3 comments/ 11790 views/ 6 favorites Odd Man Out By: edrider73 Many thanks to floss83 for first editing and improving this story. Gratitude and thanks to Timid Tiger for further editing and for questions and suggestions that made it much better. * "Marlene wondered if you'd ever mentioned a threesome," said Candy as she handed me the dinner dishes she had finished scraping. I was arranging them in the dishwasher. "Why would I?" I said. So that's what was on her mind during dinner, I thought. Her friend hadn't come up in the conversation at all, but Candy had seemed distracted. "I'll tell you in a second," Candy said. "I told her you never had, and she was surprised because she said all men want a threesome. Is that right?" "She's probably right that most men have imagined it at one time or other." "What about anal?" "What about it?" "She was surprised that you haven't brought that up either." "You forgot that the subject did come up before we were married, and you said the idea was totally repugnant to you. Have you changed your mind?" "No, but Marlene said that even though most women didn't like anal, their husbands still try to get them to do it." "How does Marlene know all this? She's a lesbian." "She told me that her biggest turn-on is to make love to straight women." "Like you." "Yes. She said she's been trying to find a way to get me in bed since we've known each other, but she always had the feeling that I'd turn her down if she asked, which I would. She told me that's why she came up with the idea of the threesome." "And you said?" "I said I'd tell you." "That means you're interested." "No, it doesn't. Why do you say that?" "Because you didn't tell her no." "I wanted to see how you'd react." "Do I sound eager?" "No. But Marlene said to tell you that anal would be part of it." "Did you tell her that you'd be willing to do anal?" "No." "So she's offering her ass to me?" "I didn't say that. Maybe she thinks she can talk me into it. I don't know." "Well, you can tell her I think she's the hottest woman in the world except for one, and if I was ever interested in anal sex with a lesbian, she would be the one I'd choose." "I'll tell her," Candy said flatly. "You sound disappointed." "Well, I'm not, or maybe I am, because right now there's only one thing on my mind, and if you don't come upstairs immediately and help me get it off my mind, I'm calling Marlene." "At your service," I said, and I dutifully followed her amazing ass that was putting on a show for me all the way up the stairs. It was the wildest sex we'd had in months. Marlene was a tiny ball of dynamite with a breathy voice in the Marilyn Monroe style. She was slim with a small, perfectly round ass, but her boobs were big and that's where everyone's eyes focused. Her sexual preference had probably broken the hearts of thousands of guys since she announced it in high school. Candy had been friends with her since childhood, and they became even closer when Marlene came out because Candy was supportive when some of her other friends dropped her. Even so, I couldn't see that the two of them had much in common. A few days later, Candy brought up the threesome idea again. "You really are interested," I said. "Well, Marlene asked me again, and I told her what you said. She said you've probably been thinking about it and you may have changed your mind. Is she right?" "No, and I haven't been thinking about it either, but you have." "Yes," Candy admitted. "I don't know why, and I don't even know if I want to do it, especially the anal part. All I know is that when I think about it, it really gets me hot. Are you doing anything for the next hour?" The subject didn't come up for two more weeks, but then it returned in a different form. "Marlene thinks you should do it for me," Candy said. "Do what?" I said, although I knew exactly what she was talking about. "The threesome," she said. "She said the reason it makes me hot is because deep down, I really want it, and I'll get angry and frustrated if we don't do it." "Do you agree with her?" "Well, my first reaction is no, but to be honest, I'm thinking that if we don't do it, I might keep thinking about it -- at least for a while. But that's not a good enough reason. I still can't say that I really want it, but when I picture it in my mind, it seems incredibly exciting. Of course, my imagination and the real thing are different. It might turn out to be ugly and disgusting and make me regret that we ever did it. But I guess it comes down to this: I'd be willing to take the chance if you wanted it." "Well, I don't want it. I'm not going to deny that when you bring it up I get aroused -- as you can see right now. The thought of having anal sex in a threesome with two beautiful women