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By Firelight

By Strickland83

Patrick stuck his head in my office around mid-morning. “Don’t forget, we’re going shopping for camping gear after work today.”

“I remember,” I reassured him.

I didn’t get much work done for the next half hour as I daydreamed about the trip we had planned. My wife and I were going camping with two other couples. Although Lauren and I had lived in Washington for four years, we had never been up to Orcas Island. Hearing Patrick talk about how beautiful it was made it hard to turn down the offer of camping there. The trip was planned for the weekend. My wife and I had both arranged to get Friday off, as had Patrick and Frank. Their wives had to work all day so they would fly up and meet us that night.

In time, I turned my attention back to work. I kept so busy that I was surprised when Patrick reappeared at my door.

“Let’s go, Harris. We have gear to buy.”

“Where are we going?” I asked him as we walked across the parking lot.

“REI,” was his answer. “Nowhere else has everything you need.”

I followed him to REI. The store was impressive. The front was a massive glass tower that enclosed a sixty-five foot climbing wall. I was standing and staring at the people scaling the wall, safety ropes hanging down from above like guardian angels, until Patrick dragged me along. The first stop was the tent department. It was easy to find. There were tents setup on the carpeted floor. We looked at a few models and he talked me into a dome tent. With a $350 tent in my basket, we made our way to sleeping bags. I just hoped my wife and I enjoyed camping enough to do it often. This was getting expensive fast for just a weekend trip.

I wanted to get sleeping bags tailored to our individual sizes but Patrick again offered advice. He insisted I get two sleeping bags of the same model and size. That way, we could zip them together to make something resembling a double bed. Thankfully I found two which together cost a lot less than the tent. Those were tossed into the basket he was pushing, along with an air mattress. I also bought a lantern and a bottle of fuel. The technology sure had changed since I was a Boy Scout.

Patrick told me that I wouldn’t need cooking gear because he and Frank already had all that. We got out of there with me thinking that it might have been cheaper to fly to Alaska for the weekend and stay in a hotel.

When I got home, Lauren was already there. She greeted me with a kiss, as usual.

“Did you go shopping?” she asked.

“Yep. Patrick took me to get what we need for the weekend.”

“I’m getting excited about the trip.”

“You won’t be when the credit card bill comes in,” I cautioned, but did it with a grin.

“We’ll worry about that later, hon. Show me what we bought.”

She helped me carry everything into the house. We moved the furniture against the walls to clear out some floor space.

“Patrick told me we should try setting up the tent now. That way we’ll know if any parts are missing.”

I opened the box and Lauren took out the instructions. I was still dumping the contents onto the floor when she handed the short book to me.

“You were the Boy Scout. You’re in charge,” she announced.

“When I was a Boy Scout, tents only had two poles,” I answered as I dumped a bag of interconnected fiberglass poles onto the carpet. I took the book and looked it over. “We’re in trouble,” I sighed.

Lauren giggled.

“I guess we’ll just have to sleep under the stars, then.”

“I’m not giving up that easily,” I declared.

While I struggled with the instructions, she went to the kitchen, returning with French bread, cheese and wine.

“I knew we’d be too busy to sit down and eat tonight so I fixed a snack instead. Okay with you?”

I nodded with a smile.

Two hours later, something resembling a tent stood in the middle of the living room floor. There were no extra parts so I assumed we had it assembled correctly. Lauren was willing to accept that. She looked to the remaining pile of gear. I think she was just ready to be done with the tent and move on to the next item.

I showed her the sleeping bags next. We each pulled one out of its carrying bag as I explained how they zipped together to form a double bed.

“Ooh, good idea,” Lauren said happily.

Following my lead, she unzipped her bag and, after a few false starts, I got them to zip together. I showed her the box containing the air mattress. “Patrick said he has an inflator so I didn’t buy one. That saved a few dollars.”

Looking over the sizable pile, Lauren said, “Smart.”

The remaining items were small, things like flashlights.

Lauren got that look in her eye as she regarded the tent. “How about…”she started.

I looked at her questioningly.

“…we try out the tent and the sleeping bags?”

I raised an eyebrow. She did the same, holding my gaze.

“Now?” I asked.

She gave that cute nod I love. I grinned.

“OK,” I agreed, liking her idea already.

She grabbed the sleeping bags and pushed the bundle into the tent. Lauren looked me in the eye as her hands descended to the buttons on her shirt. I drew in a deep breath as she unbuttoned her shirt, her eyes locked to mine. Not wanting to be left out, I undid my shirt and cast it aside. We didn’t speak; we just looked at each other as we shed our clothes. Before long, I was looking at my wife as no other man saw her. Lauren winked and got down on all fours to crawl into the tent. I quickly followed, feeling a little foolish playing inside a tent in the middle of our living room, but enjoying the view as I crawled in right behind her.

When I got inside the tent, I finally stopped feeling foolish. Lauren was lying on the sleeping bags, wearing nothing but a smile. A lovely smile, indeed.

“Take me,” she breathed.

I did. I moved onto her and pressed my body over hers. I kissed her deeply and she rewarded me with a soft moan. Grinning eagerly now like the boy I used to be, I did something I never did as a Boy Scout. I went down on my wife’s pussy and tasted her deeply. Her curly brown hairs tickled my nose as my tongue explored her depths. She was very wet for me and I immediately decided to take advantage of that situation. Moving to my knees, I pressed my erection to her opening. Again looking her in the eye, I entered her. Her smile broadened as she felt my hardness filling her pussy. Her eyes closed before I was fully inside her. I looked at her lovely face as I felt her warm snugness enveloping me.

Lauren’s arms wrapped around my waist, slipping down to my butt. She pulled me tightly to her, encouraging my penetration. I sighed as I hit bottom, my eyes now fixed on her shoulder. We started thrusting in and out at the same time, our rhythm set by years of practice.

It was getting a little warm in the tent even though I had left the door open. The windows were still closed and we were generating a lot of heat. We didn’t take all that long so we were soon lying beside each other on the double sleeping bag, panting and studying the top of the tent. After maybe a minute of this, Lauren started giggling.

“What?” I asked.

She started to laugh.

“What is so funny?”

She only laughed harder. I was starting to get aggravated that she wasn’t answering me.

“What the hell is so funny?’ I asked for the third time.

Lauren was now laughing so hard that I could see tears running down the sides of her face. I wanted to continue being aggravated but I couldn’t. Her laughing was affecting me and I soon found myself laughing as well, though I had absolutely no idea why I was doing it.

After a few more minutes, she managed to calm down enough to speak though her speech was still interrupted by giggles.

“I was just thinking, Wait! How, you know, when I was a kid, I never…” Another fit of laughing. “When I was a kid, I never imagined tents could be used for fucking.” Again she laughed out of control.

I was lost. I didn’t see what was so funny but I couldn’t stop laughing along with her.

“I don’t get it,” I told her.

Now that she finally had her breathing under control again, Lauren explained, “We used to play house in tents, we used to play school or dress up. Lots of things. Never did it cross my mind to try fucking in a tent in the middle of the living room.”

“I don’t think your parents would have approved,” I said.

“Probably not. I was only six.”

We laughed again, though briefer this time.

“But it worked out pretty well, don’t you think?”

“I think we’re still acting like kids,” I replied.

“But we’re doing more grown up things now,” she said as her hand folded around my now dwindled erection.

I thought about her comment before responding, “This is silly… but I’d rather be doing silly things like this with you than just about anything else with someone else.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet,” my lovely wife told me as she rolled over and kissed me. Feeling her body against mine was getting things going again deep inside me. “Mmm, that feels nice,” she said, obviously in response to the pressure my returning hardon was putting on her stomach, “but next time let’s go upstairs to the bed. Or, at least let’s open some of these windows.”

“It will be cooler when we set up the tent outdoors,” I observed.

“So should we move the tent to the backyard and try this again?”

“I think we’d better save that for the weekend. I vote for the bed.”

We didn’t go to bed right away. Our most intense needs satisfied for the moment, we got out of the tent and went through the rest of the camping gear. When we had at least looked at each thing I had bought, we packed everything up.

Looking around the room, Lauren said, “That was the most fun I ever had packing for a camping trip without wearing clothes.”

“Come on, you. To bed!” With that, I dragged her upstairs, leaving our discarded clothes still on the floor.

With all the anticipation of the trip, the next few days had dragged on, but Friday morning finally arrived with Lauren waking me up early. I think she was more excited than I was about the camping trip.

“Come on. Let’s go camping, Harris,” she eagerly told me, pulling the blanket from my grasp.

Ordinarily, I would have tried to go back to sleep. Not this day. I got up and joined her in the shower.

“Last real shower for a few days,” she warned. “Make it a good one.”

I did. I love it when we soap each other up.

We had packed the Explorer the night before. As I got behind the wheel, Lauren got in with a cup of coffee for each of us. I kept looking at her.

“What?” she asked.

“You look really good dressed like that.”

“Like what?” She was getting self conscious.

“Outdoorsy,” I told her.

She laughed.

“Drive,” she ordered, a giggle coloring her speech.

Patrick was already waiting for us at Frank’s house. When we drove up, they were in the driveway, greeting us with a wave. Celeste was probably inside still asleep.

“Are you ready?” Frank asked. The question appeared to be directed to Lauren.

“Am I ever!” she said.

“Then let’s go. We have a long drive,” he told everyone.

With that we headed out, Frank leading the way, driving north on Interstate 5 as the sun was rising. Lauren and I had been living in Seattle for four years but we had never been north of Seattle. We had taken trips to the south, to the park around Mt. Rainier. We stood in awe at the sight of the remains of Mt. St. Helens. We had spent weekends at the bed and breakfast inns on the Olympic peninsula. We had even enjoyed romantic getaways along the Pacific coast. Today we were going to see the islands of Puget Sound for the first time.

As we drove out of the city. I could see the imposing sight of Mt. Rainier above the buildings in my rearview mirror. Before long, we were in the country, passing lumber mills, an enormous drywall factory and farms. Many farms lined the highway. There were turf farms with their irrigation equipment. There were berry farms. We had turned off the Interstate onto Highway 20 when Frank pulled over at a roadside stand.

“What’s up,” I asked as I got out.

Patrick supplied the answer. “Cherries.”

