Private Pool Party (M+/F exhibition oral)[1/1]


     It was an unseasonably warm April evening.  I was house-sitting for
some rather wealthy friends of mine.   They were in Asia for three
weeks, and I had the run of their house ... in return for keeping their
dogs and cats fed.    There were some definite perques to this
assignment.  Their house was up in the hills.  It was built like a
ancient Roman home.   A central courtyard with a pool in it,
entirely surrounded by the house: a three-car garage made one wall
of the courtyard,  and the rest of the house made the other
three sides of the courtyard.  Basically two long buildings
with a shorter section.   A big U shaped house, which with the
garage, completely enclosed the pool.
     I had a rather embarrassing, chilly experience last winter
involving being accidentally locked out in the nude while
house-sitting, and while it was a balmy night, I wasn't about to make
the same mistake.   So though the inner door was unlocked, I had
the key by my towel, just in case.   And I wasn't skinny-dipping,
I was in a tiny black bikini.   
     I was alone, and the house was mostly dark.  However, the
outer doors and the garage were all securely locked, and the
burglar alarm was armed.   I was isolated but felt very secure.
I floated on an inflatable raft, drowsy in the heat.  Crickets
chirped and the year's first lightning bugs flitted about.   The only 
illumination came from the lighted panels in the pool itself, 
underwater, which gave a dim yellow glow.   Otherwise, the courtyard 
was dark, except for the purple glow of a bug-zapper, which 
occasionally crackled as some bug flew too close.   Moths mostly, I 
hadn't been bothered by a single mosquito, although the three 
Citronella candles may have had something do with that.   I could smell
them and the chlorine in the water.
     I lay languishing on my raft, supremely relaxed, looking
up at the stars.   It was a moonless night, and the stars
were brilliant, even though this wasn't very far out in the country.
     Every once in awhile I'd see the almost
imperceptible black outline of a bat against the stars, flapping 
randomly overhead, as it cleared out some of the higher flying
insects.
     My only annoyance was I hadn't found a way to balance
the wine bottle and glass on the raft, so I had to paddle over
to the edge when I wanted a sip.   I had a double warm glow
over me, from the wine, and from my sexual afterglow.  About
a half hour ago I had put my hand down my black bikini briefs,
and slid them aside, and frigged myself very slowly into a
mind-blowing orgasm, playing with my breasts lazily with my
other hand through the bikini top.
     Some orgasms are just more special than others.
I don't know what endorphin is released into one's bloodstream
or what, but you can feel it surge through your body.  Blood music
in your veins.  And when it gets to your head, it feels like it 
settles in and coats your whole brain, and just slowly seeps into 
your pleasure center and just keeps pushing that button.   I felt
pleasantly intoxicated, and not just from the wine: the sexual buzz,
glow, whatever you want to call it, just mellows one's thoughts 
wonderfully.  It was like a drug high.  I sat there thinking silly 
thoughts, warm drowsy thoughts, and was feeling fine!
    I sat there now with my eyes closed, and felt deliciously
naughty.  I imagined what I looked like from the air...if that
bat could see me instead of just fly by his little squeaking
sonar, or if I was being spied on by a stealth black helicopter
pilot, or maybe a hot air balloon --- or maybe extraterrestrials,
looking for a petite Earth female to abduct and probe.
	I'm about 5 foot 5 inches, brown hair a few inches
down my shoulders, and brown eyes.  28, slim, 110 pounds, 
a trim figure, and small breasts.   My bikini exposed a lot
of pale flesh, illuminated there in the otherwise dark courtyard,
from below by the lights in the pool.   I pictured whatever
aerial voyeurs, observing me while I had masturbated on the raft
earlier.
       It was delicious, the thought that I could do this
outdoors, completely surrounded by this secure house.
Nobody could see me except for those E.T's in orbit high
above with their Observi-scopes.
        I tired of this drowsy fantasy, and I was starting
to feel sweaty in the heat, so I rolled off the raft with
a small splash.    I swam a couple of laps in the pool, 
first fast, mostly underwater, and then slowly, on my back.
I was about midway through a lap when I noticed a figure
standing there beside the pool, watching me!
	I gasped, and went vertical, arms and legs frantically
flailing.    I dog-paddled there, and the figure stood 
impassive.   It was hard to tell, because he was partly in
shadow, but he was white, dark haired, and was wearing 
a dark leather jacket and black jeans.   A burglar?
