Hidden in the Blood: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 5)

Chapter Forty-Four: Al, Saturday

By the time Lauren walked into the new downstairs bedroom, wearing the little red kimono that always turned him on, her hair still dripping wet, Al was thrumming with the need for somebody. He'd been waiting patiently for his turn, but imagining what his wife and his lover were up to, two floors up, had nearly driven him crazy with longing.

This arrangement had taken some time, long enough to finally happen after Lauren's cast and Sunny's sling were both off, and everyone had agreed that was the best thing for all of them, because they could all perform at their best, now. It had taken a long time because, aside from the fact that everybody was busy with work and family obligations, and Sunny with the additional responsibilities of being a politician, there was a lot of mature negotiation and input from every participant, because this was the first time anything like this had ever happened and no one wanted to walk away hurt after it was over. This was the first planned adultery among the LSDC (Rachel had joked that they should call it the Lawrence Street Debauchery Club now,) when until then all encounters had taken place behind at least one person's back. 

Al had been surprised to know Tej had been the instigator of the arrangement, the one who'd put the first feelers out. Apparently, Sunny had been feeling left out of the shenanigans that had evolved within their group over the years, and Tej had been feeling guilty that she'd had a chance to be with Lauren and Rachel while her husband hadn't. She'd also been itching for another chance with Rachel and Lauren herself, and proposed a night of pleasure for all of them to make everybody happy.

Of course, none of this would have been possible if Rachel and Lauren themselves weren't willing to take Sunny on; apparently, that hug Lauren and Sunny shared at Harrison Hot Springs had hinted at a deeper attraction than either of them had admitted before, and while Al was in his coma, Rachel had visited Sunny in the hospital, saw his hair was down, felt it in her hands, and found herself wondering what it would be like to make love to him with his hair down. This had all been revealed to him over the course of the negotiations.

To Al's surprise, he didn't begrudge Sunny his chance to be with them. Unlike Joe, Sunny didn't threaten Al. He knew Rachel and Lauren could have their fun with him and be content to go back to their normal lives, and he knew Sunny would never leave Tej, the two of them were too much in love, had too much invested in their home and family life, to split up over this. This was just a one-time fulfilling of fantasies they'd all been having, and if they all approached it with respect and rules, they could all get something good out of it.

Joe, however, wasn't going to let a third man have his wife without getting something in return. Again, to everyone's surprise, Tej was willing to have a go with him. That must have been painful for Sunny, and Al hoped he could get past it; he himself had had to, and he thought he was doing a pretty good job. It was just that Joe's attributes made him a winner, at least physically. Of course, technique was also important, but it was hard to get past the sheer fact of his size. Maybe Tej knew that too, and maybe that was why she wasn't willing to take Al on, and Al had to be okay with that as well. Sure, it would have been nice to see what she was like in bed, but this whole arrangement would have dissolved if any of them felt pressured to be with the other. Consent was primary here, and they all risked their friendships ending if an accusation of assault arose out of this night.

Because Al and Sunny both felt inadequate around Joe, they'd all thought it best if they were all in different rooms, with the women choosing who they wanted to be with at what time and where. He just couldn't picture watching Joe and Sunny doing it with Rachel and Lauren, although he might have liked watching them do it with Tej, because he didn't have the same emotional attachment with her. It was just safest this way, for everybody's feelings. The other rule was that if any participant wanted to stop, they could pull out with no hard feelings and let the rest continue. So far, it didn't seem like anyone had pulled out, although he couldn't hear anything from two floors down.