Atlantic City Ch. 01

I can remember that day as if it were seared in my memory. We were out on a weekend getaway to Atlantic City with our best friends, Ray and Lisa. We had just finished a great Friday night diner after driving down from New York and were walking the boardwalk at sunset. The girls were walking ahead of us engaged in an animated discussion and Ray and I were talking quietly. Eventually (as is usually the case), the subject turned to sex.

"How is it with you guys, you know, I mean sex. Is it as good as it was when you were young?"

I was surprised at Ray's question. Ray was a very private person and any discussion of sex was usually in the "third person". In fact, Ray never even hinted to me about how he and Lisa got along sexually.

"Yeah, sometimes," I answered, not knowing where this conversation was going.

"What makes you think our sex life was so great when we were younger?"

In fact, our sex life was pretty crappy when Marie and I were younger. She used to fake orgasms and I was content to believe her. It was only in the last ten years that we really started to discuss sex more, experiment a little and feel more comfortable with each other. I didn't tell Ray this. I was not willing to divulge personal information about my sex life, not if it was going to be a one-way street - and with Ray, it usually was.

I waited to see how open Ray was willing to be with me. I had always suspected that of the two of them, Lisa had the stronger sex drive. She was the one that was always making comments about sex, sometimes shocking the soft sensibilities of my wife, Marie.

"Well ours was! Now that we're getting older, things just don't seem to be the same."

I sensed that Ray wanted to discuss something private with me. I wanted to encourage the poor guy but didn't want to seem too nosy or turn him off.

"I don't know," I ventured, "Lisa seems pretty hot to me, even if she is 45 years old."

"It's not Lisa." Ray said quietly.

The silence hung in the air. All of a sudden, the seagulls' cries seemed much louder as they circled overhead. I avoided looking at Ray and gazed at Lisa and Marie eating their ice cream cones and walking ahead of us, oblivious to what was going on around them. Finally, I spoke up.

"Look, I'm older than you. Believe me, sex has its ups and downs in a relationship. God knows I've experienced more downs than ups."

"Yeah, maybe so, but we all know that your complaint is that Marie is very reserved about sex. I wish I had your problem!"

'Uh-Oh,' I thought, 'Watch out for this one.'

"What do you mean Ray?" I asked cautiously.

Ray looked down at his feet.

"You're right, Lisa is hot. Much hotter than me. I guess God has a cruel sense of humor. Here you are, highly sexed, but in love with a woman who can take it or leave it. Lisa is very demanding - VERY demanding!"

My thoughts started to reel in my head. I was sure that Ray knew that my greatest fantasy was to have a wife who was always hot to trot and who didn't need a week of foreplay to get her juices going. We had joked about it several times.

"I don't know if you understand what it's like to be constantly under pressure to perform! You know, when I was younger, I could just turn over and "do it" whether I was in the mood or not. Now it's not so easy."

"Look" I said in an understanding voice, "we're all getting older and our bodies don't respond they way they used to. Years ago, I would be embarrassed if I danced with a pretty girl and got a raging hard-on. Now I get embarrassed if I don't!"

I looked over at Ray. He still had his head down looking at the driftwood grey color of the boardwalk.

"Sometimes I wish I had a high libido like you, Rick. I don't know. I love Lisa and I don't want to lose her, but, if things don't change soon, we are going to drift further and further apart. I really don't know what to do."

I turned toward Ray and whispered earnestly,

"Ray, if your problem is you can't get it up, why don't you get some Viagra from your doctor. Lisa doesn't have to know."

Ray shuffled his feet as he walked.

"No, it's really not that, Rick. That would be to easy."

I gave Ray a puzzled look. He gave me a mischievous smile.

"A lot of times, I don't even WANT to get it up! Sometimes I just want to be left alone."

We walked along in silence. Finally, I couldn't help it, I just blurted it out.

"I don't think I ever felt like that."

Ray looked at me and smiled.

"I know Rick, I've known you for a long time. We are very different you and me. And Lisa and Marie are very different. You would be amazed and surprised."

I cocked my head and looked at him secretly wondering what amazing and surprising things he might be willing to tell me about his wife, Lisa. He was still smiling. I began to wonder. 'Why is he telling me this?' I worried that things had gone too far, and had gotten MUCH to personal. I was not about to tell Ray that if I were him I would think that I had died and gone to heaven.

