The Space Between Us

  In weeks past I’d have soothed her, told her I loved what she’d picked. Probably even pulled one out to use right there to prove it. I didn’t have it in me to do that now. “I know you did.”

  That was the worst part. I believed she had thought hard about what I’d like…and been wrong. Not just a little wrong, but fantastically, momentously and egregiously wrong.

  She put the lid on the box. “Well. I guess it’s a good thing I can return everything for credit.”

  The joke fell flat, but at least it was a joke. I leaned to kiss her, catching her cheek. “Don’t do that. They’ll be fun.”

  She shrugged. “It’s okay. You can exchange the earrings you got me, right? For a different color?”

  Now she was just being a bitch, but that was okay. I could handle that. “Sure. No problem. I can just return them altogether.”

  Her gaze flickered. She didn’t want me to return the earrings; she liked them, I knew. But she shrugged and gave me a tight-lipped smile. “Great. Good.”

  “I have something for you,” Charlie told me, and we both turned to look at him. He held out a small box wrapped in pretty blue-and-silver paper. “Here, honey.”

  The box was the size of my palm, but had the weight of a promise. I curled my fingers over the top. Something inside shifted.

  “Open it,” Charlie said.

  I did. Nestled inside on a bed of white cotton was a bracelet, a simple band of polished silver in a curving shape, like waves. It was beautiful. It was perfect.

  I loved it.

  “Thank you!” I took it from the box and slipped it onto my wrist. The metal warmed to my skin within seconds. It was tight enough that it wouldn’t get in the way at work, and I twisted my arm back and forth, admiring it.

  I shouldn’t have thought twice about kissing Charlie for that present, but I did. Meredith had watched him make me come with his tongue, had seen him fuck me until we both collapsed. But having her watch me kiss him now felt somehow wrong.

  I kissed him, anyway.

  “Jangle Bangles has a matching necklace,” she said, even as the kiss lingered. “I’ll show it to you in the catalog.”

  I sat back. I’d never buy something from Jangle Bangles, and I had no doubt the necklace wouldn’t really match. “Sure. That would be great.”

  She stood, looking down at both of us. “I have something else for the two of you. It’s a surprise.”

  Charlie glanced around at the mess we’d made in the living room, paper and ribbons and bows all over, then up at his wife. “What is it?”

  “It’s not a what, it’s a where.”

  I knew her smile and the gleam in her eyes. I knew the way she slid her tongue across her lips. I could see she was up to something, but I couldn’t begin to imagine what it might be.

  “C’mon. Let’s go.” Meredith held out her hands, one to each of us.

  Charlie and I each took one, and we followed her.

  Chapter 37

  “Where are we going, exactly?” Charlie was driving, but Meredith had plugged an address into the GPS, and the monotone voice kept barking out orders.

  In the light from the dashboard, her eyes gleamed. She twisted to look at me in the backseat. “It’s a club. A special party, for Christmas Eve.”

  “Dancing?” Charlie made a face. “You know I don’t like to dance.”

  “You don’t have to dance. Tesla and I can dance. You can watch.” She snuggled up close to him and ran a finger down the buttons of his shirt, then cast me a flirtatious glance. “Or do other stuff.”

  Charlie laughed. “What other kind of stuff could I do in a club?”

  “At this club I want to go to, just about anything you like.”

  Charlie seemed confused. “Are you talking about something like Spanky’s?”

  It was a strip club, but not a classy one like Samantha’s. Spanky’s had peep-show booths and an adult toy store, along with what I’d heard was a pretty skanky club section in the back with dark and private areas and sticky seats. Bleah.

  Meredith made a face. “Ew. No. This club is private. You need an invitation.”

  Charlie still didn’t get it. “Like a country club?”

  She laughed, low. “Sort of. But not for golf.”

  “What’s it for, then?”

  I knew before she said it. “She means for swingers.”

  “Swingers…” Charlie’s brows rose. “What?”

  “She wants to go to a sex club.” I was talking to him, but looking at her. “Probably at something like a private home, though it’s set up like a club. You need an invitation to get in because technically it’s a private party. Right?”

