The Swinging Professor

Her eyes sought out Audra and Eva. After a time, she spied them. Standing together with their husbands, drinking scotch, and laughing. Now that she knew the truth, she could see the open sexual attraction between them. The looks that passed, the light touches, hands stroking lower backs, the proximity of their bodies to one another. She felt like shouting it out to the world. "See? Right there! Swingers!" but she couldn't. Clara was standing near an exit, Chester trying to push her deeper into the large room.

Music swirled from the small orchestra outside in the foyer. Servers waltzed through the crowd, handing out drinks, and making empty glasses disappear. Finger foods on silver trays were followed by hungry people praising the delicacies. Laughter filled the air, and Clara felt depressed. She no longer fit. She didn't truly know these people or feel she could trust them.

How many are stoned on coke, right now? She glared around the room. Dammit, I would do a line right now...

She had no idea how long she stood there. Chester had abandoned her long ago. She nursed a glass of white wine and thought about perhaps just going home. But she couldn't. As the former dean, she was in demand, but thankfully people stayed clear of her, sensing her ire.

"Follow me," whispered Audra into her ear from behind. Clara jumped and only managed not to shriek. She whirled on Audra. She was holding two opened bottles of white wine in one hand by the necks and carried an empty glass in the other.

"What?"

"Follow me, come on," and Audra turned and walked away, her gorgeous red and wrapped dress hugging and accenting her gorgeous form. She headed toward the outside courtyard and only paused once to indicate the direction to Clara with her head. A few eyes followed her ass and a few men received slaps from their wives.

Clara gathered her courage and followed, draining her wine glass. She didn't see the eyes admiring her and her bright blue dress and tight, swaying ass.

Outside, Audra led them to the white, wooden gazebo standing in the centre of the courtyard. Dark green ivies grew up and around the structure. Normally the function would have been held out here, but the threat of rain had pushed it all inside. Clara glanced at the dark clouds in the night sky and felt it could rain at any moment. She watched Audra shuck her high heels with difficulty and then hold them by the straps with the same hand holding her wine glass. In stocking feet, Audra giggled and pranced up the steps to enter the gazebo, her dress making it difficult. Clara slowly followed and watched Audra find a bench that looked back at the indoor function.

She patted the bench right beside her. "Come, sit. We need to talk."

After hesitating a moment, Clara sat but put a couple of feet between them. A brass plaque was attached to the top of the bench between them declaring the bench had been donated in memory of someone important. Clara squirmed her ass until it felt comfortable. She pressed her knees together, crossed her ankles underneath her, and looked back at the function.

From outside it looked peaceful. Immaculately dress men and women danced from conversation to conversation. She could see the more affluential being surrounded by the faculty members, all pressing for why their faculty needed more funding. Smiles and swallows of booze. The music from the orchestra wafted out, barely audible, and Clara noted the silence outside. The crickets and who knew what else were quiet with the impending rain.

"What do you want?" chirped Clara.

"First, I would like to fill that empty glass of yours. Hand it over."

Clara held out her glass and refused to watch as Audra filled it. Clara was determined to be as petty as possible. She had to make her point.

"I figured you needed to be a little more drunk. I saw you watching us. Nursing your champagne and wine. Everyone is staying away from you. They can sense your anger. It's coming off you in waves."

Clara glanced at her glass. Audra had overfilled it. Best I lower the amount in case I spill it, she thought and slurped a large swallow from the top. I'm drinking too much these days.

"Better. Now. Second. We need to clear the air. You left my house in such a fit. Bernie is angry you messed up his driveway with your tires. It took two hours to power wash it."

"I don't care."

"Well, you should. When have you ever acted this way? It's the talk of the university. Many people were hoping you weren't coming tonight. Really, Clara, you need to relax."

Clara shot a look at Audra and saw her smirking at her. "Relax? RELAX?"

Audra looked around and looked upset for the first time. "Keep your voice down! Yes, relax. You have this constant pained look on your face. You keep staring at people. Making them uncomfortable."

"I can't imagine why."

