We had been staying in a beach house together for the past few days—Alice and Alex, along with my husband Carl and me. It was meant to be a relaxing getaway, but for us, but it had been anything but relaxing. Ever since I’d had that dream about Alex—so vivid, so intoxicating—I couldn’t shake the thoughts of him from my mind. I say “dream”, but I should say “dreams”, because I occasionally fantasized about him for years. But for some reason, there was one dream, just a week before the beach trip, which I couldn’t shake. In it, his hands had been on me (and in me) his mouth tracing fire over my skin, and I had woken up breathless, aching, and wet. The dream had been so real, so consuming, that even now, I could feel the ghost of his touch on my skin. I was touching myself every day, sometimes twice a day, imagining his hands on me, his eyes watching me, his member penetrating me. It was quite unlike me, to be honest, to be so horny, but there was something about this dream.

Anyway, my husband Carl and I had always had a playful side when it came to fantasies. Late at night, curled up together in bed, we had whispered about wild possibilities—threesomes, swapping partners, testing the boundaries of pleasure. Sometimes we imagined another girl in bed with us. Sometimes another guy. I liked it, particularly, when we talked about couple swaps --him with another girl, me with another guy, but in the same room. At first, it had been just dirty talk, a teasing game we played to push each other’s buttons, but the idea had taken root inside me. I had imagined another man’s hands on me, another woman’s lips on Carl. And now, with Alex and Alice here, the fantasy somehow felt even more real. I knew, of course, that nothing was going to happen; but just having them so close made it all at least feel possible.

A week at the beach. Just the four of us. Salt, sun, thin walls. Nothing was going to happen. Right?

On the second day, while the boys went for a morning run, Alice and I lounged on the beach, letting the sun soak into our skin. We had already peeled off our bikini tops, basking in the privacy of our secluded spot. “We should probably put these back on before they get back,” Alice murmured lazily, stretching her arms over her head.

I nodded, though part of me hesitated. There was something thrilling about being exposed, about the idea of being seen.

The sound of footsteps in the sand made us sit up abruptly, but it was too late. The guys had returned earlier than expected, sweat glistening on their toned bodies. Carl’s gaze flicked to Alice’s bare chest, lingering for just a second too long. And Alex—Alex was looking at me. Staring, unabashedly, at my bare chest. For a moment, I felt embarrassed, but then when he looked away, I felt a longing for him to look back. To see me, to watch me.

Alex and Carl turned to look at the water and stretch. Then, as Alex bent down to touch his toes, he looked back at me. I felt my pulse quicken as his eyes swept over me, slow and deliberate. There was something unreadable in his expression, something that sent heat rushing between my thighs. His eyes were almost aggressive. My breath caught in my throat; I didn’t want to cover myself.

Carl cleared his throat, tearing his gaze away from Alice as he dropped down onto the sand beside me. “Guess we interrupted something,” he teased, reaching for the water bottle next to me.

Alex chuckled as he ran a hand through his damp hair. “Seems like we missed quite a view.”

Alice smirked, unbothered, and stretched out on her towel again. “Too bad you guys didn’t take your shirts off earlier. Would’ve made it fair.” Alice laughed, and as she did her breasts shook gently up and down.

The tension was palpable, but it was wrapped in laughter, in the kind of teasing that made my stomach flutter. When Alex and Carl ran toward the water to cool off, I heard them murmuring, their voices carrying in the breeze.

“Noticed how you were looking at Alice,” Alex said, amusement in his tone.

Carl scoffed but didn’t deny it. “Please. You were staring at Eleanor’s tits like you were hypnotized.”

A thrill shot through me at hearing my husband’s words. They were noticing each other’s wives. They were acknowledging it. They were laughing about it. And I liked it.

That first night, after everyone had gone to bed, I found myself restless. The house was right on the beach front. I padded quietly down the hall of the beach house, pausing when I heard the sound of running water. The bathroom door was slightly ajar, the light spilling into the dark hallway. I knew I shouldn’t, but something made me step closer, peeking through the gap.

Alex stood under the shower, water cascading over his broad shoulders, his head tilted back as he ran his hands through his wet hair. My breath caught, and I clenched my thighs together, heat pooling deep inside me. He was beautiful, the embodiment of everything I had been fantasizing about. My fingers tightened on the doorframe, and for a brief moment, I imagined stepping inside, letting the water drench me as I pressed my body against his—

He was soaping his body. He didn’t know I was watching, certainly. But he was doing it all so slowly, and at no point turned from the door. It was like he wanted to be seen. I forced myself to move away, pulse racing as I stumbled back to my room, my heart hammering in my chest.

I went back to bed. Carl was sound asleep. I brought my hand down to my crotch. I was soaked. I pushed Carl, trying to wake him up. He grunted. It took a few more pushes, but eventually he obliged. Our midnight session was quick and to the point, with me thinking about what I had just seen in the shower.

The days passed. We had every meal together, the four of us, and conversation was deep and informal. We talked about everything - politics, love, the environment, our childhoods. And sex. We talked a lot about sex, always in a mix of jest mixed with boundaries-pushing.

We went on a hike the second evening. At one point, Alex and Carl stopped to pee. I watched from the side and could see as the powerful stream flowed from Alex’s member. It’s not something that would normally have excited me, but there was something about it that was hard to keep my eyes off of. I imagined holding onto his dick as he peed, I imagined the warm, heavy member in the palm of my hand as the liquid shot out of it. Was I going crazy? Why was I so horny?

By the third day, the heat had intensified, and we decided to venture to a more secluded cove, a place Alice had read about—a hidden beach often frequented by nudists. There was a charged moment of hesitation when we all realized what kind of beach it was, but then Alice laughed and shrugged. “When in Rome, right?” she teased. One by one, we shed our swimsuits. I hadn’t shaved and felt a bit unconscious, but was relieved to see that neither had Alice.

We stepped into the cold water. The thrill of being completely bare, the water caressing every inch of my skin, was exhilarating. Alex was beside me, his eyes dark and unreadable as he swam close, his fingers brushing against my stomach, my legs. I swallowed, my breath hitching as his touch lingered just a little too long.

A little while later, Carl and Alice were cold and said they wanted to return to the beach, deciding to lay in the sun. Alex and I stayed in the water. There weren’t enough towels, so Carl and Alice shared the one we had, their bodies pressed close. I caught the way Alice draped a leg over Carl’s, the way his fingers traced lazy circles on her back. I wasn’t sure what excited me more: being so close to Alex in the water, completely nude the both of us, or knowing that Carl and Alice were lying together in the warm sun together.