has got to arouse any man with blood in his veins. "We've never done anything like this before and I've got a bad feeling about it. I know I can't hide behind 'I told you so.' If I give in, it will be as much my fault as yours. I should say no right now, but since you are so interested, I'll think about it some more and give you my answer in a week. Please don't bring it up again until then." For the next week, I didn't approach Candy for sex, and I think she was scared to approach me. It wasn't a pleasant seven days, because I felt from the beginning that I'd already given in by agreeing to think about it. I spent the seven days trying to find a strong enough reason to stop this whole thing, but neither Candy nor I are religious, and it didn't violate any of our ethical beliefs. Candy stayed out of my way and said nothing. Sometimes I saw her look at me, and I wondered why she didn't tell me to forget the whole thing. Wasn't it the man who was supposed to be interested in swinging or kinky sex and the woman who was supposed to shoot those ideas down? The week of deliberation ended on a Friday and when I told her I would go through with it she said Marlene would be coming over the next night. I figured Marlene had coached her to set up the date quickly before I changed my mind. That night I approached her. I could tell she was dying to have sex but she turned me down. "Marlene said we shouldn't do anything tonight so we will both be even hornier tomorrow night," she said. When she showed up, Marlene was wearing yoga pants that looked like they were painted on. Her rear cheeks jiggled with every move she made. And on top, she was almost spilling out of her halter top. She was smiling a naughty smile, like a schoolgirl who has just snuck into the bathroom to smoke a cigarette. "Hi, Jed," she said in her perky, squeaky voice. "Are you ready?" "Let's get this over with," I said and walked up the stairs. In the bedroom, Candy and I looked at Marlene nervously while she smiled her cute smile at us. "First, we're all three going to undress really slowly," she said, walking around the room, "so we can look at each other's bodies and get really excited. That's why I'm putting all the lights on. Meanwhile, I'm going to explain the rules. "Number one, Jed, you are not to touch me. Only Candy is allowed to touch me. Candy can touch you and me, and I can touch you and Candy. "Number two, you will both do exactly what I tell you to do. All three of us are going to come, but it won't be simultaneously. I will determine when it will happen. "OK, that didn't take long. I like what I see." She was looking at Candy, who was wearing an expression I knew well. It said she would explode if she didn't have sex soon. "First, I want Jed on his back on the bed and Candy between his legs." When I felt Candy suck my penis into her eager mouth, despite the ambivalence I was feeling, I was hard in less than a minute. "I think he's ready," said Marlene after a while. "Now I want you to lift his legs up in the air, Candy. I'm going to get on the bed behind his head. Now push his legs back at the ankles toward me. That's it. Do it slowly, because we don't want to pull any muscles. That's far enough. Good, I've got them." I felt her little hands close around my ankles. I looked up, and I was face to face with my hard-on. I jumped, or I would have if I had been standing up. Lying down with a woman pulling my legs behind my ears, it was more like my whole body jerked and my head snapped back -- all involuntarily. "I'm going to continue to pull his legs now now, Candy, while you take some of those small pillows and push them underneath Jed's ass and his lower back that I've lifted off the bed. That's perfect. "Now take his hands and pull each arm across one leg and down. Tuck each hand underneath his body. That locks his legs in this position behind his head. It's called the Viennese Oyster position, and it's usually the woman who's in it, because as you can see, it opens her up and lets the man to push in deeper." As the women moved me around, I felt like a human pretzel. My own arms and hands were holding my legs back and lifting my butt in the air. Marlene had pulled my ankles wide apart behind my head, so I was also holding my own ass open. I felt a breeze across my asshole, or was it my imagination. I felt like I was in a strange dream as I listened Marlene instructing Candy. "Put some pillows behind his head to push it up a little more," she said. "Now get on top of him in the 69 position. Yes, you have to open your legs wide because they are going over his legs. Sit down on his legs and your weight will push them down until you can feel his face. Good. Now adjust so that you are right over his