To: All employees

From: USSure Board of Directors

Re: Holiday surprise

The Board of Directors wishes to announce this year's winner of the Employee Holiday Drawing. Our congratulations go to Cindy Smith of our Centerton office. She and a guest will receive round trip tickets to any location in Europe plus $250 per day to help offset lodging and meal expenses for a three week vacation. Congrats Cindy.

We also want to thank everyone for all the hard work performed on behalf of the company. In addition to any year-end bonuses or raises, the board has authorized a $1000 VISA gift card be made out to every employee and manager.

Have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year.

-----

Cindy could hardly believe it when she logged in Tuesday morning and read the announcement twice to confirm she was indeed the winner of the drawing. She was amazed a mere five-year employee was able to win such a wonderful prize. What she also couldn't have imagined was how her coworkers responded to the news.

First was her PA Suzanne who came running in a few minutes later. "Cindy, did you see the news? Isn't that great, you lucky bitch!" she laughed.

"Yeah, Suze, I can hardly believe it myself. How could I, with just five-years, get so lucky?"

"I understand they include every employee who has been with the company for at least a year, so you qualified. Where you gonna go?"

"Oh, I haven't even thought about it yet. I'll need to talk with Ted and see what he'd like to do. I bet he wants to go to Sweden and look at all the blonde beauties there, but I'm thinking the Med is more interesting."

"Oooh, the Riviera! That sounds so nice. Or even along the Adriatic. Oh, you're so lucky."

"Yeah, I agree. I guess we'll just have to plan a bit and decide."

Later she received several congratulatory emails and calls from her coworkers, many of whom gave her recommendations as to where she should consider going. Eventually, the excitement died down and she was able to get back to work.

She decided to not tell her husband until they got home. That evening she left work a few minutes early and quickly prepared a nice meal. When he arrived, there were lit candles on the dining room table and the overhead lights were off.

"What's up, Honey?" he asked as he surveyed the scene.

"I have a big surprise for you. Glass of wine?"

"Sure. Uh, get a raise?"

"Nope. Something more fun, though."

"What?"

"Have a seat. Our dinner will be ready in five minutes."

"Cin, what's going on? You've got me worried."

"Relax, Ted, it's all good news. How was your day?"

He recounted a fairly boring list of activities as he drained his wine. She then smiled and invited him to the table. After they had finished most of the meal and another glass of wine, she decided to tell him the news.

"Honey, are you ready for the surprise? It is a whopper!"

"OK, so I'll bite. What is it?"

"Your wife won the USSure annual employee drawing!"

"What's that?"

"Every year they throw all employees' names into the hat and draw out one for a big prize. And I won it!"

"What's the prize?" he asked with excitement in his voice.

"Your wife, along with a guest, will be traveling to Europe for three weeks next year! And they're paying the airfare and giving a daily allowance of two hundred and fifty bucks!"

"Oh, Cindy, that's great! Where will we go?"

"Uh, I'm not sure you'll be going with me," she teased. "Maybe I'll ask Jennifer to go with me."

"Oh, no you don't!" he laughed. "I insist on going with you."

"I don't know. Jennifer is a great gal, could be a good travel companion. Maybe we could find us some nice Italian men..."

"Wait a sec! You're actually thinking of leaving me here!" came his exasperated voice.

With a twinkle in her eye, she replied, "No, Silly, I'm just kidding. I'd love to go with you. But somewhere around the Mediterranean would be a good, don't you think? Interested?"

"Sure! You won it; you choose. So, when do you have to go?"

"There is no specific time, I have a full year to pick from. How about summer?"

"That would be the best for me. I don't have to teach summer school next year, so I'll be free."

"Great, let's start to looking at things and come up with a plan. Why don't you look up Italy and I'll check out France. Oh, Honey, it's going to be so much fun."

Over the next few weeks they each spent time online looking up places to visit. While discussing things together they decided they'd most like to really get to know a few places intimately rather than do a big tour and France was their preferred destination. They penciled out a week in Paris and two weeks in southern France along the Riviera. They also chose July, preferring to avoid the worst of the crowds in August. The final details would be settled over the next few months.

-----

Their jet flew out of JFK on a beautiful July evening. They flew through the shortened night and arrived at Orly in the early morning, local time. Once on the ground they taxied for what seemed like hours until they reached the terminal. Eventually they made their way through customs and immigration before traveling to the center of Paris. Once there, a taxi took them to their B&B where they stored their luggage before walking to a sidewalk restaurant for a quick meal. After the meal they went back to the room and slept until early morning.

The next week was devoted to seeing the sights of Paris. They hit the big museums, rode to the top of the Eifel Tower and visited the Arc de Triomphe. On one day they visited the burned-out ruins of Notre Dame, a sight that brought tears to her eyes.

After their week in Paris, they were excited to head to Nice on the Mediterranean coast. They took the bullet train so they could see the countryside up close. In Nice they had a wonderful room in a smaller hotel along the Promenade des Anglais, the main road along the waterfront. Their view from several floors up was delightful and they had good meals in the local restaurants.

After two days of exploring in town, they toured around the area and visited the old mountain town of Eze. It was high on a steep little mountain and featured wonderful art galleries, good restaurants and spectacular views of the Mediterranean. With her binoculars Cindy looked carefully at the coast below her and could see attractive beaches and steep bluffs.

"Honey, look at the coast. We need to hit the beaches, don't you think?"

"Sure, let's do that tomorrow," he replied. Then in a softer voice he whispered in her ear, "You know, some of those beaches are topless. Interested?"

"Wellllll, I'm not going topless, but if you want to ogle cute little mademoiselles, that'd be OK with me. Ya know, I believe some of the sausages packed into those little Speedos could be worth looking at, too," she laughed.

"OK, then tomorrow it is."

That evening they looked at their tourist info and found Paloma Beach several kilometers from their hotel. It looked easy to get to and there were restaurants nearby, so they decided it would be their first beach on the Med.

Cindy woke up with a tiny bit of nervousness. She knew there would be topless women at that beach and worried she might need to take her top off just to be allowed to go there. She didn't consider herself to be a prude and enjoyed a ribald joke now and then and she very much enjoyed sex with her husband, as she had with a few boyfriends before him. But she always considered herself to be a bit on the modest side. She never let her boobs hang out over a low neckline, would always wear a bra if her blouse was too sheer and generally preferred one-piece bathing suits. She, however, had been persuaded by Suzanne back home to get a fairly risqué bikini. Cindy kept going for more cloth on her bikinis but Suzanne kept pushing her to the little, teeny bikinis, some with merely a thong for a bottom. After much haggling, Cindy agreed to buy a fairly daring one which featured four small triangles, but she refused to let a strip of dental floss be the only thing covering her rear!

She quietly got up, quickly showered and shaved herself down to a landing strip. After drying, she slipped on the bikini, a blouse and shorts. She had hidden the bikini from Ted and couldn't wait to see his face when she showed it to him on the beach. They had a leisurely breakfast and made their way to the beach, arriving around eleven.

Cindy could barely believe her eyes. Sure, she'd known there'd be topless women, but she couldn't believe how many. It seemed nearly all of the women were casually sunbathing, walking or swimming with no top on. And no one seemed self-conscious at all. There was no leering, though she did have to nudge Ted with her elbow when he gawked a bit too long. "Honey, it's ok to look, but don't stare, OK?"

"I'll do my best, Sweetheart, but it's tough for a red-blooded American male not to look," he laughed.

They made their way along the beach until they came to the furthest section where there weren't too many sunbathers. After laying their towels down, she stood a few feet from Ted and slowly peeled her shirt and shorts off.

"Holy shit, Honey, I can't believe you're wearing that."

"Like it?" she asked smiling at him.

"Oh, you know I do. It's attractive enough to make me even forget about all these boobs around here."

"Oh, you know just what to say. I'm glad you like it. Thank you, Sweetheart, but I know you still want to peek, so go ahead. God, some of these beautiful women could turn even me on."

"They're just eye candy, Honey, but you're the one for me. Here, let's get some sun cream on and relax."

They applied the cream to each other's backs and stretched out. It was a warm, almost hot day with plenty of sun. Eventually the area around them became more crowded with other beach-goers and most of the women were topless. After awhile Cindy became a bit self-conscious about the fact that she had a top on. She even thought about peeling it off, but just couldn't quite do it. She had grown up in a fairly conservative household where everyone dressed modestly and sexual issues were swept under the rug. It had even taken her many months before she was comfortable having sex with the lights on.