It was a fruit stand. Late June was when the yellow and red rainier cherries came into season. I loved cherries but I had always bought them in the grocery store. These were farm fresh. We each bought a large bag. Lauren and I snacked on ours as we drove into Anacortes.

Anacortes is a small city. One sign in particular caught my eye. It was in front of a store. The letters spelled out, “Summer this year will be on Thursday.” It was a reminder of how cool the climate was this far north. I didn’t mind. I loved the weather in the Pacific Northwest. It was quite a change for us when we moved here but we never regretted the move.

We threaded our way across town and Puget Sound appeared. It was a dramatic sight, appearing suddenly through the trees. My heart quickened when I saw it.

“Look!” Lauren exclaimed as she saw it, too.

About an hour and a half after we had left the Rainy City, I excitedly turned into the ferry landing. The Washington State Ferry System is the largest ferry system in the United States. Puget Sound, created long ago by glaciers at the end of the last ice age, is too deep to build bridges. The only way across it, except for one very long pontoon bridge out to the Olympic Peninsula, is by boat.

The parking lot, that vast spread of asphalt marked by lines and numbers, was almost deserted on Friday morning. My friends had assured me that the lines would fill with cars shortly after lunch, clogged with the cars of vacationers all afternoon. We each paid the fare, the attendant directing us to a lane on the right, the designated spot for vehicles going to Orcas Island. There were only two cars ahead of us. After parking, Frank and Patrick got out and waved us over.

“We have about half an hour before the boat gets here. It’s too early for Charlie’s,” Frank said, indicating the restaurant on the hill overlooking the waiting area. “We can snack on the cherries while we wait.”

Lauren and I walked up to the dock and watched the otters playing in the water. When we saw the boat coming, we walked back to our vehicle. The sounds of the few cars starting up interrupted the morning quiet. Soon, the man wearing the orange vest waved our line forward.

“Here we go,” I said to Lauren, who just smiled and shrugged, as I shifted out of park. I drove forward, following Frank’s SUV onto the ramp. I was a little nervous as I was guided into a very tight parking space. There was just barely enough space for us to open our doors and get out. We had parked on an upper deck. We followed our friends up a stairway to the passenger deck.

The ferry was surprisingly spacious. We were aboard on ocean-going vessel. We were almost a hundred miles from the Pacific Ocean, but Puget Sound was still open to the sea and subject to a considerable tidal range. We walked outside and watched the ferry pull away from the dock, the vibration from the massive engines tingling through our entire bodies.

“In a few hours, the boats will be packed, the waiting lines in the parking lot hours long,” Patrick explained, his arm spreading to encompass the large boat behind us. I shook my head in amazement.

We pulled away from Anacortes, leaving the commercial port behind us and heading further north to unspoiled wilderness. The views were incredible. Tiny islands slipped past us, entire tree trunks floated by on the waves, evergreen forests lined the coast. Beautiful houses appeared on seemingly deserted stretches of coastline. From time to time, the wreckage of small boats could be seen on the shore, a testimony to the fury of the weather.

We stopped at Shaw Island to drop off a few cars and take on about as many. There was a carved wooden sign over the ramp proudly proclaiming the name. Some enterprising ferry worker had painted a target on a remote part of the dock. Countless passengers before us had tossed coins at the target. I wondered with a chuckle how much money he collected.

The next stop was Orcas. We went back down to where we had parked. A ferry worker was already there, getting ready to direct traffic off the ferry. Lauren and I got in and she looked over the map. We were following Frank, but she still liked to navigate. Frank’s brake lights came on and then went off as he moved forward. I followed him down the ramp to the lower deck of the ferry, then onto the steel ramp to the island.

Orcas Island is a charming island community. Small villages dot the horseshoe-shaped island. We had landed at one end of the horseshoe and we had to drive to the other end, about a half hour away. It was about nine in the morning on a delightful summer day. We were driving slowly through farm country. We rolled down our windows and enjoyed the country air.

“Crow Valley,” Lauren announced, pointing to a spot on her map. I laughed, the sound lyrical in the breeze rushing softly past my open window. What an appropriate name for a farming community. As the road turned to the right, I could see a small airstrip. I’d be going back there with Frank after the camp was setup so he could leave a vehicle for his wife and Sam.

The road entered heavier woods now and we saw deer from time to time. Lauren excitedly pointed them out at first. Before long, the deer became so numerous that they were just part of the landscape.

We turned off to the left and drove under a metal arch, the name “Moran State Park” cut into the arch. We drove past Cascade Lake as the road began climbing upward. The highest point on the island was only 2,400 feet (thank you, Lauren) but the road was steep. Frank’s blinker brought my attention back to driving as he turned off onto a small side road. He knew someone who worked at a teen camp on the island. Normally, our camping site at Twin Lakes would be a few hours’ hike from the nearest parking area, but we were going to drive to the lakes through the camp and park there.

We had to stop at the gate but Frank’s friend met us and let us in. He gave me a wave as I entered the gate. Before long, we stopped on the asphalt road. We had arrived.

I opened the door and stepped out into a new world. It was so quiet here. You really could hear the wind in the trees—and not much else. This was a remote camping area for the main camp so hardly anyone was around.

With the engines turned off, I immediately became aware of the quiet.

It was an intense quiet broken by only the fading ticking of the cooling engines. At first, it felt like a reverse pressure on my eardrums. Except for the sounds we made by moving around, all was quiet. I looked to Lauren. The expression on her face told me she was thinking the same thing. Neither of us wanted to speak and break the complete silence.

“Now is this quiet or what?” Frank said, disturbing the magic. His words were like ripples on a still pond.

I nodded in response, smiling gently in awe. Frank pointed down a trail.

“The campsite is right through those trees and down a slope. Maybe a five-minute walk.”

He was opening the back hatch and taking out a hand truck.

“I never expected to see something like that on a camping trip,” I laughed.

“It’s the best thing for carrying the heavy stuff on the trail,” he explained. Patrick was taking one out of the back of his SUV. We put the ice chests on the hand trucks while Lauren and I carried tents and sleeping bags. Frank led the way down from the parking lot and I watched Lauren carefully so she didn’t slip.

The cool clean air was a delight to breathe. My eyes wandered often on the short walk to where we were setting up camp. I could hear the wind whisper through the tops of the trees. Frank had chosen a beautiful area for the weekend. We hiked along a well maintained path among trees. True to his words, in about five minutes the woods opened up. We were on a flat piece of ground where two small lakes came together. Large evergreen trees and gray rocks surrounded the lakes.

“The state stocks the lakes with trout,” Frank told us.

I didn’t answer. I was still looking around, taking it all in. This spot was absolutely beautiful. There was a circle of rocks, an old fire ring, in the middle of what was obviously going to be our campsite. Frank and Patrick were already unloading the ice chests. Lauren and I set down our bundles and we repeated the trek back to where we had parked.

It took three trips to move all of the gear to the campsite. The next task was setting up the tents. Two people can setup a tent in short order. Lauren and I had practiced it once in our living room, after all.

“Harris, would you follow me to the airport? I need to leave my Explorer for our wives when they fly in tonight.”

“Sure, Frank,” I answered.

Lauren looked to me, a question on her face.

“Lauren, would you stay and give Pat a hand with setting up camp? We’re going to stop at the grocery store for a few last minute things so we’ll be back in about an hour.”

“Okay,” Lauren said.

I kissed her.

“Be good,” I told her, causing an impish grin to break out on her lovely face.

Lauren was crouched down, helping Patrick unfold tent poles, as Frank and I left the two of them and returned to the parking area.

“Follow me. We’re going to the airport, about halfway back to the ferry. I know a pilot who’ll let me park there. Then we’ll run into the grocery store in town and pickup lunch for everybody.”

I nodded. I opened both front windows when I got in my Explorer and followed along behind Frank’s vehicle as we drove back through the forest. This time I watched the deer along the highway. They almost looked tame, not bothered by our passage. This was going to be a wonderful and relaxing weekend. My mind drifted to dinner by a campfire, snuggling with Lauren in the tent, waking early in the morning to the sounds of… nothing.

I followed Frank onto a smaller street and we pulled up to a hangar along the tarmac runway. It was a small airport but there were more hangars than I would have expected. As I was getting out, a bright red biplane with brilliant yellow wings was touching down. Frank waved to the plane.

“That’s my friend. He sells rides to tourists,” Frank explained.

We walked into the open end of the building to wait for the plane to taxi back. I noticed a few posters for Richard Bach novels on the walls. I remembered Illusions, his book about barnstorming biplane pilots who flew around the country selling rides. The thought brought a smile to my face. I understood why this guy would be a fan.

With a kind of clatter, the red plane taxied to the front of the building and turned around. The engine died and the pilot helped two people out of the front seat, a middle aged man and a boy of maybe eight. They were all smiles as they pulled off their leather caps and goggles, obviously satisfied customers. We waited patiently as they concluded their business. When the man and the boy had left, the pilot turned to us.

He exhibited the bravado of a fighter pilot. He had a big grin for Frank and a hearty handshake. Frank turned and introduced us. His name was Rod and he had indeed been a fighter pilot in a long finished war. He welcomed us warmly to his hangar. He seemed eager to show us around. By the looks of things, he didn’t have much else to do for awhile.

“Are you a fan of Illusions?” I asked Rod.

His answer surprised me.

“Richard Bach is a friend. I love all his books.” He thought for a moment before adding, “I’m reading an advance copy of one right now.”

I marveled at the man I had just met. As a child I had discovered Jonathon Livingston Seagull. I was older, in high school, when I found Illusions. I loved the carefree spirit, the challenge to dream, in his writings. Now I was meeting someone who not only shared that spirit but also knew the author himself as a personal friend. The concepts echoed in those books seemed to fit this quiet and serene little niche in the cosmos.

I could have stayed there all day but Frank got our mission back on track. He told his friend that Celeste would be arriving after work and leaving the plane there for the weekend. Rod assured him that would be fine. We said our goodbyes and I drove us to the store as Frank gave directions.

Island Market in Eastsound is the big store on the island. It’s about like what you would find in a neighborhood anywhere else. Frank led me to the deli where we picked up sandwiches for everybody. He bought a few more grocery items to last us the weekend. Soon, we were back on the road to the east end of the island.

