Homestead

"I still can't believe this," Sarah huffed in frustration. "Raymond? She had an affair with Raymond?"

"I've told you enough for today. Sleep on it, Sarah. Let it sink in. By tomorrow, if you're feeling up to it, we'll continue this conversation."

---

The next morning after breakfast Sarah went to find her aunt, who was now cleaning the house. The men were all working outside.

"Okay, I believe you," she deadpanned.

"What?" Charlotte asked.

"I believe you," Sarah repeated. "About Mother and Raymond, I believe you."

"Come help me while we talk," Charlotte said. "So what changed your mind?"

"I had time to think about everything you said. For one thing, I remembered how distraught Mother was after Raymond passed away. I've... I had never seen her like that before, or since. The level of her grief was almost frightening."

"She truly loved him, Sarah, as he did her. I don't know if that makes you feel any better or worse, knowing that their affair was one of the heart and not just the body, but that is the truth."

"In a way I suppose it helps," Sarah replied dejectedly. "I lived in that house too, you know. I realize how cold Father could be with Mother, I saw their unhappy marriage first hand. I just... despite all that I never believed Mother could be capable of having an affair."

"You're right, she isn't. Believe me, Sarah, it was not a decision Caroline made lightly."

"But there are so many... gentlemen... who Mother could have sought out for companionship. Why Raymond?"

"Why not Raymond?" Charlotte countered. "To the extent that I knew him he was one of the warmest, most compassionate men I've ever met, a better soul than any of those 'gentlemen' you're thinking of."

"He was very nice," Sarah admitted.

"And dare I say it, quite good-looking too," Charlotte added with a subtle smile. "That my sister saw all of these qualities in Raymond without his race being an issue is something I'm proud of to this day."

"But still... there are so many obstacles to such a relationship," Sarah said. "My goodness, Auntie, an upper-class, married woman having an affair with one of her employees, and a black one at that. I can't imagine why Mother would take such a risk. The consequences of being caught would be... perilous."

"Sounds foolish, doesn't it?" Charlotte replied, "and Caroline is no fool. All I can say is, Sarah, is that we don't choose who we fall in love with. It's something that goes beyond stature, wealth, and yes, even race, if we're being honest with ourselves."

"I'm so grateful that Caroline got to experience the type of love she deserved at least once in her lifetime. We both have our separate chores to attend to now, but if you're willing Sarah I'd love to tell you more about it sometime."

"Haven't you already said too much?" Sarah asked. "I doubt Mother would want you to further break your promise."

"Normally I'd agree, but Caroline doesn't know about Jake. If she did, I guarantee that you'd have her blessing to explore whatever relationship you wanted to with him. And if hearing the rest of her story with Raymond helps convince you of that, then I think she would approve of me telling it to you."

"All right, I'll think about that."

"You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that. In the meantime, I have something to ask of you Sarah. If you recall, yesterday I told you about the 'relationship' I have with Hector and Lewis."

"How can I forget..." Sarah said.

"Yes, well... I also said that we've been... behaving ourselves... during your stay. The thing is, after a month of this charade all three of us are practically climbing the walls..."

"You want my permission to resume your... previous activity?" Sarah asked.

"I wouldn't really call it permission. More like a warning to expect a lot more 'friendliness' from us towards each other from now on. In fact, I've planned a special dinner for all of us tonight to celebrate our restored freedom. I'm not sure what's going to happen afterwards with Hector and Lewis but for your sake you and Jake might want to leave the house for a few hours afterwards."

"A few hours?" Sarah asked, raising her eyebrows in disbelief. She thought back to her "romantic encounters" with Joshua; they only lasted a few minutes at best.

"At least," Charlotte replied. "In fact, now that I think about it, we should all take tomorrow off from work. I plan on sleeping in, and I'm sure Hector and Lewis won't be in any condition to work either."

"My goodness, you really intend on wearing them out," Sarah said, her face getting flushed from embarrassment.

"Like I said, it's all your fault for keeping us apart this long," Charlotte winked back.

"Okay Auntie, we'll give you your privacy," Sarah said.

"It should be a warm night. Maybe you and Jake can go for a walk."