Eventually she rolled over onto her stomach and untied the back and neck straps. "Dear, could you put a bit more cream on my back, please?"

"Sure. If you want to, turn over. I'll put some on your front," he teased.

"No, I don't think I could. You know me, I'm just a little too shy."

Once the cream was on, she found herself drifting off to sleep. It was sometime later when a beach ball bounced off her butt. Startled and confused, she sat up to see what happened. Two little children were running to her laughing in French and holding out their hands for the ball. Cindy took the ball and tossed it back to them just as she realized her top was on the towel and her breasts were out in the open. Suddenly, she dropped back down to the towel with a little cry of surprise. She described what had happened to Ted when he asked her what the problem was.

"Well, Honey, did the world end when your nipples got some sunshine?" he teased.

"Nooo," she replied emphatically, "But it's just not for me. Sorry, Sweetheart, you won't be seeing these girls out on the beach." With that, she re-tied her strings and rolled over to get some more sun on her front. Once she got settled, she started to think about what had happened. Her boobs were exposed for all to see and Ted was right: The world had not ended. The more she thought about it, the more she realized it had been OK and nothing to be ashamed about. She liked her boobs, her ass, her entire body. Truly, there was no reason to hide it away, was there?

Once she acknowledged that, she felt a gradual, weird change overcoming her. It was if a lust dimmer-switch in her brain slowly turned from off to full on. Sexual images drifted through her mind: tender licks on her nipples, raw, earthy fucking, anonymous oral sex; the list went on and on. She realized her heart was racing, her nipples were beaded and she was getting wet! "What's going on?" she mused to herself. "How can I be getting excited?" Those wild sexual thoughts continued to run through her mind as she sunned herself and, try as she might, she was unable to take her mind off of them. She would look around at the beach to try and distract herself, but then an Adonis with a large bulge in his Speedo swimsuit or even a beautiful woman would walk by and her mind would tear off in a new direction. "What would it be like to have him come over and take me without permission? What would she taste like and how would her screams of delight sound in French?"

After an hour or so of unrestrained mental stimulation, she had enough and knew she needed to get relief. "Uh, Sweetheart, could we go now? I've had enough sun for today, OK?"

"Well, sure, I guess. We've not been here very long, though."

"I know, but if you come back to the room with me now, you may just be surprised. I've got a certain itch..."

"Well, in that case, yeah, sure, let's head back," he chuckled. Once back in their room, she launched herself at him as soon as the door was closed.

"Off with those trunks, NOW!" she demanded as she peeled her dripping, wet bikini bottoms from her crotch. Once Ted was stripped, she nudged him back to the bed, pushed him down and crawled on top. A few rubs of her wet slit on his cock and he was hard as a rock. "I want you in me, you good with that?"

"Of course. What's got you all horny anyway?"

"Now is not the time for talking," she replied as she slid down on him. He felt so good, stretching and filling her, causing her to moan with desire. She started to push herself up and down, driving her clit onto his pubic bone, stimulating herself more and more. That last hour on the beach fantasizing had been like an hour of foreplay. Never had she gotten so excited prior to sex and so, after just a few strokes and in what seemed like an instant, she crashed through a wild orgasm.

Once she caught her breath and recognized Ted had yet to come, she got off him and turned around, riding him in a reverse cowgirl. She knew he loved that position and wanted him to enjoy their time together as had she. She began to raise herself up and down again, slower this time, but still with passion and energy. Fantasies of fucking the Adonis raced through her mind but Ted's moaning brought her back to the present. He grabbed her by the hips, thrusting up and into her as she plunged down, harder, deeper and faster. Even though she had already had an orgasm, she felt another rising from her pelvis. Her right hand reached down and rubbed her clit in time with the thrusting.

"Oh, God, yes," she moaned as she felt herself reach the point of an inevitable orgasm and heard him grunting like he usually did just prior to his own orgasm. "Oh, yes, yes, YES," she screamed as she fell off the orgasmic cliff and drifted down, spasming with intense pleasure. Eventually she collapsed down onto him to catch her breath. Ted gently rubbed her ass cheeks as they both recovered. She rolled off of him and turned to him to snuggle up.

"Mmm, nice," she whispered.

"Yeah, really nice," he responded. After a few seconds he went on, "Uh, what got into you, anyway? At one point you're pulling your top back on and then an hour later, I'm being dragged up here for super-hot sex."

Even though they had been married for several years, Cindy could still be a bit shy talking about sex. She hemmed and hawed not wanting to admit that somehow being topless, even for a few seconds, turned her on. "Oh, we're on vacation and on the Med, so a roll in the hay was something that seemed right, somehow."

"A roll in the hay? Honey, you just about raped me, not that I'm complaining, mind you."

"Ted, Sweetie, it's hard sometimes for me to talk about this, you know, about sex. Let's just say I wanted you and, well, I had you. OK?"

"Yeah, OK," he replied as he kissed her neck. "You know, what we just had was a wonderful experience. A romp like that with my wife, well, that was one of the wildest experiences of my life."

"Yeah, me too," she whispered back to him.

After a few minutes she giggled in his ear, "But don't go thinking I'll be doing that anytime soon again."

"Why not?"

"Gotta keep things like that special, now, don't we?"

"Honey, every time we have sex is special. I can't believe sometimes how lucky I was to find you and convince you to marry me."

"You didn't have to convince me. I was hoping for months you'd pop the question. I loved you so much, just like I do now. And I'm lucky too."

That evening they had a tasty dinner at an open-air restaurant right on a large avenue. The service was impeccable, the food was delicious and the wine was some of the best they had ever tasted. After dinner they walked hand-in-hand for over an hour along the Promenade before retiring to their room.

"What do you want to do tomorrow?" Ted asked her as they settled in.

"Oh," she paused, "Uh, another day at that beach, if that's OK with you?"

"Sure, let's hit the Chagall Museum in the morning and then we can head back down. OK?"

"Yeah, that's great. And you'll get to see more French boobs again."

"Now, wait a sec. You, not me, you were the one asking for another beach day."

"Are you saying you don't wanna see French boobs?"

"Honey, I'm a guy. Sure, I wanna see tits. But if you want to go to another beach, just let me know."

With her mind racing about the events of the day and how excited she got, she decided to let him off the hook. After all, she enjoyed the topless beach, too. "No, Ted, let's go back. I'm good with it, OK?"

"Sure. Wear your bikini under some nice clothes and we can head out from the museum without coming back here."

The next morning dawned bright and sunny. They had a quick breakfast and after packing some beach gear, they headed up to the museum. Around noon they ate lunch on the museum grounds and then went down to the beach.

It didn't seem as busy as the day prior and they did not have to walk so far to find an open area. They stripped off their clothes, applied sun cream to each other and stretched out to catch some sun. Cindy started out on her stomach and untied her bikini top while Ted lay on his back. About twenty minutes later he suggested they needed to turn over to prevent a sunburn. He rolled over onto his stomach and she rolled over onto her back. Her top was still untied and lying on her, barely covering her breasts. Suddenly, she knew what she would do. Casually she let her hand drift up, grab a string and pull the top completely free from her chest.

Cindy, little conservative Cindy from Nowheresville, Iowa, who grew up in the Evangelical First Faith Fundamentalist Church, was stretched out topless on the beach!

The sun caressed her breasts, the breeze tickled her nipples and she enjoyed every second of it. Again, she felt herself getting excited, much like the day before, first with heaviness in her pelvis and then moisture in her pussy. She peeked down her torso and realized her nipples were also erect, a sure sign of her excitement.

At first Ted did not know what she had done. He was on his stomach with his head turned away from her so he could watch the topless French girls, she presumed. Quietly she applied sun cream to the girls while secretly rubbing and squeezing her nipples. This caused her to get increasingly excited and she wondered if she could even climax doing this. Once with an old boyfriend she'd had an orgasm when he was sucking her nipples, but never since had nipple play caused such excitement. She rolled her head over and through her sunglasses saw an older man staring at her lecherously. "Oops, I guess I better stop this," she thought to herself.

She brought her hands down to her sides and closed her eyes under the sunglasses. Once again sexual fantasies ripped through her mind. She dreamed of wild and crazy scenarios; being dragged up to a nearby villa for an afternoon of wild, anonymous sex, swimming out to a nearby yacht for drinks and sex on the deck with a French starlet and even having a threesome with Ted. Cindy kept trying to focus on other things but without success.