When we got back to the campsite, Lauren and Patrick had all the tents setup. Lauren looked up when she heard us coming and greeted us with a warm smile. Dressed as she was and looking at ease she really looked like she belonged in that setting. Frank put away the groceries and I handed out the sandwiches as Lauren kissed me.

“Looks like you’ve been busy,” I told her.

“Yes, we have the tents ready. Look in here,” she said, indicating our tent, “it’s all cozy for tonight.”

As she said that last part, I heard that tone in her voice. No one else would have noticed it, but I heard it. I raised an eyebrow and her expression confirmed that she saw I caught her meaning.

The four of us sat on rocks and ate. Frank and Patrick were talking about the area but I wasn’t paying attention. Instead, I was still looking around, trying to take in the scenery. Lauren’s hand on my arm dragged me out of my reverie.

“I said, aren’t the sandwiches wonderful?”

She was grinning as she said it.

“You were in your own world,” she playfully chastised me.

“This place is just so beautiful. I can’t look at it enough,” I offered.

“That’s why we keep coming back here,” Frank said.

Patrick took charge next.

“We still have a few things to take care of. We need to gather firewood—“

“I’ll do that,” Frank offered.

“—and throw a rope over one of those tree branches,” he said, pointing, “to hoist the food overnight, get the lanterns ready, but it won’t get dark up here until almost ten o’clock.”

We all helped out. Lauren and I helped Frank gather firewood. There was a lot of wood on the ground that we could burn. Patrick was clearing the area around the fire ring, scraping it down to bare earth.

We had hiked about halfway around the lake to the east, looking for more firewood. The trees opened up and we could see out over the water.

“That’s Canada.”

Frank had come up behind us unnoticed. He was looking out to the horizon.

“It’s not that far away,” he continued.

We looked where he pointed. Far in the distance, a grey line divided the sky from the water—the Canadian coast. Frank pointed now to a closer feature, a horseshoe shaped island far below us.

“That’s Sucia Island. People go there by kayak to camp. Nobody lives there so it is even more remote than this place,” he explained.

“Living in the city, it’s hard to imagine places this peaceful exist until you go there,” Lauren said. Her voice was soft, thoughtful.

The three of us stood there quite a while, taking in the view. In time, we resumed the gathering of firewood. Even though it was the middle of summer, the weather that night was going to be very cool. We would need the fire to keep warm when the sun went down.

We dropped off armloads of sticks and small branches. Frank began cutting them into shorter pieces and stacked them. Patrick had managed to throw a rope over a tree branch by tying a rock to the end.

“So what’s the reason for the rope again?” I asked.

Patrick patiently explained, “To keep animals away from the food. If we leave it on the ground it could attract everything from raccoons to elk overnight. Trust me, you don’t want an elk wandering through the campsite looking for food. That’s a big animal.”

I nodded, looking around. Patrick had been busy while we were gone. He had also prepared the area around the fire ring for cooking dinner. He pointed to where he had constructed a latrine in the trees, but explained that we should climb the hill and use the bathroom at the campground if possible. The campsite was neat and orderly, everything in its place.

“I imagine it will be really dark tonight,” I said to him.

“Not really. Full moon tonight. It will be dark, but you’ll be able to see enough to walk around in the open. So what do you think of camping so far?”

Lauren, who had reappeared with another bundle of sticks, answered for me. “We love it.”

I smiled at her and headed off to get more wood. Before long, we had enough wood to last through breakfast. The camp was all ready so it was time to relax. Patrick and Frank went fishing for something to supplement dinner. Right after they disappeared from view, Lauren went into our tent. Turning around, her head popped out. She was all smiles and motioned for me to come closer.

“What?” I asked as I walked over to the tent.

“Shhh,” was her reply. She reached for my hand and pulled. I practically fell through the door, tumbling onto the floor as she rolled back onto the air mattress.

Speaking in a light whisper, she said, “Those guys are going to be busy fishing for awhile. How about we relax in here?”

I made a face. “In here? The scenery is much better outside.”

Lauren got up and slowly zipped the door closed before giving me a sultry look as she unbuttoned her shirt. Pulling it and the t-shirt off, she reached for the clasp on her bra. In moments, she had proven my statement false.

“Lauren!” I exclaimed in a stage whisper. “They’re not that far away. Are you crazy?”

“Yeah. Crazy about you. I guess we’ll have to be quiet about it.”

Topless, she reached for me and pulled me on top of her. Though I was still dressed, the cool mountain air made her nipples erect enough for me to feel them through my shirt. I kissed her, feeling her mouth open willingly. Our friends were forgotten as I held my wife against me.

Knowing we didn’t have all afternoon (the guys could return at any time), I moved off Lauren and we quickly shed the rest of our clothes. Seeing my wife’s body and realizing the risk of being discovered, I had no problem rising to the occasion. She saw and approved with her eyes. I pushed her back onto the mattress and again moved on top of her. This time there was nothing between her nipples and my chest.

As we kissed, I moved a little to one side and slid one hand slowly across one breast, down her flat stomach and finally through the patch of light brown curly hair. My hand came to rest between her legs. It only took slight pressure to part her lips and I found that she was already very wet.

“How long have you been planning this?” I asked.

Lauren giggled. “About two days.”

“You’re bad,” I admonished without heat, as my middle finger entered her to the knuckle.

“Shhh!” I warned.

She smiled and reached for my dick. She stroked it vigorously and I realized she was trying to compete with me to make me moan first. When I didn’t make a sound, she wiggled out from under me and turned halfway around. Too late I realized what she was up to. I cannot resist moaning when she takes me in her mouth.

At my sound, she pulled my erection from her lips.

“If you can’t be quiet, I’ll have to stop. I don’t want those guys to figure out you’re in here screwing me.”

I gave her a hard look that dissolved instantly when her mouth went back to work on me. I was to the point of pushing my hand into my mouth when she abruptly stopped. I froze, thinking she had heard someone coming. She hadn’t. She was moving back onto the mattress. She opened her legs and reached down to spread her lips for me. I couldn’t resist the gift.

With my lower body on the tent floor, I rested my arms on her thighs and buried my face in her warm wetness, eliciting a soft moan from her. I looked up.

“Well, if you can’t do that without keeping me quiet, I guess you’ll have to try something else,” she said, accusing me.

Realizing what she was implying, I moved closer to her. I pressed the head of my cock to her lips, rubbing up and down in her moistness as I searched for the opening. Finding it, I pressed forward as I moved onto her luscious body. The heat emanating from her was a wonderful contrast to the cool air, even inside the closed tent. We were joined, at the mouth and at the hip, and we moved as one. The air mattress was quieter than I would have thought, not that I was thinking much about being quiet.

We muffled our moans in each other’s mouth as we enjoyed our coupling. In the stillness of the mountain, we made love. We exchanged pleasures, giving and taking freely. I felt Lauren tense. Ordinarily, I would have slowed down and done my best to give her more than one orgasm before I finished. Given our precarious situation, I greedily gave into the feelings and joined her in bliss.

I held her tightly to me, my arms beneath her. She had wrapped her legs around the backs of mine and had her arms around my head. When I finished spurting, I opened my eyes to see her lovely face looking at me. I felt so in love with her, the two of us alone in that beautiful place.

Realizing that we wouldn’t be alone all afternoon, I moved off her satiated body. Lauren had carefully planned this encounter because there was a damp and a dry washcloth next to the mattress. She reached out her hand and, taking the hint, I passed them to her. She managed to clean herself up without leaving much of a spot on our bed. I watched her with carnal thoughts as she cleaned up the remains of our lovemaking. When she was done, she sat up and cleaned me.

“We need to keep that thing clean. We may need to use it again on the trip,” she whispered as quietly as a chipmunk.

Those duties completed, we struggled back into our clothes. With our wanton needs satisfied, it seemed to take a lot longer to get dressed than it had to get undressed. I gave a final look over my shoulder to confirm my wife was dressed before I quietly unzipped the door.

“Uh-oh,” I said as my eyes met Patrick’s.

He was sitting on a log with his back to the lake. He just smiled at me, not saying a word.

“What’s wrong?” Lauren asked.

I crawled through the door. As she followed on her hands and knees, she saw Patrick. I looked from Patrick to my wife. She was blushing. We both knew he knew what we had been up to. I was trying to think of something to say. What do you say when your friend catches you fucking?

“Hi, Pat. Been there long?” I tried.

He nodded slowly, still smiling. Lauren was out of the tent now. She stood up next to me and punched me hard in the arm.

“Why? It was your idea,” I told her.

That got me another punch and an exasperated look from Lauren.

“Uh, I mean, we were taking a nap.”

Yeah, right.

Patrick finally spoke.

“Ï caught some fish for dinner. I’m going to go clean them.”

With that, he walked to the water’s edge and pulled a stringer of trout from the water. He started cleaning the fish on a rock, his back to us.

“Lauren, would you get out a frying pan and some corn meal?” he asked without turning around.

Lauren was embarrassed enough and anxious to redeem herself, or at least to do something that would take Patrick’s mind off what he had just seen. She started rummaging around the kitchen supplies.

“I’ll get the fire going,” I offered.

Half an hour later, I was out of breath and sore from bending over so long. Patrick finished getting the fish ready and brought a pan of filets to Lauren.

“It’s a wonder a house ever manages to burn down,” I complained. “No matter what I do, I can’t keep a fire going.”

“Let me help, Harris,” my friend said. I gladly got out of his way.

He started with wood shavings and leaves. It was obvious right away who the camper among us was. In a few minutes, he had a small fire going with twigs and branches.

“Keep putting bigger pieces of wood on the fire, slowly,” he explained. “In time, you’ll have a good fire going. By the time we’ll be ready to cook, it will be burned down to coals. Later, after the food is done, we’ll build it back up for light and heat.”

He made it look so easy. All I did was make a lot of smoke and waste a lot of matches. I felt like a fool.

Frank showed up a little later with a few more fish. I didn’t mind passing up fishing. I liked Lauren’s idea a lot better. Thankfully, Patrick never mentioned anything to Frank about what we had been up to.

We all helped to get dinner started. About that time, we heard people coming along the trail. It was Celeste and Samantha. Frank got up when he saw them and went to greet his wife. Lauren took over the cooking duties. Celeste kissed Frank and Samantha put her arms around Patrick.

