“Oh, yeah, right! Sorry. I knew that.”
“Why?” Erin teased her. “You weren’t excited or anything, were you?”
Wren and Trip didn’t make the connection, but I put a stop to it anyway. Erin was tempting fate, after all.
“Christy, you’re up,” I said.
“Sorry, Leah,” Brooke added. “I’ll try to call her by her real name when you’re around.”
“No, it’s okay,” Leah said, although her eyes tightened with the barest hint of a glare at Erin, who silently apologized. Leah hopped off the table and patted her towel.
“It’s all yours,” she said to Christy. “I got it warm for you.” She helped her onto the table and tied the blindfold for her. Then she whispered something in her ear.
“Oh my gosh, yes,” Christy said. “Me too.”
Mark and I exchanged a grin.
“Let’s draw.” Brooke held out the bag of chips.
Erin, Leah, and Wren drew white ones. I did too, which left only red ones for Trip, Mark, and Brooke. She seemed a little flustered, so Leah stepped up.
“I’ll run this round.”
Brooke handed her the watch, and Trip slid into the seat between Christy’s legs. He licked his lips in anticipation.
“Oh, brother,” Wren said in a low voice.
“Ready?” Leah said. “On your mark… get set… lick.”
* * *
Erin drifted to the table with the drinks. She sank into a chair and sulked until she saw me watching. I offered a smile. She returned it with a stare, so I pantomimed choking myself. I twisted my face into a rictus of death, complete with crossed eyes and a protruding tongue. I held it until she cracked a smile. Then I straightened and pretended to dust myself off. She actually laughed at that.
I shot a glance at the others. I couldn’t compete when it came to pussy-eating, but I had other talents I could use. I crossed to Erin, pulled up a chair, and sank into it. Then I pitched my voice so only she could hear.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said, earlier.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. About us.”
All of a sudden I could feel the heat of her arm next to mine. She glanced my way and then scanned the group. Her eyes fell on Wren, who had her back to us.
“What do you mean?” she asked cautiously.
I leaned toward her and said in a low voice, “Imagine a desert island and a shipwrecked sailor. He washes ashore, where he’s discovered by two sex-starved sisters, beautiful blondes.”
Erin closed her eyes and swallowed hard. When she opened them again, she started adding details, and her imagination was as vivid as mine.
People glanced at us a couple of times, including Wren, but she only saw our faces. She never noticed that Erin’s nipples were stiff and her skin pink with arousal. She didn’t realize that my wine cooler hid my erection. She saw what she expected, two people chatting and relaxing between rounds in a game.
Leah could see us from a different angle, and she already had a keen journalist’s eye for the real story, the one behind the action. She knew exactly what we were up to, but she didn’t give us away. In fact, she did her best to keep everyone’s attention on Christy instead.
Erin and I continued until our horny island trio had done everything. The sailor and nymphs traded enough bodily fluids that they couldn’t tell where one ended and another began.
Christy’s turn ended, so Erin and I composed ourselves. She shifted in her chair and crossed her legs demurely. I couldn’t do anything about my erection, but Trip and Mark had them too, albeit for different reasons. I didn’t think anyone would ask, so I didn’t bother to come up with an excuse.
“No fair,” Christy complained as she hopped to the ground. “I couldn’t tell who was who.”
“Hey,” Trip said, “two for six ain’t bad. You’re still batting over 300.”
“Oh, wow. I hadn’t thought of it like that.” Christy beamed and held out the blindfold. “Who’s next?”
“How about Wren?” Leah said quickly.
“Yeah, c’mon, babe,” Trip agreed.
Christy tied the blindfold around Wren’s eyes and then helped her onto the table.
Leah appeared with the bag of poker chips. She glanced at my erection and arched a dark, elegant eyebrow.
“Having fun?” she asked quietly.
“I’ll tell you later,” Erin promised.
“Oh, I know.” She shook the bag and held it out to Erin, who drew a white chip. I drew a red one and Leah cleared her throat. I wasn’t sure what she wanted until I realized that her body shielded me from everyone but Erin.
She cleared her throat again, and I reached into the bag a second time. I dropped the first chip and grabbed another, a white one this time.
“See?” Leah said to Erin. “He isn’t so slow after all.”
“He’s still a dork.”
“Oh, totally. But he’s ours. Speaking of which…” She glanced over her shoulder and then back at us. “I’ll send Christy over.”
She moved on and let the others draw. Trip pulled a red chip, Brooke drew a white one, and Mark came up with the second red. Leah shook the remaining pair of chips and then looked into the bag, as if she wanted to make sure they were still there.
Then she did something that I didn’t understand at first—she pinched the bottom of the bag and held the top toward Christy. I laughed and nearly gave it away when I figured it out.
Christy drew a white chip, her only option, since Leah was holding the red one through the bag. She released the bottom, stuck her hand in the top, and withdrew the final chip.
“Lucky us,” Trip said, and Leah nodded as if she hadn’t just rigged the entire draw.
Note to self, I thought, never play poker with Leah. Never, as in, “not ever.” Never, never, never.
Unless it’s strip poker, the little head added, and I had to agree.
“God, I love that woman,” Erin said under her breath.
“No kidding. You saw it too?”
She nodded.
“Okay,” Leah said brightly, “let’s get started.” She herded the others into position and focused their attention on Wren.
Brooke raised the watch and started the round.
Christy waited until no one would notice before she crossed to Erin and me. I set my wine cooler aside, and Christy feigned surprise at my erection. Then she grinned and slid onto my lap.
“So… whatcha talkin’ about?” she asked, the perfect airhead.
“A desert island,” I said.
“Are there any people on it?”
“A shipwrecked sailor.”
“And two blonde nymphs,” Erin added.
“Oh my gosh, are they sisters?”
“How’d you guess?” I chuckled.
“Mmm, I like this story.”
“We thought you might.”
“Should we tell her the rest?” Erin asked.
“Oh, please, please! Tell me, tell me. Please—?”
“Shh,” I laughed. “Keep your voice down.”
“Sorry.” She looked around, conspirator-style, and then leaned toward Erin. “Please? I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
“Well, once upon a time,” Erin began, “a handsome young sailor was shipwrecked on a desert isle. He met two beautiful nymphs, daughters of the titan Helios, with hair like spun gold. One of them had eyes the color of the summer sky, while the other’s were the pale blue of winter…”
Erin had a rare gift for storytelling, and she transformed our taboo fantasy into a myth instead. She wove her tale with the skill of Arachne. Even bright-eyed Athena would have admired it. Christy and I didn’t stand a chance. We listened, captivated and aroused.
“…hello? Hello? Earth to Paul.”
Leah had been talking to me. I blinked back to reality and realized that Wren’s turn was over. She and the others were staring at us.
“Sorry,” Christy said out of the blue. “Erin was telling us about her dorm.”
Brooke had to cover her face, either from shame or to keep from laughing. Mark and Leah held it together, but only because they couldn’t believe someone could lie that badly (and with a straight face).