Stealing is the Ultimate Gift

Then again, neither had she. It baffled her. Was there some part of her that rejoiced in her ordeal?

She shook those thoughts out of her head, telling herself she was being silly. She was a respectable woman, not some floozy who got off on being exposed. Instead she justified that staying put was the right thing to do. Going back to the others to look for something to cover up with would risk exposing herself too much again.

But she couldn't discard the liberating sensation she felt. She had spent so much of her life hiding her body, and now her breasts were set free to enjoy the sun. Even though no one could see them, it was undeniably thrilling. As if inviting the blue sky to stare, she put her hands on the deck behind her and arched her back. Increasingly, she felt like a figurehead on the bow, a sensual goddess of the sea. The boat's bouncing motion had a relaxing effect on her and she soon closed her eyes.

When she reopened them she immediately spotted another yacht up ahead. She heard shrieks and laughter, and what looked like a group of college students were having a party on board. She turned her head and Veronica's smirk hinted that the redhead knew exactly what she was doing, navigating closer and closer to the other ship.

Amanda's immediate instinct was to cover up. But something inside made her suppress that instinct. The excitement that had been smoldering inside her flared up. She felt some shame, but the urge to be seen was too strong to be denied. She should be above such foolish inclinations.

But the crowd on the other boat didn't know her. They had no idea that she was a serious and professional woman, a full partner of a law firm. To them, she was only some woman with her tits out.

The college students gradually grew silent as Amanda's boat approached. One by one, they stopped what they were doing and stared right at her. She noticed that Veronica had turned off the engine, making them glide slowly past the other boat. To her onlookers, her exposure probably looked like the most natural thing in the world. But inside her was turmoil, her heart pounding in her chest. Every second was a battle between her urge to cover up and the strange desire to be seen. This dichotomy of emotions left her paralyzed and she remained in her position, chest pushed out as if inviting them to stare.

She didn't have the nerve to stare back but from the corner of her eye she saw one of them taking a bow in appreciation. One of the girls on board started applauding and soon several of the others joined in. She heard whistles and howls of admiration. A part of her felt like she should be angry. A woman should be appreciated for her mind, not her body. But another part of her purred, soaking up the attention. She couldn't suppress a coy smile as they passed them.

Her heartbeat had barely slowed when she was startled by Paul's voice behind her.

"Mali told me I should make sure your back is covered."

He held a bottle of sunscreen in his hand. Amanda quickly covered her breasts with her arms.

"OK. Thanks."

She leaned forward to give him access. He knelt behind her and began rubbing the lotion on her shoulders. It felt odd, sitting there in just her bikini bottoms while Paul's hands roamed over her back. Of all the guys, he was the one she had known the longest. But he had changed a lot since she first met him in choir practice back in college. Back then, he was a skinny, nerdy looking boy, too shy to even strike up a conversation with a girl. Supposedly, he was still a bit of a nerd, but a damn sexy one. A sexy doctor, to be specific. And he had filled out considerably since she first met him, now toned in ways she hadn't imagined before seeing him without his shirt on earlier that day. His strong hands felt good against her back.

Maybe too good. His hands had wandered down, roaming at the small of her back. He continued outwards and up along her waist. These were areas she could reach herself. She held her breath as his hands wandered closer and closer to her breasts. She felt his fingers brush against them. Was that an accident? It didn't seem to deter him and his hands continued to roam. She looked nervously back at Mali but her friend didn't seem to mind, smiling back at her. Could she see where his hands were roaming? Amanda felt his fingers touch the sides of her breasts again. Surely, he must notice where he was rubbing? She felt that she should stop him, but damn his hands felt nice. How long had it been since she let a man caress her there?

"I'll let you do the front yourself," he said suddenly, removing her hands from her body.

"OK, yeah, I can do that."

I can do that? What kind of response was that? Was she expecting him to keep rubbing lotion on her tits right in front of his wife? She felt utterly stupid.

"And it's only SPF 15," Paul continued as he headed astern. "You shouldn't keep your back to the sun all the way home."