mouth. There. "Now look at his dick. See how it's raised up so high that it's actually pointing down. Lift it up and use your mouth on it while Jed uses his on you." When Candy got on top of me, it felt like her juices were pouring out of her pussy. Once my tongue got going, she began writhing, and soon she was coming. Meanwhile, her mouth was driving me crazy. "Did that feel good Candy?" said Marlene. She sounded shrill. "Try to remember it for later. When you've recovered, get off of him and go around between his legs again. This time I want you to use your hands on him. Use some of that lube that I put on the nightstand to make your hands greasy. I'm going to kiss him while your hands on build him up again. But don't let him come yet." When I heard these words, I decided this was getting too bizarre, and I had enough. I began to say something, but before I could, Marlene sat on my chest and leaned over and covered my mouth with hers. I tried to lift my arms to push her away, but they were being held down by Marlene's legs and the weight of her body. As she pushed her mouth against mine, I couldn't move away. Then she pinched my nose with the thumb and two fingers of her right hand. I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't move. I felt Candy's hands working me up to a powerful orgasm at the same time I was getting dizzy from lack of air. I thought to myself, this must be like when people choke each other during sex. Just as I started to black out, Marlene lifted her mouth off me, and I began gasping. "Do you hear him?" Marlene asked. "You've got him really aroused." I was feeling weak, but I struggled under Marlene and tried to lift up my hands up. I didn't have the strength. Then Marlene leaned forward and cut off my air supply again with her mouth and fingers. When she raised up a few minutes later, and I started gasping, I heard her say, "It looks like he's almost there. I'm going to pull his legs back further. Look up, Candy. See how wide open his mouth is? As I move him back, his dick is getting close to his mouth. He's wants it in there. I think he's ready to receive it, but maybe we need to excite him some more with our mouths." As she said this, she put her face in front of mine and gave me a hard look. I got her message -- either keep my mouth open or she would suffocate me again. My mouth stayed open as I saw my cock move right in front of it. It looked grotesque as one of Candy's hands pumped it. Her other hand was manipulating my balls. I was trying to hold back, but my efforts were having the opposite effect and I was getting close to coming. I heard Marlene again. "He's almost there, Candy. Now do what we talked about and he'll explode." Candy let go of my balls, and I felt one of her greasy fingers plunge into my ass. Marlene was right. I exploded with a giant groan and sent what seemed like huge spurts of semen into my mouth. Some of the come went straight to my throat, making me start choking, coughing and swallowing. Some of it went up to the roof of my mouth and came out my nose, causing a horrible burning feeling and nausea from the smell. As I choked and spit and sneezed out the come that I didn't swallow, it coated my face and burned my eyes. The orgasm was so strong that even after I had nothing left to squirt, my body was still thrusting. I calmed down and felt disgust at the goo covering my face. I lifted one come-covered eyelid and saw Candy staring at me. Her face was red and sweaty. She was in a state of high excitement. "Take a look, Candy," said Marlene. "You'd think that Jed would be humiliated by what he just did, but that's how men are. They don't care about anything except coming. And you saw what happened when you stuck your finger in his ass. That's why they're always interested in anal. They are obsessed with asses, and often, that's where their head is, too." She laughed her cute, high-pitched laugh, which now sounded to me darker than a witch's cackle. Candy went to the bathroom and came back with a damp washcloth and towel and gently cleaned off my face. As she did, she continued staring at me with her red face, but she didn't say anything. When she finished, Marlene said, "Now it's your turn for something special, Candy. I want you to get back in the position we started with, you on top of Jed in a 69. That's good. Now both of you will use your tongues to get each other aroused. I'll watch for the signs and tell you what to do next. "Look how fast Jed is up again. It's like I told you about men. They don't mind doing anything as long as they can get off. They're like animals. He's eager for more." I wanted to say something, but when I tried to open my mouth to speak, my tongue stirred up some of the come inside it and I almost passed out from nausea. I wanted to push Candy off me and run out of the room, but I felt weak, as if I had no muscles at all. As she sucked me in, it was all I could do to breathe. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't lick Candy. "You've got him hard, Candy. How let him loose and move forward on his legs a little. That's it. You're right where I want you. Spread your legs a little wider apart now and lean back a little. Support yourself with your hands." As she followed Marlene's orders, her pussy slid off my face, and her ass slid on. When she spread her legs more, it opened her butt cheeks and I saw her little brown bud for a second before it disappeared as Marlene moved her until it was pushing against my mouth. "That's perfect," said Marlene. "Jed is going to eat your ass out now from the back, while I pleasure your pussy from the front. Your bush is glistening from your juices. To me, it looks like a shiny black diamond that I'm going to polish until it sparkles." I heard Marlene clearly, but then my face was pushed into Candy's ass cheeks. I heard Candy replying, but I didn't make out what she was saying because my ears were both covered. She lifted up slightly, and I heard Marlene reply. "Don't worry," she said. "I told you. It doesn't matter that he's never eaten your ass out. He's going to love it. We promised him anal, didn't we? I was never going to let him hurt you. This way he can fuck your ass, but with his tongue. So he's getting anal, and you'll enjoy it, too. Remember, what I told you about the only thing a man cares about. He'll do anything as long as he gets to come." As I listened to Marlene, I shuddered. How could Candy believe what she was hearing? Was I living a lie with a monster and never really knew it until now? Was this the end of our marriage? I was in a whirlpool of horrible thoughts and lay there like I was made of stone. "Do you feel his tongue?" asked Marlene. "No? Just give him a second to get used to the idea. I'm sure he'll stark licking in a second." As she said this, I felt a hand close around my balls and squeeze them hard. I screamed out in pain, but my scream was could barely be heard because it was smothered by Candy's ass. "See," squeaked Marlene with a little laugh. "He did something just then, and from the way you squirmed, you felt it. I think his tongue is about to go into action, but let me know if it doesn't." I felt her hands start closing on my balls again and began licking rapidly. "Oh, he's started," she said, "and I can see you are really getting into it. I want you to push out now to open your ass so he can push his tongue deep inside you. Do you feel his tongue inside yet? No? Oh now you do. He loves doing this, believe me. "Now keep on riding his tongue while I whisper something into his ear, and then you're going on a roller coaster ride." As I was working away inside Candy's ass, I saw out of one eye that Marlene's face was approaching my right ear. When she got next to it, she began whispering to me. "Got the idea yet, Jed?" she said. "I'm showing Candy that you are nothing but an animal who will gladly accept any kind of humiliation to get his rocks off. Combined with the amazing orgasm I'm going to give her now, she will see that there are better choices than staying with you." She moved away. "OK, Candy," she said. "I see your beautiful moist bush calling to me. I'm crawling up over Jed's tool and pushing it against his belly to get to you. Do you feel my hands parting your hair and exposing the beautiful red flower in the middle? In a second, I won't be saying another word, but my tongue will be communicating with your pussy. Try to relax and let me do all the work while Jed enjoys the anal that he wanted so much. Let's make this last as long as we can. I'm going to give you the most amazing orgasm you've ever had." For the next 10 minutes, Marlene played Candy like an instrument. I felt it because as she became more aroused, her ass began spasming around my tongue. Finally, I heard Candy singing. It was one note, a very high one, and it started deep inside her body and grew fuller and louder second by second until it felt like it was going to shatter not only glass but everything else in the room. Suddenly her ass was moving all over my face and pushing it down hard. Faster and faster she moved as the note stopped for a moment and then jumped even higher as she lifted her ass and came down hard on my face. I couldn't breathe for nearly a minute until she finally fell backward. Even after this, her voice didn't stop. It now sounded like a combination of a cat purring and a child whimpering. She was lying on the bed behind my head while I was trying to recover, so I heard her clearly. I also