  “It’ll be fun,” Meredith said. “I promise.”

  * * *

  Even in a swingers’ club, there was no real provision for three. Charlie and Meredith would get in without a problem as a couple, something that would’ve been hard or impossible for him to do as a single guy. And me?

  I was a unicorn.

  Single, bisexual female available to pair with couples. I was what everyone was looking for, but most people couldn’t find. When I told Charlie this in the parking lot, just before we went inside, he laughed in disbelief.

  “It’s true,” Meredith told him. She linked an arm through mine. We’d both changed, dressed to impress, and in my high heels I was finally almost her height. She pressed her chin to my shoulder, holding me close to her side. “Our Tesla’s going to be a very popular girl.”

  “I don’t want her to be popular,” Charlie said. “And are you sure—”

  Meredith kissed him to stop him from speaking. “I know you’re worried, but look at it this way. Nobody’s going to call the school board. Anyone who sees you here would have to explain what they were doing here, too.”

  Charlie wasn’t totally convinced, I could tell, but I knew she was right. “People keep their sex lives private and secret for a reason, Charlie.”

  “C’mon. Don’t be a spoilsport,” Meredith said. “It’ll be fun.”

  “That’s what you said.” Charlie linked an arm through mine on the other side. “But we don’t have to do anything, right? We can just watch.”

  “Nothing you don’t want to,” she promised. “C’mon, I’m freezing my ass off out here.”

  The club was indeed at a private house, a long, low rancher set on a nicely landscaped plot of land surrounded by a fence, and only accessible down a long country road. There was a pool out back, closed for the winter, though three or four hot tubs bubbled and steamed. A couple trailers had also been set up along the open breezeway between the house and what had been a garage, but now looked like a game room. Everything glowed with strings of festive, multicolored lights. A waving Santa and sleigh were on the roof.

  “It’s an entire complex,” Charlie said, as we went up the front steps.

  The man who answered the door wore a pair of jeans with no shirt and didn’t seem bothered by the cold. With nipples pierced, he gave new meaning to the term “muffin top,” and when I caught Charlie’s eye I had to fight back laughter at his expression.

  “Hi. I called earlier and spoke to Len,” Meredith said, as if she did this sort of thing all the time. “Three under the name Smith.”

  “Sure, c’mon in! I’m Harve. Get in out of the cold.” Harve welcomed us into a small living room decorated in early seventies porn chic. Leather couches, tiger-striped carpets, lava lamps. Mud flap silhouettes as art on the wall.

  People in all stages of dress, mostly un, lounged or chatted in small clusters.

  “Living room,” Harve said unnecessarily. “Donation box is right here. Cash only. Suggested donations are listed there on the sign. Kitchen’s through there—we have snacks, drinks, just put the cash in the box. If you want bar food, you can hit the bar downstairs. We have a full game room and dance club set up down there, too. Another game room out past the breezeway. Pool’s shut down, but the hot tubs are open. Bathing suits optional. ’Cuz this is our holiday party,
we’re having a bunch of raffles, too. Great prizes. Big-screen TV and stuff. Tickets are five for five bucks.”

  He gave us a broad, cap-toothed grin and handed us each a brochure. “Rules here. Any trouble, you give me or Len a holler, okay? Make yourselves at home. Mi casa es su casa, got it?”

  Meredith nodded. “Thanks!”

  Charlie and I murmured a thanks, too. He was already perusing his brochure, at least until Meredith nudged him to put it away.

  “You’ll make us look like total newbs,” she hissed. “Jesus, Charlie!”

  I linked my arm through his again. “It’s okay. I can give you the rundown. I don’t see many single guys here, though it’s hard to tell. But basically, you might be approached by someone asking to join you or watch. You can say no, and no definitely means no. If you want to join someone or watch, Meredith or I will ask, not you.”

  Charlie appeared uncomfortable. “You know a lot about this.”

  I shrugged, looking around. It was more up-front and in-your-face than The Compound had ever been, but then I’d never been allowed into the private adult buildings. “The internet is a wonderful teaching tool, Charlie. What can I say?”

