There were Four in the Bed

"Don't be. That was one hell of a show," said Bakul.

Leslie came up behind Joanne and kissed her on the neck. "So, can I take it that we're past merely same room swinging, and you're up for the full experience?"

"Oh, absolutely," moaned Joanne.

"Good," said Leslie assertively. "So what we're going to do is we're going to take a short break, get our breath back, maybe open another bottle of wine, and then you're going to watch as I cuck you shamelessly with your girlfriend."

Joanne felt her heart flutter. It wasn't entirely dread. She struggled to formulate any kind of response, not least of all because she needed to say 'yes'.

Several moments passed before Bakul finally shrugged. "Fairs, fair. Sauce for the goose, after all."

6.

They did take a break. Joanne got the wine and they sat on the bed in their dressing gowns chatting.

After Leslie finished her glass, she went out to the bathroom and Rachel scooted over the Joanne. Joanne gave her an embarrassed smile and then looked away. Rachel put a hand on her thigh.

"I enjoyed earlier," Rachel said, "but we never got to kiss."

"Oh, er, yeah," replied Joanne.

Rachel put a hand on Joanne's chin and lifted it to face her. She leant in and kissed Joanne. For just a moment, Joanne was very aware she was kissing lips that had been pressed up against her sex not fifteen minutes ago, but, nevertheless, they were soft and tender and soon the two women were making out properly.

Joanne had been boringly faithful during her time on this Earth. She'd only ever snogged boys who had been or shortly after had become her boyfriends. And while some of those relationships hadn't lasted till the end of the week, they had been strictly sequential. Here she was locking lips with someone who wasn't her romantic partner and yet with whom she suddenly distinctly felt emotionally intimate with.

At this rate, I'm going to develop a lesbian bodycount, she realized. What was her het number? Eight? Nine, maybe, if she found herself arguing it over cocktails and her in-the-know friend group made an issue of it.

So lost in these thoughts and sensations was she that she was only vaguely on Leslie coming back into the room. When she looked up she saw Bakul and Leslie locked in the same embrace as her and Rachel. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat. Things suddenly felt wrong. Rachel saw the look in her eyes and brought Joanne's head back to her lips again. The panic passed.

Rachel stood up and led Joanne to the big chair. She sat down in it and then manoeuvred Joanne into sitting between her spread-open legs. One hand went to Joanne's breast and another to her hip and Rachel bent forward and started kissing her on the neck. As Joanne turned her head to reciprocate, Rachel gently pushed her head back.

"Watch," said Rachel.

Leslie continued to make out with Bakul for half a minute more, but Rachel's single word had clearly been a signal for the show to begin. Leslie stood up, keeping her hands in Bakul's.

"Right," said Leslie. "For our next trick, I think we need to step things up a bit. We've been all so very touchy-feely so far, now I think I'd like to play a bit rougher. Any objections?"

She wandered over to the wardrobe. "Now, when Bakul got the blindfold down, I think I saw...oh, sorry, may I?"

Joanne nodded. Leslie rummaged round the top shelf and pulled out the manacles and the ball gag. "Just what I was looking for."

She took three steps back towards Bakul, implements in hand, and then spun so she was suddenly facing Joanne.

"Now, I wonder who normally uses these?"

"Well," said Joanne, "we've only just got them. We haven't used them much."

"When you have used them, who were they used on?"

"Bakul," replied Joanne.

"And who chose them?"

"Bakul did."

"And who paid for them?"

"Well, I did." Joanne wasn't really sure where this was going. "Is that wrong?"

"There's no wrong, particularly," said Leslie, speaking slowly and with a grin. "You might want to think about what that says about your relationship though. Still, tonight gives us an opportunity to shake things up a bit."

Rachel took Joanne's arms and held them out. A moment later Joanne was bound and gagged and Leslie was back at Bakul's side, standing by the bed and stroking the Indian girl's hair.

"Nothing particularly more is going to happen with them on than with them off, but the symbolism, that's part of it. Now when you tell this story or remember it, you have to add that you were shackled. Hell, just putting them on just now builds anticipation. Symbolism, anticipation, phrasing, poise, all these things add up."

As is to make a point, Leslie licked her lips and then put a finger to the side of her head as if she was thinking, then a second later dropped back into ordinary body language.

"Okay, I'm going to do you both a favour," she said. "Stop me if you're way ahead of me, but I'm guessing you haven't found Bakul's G-spot yet?"

Joanne shook her head. She had certainly taken a crash course on clitorial stimulation this past month, but they hadn't gotten any deeper yet.

"Well, then, this should prove very instructive," continued Leslie. "I'm going to demonstrate the general principle to you now and leave you both to work out the details later."

