously. Suzanne pulled Dana right up to the edge of the bed. Dana watched the woman's eyes roll white as she groaned loudly and her whole body quivered.

Her partner never faltered, maintaining his pace until she relaxed and turned a huge smile of satisfaction on Suzanne. "You're a lucky woman, Suzanne," she said.

"Don't I know it?" Suzanne replied. "Dana, this is Joan."

"Hi, Dana," Joan said, lifting a hand in a wave.

"Hello," Dana replied. The greeting was automatic. She knew she was staring, but she couldn't help it. Joan had greeted her casually, as if they'd met in the lobby of the hotel, utterly unfazed to be introduced to a stranger while she was being fucked by another stranger.

The stranger in question had changed position--without disengaging, or even missing a stroke--so that he knelt upright between Joan's legs. He grinned like a kid at Suzanne. "Hey, beautiful."

"Hi, yourself," Suzanne said, and leaned in to kiss him thoroughly. When she straightened up again, Suzanne said, "Jim, this is Dana. Dana, my husband, Jim."

"Hello, Dana," Jim said, offering his hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"Me, too," Dana said, not knowing what else to say. It felt surreal to stand here, shaking hands with a man who was not just naked, but fully erect, and still slowly thrusting his cock into the woman he was with.

"This is Dana's first party," Suzanne told them.

Jim and Joan exclaimed at that, and welcomed her. "I expect you'll be very popular," Joan said, and Jim agreed, adding that he was busy now but that if she were interested later, he'd be happy to play with her.

"Thanks..." Dana said, feeling anxious. Maybe Jim noticed, maybe he didn't, but he didn't press it. He and Suzanne and Joan conversed for a couple of minutes, talking about mutual friends and work. The sense of surreality returned, as Dana listened to typical party chit chat while Joan and Jim, naked and slightly sweaty from their efforts, remained joined at the hips.

"Well, you two kids have fun," Suzanne said, and after a brief round of goodbyes, Jim leaned down to kiss Joan as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Suzanne gestured over them at the other couple. "That's Earl, and the woman using him is Katherine. I'll introduce you later."

Dana wondered at that. She hadn't minded interrupting Jim and Joan, but maybe Jim being her husband had something to do with that. Or maybe it was the singleminded way Katherine was riding Earl, and rather visibly and noisily approaching an orgasm.

Suzanne led Dana back out and through the main room. It was more crowded than it had been, and several new faces were present. Dana followed Suzanne into the other room, which had been empty earlier. Now both beds were in use.

A threesome occupied the nearer bed, the people Dana had seen leave the other room. One man knelt on the foot of the bed, giving oral sex to the woman who still wore the open robe, while she did the same for the second man. On the bed near the window were James and Carol. He lay on his back, with Carol sitting on his face moaning and muttering to herself as he ate her out.

He was hard as a rock, and Dana felt a surge of desire at the sight. She knew well how good James was at oral, and just how enthusiastically he would fuck her after he'd eaten her to an orgasm or two. Or three. She glanced at Suzanne, embarrassed by her sudden desire to stand and watch.

Which was silly.

Half the crowd in the other room was doing just that. She'd been intrigued as well, but everyone there was a stranger. It was exciting to watch strangers having sex, but it was also still abstract in a way she couldn't quite define. But she knew James. She'd had sex with James repeatedly. She knew what it felt like to share his bed, but she'd never had the opportunity to see it this way--and she wanted to. She wanted to see if it looked as sexy and exciting as it felt.

"Turns you on, doesn't it?" Suzanne asked her quietly. "Watching someone you know having sex."

Dana jerked her hand out from beneath her skirt. God, she hadn't even realized she was doing it until Suzanne spoke. She nodded, but couldn't look at Suzanne. "It turns me on to watch Jim with other women," Suzanne confessed.

Now Dana looked at her. "It does?"

Suzanne nodded. "I love to see him fucking other women, giving and receiving pleasure." She smiled cheekily. "Not as much as I love getting fucked myself, but a lot. If you want to stay and watch, you can."

"What about you?"

"I'm gonna go find someone to play with. When you're ready, I suggest you do the same." Suzanne walked out, leaving Dana alone.

