Freedom Through Faith
Author's note: This story is meant in absolutely no way to reflect any sort of reality among pagans or nudists. I know several pagans, and while many of them are damn sexy, their beliefs are not like the group shown here. This is certainly not an attempt to advocate a philosophy.
All characters are over the age of 18. Additionally -- there's lots of sex when it happens, but I'll warn you up front that this is not an incest story.
Freedom Through Faith
"So there's something we didn't tell you about our plans for this weekend."
The admission hung in the air like a dark, ominous cloud threatening to rain all over their plans. Scott and Amber both felt it, looked at one another, and wondered what sort of details would be so bad that they couldn't be revealed until the last minute like this. Amber gripped her boyfriend's hand a little tighter where they sat together on the living room couch.
"Oookay," Scott said, eyeing his parents suspiciously. He wondered if this was going to be like the time his "just because it's Sunday and we love you" present turned out to be a brand new matching broom, mop and bucket. "Why don't you tell us, Dad?"
"Well -- the important thing to tell you straight off is that if you two don't want to come along, that's fine by us. It's really no worry if you want to back out, and we'll understand completely. We're not worried about leaving the house to the two of you."
Amber's pretty brown eyes widened. "You're not?"
Justin waved a dismissive hand. "Nah, you're both adults. Got jobs and college and stuff. It's not like you aren't old enough to drink legally. We aren't worried about either of you doing anything irresponsible. And besides, your friend Sherri's house is way bigger than ours. They'd never shift the end-of-the-semester party from there to here on such short notice."
"How did you know it's at Sherri's?" Scott asked, suspicion mounting. It had been a tradition among his few remaining high school friends since graduation. Their social circles had all expanded, of course, but at this point, several of them had graduated college. Scott would be a graduate at this point himself, had he not elected to stay on for a double major.
"I hacked your Facebook page. You really shouldn't use the same password for it that you have on your World of Warcraft account, kiddo."
Scott facepalmed. "God dammit, Dad," he groaned.
Amber couldn't resist. "I still love you even though you're a nerd," she remarked dryly.
"Dad plays it more than I do."
Justin snorted. "Yeah, maybe during finals."
"The important thing," Scott's mother broke in with a much more serious and assertive tone, "is that you have to swear to whatever you find sacred not to tell anyone about it. Ever."
Scott looked up in surprise. He glanced to Amber, who was now sitting up with interest. "What's so secret about it?" she asked. "I thought you've been going to this place for years?" Scott and her boyfriend had been looking forward to the trip. They knew it was a pagan religious retreat, which was new for Amber. Scott hadn't ever been there, first because he had been too young and then because college and other interests simply kept him busy. But it was out of the city in beautiful country, with horses, hiking trails and, to hear Scott's parents tell it, wonderful people. It sounded like a great place to relax after the end of the spring semester.
"We have. But we haven't advertised, and we can't have you talking, either."
Amber frowned a bit. "What's going on? Is it drugs or something?"
Justin snorted. "Hell no."
Dana took a deep breath. "Honey," she said, "this has driven us nuts for years. We've always wanted to tell you, but couldn't. You were just too young. Nobody magically turns into a genuine adult just by having their eighteenth birthday. You've always been very mature, but...we wanted to wait a few more years and make sure you'd settled. We weren't going to tell you, Amber, but... well, we've known you for years, and we're so glad you and Scott are together. We trust you."
"Um. Okay," Amber blinked. It was true enough. She'd been Scott's "just a friend" since high school, but the years that followed had indeed changed them both. Scott grew more confident and less awkward. Amber grew weary of guys who were interested in her only for her good looks; she loved the initial attention, but boredom inevitably set in. They stayed after the annual party a year ago to keep the hostess company after she'd had too much to drink, shared her couch for the night, and couldn't get enough of one another since.
"Mom. Dad. What's up?"
Justin and Dana looked at one another, and both took a deep breath. It was Dana who spoke. "It has to do with the religious practices."
"I already know you're pagans," Amber said. "What's weird about it?" Justin and Dana had rarely talked about it. Oddly, they hadn't really ever brought Scott in on things, either. They had given their son a broad religious education and wanted him to make his own decisions, but held that he should wait until he was older and had seen more of the world to come to his own conclusions. This was going to be his first real window into that part of their lives. He was eager to see what it was all about. As part of the family, Amber was curious as well.
"Nobody wears clothes. At all. All weekend. And you can't, either."
Scott blinked. He looked back at Amber, who sat with her eyes wide for a long moment. Finally, she slowly turned to look at Scott with her face controlled but her voice trembling with excitement, "I am totally fine with hanging out with your naked parents."
"Oh good," Scott deadpanned, "because I was so worried that this would be awkward for you."
***
It was more of a ranch than a camp, situated about an hour outside the city and surrounded by a thick, dense treeline. It hardly looked like occupied property at all, and wouldn't have caught the interest of anyone who didn't know it was there. They passed through a gate with a card-key entry onto a dirt road leading through the trees. It was an exceptionally verdant area, dominated mostly by tall firs and evergreens but filled in with leafier trees reaching for the sun.
"I'm really glad you decided to come with us," Dana said from the front passenger seat of the car. "But if this makes you uncomfortable at all, at any point and for any reason, just say the word. We can take off whenever you guys like. Justin and I can always come back again."
"I think it'll be cool, Mom," Scott said. Once again, Amber was holding his hand with building excitement. They had talked it over alone before Amber had gone home last night, agreeing that while they had nerves, they were also very intrigued.
Scott's parents were stable, solid, sane people. Whatever went on at this camp, they figured, it couldn't be too off the wall. There were nudist resorts elsewhere. And, really, Scott and Amber were all too happy for the chance to spend more time together naked. It wasn't the sort of opportunity that they had very often between their conflicting schedules, Amber's living situation in the dorms and Scott still living at home. Scott wasn't surprised at her attitude regarding the rest of it; she had always commented that Scott's parents were both hot.
"I've got kind of an awkward question, though," Scott finally managed.
"Pretty sure you're going to have lots of awkward questions soon enough," Justin snorted.
"So, uh...this isn't like a crazy sex thing, right?"
Dana just laughed. "Honey, don't worry about that."
"Okay, but, uh...what happens if someone's aroused? Like, is it rude if someone gets stiff?"
He saw smirks in the front seat. Amber simply listened attentively. She had wondered more or less the same thing.
"You might see a lot of that, actually," Dana said. "There are some beautiful people here. Just keep your hands to yourselves--or each other. Public affection is fine, just don't go all hot and heavy, okay? Privacy can be arranged if you need it." She sounded serious yet shockingly relaxed.
"Anyway, if you think someone's turned on looking at you, they really might be. This is about not hiding things. Just don't call them out on it unless you mean to flirt. Everybody understands the boundaries. I'm not saying that nobody here ever hooks up, because they do...but one of the ground rules is that you don't hit on the new people. We want people to be more comfortable, not less. You can safely presume that anyone you talk to here is in a committed relationship, and the ones that aren't still know how to respect boundaries. But there's no need to hide physical attraction. So if someone seems aroused while they're talking to you, just take it as a silent compliment and move on."
She tossed a look over her shoulder at the young couple. "And don't feel jealous if you see each other getting that reaction, either. You're both young and good-looking and people are bound to find you attractive. Best to break yourselves of those reactions while you're young."
"If I was going to get upset every time some guy flirted with Amber and she flirted back, my head would've exploded after the first week we were together," Scott shrugged. "I'm not too threatened by it."
Amber chuckled. "I point out hot chicks to him when we're out all the time."
Dana's gaze lingered for a moment more, inscrutable behind her sunglasses and tight-lipped mouth. "Good," she remarked off-handedly before turning around again.
They parked amid roughly two dozen cars of various sorts. Several were quite expensive; a few others were clunkers. Walking away from a Mustang that had seen better days was a man and woman, both looking fit and in their mid-twenties, carrying a couple of duffel bags. They were both stark naked. Scott couldn't help but notice that they were both in good shape; Amber couldn't help but notice that they were both very attractive. It was also impossible to miss that the man was, as warned, nearly erect.
"Wow," Scott blinked. "I guess there's our proof this isn't a prank."
"It's not a prank," Justin assured him. "The usual practice is to leave all your clothes in the car when you enter."
"What're they carrying in the bags, then?" Amber asked.
"Towels. Food. Sunscreen. Junk." Justin pulled the car into an open spot in the grass. "Moment of truth, folks," he smirked as he got out of the car. Justin only paused to stretch before taking his shirt off.
Dana only paused to look back at them once with that poker-face stare before she got out of the car as well. Amber and Scott looked at one another, shrugged, and both got out of the car.
"Oh!" Amber blinked as soon as she stepped out, almost right into Scott's suddenly very naked father. He was every bit as fit as she'd always figured -- but her eyes went straight down to the member hanging between his legs. Even mostly flaccid, it seemed bigger than she expected.
Justin sighed. "Kids," he grunted, then turned back to throw his clothes into the front seat of the car.
"Sorry Mr. -- erm, Justin," Amber giggled self-consciously. She was still getting used to using first names with them. Amber backed up to the trunk of the car, just as Scott had on the other side. She looked at him and nudged his arm. "You first. Slowly," she teased.
Scott looked back at her wryly. "Did I ever tell you how much I love you for all the emotional support you've always given me?"
"I was nervous my first time, too," Dana spoke up beside him. The blonde was already pulling the strings on her sundress loose. "It helps if you just do it." At that, they were both treated to the sight of Dana's full, lovely breasts.
Her son immediately snapped his head away. Amber looked on with a small, appreciative smile as Dana slipped the sundress down off her hips and then did the same with her panties. She stood in a pool of her clothes. "Scott," she said with a flat, calm tone. "Look at me."
He swallowed and turned back to her. Like her husband, Dana had the body of someone a good ten years younger or even more. Maturity and motherhood had given her attractive curves. Not one bit of her sagged. In a little more than a glance, Scott looked at his mother's legs, her hips, her neatly-trimmed bush and her breasts before his eyes came to her still very controlled face and still very obscuring sunglasses.
"I refuse to let this get weird between us, Scott. I'm your mother. That's not going to change. But quite honestly, I miss hanging around the house naked like I did before you were old enough to remember and I'm tired to death of hiding things from you. This is part of who I am. I love you. Now let's move on, okay?" With that, she reached down for her clothes, tossed them into the front seat, and then moved around to the trunk of the car, passing Scott and Amber without a further care in the world.
"She is so fucking cool," Amber breathed.
"I know," Scott swallowed.
"I totally want to be your mom when I grow up."
"Don't--don't say things like that when I can't erase them from my brain."
Amber snorted and then smacked him on the ass. "Off with 'em. Now." Her grin was irrepressible. "C'mon, I've seen you naked."
Scott bit back a curt reply, but it was too late. Amber had seen it. She looked over her shoulder and said, "Hey, you two should know that I've had sex with your son a whole bunch of times."
"If we need to leave you here to take care of that, it's fine," Dana's nonchalant voice came back. Her voice carried an audible eyeroll.
"There's a good spot just through the treeline by the Mercedes over there," Justin's voice added.
"Oh, really?" Dana asked. "Where?"
Scott and Amber blinked at one another. Finally, Scott took a deep, completely unnecessary breath and threw off his shirt. Amber leaned against the car with her arms folded across her chest and watched as he pulled off his sandals and then removed his khaki shorts and boxer briefs.
"Mm-hmm," Amber murmured just loud enough for him to hear. She was looking directly at his crotch.
"Hush, you," Scott grimaced as he tossed his clothes back into the car and shut the door.
"You know I like it. And you." She leaned in to kiss him affectionately on the cheek. "I didn't choose you over a dozen other guys for nothing." She paused to slip a grey scrunchie off her wrist and used it to pull her long, dark hair into a ponytail.
"Are you saying you don't love me for my intellect?" Scott grabbed her belt and started undoing it himself.
"I love you for lots of reasons. I want you 'cause I think you're hot, and your intellect's only part of it." She made a point of arcing backward in a stretch as she lifted the simple tank top from her shoulders, revealing the hardened nipples on her small but shapely breasts. Amber then pushed Scott back gently, making it plain that she had intended nothing more than a tease. She grinned at the hungry frustration in his eyes as he stepped back. She shed her skirt and thong panties without a second thought, once more turning and bending in quick, flirtatious twists as she tossed her clothing into the car. Amber knew full well how many guys felt she had one of the greatest asses they'd ever seen. She loved Scott enough to be cruel to him with her looks.
"Hey, Dad?" Scott asked, still looking at Amber. "Where did you say--?"
"Ohmygosh, do I hear drums?" Amber deliberately spoke over him. She stepped around the back of the car, escaping Scott's grasp. There was, in fact, a soft but audible tribal beat in the air.
"Yeah," Justin said. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of Amber, but he didn't leer. His eyes were on hers as she faced him. "You'll hear that a lot off and on, actually. There are drum circles here all the time. Sometimes dancing, but mostly mellow stuff." He handed off a duffel bag to Scott as his son stepped over to join them. "Nobody tries to mix sports or wild dancing with the whole nudity thing. You're not gonna see everybody's bits bouncing around in a game of volleyball."
"If we're set?" Dana asked. She took Justin's hand and began walking with him.
Amber and Scott followed. Watching his parents walk, Amber smiled at how sweet they looked together. Even with both of their naked backsides presented to her--and she quite admired both of them--she was mainly struck by the way they so often held hands. Amber had always adored the obvious chemistry between Justin and Dana. She knew other married couples their age, of course, and among them were those who were more affectionate and those who were less, but Justin and Dana were simply inspiring.
She slipped her hand into Scott's and smiled at him. He was better about holding hands than previous boyfriends. He had clearly benefited from growing up around an excellent example.
The walk from the unpaved parking lot wasn't overly long. Scott was fairly impressed by how soft and unmarred the ground was. Having been to more than a few outdoor shows and festivals over the years, he'd have expected a pathway of dry dirt and dead grass, and had a passing concern about walking barefoot. Instead it was green, lush and completely comfortable as it passed through tall trees that offered plenty of breaks from the sunlight above.
Drumming and the sounds of conversation and laughter grew more audible. They reached a bend in the path, coming around to an open clearing about half an acre across. Up ahead, across the clearing, they saw a long house with a wide, luxurious deck. One side of the house, comprised almost entirely of tall windows, clearly housed a large pool.
Here and there were white statues, and at the end of the pathway as it opened out to the clearing were tall white columns. Neither Amber nor Scott were particularly versed in history or art, but they had shared a general humanities class. They recognized the clearly Greek inspiration of the artwork.
"Wow," Scott breathed. "This place is...ritzy."
"There have been a few wealthy members of the circle over the years," Dana explained, "and a few artists. Some of this is original work. Members donate what they can. For some, that isn't much. For others, that's artwork. For a few, well...that's more than a little cash."
Coming out of the path, Scott saw a small structure off to his right, also clearly evocative of ancient Greece. It was a white, one-story building, not much bigger than a single-bedroom apartment. White columns dominated the front facade, along with lettering in Greek.
Off to the left was the drum circle that they had heard on the way over. There were a couple of benches that were probably there all the time, but also blankets and pillows that had been brought out for the weekend. Someone had set up a couple of lean-tos with colorful sheets to provide a little shade. Roughly a dozen people lounged or stood around in the group. Four or five played hand drums of different sizes. A couple of women twisted and writhed in something of a bellydance while others looked on. All of them were naked.
Amber squeezed Scott's hand and leaned in. "I think we were misled," she whispered.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
She tilted her head toward the drum circle, and then nodded toward the deck where perhaps a dozen more people were scattered about standing or reclining on the patio furniture. "There aren't 'some' beautiful people here. Fucking everyone is beautiful."
Scott looked left and then ahead as Amber indicated. "Couldn't speak to the guys."
"The guys are just as hot as the women."
He snorted. "Well, now I feel homely."
"You're a stud and I'd never do anything to hurt you," Amber said to him softly. She squeezed his hand as they continued to walk, coming closer to the house. "Just remember that if I'm talking to someone here and I look like I'm gonna explode."
Her boyfriend inhaled softly and nodded. "Ditto," he said.
"You already look like you're gonna burst," Amber commented, looking away again.
Scott glanced down as if he hadn't noticed his body's own reactions. "Oh, Jesus," he grumbled.
"At least you're not intimidated," Amber added, biting back a laugh. "I just don't know how you can walk without it flopping--"
"Grass sure is green today, isn't it?" he cut her off pointedly. Amber just grinned and squeezed his hand again.
