“I’d like you to remember that it is still being worked on,” Sadie said as the two of them approached the front door.
“Don’t worry, I’m keeping it in mind,” Gabe replied.
He looked up at the house, still impressed by it. If it hadn’t been for the fact that he could see Sadie waiting in her car in the driveway, he would have been sure he didn’t have the right house. Or the right neighborhood.
A cold wind gusted and kicked up some of the remaining snow as they stepped up onto the front porch and Sadie slid her key into the lock.
“I hate winter,” she murmured, unlocking the door and hurrying inside.
“It’s nice to be inside, at least,” Gabe replied.
He followed her in and heard her laugh softly. “I imagine a lot of life’s troubles must seem rather pale when you have two very attractive, very sexually active women living with you. Let alone four,” she replied.
“That’s a fair point,” he replied, shutting the door and looking around.
Gabe was finally getting the first real look at the house that, at this point, almost certainly was going to be his.
Well, not just his, but his and Ellen’s and Holly’s, and possibly Krystal’s and Liz’s too.
Even now, it still felt impossible.
Three weeks had passed since Krystal had gone back home to seriously discuss the possibility of moving back to Krystal’s hometown and enter into a relationship with three other people that she’d technically never met before. He’d expected more communication from Liz given this development, but she hadn’t really done more than text a few times. Gabe would have been worried about it if he wasn’t still in pretty constant contact with Krystal.
She wouldn’t stop texting and calling.
Now that they’d had some time apart and he’d really examined it, he could see that Ellen was right about the two of them: Krystal was really into him. He could hear it in her voice when she called him and read it in all the messages she sent him. He was actually starting to worry that someone was going to get jealous but the problem hadn’t manifested. At least not visibly. That was what really worried him: he might just be missing it.
There was a part of him that was afraid that Liz would hate him, or at least be really upset with him in some capacity, because of how much Krystal was into him.
But aside from this new development in the curious thing his sex life had become, everything else seemed to be progressing by leaps and bounds.
He was done with his second series about Holly. Everything was written and triple-edited by himself, Ellen, and Holly, it was all properly formatted and actually uploaded to Ignition. At this point, thanks to the ability to set release dates and the automation of that particular process, Gabe didn’t actually have to do anything. Every Monday at midnight the next episode went live. He had three more weeks of space granted to him by that: two more episodes and then the complete collection. Based on how well his previous complete collection had done, and the sales numbers of the newer ones, he was extremely interested to see how this did.
At this point, he was on his way to surpassing any job he’d ever had before in terms of earning. It wasn’t fantastic, given that he’d only ever worked crap jobs with crap pay, but still, it felt like a big accomplishment all things considered.
And thanks to his focus (as much as he was able to muster Ellen and Holly around) he was about halfway through the third series about Krystal, which was taking longer because the amount of words going in kept increasing.
By now, the shorts he wrote were about three times the length of his original pieces. No longer short stories or even novelettes but full-blown novellas.
Things had begun accelerating for Ellen, too.
Mostly she’d been painting, and she had a natural talent for it. She’d painted almost exclusively scenes from Recovery, and had now gone into the realm of fan fiction. Given how sexual their household was, Gabe supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised that she’d started painting sex scenes between some of the characters.
And she was really good at that.
In between that, she’d set herself up a website that offered both website design and graphic design, specifically making cover art for people, though she had yet to actually launch the site yet. After all her practice doing it for him, she felt more confident about doing it.
And she’d actually been getting some hits already, from a few work-for-hire sites she’d posted to.
He’d seen some of the work she’d done and could tell in some unspoken but certain way that she was going to do really well at this. It might take time, it almost certainly would, given the nature of modern life, but she had a natural talent and a natural drive. She didn’t need to hustle and grind at this point, but this was already proving that she’d be able to do this probably for the rest of her life and, if not be rich from it, then at least help carve out a living.
Holly had mostly still been relaxing, but had started to ramp things up over the past week. She was still getting her blog set up, and by now it was more complex than ever. He went to check it out every two days or so and at this point he found it intricate. She didn’t just have pictures of places, but also little descriptions written for them. And she’d been adding to the photos. They’d gone out several times, all over town, taking fantastic pictures.
And she’d gotten together her paperwork to do it on a more professional basis. (With a little help from Ellen, who had way more experience navigating bureaucracy.) She was still a ways from doing it professionally, but she at least wanted to dip her toe in and start to get a feel for what it might be like to be hired to take pictures.
It was a wild, interesting, exciting time for all three of them, and he was still shocked that it had taken seemingly so little time to happen.
He supposed that was largely because there had been huge chunks of time where basically nothing had had happened, no progress was made, and it was like he was just existing, stuck in some strange stasis.
That so much change could happen over the course of months, or even weeks, felt ludicrous.
“This way,” Sadie said, bringing him back to the present.