heard Marlene panting, but I didn't see her. After five minutes or so, I felt Candy stirring behind me, and Marlene's squeaky voice began speaking with a lot of breathiness. "I'm not going to say anything about what just happened, Candy, because sometimes words just spoil things. But tell me when you're ready, and we'll finish up with Jed." All was silent for a few minutes. I was lifeless. All my strength and my emotions had been drained from me. All that was left was fright. Was that huge orgasm going to convince Candy to leave me for Marlene? Would I sound pathetic if I tried to tell her what Marlene had done to me? In the end, I didn't say anything. I felt Candy stirring behind my head. I couldn't see her because I was still in the grotesque position Marlene and she had put me in. I felt Marlene pulling my legs back. I had no strength to resist her. Odd Man Out "We're ready to finish," said Marlene. "OK, remember what I was telling you about men and anal and what happened when you stuck your finger inside Jed? I'm going to kiss Jed while you get between his legs and use that same finger to push some more lube inside him. Good." She smothered me again with her mouth and fingers on my nose until I was gasping again when she lifted her mouth. "Do you hear him?" she asked. "He's excited again. Now get a bunch of lube on two fingers and put both of them inside as far as they will go. Good. Now more lube. Keep pushing lube inside. Now, put in three fingers. It's not that hard to get them in, is it? Push them back and forth. That's it. "I'm going to start pumping his dick now, while your fingers make love to his ass. He's going to take over and do it himself when he gets excited enough. OK. Time for four fingers. See how his body jumped. He's really getting excited now. I'm going to give him another kiss." When she put her mouth over mine and pinched my nose this time, I tried to hold my breath as long as I could, even though Candy's fingers were causing agonizing pain as she pushed them in and out of me. As Marlene released me, I used all my strength and screamed out "Help!" But it didn't come out a scream. It was barely above a whisper. Candy has good ears, and she must have heard something. "What was that?" she said and turned around and looked at my face while her four fingers were making me squirm in pain. "I think it was Jed sighing," said Marlene. "Oh," said Candy uncertainly. She was staring at my face. I wonder what she saw there as I grimaced from the excruciating pain in my ass. She didn't stop what she was doing, but she said, "Marlene, I think I need more lube. Do you have another jar?" When Marlene got up, Candy leaned over and whispered. "Whack off as fast as you can, Jed, as soon as you get the chance." Then her face was gone. "You've still got plenty of lube in this jar," said Marlene. "Oh, I thought it was empty," said Candy. "Sorry. I'm going to get Jed aroused with my mouth so we can finish, because I'm getting tired." "OK, but be careful not to bring him off," said Marlene. "We don't want him coming until your entire hand is inside him. It's called fisting, and a lot of men really get excited by it. When you get him aroused, take your mouth away and place his hand there, and let's see if he'll whack himself off. If he isn't ready yet, I'm going to give him another kiss." Candy's talented mouth and tongue soon had me almost forgetting the pain in my ass as the urgency began sweeping up from between my legs. I was almost there when she took her mouth away and said, "OK, Jed, you take over." I started pumping myself as fast as I could and Marlene saw me. "OK, Candy, now tuck your thumb behind your fingers and push your hand all the way in." As she finished speaking, I yelled out and began squirting into my mouth again. Not much semen was left, so it wasn't as bad as the first time. But more important, I felt Candy's fingers being carefully pulled out of my ass. "What are you doing, Candy?" asked Marlene. "You didn't put your whole hand in yet." "But he already came," Candy said, "and I'm really tired." "That's too bad," said Marlene, "because I wanted to finish on a special note. But it was still something special, wasn't it?" "It sure was," said Candy. "I never imagined the threesome would be like this, especially with anal. But I'm really tired now. Do you mind if we wind this up?" "I understand," said Marlene. "You probably have a lot to think about. I'll just get my stuff together and go. We can talk next week." Candy didn't reply. I was still lying on the bed feeling numb and wondering if I would ever want to get up again when Candy came back from showing Marlene out. She sat down next to me and leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I opened