There were several people who waved to them from both clusters of people as the group approached the house. Most had drinks in their hands, a few sported sunglasses. One woman stood out among the group on the deck, both by physically stepping forward and by virtue of being exceptionally beautiful. Her eyes, her smile and her shapely curves were soft and inviting yet all carried an easy, unshakable confidence. Dark hair hung past her shoulders. She wore nothing but silver earrings, a silver necklace and a similar silver chain on her ankle.
She was a longtime friend of his parents, probably as long as he could remember. He'd only met her a few times, but he knew that Dana and Justin thought the world of Julia. She'd been at their place for Thanksgiving once or twice. Helped plan Justin's 40th birthday barbecue. She was in the wedding pictures.
Naturally, Scott developed a horrible crush on her in his teen years, but given that he only saw her once or twice a year at most, it didn't amount to much. Standing there naked in front of her, looking at her without a stitch of clothing on her in turn, Scott momentarily felt speechless. He was glad he wasn't the center of attention.
Julia smiled as they came to the steps up to the deck. "I was hoping you'd have come in last night," the woman said, and stepped into Justin's arms. Scott blinked as his naked father hugged this exceptionally sexy naked woman close right in front of Dana, and blinked again as the woman gave him a soft, albeit very quick, kiss on the lips.
Then she turned and did the same to Dana, who was similarly welcoming. "Hi, Julia," Dana smiled back.
"It's nice to have you back here regularly again," Julia told them. Then she looked toward Scott and Amber. "Hi, Scott," she said with just enough of a grin and a laugh in her voice that she had to know how floored he was to see her like this. She didn't seem the least bit worried.
Julia stepped between his parents, offering her hand rather than a hug. Scott was much more relieved than disappointed, but he couldn't help feeling both reactions. He accepted her hand and shook it lightly. "It's wonderful to finally have you here."
"Um. You, too," Scott stammered. "I never really got to hear much about this place. Not much at all." He glanced accusingly at his father, who simply chuckled.
"Well, I couldn't blame them for waiting until you older," Julia shrugged. She, too, tossed his parents a wry look. "But if I can forgive them for holding out until they were sure you were ready for this, I imagine you can, too. And you must be Amber?"
"Hi," Amber smiled. She was just about to raise her hand up when Julia stepped close and gave her a brief hug. Amber's eyes went wide, looking at Scott over Julia's shoulder until the older woman stepped back again.
"I was warned that you are absolutely lovely," Julia beamed, "I'll try to remind the guys not to stare."
"Oh wow," Amber blushed. She glanced away, then took a subtle, nervous step closer to Scott.
"Don't worry. We don't bite. We'll get you all set up with rooms. Would anyone care for a drink?"
Scott and Amber shared a look, and a thought: do not get drunk with the naked people. "We're good," they said in unison.
***
"Aphrodite."
The name hung over the large Jacuzzi for a moment, almost suspended in the air by the hint of a grin on Julia's lips. She reclined against the side of the Jacuzzi, her blue eyes staring out at the young couple across from her. To her right were Scott's parents. To her left were Craig, Steven and Linh, all of them in their late twenties and in good spirits. The heat was turned off, totally unnecessary as it was on such a warm summer's day, but the bubble jets still offered relaxation.
"Just Aphrodite?" Amber asked. "I know at least a few of the other statues around here are other gods and stuff." Her eyes were aglow with interest. She had been an eager listener during the quick tour around the house and the naked luncheon that followed, happy to find that everyone here spoke to her like a person and not just a piece of meat despite the outright nudity. Most of that had been dominated by small talk. The impact of all that was significant, though; the more she saw of how comfortable and cheerful everyone else was around one another, the more at ease she felt.
Scott was getting there, but not as quickly. He wasn't worried about spontaneously orgasming or otherwise embarrassing himself anymore, and he didn't feel quite so vulnerable once people were talking about their jobs and sports and their home lives. But there was still a good deal here to adjust to, and the constant positive vibes made him worry about things seeming too good to be true. He wondered about the catch, because there just had to be one. It wasn't until now, though, that the conversation had finally turned to the circle's theology.
"We honor other gods, yes," Julia nodded with something of a slow, solemn blink. "I would like to tell you that John Lennon was right and that love really is all you need, but the fact is that love doesn't really solve everything. Sometimes love is entirely irrelevant. So yes, we honor Zeus and Hera and the rest. But we follow Aphrodite and direct ourselves toward her because it is her arms that we want around us."
"I've met some guys who have the Ares commune out in the mountains," Steven put in with a wry grimace. "Not exactly fun people."
"I suspect they aren't doing it right," Linh said with pursed lips.
"Well, what's it mean to do it right?" Scott asked thoughtfully. "I mean for you folks. Aphrodite's the goddess of love, right?"
"Erotic love," Julia corrected him. Her eyes were fixed upon his from across the water as she said it, holding the look for just the heartbeat it took to make him blink. Amber caught the moment and barely stifled a giggle as he blushed.
Julia pushed on. "Desire, beauty and pleasure. Procreation. We feel solace and joy when we get all that, and sorrow when we don't. One has to keep desire and passion in perspective. Aphrodite does this for her faithful. Like all the gods, Aphrodite is neither wholly benevolent nor thoroughly rotten. There are moments where we are left to our own devices, and there are moments when she tests us. And as I just said, there are many aspects of life in which Aphrodite has little or no direct sway. But the rewards she gives to her faithful are without comparison."
"Like what kind of rewards?" Amber ventured.
Julia nodded to Scott once more. "Like your boyfriend, Amber," she said. "Justin and Dana wanted a child--just one. They received a healthy, vibrant, intelligent boy. One could say that this was simply the work of good genes and healthy habits, and certainly those played a part, but either one believes in the influence of gods or one does not.
"But there are less subtle blessings," Julia added.
She glanced to Dana, who sat across Justin's lap with one arm draped around his neck. The sunglasses were still there. Dana caught Julia's look, turned to Justin and saw him shrug. Then she looked over to her son and Amber. "Your father and I have never used condoms. Ever. No birth control pills. One child. No more, no less. I don't even try to keep track of my period."
"Wow," Amber replied.
"You don't think that's...you don't think there's another explanation?" Scott wondered.
"Scott, if it was all just straight biology, you would've had brothers and sisters by now. Hell, we'd have had a whole football team. And cheerleaders."
His son blinked. "Oh, God. TMI, Dad."
Most of his companions in the large Jacuzzi laughed. "It really isn't, Scott," Julia said. "I can all but guarantee that your parents make love more often than any other couple you know, young or old. I'm something of an expert on these things," she grinned. "They haven't been able to get enough of one another even while living together for twenty-five years. Chances are they never will."
"And that's all Aphrodite?" Amber pressed. She hadn't turned off her own filter, but she couldn't remain entirely skeptical, either. "You don't think they had something to do with it themselves?"
"Certainly they did. They fell in love all on their own. But that continued passion is as much a matter of following her example and beseeching her blessings as it is anything else," Julia explained. "A man can treat his wife like chattel and sit around on his ass drinking beer and watching football, or he can pursue his love as intensely as the day of their first kiss. The goddess certainly has her preferences in this. What is a goddess if she is not a guide to those who follow?"
Amber slipped her hand into Scott's again. She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Preach it, sister," she grinned. It got more than a few laughs.
"Hey--" Scott spoke up.
Amber shushed him. "I'm not complaining. At all. I tell everyone you're awesome. I just like thinking that you'll stay that way."
"He'd better," Dana put in. "He's got a legacy to keep up."
"In all my time under Aphrodite, I have never seen a divorce among the faithful," Julia said, moving the conversation along. "Splits between lovers are also rare. Casual relationships come and go, but almost never end with acrimony or disrespect. Not among the faithful, at any rate. There are those who love non-believers, and by and large they remain blessed, but..." Julia shrugged. "As with anything, there are relationships that can withstand religious differences and those that can't. Aphrodite doesn't demand that her faithful love only the faithful, but naturally two followers have more blessings to share between one another than one has alone."
"Call that effective application of philosophy," Justin offered. "Call it divine guidance. Either way, it seems to work."
"Is that why everyone's so beautiful here, too?" Amber asked. "Is that a blessing? Or do you only recruit attractive people?"
At that, Julia frowned thoughtfully. "We get that question sometimes. The straight answer is no, we don't 'recruit' for good looks. "We 'recruit' among people who seem like they have an open enough mind to understand. Not all of them embrace Aphrodite, but we don't risk our openness and our ways among those who would likely reject them out of hand," Julia said.
"I don't want to lie to you or hide things from you. That's the opposite from why you were brought here. But if I were to show you what are more or less some before and after pictures of a few of the people here, you'd probably think I was outright lying and making things up."
She gestured out toward the open clearing around the house, where nude men and women strolled and talked together. As Amber had noted, they were generally all rather attractive. Every one of them had some manner of physical appeal, even if it was mere cuteness or simply being in good shape. "How many people do you know who'd come out here and parrot back whatever would appease us simply in the hopes of getting laid?"
Scott snorted. "Quite a few."
"Absolutely. And yes, you are correct. These are beautiful people. They follow a goddess of beauty. If she accepts a follower and that follower truly accepts her, then yes...there are visible rewards over time. It doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't fix everything, either. If you look closer, you will find flaws. You will find wrinkles and blemishes and scars. You are seeing the blessings of a goddess, but you are also seeing the benefits of an active lifestyle that truly mitigates stress, and a philosophy that grants far greater comfort than what most poor souls can find these days. You saw the cars in the driveway. Some of these people struggle to get by, but we all love one another. We do what we can for one another. There is earnest community here. None of us have any interest in letting one another drown."
They fell silent for a moment. "Huh," Scott finally grunted.
"What?" Julia asked.
"I just...I dunno. I guess I can see what you mean. I was starting to think you found all your people at a modeling agency, but now I feel like I should look closer."
"Don't be disappointed if you don't find any ugliness," Julia chuckled. "I'd be a terrible high priestess if I didn't hold that Aphrodite's people are beautiful because of her favor. That is exactly what I believe. She blesses her faithful."
Scott nodded. "Welcome to our cult, here's your free liposuction," he grinned.
At that, Julia laughed. Amber gave him a playful shove. "Don't be a jerk," she said.
"I'm not," Scott shrugged. "It's just all too good to be true, y'know?" He looked back to Julia. "I mean isn't there a catch somewhere? What do you have to do to be a good follower?"
Justin, Dana and the other faithful in the Jacuzzi glanced at one another, their faces all splitting into wide, knowing grins. Julia alone maintained a serene smile. She stood up in the Jacuzzi, water slipping from her shoulders, her breasts, her belly and legs all as if placed there just to punctuate her sensual figure. She held out her hands to each of them. "Come," she smiled.
Amber looked at Scott for a moment, who had to blink and look away to keep from staring at the soft black hair between Julia's legs. His eyes came to Amber's and saw an almost worrisome eagerness there. She was really getting into this. Scott shrugged, unable to deny his gorgeous girlfriend much of anything. They both rose and took one of Julia's hands.
It was warm and sunny enough that they didn't really need to towel off. Julia soon released their hands, letting them fall in behind her as she walked across the clearing with them toward the small white building surrounded by Greek columns. They passed other men and women, some of them nodding hello while others simply left them to their business.
"The first and foremost rule is of trust and respect," Julia said as they walked. Her words snapped both Amber and Scott out of the reverie of simply watching the nude woman take one step after another. "You must trust and respect Aphrodite, and your lover, and yourself. You must respect your own desires. Sometimes that means they must be controlled and even denied, but for the most part you have to learn how to follow them. Trust the goddess and be honest with her in this and she will show you the way."
"That sounds like it's meant to be simple but turns out really complicated in the end," Scott observed.
The priestess nodded. "You aren't wrong for considering that. It is more complicated, at least at first. Once one accepts Aphrodite's way, though, it truly becomes simple after all." She reached the doors to the white building and turned to face them.
"There are sacrifices to be made to truly follow the goddess. There are emotions and habits that you have to cast aside in order to truly find the love and pleasure she offers, and for many that isn't easy. But there are many things which stay simple from the very start."
Julia reached to a small recess behind one column and produced a long match, which she struck along the column and then used to light a hanging lantern. Then she turned to open the door. Julia cupped one hand around the match flame to protect it as she moved. "Enter here in love," she smiled, turning to lead them inside.
Aside from a single door off to the left, open to reveal a humble bathroom, the white building was comprised of a single wide room. Several windows cut high up into the walls provided some light, which was enhanced as Julia moved along the walls lighting candles and lanterns. Much of the floor was taken up by a large, hand-crafted mattress. Pillows of every shape and size were strewn thoughtfully around the edges. Embedded in one wall was a hearth. Standing in an alcove of another wall was a white statue of a naked beauty, arms falling from her breasts as if to reveal them rather than to conceal.
Everything about the room lent itself to intimacy. Amber's heart beat heavily, her breath deepening as she looked around and found herself moving closer to Scott. He clearly felt it, too; she could hear it in his breath. Glancing down, she saw that he was as hard as he'd ever been with her. Perhaps more. His hand found hers and drew her close.
Julia glanced at them, smiling knowingly, and then knelt in front of the statue. "Take them into your arms," she said reverently. "Let them learn of you through one another."
Her prayer was simple and short. With that, she rose again and faced them.
"Remain as long as you like," Julia told them in a voice barely above a whisper. She gestured to one side of the room. "There are lotions, towels, blankets and water if you wish. Think nothing of time or place or the world outside. In this room there is only the goddess and those who embody her love. Obey your desires. They are all sacred here."
Neither Scott nor Amber could think of anything to say before Julia turned to the statue, knelt and bowed her head again, then rose to leave. She closed the door behind them.
"Wow," Scott managed.
Amber turned to him and slipped into his arms, sinking into the feeling of his bare skin against hers. "God, I've wanted to be alone with you ever since we got here."
Touching him in so many places at once gave him a rush. She felt incredible in his arms. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm wonderful. I've felt great all day. I just..." Amber was only an inch shorter than Scott. She didn't have to tilt her head up much for her lips to meet his and kiss him with slow, hungry need. They held one another close, arms moving over one another's bodies as if this were their first time together.
Finally, Amber pulled back from the kiss to look her lover in the eyes. "I've never wanted or needed anything as bad as I want you right now," she whispered.
He felt entirely the same way. No matter how many smiling, naked beauties he had seen all day, what Scott wanted most was to drag Amber off into the woods alone. They had rules, though. Scott was all too conscious of the rules. He didn't want to lose her. "Yeah. Me, too. I just don't know if we're gonna find any condoms in here," he said ruefully.
Amber was already trailing kisses from his shoulder to his neck. "This once I really don't care."
Her groin put a constant pressure on Scott's. She knew perfectly well how the light scratch of her hair against his cock turned him on. The scent of her conditioner filled every shaking breath. "You're making it really hard to think...I just...I just want to take care of you. Us."
"I trust what they said," Amber murmured. "I trust your parents. I really think we're safe. If anything goes wrong, we'll deal with it. I want this, Scott. I want you."
There really wasn't any chance of denying her. Scott knew it, and could only hope with the small part of his brain still capable of thinking that they wouldn't regret this later. Yet even that quiet thought was colored by acceptance. They had to have one another, here and now.
Stepping backward onto the broad cushioned flooring, Scott took Amber's hands to lead her to a comfortable spot to stand. Then he sank to his knees, bringing his hands to her hips. He trailed kisses across her belly, over one hip and then the other, while his hands moved up and down her legs and her sides.
"Oh, baby, you don't have to start with thahh--!" Amber gasped as the first gentle flick of his tongue went across her lips. She winced at the pleasure of it, of having his head moving between her legs and his hands so lovingly roaming over her body. Her eyes fluttered open to see his looking up at her. Amber was already more than wet enough to simply accept him right then and there. They could, this once, skip all the foreplay and just go for it. He had to be dying to have her. She could feel it in his muscles and hear it in his breath. Yet there he was.
"I love you, Amber," he said with a husky voice. His tongue brushed against her lips again, still soft but stroking more of her. She let out a whimper of pleasure and put her hands on his shoulders.
Her breath deepened as her body began to tremble. "I think I'm gonna fall over," she managed.
"You can if you want to," Scott said, but his hands kept her firmly in place. "But if you want to stay on your feet and enjoy this for awhile..." His tongue snaked out along her labia again, curling up over her clit on the way back.