After a bit Ted announced it was time to turn over. She sat up and waited for him to see her. While rolling over he suddenly stopped and stared at her. "Uh, Honey, did you forget something?"

"No, I didn't. I've been like this ever since we last turned over. Like it?"

"Uh, yeah, definitely! Cin, you have nothing to be ashamed about. You can compete with these French girls just fine."

"It's not a competition, but I'm glad you like it. It's nice. The breeze on my nipples tickles, but nothing like when I put on the sun cream," she whispered.

"Wait a cotton-pickin' minute. Were you doing more than just rubbing on some cream?"

"Mmm, maybe, a little," she giggled, "But that guy over there kept staring at me, so I stopped. Guess who's still horny?"

"Honey, I've never seen you so, uh, bold, I guess I should say."

"What? I've tried some kinky things with you..."

"No, I mean outside or where others can see you."

"Yeah, I don't know what's got into me, but I do know what I want in me," she responded. "Maybe you'll get lucky again when we get back to our room."

"Sounds to me like you wanna get lucky, too!"

"Umm-hmm," she replied. "Hey, uh, I need to hit the restroom."

With that, she stood and strolled towards the little building housing a kiosk and the restrooms. It felt so freeing! She had on just her bikini bottoms and nothing else. Through her sunglasses she noted a few guys glanced at her, but there was no gawking, no leering.

Cindy really liked her breasts. They were a generous B-cup or even a C-cup with certain bras. Their shape was perfect, sitting proud on her chest with just enough fullness that she could sense her breasts sway slightly as each foot hit the sand. She particularly liked her nipples, little eraser tips on fairly petite areolas. Knowing her breasts were the envy of many women, she straightened her posture even more as she strode to the restrooms. Once there, she slid into a stall and took care of business. As she sat, she realized her heart was racing a mile-a-minute from the excitement and as she patted herself dry with the tissue, she found there was far more moisture than the usual few drops of urine.

After dropping the tissue into the water, she slid her finger along her crack and up to her swollen clit. "Oh, God, my clit needs this," she thought to herself. She reached down and let a bit of moisture collect on her fingertip and then rubbed her clit again. Cindy couldn't believe she was actually rubbing herself in a public bathroom. She knew guys would sometimes masturbate in restrooms, but girls? Suddenly she heard another person come into the restroom, run the water in the sink a few seconds and leave. "Was she alone?" she wondered as she peeked under the stall dividers and saw no feet.

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" she mused as she rubbed herself in earnest. Very quickly she got more and more excited and her breath was coming in little gasps, which she tried to stifle, as she began an all-out attack on her clit. Cindy rarely masturbated, in part due to her upbringing. Sure, she experimented when she was younger but in her married years, she probably polished her pearl no more than once or twice a year, usually when Ted had been gone on a trip for more than a week. Here she was rushing herself towards an orgasm purely because she was excited from her walk across the beach.

Just as her excitement started to crest into a full-blown orgasm, the door opened. Cindy couldn't stop herself so she clenched her teeth and tried to control her breathing as her orgasm tore through her body. By the time the door in the next stall was closed, she was a bit more in control and could breathe easier with only a bit of gasping.

The woman in the next stall suddenly spoke out loud in French. Cindy didn't answer and after ten seconds or so she heard the same phrase again.

"I'm sorry,' she managed to say in a calm voice, "I don't speak French."

"Oh, oui, oui. I ask are you good? You OK?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine."

"You sounded seeck."

"No, I'm not sick, but thank you for asking." She stood, disposed of the toilet paper ring and pulled up her bikini bottoms. Once she left the stall, she quickly washed her hands and walked back out into the bright Mediterranean sun.

"Did I just do that?" she asked herself. "Jill out in a bathroom? What would Ted say if he knew?" Then she got worried. She knew Ted had an incredible nose and could easily smell her excitement. "Uh-oh, what am I gonna do?" She decided to act as if nothing happened and to move her towel to his opposite side, downwind of him.

"You sure took your time. Was it crowded?"

"Oh, a little bit," she lied. "Uh, Honey, that guy over there was staring at me earlier. Mind if I move to your other side?" she asked as she dragged her towel over.

Once she settled onto the towel her husband leaned over to whisper into her ear, "You know, I kinda think you're liking this, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm getting used to it..."

"I know I like it."

"But you've got dozens of cute mademoiselles to look at. Why is it a big deal that I'm topless?"

"Honey, sure I like to look, but you, you're the one for me. Just seeing you braless can get me going, as you know. And this, wow, it's got me really going! If I could, I'd roll you over right now and have my way with you."

"I think it would be a fight," she giggled, "As to who would attack who first."

A few hours later as they approached their hotel's elevators she whispered, "Last one in the room has to go down on the other!" There was a mad scramble as two elevators arrived at the same time, she took one and he took the other. Up on their floor, the elevators arrived at the same time and the two rushed down the hall and stumbled into the room with her just in front of him.

"I won! Now come on over here," she said as she pulled off her top before peeling down her shorts and bikini bottoms in one, fell swoop. Ted went over to her, knelt on the floor and started to eat her out. As his tongue ravaged her slit and clit, she moaned while pushing his head tighter to her. Within seconds she was rolling from one orgasm to another, 'skimming,' as she called it, until her knees buckled and she fell back onto the bed.

"Honey, easy, I'm getting a bit too sensitive, what with my orgasm earlier and now these..."

"Your what?" he looked up at her with a girlcum-covered face.

"Oops," she giggled, "I guess I, uh, I guess I might have admitted something..."

"I thought that trip to the john was a bit too long. Did you rub one out in there?"

"Umm-hmm," she admitted.

"What has gotten into you, anyway?"

"Oh, Ted, I was so damn horny! Being topless is, well, it's super exciting for me. The light breeze on my nipples, the sun warming my boobs, the freedom from shame... I don't know, but it got me going a little bit yesterday, but today: Wow!"

"Ooo-kaaay," he responded slowly, "I'm learning a lot about you here."

"So am I! I can't believe it myself. Now, Honey, you still haven't had yours. Do you want me to do you?"

"I'll tell what I want. Since you obviously already played with yourself, I want to watch you do it again, then you can give me a BJ. OK?"

"I'd be a little embarrassed to do that in front of you..."

"Why? It's a perfectly safe and normal activity, one you have done already today. And I think it is a hell-uv-a turn on."

"Alright. I'll do it. But you can't touch yourself. You're just gonna have to watch," she said as she pulled herself up to the head of the bed. Once she rearranged her pillows she stretched out, let her legs slip apart and teased him, "You get to sit there on the corner, but no closer or I'll stop."

Then with her eyes closed, she let her mind drift back to the beach. In no time at all she had moisture pooling below and a fullness in her pelvis. With her index and middle fingers, she parted her lips, moistened the digits and slipped them up to her clit. Cindy didn't masturbate very often, but she did know what worked the best: two fingers together rubbing little circles right over her clit. As she began the round and round motion, she could hear her lower lips making wet noises. It all felt so good and she found herself rising quickly to another orgasm. Eventually she let herself ride just shy of coming, prolonging that fabulous sensation of pre-orgasmic tension.

"Put your fingers inside," Ted whispered. She opened her eyes and glanced at him. His hands were by his side and he sported a raging hard-on.

"I normally don't. I like it this way."

"Keep doing that, but use your other hand. Go ahead. Try it."

As requested, she reached down with her left hand and curled her middle finger inside, eventually reaching the slightly knobby area in the front of her canal. This sent wild stabs of excitement deep into her pelvis. She felt herself start to lose control as she circled her clit and probed her G-spot, so she eased off just a bit. Again, and again, she brought herself to the edge of orgasm and let herself slide back.

After several minutes of this self-imposed torture, she opened her eyes and looked at Ted. She could see pure lust etched on his face and his throbbing cock jutting out in front of him. Watching him and seeing how he looked at her suddenly upped her own stimulation immensely. Even though she had practically stopped rubbing her clit altogether, knowing he was looking at her felt as if she were still rubbing herself vigorously. His watching her sent her over the edge. With deep gulps of air and flushing across her upper torso she came with loud moans, having the best masturbation orgasm of her life. She took in several breaths and became lightheaded for a few seconds before her body settled down.

"Whew, Honey, that was..."

"Good?" he asked.

"No, not good, but great! One of the best ever."

"You sure looked like you were enjoying it."

