Unspoken Pleasure (erotica)

We'd done it. Our marriage had gone right over the falls, but it was mostly intact. I felt it. There'd been a moment when I was with Tara on the couch that it had cracked. Then again, back in that bedroom, with Kate completely under Brian's control, it had snapped a little more. And I'd felt like nothing would be the same.

But somehow, now that we were leaving that party, I was sure we'd managed to seal it back up. Chipped and misshapen but workable. I could forgive Kate everything if this was the first step to a stronger marriage. Kate could absolve me if I used this incident as a spark to reignite our passion.

We got to the bottom of the stairs. I could see the front door in front of me. Over a pile of prone, sleeping bodies, yes, but reachable. This was it. We were going to make it.

"There you are!" Tara, my cute, redheaded sister-in-law, appeared in front of us like she'd been conjured out of nothing. "I've been looking all over for you two."

The cute, slim woman had found her way back into her jeans and t-shirt. More noticeable, however, was what else she'd found. Tara was dragging Mason along behind her. I immediately recognized the blond man from Kate's previous, masturbatory encounter. My wife did too. As soon as Kate saw whose hand Tara was holding, she blushed and shrank behind me.

Mason's blond hair was perfectly coiffed in devil-may-care curls. He had a cleft chin, high cheekbones and bright blue eyes. His button-down flannel and blue jeans completed the standard good ol' boy package. He reminded me of the kind of guys TV execs used to drool over in the 70s. He gave my wife a knowing smile, but he was smart enough to not say anything more.

Tara had also uncovered one other thing of note: my pants. Apparently, she'd been able to dig them off the living room floor. Kate gave me a calculating look as her sister handed me my trousers.

"Thank you for, um, finding these," I said. Tara cocked her eyebrow my way, but she didn't elaborate.

I was comfortable enough in Brian's sweatpants and didn't feel like getting dressed in the hallway. So, I reached into my pockets and pulled out my phone and wallet but held the slacks in front of me like they were a parting gift. "We're heading home," I told Tara, forcefully. Making my message clear. Let's go.

Tara made a little girl moue. I was reminded of the other, non-sexy side of my wife's kid sister -- the kid part.

"We're going to watch the sunrise in the hot tub," Tara said, matching my own finality.

I wondered who 'we' was. I assumed Tara and Mason, but the way she said it made me think she might mean more than that. In fact, I was starting to wonder about a lot of stuff with my sister-in-law.

Up to this point, I'd thought that Kate and I had been the wild ones the last few hours. But seeing Tara and Mason, even though they were both completely clothed, made me rethink my theory. Maybe, despite a full swap foursome, Kate and I had managed to miss the real action.

"You should come with us," Tara said, "Mason says it's amazing. There's this huge deck and it's just cold enough outside to make the hot water feel like heaven."

Mason grinned at Tara as she spoke. She was clearly parroting something he'd said to her earlier and he liked the way his words sounded in her mouth.

"I don't have a bathing suit," Kate said. Like that was truly the only thing holding us back.

"Neither do we," Tara said, "It's no big deal."

As she spoke, another man walked up to us and gave Tara a little kiss on the cheek. I recognized him immediately, as well: it was the other guy from Kate's earlier escapade, Carlos.

"Oh hey!" he said, as soon as he saw my wife standing behind me. He reached out to shake my hand in a way that was disturbingly normal. "You're Tara's brother-in-law, right? Kate's husband?"

Carlos was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. The top was unbuttoned and untucked, showing off his taut, dark-skinned chest. His oil-black hair hung playfully over one eye. The smile on his face as he stared at my wife was so broad, he looked like he could swallow Kate whole.

"We're getting in the hot tub," Carlos continued, "You two want to come?"

Kate looked at me, eyes pleading wide. The problem was, I wasn't sure what she was asking for. On the one hand, I couldn't imagine she would want to stay considering all the risks we might encounter. But on the other, I didn't think she wanted to abandon her little sister, either. In other words, I knew my wife wanted me to give the right answer, but I didn't know which one that was.

We'd gotten so close. Escape had been within a few breaths. Yet now, it seemed as far away as ever. I knew my wife; she wasn't leaving without Tara in tow. And I wasn't leaving without Kate. Which meant that we were all anchored, again. As our ship came ever closer to dashing on the rocks.

"We talked about this, Kate," Tara said, "Don't keep doing this to yourself. Don't miss all the fun."

She did a weird little curtsey, then skipped out of the room. Kate and I were alone again, looking at each other dumbly. Like a tornado had just randomly sped past and neither of us knew how to process it.

We had a strange, silen staring showdown. I eyed my wife, intrigued. What did Tara mean by we've talked about this? All sorts of theories traipsed through my thoughts, but I wasn't able to fully formulate any of them.

Kate, on the other hand, stared pointedly at the empty pair of pants I was holding in my hands like some weird, khaki fig leaf. As if there was a body on the ground before us, and I was gripping the bloody glove.

I could feel it all coming crashing down. The reality of what had happened the night before. I looked into my wife's innocent face. All I could see were the shadows of her younger sister. I knew I shouldn't have, but in the moment, I couldn't hold my betrayal back. The timing was terrible, but I knew that I had to confess.

"Kate, with Tara, I..."

"You took care of her?" Kate asked, "Kept her safe?"

"I mean, sort of?"

Kate raised her eyebrow at me.

"I mean, sure. Yes. I made sure she was OK. But you need to know that I. We."

Kate shook her head. "Whatever happened, it's alright."

"But..."

"It's fine," Kate said, "All I care about is that Tara is OK."