Chapter 3

In Arizona, the temperature in September can easily be over a hundred. At night, it cools down. If you are a native, it can feel cold. The nicest times of day are the early morning and just after dusk. The worst time of day is three to four in the afternoon. The air, in most places outside of Phoenix, is very dry. A simple mister can lower the effective temperature by fifteen degrees.

The natives of the area do not try to get a tan, it’s forced upon them. The men wear long sleeve shirts and blue jeans, rather than shorts and t-shirts. It’s possible to get a burn through a white cotton shirt, if the material is thin. They wear hats that keep the sun off their face. Despite these precautions, the hands and face can get very tanned. The chances of getting a melanoma on exposed areas of skin are very high. The sun in Arizona is very intense, even in September. However, if one wants to get a suntan, then the only good time to lay out in the sun is early morning.

A naked Beth, Kelly, and Ed were relaxing on reclining lawn chairs in Ed’s backyard. Beth and Kelly had nice tans that covered their whole body except for the outline of a bikini. Ed’s hands and face were tanned, but the rest of him was a bleached white. Today was the first time they were able to sunbathe in the nude. Ed had finished installing the privacy fence the day before. He had installed it at the insistence of the ladies. He wondered where they had gotten tans, but then realized that both of them lived in apartment complexes with swimming pools.

Kelly looked over at Ed and said, “You better put some sun block on your cock. I’d hate to see that get burned.”

Beth laughed at the mental image Kelly’s words invoked and said, “It would be a pity if you couldn’t use it for a week. I’ve gotten used to getting it regularly.”

Ed groaned at the thought of a sunburned cock. He couldn’t imagine anything more painful. He reached over and put on more sun block. They had been teasing him ever since they got undressed. He hoped that he would find an opportunity to get back at them. He chuckled to himself at the idea of dying his cock bright red and looking at the disappointment on their faces when he showed it to them.

Ed looked at the two women and he knew he was the luckiest guy in the world. They were very different in build and looks, but both of them were gorgeous. He thought about it for a second and decided he was one of two luckiest guys in the world. John could have all of this, too.

He asked, “So how are we going to ask John to join our little family?”

Kelly answered, “You’re going to ask him.”

“No I’m not.”

Surprised at the flat refusal, Beth glared at him. “Why not? He’s your best friend.”

“Yes, he is. Moreover, I want to keep him as a friend. If I ask him and he says ‘no,’ then that could really hurt our friendship.”

Kelly and Beth looked at each other with a smile. They understood they had stumbled into an area of male sexuality where they didn’t belong. Kelly asked, “So how would you go about it?”

Rather than answer, he smiled and asked, “So how did you go about it with me?”

Kelly laughed at the question and said, “If I remember correctly, I told you what I wanted and asked if you were interested in staying with me in light of my desires.”

Beth asked, “When did you tell him that?”

“She told me that the day I met you at the hospital,” replied Ed as he remembered that day. It had been a very pivotal day in his life. He added, “That was right after she told me that she was going to have you for a wife.”

Beth shot a look at Kelly and asked, “Why did you say that?”

Kelly blushed and answered, “When John suggested that you were a natural submissive, I looked at you for the first time as a woman rather than a doctor. I liked what I saw and knew at that moment that I wanted you.”

Beth looked down at the ground and said, “Ever since my recovery from my breakdown, I’ve not been a submissive. Are you disappointed?”

Kelly shrugged her shoulders. She had not really thought that much about Beth’s submissive side. She had been more interested in the idea of a dedicated and caring partner.

She answered, “No. That wasn’t exactly what attracted me to you.”

Ed had watched the exchange. Every time the subject of John arose, the two women always talked around it until it wasn’t the subject anymore. Individually, both of them would admit that they really wanted John to join into the family.

He asked, “So how are you going to broach the subject to John?”

Kelly sighed and said, “I don’t know.”

A voice coming from behind startled them. “You might try telling him directly.”

Beth had jumped out of her chair at the sound of the voice. She spun around shouting, “John, don’t sneak up on us like that!”

John smiled and asked, “Feeling a little guilty, are we?”

Ed watched with glee as the women squirmed. He stood up and walked around to where John was standing. He winked at John and laughed. He said, “I’m going to go get some tea. I might take a walk around town, since there’s no telling how long you’ll be here. I’ll be back after a while.”

John watched Ed disappear into the house. He sat down in the chair that Ed had just vacated. He looked over the two naked ladies, one on each side of him. They were both very beautiful. He had been in bed with Beth many times and had enjoyed each time tremendously. He had seen Kelly naked many times, but had never even kissed her. He asked, “So what subject is it that you want to broach? Life? Career? Money?”

Kelly answered directly, “Marriage.”

John knew what she wanted, but he decided to have a little fun at their expense. He smiled, “Ah, so you are finally going to marry Ed! I’d love to be your best man!”