His eyes dipped briefly to her ass, which was showcased so very nicely in the tight jeans she was wearing. There was a lot to like about Sadie, but her ass was amazing. He was still having a hard time believing that unloading into her mouth was a memory and not a fantasy. Gabe followed after her, out of the entryway and through an open door to the left.
They had been discussing moving to another property with Sadie and after talking about it for awhile and doing some prep work, she had been ready to show him the other house that she owned. It was on the other side of town, in a more upscale neighborhood that made him vaguely uncomfortable to be in.
It was empty and felt somewhat cavernous as they walked through it, passing through one room, then into the kitchen, then back across the hall again.
“Bathroom,” she said, open door. “And then this would be a bedroom, or an office.” She opened the door next to it and they looked inside. It had a barren look to it and he could see why she’d been a little reluctant to show him.
She’d bought the property last year and had been slowly having it fixed up, but before she hadn’t really had any real rush to do so, as property management was something she’d gotten into awhile ago but didn’t have a great taste for.
They went upstairs are touring the rest of the first floor and looked through another three empty bedrooms and a pair of bathrooms, then she took him down into the basement.
“I’ve gotten most of the pertinent stuff taken care of,” she said. “Plumbing, the roof, some foundation work. It all checks out, and I intend to have a full inspection run by someone I can trust after I finish up. There’s still some electrical work but most of the work left is cosmetic. I want to get everything repainted and new carpets laid in, and replace a few of the windows. And finish out this basement. It’ll look a lot better once the carpet’s down and the painting is done. You can almost certainly turn this into a bedroom or maybe a den or...sex dungeon. I don’t know, I’m not completely sure what you’re all into.”
He laughed. “I don’t know if we’ll go that far.”
“Just so long as you don’t do any damage, I don’t really care what the five of you do,” Sadie replied.
They headed back upstairs. As they came to stand in what would be the living room, he studied Sadie. She looked different. She’d always looked good to him, but now she looked as good as he’d ever seen her. Part of it was her haircut. She’d gotten it cut in a sexier style. She was also wearing tight clothing that made her seem shapelier, that accentuated her body more. He thought she might be wearing a bit of makeup as well.
“So what do you think?” she asked.
“I think it’s great and we’re going to go ahead with this,” he replied. “Even if Liz and Krystal decide they don’t want to join us, it would be nice to have a bigger place. Especially with all the work we’re doing nowadays that requires a bit of space.”
“It’s good to see the three of you working on things you care about, that you’re passionate about. Is that why they didn’t come?” she asked.
“Uh...I mean, I think that’s why Holly didn’t come,” he replied, laughing a little awkwardly. “She was out taking photos and busy. Ellen was busy but…”
“But?” she prompted, a small smile on her on face. She really liked it when he was awkward or embarrassed, he’d noticed.
“I’m pretty sure the real reason she didn’t tag along was because she wanted you and I to get some more alone time.”
“Oh.” Sadie blushed a little. Now it was her turn to be awkward. “I’m close,” she said, “to being ready.”
“Like I said, no rush,” Gabe replied. “I want you to feel good about it.”
“Oh I feel very good about it,” she said, her smile returning with a bit more intensity. She took a step closer to him. “Very good about it. At this point I’m just waiting on my test results. I should hear back any day now.”
He nodded. Something that was floated once they’d started seriously talking about all this, and something Sadie herself had independently mentioned as well, was getting tested for STDs. Everyone, including Sadie, was basically ninety nine percent sure they had nothing, but given there was going to be unprotected sex going on, Gabe didn’t think it was unreasonable at all to cover their bases. So far everyone in his circle, including Krystal and Liz, had come back negative. Sadie had been dragging her feet a little out an admitted hatred of anything doctor or medical related. Given some of the stuff she had told them about running into, he didn’t blame her.
“And then you’ll be down to fuck?” he asked.
Gabe didn’t want to pressure her, but he also didn’t want her to think he wasn’t interested or was faking it. She was still nervous about that, apparently.
Plus, well, he really wanted this.
It wasn’t necessarily that he thought she was teasing him intentionally, dragging it out on purpose, but she was teasing him sexually to a certain degree. It was more that she was teasing him and she happened to be needing awhile to adjust to the whole idea of sex with him. She’d been off the scene for over a decade.
Even after all their interactions, it had to be kind of an intimidating prospect.
“Yes,” she said, smiling and reaching up, tracing a finger slowly along his jaw, “and then I will be down to fuck...I still can’t fully believe that you’re into this. Especially with Ellen and Holly and, good lord, Krystal. I’d understand if it was just ‘another notch on the belt’ kind of thing, but I can read it in your eyes: you’re attracted to me.”
“Very,” he agreed.
“It’s a little strange, after a lifetime of...not exactly being the belle of the ball, and then feeling like my looks were going down the drain even before forty, and that they were gone by fifty, and now I’m five years beyond that. I’ve never placed a lot of emphasis on sex or relationships, but I don’t disregard them completely...I guess, what I’m really trying to say is that it feels surprisingly good to have the attention of such a handsome young man.”