"Umm-hmm. I did indeed," she responded. "What about you? Want a BJ?"

"You know I do. Take a few seconds, let yourself recover."

"I'm good to go, Sweetheart. Lean back." She expertly applied all her skill to bring him teasingly to his own shuddering orgasm. After a few minutes she stretched out beside him and stared at the ceiling. As she lay there, she realized being looked at, being watched wasn't a little bit exciting; it was actually a huge turn on. Due to her upbringing, she had not been inclined to experiment much sexually when she became active. The old idea that sex was for procreation could still niggle in her brain even though intellectually she understood sex was also for loving and pleasure. But on that day on the Riviera, she experienced pleasure beyond anything she could have ever believed possible.

"Cin, what's going on in your mind?"

"Oh, just remembering about how turned on I got. And that last, big 'O', oh my God, I still can't believe it."

"Why were you so turned on, hmm?"

"I kept thinking about being topless for all the world to see. Then, we come in here and you were watching me. Ted, I couldn't believe how that me going from fast to supersonic."

"So, little Cindy from Iowa is now an exhibitionist? What gives?"

"Ted, I have never thought about it 'til now. Maybe it's because I was suppressed so much growing up. You know, Honey, you have brought me a long way in my sexual awakening. Remember when I still needed the lights off? Well, I certainly don't need that anymore, do I?" she laughed.

Suddenly she realized Ted was getting hard again. She was still wet and still excited so she leaned over him, licked his cock to full stiffness and crawled on top, facing his feet. She gently lowered herself onto him and started to thrust up and down while gently rubbing her clit. Ted grabbed her hips and helped pull down as he thrusted up into her. This went on for some little while until she felt him slide his hand over her butt. She didn't think much about it until she felt him rubbing right around her hole.

Cindy had never been interested in anal sex but she found herself suddenly getting very excited. His rubbing right around her anus sent lusty signals to her brain. The harder he rubbed, the better it felt. It wasn't a conscious decision, but she suddenly heard herself say, "Stick it inside." There was a pause when the hand was removed from her butt, however once it returned, an obviously wettened digit was slid right into her.

"OMG!" she thought, "That is absolutely fantastic." She gently forced herself back to the finger and deeper onto him, all the while rubbing her clit. Within half a minute she found herself screaming towards yet another orgasm, moaning and panting with lust. Ultimately, she found herself experiencing yet another massive "O" while feeling Ted thrusting wildly below her. Wild waves of extreme pleasure coursed through her body and flashes of light raced in front of her closed eyes while she vaguely heard loud screams coming from somewhere. Once the waves passed through her, she collapsed onto Ted's legs, breathing deeply and trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"Hon, did you hear screams next door a few minutes ago?" she finally asked him.

"Uh, no," he responded and paused for a few seconds before going on. "Sweetheart, that was you."

"No effin' way. I never make much noise, you know that!"

"You're right, usually you don't. But just now, well, you did."

"Hmm. Amazing," she whispered, more to herself than to Ted. Then she went on, "Shower? Then we need to plan dinner."

After they cleaned up and had dinner at a nice little bistro, they returned to their room. Once there they kicked around some plans for the next day.

"Wanna hit the beach again?" Ted asked her.

"I don't know if I could tolerate it," she chuckled. "Maybe I need a day off."

"It's your vacation, you get to decide what you want to do. I'll tag along wherever you lead us."

"All I know is while we are here, I want to do more topless bathing. And," she went on, "I think you'll want me to, also!"

"No doubt about it. I'm more than glad to help you relieve any sudden tension," he laughed.

"Good. So, let's sight-see tomorrow, OK?"

They planned a day trip to Antibes, a smaller city to the west of Nice. They visited the Picasso museum, walked along the coast, looked on with amazement at the dozens of varieties of olives in the farmers market and spent time at the city's history museum. By evening they were back in Nice having another fabulous meal on the Promenade. For awhile Cindy didn't say much and seemed to be looking off into space. Finally, Ted asked her about it and she began to talk.

"Ted, Honey, I don't want you to get worried or anything, but you need to know something. I've been mulling this over all day long and it might sound crazy, but here goes: I love this exposure thing. And I need more of it. It seems to have triggered something in me, something I can't deny."

"Ooo-kaay," he responded slowly. "Anything else?"

"This is kinda embarrassing, but I need to, uh, I want to, uh, you know, go all the way."

"All the way how? Nude?"

"Yeah, totally starkers. I know that sounds kinda wild, given how I grew up and how I been with you up 'til now, but I wanna try it."

"I see. You're sure?"

"Yeah. It's keeps running around in my mind and until I try it, I'll never get past it. So, yeah, I wanna do it."

"I sure didn't see any completely nude people at Paloma, did you?" Cindy shook her head 'No' before he went on. "So, I guess we'll need to look up nudist beaches and maybe go to one, let you try it, huh?"

Cindy launched herself at him saying, "You'd do that for me? Really? Oh, Ted, you're the best guy a girl could ever wish for. You won't be upset knowing other guys, uh, other men will be lookin' at me?"

"No, Honey, I won't. What I want is for you to explore anything you want, to find yourself and if it means walking bare-assed down a beach, well, I'm all for it."

"You'll need to be nude too..."

"Yeah, I figured as much. You know I've never been as modest as you. I've skinny dipped before, so I'm OK with it. Here, let's google it."

They spent the next thirty minutes looking up nude beaches on the coast. Eventually they found one within a two-hour drive from their hotel, a few kilometers outside of St. Tropez. They decided to rent a car for the day and not rely on public transportation. That night she spent extra time in the shower again shaving her legs and all but her landing strip, which she trimmed short. She was so excited about the next day that she had trouble relaxing but eventually after a little bit of wine and some snuggling with Ted, she drifted off.

The next morning dawned clear and bright. They quickly dressed with summer clothes over their bathing suits, ate breakfast and went downstairs to pick up the car they had ordered. Ted drove while Cindy helped interpret the map and follow the GPS directions. In about two hours they were pulling into a parking area. Once out of the car, they strolled hand-in-hand to the beach.

"I know I want to do this, but I'm still a little nervous," she admitted.

"Oh, you'll do fine, and just think what this will do to you," he chuckled.

As they made their way, they saw people wearing bathing suits, sometimes topless, but no nudists. Suddenly Cindy was nervous. "Maybe it's not a nudist beach after all," she thought to herself. Once on the sand they strolled a bit to the west where there were fewer people. Suddenly they both saw the same sight at the same time. Here on beach towels were a few couples absolutely naked, stretched out and enjoying the sun. "Whew," she said quietly, "I was getting nervous I'd be the only one here."

"Nah, you're in the clear now, Honey. Let's just stretch out here and slip these clothes off."

"You say that like we were in private," she giggled as she spread out her towel. She pulled off her top and shorts and sat on the towel. After looking around a few seconds she untied her bikini top and let it slip to the ground and with a "Here goes," she stretched out and slipped off her bottoms as Ted shucked down his shorts.

She was nude, absolutely totally nude! It felt so invigorating, so freeing, so natural. She asked Ted to put sun cream on her back and butt and did the same for him. She stretched out on her stomach and faced the shore. Her heart was beating fast and hard, she could feel her nipples dig into the towel and her breathing came in little gasps.

After a minute or two she became aware of the breeze tickling her cheeks. It seemed to slip up her crack and spread over her butt, much like a lover's hands might. It teased and caressed her, but she still wanted more. As discretely as possible, she let her legs splay apart a foot or so. The breeze now directly played with an area that had never seen sunlight, tickling it much like Ted did when he would blow on her right before eating her out. It felt wonderful! And she was also aware anyone walking by could see her most private of places. This knowledge, along with the breeze, suddenly sent her into sexual overdrive. Wild sexual images teased through her mind as she moistened so much it oozed slightly out from between her lips. Her nipples under her felt like she was lying on pebbles. Her pelvis felt an aching hollowness that usually occurred as she was rapidly getting excited such as when Ted would lightly stroke her lips and clit.

Eventually the sexual stimulation proved to be overpowering. She stirred a bit and decided to turn over. Once on her back she took sun cream and started to coat herself from head to toe. Her fingers seemed to slow as she rubbed her beaded nipples. Once she looked around and saw nobody looking directly at her, she dragged her fingernails across the nipples which shot sheer lust to her pussy. Her hands next drifted south, spreading cream on her belly. She bypassed the area around her pussy and coated her legs before deciding she needed to make sure she did not burn her sensitive pelvic skin. Taking small dollops of cream, she slowly coated her lower belly and alongside her pussy. Her clit seamed to scream at her, begging to be touched. She so desperately wanted to touch herself, but to do so in public was clearly too much.

