Loosening Up Bk. 11 Ch. 16-20

Dave sat on a rather simple but sturdy wooden rail fence. Behind him about thirty feet his loaded motorcycle was parked. What filled his field of view beyond the fenced meadow were the Grand Teton Mountains from far on his left to far on his right.

Dave chuckled to himself. "Here I am, a man with intense sexuality, staring at the mountains named for three tits or teats by French trappers two-hundred years prior. He visually shifted his view to each of the peaks, the tallest nearly 14,000 feet tall.

Far in the distance, across the huge meadow, he saw a German shepherd trot across the field. His mind argued briefly and he conceded that the animal was a single wolf and not a domesticated canine. The wolf looked in his direction and paused in its travels, assessing the risk. Deciding there was none, it continued on across the meadow, disappearing into a small copse of trees to Dave's left.

Dave identified with the wolf. He also compared the wolf to the attributes the Circle represented. The wolf was intelligent yet independent, with a strong survival instinct. The wolf was always courageous, willing to face any adversity that came its way. The wolf was a leader, in front of the rest of society. The wolf trusted its gut feel, especially for danger; thus, the wolf also represented wisdom that few others had.

Wolves are intensely loyal to each other and to the pack, yet they are free to roam. They are very social creatures. They do what they can to support the good relationships within the pack. The wolf is aware of its inner being -- its spiritual connection with the Universe. The wolf is discerning yet willing to address emotional challenges.

Lastly, Dave recalled that the totem wolf is highly sexual and desires intimacy, yet also values freedom and independence. The balancing act was a constant duty of the wolf. He'd even been born under the Wolf totem in the month of March.

He thought about how most of the words he recalled about his totem also applied to the Circle -- the members of the Circle and how they behaved with one another. He knew that Dakota would understand. In their discussions, she was unusually aware of the traits that underpinned the ethos of the Circle and also in touch with the spiritual ways of most Native Americans.

Dave periodically inhaled the rare mountain air. The late morning was clear and crisp, and the air empowering and energy laden. He strolled back to his bike and got on, adjusting the helmet on his head, zipping up his windbreaker, and donning some light gloves.

He continued to slowly meander until within the hour he pulled into Colter Village on the shores of Jackson Lake. The backdrop continued to be the Grand Tetons plus a billion trees. Dave also noted the various signs warning about bears and food storage.

Colter Village was a very campy-RVsy-vacation-family sort of place. He was one of the few single people in the vicinity. He found the lodge office and checked in, getting a room in the log cabin-type structure. He unloaded his bike, and then walked to the restaurant for lunch. Thinking of camping out, he recalled his simple mantra when he thought about this part of the trip: 'I don't do bears'.

After lunch Dave walked around the edge of Jackson Lake. The whole area was a subset of the Jackson Hole ski area a few miles away. Anything else in this corner of the state consisted of Yellowstone National Park just to the north.

After walking around, he decided he'd do an afternoon run. The temperature was mild, there was a light wind, and he hadn't exercised for days except for the enthusiastic sex he'd shared with Dakota and Bree in Colorado.

Twenty minutes later, he started out on a run of indeterminant length. He trotted around the various lanes for the campground sites, taking in the sights of various families and their camping situations. There was about every possible combination from a simple two-person tent to a forty-foot recreational vehicle that looked similar to the luxury vehicle his mother and step-father had bought. He'd soon be meeting them in Montana.

After traversing all the roads in the Colter Village area, he went out on the main road and ran along the shoulder. Traffic was very light, so he was able to run on the asphalt road most of the time.

By the time he went out and returned, he figured he'd gone over twelve miles. The run rejuvenated him, and also reminded him that he needed to run more often to keep the rest of his body in shape.

Dave found a patch of grass near the lodge and used that to do some further exercises such as push-ups, sit ups, and the like. He was hot and sweaty when he finished.

Dave had seen a stretch of beach on his trip through the campground. He walked there, stripped down to his athletic shorts and then dove into the water. His swim was very short. The water was icy cold. As he got out, he was laughing; he speculated that someone could die of hypothermia in water that cold after only a few more minutes.