my eyes and saw tears streaming from hers. Then she lifted me up slightly so she could put her arms around me and buried her head in my shoulder and began sobbing. I put my arms around her. I held her as she cried herself to sleep. The pain in my ass kept me awake for a while. As I drifted off, I was wondering, why was I comforting her? When I woke the next morning, she wasn't there. I couldn't keep myself from wondering if she had left me for Marlene until I heard some noises downstairs. Then I smelled some good aromas through the nasty stuff that was dried up in my nostrils. I put on a robe and walked downstairs, wincing from the pain in my rear with every step. "You're up," she said in a perky voice, but her face told me she had been crying. "You were totally out when I got up. Why don't you take a nice hot shower, and then I've got a special breakfast for you. I guarantee it will make you feel terrific." There was a hint of a tear in her voice as she spoke, and she didn't sound convincing. When we sat down to eat, I said, "Candy," but she stopped me. "Jed, I don't want to talk about last night now. If you don't mind, I'm going to try to not even think about it for a few days. OK?" "OK," I said. I was trying to think of what to say to keep her from leaving, but I was at a loss so I was glad for the extra days, although I was scared that she might leave without saying anything. Maybe she was just staying with me those few days to make sure I was all right. I racked my brain to come up with something to convince her not to desert me for Marlene. We spent a quiet Sunday at home doing stuff around the house and watching some TV, and the next few days were typical work days, except for Wednesday, when I got a call from Marlene. "Is everything OK with Candy?" she asked me without even saying hello. "Sure," I said. "Well, she's not returning my phone calls," said Marlene, "and I was worried." "No, she's fine," I said, "goodbye." I hung up without offering any more information to the bitch. I wanted to curse her and tell her off, but I thought that's just what she was waiting for. I told Candy about Marlene's call at dinner, and she said, "I guess we should talk tonight." After dinner we went to the living room and she poured both of us drinks. She sat on the couch, and I sat in my favorite easy chair, and we looked at each other for a few minutes. She looked like she was holding back tears. "Jed," she said in a halting voice, "I don't want to think about the other night, and I don't want to talk about it, because I'm scared to death to hear what you are going to say. I'm a criminal who deserves to be punished, but of course, I want a quick execution because it's not as hard. I'm always taking the easy way out. "So tell me honestly," she said hurriedly, "can you ever forgive me for what I did to you? I have no excuses, and even though you said that if you went along with it, it would be your fault, too, I don't accept that. This thing was all about me, and I'm afraid I ruined a wonderful marriage. I would do anything to take back Saturday night, but I can't, and -- "Please be quiet, Candy," I said softly. "You're not getting out of our marriage that easy. You're going to pay for what you did for a long time." I smiled at her when I said it to show it was a joke, but she got up from the couch and rushed over to me and sank to the floor, reaching out to put her arms around me, sobbing wildly into my stomach. Through her sobs, she said, "Oh Jed, I want to pay and pay and pay for what I did as long as you'll let me, but I can never pay enough." When I calmed her down, I said to her, "It will be hard, but I'd like to forget the whole thing if it's OK with you." At that point, I was so relieved that I wasn't losing her that I didn't even care what she had done. She looked at me and said, "I need to tell you some other things about this, Jed, but I'd like to postpone that for a while and concentrate on the payback. If you're not hurting too much, we can go upstairs, so I can begin my first payment right now." The following Tuesday, Candy said not to schedule anything for Saturday night because we were going to an exorcism. I didn't ask for details. After dinner at a nice restaurant on Saturday Candy told me to drive home, and when we got there, she asked me to wait downstairs until she called me. When I was summoned, I entered a bedroom illuminated only by candles. Candy was dressed in a sheer negligee that I had never seen before, but it made her look even sexier than when she was nude. She began to recite an incantation that she had obviously made up herself. The gist of it was that she was ridding the bedroom of evil spirits forever. Then she went over to the bed and lifted up two pieces