  “C’mon, let’s get some drinks. Charlie, put the money in the box.” Meredith was already moving toward the kitchen, which was just like any normal kitchen except the fridge had a price list on the front and another cash box on the counter.

  Charlie thumbed out several bills from his wallet and shoved it in the slot. “Have you done this before, Tesla?”

  I shook my head, still gripping his arm as we moved into the kitchen. “Nope.”

  He paused to look down at me. “You just know?”

  I shrugged and gave him a smile. “I know lots of things.”

  “Because of your parents?”

  I nodded. “They kept this stuff sort of distant from me and Cap, but you know. Kids pick things up.”

  Charlie nodded in turn, looking around the combined kitchen and dining area. Meredith had already cracked the top on a beer and was chatting with a woman in a long red dress. She had huge breasts and nipples that poked out the front. She was gesturing to the man with her. He wore jeans, and like Harve, no shirt, but this guy was far more fit.

  “Charlie, baby, you want a beer?” Meredith handed him one. “Tesla?”

  “No, thanks.” I shook my head. “I’ll be the designated driver.”

  “Good.” Meredith made introductions, me and Charlie to Steff and Kirk. She mentioned that Charlie was her husband but said nothing about my affiliation.

  Steff’s smile crawled all over me and tried to eat me. “Hi.”

  Charlie pulled me a little closer to him. “Hi.”

  “First time?” Steff asked.

  “You can tell, huh?” Charlie’s laugh was too loud.

  Steff eyed him. “Oh. Definitely. But don’t worry, Charlie, by the end of the night you’ll forget you were ever scared.”

  “I’m not scared.” Charlie tipped his beer to his mouth.

  Steff’s smile was gentler. “Right.”

  Then she turned her attention to Meredith, leaving me and Charlie to talk to Kirk. It turned out he was Steff’s guest, since single guys needed to be sponsored in. It was clear to me by the way she casually and without subtlety caressed his bulging crotch every so often that Steff and Kirk were fucking, but he wasn’t her husband or even her boyfriend.

  “It’s great downstairs. Dancing and some games. And some private rooms,” Steff said. “You want to go check it out?”

  “Absolutely.” Meredith grinned at us over her shoulder as she followed Steff, Kirk close behind.

  Charlie hung back at the top of the stairs. His face was serious when he looked at me. The steady thump of a disco beat vibrated beneath our feet, and the stairwell swirled with colored lights. He had to put his mouth close to my ear for me to hear him.

  “Tesla, are you sure about this?”

  “We’re together, Charlie. It’s okay. I told you, nobody here will make you do anything you don’t want to do. It’s etiquette. I’m sure we’re going to see some people fucking or sucking,” I said. “But you don’t have to do anything you don’t like.”

  “I like fucking,” Charlie murmured, his hands roaming over my body. “I like sucking, too.”

  I laughed and wiggled away from him. “Yeah, I seem to remember that.”

  Meredith was already dancing when we got to the bottom of the steps. She turned to us, her eyes alight with an excitement I hadn’t seen in her for a long time. She gestured, making a face when Charlie hung back.

  “Nobody will make me do anything I don’t want to do,” he said. “Nobody but my wife, anyway.”

  I pushed him forward. “It’s not So You Think You Can Dance. Just shuffle your feet back and forth. You’re only there for us to grind on, baby.”

  He grinned at me over his shoulder. “I can manage that.”

  Meredith greeted us both with beer-flavored kisses. “Dance with me, Charlie.”

  He gave it his best shot, but there was a reason why he never hit the dance floor. Totally uncoordinated, but endearing, he moved his hips and his feet in opposite directions, while his hands went someplace else. I didn’t want to laugh at him, but couldn’t help it. Meredith, on the other hand, had turned around to shove her ass against his crotch, bouncing to the music, her beer all gone.

  I needed a drink of my own. There was a bar in one corner, with a bartender behind it. He was actually fully clothed, which was a relief, since his cock was at garnish level and I wanted a slice of lime in my diet soda, nothing else.

  I took a seat at the bar on a stool shaped like a hand. Very funky. Not very comfortable. It felt as if I might slide off if I wasn’t careful, something I fixed by shoving the heel of my shoe against the metal footrest and propping an elbow on the bar.