Amanda didn't reply. The implication of his words spun in her head. Her olive skin wasn't prone to burning, but the sun was strong and right behind her. And Paul was a doctor. He should know the risks. Could it be that the sensible thing to do was to turn around? And then what? Drop her hands? Would that be so bad? They had all seen her topless anyway, even if it was just for a few seconds as she climbed the ladder. And Sabina did it all the time. At least in Amanda's case, it wasn't by choice. She pretended not to be aware of the urge within her. Telling herself she had no other option, she slowly turned around, holding a breast in each hand. Her nipples pressed firmly against her palms.

The six pairs of eyes that met hers almost made her turn back again. But their approving smiles calmed her nerves. She looked at the sunscreen beside her. There was no way she would be able to apply it while keeping her modesty protected. It seemed she had no choice but to expose herself. A jolt of excitement rushed through her body at that notion.

Before giving herself a chance to change her mind, she dropped her hands. Her heart pounded in her chest. She could barely believe she had it in her to be so brazen, sitting there with her tits on display for her friends. None of them averted their eyes.

Acting like she suddenly didn't care that she was being watched, she started applying sunscreen on her legs. She slowly worked her way up her calves. Her audience started going about their business but regularly looked back at her. Reaching her thighs, she found her own touch pleasant. She lingered, rubbing the lotion thoroughly into her skin.

She continued with her arms, and as she reached her shoulders she realized what she would have to do. In her mind, there was no other option than to rub the lotion onto her tits, right in front of her friends and their husbands. Her skin turned even more receptive. Still pretending that nothing was out of the ordinary, she moved her hands down her chest. She progressed slowly, savoring the pleasant sensation of her own touch. Her hands traveled up and down, treating herself with jolts of pleasure as her fingers brushed against her nipples. She was amazed that her own caress could feel so good.

Maybe too good. How long had she massaged her breasts? She looked up at her audience, who all stared openly at her and she blushed.

"You're looking mighty hot up here, hon'," Sabina said as she approached, holding two glasses of champagne. She handed one to Amanda.

"Is that meant to cool me down?" Amanda replied, accepting the glass.

Sabina smirked. "I don't think anything can stop you from being hot."

Amanda didn't reply, merely sipping her champagne. She did feel hot, in every sense of the word.

"I told you it feels good to be topless," Sabina continued.

"Yet you decided to keep your top on for once," Amanda pointed out. Was it just a coincidence that her top had gone missing after Sabina's repeated nudging, and now the blonde was keeping hers on, making Amanda the only topless woman on the boat?

"Do you want to come back to hang with the rest of us?" Sabina asked, ignoring Amanda's comment.

Amanda shook her head. "I'm quite comfortable right here, thank you."

And while she told herself that it was more modest to keep her distance if she had to remain topless, the truth was quite the opposite. Her position in front made her all the easier to admire and far from anything she could use to cover up. She remained in the bow all the way home, decadently indulging in champagne and admiring stares. She soon felt quite intoxicated by both. Every time she finished her glass, one of the guys was quick to come and refill it. They all took their time, making small talk while clearly taking in the close-up view. Why didn't this bother her? And why didn't it bother her girlfriends?

"I found your tunic," Mali said as they approached their temporary home.

"Thanks," Amanda said, and put it on. Oddly, a significant part of her felt disappointed, but given that she'd have to walk across public spaces to get to the mansion, it was probably for the best. "Did you find my bikini top too?"

"No, sorry. But I'm sure it'll turn up."

Amanda nodded slightly. It seemed odd that her tunic would suddenly turn up now, just as they approached land. The consideration of giving it back seemed very much like Mali. But would she really have hidden it in the first place? And why was her top was still missing? Had it magically fallen out of her bag somewhere other than where her tunic had?

Soon after they got back to the mansion, Veronica announced that she had booked a table at a restaurant in town. She urged them all to get ready quickly.

"Can I use your shower when you're done, Amanda?" she asked.

"Of course. You can go first if you want."

"Nah, you go first. I'm sure you could use a cold shower," Veronica said, winking at Amanda.