"Oh yes, there it is. The huge swinger thing you have in your head. You're wondering who's involved, aren't you? Trying to figure out if they swing or not. It doesn't work that way. It's a lifestyle, but a private one. We don't advertise it. We only invite those people we can trust into the circle."

"Which explains why I was excluded all these years!" Immediately, Clara regretted her choice of words. The silence stretched out and Clara stole a glance at Audra. She was looking thoughtful.

"I suppose we did exclude you. But it wasn't a trust issue. I tried to include you. So did Eva, more than me actually. We agreed you couldn't adjust. It was too much risk for the others. So, we stopped trying. Then, we drifted apart. I'm sorry about that. I miss you terribly, you know."

"Why did our friendship have to sour? Why couldn't we have stayed friends while you did this... stuff."

"Because it's a lifestyle. For me anyway. We swing every weekend, or nearly every weekend. Eva and I are the primary hosts. We alternate and that doesn't give us time to catch up with old friends. But I admit, I could have tried harder. I said I missed you and I did. Very much. We had a special friendship, didn't we?"

Clara spoke softly looking down into her lap. "Yes, we did. I miss it, too. Everyone I knew distanced themselves from me. First you, then others, until I was alone. I had only Sara and then she was gone to New York and when she did come home, I had thought it was to see me, but it wasn't, was it? It was to see you and Eva. I'm so alone, Audra. I can never forgive any of you for that."

They sat and drank in silence, Audra refilling their glasses once.

"Can you understand that how you're acting about all this is exactly why we didn't approach you?"

Clara stiffened and then realised what she said was true. She would not have reacted well. She couldn't imagine how that conversation would start or finish.

Clara let out a small laugh, surprising herself. "Can I ask how it started? With you, I mean?"

Audra pursed her lips and looked up for a moment in thought. "It was Bernie, of course. He has an enormous penis, as you saw in the video. With it came a certain proclivity to him wanting a lot of sex. I couldn't keep up. I always felt that Bernie had given up something precious marrying me. Swinging was something he had been used to. His parents had been swingers. Eventually over time, he managed to slide me into the lifestyle."

"How?"

"We went on a date with Eva and Samuel one night. They all knew each other. Intimately. I was the odd one out. Over the night, they worked on me. Three against one and I was doomed. Alcohol was involved. We ended up at Eva's place and I snorted my first coke. As couples we started kissing. Hands roamed. And then I was naked on my back with Eva on my face and Samuel stuffing that sausage of his into me. When I realised what I was doing, I came so powerfully. My whole body demanded it. It was perfect. I never knew sex could be so recreational. So open. So trusting. Before, sex had been something between two partners. Private and loving. But no longer. My love for Bernie leaped beyond all known bounds that night. Our marriage solidified into something wonderful. Our sex life with each other was no longer a task.

"Swinging has allowed us to express our commitment to one another in new ways. Deeper ways. I knew accepting it meant he could fuck other women, but it was always me—ME!—he wanted more than anything. That was a powerful revelation. Knowing your husband truly worships you above all others. Now, I love nothing more watching him cum inside some young woman while looking at me. He loves watching men fucking me, and especially women. Fuck, I'm all wet right now thinking about it. It's so liberating. I've never felt so loved, Clara."

It shocked Clara to hear those words. She had never imagined a positive to swinging. But there had to be, didn't there? There are swingers everywhere. "How about Sara? How did she get involved?"

"By accident. Shortly after she turned eighteen, she crept over to my house. She had suspected something, she's far from stupid, but we thought we were hiding it well. We were, just not against a horny eighteen-year-old next-door neighbour. We were all in the middle of a rather grand party when I looked up and saw Sara taking a cock in her pussy while sucking on another. She had snuck in and just joined us as natural as can be. Everyone thought she had been invited. I didn't manage it well. I lost my cool for a bit until Bernie calmed me down. I pulled Sara out of there and talked to her. After a while, we both realised we were both naked, horny, and high, and I ate her out. What a sweet pussy she has...

"That ended the conversation. Afterward, we sat her down and explained the rules. By then the genie was out of the bottle. And she insisted she continue with us, a little like extortion between friends, I suppose. We had little choice, not that we regretted it. She's an incredible lover. You were the only regret. Sara promised to never let it get between the two of you. She loves you as a mother, you know. But there are rules, and she had little choice but to follow them. She begged us for years to let you in on it."