of velvet cloth. Under each one was a bright red heart made out of cloth, and on each heart was a large padlock that was open, with the key stuck inside it. "This heart is Jed," she said, as she lifted the lock off one of them, "and I am now locking it forever for Candy. He is locked up for Candy, and no one else ever gets to have him." "This heart is Candy," she said as she did the same with the other lock. "I am now locking it forever for Jed. She is locked up for Jed, and no one else ever gets to have her." She placed her heart and lock in my underwear drawer, saying, "You will see it every day." The other she placed in her own drawer, saying, "So Candy will see it every day. End of ceremony." She walked up to me and began taking my clothes off. She was crying, and this time, I was crying, too. A week later, Candy surprised me again and said, "Tomorrow, we're going to church." "But we don't believe in that mumbo jumbo," I said. "I found a church where they have the same values that we have," she said. "The only difference is that they mix Jesus into it. I met some of the people and told them we are sinners and doubters, and they said they didn't care, because from what I told them, we were more like them than we were different. "I just think we need to be around people like them," Candy explained, seeing my skeptical expression. "But if you're really against it, we don't have to go." We went, and she was right. The services were painless, especially because they had a great choir, and the people were wonderful. We soon had a bunch of new friends and were doing things that we really believed in. Sometimes I thought about how we had gotten there, and I was amazed to find myself thinking that only a god could have planned out our strange path. Marlene called me at the office two months after the fateful night, and I could tell she was in bad shape. She begged me to see her that night. I said no, that I didn't want to see her ever again, and she became hysterical and said that she might kill herself if I wouldn't see her. I told her to call me the next day. That night, I told Candy about the call. "Jed," she said, "If you don't mind, I never want to hear her name again. I am not ever speaking to her, and I won't be in the same room with her either. But I guess you should talk to her. When you do, tell her that you will not be sharing your conversation with me." I met Marlene at Denny's after work the next day. I didn't recognize her at first because she wasn't dressed to show off her figure like she usually was. She was subdued until I told her what Candy had said, and then she broke down and put her head on the table. I didn't say anything as she went on crying for more than five minutes. Then she raised her head and dried her tears on a napkin and looked at me for another couple of minutes. "What did you say to her?" she finally said. "You're smarter than I thought you were. I was sure I had won her away." "We're both stupid," I said. "I was sure you had, too. But she's smarter than we are. She figured it out somehow." "Here," said Marlene as she handed me a binder with some DVDs in it. "These are the videos. Candy didn't tell you that we had cameras hidden around the room. That's why all the lights were on. I was going to show the videos to Candy to remind her of the best orgasm she's ever had and how disgusting you looked. I was sure they would clinch the deal. "Now I can't stand looking at them, because they remind me of what I ruined. I destroyed the ones on my hard drive, so if you want to shred these, no one else will ever see them. You probably think it's a trick and that I hope you show them to Candy, and somewhere in my mind, I'm probably wishing for that, but now I don't think it will do me any good even if she does see them. "I've loved Candy for a long time, and she loved me. But I was conceited enough to think I could take it to the physical level with some cheap tricks, and now I've destroyed the best thing in my life. "I know you hate me, but you have to admit that my scheme actually brought the two of you closer together. And I know that you also love her, so you have some idea about what I'm going through. If you can ever forgive me and if she ever lets you talk about me, I'm begging you to ask her to let me beg her for forgiveness. Tell her I'll never talk to her about sex again. Tell her that if she would give me one more hug, I would die happy. Tell her -- oh what's the use?" She put her head in her hands began to cry again, but this time silently. When she stopped, I said, "I promise you if she ever lets me bring up your name, I'll tell her what you said." She looked at me in amazement and then jumped out of her chair and on top of me, clutching me with