“How was the flight?” Frank asked.

“Fine. The weather was so clear this afternoon. Rod says ‘hi’,” Celeste said.

Samantha opened a bag she was carrying, revealing two fresh loaves of sourdough bread. There were moans of approval all around.

“We stopped at Grand Central on the way to the airport,” Samantha explained.

It was 8:30 by then. The sun was still well above the horizon, a testimony to the latitude. The new arrivals told us about their flight. Their description of the view as they flew over the sundry islands sounded breathtaking and I hung on every word. Dinner was ready soon after the new arrivals. We sat on the camping chairs we had brought, our plates in our laps. Maybe it was being outdoors, or hunger from all the exercise hiking and doing other things, but the food tasted wonderful. The camaraderie added to the enjoyment.

Earlier, when Lauren was the only woman in the group, things weren’t as relaxed. Now, with all the wives there, we laughed easier. The entire gang was together and it was comfortable.

A moon was rising to one side as the sun moved closer to the horizon on the other. It was going to be a full moon all night. When Frank finished eating, he got up and put more wood on the fire. With the sun starting to set, it was already getting much cooler.

Samantha dug around in the food containers until she pulled out two silver aluminum pans. She prepared them before setting them on some coals Frank had set aside.

“I haven’t had Jiffy Pop since I was a little girl,” Samantha said.

Frank replied, “We used to have it on Boy Scout campouts.”

“I didn’t know they still sold it,” I added.

About that time, the tops were ballooning up, looking like roof turbines or silver chef’s hats. Celeste put on oven mitts to grab the metal handles and take them out of the fire. She tore open the tops, steam wafted out and carried the aroma of the popcorn.

We ate like children, enjoying the simple treat. That is what the entire weekend was going to be—simple pleasures. Patrick started telling jokes. They got raunchier as it got later. The sun was down now, the moon rising overhead and casting its soft glow over the lakes.

Looking up, I could see countless stars overhead in spite of the full moon. The sky was so clear, the cold air so still. What little sounds there were to penetrate the darkness could be heard over the crackling of the fire. I had my arm around Lauren and she had her hands on my right leg. I felt so at peace that night.

As the evening wore on, the stories died down and we mostly stared into the fire or out over one or the other of the lakes. Each couple was sitting together, for warmth as well as companionship. As predicted, the night was very cool.

“I’m ready for bed,” Samantha declared. “How about you, Pat?”

“It’s still early,” he answered.

She gave him an expressive look and his demeanor changed.

“Yes, it is getting late,” he said, making an exaggerated attempt at reading his watch. “I think we’ll be going to bed.”

Patrick got up and reached down to help Samantha. She was smiling at him in a sultry manner as she stood, kissed him and led him to their tent.

Frank got up as well, and picked up the last of the food. Celeste, Lauren and I rose to help him. The four of us made short work of cleaning up the campsite before we headed off to bed too.

With a final wave, Lauren opened the tent, the zipper ripping across the stillness as she did so, and crawled inside. I followed, taking a final look across the lake as I closed the door. I turned around to see the full moon casting enough light through the tent to make things still visible in the dark.

Lauren was struggling out of her clothes and into pajamas. I was disappointed at the sight.

“Frank told me it was warmer to sleep nude in the sleeping bags,” I told her, a hopeful tone in my voice.

“Shh!” she admonished softly. Then, whispering so quietly I could just barely make out her words, “They can hear us. Watch what you’re saying.”

“They—“ I started to say.

She leaned forward and put a finger across my lips to silence me. I tried again, this time whispering as I removed my clothes.

“They can’t hear anything. They’re all in their tents.”

“With only two thin pieces of nylon between us and them,” Lauren explained, exasperated.

Lauren crawled into bed, between the two sleeping bags she had opened and zipped together. The air mattress made a small sound as she moved around. I finished removing all my clothes and crawled in next to her, wearing nothing but my wedding ring. I pressed myself to Lauren, feeling flannel, and kissed her. She accepted the kiss, opening her mouth to mine. I put my arms around her, and then moved them down to her butt. Her movements indicated she liked the way that felt.

I rolled us over until I was on top of her, and then slid to one side so my hand could reach between her legs. What I found there was very warm, indeed. My other hand sought out one of her delightful breasts. She had her hands around my back, obviously enjoying the feel of my bare skin.

“Aren’t you a little overdressed?’ I tried, whispering as quietly as I could with my lips now right next to her ear.

“With our friends all around us, you are not getting me to do that. You can give up hope right now. They do not want to listen to us when they’re trying to sleep.”

“Well, one of them already did listen and he didn’t seem to mind at all,” I countered.

Out of the darkness to our right, we suddenly heard Samantha squeal.

“Oh! A little higher, Pat.” Then, a moment later, “Yesss. Right there.” And, finally, “Ohhh.”

Lauren and I were looking into each other’s eyes as we heard that.

“Pat and Sam are definitely not sleeping.”

Lauren didn’t answer. A rhythmic sound came from the same direction, followed by Samantha’s soft moaning in time to the sound.

From the other side came the sound of rustling. Now Frank and Celeste were getting in the game. I looked to Lauren as if to ask Well? My wife shook her head.

“No. They will hear us.”

Patrick and Samantha got louder.

“I don’t think Frank and Celeste will be able to hear us over that,” I told my wife.

That did it. A smile broke over her face as she relented. As if in appreciation of her change of mood, louder sounds came from the tent occupied by Frank and Celeste. I helped Lauren quickly work her way out of her pajamas and I soon felt her warm soft skin pressed against mine.

“Mmmm,” was all I said. It was more of a sound than a word.

Lauren warned me with her eyes. I got the message. Be quiet or the game is over.

She rolled onto her back once again and spread her legs. I moved onto her and felt for her opening inside the sleeping bag. Finding the familiar portal with practiced ease, I pressed forward and found myself enveloped in a warm wetness. It took everything in me not to sigh out loud.

If I had made a sound, she would probably have stopped right there. After getting caught earlier that day, she was very conscious that we were surrounded by our friends. What I don’t think she was fully considering was that our friends were doing exactly the same thing we were doing.

It was like being back in college. My roommate was sleeping in the other bed and I was trying to have sex with my girlfriend without making enough noise to wake him. Except for the rustling of the nylon sleeping bags, we were quiet. No moans, no Oh, God!, no Ahhh, no Unh-unh-unh.

While we were being quiet, Pat and Sam were anything but. They must have thrown caution to the wind as they reached peaks again and again. There was no need to hang the food from a rope. No wild animal would have dared approach the campsite with all the noise those two were making.

Their sounds were inspiration to us all. Hearing them going at it was encouraging us to make love all the more vigorously, and we were not the only ones being inspired. The sounds from the other tent became louder. We could hear Frank and Celeste making lots of noise in their sleeping bags. All of a sudden, all we heard were Pat and Sam. Then, over the sounds of Pat and Sam, we heard a zipper coming from the other direction.

“That’s cooler than I thought,” I heard Celeste say.

“You’ll warm up soon enough,” Frank replied.

That was all the conversation. Sounds of a couple happily making love issued forth and we were between two symphonies. At last, all the noise from the other couples made Lauren realize how absurd it was to try to be quiet. Everybody else was doing it so why not us?

“All right, go ahead,” Lauren whispered in my ear.

I’m sure she could see me grinning in the near darkness. I changed the angle of penetration, adopting one that I knew she enjoyed. I was now putting more pressure on her clit as I entered her. It didn’t take but a minute for her to start squirming and making happy sounds. I waited for her to catch herself and stop me but she didn’t. She was too far gone.

We three couples made enough noise to keep the bears at bay for a while. In time, the sounds issuing from each tent quieted. I knew what was happening. We were all cuddling in post-orgasmic bliss. Lauren was silent, still afraid of being overheard in spite of what we had all just done. In the silence, sounds of talking were heard. The voices were too quiet to make out the words exactly. I only managed to make out the words outside and fire. Pat and Sam were discussing something. Then, their talking suddenly ceased.

I heard a zipper, only this time it wasn’t the kind on a sleeping bag this time. It was a tent door opening. I looked to Lauren and she looked back, wide-eyed.

“Do you think they’re really going to…” she said.

I just smiled and I think we each realized at the same what was about to transpire. Lauren got a naughty grin on her face. If the light had been bright enough, I probably would have been able to see her blush. Her next words were so soft, so quiet, that I wouldn’t have been able to hear anything if her lips hadn’t been almost touching my ear.

“I want to watch them.”

I was shocked that my innocent wife was saying such a thing. The idea appealed to me but I’m a guy. If I had suggested such a thing, Lauren would have kneed me in the balls. I just smiled back at her. She shifted, moving off me slowly so as to make as little sound as possible as she slipped out of the double sleeping bag.

She is really going to do this, I thought in amazement. I watched as my wife crawled naked towards the door. She lay down on her stomach with her bottom facing me. Just barely seeing her cunt lips in the dim light was making me get hard again. I guess the idea of what was about to take place also had something to do with that.

By now, we could hear Pat and Sam walking around outside the tents. There was a rustling and a sound I couldn’t identify, and then Sam said, “There,” as a glow appeared. That was it. Lauren was waiting for something, her fingers holding on to the zipper tab.

When I heard it, I knew what she was waiting for. Pat and Sam were making love again. He had gotten the fire going and I could hear it crackling. Over the sound of the fire and Sam’s moans, Lauren very slowly moved the zipper, tooth by tooth, so there was almost no sound at all. She only opened it about four inches, exposing a slit.

I thought, What the hell? Why not? and crawled over to join her. I thought of lying down next to her but seeing her butt like that in the subdued moonlight, her legs slightly spread, gave me another idea—a better idea.

I crawled as silently as I could towards Lauren, my hands and feet making tiny sounds on the tent floor. As I got to her, my hands went to her sides. When I was on my knees between her legs, I reached down with my left hand to part her lips. Knowing she wouldn’t say anything that could be overheard, I used my right hand to guide my once again erect cock to her pussy. She was very warm and very wet.

