By Sunday afternoon, Anthony knew he was attracted to Nicholas, too, much as he didn't want to like the guy Sören was so obviously in love with - and could tell Nicholas was smitten with Sören, too.
The sun was finally out after yesterday's rain. It was a beautiful day - warm without being too hot - and they had a picnic at Walden Pond. Seeing Nicholas's love of nature, the way he spoke of Walden like it was sacred ground, was irresistible.
Anthony wanted Sören's happiness, even if it was with another man - but now instead of seeing Nicholas as competition, he was starting to wonder if perhaps he could seduce them both.
He chewed on those plans after they went back to Nicholas's cottage and watched Baraka, a documentary of imagery from around the world, people and places, like a little microcosm of the experience of life on Earth. Nicholas's philosophical nature was appealing, and sharing the afternoon in the magic of the pond and now watching this movie together like they were witnessing a miracle, made Anthony like him even more.
After Baraka Nicholas got dinner started, and between trips to the kitchen he joined Sören and Anthony for a game of Scrabble. Sören had a wistful look on his face and when Sören sighed instead of smiling after making a triple word score, Nicholas asked, "What's wrong?"
"Oh... nothing's wrong." Sören did smile then, and gave a nervous little laugh. "I kind of wish I'd brought my swim trunks to take a dip at Walden, I feel like that's something I should have done to properly... connect... with this little piece of paradise, but I didn't because, well." Sören gestured at his torso. "I still get nervous about people seeing me in broad daylight. I'm stealth, and it's a bit more obvious when you can see my top surgery scars, and..."
Nicholas put up a hand and nodded. Anthony reached out to pat Sören, aching for him - wanting to reassure him, and knowing that would result in telling Sören how utterly gorgeous he found him, faded scars and all, and he was still having cold feet about expressing his interest, since now it would be to two people and there was more potential for rejection or worse, coming off creepy and ruining the friendship.
Nicholas cleared his throat and looked out the bay windows, where the sun was beginning to set in oranges and pinks. "Mark and I used to occasionally go, er, skinny-dipping at Walden late at night, during the summer. It was his idea, he rather dragged me along, but I can't say I didn't have fun." Nicholas gave a small, mischievous smile and his dark eyes crinkled at the corners. Anthony thought he looked very handsome when he smiled like that, and his cheeks burned.
Sören's eyebrows shot up. "That's kind of illegal, right?"
"Technically the pond is closed, but there are ways to sneak in, and we did. So if you were still interested in taking a dip without fear of being seen, we could go later this evening."
"And you... I mean, I don't have swim trunks with me and I don't think anything of yours would fit me. It's not going to be weird?" Sören's cheeks were starting to turn pink.
"We're all men here, right?" Nicholas smiled reassuringly. "You may have different equipment downstairs but that doesn't bother me."
Or me. Anthony felt that familiar thrust in his loins as he thought of sucking on Sören's hard little cock...
Sören glanced over at Anthony and bit his lower lip adorably. "What do you think? Want to walk on the wild side?"
"That's why we're here, innit? Back to nature." Anthony grinned, his face even more on fire.
Sören grinned back, and already Anthony felt his cock stirring in his jeans, mind racing with fantasies of Sören and Nicholas naked. Yes, Anthony liked the idea of skinny-dipping at Walden tonight, very much - especially if they were all going to be naked in the pond. That felt like an opportunity presenting itself to express his interest.
If he didn't get cold feet.
Nicholas's heart beat faster as they made their way through the trail in the woods carrying flashlights and LED lanterns. The fear of being caught and arrested was there... but Nicholas knew that wasn't the only reason why he was on edge.
He hadn't made the candlelight dinner for Sören and Anthony yet, to try to prompt them to reveal their obvious feelings for each other. He had been hoping to do that tomorrow night, Labor Day evening, as one last hurrah before they went back to Boston on Tuesday. But then this idea came to him and it seemed ideal.
Except that Nicholas wanted both of them, now, and once they reached Walden Pond, set their flashlights and lanterns down and began to strip, Nicholas felt that ache intensely... and his own body betrayed them once they were all naked. Anthony had a nice, lean-but-muscular build, with a hairy chest, arms and legs, a thick bush and an uncut cock with low-swinging balls. Sören was more willowy, not as hairy, and had full-sleeve fire and water tattoos that led out to a fire and water phoenix on his back, pierced nipples, a riot of curls like the ones on his head, and Nicholas couldn't help but notice Sören had nice growth on T, so he looked like he had a small cock, with the meaty lips resembling small balls. Nicholas quickly looked away, not wanting to be rude by staring, but his cock rose to attention and pulsated, and he was utterly mortified, afraid to be seen as a pervert for getting erect like this.
When he made himself glance back over at Sören and Anthony, they were both staring at him, open-mouthed.
