Loosening Up Bk. 07 Ch. 30-33 - End

Ginny smiled and kissed Dave. "I love you, David Prentiss. I don't need The Experience on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, but I do need some interaction with YOU. I am not alone in those feelings. About sixty women feel the way I do about you."

"But, I don't even get to spend time with some of the women I guess you say I've seduced into the Circle,"

"True, but every woman in the Circle and those 'pledging' – as you call it – all are hopeful to make love with you – frequently, too. Since they have bought into the non-exclusive nature of the Circle, they flirt and enjoy relations with the other men here or they're married and have a husband or boyfriend to also care for them, or more likely both."

Dave shrugged, "OK, but we do seem to be functioning pretty well, at least, so far."

Ginny rolled over on top of Dave and looked him in the face. She told him, "One person isn't."

"Huh?"

"You, silly. You're worried about this place and everybody in it. You're being protective. You think YOU OWN the Circle. You think YOU ARE the chief protector and the glue that holds it all together. You don't own it and you aren't the chief protector."

Dave pondered Ginny's comments. She'd already proven many times she was insightful.

Ginny said, "You need to relinquish control. What you think you have is really an illusion anyway. Besides, you aren't alone in what you feel."

"What do you mean?"

"EVERYBODY in the Circle wants it to flourish and survive in a robust way ... AND TO GROW! YOU are not the only person thinking that way. Get the others involved, as you are unintentionally doing, and they will help you."

"Unintentionally?"

"Yes, consider your Circle 101 seminar and rap sessions, your tending bar so you can talk to everyone, and your hiring an outside consultant sympathetic to the Circle to study it for any problems or issues. I could go on. You've been doing the right things to help sustain this place, and to even grow it. People are cheering you on, but they also want to help. You don't have to do this alone.

"You've brought in new blood who feel about it the same way you do, only they're too polite to confront you about it. They're all hoping you see their dedication, caring, and commitment to the Circle. Dave, look around. You are loved, AND so is the Circle. If others thought it was derailing or changing in some undesirable way they are poised to group together and fix whatever is happening that they think is wrong. Moreover, just about everyone would involve you in their thinking and in their fixing."

Dave sat up, adjusting their position so that Ginny straddled his lap. He slipped back inside of her after some tender kisses.

Dave said, "Should I stop what I've been doing?"

Ginny laughed and squirmed in his lap, "That's not what I'm telling you. You should stop worrying about it and share any concern you have with the others. Let them help and their ownership and commitment will strengthen. If this place becomes 'Dave's Circle' you're in trouble. If it remains 'OUR Circle' you are a huge success."

"And things will continue as they are?"

Ginny smiled and shook her head. "Do you think they will?"

Dave thought about it and said, "No, probably not. Something will happen and things will change."

"And then what?"

"We adapt," Dave said with more certainty. "We try to keep the parts of what we want in tact, and adapt to the rest."

"I'm glad you used 'WE' instead of 'I'. You Circle the wagons and if the issue is serious enough all the 'chiefs' get together and solve the problem. If it's minor, only one or two of you do. Involve the others. Go back to the roots of the Circle.

"Think how you solved the problem of wanting to be together all the time – a small group of you built this place. How'd you solve the problem of protecting Christiana Simon by dressing up Nikky to look like her? A small group of you did that, and Nikky loved you all so much and she wasn't even a Circle member when that happened. I could go on."

"Ginny, you are amazing. And, you're right. I've developed an 'Only I Can Do It' mentality about the Circle."

She chuckled, "You might want to be sure you don't adopt the same attitude at EneRG, too. JR might be as guilty there as you are on that front. I talked to her about it. Give away your power and it will come back ten fold."

Dave said, "I've said that often about love."

"It works there, too. Sometimes we hold on too tight to what we want the most, when the way to get more of it is to Let Go and Let Live!"

"Thank you."

Ginny and Dave kissed and then another pair of lips started on Dave from behind him, kissing and working their way around his neck, ears, and head to his lips.

"I love you."

"I love you, Alice. You want to join Ginny and me?"

"Definitely. I've only met Ginny. We haven't had a chance to make love together. Are you up for that?" She looked at Ginny.

Ginny reached out and gently pulled Alice to her so they could kiss – a kiss that turned into more, and then into deep soul kisses. She also stroked the pregnant bulge on Alice's tummy.