She took a tiny dab of cream and slowly rubbed it along her landing strip, rubbing it into her hair, making sure she didn't burn the sensitive skin barely covered by her clipped hair; at least, that's what she tried to convince herself. After a couple of rubs she took another bit of cream and rubbed it lower, right above her slit and clit. It felt so good! Her body begged for release.

"Honey," she whispered to Ted, "Turn over."

"Sure, what's up?"

"I am so fuckin' horny I can hardly stand it. What am I gonna do?"

"I don't know. How bad is it?"

"If there weren't people around here, I'd have already been on top of you, that's how bad!"

"Yeah, well, you can't do that, now, can you?"

"Noooo, but what can I doooo?" came the plaintive cry.

Ted sat up and looked around. Sure, there were scattered nude sunbathers but there were none near them. Still, he didn't see how she could 'take care of business.'

"Honey, you're stuck. I don't see how you can get relief without getting caught."

"Dammit, I'm so horny, I'm about to go to the bathroom over there..."

"Remember you almost got caught last time. You want to risk it again?"

"No, plus they're usually not the cleanest of places" came the faint reply. A few seconds later she went on, "Well, if I can't do anything, I might as well try to forget about it, plan for tonight and get a tan. Put some more cream on my back, please."

Ted sat next to her and applied the cream to her back after she stretched back on her stomach. As he rubbed her, she purred her contentment. "It's nice," she murmured. He started to apply sun cream to her lower back and upper buttocks and her breathing became more irregular and deeper. "Mmm, good," came the muffled words. As he moved lower, he could sense she was thrusting her butt upwards with each stroke of his hand. Eventually, as he was rubbing directly on her ass, she said, "Don't forget the crack. Don't wanna get a burn there."

He applied more cream to his right hand and leaned over her a bit. As he let his fingers rub her cheek, the thumb trailed deep into her crack. "Mmm," she hummed. "A little harder, please." Pushing harder and harder only got her to moan softly and push her butt higher to meet his strokes. His thumb trailed right across her butt hole to her obvious delight. "Oooh, yeah, do that again." He kept stoking her butt while letting his thumb trail across her rosebud.

Then he became aware of her shifting around a bit before he saw she had slipped her left arm under her. After he casually glanced around to be sure no one was watching, he looked down to see her left fingertips working feverously on her slit. "Uh, Honey, are you...?"

"Yeah," she whispered back, "No one can tell, can they?"

"I don't think so."

"Good, sit just like that, like you're just putting cream on me, but keep that thumb where it is."

Ted applied more pressure to her hole while she fingered herself from below. He could see she was getting increasingly excited and before he knew it, she closed her eyes tightly, creases crossed her brow and a deep, red flush crept across her back. Her body went into spasms, spasms which she obviously tried to control, but a moan still escaped from her lips. Cindy had climaxed out in the open, in front of everybody!

Ted glanced around and there were no stares or looks of concern, indeed everything looked absolutely calm, everything except his cock, that is. Rubbing her and watching her had caused him to get a serious hard on. He slowly took his hand off her butt and rolled onto the towel next to her, forcing his cock into the sand with a groan.

"What's wrong, Sweetheart?"

"Watching you come was so hot, now I've got a bit of a problem."

"Oh, so now you need to relief, right?"

"It'd be nice, but let me relax a bit and I'm sure it will pass. No sense in us getting caught."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she whispered as she rubbed his back, "I was kinda selfish there..."

"Nah, it's OK. I'll remember that scene for my spank bank for a long, long time. Now, let's just enjoy the sun," he replied as he tried to relax onto the towel.

After half an hour she told him, "I'm too hot, so I'm going in the water. OK?"

"Yeah, go ahead, but I shouldn't be seen in my current state. Have fun."

Cindy walked slowly to the water. She glanced around and didn't see anyone staring at her. She felt so free, so open, so bare. Once at the water she waded in until the water lapped at her pussy. The splashing of the water caused her to get excited once more. As she waded out into the deeper water her mind told her she needed to come again and her pussy demanded attention. Once the water was over her boobs, she drifted her hand down to her pussy. "I can do it right here, no one will ever know."

She found that the seawater was not quite as slick as her own juices, but it didn't matter. She was so excited and so in need of another orgasm that just rubbing her two fingers around in circles right over her clit was more than enough to get her rapidly racing towards another orgasm. She looked around herself and seeing no bathers nearby, she turned facing the sea and waded up to her neck. Her busy hand and arm were hidden from view and she closed her eyes and let her mind drift. Faster and faster she rubbed until those usual shocks of desire rose from her pussy to her brain. She had to clench her teeth and force herself to stay as calm as possible as her second orgasm of the day tore through her body. As it subsided her head hung down a bit and was splashed with a tiny wave. Sputtering and laughing to herself, she turned towards shore and swam lazily around. Once her heart and pussy had settled down, she slowly made her way to shore and casually walked like Venus rising from the sea over to their towels.

"Enjoy it?" asked Ted.

"You have no idea," she laughed quietly.

"No! You didn't!"

"I most certainly did. You should try it."

"Only if you come with me, no pun intended."

"Sure, let's go," she replied as she led him, half hard on and all, to the water. Once submerged to their chests they swam around a bit. At one point they came together and she kissed him deeply while he wrapped his arms around her.

"Am I feeling someone waking up?" she whispered in his ear.

"Umm-hmm. Never fell completely asleep. Feels good, actually."

"Let me make him feel better," she said as she slid her hand between them and grabbed his cock. "Remember how I got myself off on the beach? Remember rubbing my butt hole? Did it get you excited, hmm?"

As she kept talking to him and reminding him of her episode on the beach, he developed a powerful erection. She would grab it, rub a bit and then swim a bit away from him before returning.

"You're such a tease," he grumbled.

"Yeah, kinda, but I don't want people to think we're doing anything out here. Maybe you need to help yourself a little bit, too."

He would stroke himself a bit and let her when she swam by. On one occasion she sank into the water and took him into her mouth for a few seconds. "Oh, God, you are a she-devil," he complained when she re-emerged laughing at him.

"What's the matter, Honey?" she taunted him. "Go ahead, get yourself off, you'll never be able to go up the beach unless you do. Here, turn out towards the water," she said as she stood next to him. "Now, take that cock of yours and give him some relief. I wanna watch."

Ted had had enough. He needed to come in the worst way, so he grabbed himself and quickly stroked to a powerful climax. After he had recovered a few seconds, she turned to him and asked, "Now, aren't you feeling better? Too bad you polluted the Med," she laughed. "And now that it's getting smaller, I hope no fish decides it's a worm."

They swam around a bit before walking through the shallow water to the beach and their towels, where they stretched back out to enjoy the sun. Every twenty minutes or so they would turn over and Cindy found being on her back with her boobs and pussy displayed for all to see was, by far, the most exciting to her. Still, she managed to keep her lust under better control than earlier in the day.

By four pm they were aware they had more than enough sun and decided to return to Nice. After sitting up and slipping on their outer clothes, they stuffed their bathing suits and gear into their tote bags and wandered back to the car. For Cindy the drive back seemed to last forever and they couldn't get there fast enough. She urged Ted to no waste any time until he teased her and said he wanted to eat dinner first.

"You know they don't even open restaurants until seven or eight, so we have time to go to our room and still get dinner."

By the time they got back, dropped off their car and made it to the room Cindy was fit to be tied. "I want you and need you right now," she demanded as the key card slid into the slot.

"Uh-uh, not so fast. Gotta get rid of the sun cream. Shower first," he said.

"OK, but I'll shower with you," she replied as she peeled her clothes off and darted into the stall. Once the water was on, he stepped inside to find her washing her hair. From behind he reached around and to tease her nipples before his hands went down to play with her clit. Cindy moaned as she tried to finish rinsing her hair as quickly as possible. Ted kept massaging her clit, round and around, but would back off before she came.

"You're such a shit," she laughed.

"Too bad. That's all you get," he laughed with her. "We still need to wash this cream off of us."

They washed each other quickly, leaving her very frustrated, and stepped out to dry and get dressed. After wandering around the streets, they found an attractive restaurant to have dinner. At the restaurant they were able to talk quietly about their day.