Two young women were sitting on some large rocks watching him as he emerged from the brief swim: one was a blonde, the other a brunette. The brunette said, "That was daring. You're my favorite shade of blue."

Dave looked down at his chest and legs; both were more pink than blue. He smiled at the two, "Pink, perhaps. Another ten degrees colder and I would be blue, and any longer I'd be an ice cube."

The blonde said, "We saw you running out on the highway. You were going pretty fast, at least compared to our usual pace."

"I was burning off some excesses over the past two weeks."

"What excesses? What do you mean?"

Dave chuckled and thought of the various diversions since his concert in Albuquerque. He decided to be a little teasing, "I made a couple of new friends and wanted to spend time with them rather than exercising. We ate, drank, and cavorted for the past two weeks."

"Are they here or are you alone?" the blonde asked.

"The two women are headed back to Albuquerque on their way to Sarasota, Florida; so, yes, I'm alone. How about your two? From here?"

The brunette volunteered, "We're here from Seattle. We work together on the staff of some trade magazines. Mostly, they're aimed at high end real estate spenders in the surrounding area, but they're community based." She paused and asked, "What do you do?"

Dave had a rehearsed line to give out for that exact question without revealing his rising star status. "I'm tied in with a band and we do special gigs around the country. I make enough to keep the wolves from the door." His comment made him remember the wolf he'd seen that morning.

"You do anything in Seattle? Might we have heard of you?"

"Not yet. I doubt you've heard of me, but we do have something coming up there in three weeks. I have to talk to my agent to get more specifics -- the location and so on. There are others that often join us for our gigs including a whole band."

The brunette said, "If we gave you our emails would you send us information about where and when you're going to be performing. We'd show up, if for no other reason than to pay homage to another person that loves the mountains." She gestured at the peaks on the other side of the lake.

Dave shifted the conversation, "I had a spiritual experience this morning just sitting and looking at the Grand Tetons. I think they're the most majestic mountains I've ever seen, certainly on this continent."

"Oh, we did, too. We hiked around one of the lakes this morning -- about a seven-hour loop. It gave us the same kind of metaphysical experience. Even as we speak, we're sort of decompressing from that."

The blonde asked, "You camping, in an RV, or in the lodge?"

"In the lodge. I don't do bears. I don't even want to think about them being a threat, but all the signs around here sure remind you that they are unpredictable critters."

"We're in the lodge, too. We'll walk back with you if your headed that way?"

"Sure." Dave pulled his running shoes on his feet and just carried his t-shirt. The shirt was one from his concert in Dallas, but neither girl noticed.

When they got to the lodge, Dave draped the wet shirt over the handlebars of his motorcycle. He commented, "These are my wheels. It'll dry faster out here in the sun."

The blonde asked, "I forgot to ask what kind of music do you sing?"

Dave responded, "Usually country, but we do some of popular songs, too; unless they get into rap, punk, or grunge. We like ballads and love songs, but also jazzy stuff that people can dance to."

Brunette said, "There's a dance after dinner at the main lodge. Would you join us, please? We'd love your company and you're alone, too."

Dave shrugged, "Sure, sounds like fun. I'm Dave by the way."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. We're Lucy Stetson and Naomi Clark." She pointed at herself and then her blonde friend.

Dave headed for the door to his room. "I'll meet you here at six p.m. for dinner, if that suits you?"

"Yes, perfect. FYI, the food here is great and they mix a generous cocktail. We were here last night, too."

After a shower and an hour practicing on his travel guitar, Dave met Naomi and Lucy in front of their room in the row at the lodge and the three went to dinner.

Drinks and inner gave them all a chance to assess one another. Dave chose to be purposefully evasive about his new singing career and rising stardom.

Lucy Stetson was a hefty brunette in her mid-twenties. She had an athletic air about her, which fit perfectly that they'd been hiking around the Tetons and Yellowstone for the previous week. She'd graduated from University of Washington in Liberal Arts, and gone to work for Spanner Publishing, a company that did specialty magazines in the area from Portland to Seattle. She was responsible for selling ads in several of the magazines, and was quite successful at it.