For the rest of the day, Sarah mostly kept to herself as she did work around the house. Once in a while, however, she'd peek outside and see her aunt working with Lewis and Hector. Clearly, she had told them the "good news," because their flirting was becoming more blatant by the hour. Once dinner came, and the wine began to flow, things really started taking off, as both Hector and Lewis did things like hug Charlotte and make all kinds of suggestive remarks.

After dinner Hector and Lewis went to the living room to have a glass of sherry while Charlotte and Sarah stayed in the kitchen to clean up. Jake went outside to check on the few pigeons he had in a small coop.

"Hey Charlotte, where you at?" Hector called out to her.

"Yeah girl, get your pretty self in here!" Lewis said.

"Just about done!" Charlotte called back.

"We'd better hurry," Charlotte said excitedly to Sarah, "I think the boys are getting impatient."

"Um, which one of them is the 'lucky man?'" Sarah asked, confused.

"I think they both are," Charlotte giggled back. Sarah gave her aunt a look of shock.

"Hey, don't look at me like that," Charlotte teased. "You're partly responsible for this by forcing us to keep our urges bottled up this long."

"Do the three of you do this sort of thing often?" Sarah asked, sounding somewhat repulsed.

"Not nearly enough for me," Charlotte chuckled back. "Usually it's just one or the other, but I don't think either of them can wait another night."

Sarah went outside and found Jake.

"Would you like to go for a walk, Jake?" Sarah asked. "I think the others want to be alone for a while."

"Sure Sarah, that sounds great," Jake smiled back.

They went down a path that took them into the forest and over to the creek. Jake was such an affable young man, even charming in his own way. He had a wonderful sense of humor too. The two of them walked down the path, talking and laughing, the time passing by much quicker than either of them noticed. Jake found a small cliff overlooking the creek that gave a beautiful view of the sunset, and asked Sarah to sit and watch with him. When she said that doing so might get her dress dirty, he immediately took off his jacket and laid it down for her to use as a blanket. Although not formally schooled as such, at times he could be ever the gentlemen.

"Stay here, I'll be right back," Jake said.

While Jake was gone Sarah took some time to sit and think. My goodness, she had changed after all these past few weeks. Tonight was proof of that as she had gone for a romantic walk alone with a black man and thought nothing of it, not even minding when Jake had made a couple of attempts to flirt with her. What would happen if anyone from the outside world had seen them? Sarah shuddered at the thought.

Sarah recalled the earlier conversation she'd had with Aunt Charlotte, about how this place was a "sanctuary," from the rest of the world. It was indeed that, and much more. She remembered what Charlotte had said about Jake, calling him "enormously attractive," and having the "perfect face and body." After thinking about it for a while Sarah did have to admit that Jake did have a handsome smile, but even that was difficult. Too many years of living in a racist society had taught her that is was simply wrong to look at any black man this way.

"Here Sarah, I brought you these," Jake said, interrupting her thoughts. He gave her a small bouquet of wildflowers and sat down next to her again.

"I know it's not much, not a lot grows out here," he said. "But I know you like flowers."

"They're beautiful," Sarah smiled. She looked at Jake and found herself getting lost in his wonderful smile, his dark piercing eyes, chiseled jaw, and shimmering white teeth.

"My goodness Jake, what should we do?" Sarah brooded.

"What do mean, Sarah?"

"I mean, do you know what would happen to us if any of the townsfolk knew about what you and I have been doing tonight? If any of them had the slightest hint about what was going on back at the house right now?"

"It took me a long time after I got here Sarah, a very, very long time, before Charlotte finally convinced me to trust her, to trust this place."

"And then what?" Sarah asked.

"And then I learned that I could be myself here. In fact, that's the only rule we have... be yourself. Maybe to you this place is the fantasy world, and I guess that's mostly true, but to me it's the opposite. I try to go into town as little as possible, not only because it's a miserable, dangerous world there, a world of hate, but because out there I have to pretend to be what others tell me to be. On this ranch, I'm who I am, I'm who I ought to be. Charlotte taught me that. I never thought it was possible, but there's a place in this world where I'm truly free, and this place is it."

"You must be eternally grateful for that," Sarah said.

"We all are," Jake said.

"Maybe I haven't been," Sarah said. "All this time, she's been telling me the same thing she told you. She calls this place her sanctuary."