We continued to walk along a discreet distance behind the girls in silence. I couldn't help but watch Lisa's tight little ass sway back and forth in her shorts. I could feel my dick start to swell slightly, a comfortable swelling that helped remind me that I'm a man.

I shifted my gaze to Marie, my wife. There was no question that Marie was much prettier than Lisa. Even at 48, Marie still looked almost like the teenager I married 30 years ago. She was petite, had a girlish face (and a girlish figure thanks to her small bust) and had the same long brunette hair (thanks to Clairol) that she had when I first met her. Her body was soft and feminine, just like her voice.

Lisa on the other hand was a bit hard around the edges. She had jet-black hair that looked almost like she was part Cherokee Indian. She had grapefruit sized breasts (which did sag a bit) but her body was toned and hard from her daily workouts in the gym. And her voice! Well, let's just say she was outspoken! When she looked at me with those jet black eyes, I could swear they looked right through me. They also seemed to look right through the crotch of my jeans when she thought I wasn't looking!

We walked along quietly for a while, watching the girls laughing and joking in front of us. I was in turmoil. Lisa was quite an attractive woman. She was exactly the opposite of my wife. Where Marie was soft, Lisa was hard. Where Marie was gentle, Lisa was brash. I admired Lisa's intellect and there was no doubt in my mind that, of the four of us, Lisa was the most intelligent - and believe me, ALL of us were intelligent. We were all professionals and had advanced degrees. But Lisa was in a class of her own. She had her PHD and was in charge of a fancy private school after years of teaching. Her mind was always inquisitive, always questioning - and always judging! I don't think anyone ever met her standards (except possibly herself). One thing was sure, she NEVER suffered fools lightly.

Although Lisa and I were very close when we first met (almost like brother and sister), as time went by I got the distinct impression that I was not welcome in her company. Slowly I was getting vibrations that, if it wasn't for Marie, she wouldn't have anything to do with me. Yes, she tolerated me, and she certainly treated me better than she treated poor Ray!

Poor Ray, lately he could never live up to Lisa's expectations and she always let him know it - immediately and usually in our presence. At first, I began to wonder what had happened. Could it be that she sensed how attractive I found her early on and decided that she was going to cool down our relationship? I tried to think if I did or said anything out of line, but really, there wasn't anything. She knew that I was very sexual and commented upon it (usually in a teasing manner) but I didn't think I ever "came on" to her.

Eventually, I began to feel uncomfortable when we were around Lisa and my original physical attraction to her cooled considerably. Whereas, at one time I could definitely say that if Lisa and I were both single I would at least date her, I no longer felt that way.

Lisa's increasing coolness toward me was not the only change I noticed. Lisa seemed more and more dissatisfied with life and with men in particular. Now Lisa is a strong woman and it wouldn't surprise me if she was bi-sexual. She and Marie talked almost every day on the phone and were fast friends. I began to suspect that she might have the hots for my wife and she viewed me as being "in the way". However, I dismissed this as an over active sexual imagination on my part (which is not uncommon with me). As I was mulling over these thoughts in silence, Ray spoke quietly and in a conspiratorial tone.

"You know Lisa would love to fuck you."

I almost shit in my pants. In fact, I believe I became physically sick to my stomach when he uttered these words. I had no idea what to say next. I knew that saying nothing was as bad as saying something, so I thought quickly and in a bravado tone, I replied,

"Most women would, so what!"

Ray smirked and my stomach fell another foot.

"Rick, you can't fool me, I know you would love to take Lisa out for a 'test drive'".

I began to feel as if my thoughts were transparent. Why is this guy playing with me? Is this some kind of test that I have to pass? Maybe he suspects that his passionate wife has been fooling around behind his back? Carefully I replied.

"Look Ray, your wife is a beautiful woman. Any man would give his right nut to hop in the sack with her. But that's never going to happen. Any man that made a pass at your wife would come away with several fewer body parts, in particular his balls. Anyway, you know I'm crazy about Marie and would never cheat on her!"

All of a sudden, Ray looked nervous. I had clearly put him on the defensive.

"I guess your going to be no help!" he muttered looking down as we walked.

"What do you mean, 'No help'?" I asked.

Ray kicked at an imaginary pebble as he walked.