She turned back to Bakul. "Lay down, legs apart," she ordered.

She paused for a second. "Actually, I'd better get a towel."

She made her way to the door, turned, and winked at Joanne. "Anticipation." Then she disappeared and they heard the sounds of the airing cupboard door being opened.

"The white ones on the top shelf," yelled Bakul helpfully.

"I don't think this is going to go as far as bondage or anything, but if either of you feel uncomfortable you can use the phrase 'White-breasted Pearly-eyed Thrasher' as a safeword."

"Oh, shit," said Bakul. "I think she's onto us mockingbirds."

Joanne made a 'hu-hu-hu' sound through her gag.

"Oh, right and, if in distress, you can tap out the Woody Woodpecker rhythm instead."

Leslie returned with the towel which she placed across the bottom half of the bed. Bakul slipped out of her dressing gown and lay across it.

Still standing, Leslie leant over and put a firm hand on Bakul's stomach. She moved up and down, ending at a breast. Her touch, never a caress, became a grope. She grabbed a nipple between thumb and forefinger and pulled it up an inch before letting go.

"You really have a fantastic body," she said factually.

Her hand moved to Bakul's pussy, lingering at the entrance. She paused for a second, looking behind her then moving slightly to the left so that Joanne's view was unimpeded. Then she gently moved a finger down the center of Bakul's pussy, parting the labia lips as she went.

She brought her head down to Bakul's crotch and spat, letting a glob of saliva drip down to the lips. Then her hand went back. This time the pussy was opened even wider and the finger went inside. When she withdrew it, Leslie offered the finger to Bakul to taste. The other girl accepted it without hesitation.

Next, Leslie made sure Bakul was open before spitting, the liquid dribbling into her hole. After her fingers had traced a circle round the vulva, she inserted a finger, and then mere seconds later, she inserted another one. She gave a series of slow thrusts in and down, just opening the other woman up and getting her comfortable.

"Okay, I think we're about ready," said Leslie. "Get comfortable. You will raise your knees further up."

She brought her forearm down now when she thrust in. She went in deeper, her thumb resting near Bakul's clitoris. She started searching, visibly changing angles.

"Not there," said Bakul helpfully.

"Oh, I'll know when I'm there," replied Leslie. She withdrew for a second and went back to slow finger fucking before pushing in again and continuing the hunt.

"Oh," said Bakul suddenly.

Wherever Leslie had been touching, she touched again.

"Ooooh," moaned Bakul.

"Bingo." Leslie smiled. "Okay, now I want you to sit up."

Leslie stayed with her hand inside as Bakul struggled to get upright. Bakul brought her feet down onto the floor and sat on the end of the bed. Leslie came and sat on her thigh, her free hand supporting Bakul by her back.

"Okay, now, only one more instruction. I want you to look at me while I fuck you."

Bakul's eyes went to Joanne.

"Not over there. At me," Leslie said harshly.

She waited until Bakul had complied and then she began.

Leslie had meant what she had said. She did play rough. Her fingers jerked back and forth in Bakul's pussy sending her crazy. Joanne watched convinced that Leslie was hurting her girlfriend and yet Bakul said nothing that wasn't 'yes' or that sounded a hell of a lot like 'yes'.

Leslie alternated between kissing her neck and her lips, attacking them with the same force she was using downstairs.

"Cum for me, you beautiful bitch," she told her. Her hand moved up Bakul's back and grabbed her neck from behind. Even with her fingers hammering away, she kept a thumb steady, teasing around Bakul's clit.

Finally, Bakul could take it no more and exploded into a stream of expletives, her head shaking and her eyes rolling back in their sockets. Suddenly a jet of liquid shot from her pussy, spraying against the towel. It only lasted a split second but still, the orgasm itself seemed to go on and on. Eventually, she collapsed down into the bed.

As Bakul lay there shaking, Rachel freed Joanne from the manacles and then took the ball gag out.

"Go to her," she said.

As Joanne walked one way, Leslie came the other. As they passed Joanne grabbed her old school friend and in one motion placed her arm underneath her back and pushed her down into a Gone With the Wind kiss. She made sure to press her tongue fully down into Leslie's mouth, if only for a second, and then released her.

"What was that for," asked Leslie, apparently momentarily disorientated by the switching of roles.

"Three," said Joanne happily. She went and lay beside her girlfriend. Bakul gave her a great big smile and then they kissed, the taste of the other two women still on her lips.

They stayed there wordlessly and for the longest time didn't notice that the other two women had left the room.

7.

The banging wouldn't stop. It had been going on for about at least a minute, drilling right into Joanne's skull. She picked up a pillow and covered her head with it.