"It is," he replied. "I doubt there's any other place in the world I could feel safe enough to tell you how much I like you Sarah, how pretty I think you are, how much I care about you. Anywhere else I'd be terrified to be seen walking with you, but here I'm free to do that and plenty more."

"Jake, I..." Sarah started to speak, but was too overcome with emotion to continue.

Jake took her hand in his and kissed it. With his other hand, he gently caressed her face, wiping away a tear that slowly ran down Sarah's face. She never seemed so vulnerable to him before, so beautiful. As if acting on instinct now, Jake carefully lifted her head with his hand and gently kissed her on the lips.

"Jake, I don't think we should be doing this," Sarah calmly protested.

"If it's because you don't feel the same way about me, then I can live with that," Jake said.

"I... do feel the same way," Sarah admitted. "But you have to understand, I can't forget everything I've been taught so easily. Give me some time to sort this all out."

Jake moved in to try and kiss her again, but Sarah rebuffed his advances.

"We'd better get back," Sarah insisted. Looking at her watch she added, "My god, I can't believe how long we've been gone."

"One more kiss and then we'll leave," Jake insisted.

He took Sarah into his arms this time, and to his mild surprise she put up no resistance. He kissed her again, but this time it was long, deep, and passionate. Sarah was momentarily stunned, left breathless by its intensity; she had never been kissed like that before, including during her short-lived marriage to Joshua. A moan inexplicably escaped her lips, and her heart began racing in excitement. A part of her felt disappointed when Jake finally broke away until her senses took over again. Luckily he had kept his word about going back home, as Sarah wasn't sure what she would have done if he had not.

---

Sarah got up fairly early the next morning. Jake had already left the house; knowing it was a planned day off from work he had prepared some food to take with him and set out early for a day long fishing trip. Sarah was a bit glad about that, as she needed some time away from Jake to think about everything that had happened between them. She wondered if maybe Jake knew this too and had purposely planned a day away from home; he knew her so well that sometimes Sarah wondered if he could read her mind.

Sarah took a moment to peek into the bedroom the three men shared and, sure enough, two of the three cots, those belonging to Hector and Lewis, weren't slept in. This didn't surprise her, as after she and Jake had arrived home last night they hadn't seen any sign of Charlotte, Hector, or Lewis.

There were, however, sounds coming from Charlotte's bedroom. Luckily, Charlotte slept on the other side of the house, which reduced the volume of the noise considerably, but even so it didn't take much of an effort to hear them. Grunts, groans, cries of passion, and the unmistakable sound of creaking bedsprings. Even after falling asleep, Sarah woke up briefly a couple of times in the middle of the night and swore she could still hear these lewd noises coming from Charlotte's bedroom. Charlotte slept in a very large bed, easily big enough for three people.

Although there was no sound coming from the room this morning, the last thing Sarah wanted to do was open that door, so she went downstairs and made breakfast for everyone. When she finished eating her own breakfast, Sarah finally decided to make her way over to Charlotte's bedroom. The door was still closed, but she could hear voices coming from inside the room. They seemed calm and collected.

"Breakfast is ready," she said, rapping on the door a couple of times.

"Sounds great dear," Charlotte replied through the door.

Sarah went out into the yard and resumed working on a blanket she had been knitting in her spare time. About an hour later, Charlotte came out to join her.

"Morning," Charlotte smiled.

"Morning," Sarah replied. She couldn't believe the look on her aunt's face.

"Um, how are you today?" Sarah asked.

"Much, much better," Charlotte laughed, taking a deep breath of air. "Yes, I haven't felt this good in a very long time."

"I've never seen anyone with that look on their face before," Sarah said with genuine curiosity. "You're practically glowing, Auntie."

"It's the look of a satisfied woman," Charlotte deadpanned back. "A young, beautiful woman like you should have seen it plenty of times in the mirror by now, Sarah, or at home if your mother had any love life to speak of. Of course, I saw it on her face plenty of times during her affair with Raymond, but Caroline did a good job of hiding it from the rest of you. The need for self-perseveration can do amazing things."

"Where are Lewis and Hector now?" Sarah asked.

"They're in the house, playing a game of cards. "I think Hector said he was going to go out and fix the fence later, and Lewis said something about tending to the horses. Other than feeding the animals, which I offered to do myself, they can both take the day off completely for all I care. They more than deserve it."

"I still can't believe you were with... both... of them," Sarah said with a shudder. "At the same time. They seems so wrong, Auntie."

