House of Feathers Ch. 24: An Unexpected Proposal

Be warned that it contains absolutely gratuitous sexuality. Just because.

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She and I were allowing lunch to settle, sitting in the double hammock on our veranda and looking through the sunlit trees at the surf beyond. Kaarin, our house-and-bed-guest, had gone to the point for her daily whale-watching time.

We'd watched her slim form move down the path, grace and confidence in her stride, sun-bronzed buttocks swaying to and fro as she walked. We'd pick her up on the way to the bay for our afternoon swim.

She rolled over in the hammock and put her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her and gave her a hug, pulling her tanned body against mine.

She was unusually quiet and my husbandly senses were soon beginning to tingle. When she ran a forefinger down my chest, I knew she had something on her mind. Our years together had taught me that it would be best to let her bring it up in her own time.

"Hon?"

"Mm-hm?"

"We need to talk, please."

I kept my body still, but my mind started hitting male alarm buttons. Red alert! Shields up, charge photon torpedoes!

"Mmm?" I tried to keep the masculine panic out of my voice.

"It's about Kaarin."

Crap! Is the girl pregnant?

I said nothing.

She lifted her head. "Look at me."

Oh, shit! This is serious. Next thing I know, she'll be crossing her arms and tapping her feet...

I turned my head towards her, ignoring frantic warnings from 10,000 generations of male ancestors.

The important thing, lad, is to not let them smell fear!

Be quiet now - I'm busy!

"Mmm?"

"How would you feel..." She paused, seemingly at a loss for words.

"If...?" I asked, feeling a bit relieved. If she doesn't know what to say, it can't be anything I've done...

"Well, I know you like your privacy - our privacy. Aaaand... IknowIpromisedKaarin wouldonlystayforalittlewhilebutshe'sdoingsowellhereandsherallylovesusbothandIenjoyhercompanyand..."

The words boiled out of her.

Hold on... She is nervous. Whatever it is, it's not your fault. Lungs, remember that breathing thing?

OK, now what about Kaarin?

Looking into those beautiful eyes, my beloved wife, I pulled her head back down on my shoulder, hugged her tightly. The scent of her shampoo filled my nostrils. I stroked her bare back, like one would a frightened puppy. Whatever it was, she was the most important thing in my life and clearly needed my support.

She seemed to relax a little.

"Slow down a little, dear," I said. "What is it?"

Hailing frequencies open, captain.

She hugged me back, pulled away and again locked eyes with me, almost pensively, before beginning to run soft fingertips over my chest.

She changed tack. "Are you happy being married?"

Whoops! Full security alert! What the hell?

"You know I am." I reached down and held up her hand, diamonds and emeralds on the third finger. "You made me complete when you said, 'I do'."

"What if it was to become... a little more?"

"Huh?"

"Kaarin and I are like sisters. I like having her here and I think both you and I have been getting even more work done since she got here. She's ready to go home, but I don't think she wants to. Um... may she stay here, please?"

Cancel general alert. Maintain extra security on docking bays and teleport stations.

"Of course she can stay, if that's what you would like, dear. She's no trouble and she's very easy on the eyes. It's every man's fantasy, dear - his own harem."

Normally, of course, no man in his right mind would say something like that to his woman, but it was my own wonderful wife who had encouraged - nay, pushed - me to take Kaarin to bed. And it was my own dear lady who had then brought me into an enduring threesome with the two of them. I figured I could take the risk.

Her hand slid lower down my chest and grasped my wedding tackle. "Maybe that's what I've been trying to get at, hon."

WTF?

"I'm confused," I said. "Kaarin's already here. She sleeps with us in the same bed every night. There's friendship and love. And sex. She's part of the household. Aside from her staying longer, what are you asking for?"

"She doesn't want to be just our third wheel," she said softly. "She wants to be... more than that."

"I don't think either of us thinks of her as a 'third wheel','" I replied cautiously. "But short of marrying her, what more can we - I - do?"

She squeezed my waist and lowered her voice. I could barely hear her over the sound of waves on the beach in front of us.

"Well, what if I, as the woman who loves you dearly, the wife who trusts you completely - what if I asked you to consider taking my best friend as my co-wife?"

"What? You want me to marry her?"

Her head nodded.

Her voice was low, but serious. "Yes, please."

