Throuples Counseling

March 27

Vanessa

A call came in on my business phone from an individual named James who indicated he wished to hire me for therapy. I gave him my usual fee schedule and he agreed to pay using his credit card. His card information was provided and an appointment was made for eleven am the following Wednesday. When my new clients first arrive, I have them each fill out a two-page form waiting for them in the front office before I invite them back to the counseling room. On Wednesday while I was dictating notes, I heard them arrive. In a few minutes there was a soft rapping on the inner door. A young man poked his head in and introduced himself as Jim and requested another form. He was directed to a drawer in the desk for another copy. I was curious why the two of them needed another form but decided to wait until we had formally met to ask this question.

After about fifteen minutes, plenty of time to fill out the form, I opened the inner door to see, much to my surprise, three individuals, two young women and the young man who had requested the extra form.

"Hello, I'm Vanessa, the counselor. I would like to invite the couple requesting counseling to come with me." All three stood and approached the door.

"Uh," I said with my typical brilliance and insight, "I do couples therapy..."

"But we're all here for counseling," replied Jim. "We all need it."

"Uh, OK," I responded. "Why don't you come back and have a seat and we can first determine if there is anything that I can help you with."

They all followed me into the room. It is simple in design. I sit next to, not behind, a small desk, where I occasionally scribble a few notes, and in front of me is a standard sofa that can easily seat three people. A few tasteful art works are on the walls, a large window with a sheer covering lets in natural light yet provides privacy and the floor is nicely carpeted. At the ends of the couch are small tables, each with a box of tissues and small notepads and pencils.

I can get a lot of insight just watching how couples use the couch. Angry couples, such as those referred by a divorce court, will often sit at the far ends while those who are trying to work together will often sit closer together, usually in the middle. If one is angry and the other is trying to appease the partner, the angry one will choose an end and the partner will often sit somewhat close in the middle.

I watched them try and sort out their seating arrangement. There was a bit of jockeying for position before they all sat down. The taller woman seemed to take the initiative and sat in the middle and the other two sat on either side of her.

"Like I said, I'm Vanessa. I have been a couples counselor for over fifteen years and while I have never counseled three together, perhaps I can help. Why don't you introduce yourselves to me?"

The taller woman started out. "I'm Cassandra, but I prefer Sandy. I'm twenty-nine and we three have been together for over six months."

"I'm Jim, thirty." "Nice to see he's the talkative one of the bunch," I mused to myself.

After a pause of a few seconds the other young woman spoke up. "I'm Abigail, but I prefer to go by Abby. I'm twenty-seven and I'm the cause of all the problems here, I guess."

"Oh, no you're not," reassured Sandy. "We're all in this together, it's not your fault."

"Well," I said with the best authoritative voice I could muster, "Before we get into any details, I'd like to see your forms." Jim and Abby handed theirs to Sandy, who reached them over to me.

"Now, if you'll give me a few seconds, I'll just review these quickly." When I do this, it is for two purposes: the first is to read the most important question on the form which asks for a one-word description of the main issue or problem that we need to discuss. (Think 'sex' or 'finances.') The second purpose is for me to observe how the couple, or in this case the throuple, interacts during a quiet few minutes while I pretend to read the entire forms.

Each of them answered 'jealousy' as the main issue. "Nice that they agree on something," I thought to myself. If we can't even get an agreement here it can mean a long, hard slog through counseling sessions.

While I perused the forms, I kept glancing at them. Abby seemed to be the most uncomfortable in the group. She had a slightly defensive posture and kept staring at the floor. After a few minutes Sandy reached over and held Jim's hand and I noticed a tiny squeeze when she did. She then reached over to Abby's hand and it appeared that Abby was not inclined to hold her hand, but eventually she did, but with a tiny scowl on her face that relaxed after a few minutes. They then settled in and watched me expectantly.

"Well, you two, uh, I mean, you three," I said while groaning to myself about the faux pas, "We need to get started somewhere. I see that you all state that 'jealousy' is the main issue. Now I want you to know that these sessions are absolutely private and confidential. Nothing, I mean nothing that we talk about, will go out of this room, unless it has to do with child abuse. Children?"

