Chapter 5

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY," MADGE said. "I've never really given it much thought, Ava. Taking on just anybody like that, even for big money, never did appeal to me. Maybe because I didn't want the name. You'll have to admit that it takes a special breed of cat to be a-"

"Call girl," Ava cut in with a little laugh. "Whore sounds so old-fashioned or some damn thing. The term makes me think of a group of harlots sitting around a brothel back in pre-Victorian days." The big blonde patted Madge's cheek. "Besides, doesn't it take a special breed of cat to be a swapping wife?"

Before Madge could protest, Ava smiled and said, "I'll admit that wasn't a fair comparison, honey. And I didn't mean to insult you by making the offer. I hustled before I met Bert, and he knows it, but I'd just as soon he didn't know that I've gone back to that kind of work part-time. I get bored. I do it for the kicks more than for the money. It's exciting, meeting strangers and having sex-just as exciting waiting for a new swinging couple to arrive."

"We can always use some extra money," Madge said, not bothering to say that she didn't feel insulted. "Let me think it over, Ava. I wouldn't have to tell Tony, and I could always figure out some way to explain the extra money."

"We'd better get out of here before you talk yourself into it right now," Ava said, pushing the portable bar across the kitchen. She looked back and winked. "I need a female partner on some of the jobs, so you might take that into consideration while you're thinking it over."

Madge followed, her eyes on Ava's swaying behind, already trying to think of an explanation she could give for having extra money. Fifty bucks for an hour or so, Ava had said. It would be foolish to pass that up. Tony believed in sexual freedom, so why should he mind if she got paid for doing something she loved to do anyway? Maybe she'd even tell him herself, maybe not.

Tony and Bert were in the living room watching the tail end of a newscast. Madge and Tony had arrived at the Hopkinses' luxurious apartment a few minutes before, both nervous, with Tony still saying that it might turn out to be just a social visit on their part. Madge, knowing herself and her husband, was sure that if a sexual thing developed with the colored couple, they'd get in on it.

She'd gone to the kitchen with Ava to help stock the portable bar. They had kissed, had decided not to have sex because of the expected early arrival of the new couple, and then Ava had told her about her return to the call-girl ranks.

Bert got up and snapped off the television set. He reminded Madge of an older version of Rod Sherman-except for his big snake. But he had thick brown hair, brown eyes, and an almost hairless muscular body. His features were even similar to Rod's.

"I'll be the bartender," Bert said, walking over and patting his wife's fanny. He chuckled and gave

Madge's butt a little pat too. "I just lost a bet. I thought you two sexy gals would stop by a bedroom."

"I'll take the two-bits out in trade," Tony said, grinning and winking at Ava. "What will that get me?"

"Maybe a flick of my tongue," Ava said, flopping down into an easy chair. She sat up straight and crossed her bare legs. "Hey, how'd you folks come out with the blonde you mentioned? And her husband, of course."

"We pulled the switch," Madge said, taking the drink Bert handed her. "I haven't seen them since, but Tony tells me things didn't turn out so well for them."

"The fellow works for me," Tony said. "He thinks he might have made a bad mistake. His words. Anyway, it seems his wife won't have anything to do with him now. She lost her love and respect and all that stuff. He's sleeping on a couch, getting the silent treatment, hoping she'll adjust."

"I don't understand that last part," Bert said.

Madge took a drink and carried it over to Tony. "It seems the wife is willing to stay married and go along with the swapping," she said, sitting down on the couch beside Tony. "It's just that she won't let her husband touch her. Hurt pride, I guess. Sad, huh?"

"Very," Ava said. "Did you get a chance to find out whether or not she's AC-DC?" The big blonde laughed. "I guess that's a silly question!"

"I didn't even get to see her naked," Madge said. "From what Tony tells me, though, I have a feeling that she'd be susceptible."

"I'm not sure I want you to tempt her," Tony said.

Madge laughed. "Tony's somewhat smitten by the young beauty's charm, or what-have-you, folks. He got himself a first."

"Several firsts," Tony said good-naturedly, putting his hand on Madge's bare knee. "In a manner of speaking, that is. She's never had it except in the missionary position. No, she didn't reciprocate." He chuckled. "I just thought I'd throw out that bit of information before being asked."

"It sounds like a boring and dreary marriage," Ava said. "When are we going to get to meet them?"

Before Madge or Tony could answer that they'd decided to have at least one more meeting with Rod and Linda before introducing them to any of the other swappers, the door buzzer sounded.