"Rules?"

"The first one is easy and the only one fully enforced. If one goes, both go. Meaning you come as a couple and leave as one. Couples always go hand in hand without leaving the partner behind. Swinging is safer and easier if both partners are comfortable indulging in it. It is a team game. Not a solo affair. The only exception is for single women, like Sara. There's no shortage of willing single men, but women with the qualities of Sara? They're rare. Swinging is about couples having sex with other couples. It's not a dating site or brothel. It's clean, safe, respectable people indulging in a little fun. In the end, it's just sex, and should never come between partners.

"Honestly, the baggage we all have in marriage is crazy. Honour and obey and all that crap. Do not covet thy neighbour's wife—but not the husband, it says nothing of that—and more rules written by angry, misogynistic men. Humans are herd animals. We thrive when we come together toward a common goal. Swinging is kind of that. Coming together, that is!"

Audra laughed the laugh Clara hadn't heard in a long, long time and it struck a chord deep within her. I never gave her that level of friendship that would make her the way she is now. She was thriving. Happier than Clara had ever seen her. She was suddenly very envious.

"Are their more professors involved, or just you and Eva?"

Audra gave her a long look. "I guess that means you didn't watch the whole video."

"Uh, no. Only the first ten minutes or so."

"But you saw Sara with Samuel and me?"

"Yes."

"I can't answer you. The second rule is secrecy. We protect each other. Really, it's like an extended family. I have friends all over the United States and in prominent places. Bernie is the CEO of Poughkeepsie Financial Services and got there through his swinging contacts. Samuel's much the same. They take care of each other. See that deals go their way. Mention names in the right crowds and places."

Clara thought of Chester then. She wondered what he could do with something like that working for him. He worked hard for where he was. He was a good man, just not the loving man she needed. And missed.

"Did you enjoy watching me pleasure Sara?"

Clara gasped. "W-what? No!"

"She's delicious, Clara. A sweetness you rarely taste. Like a drink from a fresh spring."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Bernie has pressured me to try to recruit you. Now that you know, he says, it can't hurt."

"That will never happen."

Audra stared at her for a long time. "Never say never, honey. The gang would love you; I promise you. We can make it not weird. Start small. Work your way up. It's easy once you start. You just need to take that first small step. I can help. Perhaps we can become best friends again?"

Clara shot her a glare for the last comment. It sounded like blackmail.

"I didn't mean it to sound that way," Audra corrected quickly seeing the look on Clara's face. "We are friends. We always will be. But I would like it to be more like before."

Clara didn't answer. That was clearly an invitation, and she wasn't ready for it. She couldn't believe it would ever be easy. There would be too much emotional baggage, jealousy, and embarrassment to deal with. She was sometimes uncomfortable with the lights on having sex with Chester. He always demanded it, saying he had to see all of her. She squirmed in her seat, remembering all those times Chester lay with his face close to her pussy, examining it, and how it got her excited. Chester had her admit it once while holding up a very wet finger, fresh from her vagina. He had made her suck it. She still remembered that sweet taste of her pussy off his finger. He had been so hard. But now Audra had made an offer to try out her swinging lifestyle. It hung there like Damocles' sword.

"Is it always the same people?" she asked, to steer the conversation away from an answer. Now that she knew what she knew, she wanted to know more.

"For the most part, yes. The video was a bi-annual thing. The groups of swingers come together in one location. We all pretty much stay within our own groups, since we prefer our own swinging group. I didn't know half the people there the other night. Selection is a strange process, with one group vouching for another. We are all tested regularly. STIs are very real, and there have been horror stories. We play very safe and adore bareback. It helps if you have a doctor as part of the group. Which is another benefit. The healthcare plan and dental are amazing!" Audra laughed. "But Eva, Samuel, Bernie, and I are part of three groups. One is from right here in Poughkeepsie, I can't tell you who, but a large part of the members come from our university. There's, hmm, about twenty of us in total. We stay within our group for safety reasons.

