Henry & Rene - Beyond Monogamy Ch. 03

In Barcelona: Opportunity/First Steps

We spent two nights and most of three days in Barcelona. Rene speaks passable Spanish though not of course the Catalonian variation. On this first visit we sought out first the things Barcelona is famous for: that first day, walking the length of the Rambla, a quick lunch in the market there, then tours of two houses designed by Antoni Guadi, the great exponent of Catalan Modernism, and a visit to his church of the Sagrada Familia. By then we were running low on energy as we struggled to adjust to the time change.

We wished we hadn't previously arranged to meet late that afternoon with the director of the gallery where Rene's paintings had been shown two years ago. We were welcomed by Ramon the director/curator there; not surprisingly he and and Rene immediately engaged in a spirited conversation about his gallery and several other galleries he thought we should visit while in Barcelona.

Ramon showed us around the current exhibit which featured highly erotic photographs by a young Scottish artist, Angus Mactavish, now living in Barcelona. It was plain that while Rene was absorbed in the photos, Ramon's focus was only and intensely on Rene. He was constantly laying a hand on her arm or her back to steer her from one photo to the next and from one room to another. I saw how he looked deeply into her eyes as they paused several times to talk about the exhibit. She seemed taken with his opinions and the attention he was giving to her. Surely it was obvious to her his interest went well beyond art talk.

At the end of the exhibit, Ramon invited us for coffee in his office where we were joined by his wife, Pilar. She was a very beautiful, very elegant woman, with brown eyes, black hair, and a darker Mediterranean skin color. We learned that Ramon and Pilar live in the apartment above the the gallery. Pilar asked if after a rest we could join them for a late dinner at a favorite seafood restaurant on the water and then come back to their apartment for a nightcap. We declined their invitation but agreed to meet them for dinner at 9:00 the next evening. I knew that Rene would want this.

The next day we visited the cathedral and a surprisingly interesting museum of christian sacred objects from centuries past. In the afternoon we went to the Picasso Museum and several small galleries recommend by Ramon and then wandered through elegant neighborhoods nearby. That evening we met Ramon and Pilar at their favorite seafood restaurant looking out over the bay, a good spot for observing the people of the city at their leisure. Pilar was especially elegant, her very low cut blouse attracting attention from nearby tables. Other attractive young couples were dining or strolling in the area, enjoying seeing and being seen. Clearly Barcelona was a place that appreciated beauty and style. We were introduced to several couples who stopped to say hello to Ramon and Pilar, among them Angus Mactavish and his girlfriend, Jermaine.

As we strolled back to their apartment, Ramon walked with Rene and I with Pilar. Their large apartment was filled with art and contemporary furnishings. Ramon described the artists represented and suggested he would like to add something of Rene's to his collection if she would send him photos of recent work and prices after we returned home. We sat with them on matching couches for conversation over cognac.

After a short time, Ramon casually asked if we would share a joint with them. I looked at Rene. Though we both were very tired I was not surprised when she nodded yes to me and so I told Ramon that we would be pleased to join them. It had been awhile since we had smoked and we were soon floating as we relaxed, each of us reclining in deep pillows on two facing leather couches. Then Pilar, speaking in a whispery intimate tone we had to strain to hear, smiled as she looked at us, "We are very happy you are here with us. We hope for a long friendship, the four of us, very simpatico, just beginning tonight."

I wondered whether the high was making me read more into her comments, and Ramon's wide smile, than they intended. I wondered how Rene was reading Pilar's comments.

The conversation lulled then, everyone silent. Ramon and Pilar continued to gaze intently at us. Later Pilar admitted to me they were hopeful but very uncertain as to how we would react to what they were about to begin. As Rene and I sat passively, Ramon turned to put his arms around Pilar and begin to kiss her, first her lips, then her neck, then the open space above her breasts. He glance quickly back at us to gauge our reactions. We were both smiling, a tingle of excitement just beginning, waiting for whatever would come next. Ramon began to unbutton Pilar's already revealing blouse, slowly, checking on us each time. He spread the blouse open and then loosened the hook on the front of her bra so that we could see her breasts. I'm sure our eyes were wide. With his hands he cupped her breasts and then tweaked her nipples. While Ramon occupied himself with her, Pilar kept her eyes on us, smiling as if in a trance, then leaned back further and closed her eyes, smiling.

I whispered "Rene, do you like watching them?"

"Oh, yes. She is lovely. They are beautiful together."

"Is their intent to arouse us?"

"It must be. Are they inviting us, Henry? Or daring us? To do what?

"Do you hope they will go further, Rene?"

"I do. Very much. I feel calm and slow from the grass but at the same time very alive. And desire. I feel that, Henry."

" Desire for what? Do you feel like responding to them?"

"I'm not sure." She paused. Then, "Yes, Henry. I want to do something unexpected, something we haven't done."

"Lean back then, like Pilar, and close your eyes, Rene."

I kissed her lips, lovely soft lips that opened for me. She gave me her tongue. I whispered in her ear, "This is a special night, Rene. A time to go beyond where we have been."

"Yes, Henry, we should do something new."

"Let me unbutton your blouse and caress your breasts and nipples for them to see you. Just as he did. They will be moved by your beauty. You want me to do that for them, don't you?"

"I do, Henry."