Naomi Clark was more of a pixie blonde, but also had that bouncy athletic air about her. She had a bounce to her walk, and Dave guessed that she burned off any excess calories because she was trim and shapely. She described herself as a Beaver, meaning she graduated from the University of Oregon. She blushed slightly at the sexual innuendo of the school's nickname. She was a year younger than Lucy, and was also on the road a lot selling space in the various magazines.

Cornered about his background, Dave told more about his education, his work for the electric utility, and then working in the management structure of a start-up company making high tech batteries. He also mentioned that he was a pilot and enjoyed flying.

"Are you single?" Lucy asked.

Dave shrugged, "There's not a simple answer to that question. Let me say that I live with a large group of people and we all love each other, and we willingly give our blessings for them to be with others so long as they abide by some simple rules. Some are married and others are not, but the end result is the same; we feel encompassed by love."

"Errr, do you mean ... I guess sexually?"

"Yes, and romantically."

"And you're in open relationships?"

"That's well put. Yes. What about your two." He tried to deflect the conversation back to the girls.

"We're both single. What are the rules you mentioned?"

"The important one is that if we interact with someone outside our community that we need to be sure they are disease free -- that they've been tested. We test ourselves frequently, too. We also insist that we be kind, loving, caring, and compassionate about the new friends we meet. We want everyone to have a good experience with everyone else."

Both Lucy and Naomi seemed impressed. "So, if we have test results and flirt with you, we're not breaking somebody's sacred vows or something? Will someone get jealous?"

Dave extended his arms out to the side, "No jealousy. Making love is encouraged. Flirt away, but careful; I might flirt back, and then where would you be?" They all laughed. Dave shifted to thinking about the two girls in a more romantic way. They were attractive.

Naomi asked, "What is your group like? You said you lived in Florida."

Dave tilted his explanation slightly, "Most of us are neighbors. The environment is in what's called a co-housing situation. Our homes or condos are fairly simple, but we share a large core area that has many shared things in it like a gym, Jacuzzi, sauna, pool, large patio, living and media rooms, meeting and hobby rooms, library, and best of all a major kitchen facility with a five-star chef. We're very social."

Naomi rolled her eyes, "I'd never leave. Are you all hippies?"

Dave laughed, "No. Most are professionals in some way -- doctors, nurses, business executives, foundation managers, bank and investment managers, and so on. We even have several movie stars and recording artists, and at least one billionaire. There are over two hundred members with slightly more women than men. As may as can, live on site; others live nearby."

"Why not the other way around in terms of gender balance?"

Dave blushed, "Because I keep inviting cute girls that I meet to join us -- or they invite themselves after ... flirting." He smiled at them.

The two girls laughed. Naomi pushed, "There's something I'm missing."

Dave continued, "There's no possessiveness or exclusivity. There's also great emphasis on equality of the sexes. No one dominates or controls anybody else. I'm guessing you're trying to define this group from the outside in rather than the inside out. In a way, we defined the lifestyle we wanted and the values we held dear and then set about making it happen. We emphasized certain desirable traits."

"But ..."

Dave said in a matter of fact tone, "Most, if not all of us, are hypersexual. We allow ourselves the freedom to express our sexuality openly and with each other. We have a significant focus on sexually pleasing our partners -- the people we love. I guess you could say that we're devout hedonists. Joy is our focus, that is, making it for one another. Orgasms help in that regard." He smirked to himself, guessing that the girls might be turned off on that basis.

Lucy gasped, "Wow!" After a long silence while they each ate some of their meals, she added, "That's so cool. I wish I lived there."

Naomi looked shocked at her friend, "What? You? You keep turning down dates. I'd be there in a flash."

Lucy got defensive, "I'm picky. The guys in the print shop are kind of weird. They focus on my boobs and not on me. I also have a rule about fraternizing with customers and workers. Other than that, I never see any other men."

Naomi laughed, "Well, you do kind of flaunt your tits."

Lucy shook her chest and laughed, "I like to let my boobies breath."

"Breath? They often leave others gasping for air because they expect total disclosure at any instant, at least with some of your outfits," Naomi teased.