Ginny smiled, "I feel your husband's cock swelling inside me as he watches the two of us."

Alice gave Dave a peck as she looked into his eyes; "I guess he still likes watching me with others."

Dave teased, "Always."

Samantha stood in front of the room with a marker in her hand. She was a little nervous, but trying to laugh it off. "OK, everyone, imagine that you are a Circle member. What kind of a situation might occur that would really worry your decision to join up?"

Dave sat at the back of the room, trying to fade away and not be a dominant force for the Circle 101 class. About thirty people were in attendance. Samantha had done a good job of going around the room and getting people to introduce themselves. The names were listed on a flipchart she'd taped to one of the walls:

Samantha Stone

Jenny Harvest

Savannah Stone

Cookie Carson

Alan Lauer

Barry Sykes

Elton Cleats

Wes Madden

Cord Jenkins

Bridget Simon*

Nikky Thomas*

JR

Dave Prentiss*

Tatiana Volstok

Jasmine Kray

Chelsea Fox

Haley Keva

Lori Griffin

Leann Harris

Cricket*

Cindy Worthington*?

Gary DeVille

Nora DeVille

Tony Harris

Carol Turner

Ike Turner

Deborah McKinley

Bob Fuller

Ginny Fuller

Alan tossed out an idea with a smirk, "That'd we'd stop making love with each other."

Everyone laughed but nodded in agreement.

Haley said, "That we got more homogeneous."

More and more ideas got stated. Sam kept writing abbreviated versions of what was said on flip chart after flip chart, quickly taping them to the walls. "One person tried to dominate some of the others." "People started to fight and have dramatic disagreements with each other." "Some of the relationships became exclusive or possessive." "We had a couple of hermits get involved." "We set too many rules to belong." "New people stop trying to join with us." "Some people decide they don't want to be on work details." "Some of the men revert to wanting to subjugate some of the women or not fully respect them as equals." "We become shy about our nudity or exhibitionism." "We get a few people who are 'born again' and want to reform us."

The comments continued for a while. When there was a gap, Sam used the time to fill in a word or two on her flips.

Finally, she said, "How do we prevent any of that stuff from happening?"

The ideas flowed again. 'If we see it, we talk about it as an issue!' seemed to be the dominant theme. 'Form teams to address the issue' was another one. 'Don't let the issue get swept under the rug.' 'Raise the issue to the board.'

Dave almost had tears in his eyes. Here was the incoming class of 'pledges' to the Circle worrying about preserving the Circle and outlining action steps to keep things on track so that the core elements of the culture and their lifestyle would be preserved. They had the same sensitivity and zeal about the Circle that he did.

All of Ginny's words about relaxing and trusting in the people around him came to his mind. She was right. Now, if only he could let go of the reins a little. This was good practice. He'd do more of this.

Wednesday afternoon, Dave was scanning some of the engineering journals that had come in discussing battery technology. Since taking the job with Mark Worthington and starting EneRG, Dave had practically gotten a Ph.D. in the subject. Even when he went down to the research department and talked to Nat Turner and the other researchers, he could carry his weight and not get lost.

Terms like 'substrate ionization catalyst' no longer threw him for a loop. He could even make a contribution to some of the discussions. One of the teams was working on the Aluminum Ion battery. Dave got them thinking about using recycled materials and that provoked a whole discussion about recycling any of their materials and impurities. As the core of the business cranked up to churn on the Lithium Thallium batteries, Dave had started to worry about the 'Next Big Thing' as Steve Jobs used to call it.

Part of the contract with Apple was a rebate program with them to recycle iPhones with EneRG batteries that were turned in for destruction and reclamation.

Dave heard a few words from an unfamiliar male voice just outside his office door. The conversation was with Jenny. Seconds later, Jenny stood in his office doorway. She asked, "Got a few minutes for a short discussion with one of the manufacturing engineers?"

Dave waved his arm, "Sure. Now, I assume."

She nodded and gestured to someone just out of sight from where he sat.

A bright looking man in Dockers and a sport shirt appeared. "Hi, I'm Lars Nilsson. I'm a first line manager on the B-shift in the plant, but ... well, what I want to talk to you about isn't related to EneRG. If this is a bad time, I can come back or see you after work."