"No, none," And "Uh-uh," they responded.

"OK, good. So, I encourage you to talk openly and freely. Even if you think you may hurt some feelings, we need to get your thoughts out on the table. Hiding something will only delay or even prevent any resolution. Is that clear?"

They all nodded understanding.

"So, who wants to start by giving me a sixty second rundown of your history? Anyone?"

Sandy stuttered a bit as she spoke up. "I guess I'll do it. You see, we are a throuple and are committed to all of us. Lately there has been an issue about having sex between just two of us when the third one is away, say at work, or something."

I gave my best psychoanalytic nod to encourage her to go on.

"You see, we kinda came together all at once, but Jim and I knew each other about three weeks before we met Abby. We weren't a 'thing' at that time, though we had had sex a few times. After we met Abby and all of us drifted together, we eventually realized that each of us bonded with the other two. At first all sex was with all of us in the room together, but with life getting so busy, sometimes one of us will be gone and the other two want to have sex. Well, that hasn't gone over very well, I guess."

"And who is the most reluctant one?"

"I guess I am," sighed Abby. "I don't think any of us should be left out when it comes to our sex lives."

"Abby, Honey, you're not being left out," piped up Jim. "When we all three are together, we have sex together but when there are only two of us, what's wrong with two having sex?"

"Thank you for the insight," I broke in. "It isn't time just yet to have these little, back-and-forth talks. Right now, I need some more background. I like to hear a detailed description of how you met. That is usually a nice place to start. Any volunteers?"

After no one volunteered, I decided to not choose Abby, she was clearly the unhappiest one of the three. Apparently, she was also the last one joining the throuple, so I nodded to Jim, hoping to get him to open up, and said with my authoritative counseling voice, "Jim, why don't you start?"

---

Jim

Once I was asked to describe our coming together, I realized that we were really in for some long, detailed sessions. I'm not a real good talker at all, but I decided to be as open and honest as possible. I was primarily footing the bill since I had asked for the counseling and made, by far, the most money. I let my mind drift back to that wonderful week, about seven months ago, as I started to tell her our story.

I'm a techie, work with a big firm here in the region, but my true love is photography. I try to spend at least one or two weeks a year chasing that perfect photo. I've sold a few, but the real reason I shoot pics is for my personal satisfaction. I mean, guys who fish or golf don't really do it to make money, they do it because they like the hobby.

Anyway, I decided to sign up for a photography workshop at a week-long artist retreat. We would all go by old school buses up to Summer Ridge Resort where multiple workshops were being held at the same time. We'd sleep in a hostel next to the resort to save money. I mean, most artists don't make very much money, right? We'd go to our workshops during the day and have meals together with all the would-be artists. In the evenings our time was free.

Right after I got there, I realized I was to share a room with a rather strange guy who was into painting. He told me he liked to paint with natural materials such as crushed berries and flowers, clay and even blood. I decided to be polite, but I was never going to be his close friend. At dinner the first evening I looked around and saw that most of the people were fairly young so I drifted around and tried to meet a few of them. We compared notes about our media, such as oil paints or clay.

Eventually I met a tallish blonde woman who told me she was a watercolor artist. Next to her was another woman who seemed to stand a bit too close for a casual acquaintance. The tall blonde, named Sandy, introduced Jill to me as her "friend" and a fellow watercolor artist. I found that I really enjoyed talking with Sandy, but with Jill, well, not so much. She seemed a bit too clingy with Sandy and I was having trouble figuring out if they were a couple or just good friends.

Eventually Jill excused herself to go to bed and asked Sandy to 'Hurry up.' Once she was gone Sandy rolled her eyes and sighed quietly, "She seems to think we're more than we really are."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, we're good artist friends but she wants us to be a couple. She keeps asking me out, inviting herself over, you know."

"You swing that way? If I can be so bold to ask."

"Sure, well, actually I swing both ways. She prefers women and I think it pisses her off that I can go either way."

