......she was about to find out his deepest secret and he mentally prepared himself for her reaction.
"We have another club that we own back in Holland, so we fly back there once a month and Eva is looking to start up her own business as a fitness instructor so that is keeping us quite busy, but...." Steef stopped to take a drink of his beer and Chloe noticed Eva place her hand on her husband's thigh, he looked at her before continuing. "There is something we like to do, together, as a couple." He looked at Seb again and then at Eva and she nodded, encouraging him to carry on.
"Ok, so are you going to tell me what it is?" Chloe glanced at Seb who was still rubbing his neck, he looked anxious and it made her wonder what she was going to hear next.
"We're swingers." Steef gave her, what he hoped, was a confident smile and Eva actually looked nervous.
"Swingers?" Chloe blinked, had she heard that right?
"Yeah, we meet up with a select few other couples and swap partners." Steef watched her carefully, trying to gauge her reaction.
"I'm aware of what swingers do, I guess I just didn't expect....well...erm...whatever floats your boat, if that's what you're into then who am I to judge?" She raised her bottle to her lips and took a long drink, aware of the other three's eyes on her.
"I'm glad you feel like that." He replied, feeling a relieved, that was the first hurdle crossed. "I love Eva and I want the best for her, in absolutely fucking everything, and she feels the same way about me, we just like to spread the love." He leant over to her and pressed a kiss to her lips, happy that he'd done his part. Seb watched them before realising that Chloe was watching him, he gave her a nervous smile and took hold of her hand.
"Chloe." He stopped at her name, this was it, this was his moment, he wasn't expecting her to want to take part in this secret side of his life (though he was hoping that in future she'd maybe want to try it) but he was keeping everything crossed that she wouldn't react badly to what he was about to tell her.
"I think I know Seb." She murmured, she looked around at the three nervous faces and thought about their closeness, his little display at the pool table with Eva earlier today, how flirty they were and how tactile Eva and Steef were. It was obvious now, it had been staring her in the face and until now she hadn't seen it. Seb had slept with Eva and Steef had been more than happy for it to happen, as he'd slept with Hannah.
"When I was with Hannah, we did it too, but only with Eva and Steef and I swear it only happened when I was with Hannah, I've not gone behind your back I promise." Seb was starting to ramble and Chloe could feel him gripping her hand to an almost painful level, he was actually scared and it melted her heart to know how worried he was about this. "The last time anything happened, it was nearly a year ago..."
"Seb, stop." She pressed a finger to his lips. "Please, just stop." She wasn't sure if she wanted to know anymore, her eyes flickered to meet with the anxious ones of Eva as she let it sink in that Seb had had sex with her, the woman who she now thougt of as a friend, with her husbands blessing. She moved her gaze to Steef, thinking of how flirty he could be, how he seemed to think nothing of placing his hands on her and how he eyed her in that predatory way of his, was he like that because he wanted sex with her? Was Seb hoping that that was going to happen so that he would be able to have sex with Eva again? What if he asked and she said no? Would she ever be enough for him? Was that the catalyst to his split from Hannah? Her head was starting to spin with all the unanswered questions and as much as she knew that the people who held all the answers were right in front of her, she couldn't bring herself to ask any of them.
"Say something." Seb uttered quietly, right now he was starting to feel as though his relationship was on the edge of taking a massive step backwards or that maybe she'd just find it too much to deal with and leave.
"Look....erm..." Chloe stood up, with Seb still hanging on to her hand. "If you guys don't mind, I'm going to head to bed."
"I'll come with you." Seb stood up quickly, he noticed how her eyes flickered from his eyes to his hand and then back to his eyes again, his heart was starting to hammer in his chest, he didn't want to let her go in case he never got her back. Eva and Steef looked at each other, wishing there was something they could do or say to help, but this was between their two friends now, the secret was out and they hoped that Chloe would be able to accept it.
"It's ok, you stay here for a bit." She flexed her fingers in Seb's tight grip as a hint for him to let go.
"Why don't we all head up." Steef went to stand but Chloe held a hand up at him and shook her head.
"You guys don't have to end your evening just because of me." She smiled, trying to reassure their worried guests.
"Let me come with you." Seb said quickly, a hint of desperation to his voice.
"Just give me a few minutes, yeah?" She replied, using her other hand to prise his fingers off of her hand in order to free it. "I'm sure you'll have stuff you'll want to talk about." She added, giving her now freed hand a shake to get the blood flow going again, she looked at his panicked expression. "I'll see you in a bit, in our room, ok?" She said wanting to give him some reassurance.
"Ok, I won't be long." He replied, feeling a little relief start to replace the panic.
"I just need a few minutes." She said seeing him looking less worried. "I'll see you guys in the morning." She smiled at Eva and Steef, who still looked worried, before walking away and back into the house.
~*~
As she expected she hadn't been in their bedroom for very long when Seb came in. Laying on her side with her back to the door she heard it open and then close softly, she stayed still and kept her breathing even as she listened to him, she could hear him removing his shorts and she rolled her eyes as she knew he'd have just left them on the floor. The bedside lamp she'd left on gave the room a soft glow and Seb stood for a second drinking in the sight of Chloe laying there on the bed in just a pair of white knickers, with her back to him he admired how her body curved in at her waist.
"Switch the fan on for me please, will you?" She spoke without turning and looking at him and he did as she asked, switching on the fan that she'd positioned at the end of the bed. Today had been an almost unbearably hot day and even with the shutters across the windows the bedroom was still hot and sticky, making for an uncomfortable nights sleep. She heard the fan come on and then felt movement as Seb joined her on the bed, he scooted across the mattress to her and put an arm over her, letting his hand come to a rest on her body and his fingers just brush the underside of her breasts. Knowing that he could be pushing his luck, he lifted his head from the pillow just enough to enable him to place a couple of kisses on her neck, she didn't respond but she didn't move away from him either.