Dave gestured to his open sofa. "No. Now's a good time. Please come in and have a seat. Would you like something to drink?"

"Errr, no, but thank you. I'm kind of embarrassed to be here, but if I don't talk to you my wife ... well, she would not be happy with me."

"Your wife? Does she work here, too?"

"No, but she met you at the celebration party you had for all of us at The Circle. She was with three other women, and frankly they'd had a little too much to drink, but she remembers every word you said to them."

"What's your wife's name?"

Lars blushed, "Angeline but she goes by Angie. She thought you might remember the conversation."

Dave chuckled, "I do. I'm afraid I teased them a bit. They were asking questions about my lifestyle and my wives."

"Yes, exactly," Lars said looking serious. "She wants to know more about all of it and the Circle. She also told me she was asking not just for herself, but also for Olive, Lucy, and Elin. The four of them are thick as thieves, and their antics worry me sometimes. They're friends outside of work."

"I'd be glad to talk to anybody about the Circle. If they'd like to come around there on Saturday afternoon they could join us for a casual lunch about noon, and then we could talk. You and the other spouses are also included in that invitation."

Lars continued blushing. "I briefly met you that day, and also ... as it turned out ... THREE of your wives. I didn't have the courage to talk to Scarlett Johansson, although we may be related. I have relatives named Johansson back in the Stockholm area."

"Are you from there?"

"My grandfather is. My father was born in Sweden, but came to this country when he was five years old. I was born here, in Minnesota."

Dave said, "Well, why don't you all come about noon. When you arrive there will be a gate. Just push the intercom button five times quickly and the gate will open. Park at the top of the rise and walk between two of the homes to our core area. That's where the party was, if you recall. You'll find me around the bar waiting for you. We all hangout together, so there'll be many of us there. Just ask for me if I'm not evident."

"Oh, that's great."

"Will there be eight of you?" Dave asked in a friendly tone.

"I'll have to let you know. Probably not. Lucy and Elin are not married. They're both divorced and ... well, on the prowl some of the time. Elin does have a ... errr ... fuck buddy, she calls him."

"Well, if they have a steady boyfriend ... or fuck buddy, he would be invited as well, if she wants to bring him. Let Jenny know the headcount so we have enough for all of us for lunch. Sandwiches." He gestured towards where Jenny sat just outside his door.

Lars stood and prepared to leave.

Dave called him back, "One other thing. You should all know that there is some nudity and partial nudity if the weather is nice. In that regard, I guess you might think of us as somewhat European."

Lars was frozen in position as he absorbed that statement. "Oh, thank you for the warning. I'll alert the others. Would we be expected to conform?"

Dave shook his head. "Not a bit. We want all of you to be comfortable so whatever any of you choose to do will be fine. There is no expectation that our guests do that, especially on their first real visit. The dress code will be very casual. You'll find me probably wearing a bathing suit and t-shirt."

Lars disappeared. Dave heard Jenny laughing after he was out of earshot.

Jenny stuck her head in the door. "I was listening. It sounds like the Circle is about to get six or seven new members. I remember meeting those four women. We talked about the pros and cons of the Circle, except I couldn't think of any cons. They were enthralled with every word I said. I kind of emphasized the sexual part of it."

On Saturday, exactly at noon, seven unfamiliar faces walked between the Winter and Connor homes. They found themselves on the far side of the patio from the bar, so worked their way around the pool. There were four women and three men. Dave waved them over to the bar and then went forward to meet them.

After a flurry of introductions, Dave assessed the new arrivals. He mentally ran through the names again: Angie, Olive, Elin, and Lucy for the women, and Lars, Stan, and Tim for the men.

All seven of the arrivals were greatly distracted by the twenty or so topless women around the pool, some sunning and some sitting in the shade of a large umbrella chatting in conversation circles or reading.

Cricket bounded up to the group. Dave had alerted several of his wives of the arrivals for lunch and conversation, and she was always 'up' for meeting new people and learning about them. Dave thought that at one point or another every one of them would find their way into one of her novels. She even confessed to using the Contacts App on her computer to keep track of everyone she met and some of the key facts about them.

