3 is not a Crowd

BOB: They included their phone number, so I called Ray and we set up a date for that Saturday. We went there and got along fine. There was no pressure and it was perfectly enjoyable right from the beginning. Ray and I compared notes, and it turned out coincidentally enough that he played defensive tackle for South Carolina about the same time I played for Georgia Tech, which meant we were probably on the same field at the same time, although we had never known each other. Carol also got along very well with Ray’s wife, Irene.

CAROL: We had a signal worked out. If I decided yes, I would say something to Bob about did he remember to leave a light on in the house so that burglars wouldn’t know we were out. And if I decided no I would remind him he had a golf date in the afternoon. At one point I almost forgot the whole thing because I was enjoying the conversation so much, and I forgot what brought it up but here I was jabbering away about Bob’s golf game, and Bob gave me a look—

BOB: I thought she was building up to call the whole thing off, and I couldn’t believe it because she was having so much fun.

CAROL: And in the middle of the sentence I realized what I was saying, and I stopped cold and said, “But that reminds me, Bob — did you leave a light on for the burglars?”

BOB: At which point the conversation stopped cold, and Ray and Irene looked as though they thought they had a couple of nuts on their hands. I just started laughing. “That means she’s decided she wants to swing,” I announced to everybody. “We were going to be subtle as hell about it, but my wife got carried away.”

Actually, this helped break the ice because it gave us all something to laugh about. And there was music playing, and Ray asked Carol to dance, and I danced with Irene, and things just went naturally from there. They had a couple of kids but had boarded them with Irene’s mother for the evening, which was their standard arrangement whenever they went swinging, whether they had a couple to their house or went somewhere else.

Well, it was a great evening. It was even better than I had expected, and Irene was as imaginative in bed as she was beautiful. Finally we drove home and got so excited telling each other about the evening that we stopped at a motel on the way and made love, and then made love all over again when we got home.

JWW: For the next few months, Bob and Carol followed a typical routine for new swingers. After their first markedly successful experience, they began answering a great many ads and setting up dates once a week. Some of these meetings were occasionally less than ideal but were never disappointing enough to cool their enthusiasm for swinging. They saw the Charleston couple several more times, had repeat dates with some of the other couples, and limited themselves to single meetings with those couples with whom they had less rapport.

On the second date with Ray and Irene, Ray suggested that all four undress in the same room together and watch a stag film. Bob and Irene petted during the movie, as did Ray and Carol, and when the film ended, the lovemaking was confined to one room rather than the couples going to separate bedrooms. From that time on, this became Bob and Carol’s preferred mode of swinging.

CAROL: Once you become used to this, to all being together it’s not nearly as enjoyable to separate and couple off. In a funny way it gets so that it almost feels like cheating on your mate to be off by yourself at a time like that. You get a much greater feeling of closeness when you all stay together and have sex openly in front of one another.

BOB: You also have the fun of watching, and I mean wholesome watching, not the peeping Tom variety. You participate and watch at the same time.

CAROL: I really enjoy watching Bob with another woman. I had thought that this would be something to really bring out the jealous streak in me. That’s not what happened at all. I get a real charge out of it.

Also, when you are together like that, you sort of change partners over and over again. You make love to each other in addition to the other couple. This also gives more of a feeling of togetherness. And there are all sorts of physical things about the four of you together, like a man may kiss one girl while he has relations with another, or different things of that sort which are outside of the usual and add a lot of spice to an evening.

BOB: Or the two girls may put on a show, for instance.

CAROL: Do you remember the first time that happened?

BOB: Did you think I would ever forget?

CAROL: And how I didn’t like the idea one bit. And if it had just been thrown out to me as an idea, or if that girl had just come over and made a pass at me, I think I would have run out of the house screaming.

BOB: It was our house. Where would you have gone to?

CAROL: Anywhere, anywhere at all.

BOB: And how far could you run? You were stark naked at the time, the way I remember it.