We then let our conversation drift off to more art related topics. She wanted to see some of my work, so I opened up my phone and showed her some pics and she did the same so I could see some of her work. She was clearly very talented and I suggested she could be teaching the classes, not taking any. She laughed and said she'd a lot to learn still. Eventually it was getting late so we parted and promised to talk again later.

For the rest of the week she and I would get together casually. I was struck by her tall and slightly muscular physique. She admitted to working out fairly routinely, particularly at a climbing gym. Once I told her I liked climbing too, though I preferred to be outdoors and include it as part of camping and hiking. We seemed to bond over this common interest and eventually we swapped phone numbers, agreeing to get together once we got back to the city.

I wasn't home twenty-four hours when I got a text asking me to come over for dinner. She indicated she had a big pot of vegetarian chili that she wanted to share. Once I was there and without Jill lurking in the background, we seemed to hit it right off. In no time we were laughing, telling jokes, describing our lives and backgrounds, well, you know. There was nothing sexual in our conversations, just friends being together.

The next time we met she came over to my place wanting to see my photos and my studio. We had a few drinks, I showed off my work and we ended up making out like teenagers on the couch. Her kisses were wonderful and I could feel a muscular but sexy torso when I hugged her. At one point she directed my hand to her breast and I teased the nipple for quite a while before she sighed, broke the kiss and pulled back from me.

"Jim, you really are a nice guy and your kisses are A+," she whispered. "I could see myself going a bit further with you, but you need to know, it's been awhile since I slept with a guy."

"Hey, I'm not pushing for anything here."

"Oh, I know you're not, just wanted to explain my hesitation. I do like men as well as women, it's just been a dry spell with guys lately. I'm actually a bit nervous, to tell the truth."

"Well, I don't bite, unless I'm told to," I added with a grin, "And I'm fine taking all the time in the world with you."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

We never did do much more that night or for the next few times we got together. It was about ten days later that I got a text from her. It read, "I need U 2 help me 2nite. Pls come at 7. Got food." I had no idea what she meant but the promise of food was enough to entice me to be there at seven, sharp. She greeted me with a big hug and a wonderful, slow, sensual kiss.

"Thanks for being prompt. Let's eat." Nothing was said about how I could help until after we ate and I was helping her in the kitchen when she said, "Jim, I think I need to get over my dry spell. Interested in helping me with that?"

"Maybe, what do you have in mind?"

"Let's finish up with the dishes and then I'd like to show you my bedroom." She then laughed at how quickly I wiped down the counters and dried the remaining dishes in the rack. She then pulled me gently down the short hall to her bedroom.

After turning to me she reached up and gave me a wonderful, sexy kiss, as her body rubbed up against me. My cock was sure paying attention and I know she could feel it. She backed up a bit and performed a slow strip tease for me.

First, she slowly unbuttoned her blouse and gently pulled it to the side, revealing a cute, pink bra with tissue-thin cloth. Her nipples were poking through as if to say, "Look at us," so I did. Once her blouse was on the floor, she slowly unbuttoned the jeans and pulled the zipper down. The panties matched the bra and barely hid what appeared to be a trimmed bush. She was slightly taller than average, was thin and slightly muscular, yet sported some nice, womanly curves. When she turned around, I was amazed at how shapely her butt and hips were. With her back to me the bra was unsnapped and dropped to the floor, then the panties followed.

"If you want to see the front, you'll need to strip too." I didn't waste any time and as soon as I was nude, she slowly turned around to let me look at her. Beautiful. That was the only word that came to my mind. A perfect mix of sexy curves and a toned physique greeted me and the little me clearly agreed.

"Come to bed with me, I wanna play with your little friend a bit," she whispered. After stroking my cock for what seemed like an eternity, she grabbed my hand and led it to her pussy. Pretty soon we were both kissing and playing with the other. Her pussy lips were bare and there was a neatly trimmed triangle of bush above. Moisture poured out of her and I used it to lubricate her clit as I rubbed little circles over it. I reached down and kissed her breast and then I started to slide lower.