My hands were shaking as I unbuttoned her light sweater and removed her bra. I paused in anticipation of what more they would offer to us. I asked Rene if she felt their eyes on her. She nodded.

"Rene, they are waiting to see what we will do. If you are willing, I am going to put my hand on your skirt to slowly raise it, all the way above your sex. Will you let me do that, Rene? "

Again she nodded. I raised her skirt, not knowing whether she had worn panties or not. I placed my other hand on the inside of her thigh. "Spread your legs for them, Rene. Very slowly. But wide."

I looked over to Ramon and Pilar; they were looking directly at my wife, at her panties which were soaked when I touched her.

"They can see the outline of your pussy lips through your wet panties, Rene. Do you like this feeling? Them watching you. They are hoping for more, Rene."

"For what, Henry? I I will do whatever you ask. I feel open to more. Will they do more for us now?"

Pilar unzipped Ramon's pants and pulled them far down on his legs so that we could see his hard cock and his balls. She began to stroke him, something for her husband and for us.

"Rene, open your eyes now." I heard the sharp intake of Rene's breath, a gasp, and then a long low groan. Her eyes were watching Pilar's hand move on Ramon's cock. We continued this way for a few long minutes.

"Rene, think about what you have done for him, making his cock stand up like that. His eyes are on fire for you, seeing your legs spread, showing your pussy to them. Do you like knowing they are watching you?"

" Henry, I like him seeing me. Mostly I like seeing his cock."

I began to move my finger in Rene's slick pussy, then to finger her clit. "Look at him while I touch you Rene. Look at his cock."

Her orgasm was almost immediate. She twisted in ecstasy, making a high whine as she climaxed. She seemed exhilarated by her own performance in front of them, a proud smile on her face. Gradually she calmed but still seems delighted with what had happened.

"That was beautiful, Rene," Pilar said. "You look radiant."

"I feel that way, Pilar. Blissful," I heard my wife say. "Thank you both--for starting that. I came so fast and hard from watching what you were doing for Ramon."

Pilar continued to use her hand on her husband. Rene continued to stare, as I did.

" He is very excited from watching you, Rene. I want you to watch him come. He is almost ready."

Pilar bent over to place her open mouth on Ramon's erection, waiting for his cum. Ramon was looking only at Rene as his sperm shot out, some into Pilar's mouth and some on her face and neck. Pilar licked around her mouth and used a finger and a cloth to clean the rest. She smiled, almost shyly.

For a time, everyone was calm--and no one spoke.

"Do you want more, Rene", I asked.

"I will want more, Henry, but not yet. Not everything at once. Tonight this is enough. Much more than I expected. I would like to come back again to watch them fuck. And maybe we will for them. Or something more."

I was pleased by her "not yet."

As we left, Pilar came up to me and put her arms around me and kissed me warmly on the lips. I held her close as I watched Ramon do the same with my wife. His hands were on her hips, pulling her against him. She did not pull away. And then she did.

"I hope we see you again soon," Pilar entreated. "It would be good for us to spend more time with you, just the four of us. To become more to one another."

I did not hear what Ramon said to Rene. She told me only later Ramon had suggested she stay on a few days in Barcelona after I returned to New York. He said his friend Angus was eager to photograph her if she would let him. She agreed to consider both possibilities when we returned.

As we walked to our hotel I asked Rene if it had been hard for her not to go further tonight.

"Part of me did very much want to stay for more. But something held me back. It wasn't you, Henry. I feel I know what you want to have happen and you will be OK with whatever I agree to. But then I thought being high is not a time for good decisions, especially to take a step beyond any we have taken. Also, I do not want to gain a reputation as someone who trades sex for the promotion of my paintings or my career. Gossip circulates among gallery owners and artists. I want my work to be considered on its merits and not on sexual favors."


"Did you like what we did tonight Rene? Watching them and for them to see us? Mainly to see you."

"I liked all of that. I liked we went so far this first time. The pot made it easier. It almost feels like we had sex with them."

"What did you like most about being with them?"

"I don't want to tell you."

"Yes you do, Rene. It won't upset me. We promised to be frank with one another."

"Seeing his cock, Henry. I haven't seen another man's cock in a long time. Watching it grow as Pilar touched him--and it made me think he got harder because he was watching me. I liked watching his cock twitch as Pilar stroked it. He was beautiful. Watching him made me very hot and very horny. It wasn't easy for me to leave when we did."

"Do you wish Pilar and I had not been there? Would you have stayed then?"

"Henry, do you want me to tell you what you already know? Do you think if I say it out loud it will happen? Yes, I wish you and Pilar had not been there. I would have liked to be alone with him, to do for him what she did and much more. He was filled with lust for me. I wanted to feed that desire. If you and Pilar were not there I would have been ready to let him take me wherever he wanted us to go tonight. But maybe that will happen another time."

We left it there. It seemed Rene had answered definitely my questions on the plane. She wanted to have sex with another man despite the possible consequences she had described.

The next morning we caught a train to Narbonne. I wondered if unexpected sexual possibilities might come our way during the next two weeks. I mentioned this to Rene.

"I wonder too," she said, "and how we would react. Willl we go beyond where we were last night with Pilar and Ramon? Will we be together in our decisions? Should we seek out opportunities or hope they come to us? We need to avoid mistakes that could hurt us both in the end. "