Dave teased, "Now girls ..."

Lucy posed and puffed out her chest towards Dave. She was somewhat upset with her friend. "Do you like my breasts?"

Dave blatantly studied her bosom as though he were a researcher, tilting his head from side to side and frowning in thought as he scientifically ogled her tits and collected visual data from the eye candy. He'd been invited to look and look he did, taking in the perfect roundness of their shape, the deep cleavage her blouse allowed, and their perky appearance. Through the western-wear shirt he could make out her areolas and see the dimples her nipples formed. A small object dropped into her cleavage might not hit skin until it dropped out the bottom of her shirt into her lap. Lucy was stacked.

He said in an evaluative tone in research observation mode, "I love your breasts. I think the quote that comes to mind is something like, 'Your two breasts are like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies.' It's Biblical, I believe. I might add, that it seems appropriate that you sit here in the Grand Tetons having the most magnificent breasts, second only to the mountains now shrouded in evening darkness." He gestured outside the lodge dining room.

Naomi sat back, "That's kind of romantic and sexy." She looked down at her own chest, and, he noted, had nothing to complain about.

Dave smiled.

Lucy said, "Thank you. I'm impressed. I think you're a romantic at heart, aren't you?"

"I am. I also confess that I tend to love most women -- just about all women. They also seem to love me."

Naomi said, "We came on this trip hoping to meet a couple of guys like you, but there's only you in the wasteland."

"Huh?"

"The guys we've met are unshaven, scruffy, dirty, smelly, crude, unpolished, and most can't string a sentence together that makes sense. They drag their knuckles on the ground and make odd grunting sounds, too. Most look like a breeding ground for rare viruses."

Dave laughed, "Your beauty astounds them so and leaves them speechless and both mentally and physically inept in your presence."

"But not you," Naomi insisted.

"I'm somewhat older and more experienced. Remember what I just explained to you. I have over a hundred women that I love and that love me back home in Florida. That experience counts for something in the way of élan with others that I meet."

Lucy giggled, "All the more reason to be speechless and scruffy."

Dave contended, "I was raised to be polite and deferential to women -- you know, hold the door, help them sit, and so on. I was a total nerd all the way through college -- an engineering nerd. I barely dated, although at the time I did have a steady girl. Gladly, she's still in my life. She's in the community I talked about."

Dave thought a moment and asked the girls, "What would be the ideal personal lifestyle you'd like to live in? Think of each part of your life. What self-image do you want? Where and how do you want to work? What are your major life goals? How social do you want to be and what kind of friends? What kind of relationships do you want -- how intimate, sexual, and so on? How do you want to foster your spiritual growth? What do you want to do about romance and love, and family? What do you want to do for fun, and personal growth?"

Lucy laughed, "The complete person, in other words, that's what I'd like to be. Well-rounded. You even mentioned that your friends were hypersexual. I assume that applied to you, as well? I just wanted to tell you that Naomi and I probably fit that description." She flirted.

Naomi nodded but had a coy smile, "Further, we've been deprived all week, so we're unusually eager to be with a man that we like -- someone exactly like you."

Dave smiled, "I think we're coming to a common level of understanding here."

Dave, Lucy, and Naomi sat huddled together on a split-log bench about a hundred yards from the motel and the few lights that might destroy viewing the night sky. Dave had brought a heavy woolen blanket from his room and it was wrapped around all three of them.

The night sky was cloudless and positively brilliant. Stars that one would never see if they lived near a city filled every corner of the sky right down to the horizon. The Milky Way was like a luminous belt of light cutting across the sky and ending behind the mountains. The starlight was so bright that one could safely walk without a flashlight and see where they were going. There was no moon either.

Dave pointed out the Summer Triangle -- three stars (Altair, Deneb, and Vega) with a tremendous number of astronomical phenomena inside just that part of the sky. He spoke softly. The words were meaningless, but his attention to the two women was paramount.

They each kissed, their affection and lust growing with each contact. Lucy and Naomi seemed new to each other. He realized he was being included in their tryst. They made it clear that he was highly desired.