A rapist?  How had he gotten past the burglar alarm and the dogs?
I dog-paddled in place, scared.    I kept away from his edge,
but I didn't want to swim for the other side.  I had the feeling
that a sudden move that way on my part might make him rush around
to that side of the pool before I could climb out.   I again
imagined what I looked like to an observer...my dark hair
dripping wet, my body virtually naked but for the tiny black
bikini, pale flesh illuminated by the pool lights in the
otherwise dark courtyard.   I felt extremely small and vulnerable
and defenseless.  I also suddenly had to pee really badly.
My drowsiness had vanished like a page turning, and I was
suddenly shivering; the water no longer seemed so warm.   If
I screamed, I wasn't sure there was another house near enough
to hear me.  He continued to stand there, impassive, arms
folded.   Just how long could I tread water? I wondered.
And how long had he been observing me?
       "Well, well, well." he said.  "What have we here?"
I gave a sigh of relief.  It was Jack, my friends' college-age
son.   A senior, about 22,handsome in a fratboy way, a bit of a 
spoiled rich boy, a cruel smile and eyes that on previous occasions
not only always seemed to be undressing me, but ravishing me,
speculating on what my body could do, not just what I'd
look like disrobed.  Now that I was actually almost nude before
their gaze, they drank deeply of the sight.
       "Jack!  You shit, you scared the fuck out of me!"
I laughed nervously.     My bladder felt about to burst.
Feeling naughty as a child, I thought carefully, and then,
still dog-paddling, let go and peed.   Relief! The water around me
warmed briefly.   I was sure he couldn't tell, but I swam
a few feet; gradually the water cooled again.  "Your parents didn't
tell me you'd be home this weekend!"
    "I didn't expect to be." he said.  "But I'm glad I did now."
    "I thought you were a burglar!" I chided. "Or a...a...I 
don't know what!" I finished lamely.
    His eyes flashed, and he gazed like a hungry wolf.
    "You obviously don't know one of our house rules." he said.
    "What's that?" I asked.
    "All swimming after 10pm has to be done in the buff."
he said quietly, and grinned.
    Maybe it was the relief of finding out it wasn't a stranger,
but I suddenly was feeling lascivious.
    I sank under the water, and unfastened my top.  I surfaced
and threw it onto the sidewalk beside the pool.   I was chilly
with goosebumps again.  Nervous, but also excited, this seemed
wild, naughty.  And my nipples were hard in the cool water.
    "You're halfway there." he said.
    I sank again, and underwater, shrugged off my bikini bottoms.
I surfaced and tossed those to shore.   Now I was completely
naked, but still dog-paddling, so somewhat obscured.  Still,
very tantalizing, from the way he peered into the depths at me.
	"Are you going to join me?" I said.
	He quickly shrugged off shoes and socks, jeans and
jacket and shirt, until he was just standing there in his boxers.
He kept those on, but I could see a tent-like bulge from his
erection.	
	"There's another pool rule I forgot to tell you."
he said.  "All swimmers after 10pm have to blow the lifeguard."
He slowly sat down at poolside, his legs sliding into the water.
He looked at me like he was daring me to continue the game.
I swam over and looked up at him.  He shifted his weight to
suspend himself over the water.  With a quick motion he yanked
down the boxers.  His erection sprang free, pointing almost 
straight up.  I put my hands on the sides of the pool to either
side of him. My mouth was right at the waterline.  He grasped his
cock with one hand, pushing it downward til it was horizontal,
at the surface of the water.    He guided it towards my mouth
like a torpedo. Slid it in, and my lips closed around his
shaft.  My nose was filled with the smell of chlorine and cock.
My hands on the pool edge kept me upright enough to keep my
nose above water so I could breath, and I kicked lightly with
my legs, swimming in place to keep my position.  His other
hand that wasn't guiding his cock twined in my wet hair, just
above the back of my neck, and pulled my face closer to his
crotch.  His hard torpedo slid deeper into my mouth.   He
looked down at me, grinning and locking eyes with me, his hand
in my hair tilting my head so that I kept eye contact with him.
Then he slowly fucked my face there at poolside.  I was a 
vessel for his pleasure.  A sea vessel!   And I suspected,
about to get a fresh load of seamen.