"Er, sorry," Nicholas said, looking down at his cock and then up at the night sky. It wasn't perfectly clear but the sky was a sea of glittery stars out here in the woods at night, resembling the spectral hematite that Anthony had included in his gem collection for Sören. Nicholas and Mark had loved stargazing years ago, Mark had reflected on the eternal nature of the stars, the same night sky looking over millennia of human civilizations rising and falling, hundreds of thousands and millions of years of life on Earth evolving. Humans came out of the caves to wonder at the magic in the sky, and eventually humans learned how to fly there. Nicholas felt like a caveman barbarian now, with his cock hard and throbbing at the two gorgeous naked men before him.
"It's all right," Anthony said.
When Nicholas looked back at Anthony, he saw Anthony was rock-hard too, and Anthony's cock pulsed at him like it was waving. Now it was Nicholas's turn for his mouth to open, going dry. That didn't mean anything, did it? That was for Sören, right? Not Sören and him...
"You guys are making me jealous now," Sören said, folding his arms.
Anthony looked down at Sören's crotch and back up, and then he just licked his lips. That one little gesture said it all, and Sören's eyes widened and his mouth opened again, giving Anthony an incredulous look.
Nicholas quickly led the way to the water, hard cock bobbing with each step. As badly as he wanted to get into the water as soon as possible, and hide - and perhaps shrink - his erection, the shock of the cold water meant he could only go in up to his ankles, then more slowly, gradually. Sören got adjusted to the water sooner, wading out to his torso by the time Anthony and Nicholas were still only up to their knees.
"I'm from Iceland," Sören explained at the looks they gave him. "As you know." He smirked at Nicholas.
Nicholas smirked back. "Indeed. That is still a superhuman tolerance for cold water."
Sören shrugged. "Well..." He bit his lower lip. "Kind of need to cool off after the show, if you get what I mean."
When Anthony finally was able to wade out to his waist, he said, "No, I don't know what you mean."
Sören raised his eyebrows and snorted. "You guys could be in a magazine." Then, more boldly, Sören said, "Together, even."
Anthony blinked like he was stunned, and then he splashed Sören. "You're a pervert." There was laughter in Anthony's voice.
"You've been friends with me how long and you're just now figuring this out?" Sören giggled and splashed him back.
"This is the first time you've been perverted at me," Anthony said, and splashed him back.
"I'd say sorry, but I think your dick likes it." Sören bit his lip again. "Hoping, anyway."
Anthony's jaw dropped, then his face lit up... and he began splashing Sören madly. Sören and Anthony were still splashing each other furiously when Nicholas waded into the pond, and he accidentally got splashed when Anthony ducked. He joined in the fray, splashing both of them. "Boys, behave," Nicholas said, even though he was doing it too - and he didn't want Sören to behave, at all.
Sören and Anthony splashed Nicholas back, together, then back to splashing each other. Nicholas ducked Sören, feeling mischievous in a way he hadn't since he was a young man, and when Sören rose to the surface, their eyes locked, and despite the cool water Nicholas felt like he was on fire, reacting to the proximity of him...
"Both of you are so fucking hot," Sören said softly, looking into Nicholas's eyes, then at Anthony. He pushed them at each other. "You should do each other, and let me watch." Then Sören facepalmed, shaking with silent laughter. "God, I can't believe I said that out loud."
Nicholas couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You..." He couldn't even make words now, shaken to his core. When he looked at Anthony, the younger man looked just as stunned as he was.
Then Anthony put an arm around Sören. "I don't want you to watch." His hand slid down Sören's back and smacked Sören's ass. "I want you to join in."
Nicholas reflexively took a step back and pinched himself to make sure he wasn't hallucinating this. He looked at Sören, then back at Anthony, then back at Sören again. His heart hammered in his ears.
Sören gasped. "What? Is that a joke?"
"No," Anthony said. He turned to Sören, took Sören in his arms, and kissed him deeply. Nicholas couldn't help the moan that escaped his lips as he watched them kiss for the first time, hungry.
Then Anthony reached out for Nicholas and tugged, pulling him closer. Anthony and Nicholas spent a moment looking into each other's eyes and then Anthony grabbed him and kissed him too. Nicholas's cock leapt against Anthony's and he heard Sören's breath hitch.
Nicholas kissed Sören like he was starving for it - indeed, he had been for the last two years. It was everything he'd hoped it would be and more, fiery and passionate.
He'd been wishing for that kiss for two years and now here it was, under the stars, as if the beauty of the night in the pond was some sort of enchantment. That beauty of the starry night made the kiss even sweeter.
"I want both of you," Sören said softly. He took Nicholas's hand in one hand, and Anthony's in the other. "This is what I really want for my 'maniversary' present. To have hot gay man-on-man sex with the two men I love."
"You..." Anthony blinked, and he covered his mouth, his hand shaking. When he pulled his hand away his jaw trembled. "I love you too, Sören."
"So do I," Nicholas said. His free hand stroked Sören's face, feeling on the verge of tears himself - the relief that his feelings were returned. Hope for the future. After years of loneliness following Mark's departure, love was healing the scars love left.
"Come on," Sören said with a grin. "Let's go back and make some Labor Day fireworks."
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