  Charlie and Meredith were having quite a time. He was actually laughing, twirling her out and in again. He dipped her. When she kissed him, he kissed her back. She put her arms around his neck to keep him close. It would’ve been too much PDA in a public bar, but down here it was tame.

  More leather couches like the ones upstairs lined the walls. Open doorways showed glimpses of rooms without any furniture, just mattresses on the floor and mirrors on the walls and ceiling. Closed doors probably had the same thing behind them, with the addition of couples, triples or other combinations getting their freak on.

  Not that you had to be behind a closed door to do that. In one corner, lit sporadically by a whirling disco light, I spotted a woman on her knees busily sucking a man’s cock, while he slowly jerked the dick of the dude sitting next to him. Another couple fucked, the woman on the man’s lap, on a rocking chair in another corner. Most people, though, naked or clothed, weren’t doing anything dirtier than making out. Maybe some finger-banging. It wasn’t quite an orgy down here, though I had no doubt it could become one.

  This was what Meredith wanted. Not satisfied with having both Charlie and me, she’d brought us here to…what? Be voyeurs? Or exhibitionists?

  Or just to be unconventional?

  “Hi.” The woman who took the seat next to me wore a short skirt that showed a lot of thigh, and a corset top, her breasts heaving out above, her belly plumping out a bit below. “I’m Jessica.”

  “Tesla.” I took the hand she offered and shook it.

  “Are you here by yourself?” Jessica gestured to the bartender. “Vodka cranberry and another of what she’s drinking.”

  “Um…no, not really. I’m with them.” I pointed at Charlie and Meredith, still dancing and kissing. She had her hand on his crotch, rubbing. He didn’t look as if he minded.

  Jessica’s perfectly arched brows rose. “Oh, really? You’re in a ménage?”

  It sounded so formal when she said it that way. “Yeah. I guess we are.”

  “Huh.” She watched them for a minute, then turned back to me with a smile so friendly and genuine I had to return it. “They look busy. Are you interested
in some play with me and my boyfriend? He’d watch, only.”

  She leaned a little closer. “You’re very cute.”

  “Thanks.” It seemed polite to offer her a compliment; the truth was, she’d flustered me a little. Heat flushed my throat and cheeks. “I like your corset. It’s very flattering.”

  She leaned back with a laugh. “New to this, huh?”

  “This?” I looked around the basement disco. “Sort of. Not really. Yes.”

  Jessica giggled again and shifted her hand-stool closer. “That’s so cute. But you’re not new to kink.”

  “I guess not.” I’d never felt newer to it than just then.

  “You like girls?”

  “Oh, yes. Sometimes.” I looked involuntarily at Meredith. She’d backed Charlie up against one of the support columns. They were barely still dancing. I wondered if he was hard, then knew he had to be.

  “So…would you like to go with me and my boyfriend?” Jessica gave a discreet chin jerk toward a guy at the end of the bar chatting with a couple in matching leather outfits. “His name’s Carl. Like I said, he’d just watch.”

  “I…” I didn’t know what to say.

  In all the talking we’d ever done, the three of us had never spoken about whatever the threesome equivalent of monogamy might be. We’d outlined rules about sharing time and space, but we’d never discussed loyalty. I looked again at Meredith and Charlie.

  She was still dancing, but Charlie was laughing and shaking his head. He leaned against the support column as Meredith shimmied in front of him, but it looked as if he’d had enough.

  “You want to go ask them, honey?” Jessica said. “We’re not really into a group thing, but if you want to check it out with your partners first, I’m cool with that.”

  “I guess I…yeah.” I swallowed some soda to wet my suddenly dry throat. For all my blasé attitude about the rules in a place like this, and how to say no, I suddenly found it hard to just turn her down.

  “Not interested?”

  “It’s not that,” I told her. “You’re very pretty.”

  She laughed and leaned close to press her cheek to mine, and squeezed me kindly before sitting back. “Oh, honey. It’s okay. You don’t have to worry about hurting my feelings. You shouldn’t do something that doesn’t turn you on, right? That’s what all of this is about.”