"Oh, Honey, that was so much fun. I can't believe I did it."

"I can't believe how this exposure thing has got you turned on. Wow."

"Me, either. But there's something about it that just gets to me. I know most nudists don't consider nudism as a sexual thing so much as a general lifestyle thing, but for me, well, it just cranks my engine."

"Yeah, I see that. I wonder what your father would say if he knew you were doing this."

"Dad? What about Mom? She's the real prude. She hardly even gave me the basics of the birds and the bees. I had to get most of my information from the sex-ed section of my middle school PE class. And let me tell you, having that old Miss Thompson tell us about sex was kinda crazy. I doubt she ever had sex, at least with a man."

Once dinner was over, they strolled hand-in-hand back to their hotel. In the room she stripped down and sat on a chair looking over at the curtains with a far-away look in her eyes. Ted came up behind her and quickly wrapped a scarf around her hands, tying them behind her.

"What are you doing," she gasped as she realized she was unable to move.

"Ambulance. Remember that word."

"Ambulance?"

"Yes, ambulance. That's your safe word."

"What for, anyway?"

"From here on I'm in charge. If anything at any time hurts or bothers you or if you want to stop for any reason, just say 'ambulance' and I'll stop. But until then, I'm in charge."

"I dunno, Honey. Are you sure?"

"I promise. You say the word and I'll quit."

"Ambulance!" Ted leaned over and started to untie the scarf immediately.

"No, wait! That was a test. I know I can trust you. Go ahead."

"Sure?"

"Sure! Unambulance me, whatever that means," she giggled as he tied her hands up again. He grabbed one of her belts and one of his and tied her feet to the chair legs.

"Ready?"

"Uh, I guess so..." she responded as he opened the curtain and slid the door to the tiny deck open. "Wait, what are you doing?"

He responded by lifting the chair from behind and carrying her out onto the deck. The railing was a simple iron bar across the top and glass below. Between each room's deck was a solid wall. Cindy sat on a chair, exposed to the world below yet hidden from the neighbors in the hotel. They were high enough that not many would be able to see her, but she was well lit from two wall sconces, one on either side of the door. Ted stood behind her and gently rubbed her shoulders.

"Like it?"

"Uh, kinda scary, but actually, yeah, I do."

"Good," he murmured back as he pulled up another chair and sat behind her. His hands slowly rubbed her upper back and shoulders as she began to relax, sensing the evening breeze flow over her, tickling her nipples and pussy.

"Mmm, feels sooo good."

"Glad you like it." His hands achingly slowly expanded their territory, eventually sliding over her breasts, but avoiding her nipples, and over her belly.

"You tease."

"What?"

"My nipples, you forgot my nipples."

"No, I didn't. I'm ignoring them on purpose."

"You shit," she chuckled.

"You'll get yours, just be patient." His hands slid down her belly, fingers barely teasing her landing strip, before going down to her legs. Up and down her thighs, first on top and then on the inside until his thumbs grazed her lips.

"You are such a shit," she moaned.

"Ambulance?"

"Hell no!"

"OK, then, be quiet and enjoy."

The slow teasing continued for what seemed like eons. Her pussy was flooded with moisture, her pelvis felt full and her nipples were beaded up, begging for attention. As much as she wanted faster relief, she knew she needed to keep quiet and let Ted run the show.

Eventually his left hand drifted up to her breasts and began to slowly tease the nipples with light strokes and later with some light pinching. His right hand all-so-slowly approached her pussy, initially lightly stroking the outer lips before diving inside to pick up moisture, which he spread onto her clit.

"Aaaah, nice..."

"You like it?"

"Oh, God, you know I do. A little harder, please." Instead of harder, he frustrated her even more by decreasing the pressure on her nipples and pussy.

"You turd, you big, fat turd!"

"That'll teach you to tell me what to do. I'm in charge here. Now, where were we?" he asked as he slowly increased the pressure and tempo of his rubbing.

She got more and more excited, her breathing got deeper and her head rolled from side to side. Once her legs started to twitch, a sign she was nearing an orgasm, he eased off on the pressure. Her pre-orgasmic tension eased but her frustration increased, however she knew if she complained, he would back off even more. Once she relaxed, he started up again, slowly increasing the pressure of his rubbing and stroking. Again, and again, she would approach orgasm, only to have him back off. It was so frustrating, so maddeningly frustrating, but she wouldn't, she absolutely couldn't cry 'ambulance.'

After what seemed like the fifth or sixth episode of stimulation and relaxation, she let her eyes drift open and she stared down to the Promenade below. Her eyes popped wide open. There were three couples standing together staring right back at her. Here she was, stark naked, bound to a chair and being stimulated by her husband, all the while being watched by strangers. The reality of this was like a sudden massaging right on her clit. Even though Ted had just been easing off the pressure and frequency of his attention, she found herself rising rapidly to an earth-shattering orgasm. Her eyes squeezed shut, her skin flushed deep red, her legs twitched and jerked right before her whole torso bent forward and went into deep, muscular spasms. Blinding light shot through her brain as profound pleasure spread through her body and loud moans escaped from her lips.

After the orgasm subsided, her head dropped to her chest and her breathing settled down. She was aware of Ted's hands gently rubbing her torso and his light kisses on her neck. As she opened her eyes, she saw the couples below quietly clapping before they turned to walk further along the Promenade.

"Ted, we were being watched."

"Umm-hmm, you were being watched. Like it?"

"Yeah, definitely. That's what sent me over the edge, even though you were easing off at that moment. Wow, I can't believe you did that."

"More?"

"No, please. I've had enough. Ambulance, please."

Ted leaned over and untied the belts and scarf and helped her to her feet. She could barely walk to the bed and once there, she collapsed in a heap, sighing with fatigue. Ted pulled a sheet lightly over her as she fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning Cindy was slow to wake. Initially she was slightly confused until she completely opened her eyes and looked around. Over to the side was the chair with belts still loosely wrapped around the front legs. A faint breeze billowed in the curtains. Ted snored lightly beside her. As she lay there, she thought about her experiences both on the beaches and the night before. She realized in spite of her up-bringing, she had a completely new sexual angle. She was absolutely turned on by exposing herself, something she knew would totally shock her family back in Iowa. But she was comfortable with her newfound sexuality.

And she loved her husband. Ted had played along and allowed her to explore her new sexual desires. And the night before; she couldn't believe how exciting it had been and how it was all a result of his doing. As she thought about him, she felt herself getting slightly excited once again. She glanced over at him and a smile crossed her face. She pulled the sheet slowly away and exposed his cock. She loved his cock. It was nicely shaped, just the right size and tasted great. She decided to taste it. A few licks along the underside of the head and his cock rapidly developed a strong erection which seemed to wake Ted up.

"What're you doing?"

"Giving you a little 'thank you' for last night."

"Mmm, if you insist," he laughed as he dropped his head back to the pillow and enjoyed his wife's oral skills. She had not been very eager to give blow jobs when they first were sexually active, but with time she became quite good at them and even enjoyed pleasing him with her lips and tongue. There was minimal teasing that morning, just rapid, hard sucking and licking designed to give him a quick release. "Oh, God, you really know how to push all the buttons, don't you?" he said as she worked on him.

"Mmm-hmm," she intoned around his cock as she kept working him. In no time at all he rose up and spasmed as he came in her mouth. As he softened, she kept gently licking him knowing it still felt good to him.

"You like?" she asked, fully knowing the answer, before she went on. "Honey, now that I've cleared your pipes, I think we need to get cleaned up and have a 'rest' day, you know, just simple touristy things. I couldn't do another day like yesterday anytime soon. I need a day or two wearing clothes. Don't worry, we can still have fun, but being nude too much will clearly wear me out."

Over the next two days they traveled around Nice and viewed more interesting sights. They spent a bit of time looking up more nudist beaches and found a nice one further down the coast which they decided to visit on their way back towards Paris. They were able to get a room at a hotel right next to the beach which meant Cindy could drag Ted upstairs when she got too frustrated. After two days there, they zipped back to Paris and their flight home.

Their plane was surprisingly empty and they had three seats for the two of them in the back row and the row in front of them was vacant. After they had a lunch they dozed for a while. It became cool in the plane and they shared a thin blanket and talked quietly about their trip and the fun they had. Cindy thanked Ted several times for allowing her to express her new sexuality and particularly thanked him for the episode on the hotel deck.

"That was the highlight of the trip," she whispered. "I don't think I have ever been so excited and when those people down below looked at me, well, wow, I was in another dimension."