"Jim, I appreciate the offer, really I do, but right now I'm more interested in getting that fabulous looking cock into me. It's been a long time..." she murmured as she pulled me towards her and then handed me a condom from under her pillow. In no time at all I was sheathed both in the condom and in her, pushing in and out to her obvious delight. We established a nice rhythm to our screwing and she pulled me down tightly onto her pubic bone allowing her clit to be stimulated more and more. Finally, with several cries of "Oh my God" she climaxed. I then continued for a few more strokes until I too climaxed.

After resting a few minutes, she whispered in my ear, "That was nice, very nice. You are a tribute to the male of the species. I'm glad we've done this."

There was no mention of love, we just had a nice few minutes of kissing and gently stroking each other. Eventually, as my cock softened, I pulled out to retrieve the condom. After I discarded it into the trash, she snuggled up to me and asked, "Would you like to do this again sometime? I feel good about us. I'd like to be something closer than 'friends with benefits,' but not necessarily exclusive. Is that OK with you?"

"Uh, yeah, that would be great. I really like you Sandy, and I'd like to do this more often."

So that is a brief description of how we came together. We had a nice, strong friendship with a comfortable sexual relationship. We were in this situation when we met Abby.

---

Vanessa

While Jim was talking, I frequently looked at Sandy and she nodded, smiled a few times and never frowned. This suggested to me that his description of their early relationship was probably fairly accurate. Abby's face remained fairly flat during his description and I saw no hostility. This suggested to me that she was comfortable with their history before she came on the scene.

"OK, thank you, Jim.

"So, I take it that you two were in this arrangement that was stronger than 'hook-up' sex but you were not a 'couple' when you met Abby. Is that right?" Both nodded. Then I added, "Sandy, why don't you tell me how you met Abby."

---

Sandy

Once Vanessa asked me to talk in more detail, I decided to tell it like it was. Afterall, we, or Jim, that is, were paying her to help us out, so I might as well put it all out there.

Like Jim said, we were both interested in art. Just a few days after we started having sex, he invited me to a community art fair. Multiple local artists came together twice a year and hosted an open-air show to advertise their works and to try and get more recognition for their art. There were multiple booths set up in the local park and people could wander about looking at what was available. We strolled around not finding much interesting until we came to one of the last booths. The woman there was showing fiber art. She apparently had a small loom and wove intricate patterns into scarves and hangings. The work was incredibly detailed and absolutely beautiful. It was clear that others thought the same thing as she was swamped with customers asking questions, buying items and even ordering custom pieces. She looked absolutely frazzled and tried to help several customers at the same time.

I mentioned to Jim that she needed some help and he suggested that we just go up and volunteer. I knew nothing about fiber art but I figured we could easily help sell the items she had on display. We worked our way forward and I leaned over to her and asked if she needed some help. There was a flash of uncertainty but she nodded yes, so we went around behind her main table. I announced to the crowd that any purchases were to be made with me and special orders and questions were to be directed to...then I realized we didn't even know her name. I turned to her and she smiled and told us her name was Abby and we told her ours.

After that things went much better for her; she was able to lock down new orders while Jim and I took the money or credit cards for the sales. In no time at all the crowd thinned out and within a few hours she was sold out. Jim and I then helped tear down the canopy and fold up the tables before dragging them to a rental truck that she had. Once everything was packed up, she turned to us with a big smile and thanked us over and over. I used the opportunity to ask about her work and just as we were getting ready to leave, she turned to us and said, "You guys really saved me today. How about I buy you dinner?"

Jim and I had nothing pressing so we agreed but only if we were allowed to buy drinks and spring for the tip. After making reservations at a little bistro, she took off in her truck and we drove home. About an hour later we all met at the restaurant. I was struck at how attractive she was. At the fair she was simply dressed in an apron and with her hair in a pony tail. At dinner she had dressed up in nice slacks, a thin top with apparently no bra and her beautiful brunette hair was loose around her shoulders. Her curves were a little fuller than mine and her boobs were certainly bigger, too.