     Jack sighed contentedly.  "There's nothing sexier...
than...a pretty girl...with a pretty face...and such pretty
eyes...sucking...cock."
     I could do little else but gurgle in reply, as I was
fed his cock meat.
     "Atagirl...that's it...oh yes....you are so good...
suck that cock."
     "Mmmmph!" I responded.  He was hard and warm in my
mouth.  After about ten minutes of this, my mouth was
getting tired.  As were my hands from holding onto the edge
of the pool, and my neck from straining upward.
      With a grunt, he came explosively.  He must have been
saving it up, because he gave me a lot more than a man's 
average ejaculation. I coughed, and my mouth was filled with 
the taste of his cum, and the chlorinated pool water.   I could 
feel his cum spill over my lips, and down my chin as his cock
continued to pulse and spasm.   He withdrew.   Long,
sticky, slimy strings of come dripped from my lips and
my chin.   Where it entered the water, little dollops of
cum floated.  I ran my fingers across my chin, and only
succeeded in spreading the viscous stuff around.  I felt
and must have looked a mess.   Now it was squishing between
my fingers.   I looked in vain for something to wipe it on;
the water didn't seem to be diluting it much.  I looked up
at him, and again, in my mind's eye, I could picture how I
looked, a petite, pretty girl, naked, treading water, ribbons
of semen like bizarre whiskers smeared across my face and slowly oozing
off my chin. And then I must have looked like a deer in the headlights,
eyes wide, because, behind him stood two other dark figures.
     "Meet Reggie and Mike, my assistant lifeguards."
he said.    Two young guys, Jack's age, stepped forward
into the light.   Big, burly guys, one black, one a white blond,
they looked like football players, which, as it turned out, is exactly
what they were.
	"They came home with me for a little pool party
this weekend." said Jack.
	I sat there, stunned, realizing they had observed
my whole performance...from my stripping to my sucking.
They had broad grins as they stood there, arms crossed.
        I dunked my head under the water, and then
scrubbed furiously at my face to dilute the cum with the
pool water.    Then I rubbed my hands briskly across my
tits, down my sides, rapid, vigorous movement with friction that
should wash away the last of the sticky residue.  When
my hands no longer felt like they were encumbered, I surfaced.
I wondered if my hair still had some cum in it.
         "What the hell do you think you're doing!" I said.
 	"We thought you might like to party with the three of us"
said Jack.
      "You'd better let me out of this pool right now!" I cried.
	"Nobody's stopping you.  Come on out!" he said.
Reggie and Mike said nothing, just grinned.
	"Hand me my bikini!" I said.
	"Uh uh.  If you want out, you come out as is."
	I swam to the far side of the pool.  I wasn't going to
clamber out where they stood.  I climbed out, shivering, my
teeth chattering a little.   I covered my breasts with one hand,
my shaved pussy with another.
	"This is rape!" I said.
	"We're not raping you.  You're free to go."
But they wanted to see a show.  The hell with it, I wasn't
going to cower.   I held my head up high, put my hands to
my sides, and walked around the pool, breasts perky.  If they wanted 
to see my body, I'd show it proudly.  Maybe I'd brazen my way out 
of this.   I put a tiny sway to my hips as I walked; you know,
walked The Walk, as they say.
    	I could feel their eyes on me as I rounded the pool.  I 
kept my distance, but still had to walk near them to get to the
door into the house I'd come through.  I expected them to pounce,
to feel their hands grasping my body, bringing me to a halt, but no. 
They continued to look at my retreating ass.   The last 5 feet, I
sort of leaped for the door.  Tried the knob.  They'd locked it.
	I turned around.  Jack held the key.  "Oops, I forgot,
I locked it.  Here you go."  I slowly padded up to him,
dripping water.  He held the key above his head.  I had to
get up on tiptoes and reach for it.  I jumped for it, but
he held it out of my reach.   His friends seemed to be enjoying
my attempts to get it.
        "Dammit, enough games.   Give me that key!" I said.
	"Well", said Jack, "I just thought you might be in a
party mood.  Three studs, a pool, a bottle of wine, and thou."
	He tossed the key into the deep end.  It vanished
with a plunk.  "Go get it. We won't stop you this time.
Promise."