"Liked it, did you?"

"NO! Loved it. And I love you," she said as she kissed him. A minute or so later she went on, "Honey, I'd like to make this a part of our life together. I know most folks back home are more hung up than the French, but there have to be nudist resorts somewhere nearby, don't you think?"

"Sweetheart, there are. When you were napping yesterday afternoon, I googled a bit. There are two within a couple of hours of us. I think we may need to join one of them."

"Oh, that'd be great, yes, let's. We can check each one out on a visit and decide which one to join."

"I'll do it on one condition," he chuckled as he paused, "No more masturbating on the beach."

"Awww, Honeeeey...."


“How are you feeling, Draco?” She approached the bed and sat down, checking his face for any signs of pain or discomfort.

“Better than expected I guess. Thanks to you, Granger… I mean Hermione." Her given name coming from his lips sounded as weird as her pronouncing his.

He was eyeing his body, frowning at the grey sweat shorts he was dressed in, “These aren’t mine.”

“I took off your clothes,” her blushing cheeks giving her away, “You sweated quite a bit from the fever, and I bathed you…” she motioned to the vanity chair behind her, “Everything you were wearing is over there, clean and stain-free.” The silence sizzled uneasily; she admitted undressing him and was feeling slightly guilty for crossing a certain line. He was surprised at how well she took care of him.

“Draco-”

“Hermione-” They both spoke at the same time, although Draco motioned her to talk first.

“What happened to you?”

"I'm sorry for imposing myself on you. I should not have brought you into my mess." He pushed himself out of the bed, walking to the chair and grasping the pile of neatly folded clothes, “Where’s your bathroom?”

Pointing at the door to his right, she asked him, “Draco, please, answer my question. What happened to you? Who assaulted you like this?” She ended up talking to a closed door, which infuriated her to no end. Several minutes later he emerged from her bathroom again, gazing at her with an unreadable look in his eyes. She blushed, looking at everything but him. He knows I saw his….

“Granger,” his knuckles grazed her cheek, “You can’t imagine how grateful I am for what you did. I don’t deserve your kindness. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt, being entangled in my problems.” His thumb was caressing her face gently, “Let it go. I’m not a man that begs, but I implore you to let it go. I’m a piece of shit that doesn’t deserve-”

She intervened, with a hand against his strong chest, “Draco-”

Shaking his head, he raised her chin, his eyes boring into hers, “No Granger, I don’t deserve pity nor help, I don’t want you to get hurt. What is happening to me is my doing, and my burden to carry, not yours. Stay away from me, Granger.” He rested his forehead on hers, “I wish I could go back in time and redo all the nasty stuff. I regret my actions in the past so much.” He planted a kiss on her forehead, letting his lips linger against her skin longer than usual, “Goodbye, Granger.”

Releasing his hold on her, he retracted several steps back and disapparated while she attempted to grab hold of him, “Draco!”

Her hands were in the air, grabbing in vain. Her temperament flaring up, but she felt powerless, "Damn you Malfoy. You don't get to do this to me." She gathered her robe and wand, raging out loud, "I'm 27 years old; I’m not a porcelain teenager doll that breaks easily, Malfoy." She focused for a moment into restoring her wards allowing only Harry and Ron full access to her home, before she decided to pay a visit to Harry, "You can't ditch me so easily, do you hear me, Malfoy?"

-oOo-

The youngest Head Auror in Wizard's history almost left his office, when he spotted the apparition of the bushy-haired witch, her face in tempest mode. He suspected the perpetrator to be a blond wizard instead of the usual ginger head, "What did I do to get the honour of this late visit?" He tried a lighter tone.

“Malfoy!”

“I had already discerned your mood had nothing to do with the usual culprit, Ron.” His lips pursed tightly, fighting hard to control a grin that wanted to escape. Hermione’s face as usual was an open book, “Did he ruffle your feathers wrong?”

“He ditched me without giving me any explanation. Proclaiming he was protecting me from harm, that he wasn’t worthy of help and all that crap that goes with the ‘It’s all my fault’-speech.”

Harry was slack-jawed, “Wait a minute, Malfoy, the bully we’ve always known, has done, for once, the right thing?”

“Harry, he’s in danger, we should help him.” She argued her case.

He shook his head, “Hermione, if he wanted help, all he had to do was be honest with you. The fact he disappeared just like that, tells me that he doesn’t want help.”

She didn’t cave in, “Did you find anything?”

Her determined face was enough for Harry to understand that she was not going to let this go quickly, "Hermione," he put his hands on her shoulders, emphasising his next words, "He doesn't want help. Let it go."

“Those were his exact words, Harry."

“Should tell you something.” He shook her shoulders lightly, force her to see the reason, “This is not your battle to fight. And apart from those little details at the end of the war, none of his actions in the past should make you think you owe him anything.”

“He apologised for his bullying.”

"Stop the press! Let the Daily Prophet publish the next headline, "Malfoy heir says sorry to Muggleborn!" What do you think? A sold-out edition?" His mocking tone was enraging Hermione more than he expected, "You are a goody-two-shoes, ‘Mione, you see an injured bird, and you want to nurse it. One: you have nursed him back to life. Two: your job is done."

Hermione was spitting fire, “Newsflash Harry, I’m not done. Of all people he could turn to, he knocked on MY door. Draco was humble and grateful that I had helped him instead of showing him the way out. Not once was he his arrogant self. But he sounded astray. He considers himself a lost cause, the one to blame for being beaten up." She stood before Harry with both her hands on her waist, "Again, have you found anything?"

Harry sat in his chair, sighing deeply, "There are rumours of something going on, but I couldn't find out more details about it."

“What is the fuss and why are they targeting Malfoy?”

“Beats me at this point, there have been no complaints to alarm the Ministry. If not for Malfoy showing up the way he did at your doorstep, nothing would give it away there could be something out there.”

Hermione crossed her arms in front of her, “And you are not planning on finding out more?”

He shook his head, “No, not really.”

She took a deep breath, “Alright, fine. Sorry for disturbing your evening. I’ll let you be. Good night, Harry.” Turning her back to him, she headed for the way out.

“Hermione, please stop for a second.” She stopped, faced him and waited, “Hermione, you're not going to let it go, are you?”

Her face told him all he needed to know before she left his office.

Alone again in his space, Harry made a mental note to drop by her office tomorrow - the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures; and to keep a close eye on her. His guts warned him, however that his sister was not going to let this rest. Maybe he should touch base with his informants and see if he could gather some more intel before Hermione got hurt trying to be the hero and save that ferret at any cost.

-oOo-

She returned to her home fuming, angry with Harry for his unwillingness to help Draco. Her gut feeling told her two things: whatever happened to him was not a first-time, nor a last, and it pained her to admit Harry might be right: it could end with her getting hurt.

She paced around her living room, analysing her next steps, "Where's that damn ferret at this moment?" talking out loud always helped her organise her stream of thoughts, "There's something sizzling underground. Whoever this was, he wanted to teach Draco a lesson, not kill but hurt him badly. At least I hope the intent was not to kill."

Her fingers were moving restlessly, drumming on her lips at a silent beat or fumbling in her hair, "Why is Draco a target? It has been more than nine years since the war ended. His parents are under house arrest, they've contributed severely for the restorations in the war aftermath. Draco faced trial like all other Death Eaters but was free from all charges. His wand contained no trace of killing curses, the Wizengamot's test confirmed it." She didn't stop for a second in her enumeration, "So why this now?" She plunged into her armchair with a sigh.

She made a mental note to return the vials and the beaker back to Neville tomorrow before heading to her office and made a plan to start with Blaise in her enquiry on Draco's whereabouts; he worked at the Division for the Misuse of Magical Artefacts, two floors below her office. Concluding that was the first step in her plan.

Admitting for the first time: their short encounter left a trail. One she wanted to pursue. Draco's sleeping features, woke something into existence. And she wanted at least to know what that something was.


Monkey King stayed in that waterfall for a bit longer, the recent events that made his insides burn with eternal conflict completely killed the mood.

His soaked robe and the breeze sent shivers across his fur.

"Maybe I should have brought a change of clothes." The monkey dryly chuckled as he got out of the water body and summoned his cloud.

Finally, after getting a good grip of his cloud he zoomed through the top of the trees to go back home, and for a couple of seconds the idea worked until a strong wave of dizziness took over him.