Amanda sighed. Why did Veronica always have to be such a tease? But she was undeniably right. Amanda did feel flustered after her day of exposure. After closing the door behind her, she quickly peeled off what little clothes she had on and entered the shower. The cool water felt pleasant against her skin. And so did her touch as she rubbed herself with soapy hands. She remembered the sensual feeling of rubbing lotion on herself in front of everybody. Her nipples instantly grew hard against her palms and she couldn't help lightly flicking her thumbs over them.

Her daydreaming was soon interrupted as she heard the door to her bedroom open. Someone seemed to be loitering outside.

"Is that you, Veronica?" she asked.

There was a brief pause before she got a response. "Yeah. I'm just waiting for the shower. But don't stress—I'm sure you could use some alone time!"

Amanda didn't reply. Whatever she might say would only give Veronica more clues as to how right she was. But there was no time for what Amanda wanted to do and she quickly rinsed off.

"It's all yours," she said as she exited the bathroom, wrapped in a towel.

As Veronica closed the door behind her, Amanda decided she should get dressed before Veronica came back out, and she started looking through her bag for something to wear. She had almost forgotten about the issue of the missing panties and she called for Mali to ask where the pair she had washed were.

Before Mali could come to her room, Amanda realized something else. All of her bras were now gone.

"Hey Amanda, what's going on?" Mali said as she entered.

"Well, I was going to ask for my panties—the ones you kindly washed yesterday—but now it seems all my bras are missing too. You haven't seen them, have you?"

"No, sorry. Did you forget to pack them too?"

"I saw them this morning. And even the one I was wearing yesterday is missing."

Mali wrinkled her brow. "That's odd."

"What's odd?" Veronica said as she came out of the bathroom. She had already dressed, keeping her red curls wrapped in a towel.

"My bras have disappeared," Amanda said, and gave her friend an inquisitive stare.

"You didn't hide them, by chance?"

"Me? Of course not," Veronica said. "Maybe the maid took them."

"The maid?"

"Yeah, we ordered house cleaning, remember?" Mali chimed in. "We didn't want to waste our precious vacation on household chores. I'll ask tomorrow if they have any idea where they went."

Both Mali and Veronica started lifting things to look for them, as if by some strange chance her bras had collectively crawled in under her pillow or under her bed.

"What's happening, gals?" Sabina asked as she joined them.

"It seems all of Amanda's bras have gone missing," Mali said.

Sabina grinned. "You're not having much luck with clothes on this trip, are you Amanda?"

Amanda frowned at her. "You haven't... shall I say, borrowed them, have you?"

Sabina grinned even wider and grabbed her own chest. "Why would I do that? I wouldn't have much use for them."

Why would she indeed? Amanda couldn't think of a valid reason. But it was now obvious that someone was hiding her clothes. It dawned on her that her missing panties were likely not the result of her own mistake after all—someone had taken them too. But who? And why?

"But it's no biggie, right?" Sabina continued. "You can just go without tonight. I do it all the time."

"Not now, you're not," Amanda pointed out, not sure herself how that was relevant.

Sabina just rolled her eyes. "Do you want me to take it off?"

"No, it's OK," Amanda replied, and turned to Mali. "But can I please have my panties back?"

Mali gave her an odd look that Amanda couldn't quite read. Was that an expression of concern, expressing worry that Amanda had been pushed far enough, or was she surprised that Amanda would go braless as long as she at least had her panties back? Or was she just perplexed by hearing a grown woman pleading to get her panties back?

"Sure, I'll go get them," Mali said eventually.

She herded her friends out of her room before getting dressed. She had exposed herself around them far too much already. On that notion, she decided on a tight skirt, not wanting the wind to lift her dress again. Her precious panties were a mere thong, selected to not show any lines through her pants on the flight over.

The only thing she had brought to wear with her current skirt was a selection of tank tops. She tried on one after the other, murmuring in defeat each time she looked at herself in the mirror. They weren't meant to be worn without a bra, and the tight fabric hugged the contours of her breasts. When small-chested women went braless, she could see it as a bold statement. On her, it just looked vulgar.