The breath burst out of Kelly in an explosive manner conveying her frustration. She said, “No, I want you to marry us!”

John replied, “Well, I did become a Druid when I received my doctorate. I can perform the ceremony, if you wish.”

“Are you being dense on purpose? I want you to be one of my husbands.”

John laughed in a friendly fashion and said, “I’m putting you on. I knew exactly what you meant. Remember, you told me once that you wanted a wife and two husbands.”

Kelly frowned and asked, “I did? When?”

“The first time that Beth spent the night at my place. You got into an argument at my place and told the whole story.”

Kelly remembered the occasion. She had argued with Betsy and had blurted out her desires. Ed had been a little upset with her after that. She said, “I had forgotten.”

John said, “Yes, you had. So tell me about this marriage concept of yours.”

Kelly explained how she wanted to be in a marriage of four adults. In particular, a marriage comprised of two men and two women. She wanted everyone to make love to every one else in the marriage. She wanted it to be a marriage in every way, with full economic support of each other, a common house, and children raised in a loving environment.

John asked, “Why does it have to include sex between members of the same gender?”

“It will prevent jealousy.”

John wasn’t sure that he fully agreed with that, but it sounded reasonable. He nodded and said, “It sounds like you’ve thought about it a lot.”

“Yes, I have.”

John asked the critical question, “So who are the others that will be in this marriage?”

“It would Beth and Ed,” answered Kelly. She looked at Beth for support.

John turned to Beth and asked, “What do you think of this idea?”

Beth hesitantly smiled and answered, “I like it.”

“What do you think of me joining in?”

Beth smiled openly and said, “Oh, I would love it.”

John mulled it over. He asked, “Well, what does Ed think?”

Kelly answered, “He’s okay with it.”

“What do you think, Beth?”

Beth frowned and looked at Kelly. She knew that her opinion differed from that of Kelly. She answered, “I don’t know. I don’t think he’s too wild about the idea of making love with a man.”

Kelly wanted to kill the idea that Ed wouldn’t go along with her idea very quickly. Kelly interrupted, “He said he would.”

Beth said, “Saying he would do it and wanting to do it are two different things. I’m sorry Kelly, but we can’t start this out with a half-truth.”

Kelly frowned. She couldn’t deny that Ed wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the idea of sex with another man. She admitted, “The sex with a man part does bother him a little.”

John stood up and faced the two women. He said, “I’ll give my answer when all three of you have proposed to me. I’ll accept that both of you have done so. That leaves Ed.”

Beth and Kelly sat there quietly thinking about what he had said. It was actually a very fair request. Kelly sighed and said, “Okay.”

John ended the discussion by saying, “I’ve got to go across the street to the house. Rover is hunting and he’ll be worried if I’m not there when he comes back. Besides, I think you need to have a long talk with Ed.”

John left the backyard and headed across the street. He walked around to his patio and sat on the chair there. He watched the herd of goats gathered around the feeder that was located almost a mile away. He couldn’t make out individual goats because of the distance, but he could see that they were placidly doing what goats do. He watched as the herd suddenly exploded. Rover had gotten one. He knew that because Rover never missed the slow moving goats.

Feeding Rover had turned into a major expense. He had come up the idea of allowing Rover to hunt the goats as an alternative to the more expensive prospect of buying fresh meat from the store every day. He had bought the land, almost a hundred goats, and an automatic feeder. He had also set up four widely separated watering areas. The goats were there for Rover to hunt.

He went in the house and fixed himself an iced tea. He took the pitcher out with him to the patio. The trick to living well in the Arizona heat was to drink lots of liquids. Sweat cooled and a lack of sweat killed. John was careful to always have a sip of water nearby. He returned to his chair on the patio and watched the horizon. Vultures were already heading towards the dead goat.

He sat there drinking his iced tea wondering when Ed would finally come over. He started to think about how he felt about the proposal that Kelly had made. He had known for a long time that she was interested in this kind of marriage. When the issue first came up, he was happily living with Betsy and that wouldn’t have worked for Kelly. When Betsy died, he knew he had become a logical fourth for the marriage. Still, his approach to the idea was to ignore it.

Kelly was focused on making her dream come true. For that to happen, he and Ed would have to become lovers. He didn’t really know what he thought about that. His only time with a male had been with the God and that had been more like rape. He thought about the experience. Some of the unpleasantness had been a result of the enormous size of the cock. Humans were not really built to deal with two-foot long cocks. However, most of the problem was that fact that he hadn’t consented. His experience had been rough with no concern for his pleasure or feelings. The lack of concern wasn’t out of maliciousness. A force of nature had made love to him. Morally, he guessed the experience taught him an important lesson. If a God could have sex with a man, then clearly the Gods and Goddesses didn’t have a problem with sex between members of the same gender.