"If you know what you're doing, nothing will ever feel more right," Charlotte smiled back.

"They don't do anything with each other, do they?" Sarah asked.

"No, their interests are strictly with women, making me the center of attention all night," Charlotte beamed back. "Four strong hands, two hungry mouths, two talented tongues, and of course two extremely horny cocks. My god, Sarah, doesn't the idea of being in the middle of all that excite you at all? I wish every woman could experience it at least once in her lifetime. When it works, when you have two gifted lovers who know you as well as Hector and Lewis know me, it's pure magic. Like a world renowned symphony playing the perfect piece of music.

"Things don't get... convoluted?" Sarah asked.

"Do you want to hear about it?" Charlotte winked.

"I...I'm not sure," Sarah replied.

"Oh, a little bit won't hurt, just to satisfy your curiosity."

"All right," Sarah said uneasily.

"We started off by kissing. My goodness, Lewis and Hector are both incredible kissers," Charlotte began.

For a moment Sarah became distracted as was reminded of Jake and her fingers involuntarily came up and brushed her own lips. Had he been getting lessons from the other men, or from Charlotte, who had said she'd taught Jake "everything she knew." Her mind snapped then back to the present listening to Charlotte's story.

"Hector held me against his broad chest as we began furiously kissing," Charlotte began, "but I could feel Lewis pressing into my rear with his groin, grinding his ever growing cock against me. I could also feel Lewis undressing me, undoing the buttons of the dress. He'd started at the back of my neck and slowly moved down, kissing and licking each inch of my excited flesh as it became exposed to his hot lips and tongue. You should have seen the looks of surprise on their faces when they realized I wasn't wearing any undergarments. When Lewis got me naked, Hector took me into his arms and we kissed passionately, our tongues playfully dueling in each other's mouths."

"Something about being held by such a strong, fully clothed man while being completely naked always brings out the submissive side to me, Sarah," Charlotte added. "I can't explain it, but I feel like I'm his woman, to be used as he sees fit, and I get incredibly aroused. And if he's a black man, I get even more excited. It's as if I'm spitting in the faces of all those people who told me whites were superior to blacks when I was growing up. It's as if I'm telling them that a white woman can enjoy belonging to a black lover just as easily as she can belong to any white man."

"Hector held me firmly in his protective embrace, and we kissed again and again as I got lost in my fantasy of being his woman, my head practically spinning as I reveled in every moment of it when, all of sudden, I felt another pair of strong, masculine hands drawing me away from him. Hector let me go and I turned to face Lewis who, in the time I had been with Hector, had taken the opportunity to remove all of his clothing."

"Even though I'd seen him naked many times before, I still found myself panting at the sight of Lewis' taut, muscular chest and torso and thick, massive veiny cock standing proudly against his narrow waist. He pulled me towards him, our bodies pressed tightly together, our limbs intertwined. We began kissing frantically, and as much I as I enjoyed being with Hector, making out with my new, naked lover was so much better, and I became more turned on than ever."

"Before I could start getting carried away with any feelings for Lewis, he pulled away and picked me up to carry me to my bedroom. I've done this many times with him before when it's just the two of us, and he usually carries me in a more romantic way, but this time Lewis draped me at the waist over his shoulder, with my head hanging behind him at the knees and my ass next to his face. We're all friends first and foremost, and Lewis knows enough not to do anything that might make Hector uncomfortable. He's a smart man that way; they both are. I'm not really sure how to describe my relationship to them other than to say it's complicated; a love that comes from years of friendship combined with the lust of sexual attraction."

"And with that Lewis carried me up to my bedroom, laughing as he playfully slapped my ass from time to time. Soon I was laughing too, as was Hector, who stopped to pick up the clothes we had left on the floor so you and Jake wouldn't find them when he got back. As I said, smart men I have for lovers."

"When we got to my bedroom I was too horny to wait any longer, so while Hector got undressed I lay on my back with legs spread and demanded Lewis fuck me. He was on top of me in no time. Usually, Lewis will take things nice and slow at first, but he knew that's not what I was looking for and so once he got into position on the bed he immediately started banging me hard and fast. My god, Sarah, it was so good, especially after having gone so long without sex. I held on for dear mercy and Lewis just pounded into me again and again."