        I looked distrustfully.  Then dove in and swam down
and got the key, the pressure building in my head as I got to the
drain.  I surfaced, then swam quickly to the shallow end, but
expected they'd be there, waiting to stop me.
 	But they weren't.  They just all watched me as
I came out of the water, dripping.
	"A mermaid" said Mike, the first thing he'd said.
I don't know why.  That little comment, and the fact that
they weren't making any threatening moves towards me, made
we waver.
	"So you think you three studs can handle little old me?"
I said in my best Scarlett O'Hara impersonation.  I picked up
the wine bottle and took a swig.  "Fiddle de dee!"
        So fast I could hardly blink the other two had
peeled off their clothes, revealing very well muscled bodies. 
 My show must have inspired them,
because their big members were hard and proudly upthrust.
The only pause was when I got them to agree that condoms
would be used for any vaginal activity.  And no anal!   Jack ran
inside to get condoms, and Reg and Mike each took one of my hands 
and led me gently into the shallow end.
     Moments later Reg sat partially submerged on the steps of 
the shallow end.  My pussy was 
firmly impaled on his condom-clad black cock.   His hands were
around my waist, as he bounced me up and down.  Jack was standing
in the deeper water, each hand pulling one of my nipples.  My
head was turned to the side, where Mike, slouched against the
metal handrail, was presenting his cock to my lips.  I again
thought of what a lewd spectacle some aliens would be seeing
from their UFO above in the darkness; one pretty, petite girl
entertaining three guys in the shallow end of the pool.
		***
        They had me bent over the diving board, my bare feet on the
concrete.  Mike was doing me doggy style, pounding my tight
pussy.   Jack was sitting on the diving board, facing away
from the water and towards me, his cock again in my mouth.
Reg sat in between on the very edge of the board, his arms
around my waist, holding me steady from their pounding in two
directions.  His hands found my breasts beneath.  He liked
to maul them, then squeeze the nipples hard.
		***
	Now on the sidewalk, flat on my back. A towel
wadded up as a pillow under my head.  Otherwise, the
hard cement beneath me.    Jack did me first missionary
position, then straddled me, then lifting me up under my ass,
fucked me with my legs wrapped around him.   My head was tilted 
to one side, blowing Reg.   Mike was in the water, but occasionally
he'd reach out and fondle some part of me not currently
occupied...usually the tit he could reach.
		***
	Now I was in reverse position on the diving board,
face up, my back to the board, my legs wide to either side.
Reg rode me, and Jack and Mike stood to either side of the board,
near the water, and took turns using my mouth,
keeping them stoked for the next go.
                ***
	Now it was the wee hours, and they each spent some
time stretched out on the lounge chair, while they 
positioned me to do the dirty work, bouncing up and
down on their cocks, impaling myself, my small tits
jiggling, sometimes facing towards him, sometimes away.
    The other two just observed my throes,
waiting their turn.  The one being ridden would look
up at my writhing form, when his eyes weren't closed,
and sometimes he'd play with my tits, or reach down
to where my pussy and his cock were united, and rub
my clit a bit.  Sometimes he'd grasp and squeeze my ass
cheeks, using the grip to push me up and down on his cock.
They started to blend together, just one continuous fuck.
Sometimes they'd slow the pace, both of us on our sides
on the pool chair, belly to belly, while they fondled my
tits, my ass, French kissed my mouth.   Sometimes on our
sides but they snuggling up to me from behind, kissing the
back of my neck, nibbling on my earlobes, which
left another to work my breasts or clit or mouth from the front.
At one point during this, Reg sat at the foot of the chair, 
playing with my ass a bit, until he finally stuck a finger
in.  I'd said no anal, but I was a bit occupied with Mike
at the moment, so didn't protest.  He sawed in and out with
one finger lubricated from my pussy.  That was as far as it went.  
A little later, Mike was screwing me on top, with my legs folded up
beneath me, knees almost to my tits.   As he put his weight
behind it and bottomed out in my pussy, each hand grasped an
ankle and pushed them back.   Eventually I was bent double,
my legs straight, my ankles up around my head.   Very gymnastic!
Good thing I did a lot of stretching exercises.  Though I was still
feeling the burn.   This wasn't part of my exercise regimen.  He
continued to pound into my pussy, now so strangely exposed along
with my ass in this weird, straining position.
		***
        By this time, I'd pretty much worn out my three studs.