"Oh," Amber breathed out. "Oh wow." Her head swam. Scott was good at this. He was loving, patient and attentive. Moreover, he enjoyed it, both for the pleasure it gave her and the statement it made. She'd been through other guys before him, the sorts that just let things go once she was seeing them steadily and expected more of her than they gave of themselves. Scott was entirely different. He treated her like a princess from the very start and kept things that way, no matter of familiar they were to one another or how much shit they playfully dished out. He also left no ambiguity about how much he enjoyed her body.
Amber let her hands fall to his shoulders as his lips and tongue focused more and more on her pussy. She slipped one leg out over his shoulder, sliding it across his back both to caress him and to draw him further into his work.
It helped steady her. Scott slipped his own legs out from under him, sitting now rather than kneeling, making plain that he intended to do this for awhile. Amber's hands and breath conveyed her love and appreciation where words could not, as she found it increasingly difficult to talk. She felt one of Scott's hands slip away from her hip, moving over and under her ass and then between her legs. There was only the briefest of breaks in Scott's kiss upon her lower lips as he wet one finger, which soon slid along her pussy and then slowly moved inside her.
Amber moaned out loud. She normally wasn't vocal. It was usually just a matter of breathing sharply and trying to keep from making noises that would alert her dorm roommates or neighbors or, a few times, Scott's parents. The pleasure of his tongue and fingers and her own wild arousal were now well beyond anything she could control.
He was gentle and slow, wanting to stretch her enjoyment out. Amber's breathing and grunts became increasingly needful, though, and soon one of her hands moved to his head and began to squeeze at his hair. Every time she exhaled, she did so with a wordless note of need.
Scott's finger found just the right patch inside her. Tiny, gentle wrinkles in her flesh, much like the roof of one's mouth. He caressed the spot once, then again, and finally began to tenderly stroke it with his finger in a beckoning motion even as his tongue began to swirl ever more intently around Amber's clit.
Orgasm finally hit her, erupting from her center under Scott's care and spreading through her entire body. She would have fallen but for Scott's steady hand on her right hip, soon mirrored on her left by the wet hand that Scott gracefully withdrew from inside her. Standing over her lover, Amber was overwhelmed by feelings of pleasure and power alike as she came for him.
***
Purring under her husband's touch, Dana leaned forward against the edge of the Jacuzzi to watch Julia lead her son and his lover to the shrine. There was much less need to be so controlled with the two newcomers out of sight and earshot. Justin was behind her, rubbing her shoulders and back while kissing the back of her neck. It was largely just a massaging touch, mostly chaste despite its affection, but occasionally his hands reached lower to her waist or up to tease at the sides of her breasts. There was no ignoring the hardness of his cock at the small of her back, though, gently reminding them both of how close they were to satisfying their mutual needs.
"That was murder on me," Linh said from behind them. She sat between Steven and Craig, enjoying their lips on her neck and their teasing hands all over her body. "It had to be even worse for you two. I don't know how you could stand it."
"Julia's just being a bitch because she can get away with it," Dana chuckled without a drop of venom in her voice. "She can read every one of us like a book. She'll come back here and tell us all something about anticipation being key to arousal or something."
"I'm aroused," Justin smirked. His hands came down to her hips as the three disappeared into the shrine, bringing her in line with his erection. The head and shaft slipped between her legs, gently illustrating his point through touch.
"No kidding," Dana breathed in agreement. She pressed her ass back against Justin's groin, deliberately giving him one of his favorite sights in the world. "Careful, though. The water."
"I know, love," her husband reassured her. The water of the Jacuzzi was hardly an effective lubricant, and the last thing they wanted was for her to wind up too sore in their first romp to engage in more later. Yet Justin knew Dana's body very well, including how quickly she would react and how easily she would be ready for him. Ordinarily she wanted a long bout of slow, smoldering foreplay, but when she was already worked up like this, stroking her pussy with his cock was the most effective and enjoyable preamble for both.
They touched, and watched, and waited. Behind them they heard the sounds of their other companions enjoying themselves without much restraint. A moment later, Julia emerged from the shrine alone and closed the door behind her.
With that, Justin pushed inside his wife. "Oh, lover, yes," she sighed more in relief than excitement, though she surely felt both. Dana never felt more alive or more beautiful than when Justin was within her. Julia hadn't exaggerated; they had never had enough of one another. It was wonderful in the beginning and only got better over time, and they knew full well who to thank for that.
She knew him as well as he knew her. Justin's romantic feelings were strong in that moment, but his physical needs were understandably stronger. His hands slid from her hips up along her sides, cupping her breasts as he pulled her back against his cock. Dana gave in to it, feeling not the least bit reluctant to let herself be used as her man needed. Lust and love were very different things outside of their marriage, but between the two of them they were one and the same.
He took things slow, reveling in the sensation of her sliding back and forth to envelop his shaft. Aroused as she was, Dana wasn't going to hold out long at all. She found herself floating in ecstasy, shamelessly enjoying the deep invasion of her husband without any care in the world for who here could see or hear her. Somewhere along the way, Dana pulled or knocked the sunglasses off her face. Long moments of bliss passed before her eyes fluttered open to see Julia, naked and beautiful and forever looking on warmly at her, came to stand before the slowly rutting couple.
Julia reached out, gathering the partially bent-over wife in her arms to allow Dana to relax against her chest while Justin's rhythm and power increased. Ripples and small splashes of water erupted from his moving legs. Dana clung weakly to Julia, hanging in her dearest friend's arms as she and her husband shared a sudden, intense orgasm. Justin made one last, needful thrust into her, burying himself within the folds of her flesh as he found release. Dana's sex spasmed around his, riding his climax with her own.
"Oh...oohhh," Dana moaned as her body relaxed. Justin stayed with her. Julia retained her welcoming, nurturing embrace. "Thank you," she mumbled.
"You're welcome," Julia smiled, kissing her cheek. "From both of us, I'm sure." She turned her face from Dana's, looking to Justin and accepting a much longer, sensuous kiss from him even as his wife clung between both of them.
"So, what do you think?" Justin asked once they had parted. He still kept his wife in his arms, still remaining within her. He knew better than to withdraw yet. He had no wish to do so, at any rate; Dana felt entirely too good to him just the way she was.
"I think Scott is his mother and father's son," Julia smiled, slipping back but still keeping her hands out to caress Dana's arms. "I want him with us as much as I've ever wanted to see anyone under Aphrodite. You did such a good job raising him."
Dana leaned back a bit into Justin's arms, sighing contentedly. "And Amber?" she breathed.
Julia's eyes sparkled. "She's wonderful. She's perfect. Better than I had imagined. If Scott can accept his place here with us, Amber will be..." she shook her head. "Amazing."
"Do you--oohh," Dana moaned, her head falling backward against Justin's shoulder. Still speared by his cock, Dana was completely vulnerable to the hand that he had slipped around her waist to play with the lips around his shaft. Julia watched with grinning interest as Justin pleasured his wife.
"You two," Julia chuckled, "are such a joy."
"Jus--Justin," Dana fought to say, "we should...we should just talk for...for a second...oh don't stop that please."
"What we should do," Justin murmured, grinding into her, "is make sure we can handle ourselves when they come out of there again."
"Your husband is right," Julia noded. "He's a wise man." She watched Dana for a moment, looking into her fluttering, lust-filled eyes. Then she looked past them to where Craig, Steven and Linh were intertwined. Linh was already sitting on the ledge of the Jacuzzi, kissing Craig while Steven knelt between her legs. "Linh," she said, "do you think you could part with Craig for a moment? Dana's in great need over here."
The lovely woman broke from her kiss, smiling at her partner and nodded to him softly. "Go have fun," she said. "I'll be waiting for you later."
Her athletic companion just grinned and shrugged, offering her a soft, parting kiss before he climbed around to Dana and Justin's side of the Jacuzzi. He stood before Dana, offering her a similar kiss before stepping back to allow her to hang her hands from his shoulders, then his hips. Her husband held her steady, keeping up the pressure from his hips into her pussy while she slid down along the front of another man to take his cock in her hands.
Steven gently held onto her shoulders, letting her worry about his cock while he and Justin took care of keeping her suspended between them. The feeling of Justin slowly, steadily penetrating her over and over put her into a delicious rhythm that she soon conveyed to Steven, licking, kissing and then finally sucking down his cock. Her breath was punctuated by moans of wanton lust as the two men penetrated her from opposite ends.
"Much better," Julia smiled. She stepped around Dana, stroking her back while Dana's body provided pleasure for two men. The priestess came to Justin's side and leaned in to kiss him again. "You've both had to control your lusts for far too long. No more."
***
Amber laid back on the mattress, arching her back to stretch before she spread her legs wide for her man once more. She grinned at him, looking on joyfully as he slipped between her thighs, brought his cock up along her lips once and then selfishly thrust himself inside her. Amber let out a yelp of pleasure as her body opened for him.
One hand slipped over her breast, teasing it for a moment with her nipple between two of his fingers. It was then followed briefly by his mouth as Scott licked the pink flesh for a long moment that left her squirming. Finally, his face turned up toward hers. She pulled him in for a kiss, which straightened him out to lie atop her body possessively.
She couldn't help but let out a joyful laugh. "Oh my God, you're such a stud," she told him.
"I feel like a stud," Scott admitted. He pushed into her, loving the way she wrapped a leg around his waist and coaxed him in ever tighter. They had shared in one coupling after another already, enthusiastically making love ever since Amber had come down from that first orgasm. There was hardly a pause from one engagement to the next. They weren't getting tired at all, and by now they were conscious of it.
"Why shouldn't you?" Amber asked. She cupped his face in her hands, drawing him in for another kiss. He kept thrusting into her, slowing now only because they were talking. She wanted that. She didn't want it to ever stop. "You're my man. You know I love you. You know I wouldn't settle for less than what I want. You might not think you're a stud, but I'm the one who gets to decide that."
Scott grunted. She always knew what to say to him. "You get to?"
"Yes," she said, wincing once again in pleasure. "You're a stud. Start acting like it."
Scott grabbed a fistful of Amber's hair, pulled back on it until her head was against the pillow beneath her, and then kissed her hard and passionately while he fucked her. Noises of approval gave way to sounds of surrender as he brought her to yet another wet, clenching climax. Amber whimpered into his kiss while she thrilled to another ride of her body's uncontrolled reactions.
His hand slipped from her hair. His kiss became gentler and then finally slipped away. Amber breathed out a satisfied sigh. "Oh, Scott, just fuck me 'til you get off again," she said, stretching again. "I'm yours. I'm totally yours."
"I just did," he grinned.
"You came? Again?"
"Yes."
Amber smiled, laughing happily as she wrapped him in her arms and legs. "I actually felt it the other times, but this one was so intense, I just...wow. I want this, Scott. I want you, like this, all the time."
"You're really into this place, aren't you?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. It's beautiful. Are you bothered by it?"
"Not so much bothered," he said, shaking his head. His eyes were every bit as much aglow as hers. "I can't really argue with results. This is...this is not normal sex."
"I think it probably could be," Amber grinned seductively. "For us, anyway."
"Oh, I know," he nodded. "That's what I mean. This is awesome. I just...I just worry that there's still some sort of catch. Some hidden price, you know?"
Amber gave it a moment's thought, then pushed on his shoulders to get him to roll over. They clung together, remaining in coitus even as they moved, which left them both groaning in pleasure. Then Amber rose above him, resting on her knees and sitting back on his still erect cock inside her to look at him. "Don't you think your parents have already confronted that, whatever it might be?"
Scott was silent for a moment. He wanted to just stare at Amber, but her question had the wheels spinning in his head. "That's a good point," he conceded.
"And do they seem any less happy for it? The only person in the world I know who's as awesome as your dad and your mom is you. I want to be like them. I'm not even kidding." She glanced around the room, taking in a deep breath. There was still incense in the air. "I'm already a believer, Scott," she said. "I don't even really know all the dogma and all the rules and stuff, but I feel like I belong here. I feel like we belong here."
He was silent for a long moment. Amber just looked at him, her eyes still full of love and patience. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"You've always had guys," Scott shrugged. "You said it yourself. Even since before you moved here, ever since you were old enough to notice them and for them to notice you. You got here, and it was just boom, instant friends and boyfriends, y'know?"
"Okay...?" Amber asked, listening curiously.
"I love you, Amber. I know you love me. And I know it's not about popularity or any of that bullshit. I just...I've just sat alone reading enough fantasies and fairy tales wishing they'd come true to know that nothing just magically fixes everything or makes everything more awesome. There's still work. And I'm willing to work. I just worry that you seem so enthusiastic about all this that you might not be considering that there might be a downside."
His girlfriend smirked. "That which has not killed you has made you sexier," she said.
Scott blinked. "That's the strangest twist I've ever heard on that quote."
"You know what I think?" Amber asked, slipping off of his hips and leaving his cock free, only to take the slick flesh into her hand. "I think there's a lot more of a good side than they're letting on here." She stroked him slowly, shifting down away from his face to sit on her knees next to his legs. "I don't think your parents or Julia would sell someone a false bill of goods. I don't think it's too good to be true. I think somewhere here there's some sort of test for us both...and that we're both going to pass it...and then we're both going to be happier than we expected."
"So we're gonna do this?" he breathed slowly, letting her indulge him. "Together?"
"Are we?" she asked. Her mouth descended toward his cock. She looked up at him intently, keeping her eyes locked on his as her tongue slipped out and slid along his shaft. It felt good, she realized. It felt really good to be doing this.
"I'm gonna go wherever you go."
"But do you want this for yourself?" she asked. Her tongue kept teasing him. "If it turns out bad, we walk away. Naturally. But if it's as good as I think it is...do you want that?"
"Yes," Scott confessed. "Yes. I do."
Amber smiled at him. "I love you, Scott."
"I love you."
Her smile undiminished, Amber's eyes turned down to the stiff cock in her hand. She was still softly, affectionately stroking it. "All our desires are sacred here," she said, echoing Julia's words. "If this is what we want, then it's sacred." Amber looked up at him again. "What I desire now is to taste you."
"Hm?" Scott blinked, and then inhaled sharply as her mouth came down hungrily on his cock. She bobbed up and down a few times, taking him in as deeply as she could while her hand stayed at the base of his shaft. Then she finally let it go again.
"I want you to relax and enjoy this, Scott," she said quietly. "You've never gotten off like this before. I want you to have this. I don't care how long it takes. I want to taste you...and I want you to enjoy it." She held his gaze, moving in slowly and meaningfully, and watched him with love and with lust as she took Scott's cock into her mouth.
Scott's breathing grew heavy with pleasure. He reached for a rounded pillow and pulled it under his head so he could watch Amber work him. She had gone down on him before, but not for very long and never to completion. It always drove him nuts to just lie there and accept it when he wanted desperately to make her feel just as good. They had always broken things off to find satisfaction in another way.
This time his lover was hungrily devouring him, squeezing his cock with her lips and loving him with her tongue. She clearly wouldn't accept any other outcome than a full, messy climax.
Scott relaxed and let her have him. He lay there for a long while, stroking her hair and watching her move. It wasn't as if he didn't want this to go on forever. Amber knew she could do this for him at her slightest whim. It just didn't seem reasonable to let her go on for as long as he needed to finally reach climax.
Given her statement, though, he banished such concerns just this once. Amber's mouth had him in heaven in no time at all. The longer it went on, the better it became, and she went on for a long time.
Eventually his hands and feet began to tremble, feeling almost electrified. He put one of those hands on Amber's head, letting her hair fall through his fingers as he encouraged her with that simple, affectionate, grateful touch. A while after that, he began to groan and he threw his head back against the pillow once more. His hips began to push up to her almost of their own volition.
"Amber," he huffed. She didn't let up. "Oh God, Amber," he tried again, unsure if he could really handle this much pleasure without jerking away. Still, she kept sucking at him, pushing herself down further and further on a cock that was realistically too much for her to take in all together. "Oh God, don't stop. Don't stop. Please don't..."
She almost wanted to shout out in triumph, but instead, she swallowed. It was what she had been after, anyway. Amber was once again convinced that there was more at work in the shrine of Aphrodite and among her followers than simple philosophy. As much as she loved Scott, he shouldn't have actually tasted good. She shouldn't have derived enough pleasure from this act to entice her to perform more and more. Sucking his cock had never been unpleasant to be sure, but...
Amber descended upon him with her mouth, swallowing as much as she could and delighting in the fact that she couldn't really get it all. She didn't need to. There would be more.
Scott almost objected, when his orgasm had subsided, over how Amber resumed sucking on his cock. He almost saw reason to stop her.