When she felt the contact, she didn’t react. No sound, no movement. I took no news to be good news and pressed onward, entering her as I stretched out over her back. Settling into position pretty much on top of her (and inside her), I used my nose to push through her hair so I could kiss her next to her earlobe. She gave a small shiver.

Looking forward now, I could also see through the tiny opening in the door. There, silhouetted against the fire, were two bodies. The position and the motion that I could see gave no doubt that they were fucking. They were doing it out in the open under the stars. Seeing them inspired me to begin moving within Lauren. She sighed softly but made no other noise.

It took some time (especially because I had to be as quiet as possible) but I was finally able to settle into a position where I could screw my wife and see out the door at the same time. We coupled as we watched our friends doing the same thing. It felt so naughty watching them covertly as we also made love. The novelty of the whole thing and the excitement of watching another couple in the act of making love would have definitely interfered with my staying power had I not just had an orgasm.

I knew how important it was to stay quiet and to help Lauren stay quiet. The whole thing would have been spoiled if Pat or Sam realized we were watching. Even if they didn’t stop, being discovered would have made Lauren so mortified that I wouldn’t have gotten anything for the rest of the trip.

I plunged in and out of Lauren’s hole as we watched together. Her breasts were pressed against the ground so I could rub the sides that bulged out. My wife finally gave indication that she was enjoying what I was doing to her when she moaned. It was just a tiny sound. I knew she could have suppressed it but she made it so I’d know how much she liked what I was doing. I arched my back, my hands leaving her breasts to press down on her ass cheeks, so my cock was now rubbing against her G-spot.

Everything about the situation, the position, where we were, the fact that our friends were all around us, and spying on Pat and Sam, combined to circumvent my attempts to last longer. I pressed my dick hard into Lauren, reached around with my arms and pulled myself hard down onto her, and came into her. She made tiny sounds that let me know she was enjoying feeling it. After I finished cumming inside her, I slid my hands up her body and then beneath her to cup her breasts, the pebble-like nipples hard against my palms. I was now on top of her back, my face above hers, and we watched our friends finish their coupling.

It was strange watching them, especially now that we were not busy doing the same thing. My dick has softened enough to slip out of Lauren’s tight slit but it was still against her wet warmth. I was more aware now of the sounds Pat was coaxing out of Sam. She was moaning, probably thinking we were all asleep and wouldn’t hear her. As Pat approached his climax, her moans became louder. Finally, they ended with a loud squeal, which echoed back across the lake.

Watching them had gotten me hard again. Without taking my eyes off the two of them silhouetted against the fire, I reached down and guided myself back into Lauren’s pussy. I was slowly thrusting, just enough to keep myself hard. We had already cum; we were just enjoying the feel of each other while we watched.

After Sam had a chance to catch her breath, she sighed really loud. “That was great, Pat,” she told him—and us. To the side, I heard a zipper. The two performers heard it as well and Sam giggled.

“I think they heard us,” she told Pat and he giggled back.

“I guess so. Oh, well.”

“Oops,” she added with another chuckle. They got up and I expected them to return to their tent. To my surprise, they walked arm in arm to the edge of the lake and stood there, looking out over the water. Lauren used the opportunity to close the slit in our tent door.

“We weren’t the only ones watching,” she observed, a whisper so quiet that I only heard her because I was so close to her.

“Yeah, I –” I started to answer, but Lauren cut me off.

“Shhh!” she admonished. “They can hear us.”

I spoke softly this time. “I think everybody realizes everybody was involved in that display, either watching or taking part.”

“Still, I don’t want them to know we were watching,” my wife said.

“Why not? We’re all adults.”

“I was embarrassed enough when Pat caught us in the tent,” she said.

“It’s okay, Lauren. We’re married. We’re supposed to be having sex,” I explained.

“Not in the middle of the day,” she answered.

“So why did you pull me in here to do it?” I countered.

“What I mean is that our friends are not supposed to know when we’re doing it.”

“I really don’t think Pat and Sam were worried about that a few minutes ago.”

Lauren thought about my last remark. She shook her head as if she couldn’t comprehend something before pushing on me. I took the hint and crawled off her. When she got up, I saw we had left a small puddle on the floor of the tent so I rummaged around for the towel. I handed it to her and she cleaned up.

We were just climbing back into the sleeping bag when the unmistakable sounds of sex started up from the tent occupied by Frank and Celeste.

“I can’t believe they’re doing that. They’re only a few feet away, separated from us by a thin piece of nylon,” Lauren whispered.

“I don’t recall that stopping you earlier today,” I told her. “And our other friends didn’t feel the need for that nylon to conceal their fun.”

“Go to sleep,” Lauren said, but I could hear her smile from the tone in her voice.

I slid next to my wife and placed my hand on her mound, enjoying the feel of soft damp hair.

“We’ll never fall asleep if you keep doing that,” she said matter-of-factly.

“We’ll never fall asleep with Celeste moaning like that,” I countered.

“You guys are so horny,” she said with exasperation.

“I’m not the one who dragged her husband into the tent in the middle of the afternoon,” I said, enjoying the position I was putting her in.

“If you don’t lay off and let me get some sleep, that will be the only sex you’ll ever get in this tent.”

I knew she was teasing, but I still moved my hand higher and slid it around her waist. Lauren, in turn, moved until she was lying partly over me, her leg between mine.

“This feels nice,” she said with an almost silent sigh.

With that, we fell asleep, serenaded by Celeste’s soft moans only a few feet away.

Saturday morning announced its arrival with my strong need to pee. It was early and the sun was just below the horizon, the inside of the tent lit a little more than when we had fallen asleep. Lauren was now on her side facing away from me, her firm butt pressed against my erection.

I didn’t want to get up. It was nice snuggled up to my wife’s naked body. It was cold outside of the sleeping bag, too. I didn’t like the idea of crawling out of that nice warm sleeping bag and away from Lauren to find some clothes just so I could go pee. I thought about waiting but the need was too strong.

“Ooh, that feels nice,” she said as she pressed her butt more firmly against me. My movements must have awoken her.

“I need to pee. I won’t be long,” I promised her.

I slid out only to be greeted by the chill in the tent. When Lauren saw the effect the cold had on my dick, she said, “Aww.”

I leaned over to kiss her and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry, it will come back when I’m back in there with you.”

“Promise?” she asked.

Shivering in the early morning cold, I looked around for clothes. The desire to hurry up and get back next to Lauren, combined with the urgent need to pee, caused me to seek out essentials only. I slid on my jeans and a coat, then my boots. No underwear or socks, or even a shirt. I was only planning to find a convenient tree out of earshot. Lauren’s voice startled me and I turned to find her watching me.

“Do you always walk around the woods dressed like that, or are you planning to flash a bear?”

I smiled back at her, raising my eyebrows in suggestion. Now dressed (almost), I unzipped the tent and struggled out, zipping the tent closed behind me.

The early morning stillness was ethereal. I stepped out of the tent, my hiking boots making a crunching sound in the leaves. I headed to the trail and selected a tree a ways from the tents to relive myself. As I peed, I heard another crunching sound. Thinking I was about to be discovered, I panicked and looked around, only to find the sound was a deer. It appeared unconcerned by me and how I was desecrating its forest.

When I returned to the campsite, Sam was already outside and rustling through the cooking gear. She heard me coming and looked up, speaking before she noticed how I was dressed.

“Pat is gathering a little more wood for the fire. I’m going to get some coffee going…” Then, raising an eyebrow, she continued, “Nice pajamas, Harris. Out flashing deer?”

I blushed. “I had to use the bathroom.”

“Whatever. There should be coffee soon and breakfast a little later. You might want to put on some more clothes, though. It’s kind of chilly.” She grinned at me as I turned to crawl back into the tent.

Lauren was getting our clothes out. She spoke in whispers. “With people getting up, it’s not private enough anymore to do anything so I thought we’d get dressed.” I nodded and we changed.

The smell of coffee drifted across the camp as we emerged, fully dressed this time. Pat was back with the wood and had the fire going.

“Did you sleep alright?” he asked.

“Yes, the sleeping bags were very warm,” Lauren answered.

There was noise from the third tent. A zipper sounded and Frank emerged. He and Celeste soon also had cups of coffee. Sam was making pancakes and Pat was working on bacon. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air. It was as if everyone was being careful not to slip up and mention what had gone on the night before.

An occasional bird chirped. In the distance, a loon called. A breeze rustled the tops of the trees. The fire crackled softly and bacon sizzled. We held our coffee cups tightly, warming our hands. The coffee was still a little too hot to enjoy, though. Eventually Sam broke the silence. It was probably best that she did it, being a woman.

“Okay, let’s all fess up. Everybody is embarrassed about what was heard or seen,” she looked pointedly at Lauren as she said that, “last night.” The women blushed and the men smiled. “We’re all adults here, and married. It’s nothing different from what we would have been doing at home.”

“If I had been at home, I certainly wouldn’t have been doing it outside,” Celeste said, confirming Sam’s suspicion.

“So you were watching,” she accused.

“Well, it was kind of hard to miss. It’s not like you were being discreet, or even quiet.” It sounded like Celeste was trying to defend her actions.

I was surprised when Lauren spoke up.

“They weren’t the only ones watching,” she said quietly, looking into her coffee cup.

All eyes turned to my shy wife. She looked up, her cheeks coloring when she realized she was the center of attention.

“Yes, we watched, too. Both of us,” she said as she slipped her arm through mine. That was it. I was implicated in the crime as well. It was Pat’s next remark that really shocked everyone, though.

“So did you enjoy the show?”

Before anyone could respond, he continued.

“Want another show tonight?”

I expected Sam to punch his arm or something, but she just gave a sly smile to the faces now turned to the two of them.

“You guys wanted us to watch?” asked a shocked Celeste.

Sam put her arm through her husband’s, looked each of us in the eye, and said, “Yes, we wanted you to watch. We were putting on a show for you.”

It became to quiet that I could hear the wind through the tree tops. Nobody spoke, nobody moved. Even the birds seemed to be frozen in shock.

Finally, after maybe two minutes, Lauren slowly shook her head. “That’s not right.”

“So is watching right?” Pat countered.

Lauren opened her mouth to answer but stopped before she uttered anything. She looked at Pat and Sam, then to me, then back to Pat and Sam. She shook her head again and led me away into the woods. We walked along the path that followed one of the lakes. Behind us, no one made a sound.