Well, not alone. James and Carol and the three strangers were also in the room, though they were paying Dana no attention. The two men playing with the lone woman swapped places. As they did, the woman noticed Dana watching.

She smiled and said, "No need to be shy, you're welcome to join us. I'm sure these guys wouldn't mind."

Her words focused her playmates' attention on Dana. It felt like being hit by a spotlight, and not in the pleasant way she'd so often imagined. They echoed the woman's invitation, urging her to come join them on the bed. Dana struggled to find the right words to politely decline. They didn't come to her, but her silence seemed to work.

"Suit yourself," the woman said, not unkindly, and turned her attention back to her lovers, who followed suit.

Dana turned her attention to James and Carol again. As Dana watched, Carol's legs began to tremble and James grabbed her ass to steady her. Carol leaned against the wall, rasping breaths giving way to words. "Don't stop, don't stop, don't--ohhhhh god!" Her whole body shuddered as she came.

She slumped there for a few moments, still supported by James' hands on her ass, before she climbed off of his face. James sat up, grinning triumphantly, his face glistening. Now he noticed Dana watching.

He smiled and nodded in acknowledgement, but didn't speak--and didn't invite Dana to join him. Dana wasn't sure if she was disappointed or relieved. It was exciting to watch him with another woman, but she wasn't sure she wanted to join them. Sharing a lover with Zoe, a very close friend, was entirely different than doing so with a stranger.

Carol handed James a small package, gave Dana a single expressionless glance, and then dismissed her from her thoughts. James tore open the package and began rolling a condom onto his cock. Carol climbed onto the bed on her hands and knees, facing away from James--and from Dana.

Dana suddenly had seen enough. She turned and walked out, back into the main room, which was even more crowded now than before. She walked over to the dresser and poured herself some soda, trying to ignore Suzanne and her playmate on the king-size bed behind her. They were only making out--but Dana knew where they were headed.

The conversation area was full, but a couple stood and headed for one of the playrooms. Dana pounced on one of the open seats, where she sat sipping her drink and watching everyone and listening to the dull roar of multiple conversations. She had swung between eager desire and discomfort so often and so dramatically that she felt a little dizzy, and wondered if it had been a mistake coming here. Her stomach was knotted and unsettled. Perhaps the drink would help.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Perhaps the drink helped. Or maybe it was sitting quietly and listening to the people around her. The conversations she overheard were enlightening. Dana overheard stories about previous sex parties, war stories from jobs at call centers or hospitals, a debate over the best motorcycle to ride, and other topics. There was plenty of flirting, as well as a lot of very direct sexual discussion.

Periodically, someone would extend an invitation to play to someone else. More often than not, they accepted, and the couple would stand and walk into one of the other rooms. Other people would drift over to sit and rest, often with food or drink. Sometimes the invitation was politely declined and the rejected party typically turned back to ordinary party conversation or wandered off.

There was an etiquette at work that Dana puzzled out after watching several such interactions. The rejected party might eventually ask someone else in the conversation circle to play, but only after some time had passed--and usually someone new to the circle. It was apparently bad form to make it obvious that someone was your second choice. Dana could appreciate that.

By the same token, the person who had rejected the first person never accepted another invitation right away, declining outright or suggesting that they ask again later. More face-saving etiquette. It wouldn't do apparently to accept another offer too soon after rejecting someone else.

Dana got a number of friendly questions. Was this her first party? Yes. How did she like it? She wasn't sure yet. Had she played yet? Not yet. Most recently the questions came from a couple who had arrived recently and joined the conversation circle.

"So you haven't played yet?" the woman asked. She had long straight red hair and blue eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses. Her partner had short curly gray hair and brown eyes. He too wore wire-rimmed glasses. They were both in casual street clothes, jeans and pull-over shirts, and looked to be in their thirties.

Dana shook her head. "No, not yet."

"It can't be because you haven't been asked," the woman said.

"I've been asked," Dana admitted. "I just..." She shrugged, not sure how to put it into words. She was aroused, and frustrated by the paralyzing shyness she felt. It had been a familiar companion for most of her life, but she had mostly overcome it since meeting and following Zoe's example. Or she thought she had.