Cricket, of course, was also topless and for all the good her little G-string did, she may as well have been naked. The thin material proved to the alert observer that she was clean-shaven and even had a small tattoo, courtesy of Owen Bennett, on one side of her mons. That day, she was also sporting a fairly obvious camel toe. She wore a baseball cap to help shade her eyes.

Cricket happily greeted everybody and instantly learned their names and interrelationships. Dave had filled her in ahead of time. Dave and Cricket escorted the group to the lunch buffet that Chef Bobbie had put out with the help of one of the groups of volunteers that helped in the kitchen and food prep areas. There was gazpacho soup, two kinds of salads, and an assortment of sandwiches. Some homemade cookies were also available as a dessert.

After everyone had served himself or herself, they went to a table Dave had reserved.

"Is this normal fare?" Lucy asked, gesturing to the meal as they sat.

"On the weekends, yes," Cricket said. "Sunday night we are usually on our own for dinners, and often a Monday or Tuesday night. The rest of the time, we eat dinners here, but not lunches since during the week many in the Circle are out at work someplace."

"You have somebody that produces these things?" Olive asked in awe.

"Chef Bobbie is one of the Circle's few employees. She's also a member. She oversees our nutrition on an individual basis as well. That's why when you look around here you don't see any obesity. You do NOT want her getting on your case about over eating or bad nutrition habits. She also manages several teams of volunteers from our Circle ranks that help prepare and serve the food." Cricket beamed with pride.

"So ... thank you for having us," Lars said. "I did comment to everyone about what you told me."

Dave teased, "The nudity ... or partial?"

He nodded.

Cricket pushed out her chest in his direction and shimmied her breasts. The act made the others laugh.

Olive said as the laughter died out, "So, no one would be upset if we got naked or topless."

Dave gestured, "Be my guest. It's very refreshing for all concerned."

"No one will think ill of me?"

Dave made an obvious scan of the patio. "I think not. Join the crowd, if you wish."

Olive's husband Stan put his hand on hers, "Careful, honey. Don't do something you'll regret later."

Olive said, "Regret? I think I'll regret NOT doing this." On that note she peeled the colorful top she'd been wearing over her head and carefully draped it over the back of her chair. Her bounteous breasts jostled out into the summer-like air and proceeded to shake like bowls of Jello as they displayed her large areolas and perky nipples to everyone.

Angie upped the ante. "Well, if you're doing that, so can I." The difference was that she wore a kind of short pants jump suit, so when she peeled the small bit of clothing off, she was very naked. She commented, "I'm not as big in the chest as you are, but I have a gorgeous pussy." She gestured to her tuft of pubic hair, but because she was close to the table most people couldn't see her prize possession.

Lars rolled his eyes and looked pleadingly at Dave, apparently begging his forgiveness and indulgence in his wife's sudden exposure. All Dave did was laugh at his obvious plight.

As he laughed, Lucy and Elin peeled their tops away without saying a word. As he'd speculated, each of the women was more than appealing. Dave's tongue got hard as he took in the offerings of tit flesh at the table. Cricket winked at him; she could read his mind.

Lars sighed deeply. "Now that that's out of the way, why don't you tell us a bit about how the Circle was formed."

Cricket immediately produced two of the Circle scrapbooks from her canvas bag beside her. "I thought this subject might come up, so I brought a couple of our books to pass around. There's one for each side of the table, while Dave responds to your request."

Dave started talking about how the original four couples had been meeting and getting closer and closer to each other, forging deep and loving relationships. He talked about how Pam had joined his family, and then the larger group, and then about Alice and his loosening up process, including her getting three small tattoos from Owen Bennett, including a couple in intimate areas of her body. Those two of his wives were sitting at another table so he pointed them out to the group.

Lucy said, "But you have six 'wives' now, right?"

Dave nodded. "As part of the loosening up process, the wives decided that they should each spend a week with one of the other men. Alice went off with Owen, and they fell deeply in love. I was worried about her, but I learned a great deal about myself and her over the week. One of our close friends Christie was to spend a week with me, and she brought her friend Heather with her. We fell deeply in love, and Heather became my third wife. Shortly after that, Alice's sister Julie joined our family – they're both also married to Owen as of a few months ago, and a couple of years later Cricket won all of our hearts. After another year or so, Scarlett and I fell in love, and she became my sixth wife."