We walked until we were definitely out of earshot of the others. We were at a clearing, overlooking the sound. In the distance, Canada beckoned.

“I don’t know about this, Harris,” Lauren said, looking off into the distance. “This is a little freaky.”

“Honey, I’m not saying we should join them or anything, but you did look.”

She turned to me as she spoke. “Yes, I did look. We all looked. If I had to do it again, I’d probably still look. I’m not sure why but I couldn’t help it. At the time, in the heat of passion, it seemed right. Now, in the light of day…”

I waited for her to continue. When she didn’t, I tried to offer some support.

“We watched them as we did the same thing. We were all doing the same thing.” Lauren raised her eyebrows at that. “I mean making love. We were all doing that at the same time. We’re all adults, we’re all married. It’s no secret we were all humping like teenagers. It’s the fresh air, the solitude,… After yesterday, Pat knows—“

Lauren cut me off with, “Don’t remind me. I let my hormones make me do something I shouldn’t have.”

“Why not, Lauren? Why not? It wasn’t like we asked Pat to join in. It’s not like we went over to the fire last night and swapped partners or something. We’re all having sex—with our wives. What’s so wrong about that?”

“What’s wrong is that everybody knows what we’re doing—when we’re doing it, even.”

“It’s kind of hard to hide it in a tent. The walls aren’t very thick.”

“But it’s something you’re supposed to do in private,” my lovely wife admonished.

“So why did you unzip the tent last night and watch?” I asked her.

She paused for a long time. I knew her expression. She was thinking it over. She was trying to work it out, to come up with a reason for what she did.

“I don’t know,” is all she said, very quietly.

I let her think that over a moment before continuing.

“I don’t think the others are concerned about the lack of privacy. I don’t think they will stop what they’re doing—what we all did last night—for our benefit. Unless you want to lie there and listen to them, the best thing to do is for us to make enough noise of our own so we can’t hear them.”

Lauren started to say something but I defused the situation by smiling. My smile turned to laughter when she didn’t respond and we ended up both laughing. I hugged her, reveling in the feel of her body as I sheltered her from the wind coming off the water far below.

Her face still snuggled against my flannel shirt, her words muffled, she asked, “What are we doing?’

“Camping,” I said. “Having a good time with good friends. Then, at night, we’re loving each other. Nothing wrong with that.”

Lauren lifted her head and looked deeply into my eyes. She sighed and said, “Nothing wrong with that.”

I smiled and held her tighter. Looking over her head and across the lake, I enjoyed the view and the feel of my wife in my arms. I guided us both back along the trail to the campsite.

Before we reached the camp, the sounds drifted to us. They were already eating breakfast and a few laughs punctuated the early morning calm. When we arrived, Frank and Celeste looked to us expectantly.

Sam, undeterred, directed a question at Lauren. “Ready for some breakfast?”

Lauren nodded her reply and, taking her arm from mine, held out her coffee cup. Pat used an oven mitt to grab the pot. As he poured the steaming coffee, the sound it made was a relief. The tension eased and we fell into comfortable chatter as we served ourselves. It wasn’t like we were avoiding talking about the previous night’s scene. There were other things to talk about.

“I’m going to try for some trout after breakfast,” Frank announced. “Who wants to come along?”

“I think we’re going hiking today,” Pat replied, indicating his wife with his fork.

“I want to stay here and read,” Celeste said. “I want to enjoy the peace and quiet.”

Nods of agreement followed her words.

“What about you two?” Sam asked. “You’re staying, right?”

At her question, all eyes were again upon us. I looked as well to my wife.

“Of course, we’re staying,” Lauren said with a chuckle. “Where did you think we were going?”

I heard a collective sigh of relief.

“I’m not a prude. I did look, after all. Just look, though. It’s not like we weren’t all doing the same thing,” Lauren continued. “I guess it just made me a little embarrassed. I’m sorry if I made anyone feel uncomfortable.”

Sam walked over to Lauren and hugged her.

“If anyone made someone uncomfortable, it was me. I, we, should have been more discreet,” she said to Lauren.

“No, don’t change on my account. We’re all adults. It’s alright whatever we each do. I just have to remember that there isn’t as much privacy in that tent as I thought there was.”

“You have as much privacy as you want,” Pat observed.

After breakfast, Pat and Sam set out for a hike. They packed a lunch and didn’t expect to be back until the afternoon. Frank headed off to the smaller lake with fishing gear.

“I’m going to find a shady spot and lose myself in this book,” Celeste said. She walked off, leaving the two of us alone in the camp.

“What do you want to do?” I asked Lauren.

She made a show of thinking that over. Then she spoke in a playful tone.

“I want us to go for a walk.”

She reached for my hand and pulled me along. We headed in a direction away from where the others went. We walked along the larger lake until we came to a trail that snaked back and forth down a rock face. I was enjoying the view as much as being alone with my wife. We were really all alone. There wasn’t sight or sound of anyone else.

In time, we came to another trail that headed into thick woods. Lauren led me into the trees. Out of sight of the first trail, she stopped.

“Listen,” she whispered. “Listen to that.”

I listened. I heard the wind whispering through the trees. A bird or two sang a distant song. That was all I could hear.

“I don’t hear anything,” I said, unsure what I was supposed to hear.

“I know. There’s nobody around. It’s just us.”

I was about to ask her what she meant when she surprised me.

“Take off your clothes. I want to make love right here,” Lauren said.

I was about to ask her if she was serious when she giggled as her fingers fumbled with the buttons on her shirt. I watched mesmerized as my shy wife removed her clothes there in the woods.

“Aren’t you going to join me?” she asked, smiling brightly.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I rushed to catch up, discarding my clothes on the ground. I couldn’t really believe what I was seeing Lauren doing. After last night, and this morning, she was doing what she said she couldn’t understand only a few hours ago. We weren’t inside any tent. We were among trees.

With the sunlight filtering through the tree canopy, I drank in the view of my wife. The dappled sunlight made her hair glow. I reached for her and felt the warmth of her body against mine as the cool breeze flowed around us. She obviously wasn’t worried about being discovered. The novelty of the situation kept my attention. We had never done anything like this. I’m sure I was grinning, or at least smiling broadly. Lauren was positively beaming.

“Are you sure…” I started to ask her.

She stopped me. Speaking in a whisper, she warned, “Don’t spoil the magic of the moment. Just enjoy it.”

Next she kissed me. The feel of her naked body made me forget where we were. Her breasts crushed against my chest, my dick against her stomach as her hair tickled my balls. It made me forget we were out in the open. Lauren took both of my hands in hers and sank to her knees, pulling me down with her.

“Lauren, what are you doing?” I asked with a happy smile. It was all too apparent what my wife had in mind. It was apparent, but totally out of character for her. I had held fantasies of taking my wife in the great outdoors somewhere, but I believed they would always remain that—fantasies. Things were changing.

Looking around for our discarded clothing, Lauren pulled over our flannel shirts and spread them out on the ground, making a kind of blanket. Lying back on the makeshift blanket, she looked up at me and, smiling as she spread her legs, said, “Make love to me, Harris. Right here. Right now.”

She wasn’t begging. She wasn’t commanding. It was more matter of fact, stating something that we both knew was going to happen.

Never one to deny my wife anything reasonable, and never one to pass up sex, I did just that. I entered her, finding her pussy already very wet. She must have been planning this all along. She must have been getting wet on the hike over here. I planted a deep soul searching kiss on her full lips as I let the weight of my body rest on her.

The wind whispered above us in the trees, but to my ears it was a blissful silence filled with nothing but her breath. I felt her legs sliding along mine, the feel of her soft smooth skin a delight.

Breaking the kiss, I breathed deep and inhaled the scent of the woods. We were alone, out in the wilderness, naked and making love. It was beautiful yet it was absurd. This was so unlike Lauren. That conversation back at camp, and what had happened last night, must have really gotten to her. She was changing and I liked it.

Forgetting what we would look like after, with twigs in our hair and goofy smiles on our faces, or even with a big wet spot on someone’s shirt, we made love. I sighed as my cock penetrated her. Though we had done this so many times, it never felt as this. Doing it outside and without concern for anyone seeing us added to the illicit pleasure.

I wasn’t ready to cum yet and Lauren hadn’t either, when she spoke. Her words were a soft gentle whisper as if she didn’t want to disturb someone.

“Look, Harris. We’re being watched.”

My first reaction was panic, then frustration. I really didn’t want to stop at that moment. I was really into the sex and I wanted to finish. I wanted to cum and I looked forward to making Lauren cry out in ecstasy among the trees. I looked in the direction she indicated with a nod of her head.

There, watching in a unconcerned manner, was a deer. It was stepping lightly, footsteps almost unheard above the light breeze through the trees. It was stopping every few steps to bite at a bit of grass or other plant. It was also keeping an eye on us.

I was surprised that the wild animal was so trusting of us. I remembered all the deer I had seen before. They seemed to have little fear of humans. This one was actually watching us while it was feeding. I suppose it was concerned that we might charge at it. I really don’t think it was enjoying watching what we were doing. Still, we felt watched and it wasn’t a bad thing. Being watched while having sex kind of added to the fun. That is when I thought maybe this was why Pat and Sam wanted us to watch them. It wasn’t a kinky thing, trying to draw us into taking part in their encounter. It was simply the fun of being watched.

I kept up the slow rhythm in and out of Lauren’s body as we watched the deer. I felt like we were watching a nature program. In reality, it was more like we were the nature program and the deer was watching us.

I felt it when Lauren started to cum. Her breathing deepened and she let out a soft cry. At her moan, the deer froze, looking directly at us. I knew what was coming. I stepped up the intensity of my actions and the reaction from my wife was immediate. She was cumming hard. Lauren cried out loudly and the deer bolted. Lauren’s cries broke the stillness as she dug her fingernails into my back.

After Lauren came down from her high, she asked if we could do it doggy style.

“Why not? We’re in the woods. When in Rome…” I answered smugly.

I sat back on my haunches, my cock pulling wetly from my wife’s pussy.

Lauren gave me a silly look before turning over onto all fours. She looked back at me and, smiling broadly, growled softly. I chuckled, put my arms around her waist, and entered her from behind. It was silly, but it was also strangely exhilarating. We were being silly, communing with the wildlife, as we coupled. I came next. Taking my cue from my wife’s behavior, I also cried out as I filled her with my cum.