"I understand," the woman said with a kind smile. "I'm Helen, by the way, and this is my husband, Tom." Smiles, handshakes and greetings followed.

"As I said, I understand how you feel, Dana," Helen said.

"You do?"

Helen and Tom exchanged a glance, grinning broadly. "Oh yes," Helen said to Dana. "At my first party, I was terrified that someone would ask me to play, and just as terrified that nobody would. I drank probably more than I should have, but eventually someone asked and I accepted, and I had a wonderful time."

"Wow," Dana said. That sounded nice.

"You know," Helen said, and Dana felt something coming right around the corner at her. "If you're not ready to play yet, maybe you'd like a massage?"

"Helen," Tom said with a warning look, laying a hand on her arm.

"Tom gives a great massage," Helen said, undeterred.

Dana eyed Tom uneasily, though at least the suggestion had come from his wife, and not from him. "I don't know...what kind of massage?"

"Whatever kind you like. I'd suggest you lie down for it, but if that's too much, he does a great neck, shoulder and arm massage too. You wouldn't even need to leave your chair."

A massage sounded nice. Bobby had given her a massage once, and it had been very enjoyable. And it had led to some mind-blowing sex afterward. Right now she didn't want that to happen, but she knew herself well enough to know that once she relaxed, she'd probably change her mind.

"Where would we do this?" Dana asked, and realized she'd decided.

"I'll find somewhere, don't worry about that," Helen said. "Wait here."

Helen rose and moved through the crowd--the room outside the conversation circle was nearly standing room only now, Dana realized--to glance into each of the playrooms. Then she turned to her husband and pointed at one doorway.

Tom leaned toward Dana. "Are you sure about this, Dana?" he asked. "We don't want to push you into anything you're not ready for."

"Yeah," Dana said, nodding. "A massage would be nice."

Tom smiled. It was a nice smile. "Okay, then." He reached down by his chair and picked up a large gym bag. He extended a hand. "Shall we?"

Dana followed him into the room where she'd witnessed the orgy. The room was nearly empty, a single couple lying on one bed facing one another, talking quietly, without urgency. Helen stood by the other bed, farthest from the door.

Tom dropped his bag on the bed and gave Helen a kiss, then turned to open the bag. He extracted a large towel and spread it on one side of the bed. "We don't want to get oil everywhere," he said to Dana with a wink, before pulling a couple of small plastic bottles from the bag and placing them on the bedside table.

"Would you be more comfortable if I stayed, or if I left?" Helen asked Dana quietly.

"Stay, please," Dana said immediately. She watched Tom carefully arrange the bottles, then place the bag on the floor. She realized he was waiting on her. "Should I--should I get undressed?" Dana asked Helen.

"If you like," Helen said. "Or not, if you'd prefer. A massage is better on bare skin, but Tom can work through your clothes if you'd be more comfortable that way."

Dana dithered for a moment, as she watched the couple on the other bed rise, dress, and leave the room. Then she unbuttoned and removed her sleeveless blouse, revealing a lacy black bra. Unzipping and stepping out of her skirt exposed a pair of matching panties. She shivered, excited and embarrassed at once. She considered stripping bare, but wasn't ready to take that step. "Now what?"

Tom had her stretch out on her stomach, arms by her sides. Helen sat down on the other side of the large bed, leaning casually against the headboard. She heard Tom rubbing his hands together briskly for a minute before he began.

Helen was right. Tom gave a hell of a massage. His touch was gentle but firm, and though it began as simple gliding strokes along her skin, it became progressively firmer and more focused, with the addition of oil as he pressed harder. It felt really good, though the long strokes along her back and spine had a barely perceptible stutter when he passed over the band of her bra.

Dana reached back eventually to unhook her bra, allowing him to work her back without the straps interfering. Tom said nothing, but she felt the difference.

The long strokes along her back and especially her spine were smoother and firmer. She felt him identify and dissolve a few knots with intense pressure that was almost but not quite painful. It seemed silly and uncomfortable to continue lying on the bra when she wasn't really wearing it, so Dana pulled it free and tossed it aside before lying down again.