His cloud lowered just enough for his feet to get tangled with the top of the jungle trees and fall down to the mud in a clean thud.

Wukong let out a gasp in surprise as he braced himself for the fall with the remains of his cloud. After millennia of living he knew a thing or two about falling correctly, now protecting his belly, even while having his vision blurred with black dots.

After the hit his cloud dispersed and left Wukong laying there on the jungle mud.

He groaned, the dizziness leaving as fast as it came, making his head throb in pain.

"Great. Now I'm wet and covered in mud." He thanked the universe as he shook off all the dirt from his fur and clothes.

He took a step forward and suddenly yelped as a sharp pain darted across his side over his left hip.

"Okay, do not panic, maybe it was just the after effects from the fall, nothing to worry about. Just walk it out." His mind reasoned as he took another couple of steps and the pain increased by a ton, forcing him to grab onto the nearest tree to balance himself.

"Hehe, so walking is not an option, do not panic, just summon your cloud." The monkey reassured himself as he raised his hand to call his cloud. Just that this time it did not come, not a single bit of it.

He took a deep breath and tried it once more, with the same result.

"Mmm, maybe panic a bit. Oh! I'll just transform into a bird. That will surely work!" He said optimistic.

Long story short, it did not work.

"My powers, they're gone?" His heart started racing like crazy inside him and his breathing became quick, erratic.

The sense of vulnerability, of having very low defenses woke up an instinct inside him that improved all his senses to the max, of protecting his cub at all costs.

The fear of anything unexpected happening or a threat coming close to him made Wukong's tail wag anxiously but he quickly came back to his senses. He needed to remain calm, alert yes but also calm.

He decided to sit on a big root on the nearest tree, carefully leaving his hip upward with no extra pressure.

"Breathe Wukong you're the Great Sage for heaven's sake! Have a little more faith in yourself! Yeah, you don't have powers now and you are injured but you are still a master of martial arts!" He motivated himself as he softly slapped his cheeks. "You're on your mountain, it is safe, just wait a bit! See if any little monkey appears or if you feel better to walk back, yeah, that's the spirit!".

So waiting, that's all he had to do for now at least. What could he do to kill some time? Perhaps he could do some meditation, Tripitaka has always told him that it brings peace to the soul. MMM, but that'll mean that he'll be alone…with his thoughts.

A light bulb turned on. Monkey King's eyes wandered down his belly.

"Seems like we haven't talked that much after all this time?" He laughed with a crooked smile.

"So why do you think I lost my powers? Maybe you borrowed them for your brewing of immortality? Just so you know, you have to ask first!" He joked around as he poked his belly but then patted it, "Nah, it's okay little blossom, well not getting stuck in the middle of the jungle part but you get the point right?"

He continued talking to his belly for some more time, anything really to ease his bored mind.

But that could only do so much, as the sun set down in the sky the lack of response was more than enough for the monkey to let out a puff of air in defeat.

Yup, he felt a bit dumb talking to someone who wasn't even born yet.

That's when the boredom took another level and he started doing random stuff like flapping his hands and clicking his tongue.

Then the sudden urge to stim overpowered him and this time, it was in the form of sound.

At first it began with chirps, then vocalizing random letters,then finally giving a fuck and just plain screaming at the top of his lungs, hoping that at least one of the monkeys hears him.

"AHHHHHHH. a."

Then he got tired of that too and contented himself with the sound of the jungle at night, the delicate moon rays playing with the shadows.

"So borinnnggg."

He glanced at the moon and its beauty, there was this weird energy that almost pulled him towards something that he could not pinpoint. It felt warm, familiar, and somehow safe.

---Flashback---

The bubbly quiet laugh of two idiots in love filled the night sky and accompanied the bright stars.

They were both in the mountain valley where wild flowers bloomed and left their sweet scent up in the cold breeze.

Crack! Crack! The sound of little twigs came as the two ran across the field in a wild goose chase. That's until one finally caught the other under in a tight hug and both fell over the grass and yarrows.

"Gotcha." The dark fur monkey teased with a smirk the orange monkey underneath him who just rolled his eyes with half a smile as he placed a soft peck on his cheek.

"Oh you got me! Please be gentle, have mercy on this pure innocent creature!" Wukong put his hands up in defeat dramatically wanting to follow the game but at the end he couldn't hold on his giggles which lead to both bursting of laughter.

"Always the comedian." Macaque said after their laughs ceased, his eyes locked in his lover's ones.

"Aw, this is what you signed up for the moment you gave me this." Wukong chirped as he showed him a well kept jade pendant.

Macaque cringed at its sight as red spread across his ears, "Ugh, don't tell me you still keep that silly thing? I have given you much better gifts." He tried to grab the pendant but Sun took it out of his reach with his tail.

"Why wouldn't I? It was the first gift you ever gave me as a lover, the very day that we became a couple." Sun said fondly as the jade pendant reflected the mood rays.

Macaque rolled his eyes but kept a small smile on his face, "Okay, but you gotta admit I did a pretty bad job, the jade is all crooked and badly crafted."

"You did your best and besides, I think it's adorable, like you." Wukong teased as he scratched the Macaque's head who just scoffed bashfully and sat up. "Really bringing out all the compliments tonight, what gives? If you wanted some old Mac love you could've just asked, I don't bite."

"And what if I do want some of that Mac love? What you gonna do?" Sun Wukong teased as he sat as well and locked eyes with him.

"This." Macaque replied as he leaned forward, his hand caressing his mate's neck, and showered him with dozens of little kisses all from his forehead down his soft lips. Wukong just melted under his touches and let out a deep relaxed purr as he pulled him, his foreheads now touching.

They stayed like that until Macaque broke the silence, picking up a dandelion, "Never leave me Peaches." He whispered as he intertwined his tail with Wukong's, who then took the dandelion and blew it before answering,"Wouldn't dream of it."

---End of flashback-----

Wukong's ear twitched when a nearby bush moved its leaves, indicating the presence of an unknown creature.

He growled, showing his sharp fangs and claws ready to fight even with his injury.

A few leaves moved before a creature bolted out of the bush. It was as if a switch was turned on inside Wukong as he felt a powerful energy drive coming out as a golden laser through his eyes towards the creature who managed to dodge just in time.

The orange monkey was ready for a second round when he noticed that it was not a threat but one of the white monkeys that went looking for him, probably from all his screaming a few moments ago.

"Oh I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Wukong immediately apologized as he walked towards the small terrorized monkey.

That's when it hit him, "My powers, they're back, and my body is healing now! About damn time! Thanks lil bud!" Wukong exclaimed as he picked up the little guy and spun him around in celebration.

The little one screeched in protest of being treated like some sort of rag doll. "Oh oh yeah, my bad. Maybe let's go back home and I'll give you a taste of those peach chips you like so much?" Wukong chuckled as the monkey noodled eagerly and pointed the way back home.

They would have returned right away but when Wukong tried to summon his cloud only a very small one came; his powers were glitching in some kind of way.

"So much for time alone." He groaned all the way back to the temple because now he'd need to give MK and flame boy a call first thing in the morning.

But for now, he'll give his little bud some chips finally back at his good old little house. It seems like all the other monkeys were asleep on his couch, leaving the TV on playing some cliché cop movie.

Wukong turned the TV off and went to his bedroom, happy to finally take off his dirty humid robe. He freshened up and winced as he looked through a mirror. He had a big purple bruise on his thigh, hadn't seen one like that since before he became immortal.

Then again, he was very tired, a problem for tomorrow he thought as he looked through his drawers for clean clothes. The thing is, he had completely forgotten tomorrow was also laundry day and that robe was the last pair of his usual clothes.

He had no choice but to look through his old clothes he barely uses. He quickly picks up some and hears a thud, something hard had fallen to the floor.

In the darkness he couldn't distinguish what it was until he picked it up and put it under the moon's light from his window.

He shuddered, almost dropping it, the sight had opened an old wound on his heart.

It was a badly crafted jade pendant.

Even after all these millennials, it looked just as the day he had given it to him.

Why had he kept it? After all this time? Only heavens will know.

He examined the piece and nostalgia hit him like a train, he really missed the old days yet it hurt him too much to remember.

He tried to not dwell in the past, but there was something that made it impossible to get rid of the pendant, it held too many memories.

Wukong's eyes held a tired look on the pendant and went to bed, only bothering with putting on pants.

As he laid there, on this bed sheets and let sleep take over, never did he let go of that old jade pendant.