"I figured maybe you could help take some of the pressure off of me. You know, float Lisa's boat for a while. I thought you might be up to the challenge."

I was speechless. I think my jaw was hanging down. My best friend had just suggested that I do him a favor and fuck his wife! Now my head was really spinning. I watched the two girls walking ahead of us and all of a sudden, I imagined them turning around with guns in their hands shooting me, execution style! That's not to say that the idea of putting the meat to Lisa had never crossed my mind! Despite my misgivings, I'm sure my dick would instantly get hard if we were alone together and I had the opportunity; and now, her husband was trying to provide me with that opportunity!

"You're crazy, Ray!" I whispered. "First of all, I don't think your wife would ever let me get to first base, let alone fuck her. Secondly, Marie would divorce me in a minute if she thought that I was even thinking of porking Lisa! And you, well lets just say that I've known you for a long time. You would be jealous as hell if that ever happened, no matter what you say now. If I ever took you up on this crazy proposal, I'd have three lunatics gunning for me. I'd be chopped meat!"

"Well, I tried." Ray said dejectedly.

We walked about 100 feet in silence. We were slowly approaching the Taj Mahal with its candy painted turrets where we had adjoining rooms for the night on one of the top floors. The girls were enjoying the sunset and the warm summer breeze blowing over the boardwalk from the ocean. I looked at Ray and smiled.

"Are you flipping out or what?"

"I'm quite serious Rick. If its not you, it will be someone else. Maybe there already IS a someone else. I don't know. All I know is that I can't satisfy Lisa sexually. Maybe no one can. But right now, I'm taking the heat and Lisa's dissatisfaction is poisoning our entire relationship. Nothing I do is right anymore. She finds fault with everything. I really don't think I can take it anymore."

Ray seemed close to crying. I felt like putting my arm around him and comforting him but thought better of it. I didn't want Marie to start giving me the second degree, asking me what Ray was all upset about. After all, he was one of the closest friends I had - which was sad since no one really got close to Ray, not even Lisa!

"Listen bud, maybe we can work something out. Maybe Marie can talk some sense into Lisa."

"Not a chance." said Ray. "Marie is little goody-two-shoes. Lisa laughs at how naive and innocent she is when it comes to sex. They confide in each other a lot, but I know for a fact that Lisa would never talk to Marie about her voracious sexual appetite. She knows that Marie would never understand and would think less of her. Lisa has much as told me so herself! Anyway, what do you think Marie could say to Lisa that would help us out?"

"Don't kid yourself," I said a little defensively, "Marie has come a long way. You might be surprised at how worldly she has become in the last few years."

"Not as surprised as you would be!"

"What do you mean by that?" I asked a little stunned.

"I mean surprised at Lisa's sexual appetite. Sometimes I think she could do an entire basketball team."

I looked at him in shock. He looked directly into my eyes and said with a snicker,

"An all BLACK basketball team."

I couldn't believe what he was saying about his wife and our best friend. I looked again at Lisa sauntering in front of us. She was not THAT hot. An entire basketball team! Ray was bitter. I looked at him with pity.

"What are you talking about?" I whispered.

Ray looked out at the waves striking the beach and spoke in a low voice.

"I've been monitoring her computer the last couple of weeks. She has been visiting some explicit sites, you know, men with big penises, things like that. And on top of that, she has been sending cutsie emails to one of her gym teachers at the high school. Nothing explicit, just silly flirting, but the handwriting is on the wall."

"You are nuts man! Just because Lisa looked at a few porn sites doesn't mean she is out to become a hooker. With Lisa's sexual appetite as strong as you describe, it shouldn't surprise you that she's interest in all kinds of sexy stuff. It doesn't mean anything more than she has a creative fantasy life."

The look on Ray's face became serious.

"It's every day, Rick from the time she comes home from school until about a half hour before I get home. She is either sending this guy emails or cruising the sites looking for pictures of hot guys. If she isn't fucking around on me now, she will be soon. That's why I was hoping that you would help me out. I'm kind of desperate. I don't think I have much time."

"I don't understand. What's the difference whether I fuck Lisa or some stranger fucks her? She's still cheating on you and behaving like a slut."

Ray thought for a second and looked at me with pleading eyes.