Almost, but then his eyes fluttered open to see the statue of Aphrodite looming beyond Amber. He let his concerns go and accepted his lover's kiss without restraint.
***
"The first rule is that one must hide nothing from Aphrodite, especially desire," Julia said. She reclined on a couch, still completely undressed and still making it very hard for Scott not to stare. It wasn't entirely easy for Amber, either. She had wondered more than once if she might be bi, but her attraction to men was generally stronger. Scott and Amber sat side by side on a couch opposite Julia's, close enough amid flickering candlelight to conjure up an atmosphere of intimacy not unlike the shrine's.
Night had long since fallen when Scott and Amber had finally emerged from the shrine, having finally loved one another to what should have been exhaustion. They were both still too energized by their new situation to sleep, however, and too eager to continue their weekend. They washed, straightened up the shrine as respectfully as they could, and walked out into the night to find a barbecue grill going, the drum circle back in action...and more than a few couples openly having sex and making love here and there throughout the grounds.
Tellingly, they didn't find either Justin or Dana. Julia was amid the revelers at the house, though, and eagerly welcomed the couple into a private room.
"Is that the reason for the nudity?" Scott asked. "And all the, uh, shagging going on outside?"
Once again, Julia smiled. "Yes, Scott," she said almost adoringly. "As I said, we are a community under Aphrodite. We hide nothing from her. As her servants and followers, we express our openness to her through expressing it to one another. Don't worry, you don't have to go skyclad all the time. There will be brief moments in the cold for ceremony's sake, but it isn't meant as a punishment. We shed our clothes for many reasons, most of them pleasurable. Has it bothered you?"
"Not after a few minutes, no," Amber shook her head. "Honestly, I've found it kind of exciting."
"It stays that way," Julia said. "You get used to it, but in the same way that one might get used to dressing up. One might feel good in a formal gown, or a suit, or club wear. I'll admit that beyond here I'm kind of a clotheshorse. But I feel my best as I am." She turned her eyes toward Scott. "And you, Scott? Don't be shy. You are surrounded by nothing but love and understanding here."
Scott opened his mouth, but thought better of it and closed it. Amber threw Julia a knowing look that the older woman returned. Scott's erection had only died down after repeated marathon sex with Amber in the shrine. Now here he was in front of Julia and his body was right back to square one.
Amber didn't mind at all. "It's okay," she said, leaning into his arm and holding his hand. "We can tell you like the company you're in."
"You're a man, Scott," Julia nodded. "You're surrounded by lovely women. I know Dana already explained this to you. Let go of embarrassment. How do you feel like this?"
"It feels good," he admitted. "I just...I don't know. I don't know if I'd sit around the house like this all the time. I'd feel really weird in a room full of guys, but here, like this? I think I like it."
"That's not the first time I've heard that sentiment. I also know you are no homophobe. You'll find that a number of our circle are gay or bisexual, but everyone respects boundaries. Aphrodite wants us to be honest with our desires, and to pursue them, but it's also important to be honest about what you don't want."
Scott shrugged. "Anyway, yes. I like this. A lot. I'm a little self-conscious about admitting that, but this is all pretty cool."
"And the people fucking outside?" Julia asked slyly. The question silenced both of her companions for a moment, just as she expected it would. "As I told you before, Aphrodite is a goddess of erotic love. We are not here merely for hand-holding and heartfelt confessions, though those are certainly important things. We are all of us sexual beings. Aphrodite awakens this within us. It must be respected and indulged."
"So you're saying we should have sex in front of the others?" Amber asked, squeezing Scott's hand a little harder. For once there was less excitement and more nervousness in her voice.
"Not as an expectation in and of itself," Julia corrected, "but that is certainly a natural outgrowth of the real point to this. We don't openly fuck or make love -- and there is a difference -- because such is specifically demanded of us. We do it to be open with our desires. We do it to share in the beauty of what we are. Again, we are sexual beings. We are beautiful creatures. The world beyond this sanctuary and beyond your homes requires enough discretion and deception as it is. Here you can be open and free."
"So we don't have to?"
"You do not," Julia nodded, "if it is not what you desire. But tell me this. Scott's desire is plain. I believe you are in much the same state, Amber. Were I to leave you alone in this room and shut the door, would you hesitate to come together?"
The pair looked at one another. Again, it was Scott who was more certain than Amber. "Not for a second," he answered.
"No," Amber said, blushing a bit. "No, I don't think we would."
"You already see how we are as a community," Julia continued gently. "What we want for you is freedom from inhibition and shyness and jealousy. We want you to express your love and your sexuality. Amber, Scott...my life is one of constant sexuality. I watch people make love and fuck daily. I have never grown 'used' to it, because to me these are sacred acts. Even sex for sheer lust and satisfaction is an act of worship among the faithful.
"I am Aphrodite's high priestess," she said. "As her faithful, you must hide nothing from her. You need hide nothing about your love from her faithful, least of all her high priestess. Your love is sacred to me. Never deny yourselves on my account."
"Well, we're not--" Amber started to say, but then she felt Scott turn and brush her hair off of one shoulder. "Scott?" she blinked, and then felt his lips on her neck. "Oh...Scott, I don't know if...if..." Her eyes fluttered, and she looked over from him to Julia. The high priestess watched with a completely serene and approving expression on her face. "I just...oh...I want him," she confessed, gasping as one of his hands slid up her bare side. "I just thought we were...talking...about...oh..."
"We can still talk," Julia nodded slowly and softly. "Don't deny yourselves. Don't deny your goddess her due."
Amber was breathing heavily. She was surprised at how excited she was, and how utterly unable to object or move away she had suddenly become. In contrast, her lover seemed stronger and more assured than ever. "Scott?" she breathed.
His hand brushed through her hair, something that always got right to her. He kissed her lips and then the side of her jaw. "Tell me to stop and I'll stop," he murmured. "I just want you so much. We both want this...don't we?" His other hand slid across her legs, coming up her thighs with his thumb dangerously close to her groin. "I love you, Amber. I won't do anything to hurt you. I just want you so much." His breath was soft and warm under her ear. "Do you want me to stop?"
"No," she confessed, her fingers sliding across his shoulder until finally her nails began to scratch. She wanted this. She wanted to live like Julia and her people did. It all felt so very good. "Please don't stop."
Scott turned Amber to face him on the couch, letting her keep one leg off to the side while slipping the other in front of and then around him. Their eyes only met for a moment, confirming all the affection and desire that they had shared for so long. Then Amber felt fingers in her hair that didn't belong to hers. She glanced up to see Julia standing behind her now, next to the couch, coaxing Amber to lie back. "Give in to this love, Amber," she murmured warmly. "Aphrodite is with you here. She works through your lover. She works through you."
Utterly swayed even before Julia had moved close, Amber suddenly found herself welcoming the priestess's involvement. She lay back, spread for Scott, and released a moan of appreciation as he pushed inside her already very wet and aroused flesh. Julia's hands in her hair and on her shoulders soothed her while Scott's cock worked to satisfy her need.
The touch of the priestess added to Amber's comfort without interrupting the intimacy. She felt her hands, heard her breath against her hair, yet the only name on her lips was Scott's. Amber looked up at him as he thrust into her, feeling intense love and intense need amid her sudden gratitude for this moment. She reached to her sex with one hand, gently teasing her clit while her lover fucked her.
"That's it, Amber," Julia whispered to her enticingly. "Just enjoy. No reason to hold back. We want you to get off...your lover, your goddess and I. Just give in."
Further soft encouragement came from the other woman as Scott plunged into Amber's welcoming body. Amber's initial reluctance had given way to appreciation for the new perspective on their intimacy. A small part of her hoped that Julia would be with them again, coaxing them to greater heights.
"Oh!" Amber finally cried out. Her body tightened, trembling with overpowering pleasure. Nonsensical noises followed as she came, shamelessly enjoying herself as her body shook with climax. Wet sounds came from between her legs as Scott continued on, but when her eyes finally opened to see Julia still looming behind her, the older woman's full breasts just over her head, she saw only approval in the high priestess's eyes.
Something about the moment thrilled her. She found that having this intimate witness with them as Scott enjoyed her body, and as Amber enjoyed his, only enhanced her pleasure. He hadn't come yet, Amber realized, and she lay there and experienced him and watched with amazement as she felt him fuck her. She felt lucky to be with him. She felt her pleasures build again.
His breath deepened and was soon heavy with moans of impending satisfaction. Julia wasn't vocal with her encouragement this time, merely looking on with an interested smile as Scott sought out his own satisfaction. When it finally arrived, it was enough to set Amber off yet again. Amber cried out once more, catching his gaze and happily making a wanton show of herself for him as his own release arrived. It was wet and loud and glorious.
Their breathing slowed, calming once more. Julia slipped in close enough to kiss Amber's forehead, then Scott's, and finally withdrew. "Stay as you are," they heard her say, but neither looked to see what she was doing. They only looked at one another. It wasn't until the cup of water appeared in her hands, held low for Amber, that their shared gaze was broken.
Julia smiled as Amber tilted her lips toward the cup, accepting a sip. She only then realized that she was sweating. Amber looked on lovingly as Julia did the same for Scott and then slipped back over to her couch. Neither lover felt any shame about remaining engaged in front of her.
"You are as sincerely well-matched as anyone I have ever met," Julia told them with easy confidence. "I adore you. Both of you. The goddess will surely protect and nurture your love if you can stay with her and walk her path."
Amber's face split into a wide grin. "Oh, I'm not goin' anywhere else," she chuckled, then grunted appreciatively as Scott indulged in another slow, greedy thrust.
There was silence then. The pair both noticed it, and their eyes turned toward Julia once more. The serenity was still there, but the smile had faded a bit. "Is something wrong?" Scott asked.
"Not wrong," Julia shook her head softly. "Serious, though. There is more to discuss, which is both of weight and significance yet also of transcendent joy for those who can accept. I told you before there were sacrifices. There is a great need for trust. There is more to be said of Aphrodite's expectations...and it is better that you hear them out now, while you are sated and in the glow of your love than when you are possessed with unsatisfied desires."
The young pair glanced at one another. "Okay?" Amber blinked, looking back at Julia once more. She shifted around as Scott settled back down, ensuring that he wouldn't have to pull out. She really couldn't bear to let him go now.
"A key matter is the separation of love and lust. As I said, you must accept both and learn to explore both. Each of you. And you must learn to trust each other in that. I swear to you that your love can survive anything if coupled with trust and respect...but you must both accept that you each have desires beyond one another. You must allow these to be exercised, both for yourselves and for one another."
Scott blinked. "You're saying we have to cheat on each other?"
"No," Julia corrected. "You mustn't 'cheat.' You must put the notion of cheating as it is accepted by society today out of your minds. If you really accept Aphrodite -- and some claim they will, but do not -- then you will quickly find any jealousy and suspicion toward one another falling away. You won't be worried about losing each other to someone else. You will not feel betrayed. Simply put, you will both need to understand that it's fine to enjoy your sexuality with others, because you have less and less reasons not to do so.
"You have grown up in a society that equates love with possession. Jealousy and suspicion are accepted norms. Aphrodite does not allow for this. She allows you to follow desires that are not always born of love. There is love, and there is lust, and Aphrodite embodies both."
"I don't want anybody else," Amber frowned. "Really."
The priestess smiled. "You don't want another lover. You have Scott. You don't feel a gap in your life that having someone to love fills," Julia said, "and this is good. It doesn't mean that you do not want other men, or perhaps even some other women. It's not a crime, Amber. It does not make you a bad person or make your love for Scott any less genuine or lasting. It doesn't mean that Scott isn't good enough. Yet you are a sexual creature, Amber. A very sexual creature, I would say. Could you control your curiosity in the long run? Your interest? Your arousal? Perhaps. I would lay odds that you could indeed. But it would be a sacrifice."
"I'm willing to make that sacrifice," Amber said. She opened her mouth to say more, but Julia cut her off.
"Aphrodite is not," the priestess said gently. "There is a different sacrifice that she expects. She does not want you to sacrifice your sexual freedom." Her eyes turned to Scott's. "She expects your lover to sacrifice his jealousy. His sense of entitlement toward you. His...claim on you as something that belongs to him." Her eyes turned back to Amber. "And you must do so as well."
"So we have to...we have to become an open relationship?" Scott frowned. He looked at Amber, who shared a worried glance with him.
"Yes and no. Scott...to follow Aphrodite is to embody her. The goddess sees what she desires and pursues it. Were you to see an interested, willing partner here in this sanctuary -- and I guarantee you, Scott, there are quite a few -- Aphrodite expects you to act with the freedom to indulge in that. Outside the circle of followers, things get complicated. If you and Amber can handle moving beyond this community, then it is entirely up to you, but...Aphrodite wants you for herself, Scott. Amber has to share you with her, and you must share Amber with Aphrodite. She moves through her followers.
"You are not obligated to lay with those you don't want, Scott. Nor you, Amber." Julia's smile returned, becoming at once tender and enticing. "There is no pressure. But I'm telling you from experience that you'll find people you want to lay with. And I'm telling you that you will feel the freedom to allow one another to do that. You just have to be ready to recognize and accept that freedom."
"That sounds...that sounds really dangerous...isn't it?" Amber wondered. "I thought you said you hardly see break-ups here. Wouldn't that lead to more?"
"No," Julia shook her head. "You love Scott. I promise you there will be no greater joy for you than you find with him for as long as your love remains. Your love is in Aphrodite's interest. Together, you have love, and you share your lust. I have seen it, just now. This is what genuine lovers enjoy. Yet lust is separate. You saw Aphrodite's way in action outside tonight. There were those who made love, and those who fucked. There is a difference. But within Aphrodite's community there is no reason at all why you should not enjoy both in her name."
"Why does this sound like an elaborate system of excuses to fuck anyone you want?" Scott asked skeptically.
Julia wasn't at all offended. "It's a fair question. Yet another fair question would be, 'Why can't everyone have things this way?' The reality of our world is that we can't proselytize openly, Scott. Your parents showed good judgment in waiting this long to introduce you to all this. It goes against widely-accepted norms for relationships. It threatens insecurities. But, Scott...Aphrodite loves you. Amber loves you. I love you. We all want you to be happy." Again, she turned to Amber. "And you, as well. It would have been easier to introduce Scott to all this without you in Scott's life, Amber, but Justin and Dana could see that you are very special. I see it, too. You belong here. Both of you belong here."
Amber sat up and hugged Scott close. "This changes things," she said.
"No, Amber, hear me out," Julia said. She came off the couch again, moving forward to kneel in front of them both. Her hands went out to their legs. "I swear this will protect your love, not destroy it. It will bring you joy and fulfillment that most poor souls never know. Ask yourself, why don't you want Scott to be with another woman if you knew it would be brief and that he would come back to you?"
Amber looked down at her, tears welling up in her eyes. "Because he should turn to me for that. I'm the one who should take care of him like that."
"It isn't out of disdain or dissatisfaction for you, Amber. You have felt today just how much he wants you. How much he loves you. Do you think that is about sex alone?"
She paused, unwilling to answer right away. She looked at Scott's face, still holding him close, and felt him inside her. "No," she said, "we mean more to one another than that."
"You do," Julia nodded solemnly. "So much more. Now think of the physical joy you have shared today. Think of how much you love him. Don't you want him to experience that joy all the time? In as many ways and as often as possible? Don't you want him to revel in being the sexual being you know him to be?"
"You're saying it's selfish to want to keep things just between us?" Scott asked.
"I would not cast it in such an unpleasant light," Julia conceded, "but you both have great joy to share beyond just yourselves. Moreover, ask yourself this: if you must jealously guard Amber against other men, and against her own desires...is she really yours?"
"I don't want other men," Amber repeated.
"You do, love," Julia countered gently. "Not in the same way as Scott. Not in ways that put Scott down. But you see men you would like to enjoy. Scott sees such women as well. You aren't the only woman who had him aroused today, nor was he the only man who kept your eye. Aphrodite wants you to enjoy freedom from jealousy, Amber. Freedom from suspicion. You don't have to push yourselves into anything. It will happen naturally, and if you embrace it, you will know greater peace, joy and satisfaction than I can put into words. Nothing will be forced. Nothing will be unpleasant. When it happens, I guarantee you, you will want it.
"The test is in allowing this for one another."
Scott and Amber were silent for a long moment. Their foreheads came together gently. The pair found themselves sharing the same breath even as their embrace continued. "Scott," Amber finally managed, "can you do this?"