"But, but..." I started to stammer. "What about her career? We're four time zones from anything out here."

"She's a programmer, silly. She can do it from anywhere - and you told me how much excess bandwidth we have here."

"But it's illegal!"

"Not unless we register it as a marriage, dear. I checked. There are no 'illegal cohabitation' laws here."

"Let me get this straight," I demanded. "You, my new bride, are actually asking me to marry your best friend as well?"

"There's that spare room we could fit out as an office for her."

"Bugger the spare room and stop trying to change the question! You, the woman I just married, want me to take a second wife?"

Soft lips came up to mine in a gentle kiss. "Yes, please."

"But..."

"I want her to stay. I love you very much, but I realize how much I have missed Kaarin. It's not that I love you any less, but I do love her and want her to be here."

I rolled over and looked her in the eyes. As always, they drew me into their depths, into an infinity of warmth and love.

I always found it difficult to refuse her. This time, it was a fundamental thing. As I saw it, I was arguing not just for her or me, but for us.

"Look, I'm trying to be housebroken here, sweetheart. Of course Kaarin can stay, as long as you two want. And we can certainly make her an office - and yes, we do have the bandwidth. And she can of course continue to share our bed. But why this sudden demand for something that hasn't been around since the time of Solomon? Why are you insisting on marriage?"

She lay quiet for a moment. I felt soft fingertips trail lightly down my side.

She closed her eyes, apparently thinking, then sighed, "Let's go talk to Kaarin together, OK?"

"All right."

We got out of the hammock and walked down the path to where the young woman was sitting in the shade on the point overlooking the ocean. Her binoculars rested on the sand beside her. She looked up as we approached and broke into a dazzling smile. Despite my mind pretty well being made up, my heart still did a barrel roll at the sight.

Even coming from a country where the average woman is striking, Kaarin was at the top end of the scale - tall, with an athletic build, heavenly hips over long, slender legs and high, firm, coral-tipped breasts. Pale blonde with alpine lake blue eyes and high cheekbones, she was utterly desirable.

We discouraged unnecessary clothing at the villa. Kaarin's garments this afternoon consisted of sunglasses, a sun visor, a gold waist chain and perfect, perfect grooming. Damn!

She saw my girl's look and her smile fell. Obviously, she had been in on this.

"I struck out," my girl said. "Let's try together."

She nudged Kaarin over a little so she could sit beside her. Two tanned arms went around two slender waists and four depthless eyes locked onto mine.

They're ganging up on you, laddie!

Shut up.

Why are you fighting it?

Shut up!

My wife looked at her friend, then turned back to me and said, "Here's the deal, hon."

"First off, we both love you for the good, loving, kind, supportive man that you are. You're warm, patient, sensitive and generous - simply the best."

"Um," I interrupted. "Let's not get carried away here."

"Don't interrupt; you're outvoted.

"Two, we both know that you love Kaarin. And you know we know."

"Um... yes," I interjected. It wasn't what I wanted to say, but silence wasn't an option.

"Thirdly, love isn't a zero-sum game; it's infinite and self-nourishing. We both know you don't love me less because you love Kaarin, too.

"Fourth... oh, hell - take over, dear."

Kaarin took a deep breath before speaking softly. She kept eye contact with me, firm and unwavering.

"I love you. I love her. I want to stay with you, be part of your lives forever. I want to be accepted as part of you both, not just as friend. It is hard to say in English, I think. I want to be part of three, not just a third."

"Have we been neglecting you, Kaarin?" I asked. "Have I offended you in some way?"

"Oh, no! You have treated me so very well and I feel so loved in every way. I hope you understand some day how goodly... grateful I am. But am still outsider, still guest."

"You're anything but a guest, Kaarin." I pointedly looked at down her half of the four perfect bare breasts presented to my view. "Houseguests don't generally..."

She blushed - such a charming tendency on her part.

"Have I not pleased you? I am not too skinny?"

In answer to that, my traitorous manhood slowly rose into view, ready for action.

Not now, dammit! I'm trying to think.

They both looked at it and smiled. Point for their team.

"You know you please me, Kaarin. You're everything every man dreams of."

I turned to my wife. "Even if I did agree, it's still illegal. And it would have to be both of us marrying her." It was a feeble argument at best, but I was playing a weak hand as well as I could.