"I never told anyone this, but I often fantasized about you being with Lisa. Somehow, the thought of you doing her turns me on. After all, you and Marie are our best friends. We've been through a lot together. It's almost like you are family. And anyway, if I ask you to do it, it's not cheating!"

"Yeah, maybe so, but she is still behaving like a slut. How are you going to deal with that?"

Ray shrugged his shoulders and answered softly, "I don't know, I haven't thought that far ahead. Anyway, like you said, its not going to happen."

I looked up and saw that the girls had stopped to let us catch up to them before turning into the Taj.

"What's not going to happen?" asked Lisa in a not very gentle voice.

"We were talking about going to see a show with topless showgirls." I answered quickly. Marie piped up.

"Ray's right, that's NOT going to happen."

Ray smiled at me and said, "See, I told you Rick."

Our wives grabbed our arms as we strolled into the casino. Marie was talking to me but my ears just wouldn't work. My mind was going about a hundred miles per hour trying to digest the meaning of my conversation with Ray. Luckily, the noise of the casino made it almost impossible to talk as we looked around at the action on the casino floor.

Lisa and Marie wanted to play the slots. They both love the sound of the quarters plopping into the bin. Ray and I went to the change window while the girls found two slot machines to their liking that were side by side. We stood by their side for about an hour while they flushed our money down the toilet.

"That was fun!" said Marie enthusiastically. "At one point I was up almost $120!"

"Almost doesn't count." I said sarcastically.

Ray was silent. I didn't know whether it was because of our earlier discussion or whether he was just annoyed that his wife went through almost $80 worth of quarters – he is notoriously cheap.

"Well, should we go up to our rooms and freshen up? suggested Lisa.

Actually, it was more than a suggestion. When Lisa suggests something, we usually ended up doing it.

"Sure," I said. "We brought some wine and cheese." Let's get out of this noisy place and relax a little."

"Sounds good to me." said Marie.

With that, we all headed to the elevator bank. As the elevator doors closed, the noise of the casino abruptly abated and for the first time in several hours the four of us were alone together and quiet. I still heard a ringing in my ears from the bells of the slot machines. I looked at my three companions. Both Marie and Ray had hooded eyes. Both of them were notorious for nodding off at night in the middle of a conversation. Lisa looked fidgety and gave me a nervous smile.

"I wonder how long these two night owls will last?" I said playfully

Lisa smirked. Marie perked up and said defensively.

"I'm OK. Really! But my feet hurt. I can't wait to put on my slippers."

Lisa turned to the front of the elevator and said to no one in particular,

"We should all get into something comfortable. I know I am. My clothes smell like cigarette smoke after being in that casino for less than hour."

"More like two hours." I volunteered.

Lisa looked over her shoulder and gave me a withering glance.

"No it wasn't. We were there no more than 55 or 65 minutes."

I looked into her piercing black eyes and replied sarcastically.

"Whatever you say babe!"

I was just not up to get into an argument with Lisa about whether we were in the casino closer to one hour or closer to two hours. She gave me a satisfied smirk as the doors opened on our floor.

"Here we are." said Ray in an obviously tired voice.

As we walked down the ornate hallway to our adjoining rooms Lisa announced:

"I'm going to change and take a quick shower. Let's say we call you in about 45 minutes when we're ready."

"Ok!" said Marie in her sweet voice. "We'll set up the wine and cheese and you come in when you're ready. Just knock on the door when you're done."

"We'll call your room, that will be easier." said Lisa needing to have things her way. "That way, if you're not ready yet, you can tell us when you want us to come in."

As we each slipped the card into our doors, I jokingly said to Lisa,

"Don't take too long or Marie will be asleep."

Lisa glared at me and didn't answer. 'Chill out girl' I thought to myself.

As we entered the room, Marie immediately kicked off her shoes and sat on the bed.

"You look tired!" I said softly.

"I'll be OK!" said Marie, not very convincingly.

I began to undress and sniffed at my shirt,

"Lisa was right, these clothes do smell pretty bad."

In a few seconds, I was completely naked, my favorite condition.

"Why don't you take a shower and freshen up?" I suggested, hoping that the shower would enliven my obviously tired wife.

"All right. But don't try anything funny. We don't have enough time to fool around. She smiled at me and headed for the large bathroom. I plopped onto the bed and sighed.