"Can you?"
She shrugged. "It's...it's kinda hard not thinking about sex right now like this," she huffed. "Everything sexy sounds good to me right now. But I don't ever want to hurt you."
"There is one thing I should point out," Julia offered quietly. She waited until they both had their eyes on her. "Justin and Dana have accepted this. They have been with other people. All your life, Scott, Justin has enjoyed other women and Dana has dallied with other men, even at times in one another's open view, and yet their love is as strong as any I have ever seen."
"Do you know where they are now?" he asked.
"I don't. They may be together. They may be apart. But I imagine they are both engaged right this very moment," Julia smiled softly. "They're quite beloved here."
"I'd imagine," Amber smirked wryly. She was back from the verge of tears, but still somewhat unsettled. It was a testament to how good she felt in Scott's arms and in his lap that she stayed where she was. She also couldn't deny that she wanted to believe in what Julia was saying. She wanted to believe in Julia.
"If you follow Aphrodite," Julia said, mercifully moving on, "I promise that you will both know two loves, yourselves and the goddess, and the sort of sexual freedom that most people only get to see as pornographic fantasies. I promise you that Aphrodite will do all in her power to keep you together. I promise you that the circle will respect and honor the love you share. This isn't about stealing you away from one another. It's the exact opposite."
"It's...it's a lot to take on faith," Scott said finally.
"This is religion," Julia nodded. "Yet it is not a blind faith. This is not a god or goddess who stands aloof from her followers. You have already seen and felt Aphrodite's power. She protects us in our worship. When you look at the behavior here, you should see diseases and unwanted children running rampant; there are none of either. And even here and now you can feel her with you both. There is nothing ordinary about the embrace you and Amber share. You both know full well that the sort of endurance and desire you've shared today isn't natural. Aphrodite will share so much more with you if you will accept her in your arms, Scott.
"But you are right. It is a lot to think about. You said before that it all sounds too good to be true. There is a reason I didn't explain the full expectations of the goddess until immediately after you and Amber had sated yourselves. Telling you all of this beforehand would only have played to your arousal and sounded all the more appealing because of it. And I should warn you -- or perhaps promise," she corrected with a smile, "that lust will become a welcome, driving factor of your lives."
"Aphrodite wants us to be sluts?" Amber smirked.
"In a way," Julia shrugged. "We see it as nothing to be derided or scorned. If anything, we pity others for not being so free."
"I think...I think Scott and I should really be alone for awhile," Amber said.
Julia nodded solemnly. "You should talk. But you should both understand...Aphrodite cherishes your love, as do I, yet you are not called to her as a couple. You are each called to her as one soul. You must decide for yourselves individually, not as a pair. I wish to see you together. So does Aphrodite. So do all of us. But we will accept one of you without the other. Even that need not end your love.
"You have your room here in the house. Or, alternately, I would encourage you to spend the night in the shrine. It is reserved for you tonight. Regardless of whether or not you decide to follow Aphrodite, the goddess smiles upon your love. One need not follow her to sleep in her shrine and receive her blessing."
Scott huffed. "I'm not sure we'll sleep much if we go in there again."
The priestess only smiled. "That would honor the goddess just as much."
***
"Scott!"
He and Amber both blinked at the sound of his name. They had nearly crossed the deck in front of the house, headed back to the shrine to be alone. The deck was occupied by roughly a dozen naked people, some talking, some communicating more intimately.
Scott's head turned to see his mother sitting up from a cushioned lawn chair, swinging her leg over the head of a man who was sitting up from a spot between her legs. Another man was crouched behind the chair, casually withdrawing his arms from where they had clearly been in place to touch Dana somehow.
As his mother stood and came over to them, Scott couldn't help but notice that the naked man at the foot of the reclining chair took a moment to wipe his mouth.
"I thought you were both still in the shrine," Dana said in an only mildly apologetic manner. Her sunglasses were gone. There was an excited look in her eye and cadence in her breath that she was already shaking off. "Is...you've been to see Julia again?"
"Yeah," Scott nodded, swallowing hard. "Yeah, we were just with her."
Dana nodded, looking a bit serious. "Honey, we should probably talk a little."
"I guess so, yeah," her son nodded again. He glanced at his girlfriend.
"Amber can stay," Dana offered. "You're here together. She's here partly because we really didn't want to hide this from her, either."
The younger woman shook her head. "Actually, I think I might kind of like to be alone for just a little while anyway." Catching Scott's look of concern, she squeezed his hand again. "I'll be there waiting for you, Scott," she added, smiling softly.
"We're good?" he asked.
She nodded. "The last thing in the world I doubt right now is you." Amber leaned in for a soft, brief kiss. "I'll be down there. Dana, I guess I'll see you in the morning?"
"I won't keep him long. Have a good night, honey," Dana smiled. She watched as Amber turned and walked down the field to the shrine. "You have no idea how glad your father and I are that you have that girl," she said softly.
"I just don't want to lose her," Scott shrugged.
His mother tilted her head to one side, indicating for him to follow down the deck and around to a quieter spot. "So by now I imagine you have a lot of questions," she said as they walked.
"I do, yeah. But I'm just...I don't know where to begin."
"Begin anywhere," Dana suggested.
"Where's Dad right now?"
The question brought on a wry smirk. "The engineer is in the house, helping Trevor and Becky out with some sort of physics assignment. I'm not kidding." She sighed fondly. "All the girls get so hot and bothered by the muscles and that rugged smile, and then he starts talking about whatever new wing he and his team are working on and I feel like I should bring him his graphing calculator."
Scott stopped. "Dad. Girls get hot and bothered over Dad."
Rolling her eyes, Dana chuckled, "More than you know, honey. Maybe more than you want to know." She looked at him a bit more seriously then. "So you know by now that your father and I aren't monogamous."
"Yeah," Scott breathed. "Yeah, it's just a lot to wrap my head around."
"Say what's on your mind."
"It doesn't bother you that he's with other women?"
"No. Justin isn't with other women because I'm not good enough for him. He's not with them because I don't satisfy him. He gets with them because it's fun and because it feels good, because he likes them and they like him, and because he knows I'm okay with it."
"How can you be okay with it?"
"Like I just said," Dana shrugged. "It's not about me. Honey, I'll be the first to admit that some of the other women here have things I don't have. Some of the guys here have a few things going on that your father doesn't, too, and they're things I like. That doesn't make us love one another any less. It doesn't make them better, just different. The rest of the circle understands that, they respect it...and they're all in pretty much the same boat. The second I snap my fingers, your father will walk away from whatever woman he's with right back into my arms, and they know it. And it's the same with me."
"It's that simple?"
"It could be," Dana conceded, "if I wanted to be a complete bitch about it. I'm not one for the finger-snapping, though. Degradation isn't sexy. But if I had a good reason to pull him away? Absolutely. He's my husband, I'm his wife. We put each other first."
"Do you..." Scott ventured, then faltered, and finally mustered his courage. "Do you have another lover besides Dad?" he asked. "Something that isn't just sex?"
She shrugged. "I've got more than a little of an attachment to a few other guys. A couple of people I adore and that I'm really close with. I've told a couple other guys I love them, and I do. But it's not the same. They know it, I know it, and Justin knows it."
"Do you think it's the same with him? Doesn't that bother you?"
Dana pursed her lips, looking thoughtfully at her son. "I know your father has his close attachments, too," she said finally, "and I've met them, and they know where they stand. But I've had guys be there for me there for me when Justin legitimately couldn't be, and sometimes that happens in life. They mean a lot to me in the sense of all this," Dana explained, gesturing toward the shrine and the scattered statues. "But nobody replaces Justin. Point being, it's not at your father's expense, and whatever he's got going on doesn't come at mine."
She reached out and took her son's hand. "Scott, I know this might all sound like it's going to drive a wedge between you and Amber. It won't. I promise you that. You just have to have faith. But if it makes you feel any better...every time I'm with someone else, I think to myself that I'm enjoying this because Justin loves me. He's told me pretty much the same thing."
"Are you gonna be disappointed if I don't do this? If Amber and I don't...join? Follow Aphrodite? However you want to put it?"
Dana shook her head. "I want you to find what you believe and follow your own heart. I want you to be true to yourself. I just know how wonderful this is," she added, "and I'd hate to see you any less happy than your father and I have been. Amber, too.
"I could go on and on about this lifestyle, Scott. I spend a lot of time enjoying myself in all these ways, and that's even with having curtailed it all for the sake of raising you and being a good mother. But you're an adult now. I don't have to worry about you stumbling on things you aren't ready to know anymore. And I refuse to hide it any longer. You're going to see me like this, Scott, and I really hope it doesn't bother you. I don't want you to judge me negatively for it."
"No, it's not that," Scott said. "I'm not judging you. I'm really not. I mean, it's a lot to swallow, but...if you and Dad are happy, then that's all that matters. It's just a mind-bender is all. But I love you, Mom, and if you guys are happy, then...cool. I just don't know whether I can do the same thing, y'know?"
Dana gave an understanding nod. "I'll support you in whatever you do. You know that. I'm not going to tell you what to do. Even though in this case your mother really does know what's best for you," she grinned.
***
It was a lot to think about.
Amber sat cross-legged in the shrine, facing the statue of Aphrodite. She felt peaceful here and very much alive. She wondered, briefly, if she should instead remove herself from all of this to truly consider things. She wondered how she could make a wise decision when everything around her was meant to lower her guard.
She wondered how she could tell Scott how close Julia's words were to fantasies she had always held. Before tonight, fantasy was the only word for it; they were daydreams in the middle of boring classes and thoughts to get off to when she was all alone and Scott couldn't be there. That happened with frustrating regularity, given their living arrangements, but it wasn't something to stress over.
Not until now. This all made sense to her. She thought of the example his parents set again. She had always seen the electricity between them. She envied them for living together and hoped that she and Scott could someday achieve that...yet she knew she they were both still young. There was a world out there and she had a reasonable concern that rushing into a commitment with Scott would only lead them to passing up on things that they might otherwise enjoy and learn from if they took their relationship a little easier.
Now she pondered over a new set of circumstances. She was already a believer. This one day had already convinced her that everything around her was real. But there was being a believer that something divine exists, and then there was being a follower of it.
She liked the thought of being with other men. Of exploring whether or not it was only men that she was attracted to. The thought it was almost as exciting as the thought of hurting or losing Scott was frightening.
She wanted Scott. She loved him and wanted him badly. It had only been a few minutes since she sat down alone in the shrine, yet she longed for Scott's return.
Another part of her longed to walk out onto that deck, nude and glorious, and lose herself in the sort of attention that Dana had clearly been enjoying. She had been with other guys before Scott, and had been the one to take his virginity. She knew what a good thing she had with him. Amber didn't expect other guys to be better than he was, but it didn't mean they wouldn't be good.
Amber thought again of choosing between rashly committing her heart versus holding back for the sake of curiosity, and thereby, perhaps, losing the best thing that had ever happened to her.
Yet here was Julia promising that Amber and Scott could have their cake and eat it, too.
No. Not Julia. Aphrodite.
A lot of love went into the statue before her, she noticed. A lot of love came from it.
Amber heard the door open. She turned to look as it was closed. The last of her trepidation fell away from her all at once as she spied Scott's naked backside, his shoulders, and then his face as he turned. A few moments in the shrine had let her settle everything she wanted for herself. A moment's glance at her lover resolved her thoughts over everything she wanted for him.
"Have I ever told you how hot you are?" she smiled as he walked toward her. He was almost fully erect again. She never got tired of knowing that he wanted her. She watched him as he came to sit down in front of her, cross-legged just as she was.
"Yes. And I always tell you that your delusions are really flattering."
"I'm not delusional," she said. "I saw some of those women out there looking at you when we came out. I know what they're thinking."
"You don't sound bothered by that."
"I'm not," she said simply. There was an easy confidence in her voice. Scott heard it just as consciously as Amber felt it. She smiled. "Scott...I love you. I don't ever want you to think for a second that I would want anyone more than I want you."
He nodded. "I feel the same way about you. That's why I'm so worried about this. Well, worried might not be the right word. I just want to be careful."
"Scott," she said quietly, "I want you to do this. Even if you don't want it for me."
He blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I want you to have them," she shrugged, smiling. "I want you to be happy. I'm not going to break up with you. I know it. But I saw those women out there and I know what's on their minds. I know they'll make you feel good." Amber reached out and took his hands. "The more I think about it, the more selfish it seems to me to not want you to have that."
"I want to be with you, Amber."
"You are. You've got me." She giggled. "I'm not telling you to out there and fuck someone else right now. I'm all worked up. You're staying right here with me tonight. But tomorrow..." she shrugged again. "Who knows? Maybe we'll still be too hungry for one another to look the other way. But maybe not, and the more I think about it, that's fine."
"I'm not gonna do this without you," Scott objected quietly.
"You have to be willing to do it without me," she said. "It's not about me. This is a religion, Scott. If I weren't here right now, if I wasn't in your life, do you think you'd want this? I know I would."
Scott tilted his head, and at that, Amber bit her lip. She realized she had said too much. "You've already decided," he observed.
She didn't answer right away. She took a deep breath. "I don't want to hurt you, Scott."
"No. Amber. You're not hurting me. I was thinking about that walking down here," he explained. "I see how taken you are with all this. I can tell it would probably make you happy, and I think I'd be an asshole if I didn't want you to be happy. And I know you don't want to hurt me. I know that. So, I just...I can't stop you. I don't want to stop you.
"I think this is already part of who you are, and I love you. Even with this. Maybe even more with this."
"You're okay with me having sex with other people?" she asked bluntly.
He paused. "You're still gonna have sex with me?"
"More than ever," Amber said in a plainly warning tone.
Scott nodded. He thought for a moment. "No douchebags," he said firmly. "Douchebags don't deserve you."
"I'll do my best to screen for douchebaggery in advance," Amber laughed. Eventually, her face became a little more serious despite her serene smile. "I don't really know how I'm gonna react to all this when things move along. And you don't, either. We're taking a big risk."
"I know," Scott agreed.
"I'm gonna be different with other people, you know," she said. "It's always that way. Every relationship is a different dynamic."
"Mom said about as much outside. I guess that makes me a little nervous, but obviously it'll be the same for me, too."
"What makes you nervous?" she asked. "We can't hold back from each other now. We're gonna have secrets to keep soon enough anyway." She tilted her head toward the statue. "You know. For her."
"I know we're supposed to get over jealousy, but...I guess I'm just worried that other guys are going to get to be with you in ways I'm not. And I'm not jealous about thinking about that right now so much as I'm worried that I will be jealous later."
"That's reasonable," Amber said. "Maybe I'll have that problem, too." She looked at him for a long moment. "Stand up," she said finally. He obeyed. She grinned at him wickedly as she shifted to her knees in front of him. Her hands came to his hips, sliding one along his leg and slipping the other around his cock. It was a position she had never taken for him before.
"I'm your lover first and foremost," she said, stroking him and adoring the look of pleasure on his face. "If you want or need something from me, I am here for you. Just come to me. Don't ever be afraid of coming to me."
Scott's eyelids began to slowly rise and fall. "I haven't been," he said quietly.
"No, but we need to be more intimate than ever, Scott," she said softly. She brought her face to his groin, kissing the side of his cock. "We have to share our needs. All of them." She kissed it again, licking one side from the bottom to the top. "I'm your lover, Scott."
Scott's eyes closed as Amber's mouth sank down on his cock. She slowly moved back and forth on him. Her lover stood there enjoying her, wanting to do absolutely nothing to interrupt. Amber reached out to take one of his hands and put it on her head, then brought up the other as well.
She pleasured him for a long time this way, eventually bringing him to a long, luxurious finish. Amber consumed as much as she could, but to their mutual joy, there was once again a little too much for that. Moreover, the one climax wasn't nearly enough. As before, as had been the case all day since their first coupling, pleasure and satisfaction led only to more desire.
Scott heeded Amber's open willingness to please him. As his lusts overcame him once more, Scott coaxed Amber to her feet and then turned her around. She laughed joyfully as he spread her legs, taking her from behind, but soon she realized there was far too much sensuous pleasure between her legs to allow her to remain on her feet.
She reached out and found the statue of Aphrodite. It somehow felt right to her. Amber pulled herself up against it, leaning on the statue for support and solace as she and Scott gave in to sexual instinct.
As if they hadn't seen it before, both lovers saw as they came together that the statue's lips were turned in a serene, satisfied smile.