"Ugh" she heard Bakul groan. "What time is it?"

"Early," she said. "It's only just got light."

"Is there such a thing as cum-drunk," complained Bakul. "And if so, is there such a thing as cum-hungover. I'm exhausted."

Then Joanne looked at the clock.

"Shit," she said, sitting bolt upright in bed. It was half past nine.

Not particularly late. Unless you had a family, of course.

Neurons fired and concluded that the banging was coming from their front door. She hastily threw her dressing gown on and made her way downstairs.

As she opened the door, the two children ran into the house, Lucy giving her a quick hug on her way past and Aakil ducked under her arms and straight up the stairs, Transformer in hand.

"I'm so so sorry," she said to Darpitaa who was standing at the door under an umbrella in a downpour. "I know we were supposed to pick them up..."

"It's fine," Darpitaa replied. "Just, your phones were off and I need to get to my shift. So, late night last night? What did you two get up to?"

"Oh, you know nothing much, just..." said Joanne nonchalantly then stopped. "Shit! Look, sorry, wait here..."

She bolted up the stairs nearly tripping over the final stair. She reached Bakul's bedroom just seconds after Aakil did.

The room was empty and the bed had been made.

The boy looked up at her, expecting to be in trouble somehow.

"That's fine," she said apologetically. "Just checking. Carry on."

"Sorry, really do need to go," shouted Darpitaa from downstairs. "By the way, someone's left you a note on the back of the door."

"Okay, bye. Sorry again," replied Joanne, coming back onto the landing.

Bakul now came out of their bedroom. "Thanks, Auntie D," she yelled down. They heard the door close beneath them.

Joanne rested her head against the banister. "Are we terrible parents?"

Bakul put her head into the other bedroom. "Did you have a good time this morning, Akky?"

"We had pancakes for breakfast and built a fort in the front room and watched a YouTube on Aunty D's massive telly."

No sooner had he finished reeling off his list than he went back to making 'ack-ack' noises with his robot.

Bakul closed the door and leant against the wall. "Not our finest hour, but they'll be okay this once. We just shouldn't make a habit of it. Speaking of which, are we making a habit of it?"

"Uh, God," said Joanne. "Don't ask me now. I've snapped back into mum mode.."

As if on cue, Lucy appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "Mumm, can I have an ice lolly?"

"Look at the clock and tell me what you think the answer is...After lunch."

Lucy went away with the air of the child who knows they've been shamelessly trying it on but needs to appear dejected regardless.

"It was fun though," said Bakul.

"Jeez, it was amazing," replied Joanne.

"That's settled then."

"No, it's not settled. How is it settled?"

"We talked. We did it. We had fun. We're both smiling right now. And our Saturday morning looks exactly the same as it would have done regardless. Well, a bit more lethargic but..."

"I think it's more complicated than that," said Joanne.

"Of course you do, but it doesn't need to be," replied Bakul.

What are the odds we get my female count exceeds my male count by the end of the year, Joanne thought to herself. It seemed a little tasteless to rush that kind of thing, but still...

"If...," started Joanne then she raised a finger. "If, we need to establish some rules."

"Yeah, I know, and maybe have one of your flow charts. Which I'd normally be against, but some of the stuff we got up to last night definitely needed some kind of diagram to keep track of everyone's bits. In principle though...?"

"In principle, I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

"You can't put this genie back in the bottle, but you can learn to rub her the right way. Which reminds me, I hope you were taking notes last night."

"I think I picked up some pointers." Joanne started to make her way downstairs. "Come on, I'll take care of child management. You will run down to the Co-Op. Lunch is going to be a joint project. We'll need solidarity to get us through today."

"Okay, I'll put the chicken nuggets in the oven and you can turn the switch," replied Bakul.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Joanne picked the post-it note off the back of the door.

"What does it say?" asked Bakul.

"We didn't want to disturb you. Thanks for a lovely evening. You will call us when you're ready to take the next step. Love you both, L and R."

"Oh," said Bakul. "I was expecting something spicier. We'll send them a reply later. First, food."

"Hmm," said Joanne. Bakul went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Joanne stayed where she was looking at the note.

It was very nearly a common or garden thank you note. The penmanship seemed to match Rachel's character more than Leslie's, all cursive loops and a heart flourish at the end. Still, maybe Leslie dictated the contents. It was just that 'you will' that stood out. Not just clumsy phrasing - deliberate.

An instruction buried in the pleasantry -- a command, not a request. One that was produced with expectation of being obeyed.

She found herself stood by the door just, looking at the note. Still only half-awake, something was bothering her. She was pretty sure she'd said something like that herself just now, but she couldn't for the life of her think what it was.