Bert had perched on the arm of the easy chair Ava was in. He finished his drink, then stood up. "These people are sensitive," he said. "Not overly so, but they don't want to push themselves in where they aren't wanted-meaning, of course, that I don't want their feelings hurt. They were hesitant about coming, really, and I'd hate like hell to have a nasty scene."

"I think we're civilized and sophisticated enough to handle ourselves with a suitable degree of decorum," Tony said.

"What, exactly, does that mean?" Ava asked.

"It means that Tony's nervous," Madge said. "As I am, of course. But you don't have to worry about us causing a nasty scene. This could turn out to be just a social visit, couldn't it?"

"We'll just kind of play things by ear," Bert said, walking over and putting his empty glass on the portable bar. "I'll bet another two-bits that they're just as nervous as we are."

"Open the door and let them in," Ava said. "And, if our ear-playing turns out as I hope it will, there'll soon be the more exciting playing I know damn well we all want."

Bert introduced the neatly dressed couple, using only first names all the way around, and Tony got to his feet long enough to shake hands with the young man. Madge, aware of the tension in the room, smiled and nodded, somehow losing most of her apprehension because she could see the same thing registering in the two pairs of black eyes.

Ava, turning on her cheery charm, took charge like the excellent hostess she was. The big blonde had gotten to her feet when her husband opened the door. After the introductions, during which she'd taken the dark man's hand and kissed the dark woman's cheek, she guided them to a couch opposite the one Madge and Tony were using.

Then she helped Bert prepare six drinks, keeping up a constant flow of chatter on subjects ranging from the heavy traffic to how much she'd been looking forward to the meeting.

Madge, not paying much attention to Ava but taking the opportunity to look over the prospective swap-club members, saw that Tony was doing the same. She'd seen a picture of Hester and Simon in the nude, briefly, but she doubted that she would have recognized them in clothes. Probably because she hadn't spent much time looking at their facial features.

Hester was very pretty, she thought, and Simon was quite handsome. Both had features more like those of white persons, although their dark brown skin and jet-black, curly hair would never allow them to pass for white. Not, Madge thought, that she had any idea that they'd want to.

Madge felt Tony's warm breath near her ear. "It's up to you," he whispered. There was a short pause, then he added, "But no matter what you decided, honey, I won't make a scene."

She answered by squeezing the hand he'd left on her knee. She was more excited than she'd been in years, and that was saying a hell of a lot, she thought, smiling and returning the silent message as Hester's glowing black eyes met hers. The get-together was looking more promising all the time.

She should have known that the colored woman would be bisexual. She didn't know of a swapping wife who didn't at least willingly assume the passive role in Lesbian activities. Linda? She'd think about that blonde darling another time.

Bert brought fresh drinks to Madge and Tony, and again perched on the arm of the easy chair. Ava, sitting with the hem of her dress hiked high on her creamy thighs, had finally stopped talking. Hester and Simon were staring at the exposed flesh. Madge resisted the impulse to lift her skirt higher. She wasn't a whore yet, even if she did intend to accept Ava's offer.

Not, she corrected herself, that Ava was really behaving like a whore. The object of the gathering was to switch around for sex. As the hostess, it was Ava's duty to see if the newcomers were there just to investigate, or if they'd already decided to participate. Apparently, Bert hadn't given her much information, which wasn't surprising. The older man had a habit of doing the unexpected. He'd once brought a young hitch-hiker home to Ava so that the young kid would be sure to enjoy his first piece of ass.

"Well," Bert said, chuckling, "I'm glad to see that we've all settled down and relaxed. I don't suppose there's any need for going into details about the reason we were under something of a strain the first few minutes. We sure as hell aren't here to discuss the current race issue, are we?"

"You could also exclude politics and religion," Simon said, smiling and lifting his gaze from Ava's thighs. "If you haven't explained that Hester and I aren't trying to push ourselves on anybody, I'd like to do that right now, Bert."

"Madge and Tony know how I contacted you, Simon. They were hand-picked for this occasion. We still have some doubts about the other members of our little group."

"We understand," Hester said. She'd also lifted her eyes from Ava's dazzling thighs. "As Simon said, we have no intentions of being pushy. Maybe it'd help us get acquainted if you were to ask a few questions." She smiled. "Madge? Tony?"

"How old are you?" Madge asked, feeling she should make an attempt to help with the forced conversation.

"I'm twenty-two, and Simon's twenty-five. We've been married two years and two weeks."

"And two days," Simon said, patting Hester's . nearest thigh.

Ava laughed. "It must be love!"