***
They were coupled again that morning before the statue. Scott knelt with his legs tucked underneath him while Amber knelt onto his lap, facing him. His hands clutched at her ass, moving her up and down on his cock while Amber kept her arms wrapped around his shoulders. It would have been murder on Scott's knees and ankles but for the overwhelming pleasure of Amber riding his cock, feeling tighter and more welcoming than ever.
Julia stood beside them, facing the statue with the lovers kneeling between the high priestess and the image of the goddess. She intoned prayers and pleas, yet neither Amber nor Scott could really track them. There were words of love and acceptance and something about embracing lust as freely as love, but the couple was far too gone in sensuous ecstasy to really track much of it. They gasped and grunted and found themselves coming again and again, one orgasmic wave crashing into the next.
Amber's moans of love and lust subsided for a time as whispers floated into her ear. "Do you give yourself to the Goddess, Amber?" Julia's voice asked. "Will you take to her ways? When her lusts awaken in your body, will you obey them? Will you love her as faithfully as you love Scott?"
Her eyes fluttered open. Scott's face was there in front of hers, with mere inches separating them, yet so swept away by lustful instinct that he may as well have been deaf to this. His eyes were shut. He was fucking Amber with as much passion and love as ever, she knew this one moment was between her and Aphrodite alone. It hardly even included Julia; she was merely an intermediary, a servant of Amber's newfound lover. "Yes," she answered, gasping and moaning all the while. "I do. Yes."
The admission unleashed a new climax within her. Amber's head fell against Scott's shoulder as spasms coursed through her whole body.
As Scott reveled in his lover's collapse against him, he heard the same words in his ear. "Do you give yourself to the Goddess, Scott? Will you take to her ways? When her lusts awaken in your body, will you obey them? Will you love her as faithfully as you love Amber?"
"Yes," he gasped. "Yes!"
"Come for me, baby," Amber breathed in his other ear, oblivious to Julia's voice. "Come for me...yeah...yes..." She felt him this time. The climax erupting into her was his most powerful yet, leaving her with an immense feeling of satisfaction not only in her own enjoyment, but in so thoroughly pleasing her man.
Julia slipped around behind Amber, moving in to kiss Scott on the lips. She then came around the other side of the pair, kissing Amber just as sweetly. The priestess then withdrew, smiling warmly as the couple fell into a long, slow, passionate kiss in their afterglow.
"How do you feel?" the priestess asked after they had parted and taken a moment to breathe. Her smile was contagious.
"Loved," Amber answered. "Good. Loved." She paused, and grinned. "Horny."
"Me, too," Scott answered.
"You have given yourselves to the Goddess. Will you give one another to her as well?"
"Yes," Scott nodded. Amber agreed, echoing his consent.
"Then walk apart from one another today," she said, clearly used to the words. "You have devoted the last night and day to one another; the love you share in your hearts will not diminish. Give this day to her. Aphrodite is with you. She will make you as insatiable and irresistible as the goddess herself, today and every year on this day. Her only expectation is that you indulge. Your love for one another is assured; put it aside for now and obey every other desire."
It wasn't an expected instruction, and it should have been unwelcome. They were so intimately intertwined, so thrilled with one another. Yet neither Scott nor Amber could hide the excitement from one another's eyes. Amber rose from him, stepping back. "Where do we go?"
"Anywhere," Julia shrugged. "The goddess will lead you. You are hers for this day. You will return to one another's arms when you and she are ready." She paused, looking at them both seriously. "You may find yourselves with another to whom you feel a...connection. There might be some unexpected emotional highs." These words clearly weren't so rehearsed, clearly not from a religious prayer book. "Go with it. Trust in the goddess."
"Oof," Scott grunted, shifting over from his knees onto his side. "I think I'm not going anywhere until my legs work right again."
"Oh," Amber blinked, smiling guiltily. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," he grinned back.
"It's just as well," Julia said. She took Amber's hands. "He'll be fine. Come. Walk with me." She brought Amber to the door, reaching out to fetch her a warm, wet towel from a recess in one wall before turning to open the shrine.
"I love you, Scott," Amber smiled before she left.
He just grinned and rolled his ankles to reestablish circulation. "I love you, Amber."
She looked at him for a moment longer. Her smile and her voice was genuine when she said, before leaving him, "Make 'em scream your name, lover."
The smile was still on her face as she walked out into the sun with Julia. The priestess shut the door behind her as Amber took a moment to towel herself off in the morning sun. "And between us?" Julia asked with a conspiratorial grin. "How do you feel?"
Amber let out a short laugh. "Like a complete slut," she gushed. "I feel like I could fuck the first man I see. The first two men. Whatever."
"Then obey that urge. Take pride in your sexuality. Enjoy," Julia said, taking the towel from her when she was done. "Like I said before, today you can have literally anyone you want."
"And it just happens like magic?"
"Yes," Julia said, her eyes glittering. "Exactly like magic."
The priestess leaned in, kissed Amber again on the lips, and then turned back to the shrine to return the towel. Amber inhaled deeply, looked around herself and decided a moment of hide and seek was in order. Scott would doubtlessly be coming out in a moment; she didn't want him to see her. Amber walked around to the side of the shrine to ensure they wouldn't run into one another.
She found a stranger standing there, naked, smiling and gorgeous. Tall, thin, well-muscled, clean-shaven, probably ten years older--and about as well-endowed as Scott.
Waiting for her.
"Wow," she whispered, blinking.
He held out a hand. "I wanted to see you," he said, "before you wound up distracted with the others." His voice was calm, confident, friendly. "I'm Eric."
Amber's breath grew heavy. Her heart began to pound. She could read a lot in his eyes. Eric was older. Self-assured. His fit physique spoke to an active lifestyle, but his grin spoke of humor and intelligence. She hadn't seen him before now, or she certainly would've remembered him.
She moved slowly to take his hand, not so much hesitating as unconsciously savoring the moment.
She came close to him.
Eric smiled as she stepped into his personal space. His eyes told her that he knew exactly what was happening, and knew exactly how to handle it. "Don't worry," he said softly. "For a while, belong to me as much as to Scott. I'll take care of you." Then he chuckled, "I promise that I'll let him have you back, later."
Amber nodded a little. She knew, somehow, that she could trust him. Nothing in his tone or his gaze or his smile spoke of patronizing thoughts, or of seeing her as less than an equal, yet at the same time it was plain which of them was new to all this.
"I am a bit nervous," she admitted, trying the role on for size. She looked down from his eyes to his well-developed chest and then to his very erect cock. At least I don't have to lower that particular standard, she thought, and grinned. She reached out to touch it and take it softly into her hand. She was a indeed little frightened, she realized, but she liked it.
Eric put his free hand around her shoulder. "We should be alone," he said. Amber nodded. "There's a cottage out in the treeline back there. I don't think anyone is using it."
Amber consented to his suggestion. Trembling with excitement, she let her Eric lead the way.
***
The door to the shrine shut with its customary soft thud. The lock which could only be thrown from the inside, was audibly latched.
Scott looked up from the cushioned floor where he was stretching out his legs to see the most beautiful, sensuous older woman he had ever met standing there staring at him. He blinked. At a ranch crawling with beautiful women, this one was just... "You're kidding me," he said in disbelieving awe.
"No," the blonde replied simply. "I am for you. You are for me."
He sat up, taking in the sight of her shapely curves and the matter-of-fact certainty in her eyes. The nearness of her was intoxicating. The blonde placed her hands on his young, firm shoulders and gently pushed him onto his back. She knelt on one knee, bringing it beside his bare hip, and then placed the other on his opposite side.
She leaned in close, brushing her breasts against his chin for a moment before settling back. They rested against his chest, full and mesmerizing in contrast to the attractive yet humbler endowments of his younger lover. "Right now, you belong to me as much as to Amber," she said softly. "Don't worry. I'll let her have you back."
He felt it. Scott's heart swelled with the sort of settled, confident love he already knew with Amber in looking at this woman even as his heart thrilled to the excitement of discovery.
She watched his eyes as the revelations ran through his mind and his heart. Her mouth descended on his in a loving, sensuous kiss. She seduced him with her tongue intertwining with his as surely as she did in laying against him.
Their hands began roaming up and down one another's bodies. He would have been no less excited to still have Amber here with him, but just the same, this woman was a pleasure beyond belief.
Her expression as his hands indulged in a long caress from shoulders to ass let him know that she was quite pleased with him as well.
"You," she said, reaching a hand between his legs to drag her nails up along his inner thigh, "are likely to become very much in demand soon."
Scott's breath shuddered. "You think so?"
"Think about where you are, Scott," she whispered into his ear hotly. "Amber is going to be very popular here. She is young, beautiful, sexy and vibrant, and everyone will want her. She is more outgoing than you. She is a natural for the circle and the faith of Aphrodite if ever I saw one. A body might think this would lead to an imbalance between you. But you are her lover. What's more, Julia has taken quite an eye toward you. She will want you before the day is over. Don't you think all the ladies will want to know what you've learned?"
His face turned toward hers, and they fell into another long, sensuous kiss. Scott felt her hand wrap around his cock to stroke it lovingly. She shifted around to bring him against her sex, taunting him with its silky wet welcome. "You're going to spend a lot of time fucking beautiful women from now on, my love," the blonde promised him solemnly. "I swear to you that the goddess will do everything in her power to keep you and Amber together. But when you are not with her...you still won't be alone."
She emphasized her claim by drawing him inside of her. Scott was alive with pleasure. This woman was absolute decadence from head to toe, wrapped around his body and now warmly accepting his cock. He already felt like he could come for her. It was too early, he knew, but from his experience in the shrine already, it didn't seem like it would create any particular disappointment.
Her body rocked back and forth against his, pumping his cock and sliding bare skin against skin. Then she sat up on him, looking down with a proud smile as if to tell him she knew exactly how beautiful a sight she was riding him like this and how much pleasure it gave him. When he rose up in order to show her some attention in return, she gently put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him onto his back.
"Let me love you for a time," the woman said. "You can take me any way you like later. But you are going to have to grow somewhat accustomed to accepting much greater pleasure than you have yet known."
"I don't know," Scott grinned. "I've had it pretty good already."
The blonde favored him with a crooked smile. "Then I'll take that as a challenge," she said, rocking back and forth. She had complete control of him, he realized, but given the way she breathed, it was a control that gave back delicious rewards. "Time enough for your girlfriend later, love. For now, be with your goddess...and be with me."
"I don't even know your name."
"Call me Cynthia," she smiled, and then shuddered in pleasure.
***
They shared their first kiss outside the cottage. It was slow and hungry. Eric ran his fingers through Amber's hair. She still had one hand on his cock.
"Nobody's going to find us here?" she asked. "I'd really like to be alone with you for awhile."
"It's early yet," Eric said, opening the door for her to lead her inside. It was a simple space, cooled by the shade of the trees and opened windows. There was a small kitchenette and a bathroom off to one side, but the cottage was dominated by a luxurious king sized bed. Eric drew her near to it after shutting the door behind them.
"Some of the circle are probably up and moving, but most are probably still asleep. Or awake but still in bed. At any rate, Aphrodite doesn't like interruptions," he told her. "Sometimes additions are fine, but...no. Not in a moment like this."
Amber looked up at him, somehow knowing that he would take the lead in this. She wasn't wrong. The fingers in her hair tightened a touch, just enough to let him guide her to lean backward against the bed as his kisses trailed down her neck. His tongue swept lustily across one nipple, then the other. She gasped in appreciation of it, encouraging more, which she received. Amber didn't let go of his cock right away.
When she finally slipped her grasp away, she found herself sitting partially on the bed with both hands against the mattress behind her back. She looked up at Eric as her legs parted. Only a few times in her life -- all of them with Scott -- had she ever felt so beautiful. Spread before him as she was, wet and ready, with Eric's manhood directed straight up below her, she had never felt so sexy.
Like the rest of the lovemaking she had enjoyed with Scott that weekend, both in the shrine and in Julia's room, she would remember this time with genuine physical sensation and perfect clarity for the rest of her life. When alone, she would be able to think of the cottage and feel Eric seducing her and claiming her, just as she thought of Scott in the shrine and the statue and even the couch. All the pleasure of those moments would come rushing back to her.
Eric split her open slowly and gently with his cock. Her breath became heated against him as her body gave itself up to his tender but relentless entrance. Amber looked down between them to watch, then threw her head back and moaned in abject surrender.
"You," Eric breathed in wonder, "feel amazing."
"So do you," Amber hissed.
"You're going to be very popular around here," he warned her as he finally pushed all the way in. Amber looked back into his eyes, deliberately keeping space between their chests so that they could both concentrate on the glorious sensations of fucking this first time. "All these men will want you. Don't be afraid to enjoy it."
"I think I will," she said, feeling dirty and loving it. She understood everything that Julia was talking about now. Her devotion to Scott hadn't wavered. This was happening because he had allowed it, and somewhere out there he was almost certainly receiving plenty of attention of his own. If anything, she wanted to thank him for this.
She resolved to do just that. Later. Much later.
***
Nothing in Scott's young life had ever been as beautiful as Cynthia coming for him. She rocked against him, allowing him to take no active part beyond his hands on her hips and the subtle thrust of his hips. His partner made the rest happen for them both, letting him watch her lovely face and her voluptuous, exquisite body as she made love to him and, using his body for her pleasure, made love to herself. The end was shameless and wet, bringing them both into animalistic single-mindedness as they released for one another.
It was the last in a series of orgasms that Cynthia experienced, coming on frequently and building in intensity until she found a final satisfaction. Then she laughed and cried at once, laying down on top of her lover and kissing his face tenderly.
"Wow," was all he could say once he could speak again.
"Yes," she murmured into his ear. "Now we know one another."
"You're amazing," he said, not for the first time.
Her hips shifted as she deliberately worked the cock inside her a little more. "And you are magnificent," she smiled. "You will only get better with time. You'll learn to play women like an instrument. For now, though, just allow them to guide you. They'll have a very good time."
He kissed her again. "I want more," he said.
Cynthia rolled off of him, smiling wickedly as she stretched out on the cushions right next to them. "Have me," she beckoned. "Have all of me that you want."
Scott got to his knees, moving over her. She looked up at him with affectionate, wanton eyes. Their eyes were still locked when he pushed into her yet again, feeling her legs slip around his waist encouragingly. "I am very glad you have come here," she said, drawing him into another kiss.
***
They had gotten off repeatedly, together and separately, and couldn't bear to be parted.
It had to have been an hour. Maybe two. Maybe the sun was near setting. Amber was still on her shoulders on the bed, with her ass still up off the mattress and her legs wrapped around Eric's waist while he fucked her. His hands were at her breasts, nipples lightly pinched between his fingers. She cried out for him whenever she came, loudly and shamelessly.
The arousal that she had felt when they first came together was still present and still exciting. In looking at his eyes, though, when she came down from the newest climax, she came to understand that he, too, was just as eager. He wanted her just as badly as she wanted him. Just as badly she ever wanted Scott.
"Eric," she hissed, still completely possessed by his body. His eyes opened, and he looked at her hungrily, which was good--she wasn't done with him yet, either. "Is it okay for you to stay here with me? Are you here with someone else?"
He shook his head. "I came here for this," the older man huffed. Like Amber, his body was covered in sweat. "I won't keep you all to myself. That would be a crime. But I have to have this."
"Me, too," she confirmed. "It's okay. I like this. I love it." She paused, grinning at him with a naughty glint in her eye. "I want to be slutty with you, Eric."
"Yeah?" he grinned, slowly pushing in and out of her still.
Amber pushed back just as eagerly. "I feel safe with you. Wanted. I want this."
"You don't play like that with Scott?" Eric asked.
She was surprised how comfortable he seemed in asking about that. Things suddenly felt even more intimate than before. Did he really want to talk about this now? "I don't know if Scott would like that," she said. "We get excited, but...he doesn't really seem to like a lot of dirty stuff."
"Nah," Eric grinned, shaking his head. "You should check out the porn on his computer."
"You have!?" Amber blinked.
"His father has."
"What's on there?"
"Plenty. Apparently he's got a thing for naughty underwear," Eric told her. "He's probably just too respectful and too shy to say anything about it."
"More," she hissed.
"Hm?"
She grinned. Something about this was bizarrely sweet, and served only to inflame her. "I want more of you."
***
Cynthia's nails dug into his back as she screamed out Scott's name, moaning and demanding more. He was completely given over to her, thinking of nothing but the ecstatic sensations they shared. She gave him every encouragement, alternating between coaxing him into a frenzy and then giving every possible indication of surrendering to it. She came as he did, over and over, drawing him into a cherishing kiss every time before seducing him into more.