her hands around my neck, and she smothered my face with kisses. She stopped long enough to say, "You wonderful man, you good man," and then kissed me some more. She stopped and got off of me and sat down facing me again. "Why did I hate you?" she said. "Why did I try to destroy you?" Then there was more crying. When she stopped, I told her I had to go. She thanked me again and again and said she wouldn't stop hoping. About a year later, someone told me Marlene had started dating men, and maybe nine months after that, I heard she was engaged. That's the last I heard of her until one Sunday morning when I saw Candy acting strangely. "Maybe you should go to church by yourself this morning," she said after she had already dressed. "I have a headache." She didn't say anything else at breakfast, but she had a strange expression on her face. Then just as I was walking out, she joined me. "I might as well go," she said, without explaining what she meant. Looking at her, I decided I'd better not ask what was going on. It didn't take me long to find out. Shortly after we were seated, I saw Marlene and a man walk down the aisle and take seats on the other side of the aisle from us. They didn't attempt to approach us, but the minister did a few months later. He asked us to meet with him, and when we were seated, he told us that Marlene and her husband had met with him, and Marlene had told him everything that had happened. He turned to Candy. "Do you forgive her, Candy?" he said. "Yes, I do, Reverend," she replied. "Would the two of you be willing to meet with her and her husband?" he said. "It is my sincere belief that she has repented and they mean no harm and would just like your friendship." "Reverend," said Candy, "do you remember your sermon about condemned prisoners a couple of months ago?" "I think so," he said. "You told us that no matter how evil they were and what horrible things they had done to other people, even to helpless women and children, before they murdered them, it was our duty to forgive them. You also told us that being forgiven by us didn't mean we should free them. They still needed to be executed for their crimes, and for believers in Jesus, there was no contradiction. Is that right?" "Yes, Candy, you certainly understood that sermon." "And I think you understand me now, too, Reverend." "Yes, Candy. I'll tell them." A few months later, Candy asked if I had ever watched the videos Marlene had made. I told her I hadn't, and she said she felt like looking at them and would I like to join her? "No thanks," I said, "but since you brought her up, I have a promise to keep, and I now have to talk about Marlene a little. I promised her I would tell you that she would like to beg you for forgiveness. She told me that she made the videos with the idea of showing you how incredible sex would be with her and how disgusting I was for going through what the two of you did to me. "Which reminds me. That night, she said that she would give you the best orgasm you've ever had. Was she right?" "Yes," said Candy, "but so what. It only made me angrier when I realized what she was doing. I'm mostly angry at myself, because I was so into the exciting sex that my mind was turned off. It wasn't until I heard you say 'Help!' that I began waking up." "You heard that?" "Yes, and when I looked at you and saw you were in pain rather than enjoying yourself, I realized in a flash how she had manipulated us. Why do you think I told you to bring yourself off as fast as you could and ignored her instructions by sucking you until you were ready to come?" "Why?" I said. "Because I knew she wanted me to fist you, and I no longer wanted to do anything. I just wanted to stop and get her to leave. My mind was reeling. But the next morning, I awoke with complete clarity. I knew that I still had to work out something about my complicity, but I also knew for certain that I never wanted to see Marlene again. I did mourn her a long time, because she was my oldest friend." "Then why do you want to watch the three of us now?" I said. "Just because all of a sudden I'm turned on by the idea, nothing deeper than that. But if you tell me no, I won't. I've learned that there are certain things that turn me on that can end up turning on me." "I guess it's OK," I said, "but please don't watch when I'm around." "That's a promise," she said. A couple of days later, she was a wild woman in bed. I wanted to ask her whether she had watched the videos that day, but I was afraid to. Every once in a while, for no reason, she goes crazy like that, and each time, I've suspected it was the video. After wrestling with it the first few times, I decided that I should stop worrying about it and just be grateful for the results.