I felt her pressing her backside harder against me as she felt me filling her. I leaned over her back, pressing my body to hers and enjoying the sensation. As the moment passed and my erection waned, it fell free of her warm confines. When she felt this, Lauren shifted out of my grasp. I sat on my knees and watched as she crawled off the shirts. My cum was leaking out of her. There was a slow drip as the cream pie made itself seen.

Lauren was enjoying this, behaving like the deer. She stood and turned to face me. The remains of our joining were now starting to just barely flow down the inside of one leg. Ordinarily, she would have put her hand between her legs to stem the flow and gone to the bathroom to wipe it up. Here, now, she was letting it flow. It looked like she was enjoying feeling it running down her leg. I was seeing a side of my wife that I hadn’t seen before. I took a few steps to her and hugged her.

I ran my hand down Lauren’s arm, feeling goose bumps. I realized that I was feeling cold, too. While we were making love, we were active enough to stay warm. Now that we were less active, the chill in the air got to us. I wrapped my arms around Lauren, hugging her to me.

“That feels so nice,” Lauren said, breaking the silence.

“Mmhm,” I agreed, enjoying the feeling of her breasts pressed against my chest.

“But I’m cold. Sorry, but I need to get dressed.”

I nodded and looked around for our clothes. We sorted through the cast off clothes, getting dressed to ward off the chill of the shade. After all the years we’ve been together, I still enjoy watching her get dressed. Almost as much as watching her get undressed.

When we were again wearing clothes, Lauren took my hand and started to walk away but I resisted. I raised my hand to her hair. She thought I was going to kiss her.

“You have sticks in your hair, my dear. You look like you’ve been rolling around in the woods, being ravaged by a wild animal.”

Lauren smiled sweetly and said, “I think I was.”

I pulled two twigs and a few leaves from her hair. She looked at them in my hand.

“Thanks. That might have been embarrassing.”

I nodded as I dropped them. Lauren turned around.

“How does the rest of me look?” she asked.

“Fine,” I answered in a pleasant sort of way. “But I really should brush those leaves off the back of your shirt. You still look like you’ve been screwing in the woods.”

“Well?” she said. “I have, haven’t I?”

“Oh, yes. Yes,” I answered slowly, savoring the memory still so fresh in my mind.

“Come on, loverboy. There will be more of that later.”

I would follow that woman anywhere.

When we got back to camp for lunch, to our surprise Pat and Sam were there, putting together sandwiches. We helped them get the meal ready.

“Have you seen Celeste?” Sam asked us. “I thought she was going to stay around camp and read.”

“She told us she was going to find a quiet place to read,” Lauren explained. “She headed off along one of the trails and we haven’t seen her since.”

“She’ll come back when she’s hungry,” Pat joked.

They never explained why they returned to camp early and we never asked. We were just starting to eat when Celeste and Frank appeared. Frank was carrying a stringer of fish. I couldn’t help noticing that Celeste had a few leaves in the back of her hair. I looked pointedly at Lauren and grinned. She didn’t see what I was grinning about at first. Then, Celeste turned around and Lauren saw. I noticed her holding a napkin up to her mouth. Knowing my wife well, I could tell from the part of her face I could see that she was trying hard not to laugh.

Lauren gave me a look that said, We weren’t the only ones. I nodded. Celeste noticed my nod.

“Yes, what, Harris?” she asked.

“Oh, nothing,” I said, struggling not to burst into laughter.

Celeste gave me a funny look, but then shrugged and took a bite of her sandwich.

We spent the afternoon around camp, just talking. Frank brought out a bottle of whiskey and kept us supplied with drinks while we talked about anything and everything. Well, everything except what had happened the night before.

Frank and Celeste, being pilots, were more familiar with the layout of the islands. They told us about the area around us. We heard about Shaw (and the Shaw Island wave—a slight lift of the hand done from the hip) and Lopez, and the funny legend about how Friday Harbor got its name (A ship lost in the fog saw another boat in the distance and the confused explorer called out, “What bay is this?” The other person on the other boat misunderstood the question to be “What day is this?” and called back, “Friday.”) We learned about the pods of Orcas that summered here.

They also talked about the rugged beauty of Vancouver Island to the west, tipped by the delicate charm of Victoria to our south. We were maybe only seventy-five miles by air from Seattle and now the Canadian coast lay slightly more than ten miles to the west, wrapping protectively around the San Juan Islands.

Sam told of walking along the beaches in the San Juans and looking for shards of antique glass and pottery. The tidal action and the sand polish them into beautiful collectibles. We also heard of the large starfish in bright oranges, pinks and purples that were exposed clinging to the rocks during low tide.

All of these places were destinations we hoped to explore someday soon. For now, we were content to spend the day here among friends.

Dinner was supplemented by Frank’s catch. Being so far north in summer, darkness didn’t come until quite late. By then, there was enough food in our bellies to counteract the alcohol. I was glad for that fact because I looked forward to a repeat of our earlier performance in the woods, later in the tent.

We had gathered wood earlier and had a roaring fire going to ward off the evening chill. By the time it was good and dark, it was almost ten o’clock. The fire lit up the area, pushing back the darkness.

“I think I’m going to bed,” Sam announced, casting a meaningful glance at Pat.

“Good idea,” Pat agreed as he followed her to their tent.

Frank and Celeste also turned in, leaving the two of us by the fire. I was sitting facing the fire with Lauren in front of me between my legs. I leaned forward and kissed her just below her earlobe.

“Okay, I get the message. Let’s go to bed,” Lauren breathed.

“That’s not what I meant, but if you’re ready…”

“Yes, I’m ready. Let’s go,” my wife said.

We were just getting undressed in the tent when we heard the unmistakable sound of a zipper coming from the direction of the lake. With the light filtering into the tent from the fire, I could see Lauren freeze, and then raise an eyebrow.

“Here they go again,” I said.

Then we heard a zipper from the other direction. Lauren and I locked eyes.

“Both of them?” I whispered.

We could hear the footsteps as Frank and Celeste went past our tent and towards the fire. Lauren was naked now and I was not that far behind. She crawled past me to the door.

“You’re going to watch again?” I asked in surprise.

I was removing my underwear and my erection was just about complete as I thought of entering my wife’s body.

Lauren unzipped the door slowly and peeked out. She gasped before looking back at me.

“No,” was all she said.

She unzipped the door fully and reached for my hand. I was in shock as she pulled me in the direction of the tent door. I couldn’t believe what my wife was doing. As I went through the door, the scene that greeted me made me freeze.

Pat and Sam were making love in front of the fire, their naked bodies illuminated by the flickering light. That I expected. What shook me up was that Celeste was riding Frank’s dick next to them—and Lauren was leading me in their direction. Each couple was doing their thing on a blanket beside the fire—and there was a third blanket waiting for us. Lauren’s pull got me moving even though I was mesmerized by the scene playing out. I was too surprised by where things were going to think about how we were all naked in front of each other. Even stranger, Lauren didn’t seem to be bothered by that, either.

Lauren led me to the empty blanket between the two couples. Though the night was chilly, we were close enough to the fire that we were quiet warm.

To our right, Celeste was enjoying her ride. To our left, Pat was slamming into Sam. The crackling of the fire covered most of the sounds of the couplings. Lauren sank to her knees and pulled me down to her level.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked, though the answer was obvious.

Lauren pulled me into a deep kiss, and then she leaned back until I was lying on top of her. I felt her legs parting. Now I felt as I would have expected Lauren would. It was strange doing this surrounded by our friends. Last night, I was the one trying to convince Lauren that she shouldn’t be concerned about the others being so close. Now I was the one feeling uncomfortable. Not too uncomfortable, though.

Lauren’s pubic hair tickled me and got my attention. It became hard to think about the other couples with the feel of my wife’s body underneath me. I entered her easily enough, finding her quite ready for me. Obviously, she was also enjoying what we were doing and where we were doing it.

I plunged into my wife’s depths with abandon, warmed by the fire and inspired by the occasional moans issuing forth from our friends around us. This was something I never would have imagined doing. This was certainly something I would never have imagined Lauren doing. Yet, here we were. After the initial excitement wore off, I dared myself to look around. I had been looking into my wife’s eyes and she was staring at me. When I started to dart my eyes to the side, I saw her smile and do the same. It was like we were each afraid of how the other would respond if we looked.

I looked to my left. I saw Pat’s butt bouncing up and down as he slammed into Sam’s pussy. This was a sight I could have gone the whole trip without seeing, but his upper body was supported on his arms and I had a nice view of Sam’s tits. They were swaying with the force of Pat’s slams. Sam looked over and noticed the two of us watching them. She smiled and winked. I felt ashamed for a moment, but then realized (as I had told Lauren) that we were all doing the same thing. There really was nothing to be ashamed of. I smiled back.

Turning now to my right, I saw Celeste sitting astride Frank’s midsection. This view was more to my tastes. I had always thought Celeste was pretty. I had never expected to see her naked, though. Her eyes were closed, her tits were bouncing, and her dark pubic hair was visible around Frank’s wet shaft. My eyes were drawn to where the two of them joined. It was fascinating to watch Frank’s shaft sliding with ease in and out of Celeste. I knew just what he was feeling because my dick was doing the same thing to my wife.

Drawing my attention back to my wife, I sat up on my haunches and lifted her legs over my shoulders. This was her favorite position. Mine was her on top because I liked to watch her body as we made love. Now we could have it both ways. She got the deep penetration and I got to watch Celeste. Something didn’t sound right about that, but the momentum of the moment was carrying me along. Lauren looked to be enjoying watching Frank’s dick in Celeste’s pussy too much to complain that I was watching Celeste instead of her.

I suppose surreal would be the right word. This didn’t seem right, but I was too lost in the fog to want to be the voice of reason. We were each enjoying our own spouses as we watched each other. It wasn’t like we were swapping partners or anything.

There was a shuffling sound from my left. Celeste opened her eyes at that and caught me staring at her body. At first, she looked embarrassed, but caught herself and gave me a sexy smile. It was as if she was saying, See something you like?