Well after he lost all track of time, Cynthia finally brought him to one last, shuddering climax, laughing to him as she pulled him close. Her hands on his back relaxed, fingers tracing over his skin to cool and settle his blood.
"You will have this," she whispered finally, "and me, over and over, in your dreams. As real as this is now. This first day and night under Aphrodite will never truly leave you unless you leave her."
"I should be exhausted," Scott sighed, grinning, fondling her breast. "I just...I want more." He kissed her again.
"I know. You will want more and more until sunrise. It is your day for this. And as greedy and selfish as I may want to be with you," she said, unwinding from him and then bringing him to his feet, "I would be a terrible follower of the goddess if all I offered to you today was myself."
He drew her in close and kissed her again. "You think I'm complaining?" he asked.
"Trust me in this," Cynthia grinned, leading him by the hand to the door. "You'll thank me later."
***
"I'm not supposed to be this selfish," Eric grinned at Amber. She had him on his back on the bed, riding him slowly and luxuriously. His hands were up around her chest, softly swirling circles around her nipples with his thumbs. Literally everything he did seemed to turn her on. She didn't want him to leave her body.
"You're not being selfish," Amber grinned back, whimpering shamelessly at the feeling of him moving in and out of her. "I am."
"No," he shook his head. "Today is your day among the circle. I'm only one of a lot of men who'd like to be with you. And women."
"Bah! I've never been with a woman," she scoffed. "I mean, maybe I've thought about it, but..."
"You'll never have a better day to try it," Eric grinned. He shrugged. "You are wonderful, Amber. I'm not supposed to be selfish with you. I'm supposed to share."
"You think I'm bored?" Amber laughed. "You're wonderful. I could spend all day with you like this." She looked at his body again, sighing happily, looking at hers. "I was nervous before, but...I don't feel nervous at all anymore. All I want to do is fuck. I can't even believe how good it feels to say it."
She leaned into him, laying against her partner until she could finally have a long, devouring kiss. Grinding onto his cock, milking it to another orgasm, Amber nibbled at his lip and then grinned in triumph. Her eyes glittered. "I haven't even sucked this beautiful cock yet," she murmured.
Eric grinned back. "No one's stopping you," he said.
The door opened. Amber's eyes widened, less in embarrassment than in amusement. She sat back up on Eric again, listening to him groan with pleasure, and looked over her shoulder.
"Oh," Linh blinked, grinning but moving backward into the chests of Craig and Steven behind her. "I'm sorry. We were just walking up and we thought the cottage was empty."
Amber just grinned at the lovely woman and her two companions. She looked back at Eric. "What was that you said about sharing?" she smirked.
Linh heard it. "I like sharing," she offered.
***
He let her lead him. The sun was high in the sky now and the day was in full swing. The Jacuzzi was occupied, the drum circle was moving again and there were nude revelers on the deck in front of the house. Cynthia led him toward the latter. Scott realized that others were looking their way; some smiled and nodded, others waved. Cynthia squeezed his hand, eyeing him as they walked and grinning with mischief.
She brought him to the deck. It was much the same as before: naked women and men lounging, talking, some of them cuddling or more. It didn't seem like a major place for action, but there was tension everywhere. His new lover found him a plush deck chair and gestured for him to sit. Several people made welcoming comments to them both.
"I think you all met Scott at lunch yesterday," Cynthia said.
"I didn't," replied a smiling Latina sitting on a nearby loveseat. She held a drink in one hand and had her other arm draped around a lovely redhead. "I couldn't get here until this morning. Hi, Scott," she said. Her voice was casual, but the appraising look in her eyes was anything but.
"Scott has given himself to Aphrodite today."
"Oh, really?" asked the Latina with open intrigue. The redhead next to her also turned to look at him then, her face splitting into a grin.
Scott looked back, unsure what to say. Time seemed to stand still for a brief moment. All he could think was that the two women were both very pretty. Then the Latina put her drink down on the deck rail behind her and stood, along with her friend. Both stepped over to him.
"I'm Theresa," the Latina said, slipping over in front of him and crouching down near his knees. Her hands came to his thighs, stroking them without the least bit of preamble or hesitation.
The redhead swept around behind him. "I'm Carrie," she said, her hands reaching down to his shoulders and then down to his chest.
Scott blinked, surprised at this, and then looked up to Cynthia in shock as Theresa's hands came to his erect cock. She leaned in, bringing her smiling mouth very close to it.
"Hi?" he managed.
"Just relax, Scott," Cynthia smiled. Theresa's mouth descended on his sex as Carrie began sensuously rubbing his shoulders. "Theresa is enjoying this every bit as much as you are. You carry the goddess with you today. There is no better taste to be had than what Theresa enjoys now, and what Carrie will soon have, and what still others will have from you."
He looked up at her, his chest rising and falling in long, steady movements as Theresa served him. Cynthia beamed. "There will be other days and other women, but today is special. I know quite a few ladies here who would like to get to know you better today."
Carrie leaned in, licking at his neck. "I think you're gonna find a lot of us coming back for more even after today," she murmured to him. "That's a pretty great tool you're packing there." Scott glanced down at Theresa, who looked up at him with his cock in her mouth and wholehearted agreement in her eyes. "Don't rush on my account or anything," she said, "but I'm not going anywhere until I've had my turn, too."
Theresa continuously enveloped his cock, smothering it in wet, warm sensations that rippled through his body. The entrancement that followed was enhanced by the beauty that surrounded him. The woman between his legs was gorgeous, as was the one leaning over him to caress his chest and tease him with kisses.
Pleasure did not diminish, yet after a while he could still think and act through it. He took Carrie's hand, guiding her wordlessly around to one side. Then he slipped a hand underneath one leg, guiding it over his shoulder to let it sit on the arm rest of the deck chair. Carrie looked down at him with a broad grin as she brought her pussy within easy reach of his mouth.
He looked up at her expectant face as his mouth came close to her lips. He licked once, then again, and soon steadily attacked Carrie's pussy without mercy. He wondered if he tasted half as good to these women as Carrie was for him.
A long time later, standing up with Theresa bent over the balcony railing for him, moaning with delight, Scott realized that Cynthia was gone. Somewhere in his mind was a faint sense of disappointment, but Theresa's ass grinding up against his groin and the grip her sex had on his helped him with that.
***
Dinner was a long, sprawling affair. The house had a long dining table and an ample kitchen, but not everyone had any interest in meeting all together at the same time. Most everyone was on their own schedule for the weekend. Rather than keeping things organized, several members of the circle arranged something of a buffet where their friends could pick and choose and come and go as they pleased.
Amber found herself with Justin on her left and two other young men on her right as they cruised through the line loading up paper plates. Justin just grinned and listened as the guys chatted her up about where she was going to school and what she was studying, seeing them both size Amber up like a piece of meat. She didn't really mind. For the first time in her life, she rather enjoyed it.
"I'm just glad I survived the semester," Amber said nonchalantly. "My chemistry prof writes all his quizzes like he wants people to fail. And then he bitches at the class after every quiz, and then half the time he has to make some sort of apology for putting in questions that don't actually have correct answers."
"That's lame," one of the guys said.
"Sounds like an asshole," the other one agreed.
Justin glanced over his shoulder past Amber. "You realize there's no blood going to their brains right now, right?" he asked.
Amber glanced at the two guys at waist-level and shrugged. "Yeah," she said. "But it's not like I'm gonna quiz 'em later."
"There's a quiz?" one of them asked.
There was the sound of a woman clearing her throat as they came to the end of the counter. Standing there was a beautiful, confident blonde of Justin's age. Her arms were folded across her bare, beautiful chest. "And where have you been all day?" Dana asked, her voice playfully accusatory.
"Hey, honey," Justin blinked. "I was just out wandering. You know, taking in the air."
"Mm-hmm," Dana smirked. "Hi, Amber. Having a good time?"
"Hell, yeah," she grinned.
The older woman turned her attention back to her husband. "I thought you were going to see if the cottage was open."
"I was!" Justin nodded. "I did."
"And?"
"Occupied," he said ruefully. "Totally occupied."
Dana just kept looking at him. One eyebrow rose suspiciously. She tapped her fingers on her arms. "By who?"
"I, uh...I didn't look."
"You?" Dana snorted. "Of all people here, you actually respected someone's romantic privacy?"
He shrugged sheepishly. "I dunno, it just seemed like the thing to do at the time. I thought you'd be proud of me. Only now I kinda regret it."
"Are you in trouble?" Amber chuckled.
"I think so," Justin ventured.
"Mm-hmm," Dana repeated.
"Looks like I've got a lot to make up to you," he said. Dana just nodded. Justin put his food down on the table, took his wife's wrists in his hands and pinned her up against the wall, kissing her roughly. Dana immediately melted against him, wrapping one leg around his and whimpering into his kiss.
"I totally want to be you guys when I grow up," Amber said, shaking her head.
"I'll grow up with you?" offered one of the guys behind her.
Laughing, Amber slipped around Dana and Justin to come straight up to Julia, who seemed to appear from nowhere. "Hey!" Amber said, her face splitting into a wide grin. Careful to ensure she didn't spill anything, Amber brought her arms around the priestess in an affectionate hug.
"Hello, Amber."
"Hi. Mmmh. You feel good. Has anyone told you you feel good?" Amber asked. After today, she didn't feel the least bit shy with this woman.
"How are you besides liking how I feel?" Julia chuckled as they parted.
"Oh, wow. I thought yesterday was amazing, but today has been..." she shook her head. "This is wonderful."
"I hear you're building a fan club," Julia chided her under her breath. Amber blushed. She and Eric hadn't been alone in the cottage for the whole day. Others came to use it. Aphrodite's new follower decided to use them in turn.
There was a greater moan from behind Amber. Julia looked over the younger woman's shoulder at the couple up against the wall. "Okay, it's one thing to be openly affectionate, but you two are just distracting and you're going to cause a traffic jam in here," the priestess said. "Don't you have a room?"
Dana gasped as her mouth parted from Justin's. She already had one hand on his cock. "It's occupied," she answered.
"Our room?" Justin asked. "The one that's ours?"
"I didn't sit around waiting for you," Dana shrugged. "I started my own party."
"How many people are in there?"
"I don't know, I wasn't looking. I just realized a little bit ago that I had to get something to eat, so I came out here."
Julia rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you'll think of someplace."
"Not sure I can really think right now," Justin replied before kissing his wife passionately yet again.
The priestess sighed, looking back to Amber. "They'll move along in a minute or two."
"Julia. Thank you," Amber told her sincerely. "For everything. I feel amazing. I feel like I belong here."
"You do," Julia agreed.
"I can't get over it," Amber said. "It just feels so...I don't know. Like fate. And I don't really even believe in fate." She paused and then asked, "Can you tell me where Scott is?"
The priestess nodded again. "I saw him out on the deck, being entertained." Her grin turned a bit naughty. "Rest assured, he's having a very good day."
"I'm glad," Amber said sincerely.
"You can leave him to it, and trust in the goddess to keep him to herself...but the sun has set and you have both honored her desires. If you want to go to him now, I'm sure he would be happy to see you."
"That's okay?" Amber pressed.
"It's fine," Julia confirmed. "It's natural to have some trepidation about the freedom you've granted one another. There's nothing wrong with reassuring yourselves. But in time you will be as comfortable with it as those two," she explained, tilting her head toward the kissing couple against the wall.
"Well," Amber conceded, "it sounds like they've been apart all day, after all."
"They have," Julia confirmed.
Amber thought about asking why she was so sure, but then saw the priestess glance at Justin's ass and then throw her a conspiratorial wink. She laughed, but eventually came back to thinking about Scott. "He's fucking someone right now?"
"Well, I'm not watching him right now," Julia shrugged, "so any number of verbs might apply, but in the broadest sense? Yes. Almost certainly."
Amber grinned. "I think I'm perfectly comfortable with that," she said, picking a carrot stick up from her plate and biting into it. "In fact," she added, "I think I'm gonna go watch."
"It's a lovely sight."
Amber didn't walk away yet. She looked down at her feet, stealing a look at Julia's bare legs, and then back up at the face of the priestess. "There's, um," she began, faltering. "There's...I'm not sure how to say this."
Blushing fiercely now, Amber found herself at a loss for words. Julia merely waited, patience and understanding plain in her eyes, as well as boundless affection. "I understand," she said. She reached out to touch Amber's face, slipping in and finally bringing herself close for a slow, smoldering kiss. Amber felt herself come alive all over again as Julia's tongue snaked into her mouth, teasing hers. Julia's ample breasts moved against Amber's. The moment held, then moved on as the two parted. Amber's eyes eventually opened, looking at Julia in renewed amazement.
"Find Scott," Julia instructed her softly. "I'll be in my room, waiting for you both."
Julia smiled as she watched Amber go. Then she turned to Justin and Dana. They were still up against the wall. Other members of the circle were slowing in their progress through the kitchen, watching in admiration and interest. The informal line for dinner was backing up.
The priestess slipped in to whisper in their ears. "You know I love you both," she murmured. There was a whimper of agreement from Dana, a grunt from Justin. "You're as close to me as anyone in the world." She paused. They were still kissing. "That's why I wanted to tell you that I'm going to ride your son like a--"
"Gaaah!" Dana replied plaintively. She turned her face from Justin's, putting her hands over it. Her husband, for his part, was staring at the wall wide-eyed and stunned.
"Y'know," Justin frowned, "even here and with you, there's such a thing as too much information."
"Ugh," Dana groaned. "I'm happy for you both, but really? You had to tell us like that?"
"And I can't wait to taste--"
"We're going!" Dana declared, taking Justin's hand firmly. "We're going. Fine. We're going."
***
Her name was Denise. She was well into her forties, had several tattoos and a couple of odd piercings and was apparently a certified yoga instructor. It had certainly kept her in lithe, flexible shape.
She had Scott back in the deck chair once more, riding him face to face and encouraging him to suck on her breasts all he wanted. Denise was a woman who prided herself on her performance. There was no semblance of romance here. She was affectionate and adoring, certainly, but there was a ring on her finger. She didn't want a relationship. If anything, the casual nature of their coupling seemed to turn her on all the more.
Scott felt her start to shake. He was more involved with this than he had been with Cynthia, despite being the one ground into the chair. Denise at least let him use his hands and mouth while she rode him. She had already gotten him off twice and was bringing him to a third decadent finish when the pleasure just became too much for her to stave off anymore.
Soon after she started shaking, she moved much more slowly, almost coming to a stop. Scott read the tremble in her breath right and took over, rocking her on his cock enough to push her over the edge of orgasm. She shuddered, swore and grunted. It wasn't nearly as loud an orgasm as some of the others Scott had given that day, but it was every bit as genuine. Scott kept her upright, letting her ride it out and finally laughing with her as the orgasm subsided.
"You're pretty great," she huffed.
"It's not me," he countered easily. "I'm just blessed today."
Denise laughed. "Oh, I know that," she said, grinding on him a bit more to ensure she had gotten the last of him, "but there's more going on with you than divine stamina. You feel good. You can fuck me anytime." She bestowed a kiss on his lips to emphasize it, and then put her hands on his shoulders again to get off of him.
"I'm a little wiped out, though," she sighed. "Gonna go find a place to lie down. Maybe with my husband." Then she chuckled. "Or maybe not. See you later, Scott," Denise said, blowing him a last kiss.
He was watching her shapely ass as she headed back into the house when he realized that Amber was sitting just off to his left in a lawn chair. There was a mostly-finished plate of finger foods on the table next to her and an impish grin on her face. Were it not for that grin, he'd have had a heart attack and likely died of reflexive guilt. Instead, her lips and her eyes instantly laid those reactions to rest, as did her words. "You are such a stud," she told him.
"How long have you been sitting there?" he asked.
"Long enough for you to get off twice, from the sounds of it." Amber uncrossed her legs, standing and coming over to him. "Don't get up," she said.
Scott frowned a bit. "How come almost every woman I run into today just wants me to either sit or lay still?"
"Because they know they're just lucky to be with you," Amber smirked, sitting down in his lap, "so they just want you to lie there and look pretty. And stay very hard," she added, happily taking his slick cock in her hand. "So. I feel wonderful. I'm having the best time of my life. You?"
"Happiest I can be when you're not around," Scott answered.
"Aw. You know what I meant, right?"
"I did. No worries. I'm really glad to see you, though."