"You want to talk?" He asked, really hoping that she'd want to, he felt as though he was in limbo, not really knowing what she was thinking or how she was feeling and he didn't like it. "Talk to me." He murmured when she failed to answer him.
"What do you want me to say Seb?" She sighed, questions still whirling around in her head.
"What you're thinking, how you're feeling, if you still want to be with me." He gave her a gentle squeeze as he said the last few words, he was now in need of her reassurance. Unable to ignore his words, she rolled over onto her other side to see the beautiful face of the man she loved and she pressed her lips onto his while moving herself as close as she could possibly get to him. Seb closed his eyes, savouring every second of the moment and they remained closed as she pulled back a little from him.
"Of course I still want to be with you, I love you, I could never leave you." She placed a hand on his cheek as his eyes popped open on hearing her words. "We've both found out something about each other now, haven't we? And you've, I hope, got your head around everything now..."
"I have, I couldn't let something that happened in your past keep affecting our present." He cut in. "And you know I'm right with you for when or if Stephen makes his next move." He added as she began to draw little circles with her finger on his shoulder.
"My heads spinning with questions." She moved to lay on her back, and let out a breath.
"Then ask me." Seb propped himself up on his elbow. "Ask me anything you want, and I'll answer."
"Theres so much." She put her arm over her eyes. "I don't even know where to begin."
"Ok, I'll ask you something." He suddenly felt brave. "You're wondering how I could have sex with my friends wife, and let him have sex with Hannah?"
"I don't really want to talk about her." She moved her arm and shot him a warning look. "But yeah, it's kind of a mind fuck thinking of you shagging your best mates wife while he was balls deep in your girlfriend."
"I love your choice of words." He smiled for a moment before thinking of his response. "It's difficult to describe, I guess at first it was an experiment, at least it was for me, and it quickly became an enhancement for both of us. But you have to remember, it's just sex, there was no feelings involved, it was just sex, an added extra to what I had with Hannah. I was happy to share her and she was happy to share me."
"So it didn't affect your relationship in a negative way?" She asked. "I mean, you're not together now."
"No, Hannah cheated on me and that was not connected to what we did in our private life, not at all." He shook his head.
"When did you all last....you know?" She couldn't bring herself to say all the words but Seb knew what she was asking.
"Summer break, last year, in August." He replied quietly. He refrained from telling her that they had all been at his place in Norway at the time, he wanted to take her there soon and didn't want her first time there to be spoilt by her knowing that that was the place where he'd last slept with Eva.
"Quite a while ago then." She said, moving her arm from across her eyes.
"It was not something that we did often." He kept looking at her, constantly trying to read her thoughts, she fell silent and he could see that she was deep in thought. He waited patiently for a few minutes until she spoke again.
"Are you hoping or expecting me to want to take part in this? Is Steef wanting to have sex with me?" Her eyes widened and she suddenly sat up. "Is Eva waiting for her chance to....."
"Liebe, don't." Seb sat up also, he knew these questions were going to come out. "I am not expecting you to take part in anything that you will find uncomfortable, I will not even ask you. Noone is is expecting you to do anything and noone will pressure you, ok? If you ever decide you want to try it, then the decision is yours and noone else's, I will leave it for you to ask me. I promise you, noone is going to push you into anything you don't want."
"But you're bound to want to have a night like that with them again, what if I say no? What if you decide I'm not enough?" She looked at him, her insecurities were starting to run wild inside her.
"No!" Seb's voice rose suddenly and he moved so that he was now kneeling on the bed, looking down at her. "Jesus Chloe, don't ever think that you won't be enough for me, that will never happen. I'm crazy about you, I can't get enough of you, you know that. Please tell me you know that." He studied her face, waiting for her to reply. She moved to kneel opposite him and nodded her head. "I need to hear you say it." He lowered his voice to the point he was almost whispering, she was so close to him now that her body was almost touching his and he could feel the heat radiating from her, mixing with the air from the fan, his fingers tingled with the need to touch her and his body began to react. She took hold of his hands and linked their fingers together, holding them up in front of her she looked at them. Aware that he was still waiting for her to answer and was watching her, she looked up into his eyes.
"I do." She murmured. "I know, I trust you." She let their hands fall to their sides but still kept their fingers linked. Her words were music to his ears and his face lit up with a smile.
"You trust me?" He'd waited for what felt like forever to hear her say that again, it had taken her a long time to get back this point and she was finally there.
"Yes." She let go of his hands and slid her hands up over his chest and onto his shoulders.
"I can't even begin to describe how much those words mean to me, how much you mean to me." He cupped her face in his hands but she removed them, making confusion flash across his features.
"You don't need to tell me, when you can show me." She whispered, placing her hands back on his shoulders. She was sure she could feel her insides clench in response to the look he gave her after hearing her words and she could definitely feel it when his lips crashed onto hers in a hungry kiss and his tongue began to explore and taste her mouth. He slipped his fingers lightly down her spine making her arch her back and press her breasts against him and then gave her behind a squeeze, whimpering into her mouth at the friction he felt when she pressed herself against his erection. They broke for air, both of them were breathing heavily. "Just one thing." She smiled.
"Anything liebe, anything, I just want you." He replied inbetween breaths.
"Why are we kneeling on the bed?"
"No idea." He grinned. "That's the last thing on my mind right now though."
"Best we make ourselves comfy then." She replied, laying down and pulling him down with her.