Through all of this, no words were spoken. I think if someone had spoken, the spell would have been broken and we might have all scampered back to our tents.

Celeste’s eyes shifted to the sound we had both heard and she gasped. I turned to see what she was looking at. Pat and Sam had moved to the doggy style position. While Celeste had nice tits, the sight of Sam’s succulent orbs gently swaying back and forth, hanging down from her chest, was mesmerizing. I felt my erection grow a little inside Lauren as I watched Sam. Even her ass cheeks jiggled a little as Pat pounded her. The angle of the penetration must have been ideal for her because she soon began moaning loudly. Pat looked up to the night sky and banged her even harder. Her tits picked up speed in time with the rhythm. I started to feel like watching her cum was going to make me cum inside my own wife.

Sam’s moans became screams. There was no reason to be quiet about it. Pat’s hands on her hips suddenly gripped her tighter. Then, he suddenly pulled out of her. His shaft, erect and shiny with his wife’s juices, pointed up. He grasped himself with his right hand and began jacking off. Three strokes later, he groaned and pushed himself forward. Celeste gasped from behind me as we all saw him orgasm, his cum arcing and splashing onto Sam’s lower back. She immediately felt it and pushed her bottom against him. The lines and drops glistened in the firelight. Remembering Lauren, I looked down to see her also watching the two of them. I smiled and looked back to see Pat wiping the end of his cock on Sam’s ass.

From behind me, Frank groaned. I turned back to see Celeste working her clit with one hand and a tit with the other, though her gaze was still fixed on Pat. I saw it in her face as she came moments after Frank. I knew he was spurting inside her at that moment. That secret knowledge started to push me over the edge.

I felt the spasms. Looking down now at my beautiful nude wife, I felt all the love in my heart that I had ever felt for her. It didn’t bother me that two other men were also watching her make love. For that moment, I forgot about the others and saw only her. I leaned over her, pressing her thighs against her tits and she lifted her face to mine. We kissed as she put her arm around my neck, holding us together. Then I felt it... at first, just a flutter in her pussy, then a definite contraction. I smiled in the kiss as I went over the edge, enjoying knowing that I was making her cum as much as I was starting to enjoy my own orgasm.

Suddenly remembering how much Celeste had enjoyed watching Pat cum on Sam’s butt, I pulled out of Lauren. I was already cumming (and the effort to withdraw at that moment was monumental) but I pulled out and held my dick over Lauren’s pussy as I spurted on her hair. Big white drops clung to those soft hairs, the image seemingly amplified by the flickering light.

It had the desired effect on Celeste. She moaned in approval as she watched. Inside, I smiled. I had done that for her enjoyment.

After that, it seemed that we all collectively caught our breaths. Looking around, it was as if we suddenly realized what we had done. We all stood, hugging and kissing our partners in front of the fire. Then, still without speaking a word, we each went back to our own tents. I vividly recall watching Sam disappear into her tent, her back and ass still glistening in the moonlight with Pat’s cum.

The sound of three tent zippers was heard, then silence. Well, whispers could be heard but they were too quiet to make out what was being said. From the other sounds, it was apparent that we all made love once again—this time in private. As I held Lauren close in the sleeping bag after, our bodies warming each other, I was reliving the visions of my friends’ wives having sex. I wasn’t doing this out of salacity. On the contrary, I was reliving the beautiful encounter I had with Lauren, shamelessly expressing our love for each other as our friends did the same.

Sunday morning dawned clear and cold. We got up and dressed, again finding Sam already getting breakfast going. She just smiled at us when we appeared.

The six of us enjoyed our last breakfast at the camp. We talked a little, but about the trip. No one mentioned what we had all done by the fire, or why there had been three blankets. No one had to. We each held our own treasured memories of that special moment. Once the sun had risen enough to dry the dew off the tents, we started taking everything down and packing up. We finished just before lunch, sharing sandwiches before the long drive back. As we walked to the cars for the last time, I looked back, seeing the campsite pretty much as we had found it. Except for the fire ring, there was no other evidence that we had been there. This place hadn’t changed. We had. No evidence remained of what we had done there. It now lived only in our memories.

On the drive back to the ferry landing, we dropped Celeste and Sam off at the airport so they could fly the plane back. I watched as Frank and Celeste ran through the preflight for their airplane. Celeste had asked if Lauren wanted to fly back with Sam and her, but my wife said that she wanted to ride back with me. The three women exchanged warm hugs before Celeste and Sam climbed aboard. After they took off for Seattle, we headed to the ferry landing, buying tickets for Anacortes and getting in line to wait for our boat.

The four of us got out and stood around talking while we waited for our boat to arrive. The lanes weren’t all that crowded so early in the afternoon. Frank assured us that, like Friday, the lanes would completely fill before long with people now returning to the mainland.

Once we parked on the boat, Lauren and I got out and went up to the main deck. We were standing at the railing on the bow, watching the islands go by. I had my arm around her. I knew my wife so well. I could tell there was something she wanted to say. I waited expectantly for her to speak. When she didn’t, I did finally ask if she had something to say.

“Not now. I want to talk but let’s wait until we’re on the road.”

I nodded. About that time, Frank and Pat showed up. Pat stood next to me, Frank next to Lauren.

“So, are you two going to come camping with us again?” Pat asked.

I looked to Lauren for her reaction.

“Absolutely!” Lauren replied exuberantly.

I nodded my agreement.

“Great,” Frank said. “We really enjoyed having you join us.”

Turning to Pat, I joked, “I have to be sure to get my money’s worth out of all that gear I bought.”

Pat clapped me on the back. “It was a lot to buy at one time, but you’ll have plenty opportunities to use it. We do this about every month or two.”

“Less in winter,” Frank added.

“But camping in the snow, in the mountains, is fun, too,” Pat said.

“Camping in the snow is cold,” Frank said.

Chuckling, Pat said, “That just depends on who you’re camping with.”

I felt Lauren moving closer to me as she whispered, “I’ll keep you warm. Winter camping sounds nice.”

Overhearing her, Pat said, “That’s the spirit, Lauren.”

We chatted about camping in general and they told us about the places they’ve been. I guess it was at that point I felt we were fully accepted into the group. We had been friends for awhile, but it was at that point they seemed to include us automatically. Pat started talking about where the next trip might be.

It was pleasant out there. The view was incredible and the company was very friendly. They never brought up what had happened the night before around the fire. Whether they were reluctant for our benefit of not, I couldn’t figure out.

We soon arrived back in Anacortes and got back on the road. After we had navigated back to the Interstate and settled in for the long drive, I looked over expectantly at Lauren. She caught the hint.

“I guess you’re surprised at what we did last night,” she started.

“Yes, I was. I never thought you’d do something like that.”

“It just seemed right, the right time. Are you comfortable with what we did?” Lauren asked.

“Yes, I am. Totally. We’re all good friends and no one overstepped any bounds. We were sharing yet not sharing, you know?”

Lauren nodded.

I asked her, “But why? You’ve never been that outgoing sexually before, not even close to something like that.”

Lauren thought for a long time before answering. The whine of the tires was the only sound as I waited for her reply to my question.

“It was something our priest said.”

“What?!” Her answer really caught me off guard. “What in the world does our priest have to do with us all having sex around the campfire?”

Lauren smiled as she explained.

“Remember when we were going through the Pre-Cana classes, before we got married?”

I nodded, curious to see where she was leading.

“It was what Father George said at one of our last meetings.”

Lauren saw the confusion on my face. I think she smiled a little, enjoying making me wait for the answer.

“Remember? It was just before he gave us the talk about birth control. He said, ‘Whatever the two of you decide to do is alright in the eyes of the Church. It’s all okay now.’ He was telling us that sex was natural, part of marriage. We had waited so long, or so he thought, and he was telling us it was allowed now.”

I couldn’t remember those words, but I do remember him talking about sex. I thought at the time it was very strange hearing a priest giving us advice on sex.

“I wanted to try it and you didn’t seem hesitant, so I took that to mean we were both in agreement. It wasn’t like we were swapping partners or anything.”

I thought about what she has said. It was true, all of it.

“Lauren, if I had not wanted to do that, would you have understood?”

“Absolutely,” came her answer at once.

“Thanks. I’m glad we tried that. I’m still not sure if I’m comfortable with it yet, but it just kind of happened. It did seem right at the time, though.”

My wife nodded. She seemed hesitant to go on. When she did, it caught me off guard.

“Sam sure has nice tits,” Lauren said. “I noticed you enjoyed watching them.”

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I wasn’t sure where this was leading and I was starting to sweat. Lauren continued.

“Celeste’s are nice, too. I wish mine were more like hers.”

In an instant, I knew just what to say. I turned to face Lauren as I spoke, trying to sound as sincere as I could.

“The perfect size of tits is…”

Lauren was looking intently at me, waiting to hear how I would finish that statement.

“Yours,” I said.

Her face showed she was skeptical.

“Really. I love your tits. I love everything about you. Your tits, your legs, your pussy, your ass…” I drew in a deep breath and continued, “Your face. I love you. Most of all, I love what’s in here,” I said as I touched my index finger to her temple,”and here,” I added as I touched her between her breasts.

Her expression changed. She was no longer skeptical. It was like she was melting at my touch, or at my words. When she spoke, there was sincerity and love in her voice.

“Good answer.”

I laughed and she joined in for a moment.

“That was beautiful, Harris.” She swallowed. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Lauren. I mean all of that, too. You are perfect. You are what I looked for all my life.”

She reached for my finger and held it to her lips. She kissed it as she looked into my eyes. There was a tear slipping from the corner of her eye.

We were quiet after that. She held my hand as I drove. There was no need to speak. We both knew how we felt. In a way, we became closer that weekend. We had shared something with our friends. We had shared something intimate yet we hadn’t really given anything up. It had brought the two of us even closer.

We had bared our souls, our deepest desires, to each other and our love for each other became stronger as a result. There was no chance we’d want to go any further. No desire to try swapping. Watching was enough. Being able to watch and be watched, yet share with only each other, strengthened our bond. I knew there would be other camping trips, with our friends and others that would be just the two of us. We had discovered many new things that weekend. Most important of all, we had discovered the depth of our love for each other.

The End

This story is Copyright © 2006 by Strickland83. All rights reserved.

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