My wife, as usual much better than me at social fencing, just turned to the lovely girl beside her and smiled. "Kaarin, I love you. Will you marry me?"

"Love you, too," the blonde goddess replied, her eyes flashing. "Of course will marry you."

They leaned in together for a loving kiss, soft hands moving across softer skin.

Impossibly, my rod got harder.

The two then turned to face me, in unison and, at the same time (how in hell do women coordinate these things?) said, "We love you. Will you marry us, please?"

"Kaarin," I said, in a last-ditch attempt, "You can do your programming here, of course. Or we can help you financially back home for as long as it takes for you to get re-established and you can visit anytime. Or I can have a programming job waiting for you anywhere in Europe by the time you get back. You don't have to be my wife to be my friend or my love."

She shook her head briefly. "You are good man - generous, loving, gentle, strong when needed, patient. Good in bed."

She smiled at that last, continued. "Half of you is more than all of most others. I want to be your wife.".

"And I," said my wife, "want her as a sister wife."

Shields failing, captain! Power at six percent and fading.

"What are your families going to think?" I asked, desperately trying to find a way out of the corner I was in.

"Who cares?" Kaarin said. "One old aunt, not rich, not nice."

"Other side of the world, hon," said my girl. "And I'm old enough to vote."

I sighed.

Phaser banks depleted, captain.

Time to strike the colours?

It was my turn to take a deep breath. "Where and how do you suggest we get married? No priest or clerk will do it and if it's official then we - I mean me, the man - will probably wind up in gaol."

Kaarin's magnificent blue eyes held mine. "I do not care about world outside fence. Give me ring, tell me that I am wife and you are husband. No - tell me truth that you think of me as wife. That is enough."

My girl from somewhere produced a small jeweller's box and held it out to me. Inside were duplicates to the rings I had put on her finger at our recent wedding, except that these were diamond-and-sapphire instead of her own diamond-and-emerald.

I realized that this was no sudden whim on their part. They'd been cooking this up for some time, long enough to get the jeweller in Amsterdam to not only make the rings, but also ship them to our isolated island half-way around the world.

Every now and then, men are given a small glimpse of their true place in the world...

I surrendered. I took the engagement ring and, tossing the chair aside, knelt in front of the tall young woman.

"Kaarin," I said, extemporizing, "I love you and want you to be with me always. Will you be my wife, to share my life and fortune, to comfort and be comforted, to help and to be helped, to love and to be loved?"

The girl started to speak, but I cut her off by putting one forefinger to her lips. Turning to my wife, I said, "Your turn. It has to be both of us."

She was unprepared, but after a pause, looked at the girl next to her and said' "Kaarin, I love you. Will you stay here forever, be our friend, our lover, our helper, our wife? Will you share our love, our joys and our sorrows, bear our children? Will you allow us to love you, forever?"

Tears leaked out of the girl's eyes, but she was smiling. She tried to speak but her voice caught and she merely nodded vigorously.

"No," I said, reaching out to hold my lady's hand. "We need to hear you say it. Once you say yes, you will be our wife - to have and to hold, to love and to honour, to protect and to support. But you have to say it."

She bit her lip, swallowed, then whispered, "Yes. Yes to both of you."

"Then give me your hand, dear." I took my lady's hand and held the rings out so she could help me put them on Kaarin's finger. They fit perfectly.

Of course they did.

And, of course, both women broke into happy tears.

I got to my feet and helped both of them stand up. "Come," I said, "Let's celebrate."

I started to lead them into the villa, holding hands with both of them. Almost at the stairs to the veranda, both stopped, pulling me to a halt between them.

"What?"

"We are brides now, yes?"

I nodded.

"Then you carry us both over the threshold?"

"Um, I doubt it. Not both at once."

"No problem," said Kaarin. "Carrying woman into house is old custom from days of captured, reluctant bride. Now, women have to pressure shy man." She look at my girl, raised her eyebrows.

She giggled in her turn, then two of them picked me up bodily (strong gals, my wives) and carried me inside.

One kissed me, then the other.

"Join us upstairs."

"Bring refreshments."

"Or we'll start without you."

The two went up the stairs, hand in hand. I stood admiring the callipygian view until they vanished from sight.