Even three 22 year olds have their limit.
I was pretty worn out myself.  All three of them sat on the
edge of the shallow end of the pool, their legs in the water. 
I crouched in the water, between each of their legs in turn,
and gave suck.  I did it slowly, lazily, and they in turn
were not urgent in their demands.  I'd gently suck until
their tired cocks were erect again.  They'd lazily sit back
and enjoy the sensation.   They'd come too many times to be
driven over the edge.   When they'd had enough, or another
wanted my attentions, they'd gently urge me to the next one.
All pretty interchangeable, just another cock in my mouth.
Sometimes they'd play with my hair, or massage my neck...
or reach lower into the water to play with my tits a bit.
They were talking among themselves, discussing sports, telling
jokes, idly talking while I gently pleasured them, passing a
joint around (which I occasionally got to puff).  It was
very surreal, almost slow motion, I felt removed from the
situation, floating.
		***
	Afterwards, I lounged on the poolside recliner.  Now
it was my turn to sit back and relax.  Jack knelt between
my legs and ate me, playing with my clit all the while.
Before he was willing to eat me, he had carefully spread my
pussy lips, probed and examined me with his fingers.  I
think he wanted to make sure the condoms had held up, and
hadn't deposited any of his or his friends cum therein for
him to get the aftereffects of.    Reg played with my tits,
but gently this time, stroking and rubbing, more of a massage
than some of the mauling they'd gotten earlier.   Mike just
rubbed me all over, my legs, my sides, my back and neck when
he could get at it, a gentle but steady massage.   I was exhausted,
so I was drowsy, maybe half asleep, but it all felt wonderful.  For
once in the evening, my mouth wasn't being put to work, so my little 
cries and incoherent moans must have sounded very loud, reflected
by the acoustics of the pool courtyard.   They continued to
talk among themselves, except when paying particular attention
to me.  It was like I was a project they were working on,
while they joked and laughed and spoke of other things.   And my
body was responding like a plucked musical instrument, sounding out its
pleasurable note.  Every once in awhile, I'd start to voice protests, 
that enough was enough, and start to sit up, but they'd gently grasp an
 arm or a a leg and push me back down; they were like a tide I was 
powerless to stop. Then they'd go back to work on me.  I didn't protest
too much.
  		***
	It was funny, as wild as all this was -- sex with three
guys at poolside -- which was wild, erotic, certainly a turn-on...
it made me feel hot, slutty, in one way very submissive, in another
way very dominant...and I came multiple times -- but none of those
orgasms were quite as mind-blowing as the solitary one I had earlier
in the evening.    I didn't feel that seeping surge through my
whole body, settling in my head.  Pondering this, I slowly drifted off
to a deep, dreamless sleep. 
		***
	I awoke when the sun was already high up in the sky.
10am, I guessed.   I was stretched out on the chase lounge,
with the big umbrella attached to the table protecting me from
the sun.   I was still naked as a jaybird.  And I was sore in
all the places you'd expect after my sexual workout.   I had
a slight headache from the wine.   I walked into the pool
to freshen up and wake up.  Then came out dripping.
	I padded around the pool in my bare feet.   In broad
daylight, I felt even more of an exhibitionist, even though
I knew nobody could see me in this enclosed courtyard.     I
scanned the sky for any aerial observers.  Nope, no hot air
balloons, helicopter pilots, or visible little green men.
I yawned and stretched luxuriously, arching my back and offering
my sore breasts to the sun.  Then I ran a cautious finger down between
my legs, tracing my sore pussy. I looked around.   My bikini was no
where in evidence.    And my towel was gone too.  And my sneakers.
Along with the key.  There wasn't a scrap of anything I could cover
myself with.   The wine bottle and glass were gone. All evidence
of the night's activities was absent, even the used condoms,
except for my naked self and three blown out candles.
	I went and tried the door...though I had a sinking feeling before
I reached it.  Locked!   I walked around the pool, balanced
on my toes.  The cement was already beginning to heat up in the sun.
As I suspected, the other doors were locked too. Bastards!  Very funny!
	Oh well...I could pound on the door, but I strongly
suspected they were all crashed and soundly asleep on various
couches and beds deep in the house.   I didn't have anywhere
I had to be today, and I wasn't at the point where I felt I
had to break glass or anything.