"Me, too." Amber kept stroking him, and accepted his hand between her legs without comment. It simply belonged there. She inhaled slowly in appreciation. "Scott," she said softly, "I want to tell you things that would've freaked you out two days ago."
"Tell me."
"I'm a complete slut, Scott."
"Turns out, so am I," he snickered.
She laughed back. "I really like it. I love it. I want to be with you and I still love you, but at the same time...I don't want today to end."
"Yeah. I know the feeling."
Amber looked at him for a long moment. "I really did make a connection with someone today," she said. "Someone special. Nothing like what we've got, I mean I don't want to run off with him or anything, but..." she shrugged. "I'm not sure how to explain it. I don't feel like I'm betraying you, but it's more than a crush."
"I think I know exactly what you mean," he said. She looked at him for a long moment, then nodded in understanding. "Do you like it?" Scott asked.
"Too much," Amber admitted.
Scott shrugged. "You still love me, right?"
"Absolutely. More than anyone. I don't think anyone's trying to steal me from you, and the second they do, I'm gonna think they're douchebags, anyway."
"Then have fun with it. Don't worry about it. If we're both playing by the same rules, then it's really not my business how you play when I'm not there. All I need to know is that you'll always come back to me."
"I will, Scott," she said solemnly. "I will. I don't ever want to lose you." She paused, the grinned. "But I'm totally fucking people behind your back and I love it," she teased.
He pursed his lips. "People?"
"Yeah," she admitted, "a lot of people. You know what? I'm not here to talk about them."
"No worries. I love you. I want you to have fun."
Amber grinned. "Right now I want to have some fun with you," she said, getting off his lap and pulling him up. "C'mon."
"Where are we going?"
"To do something I don't have the guts to do on my own," she said, drawing him into the house.
The living room had devolved into a relaxed, uninhibited orgy by that point. It was difficult to say without counting whether there were more men than women, but what was plain at a glance was that everyone was engaged in one sexual act or another. Couches and chairs and the floor were occupied by spread legs and attentive mouths. Conversations had drawn to a hush; there was some scattered laughter, heavy breathing, the occasional muted plea for more.
Clearly not everyone within Aphrodite's circle was present in the living room, or even half of her faithful. Yet it was a compelling spectacle, one that both Scott and Amber were tempted to join. By this point, both of them understood that they could have literally anyone there that they wanted. Amber's specific needs, however, outweighed the seductive power of the scene before them. "C'mon," she said again, pulling Scott down the hall.
Within a few steps, Scott realized where they were headed. His heart raced. This was -- like the rest of his weekend -- too good to be true.
They came to the door to Julia's room. Amber turned to him, kissed him passionately, and then turned back to knock.
"Enter," he heard Julia say.
Light was shed only by candles scattered throughout the room, bright enough for comfort but creating a sense of otherworldliness and intimacy. Incense hung in the air. Soft music played from somewhere unseen, gentle stringed notes. A moaning, pleading woman, perhaps two, could be faintly heard from some nearby room. The couches were unoccupied.
Scott closed the door behind them as Amber's gaze swept the room. Near the fall wall was a tall, spacious bed, with curtains tied to posts that reached to the ceiling. Julia reclined on her side, facing them. They took in her long, bare legs, her welcoming hips, the enticing patch of hair between her thighs and full breasts. They were entranced by her smile and her eyes. Her long, dark hair looked slightly damp, indicating that she had just bathed.
"Come," Julia beckoned to them both soothingly. "I want this as much as you."
Amber felt oddly nervous. Her heart pounded, her legs trembled. She had been fearless since Eric had been with her. She had fooled around with Linh earlier, but she realized suddenly that that had been like taking baby steps. Sensing her trepidation, Scott gently took her hands and led her to the bed. Amber followed, laying on the bed when he guided her to do so. She couldn't believe she felt shy about this.
"You are nervous," Julia observed, her voice low and soothing. Her smile was soft, disarming. Julia's hand slid across Amber's bare shoulder. "You want this," she reminded her.
It made no difference where Julia's hand touched; chaste as a simple hand upon a shoulder might normally be, here it brought on just as intense a rush as if it had gone up her skirt, or down her pants...neither of which Amber was wearing right now. Amber was utterly naked. Her clothes were acres away.
The hand traced across her chest. Amber was sure Julia could feel how hard her heart was pounding now. "You want to be with me." Her soft voice was almost musical. "I want to be with you. Scott is here, and we want to share him. This is a moment you have longed to experience. You will leave here the same woman you were when you arrived...and yet you will be changed. We will all three of us be changed. We will be closer. We will be bonded."
Scott's fingers brushed through Amber's hair. It was the sort of thing that she always found reassuring, relaxing. The peace his touch brought her here and now was almost maddening. "I'll be different," Amber said. "I'll...want women."
"You already want women, Amber," Julia smiled. "You want to have them and be had by them. After tonight, you will lose all doubt. You will accept it as part of who you are. You will enjoy it, and be at peace."
"It's just...new," Amber mumbled.
Julia nodded. "Scott is here. What we do, we do with him. We both want him to share this. We both want to have him here...while we have each other." Julia's mouth descended on Amber's. The younger woman surrendered to her kiss, feeling herself swept away as their lips devoured one another's and Julia brushed aside Amber's tongue with her own.
It was a long, deep kiss. It seemed to go on forever. Amber felt Scott's fingers through her hair, knew that he was there with her, and yet allowed herself to forget him. Julia's hands trailed across her lithe body, exploring her sides, gently caressing up her flat belly, circling around her small breasts.
"Let me in, Amber," Julia whispered to her. "Let this be a part of you. Let it happen."
"I want to," Amber admitted to them and to herself. "I want to so much."
"Then enjoy," Julia grinned against her cheek. She kissed Amber again, her hand still roaming.
Amber was almost panting when their lips parted. "This is gonna make me come," she admitted. She felt almost embarrassed.
"Tonight of all nights has been your time for that," Julia smiled. "Share it with us."
A glance from Julia let Scott know that it was time to take greater part. The older woman's fingers on Amber's breast gently teased and caressed the nipple. Scott mirrored that touch on the other, easily mimicking the same motion. Amber whimpered in pleasure as their mouths descended almost in unison, kissing and sucking as if sharing exactly the same thoughts.
"Oh God," Amber breathed. "Oh God, yes." Julia's hand slipped down her center. It crossed over her groin, brushing through the hair of her pussy and finally sliding tenderly over her clit. Rapture erupted from her center under Julia's touch, setting off a hard, wondrous orgasm.
The mouths on her breasts drew away. Scott remained close, but gave Julia all the room she needed to lay against Amber, slipping one leg between the younger woman's. Julia's thigh pushed one of Amber's slightly open from the others, and soon Amber could feel the other woman's sex close to her own. She was swept away yet again by another long, penetrating kiss.
"You are beautiful to me, Amber," Julia told her gently. "You and Scott both. I haven't words for how grateful I am that you came to me." She began to slide down Amber's body, kissing her way from the young woman's throat to her belly. Amber looked down at Julia as she moved, then up at Scott, and found only approval and mutual desire.
"You should take care of her," Amber suggested softly as Julia's kisses began to trail around her hips and her thighs. "You're not here as a spectator. I want you to have...wow."
Amber was about to push the point, but then there was a mouth on her pussy. Ecstasy shot through her, forcing her to gasp and then moan. Scott was smiling, completely in control of himself while Amber felt like she was losing her mind. When his mouth came down to hers, drawing her into a kiss, his self-control was all but a taunt. Amber grabbed onto his hair and held him there, intensifying their kiss as Julia quickly brought her to a second shuddering orgasm, carried her through it, and relentlessly made love to her with her mouth without pause in order to bring on a third.
The new initiate was soon in tears from coming so fiercely and for so long. "So good," she whimpered. "So good." She reached out to Julia's head with one hand, weakly stroking to indicate that she wanted the older woman to lay against her again. "Thank you," she sighed when their eyes finally met again. "Thank you so much."
"We've just begun, darling girl," Julia smiled softly. She glanced at Scott, then back at Amber. "Are you ready to learn your part?"
"Yes. God, yes."
Julia moved aside, reclining into the great pile of pillows at the head of the bed and spreading her legs in offering to the younger woman. Amber was flush with excitement as she rolled off her back and came forward on her hands and knees. She wanted to taste her first woman.
"I've never done this," Amber said unnecessarily.
"I know," Julia nodded, looking beautiful and loving. "Ordinarily, I would tell you to start gently and remain so for a long time," she explained softly, "but we will be here again. I am more than ready for you. Enjoy your first time. Do as you like."
Amber shivered with lust and joy as Julia brought one hand to her head, drawing her close. Amber's eyes were on Julia's as her mouth came to Julia's lips, curiously licking once, liking what she found, and then softly but greedily exploring more.
Pleased with Amber's kiss, Julia's eyes turned to Scott's. She smiled serenely, beckoning to him with one finger. "We didn't bring you here to watch," she said invitingly, "or leave you out."
Scott took her silent cue to carefully sweep around Amber on the bed. He caught a glance of approval from Amber as she explored their priestess. Then Julia reached out to him, touching his naked flesh with one graceful hand and guiding him to where she wanted him. He, too, reclined on the pillows, where he could look down on his lover while she tasted the priestess, and where he could look down to see the priestess tasting him. As had been his fortune all day long, Julia enjoyed doing this for him every bit as much as he enjoyed receiving it.
"Thank you," Julia shuddered at one point, her mouth coming off of Scott while Amber's lips kept at their affectionate work. "Thank you, loves."
"Thank me after I've let my boyfriend fuck you senseless," Amber winked.
***
They enjoyed one another for hours, exchanging favors, shifting attention. Each was loved by the other two, driven to orgasm, taunted with seductive words and brought to climax yet again. They knew their endurance was beyond what was natural. They understood Aphrodite's blessings, and enjoyed, and when Julia taught them prayers of gratitude, Scott and Amber eagerly learned.
"This was so incredible," Amber sighed, laying on her back between her priestess and her lover. "We really get to do it again?"
"Every year on this day," Julia nodded. "Many return to celebrate with the circle. You will find yourselves as susceptible to their charms on their day of induction as they have been today for you--although you may not feel Aphrodite's touch quite so directly as this, the first time."
"I just wish we could stay," Amber said. "I know we can come back here again, but...I don't know. I wish I could stay."
Julia looked at her thoughtfully. She then looked to Scott. "And you?" she asked. "Do you feel the same?"
He caught on to her meaning. It was no idle question. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Julia sat up, adopting a serious, yet still loving tone. "Most come to the circle alone, and are accepted and loved. Some come as a couple, as you have. There are opportunities and advantages for each."
"Opportunities?" Amber asked, propping herself up on her elbows. "Like what?"
"The ancients had practices which we sometimes emulate. They are similar in name, but likely little else. Aphrodite was first worshipped in uglier times," Julia explained soberly. "In certain temples, one could find sacred prostitutes. They served as surrogates for the goddess. Lovemaking is an act of worship, then as it is now. Yet in those days, most if not all who served as such were slaves. We would not tolerate that today."
Amber and Scott shared a silent, intrigued glance before Julia went on. Grins twitched at their lips. After everything they had experienced, it was hard not to be excited at the prospect of more.
"I live here in this sanctuary. At times, acolytes live here with me. Currently there are none. If you wish, you could stay here and serve. You would perform ceremonies, act as my assistants, and often act as surrogates for the goddess. Men and women of the circle come here with spiritual and sexual needs." She gave them both a long, serious look. "It would be your duty and privilege to service both."
"Do we have any say in what we'll do and what we won't?" Amber asked.
"Of course. We cannot ask you to be what you are not, but you have to be ready to give of yourselves. Scott has little interest in men, it would seem, but there is hardly ever call for that. You would sometimes serve together. You would more often serve apart. But you would live here together, sleep together, and often enjoy the sanctuary all to yourselves."
"Can we go out?" Scott asked.
"Of course," Julia scoffed. "You wouldn't have to give up your whole lives for this. It would be a dramatic commitment of your time. You'd have to take it as seriously as a job. In fact, for all intents and purposes, it would be. You'd be paid as full-time staff here."
Amber's grin widened. She reached out for Scott's hand. "God. What a great way to get out of our living situations. Is it just me," she asked, "or is this too good to be true?"
"You would have to be ready to be with many men," Julia warned. "And Scott with no small number of women. You would be respected and revered as servants of Aphrodite, but respect and tenderness are not always what a person needs. Members of the circle have varying desires." She paused, considering her words. "I can promise you that no one would come here with malice in their hearts. I can promise you that you would not be abused. I can promise you that the goddess would work through you, and you will trust one another even more than you do now. You would owe secrecy to those who come to you, even from one another. You can talk with me about these matters as high priestess, but to anyone else, you must respect confidentiality."
"We'd only be with members of the circle, though?" Scott asked. Julia nodded. He looked back to Amber.
"So I'd get to fuck everyone I haven't had yet?" she giggled.
"Yes," Julia confirmed with a smile. "Just about. Not everyone comes here or has such needs. You'd provide counsel and an open ear as often as sex. Perhaps more often. You would be here on heavily-attended retreats like this one, and would help manage them. This isn't a vacation. This would be a job as well as a sacred trust."
"So why doesn't everyone volunteer for this?" Amber asked.
"Because not everyone is invited by the high priestess," Julia chuckled. "Rank hath its privileges. If you live here, you would love one another, and serve the goddess...and you would serve me."
"Oooh, twist my arm," Amber laughed.
"I'd rather enjoy having more company around here. It's a terrible thing, being high priestess of an erotic goddess and a single woman all at once." She paused. "I can see the three of us becoming very close."
"We're already close," Amber smiled. "I've got nothing to hide from you. Either of you." Then she paused, struck by something Julia had said a few minutes earlier. "Julia," she said slowly, "what can you tell me about Eric?"
Julia tilted her head, and grinned in approval, as if she'd been hoping for just that sort of question. "I wondered if you would figure that out," she said. "There is no one in the circle named Eric."
Amber's eyes widened. She looked at Scott, who looked puzzled for a moment, before his eyes widened in realization. "You don't have a Cynthia here, either, do you?" he asked.
Julia laughed. "No," she shook her head, "no, we don't. But I expect you'll see her again, one way or another. Both of you."
***
"No funny business back there now," Dana declared flatly as the car rolled out of the driveway and onto the highway. All were dressed now, tanner and happier than they had been when they arrived. She sat in the front passenger seat, her sunglasses back in place.
"What? Why?" Scott frowned. He was seated behind Justin, with Amber curled up on his side. They had belongings to retrieve from their homes, arrangements to make and commitments to resolve. They wouldn't be gone from the sanctuary long.
"We're too tired to fool around anyway," Amber sighed. "We were up all night."
"Not the point," Scott countered, giving her a squeeze to let her know he wasn't completely serious. His attention turned back to his parents. "You bring us out here, you get us brainwashed with all sorts of free love hippie bullshit--"
"Brainwash?" Justin blinked.
"--you practically blackmail us into joining your freaky sex cult--"
"Blackmail?" Dana interrupted. "Seriously?"
"Yes! Emotional blackmail! 'I'm your mother and I know what's best for you.' Seriously, do you know how deeply scarred I am now?"
"Oh, for fuck's sake," his mother grumbled.
"And this is after flat-out lying to us about this not being a crazy sex thing."
"We didn't lie," Justin countered. "I don't think my religion is crazy at all. I think all the other ones are crazy by comparison."
"Point being," Scott pressed on, "you do everything you can to introduce us to this lifestyle where we're completely open and shameless about our sexuality, and now you don't want us fucking in the back seat of the car," he fumed sarcastically. "Sheer hypocrisy."
His mother looked over her left shoulder to give him a stony gaze. "You will not put on some kind of display that gets your father and I all excited when we can't do anything about it."
"I dunno," Amber murmured. "I don't mind if you do anything for Justin while he drives."
Justin snorted. Dana promptly sat straight in her seat, not looking at either of them. Her husband's mouth came open to say something. Dana promptly cut him off. "Not a word," she told him flatly.
Silence reigned in the car for a moment. Scott looked on at his parents thoughtfully.
"Mom? Dad?" he asked. "What exactly did happen to that old Mercury you guys were gonna let me have when I was old enough to drive?" There was silence. "I went off to band camp one summer and it was gone when I came back and you just said you didn't want to talk about it."
More silence, but Dana turned her head to look at Justin in that same silence.
Finally he sighed. "I'll point out the tree when we get to it," he grumbled.