I picked a bottle of bubbly out of the cooler and three flutes from the cupboard. Putting them on a tray, I added fruit, cheese and some croissants before going upstairs.

The door to our bedroom was half-shut, but I nudged it open with my hips.

And nearly dropped the tray.

Both of them were kneeling by the bed, side by side, facing the door, eyes lowered. They were both still nude, having neither time nor reason to dress.

Well, almost nude. From somewhere, they'd obtained new, matching brown leather collars and each was wearing one. Sunlight reflected off the polished bronze rings on their throats.

Their knees were slightly spread, exposing pink lips under smooth mounds. Their hands were resting on the tops of their thighs. At least one had put in a subtle perfume. Its scent filled the room, mingled with that of sexually aroused women.

You could have bounced a brick off the beauty.

"Uh..." My brain was shutting down at the sight of two entrancingly desirable women displayed so... artistically. My other brain, raised at the ceiling, was taking control.

"We did not have time to buy wedding gift..."

"... but we wanted you to have something to remember and treasure."

Then, together, "Does it please our husband?"

Whose idea was this? This didn't just happen spontaneously.

I realized that the collars, like the wedding rings, were symbols of trust and devotion. I found them entrancing against their perfect skin. Which they damned well had anticipated! This wasn't a whim on their parts; this was a campaign.

I put the tray down and started to kneel down. Both rose instantly and pulled me to my feet. "No, today we are your grateful servants. Not proper for man to kneel."

"I kneel when I want," I said, "and you two are my wives, not my servants."

"Please? Today?"

I looked from one to the other and then smiled. I put a forefinger through the ring of each collar and gently pulled them towards me. The three of us leaned in for a three-way hug.

Which is, arguably, the best kind.

"OK, you win. But for today, no Games, please. Take these off." I gave a light tug on the rings, released them.

The two stepped back and unfastened the collars, set them aside.

"Don't lose those," I smiled. "I really like them, but not today."

I got two brilliant smiles in return. Suddenly, I realized that there was a third collar somewhere, just waiting.

One of them went to the tray and took it to the bed; I noticed the sheets were already turned down. The other led me to the centre of the bed and gently pushed me down on my back, arranging a pillow under my head. Putting the tray to one side, they knelt on either side of me, looked at each other, gave each other a quick kiss then, speaking together again, said, "Thank you."

I eased my arms around them and rested my hands on smooth, perfect hips. "You are welcome, both of you. I love you both very much."

One fed me small bites of food and held my head up for me to sip my champagne; the other gently swept oiled hands over my body - legs, torso, arms and head. They switched frequently. It was a uniquely intense experience - deeply calming and satisfying.

And stimulating at the same time. Very stimulating. Very.

My woody had initially softened under the relaxing massage, but reignited as soft hands occasionally brushed against it on their paths. I was soon utterly relaxed except for that one essential part. Picture a fencepost upright in a puddle of dandelion fluff...

I focussed on simply lying back and enjoying the loving, skillful attentions of the two supremely attractive women, so different in appearance yet having so much love and beauty in common. The food being ended, both girls turned their attentions to me and the occasional graze of their silky skin against my erect organ became frequent touches, then the centre of their ministrations.

The two of them together began to fondle my balls and stroke my shaft, more and more firmly. There was no teasing today; this would clearly proceed slowly but directly to ultimate pleasure.

My lady lay down beside me and, her naked, flawless body lying alongside mine, began to kiss me, our lips melded together. Her hand caressed my stomach and chest, rolling and pulling my nipples as she passed over it. Heat built in my groin as Kaarin's hands pumped and twisted around my shaft, her mouth sucking and licking its head, tongue-tip dancing on the sensitive triangle underneath.

I tried to move so as to be able to contribute something to the party. I tried to reach a boob, a pussy, an ass - anything.

"Stop, husband," one of them said softly. I couldn't even tell which one. "This is our gift to you. Lie still."

From time to time, the girls traded off. Each was supremely gifted at what they were doing. And each was totally different. And, I knew, each of them loved me to the bottom of her heart. It was the most erotic experience of my life.

My girl pulled her mouth off me and Kaarin leaned in to kiss her. Each kept one hand caressing and stroking me while using the second to fondle the other's breasts. I could smell each of them in their excitement.