     I drowsily sat back down under the umbrella, stretched
out, and closed my eyes.  I heard a panting noise behind me.
Even as enthralled as my trio of suitors were last night, I
don't think any of them could be having that reaction to my
nude body after all we'd been through.    I turned, to see
Max, my hosts' German Shepherd, wagging his tail at me and
looking at me with his doggy grin.  Note to houseowners:
don't lock your dog in an enclosed courtyard.  The Terrible
Trio must have put him outside before going to bed.  He must
have been snoozing in the bushes when I woke up.  
I looked around...it didn't look like he'd taken a shit yet.  
Well, that was good news anyway.   The little yappy dog must
have still been in the house somewhere.
    Max leaped up onto the
chair, his paws finding awkward balance on the vinyl slats.
He started licking my hand, and sniffing between my legs.
I was distinctively uncomfortable.    Stark naked with a
medium sized dog climbing all over me was a little too weird.
I pushed Max off and sat up.    He enthusiastically, his
little doggy red pecker rampant, began humping my leg.
     "Stop it, Max!" I said.  "I'm not that kind of girl.  Despite what
you may have seen through the sliding glass doors last night, I'm not
THAT easy."    Now I felt my nakedness really intensely,
with this horny dog worked up in front of me. 
     I scrambled around for a tennis ball, and then threw
it to the far side of the pool.   He ran around and got it.
And brought it right back, dropping it at my bare feet. It
was a bit slobbery.  I remembered the point last night when
I had Jack's cum dripping down my face when the other two made
their presence known.  I felt a flush of heat in my face.
    I threw the ball again.   He fetched it again.  I sighed.   He'd
probably get tired of doing this about...oh...nightfall.
This was going to be a long fucking day.  I needed some
rest.   I needed a cigarette, and I don't even smoke.
As happens sometimes, life had gone from the wildly adventurous
to the supremely ridiculous.  I was so exhausted I thought I
might cry.  Breaking the glass didn't sound so bad now.   I could always
tell my hosts it was due to an overenthusiastic game of tennis ball throw.
But how to break it?  Nothing much presented itself, unless I awkwardly
hefted a pool chair.     I wondered if Jack and company were even
still here.   Maybe they drove back to college at sunrise.
I peered into the dark garage through the glass.   Nope,
my car and his car were both there.  His was a red Chevy Camaro 
convertible.  Figures!
	Max stood there, with his tongue lolling out.
I looked closely to his collar.  There was a key attached.
	"Funny guys." I said.  I took the key and went to
the house.   It didn't fit.   I tried the sliding glass door.
No dice.   Finally, I tried the garage.   It clicked.  I started
to open the door, then wondered if the burglar alarm was armed.
Fuck it.  I opened the door.   No alarm.
         I padded into the dark garage, Max at my heels.
You could tell they were rich; they had the cleanest garage
I've ever seen.   And there wasn't anything I could use to
cover myself.  Not an old towel or rag or anything.  And
both cars were locked.
	I opened the door to the backyard, and looked out
cautiously.   The house was on a hill, but, scanning the
treeline, I couldn't see that I was visible to anyone.
	Feeling ridiculous, I walked Max quickly out to
his chain.   Now he could shit all he wanted to.   I got
his waterbowl and filled it up at the faucet...taking a precious
moment to quench my thirst from the hose.  Picturing how I looked,
a naked girl, her mouth to the hose. Moving quickly
as I could without spilling it, supremely aware that I was
stark naked on this hilltop, I carried the waterdish out into the
yard.   As soon as I was within reach of his leash, I set it down
and I darted back into the garage.   I felt a prickly sensation,
a fear that eyes were upon me. And those eyes were probably wondering
why I was walking the dog in the buff.
	Well.   I could open the garage door and go.
Of course, my car was locked, and if I did go, I'd have to
walk down the road on foot, in my birthday suit.
	I shut the door, and came back into the courtyard.
Sat down in the umbrella's shade.   At least the damn dog
wasn't here to bother me.    But I was still in a prison,
though the door was unlocked.  I drifted off to sleep,
idly hoping this wasn't the day the pool guy came to clean
with his skimmer.
	 I remembered that my friends Brandi
and Susan were coming over tonight for a pool party.   Wouldn't
they be surprised at the unexpected company.   Hopefully, I'd
have regained clothing privileges by then...