The Swap. Various

diamond necklace, Sophie could see that Angela’s nipples were growing hard and swelling against the fabric. Her chest had been rising and falling regularly before. Now it looked like each inward breath was laboured by swelling passion. The pulse beneath Angela’s ear seemed to throb with heightened expectation.

      ‘You’ll have to forgive my husband,’ Sophie told Philip. ‘He works as a jeweller and he never seems to take a break from his occupation.’

      ‘I’ve got nothing against a man admiring my wife’s jewels,’ Philip admitted.

      He gave Sophie his easy smile. It was a smile that she longed to kiss. She could picture Philip wearing that smile, and nothing else, while he lay back on a bed and allowed her to suck on his length. The idea made the crotch of her panties warm and damp.

      She wondered if, when Philip said he had nothing against a man admiring his wife’s jewels, he was talking about the diamonds. Or if he had used the word ‘jewels’ as a euphemism for her breasts.

      Had Philip just admitted that he and Angela were players?

      She tried to think how she could surreptitiously raise the question so that Philip or Angela would answer honestly.

      ‘I do like well-made jewellery,’ Rob admitted. He spoke in a low voice, as though he was sharing a secret with Angela. ‘I was thinking of giving Sophie a pearl necklace this morning. But that’s got nothing to do with our talk about jewellery, has it?’

      Angela choked back a lewd chuckle.

      Philip’s indulgent smile broadened, although Sophie suspected he hadn’t heard the comment. And, while Philip’s attention was distracted, Sophie knew Rob’s finger would be dropping to ‘accidentally’ graze against Angela’s stiff nipple.

      It was a move he often made: surprisingly subtle but devastatingly effective.

      Sophie was holding Philip’s gaze when it happened but she knew the moment when the contact occurred because she saw Angela stiffen. Her ears, attuned to the moment and waiting for the sound, heard Angela catch her breath. The sigh was rich with excitement and it sounded as though Angela was desperate to experience more.

      ‘I’d love to see this outside in the sunlight,’ Rob told Angela. ‘Would you indulge me?’ He glanced at Philip and asked, ‘Would you mind if I took your wife? Outside I mean.’

      Angela looked momentarily flustered. She gave her husband an apologetic smile and then turned to Sophie. ‘You two don’t mind, do you?’

      Philip and Sophie were shaking their heads.

      Angela placed a hand over her breast. Sophie couldn’t work out if the woman was pointing to her necklace, or covering up the embarrassment of her pert, stiff nipples. She supposed the gesture could have been a combination of the two.

      ‘I love these,’ Angela said, gesturing at the diamonds. ‘And it’s so nice to show them off to someone who obviously appreciates them.’

      ‘I’m sure Rob appreciates them,’ Sophie said drily.

      Philip nodded indulgently. He didn’t seem perturbed when Rob gallantly took Angela by the elbow and escorted her out to the balcony. If anything, and Sophie felt sure the message was coming again from her playdar, it seemed that he was relieved that they were finally alone.

      ‘Your husband has a good eye.’

      ‘His other parts are OK, too,’ Sophie quipped.

      ‘Why are you out here?’ he asked. ‘Is it a holiday?’

      ‘We needed to recharge our batteries. Rob and I both work hard and play hard.’ She took a deep breath and said, ‘We’d been putting in extra hours at the office and we’d been playing extra hard at the club.’

      Philip nodded as though he knew what she meant.

      Sophie allowed the words to linger between them, silently hoping that Philip would ask her about playing extra hard at the club. If he asked what she meant, she could tell him it was a swingers’ club. She would explain that she and Rob spent their weekends there, usually sweltering in the heat of a group room, often sweating and writhing with a horde of eager, attractive strangers, all horny and each one desperate to fuck.

      In her mind’s eye she could picture the group room at her favourite club. It was always illuminated by red bulbs and looked as bloody and as dangerous as a horror movie. She couldn’t count the number of times she had become lost in there, pressed between naked strangers, submitting to their inquisitive caresses and giving herself over to the pleasure they wanted to bestow. Every time she allowed her imagination to transport her there for a moment, the experience was sufficiently intense to leave her aroused and desperately craving satisfaction.

      Philip didn’t ask the question.

      He didn’t ask about her playing extra hard at the club and he didn’t ask about her work. Instead, he seemed content to sit back in his seat, smiling easily for her, and relaxing with his drink.

      ‘What is it you do when you’re not holidaying in Africa?’ she asked.

      ‘I work in a prison.’

      ‘You’re a screw?’

      She couldn’t stop the cheeky grin from spreading across her lips. If there was one thing she enjoyed with the light-hearted banter of a potential new conquest it was the opportunity for double entendre. She loved to play with words and make the mundane sound lewd and suggestive. Using the word screw in a variety of suggestive ways promised to give her the chance to properly flirt with Philip.

      ‘Are you a good screw?’ she asked quickly. ‘Or are you a hard screw? If you work shifts does that mean you can be an early-morning screw or a late-night screw? If you get a lot of pleasure from your work does that mean you’re a passionate, satisfying screw …?’

      ‘Actually,’ he began apologetically, ‘I work in the prison’s admin.’

      She scowled. This wasn’t going as she had hoped.

      Over Philip’s shoulder, Sophie saw Rob and Angela on the balcony outside. The African sunlight turned Angela’s blonde hair white. Rob had made his trademark move, brushing Angela’s hair over her ear, allowing his fingertips to trail against her cheek, then caress the sensitive flesh of her neck.

      And then he was leaning in for the kiss.

      Angela melted against him.

      Sophie could sympathise with the woman. When Rob was turning on the charm it was impossible to resist him. Even watching the exchange, Sophie felt an echo of the thrill that Angela was clearly enjoying.

      Rob’s hand fell to Angela’s breast. He caressed her through the fabric of her thin cotton top. Angela made no objection to his hand being there. Instead she leaned into him. One hand dropped below the level of the window and Sophie guessed that Angela was exploring the shape of Rob’s erection.

      She envied her husband taking advantage of Angela and the isolation of the hotel’s balcony. She only wished Philip was as responsive.

      ‘Have you and Angela been together long?’ Sophie asked.

      It crossed her mind that perhaps her playdar had misled her.

      Certainly Angela was enjoying herself with Rob. Sophie figured, if she closed her eyes and listened intently, she would have heard Angela’s stifled cries as she muffled her sighs of pleasure beneath Rob’s touch.

      But what Rob had with Angela was very different from what Sophie found she had with Philip.

      Conversation with Philip was like pulling teeth.

      She supposed it could be that he and Angela lived the lifestyle, but that Philip didn’t find her attractive and had no interest in trying to have her. Sophie tried to quickly dismiss that thought, sure it was impossible for any man to resist her innate desirability. But it was enough to wound her self-confidence.

      She