"The other is a group of graduates who grew out of our third group, who are all undergraduates. They move from one to the other on graduation. Eva and I vet them so very carefully before we allow them even a whiff of the lifestyle we are about to offer them. It can take a couple of years and lots of patience. But it has its own rewards, one of which is we know people all over the world now." Audra sighed. "Great friends in great places. My life is almost perfect.

"The only thing that would make it perfect, is having you join us, Clara. I've wanted you from the first time I met you. I became your friend to be closer to you. But I wanted more than you were willing to share. But now I'm asking. We can start off small. In fact, you don't need to do anything at all. Come as an observer. We have parties all the time and allow new people to come who aren't sure but want to see it all first. They don't stay observers long. For one, everyone coming to the parties has to be tested. Our doctor takes care of it and sends results to the hosts. Everyone walking in the door is STI free. That way we can just let loose and enjoy flesh on flesh without fear. It's liberating.

"Please think about it, Clara. It can be just you. Come over and visit my place, meet with Eva, Samuel, and Bernie. Just you. Leave Chester at home. Best you don't mention this to him at all."

Clara finished her glass and watched Audra refill it from the second bottle.

"You and Chester are in trouble. You know this. This might be your salvation if you're brave enough to reach for it. Don't answer right now. I understand it's too much to process. Think about it. I won't let Sara find out, if that's what's worrying you. But come watch, just once."

There it was. The invitation to join what Audra, Sara, and Eva had been enjoying for years. A chance to belong again. Clara sipped her wine, thinking. Sara could never know. She would never be able to accept that.

"I've said too much," sighed Audra. "But you would have thought about it, eventually. Listen, swingers are very good at keeping secrets. You have my word Sara will never hear of this from me or the others. I've already spoken to them. They all agree. As I've said, we're very good at secrets. Clara? Are you okay?"

At hearing her name, Clara looked up at Audra and could see the real concern and care there. It had been so long since she had seen it turned her way. For a moment, her heart paused, and she wished Audra would just lean over and kiss her. Just this once, to test the ground. But Audra sipped from her wine instead. For once in the past two weeks, she felt okay, just nervous, and scared. She thought then of Chester. Even if I could, he could never. He's far too conservative.

This is one of the more important moments in my life, she realised with clarity despite the buzz from the wine. Where I have a clear choice to make. You often chose one choice over the other because of fear. The fear of the unknown. Fear for your own survival. Fear for your sanity.

One visit, just to watch, I could do that, couldn't I? Make the hard choice later...

She looked at Audra and nodded. "Okay, I'll come watch, just once." She drained her wine glass as her words sank in, just as Audra squealed in happiness.

"Oh my God! Really? Clara that makes me so happy! I'll take care of everything. I'll send you the contact details for our doctor. Go get yourself tested. Quickly. Our next party is this coming Saturday night at my place. Tell the doctor to send your results directly to me. Bernie is going to be beside himself! Clara, I can't wait for us to be best friends again. I've missed you so much!"

Chapter Seven - Broken Boundaries

ALL DAY SATURDAY, Clara was a bundle of frayed nerves. She woke early and then took an incredibly long time in the bathroom, primping herself. She shaved her legs and pits, careful to avoid nicks. Then she trimmed her pussy and shaved herself down to a light Brazilian, but kept her mons covered in her fine, grey fur. From the front, she looked trimmed but with a noticeable bush, but when she spread her legs, her vulva gleamed with fragrant oils on her hairless flesh.

Yesterday she had a facial, manicure, and pedicure, and today she admired her polished toenails. She hated pedis because they were far too ticklish. The salon girl had laughed with her and then grown quiet. It wasn't until afterward, that Clara had realised the poor girl could see up her dress to her panties, wet from the attention. Then she offered me a wax, she recalled. And she licked her lips.

Clara felt a surge of elation. She felt so alive. She had music blaring and danced to the music from the 1990s and her youth. Smells Like Teen Spirit was currently joined by her voice in the bathroom.

She was elated that Chester was gone to New York City again. She had the house to herself and felt a freedom she had never felt before in her home. Sofia was gone for the weekend and Clara felt she could just cut loose.