She’d laid her hand flat against his chest now, staring into his eyes.
“It feels about as fantastic as I thought it would to have the attention of such a hot cougar,” he replied.
She laughed. “I never thought I would be a cougar. I knew a MILF wasn’t on the table simply because...well, obvious reasons. But a cougar...I kind of thought it was a little bit of a sexual myth. That men who were into noticeably older women were very rare, and even then only women who were unusually attractive even as they headed into middle age.”
“If there’s a thing that I’m learning,” Gabe replied, “it’s that ‘attractive’ is largely bullshit. I mean yeah, conventionally attractive people have it easier, but I’ve definitely learned that attractive truly is a roll of the dice. I never in a million years would have thought that Ellen or Holly or Krystal or you would be genuinely sexually attracted to me.”
“You know, I was attracted to you before we even met,” Sadie murmured, settling her other hand on his hip now.
“Really?’
“Yes. You’ve got a very sexy voice. When we first spoke, it honestly made me horny to a degree I hadn’t been in a few years...I very seriously considered jumping you when we first met.”
“What stopped you? Because that would have been amazing,” he replied.
She laughed. “I suppose I was uncomfortable with the age difference...and I wasn’t sure if you were single or not. And ultimately I lost my nerve.”
“And now you aren’t worried about the difference?”
“No. Not really. You’re...a lot more mature than a lot of people at your age.”
“If you say so...you wanna make you?” he asked.
She exhaled sharply and blushed again. “I...wasn’t expecting that,” she murmured. “Yes.”
And then she kissed him, and he slipped his arms around her, leaning into the kiss. Such a rushing thrill of excitement burst within his stomach as their lips met and he tasted her and he felt her against him. He thought of her naked and how it felt to put his dick in her mouth, how it felt to have he wrap her fingers around his cock and jack him off. Feeling her up, seeing her masturbate, having sex in front of her.
What it might feel like to be inside of her.
Her tongue in his mouth was even more thrilling.
“You know,” he said, “I honestly don’t have to wait for the results to come back. We could fuck right now if you wanted to.”
She pulled back slightly, staring at him, flushed and breathing heavily. Then shook her head slightly. “Not yet,” she managed. “I’m sorely tempted but...not yet. I want it to be right. Believe me, I love the idea of a spur-of-the-moment, impassioned tryst as much as the next girl but...it’s been a decade. I want it to be...proper. Very soon, though, Gabe.”
“I’ll be ready,” he said.
She smiled and kissed him again, then pulled back, letting her hands fall to her sides. She sighed. “This is agitating,” she admitted. “I’m very horny right now.” She sighed. “Obviously you are too...but you have a pair of women you can go home to and get...help. Satisfying that urge.”
“Does it bother you?” he asked.
“No,” she replied, “don’t worry, I’m not the jealous type. You and Ellen and Holly are all so good to and for each other. I’m happy.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome...now come on, there’s business I need to tend to elsewhere. The renovations shouldn’t take more than a week, perhaps two at the very longest.”
“What about rent?” he asked as they headed for the front door.
“I don’t know...honestly I’m tempted to just let you have it for free. The rent has just been a pretext at this point.”
Gabe was reaching for the knob but he hesitated and then turned to face her. “Why are you doing this for?” he asked suddenly. “I mean, really? I appreciate it, we all do, and I trust you, but...it doesn’t fully make sense.”
She looked back at him, twisting her lips, seeming to consider his words. “It took awhile, but I became good at making money,” she replied finally. “I won’t say I’m rich, but I am very well off at this point. Honestly, by now, I have enough to last me the rest of my life if I’m not stupid. Hell, even if I’m stupid. It’s been like that for fifteen years or so. After a certain point, I just...don’t really care. I have a nice house with nice stuff and a nice car, and a fat savings and retirement fund, some good stock options. I went on several vacations. To Europe. To South America. I went to Japan two years ago. And that was fun, and I’ll probably still go on a few of those trips, but I have more money than I know what to do with. The thing that remains is my desire to help people, somehow. So now I donate to charities and help out around town if I can...that’s why.”
Gabe thought there was a little more to it, something in the way she was talking, or maybe the way she was looking at him, but she seemed to hedge a little. Before he could respond, his phone buzzed. He checked it.
There was a text from Krystal: I’M COMING FOR YOU DUDE!
And then a pic of her tits popped up. She had pulled her shirt and bra up in the car and taken a picture. He felt a hit of direct lust, made all the more powerful by his makeout session with Sadie. He replaced his phone.
“I really appreciate it, Sadie,” he said. “Honestly, you’ve changed my entire life. For the better by far.”
She smiled. “That makes it worth it. I had a very good feeling about you, Gabe, and I’m so glad to find out that it was right...now, I assume that was a woman wanting sex?”
He laughed awkwardly. “Kinda yeah. Krystal and Liz are coming back down today and they’re on the way apparently.”
“Give me a kiss and get back to them, then,” she said.
He and Sadie shared another kiss, and then he was out the door.