"It is," Hester said. "Is that so unusual?"

"No," Madge said, squeezing Tony's hand. "Most swappers have the ability to ... well, to look upon sex as a kind of hunger that can be enjoyed and satisfied, without the individuals' necessarily becoming emotionally involved. In other words, the female partner in the marriage has learned that sex and love don't have to go together. Most males, whether they swap or not, have always known that truth."

"Very well put," Simon said. "All it took for me to adjust to swapping was to be honest enough to admit to myself that I was being selfish and actually non-loving, if that term could be used, by denying Hester the pleasures I enjoyed."

"After that long-winded statement, I'd better explain that we've never swapped with white people," Hester said, laughing softly. "And, to keep the record straight, we've only tried it with one other couple. Right, Simon?"

"Not long after we put the ad in the magazine we told Hester's third cousin and her husband about it. They're a little older than we are. And blacker, I might add. Anyhow, they're interested in how we make out with you folks."

"Bert told us that you've seen a picture of us in the nude," Hester said. "Well, my cousin had never had a man other than her husband. She'd never even seen another man naked. How that ever happened, I'll never know, but it sure caused Simon to be temporarily embarrassed. She laughed when she saw him naked. Her husband has nine and a half inches."

"We made out okay after she discovered that it was only a matter of adjustment," Simon said, grinning.

Hester poked her husband's upper arm. "You don't think I had to do some imagine adjusting?"

"I managed to adjust to nine inches once," Ava said. "It wasn't black though." The big blonde laughed. "Not that the color would have made any difference, of course!"

Tony removed his hand from Madge's knee. For a few seconds she thought he was going to say that they had to leave. She had time to feel a pang of disappointment; then she relaxed when Tony spoke.

"What do you do for a living, Simon?"

"I work for my father. He has a small insurance agency. That's where I met Hester. She was working in the office. Dating a white fellow at the time, by the way."

"It embarrassed him to be seen in public with me," Hester said. "I could understand that. He took a lot of razzing from his friends-men who would've liked to go to bed with me themselves. I liked him. He was a nice guy. But we couldn't very well stay inside and have sex all of the time."

Simon finished his drink and put the glass on an end table. "I've had much the same trouble with a few white girls," he said. "So, as you now know, we aren't here just out of curiosity because you folks are white. If there are any objections from anybody, we'd rather leave before there's even any more talk about sex and swapping."

Ava finished her drink, handed the glass to Bert, and stood up. "I'm sure there's been enough talk for now.

Maybe too much. Come along, Simon. And, since I have to maintain my reputation for crudeness, I might as well admit that I'm inviting you to see my itchings."

"See and scratch," Bert said, chuckling.

Ava laughed, motioned for Simon to follow, and hurried toward the hall doorway. The young Negro man got to his feet, hesitated, then followed quickly. Madge, watching every move, failed to see any evidence that Simon was aroused. And, strangely, she wasn't all that hot. There was a mental excitement, but physically she was unusually cool and calm.

As soon as Ava and Simon were out of sight, Bert slipped from the arm of the easy chair and took the two abandoned glasses to the portable bar. Then, glancing at Madge and Tony, he walked over to Hester and watched while she finished her drink. There was no tent in his slacks, but Madge knew it would take more than looking and thinking for Bert to get an erection.

Hester uncrossed her shapely brown legs and put her glass on the end table. Bert helped her to her feet and kissed her full on the lips. Madge could see that they were both using their tongues, but they didn't embrace or touch each other with their hands, and the tongue-probing kiss didn't last long.

Bert looked at Madge and Tony. "We have only two bedrooms, Hester. Things seem to be getting off to a slow start, but I'm sure there'll be much more action when we all get to know each other better. In the meantime, I think it best that you go with Tony to the second bedroom."

Madge took Tony's glass. He stood up without looking at her. She saw that his dick hadn't even started to get hard. This didn't really surprise her as much as it would have under different circumstances. She knew that he still wasn't sure he wanted her to have sex with Simon; and he knew that if he went with Hester, he'd have no right to blame her for anything.

Smiling, Hester walked over and took Tony's hand. But her glowing black eyes were on Madge's face, meeting Madge's eyes. "Simon will understand anything you might decide, Madge. He'd be the last one to want you to do something you didn't want to do." .

"Have fun," Madge said. "Tony and I are old hands at this swapping game, honey. Don't worry for a moment about there being serious trouble in our marriage."

"That's right," Tony said, still not meeting Madge's eyes. He put his arm around Hester's slender waist. "As Ava might say, let's go see how things fit."