But was that really so bad? So what if she looked a bit vulgar? And wasn't it already too late to worry about it? She only knew six people on the island and they had seen her completely topless most of the day already. And she had shown her tits to a group of strange youngsters on that other boat. She convinced herself that she didn't have much choice and picked a light pink top. Even though the fabric was thin, she figured that it was less revealing than a white one would be. Or at least it made it less obvious that she knew what effect it would have.

The group looked her up and down as she came down the stairs, greeting her with approving smiles. Her breasts swayed and jiggled with each step, nipples poking out to greet them in return. She did her best to act as if this was perfectly normal. It was difficult with all her friends staring fixedly at her chest.

And they weren't the only ones. Amanda was used to getting attention in public places, standing out as a tall woman. But as they made their way along the boulevard towards the restaurant, no one even looked up to register her height. Men and women all stared at her chest, unable to avert their eyes from her rocking tits. Shocked, she realized that the humid ocean breeze made the top cling tightly to her breasts, the dampening fabric becoming increasingly translucent.

The part of her that found it improper to be on display was still strong inside her, and she felt tempted to cross her arms across her chest. But Marco and Alex flanked her on either side, hooking their arms through hers.

"Seems you're quite the attraction," Alex chuckled when a group of passing youngsters blatantly stared at her in dumbfounded amazement.

"I can't blame them," Marco added. "You look very sexy tonight."

Amanda blushed at the explicit compliment, and couldn't suppress a girlish giggle. "Thanks."

And so they paraded, walking arm-in-arm down the boulevard, collectively laughing at the attention she got from passers-by. She felt like the trophy of her party, theirs to show off. What surprised her the most was her compliance. Why did she suddenly desire to be exhibited like this?

Seated at the restaurant, she found herself cornered at one end of the table, surrounded by the three men of the group. Gone was any inclination that she might be the third wheel on this trip.

"So, are you enjoying your trip so far?" Paul asked, refilling her glass.

"Oh, yes, of course," Amanda responded. "It's turned out very... eventful. I can't believe we only got here yesterday."

"Just imagine how much more fun we'll have before we'll leave," Marco said and winked at her.

She giggled nervously. It sounded like an innocent comment, but his suggestive look made her think there was more to it.

"Thanks for hiring the boat today," she said, changing the conversation.

"I'm glad you liked it," Alex said.

Amanda nodded. "It was the perfect day for a cruise."

"You made it perfect," Marco said, winking at her. The other two hummed their agreement.

"I hope you didn't burn yourself," Paul said, lightly brushing his hand over her shoulder.

"No, I'm fine. I don't burn very easily."

Paul's hand lingered, and to her surprise, Marco reached out and caressed her other shoulder.

"Yeah, you really have great skin," he said.

That made Alex join in too, tickling the inside of her forearm. The gentle touch of the three men sent jolts of excitement through her body. She looked nervously at her girlfriends. Were they really OK with their husbands' devoted attention? But they just smiled back at her, making conversation among themselves about things Amanda was too distracted to engage in. She tried to pretend she wasn't affected by the attention, but it was difficult with her nipples giving away the stir inside her. No one seemed to think it was inappropriate to stare, and she was sure the whole group knew. Somehow that just made her more excited.

They walked home in a similar fashion, with Amanda as the center of attention, and the three men circulating around her. She constantly had at least one arm around her waist, and they weren't too shy to let their hands roam up her back. Sabina, Mali and Veronica walked further ahead, seemingly unmoved by their husbands' increasingly physical advances. Amanda dared not ask them why, thinking that it might put a stop to it.

"You look a bit flustered, Amanda" Veronica teased, stopping to let them catch up. "I think we all could use an evening dip in the ocean."

The redhead quickly peeled of her clothes, stripping down to her underwear. The others followed suit and Amanda peeked intensely at the three fit men as they discarded their shirts. They owed her some eye candy.

Her six friends soon charged into the ocean.

"Come on, Amanda!" Veronica shouted back at her. "Don't be a rotten egg again!"

"The water feels great!" Mali added.

It wasn't the water temperature that deterred Amanda. What did her friends expect—that she'd remove her top and go topless again? She realized that they probably did. And maybe she should? A day ago, she never would have considered it. The increasingly familiar thrill rushed through her body, urging her to just do it.