We'd each had about six drinks, and we were sitting on the couch at IndoChine in Holland Village. Even in my alcohol-induced state, I knew what was going to come next...and I fairly tingled with excitement. I glanced over at Hope with a come-hither look in my eyes, and she raised her eyebrows at my obviously excited state. We both turned to my boyfriend Jack, who sat next to me on the couch watching the interplay between his girlfriend and her best friend. He grinned as he read our minds, and motioned for the waiter to bring the check. The waiter looked glad to be rid of us—lesbian shows might be good for business in L.A., but here in Singapore a threesome on the couch (however mild) only attracted disapproving attention.
The three of us stumbled down the street and into a waiting cab, carressing and kissing as much as we dared. Which, with a few too many long island ice teas coursing through our veins, was probably more than we would have under other cicumstances. In the cab, an old Chinese man started driving, then turned and asked us where we wanted to go. I removed my lips from Hope's neck and Jack stopped stroking my inner thigh. Where did we want to go? We looked at each other. Hope was the first to speak.
"We can't go to my place—my roommates don't take kindly to our little menage a tois." We shared a grin at this—Hope's roommates professed to be liberal-minded, but in practice they tended to be a little conservative for our taste. Hope turned her gaze to me. "What about you, Des? Your place?"
I hedged for a bit before responding. "Well, we went to my place last time...and my twin bed was hardly sufficient for the activities we had planned..." we all giggled and turned to Jack, who sighed. "Fine, fine, my house it is." He turned to the driver. "Ang Mo Kio Avenue, please?" The driver grunted, eyes fixed firmly on the road. Apparently he didn't appreciate the hands Hope and Jack each had on my breasts as much as I did.
Twenty minutes later we made our winding way up the elevator to Jack's condo. By this time the brut of the alcohol had worn off and we were all feeling pleasantly buzzed. We laughed aloud at the disapproving look we got from Jack's security man and fell over each other into his apartment. There was an uncomfortable pause as we looked uncertainly at one another. What to do, where to go... I broke the silence.
"Let's play a game!" I announced. The others looked at me strangely.
"What kind of game?" Hope asked.
"Um..." I looked around for inspiration. "I know! Strip poker!"
Jack guffawed loudly. "I've never heard a girl suggest that game before."
I narrowed my eyes at him, then grinned slowly and raked my gaze seductively over his body. "Jack, if you haven't figured it out by now, I'm not like other girls."
Hope laughed at Jack's obvious arousal, and he grinned sheepishly. "In that case, I'll get the cards. This way." He led us down the hall to his bedroom. As he rummaged in a drawer for some cards, I flopped down on his large four poster bed. It was an impressive piece of furniture, and it dominated the room. The double mattress was wonderfully comfortable. I stretched luxuriously and closed my eyes—only to feel Hope's manicured nails run lightly down my torso. I shivered deliciously and arched my back, pushing my breasts closer to her talented fingers...but she laughed and pushed me back down. "Not yet, Des," she giggled. "Weren't you the one who wanted to play strip poker?" I pouted and crossed my hands over my chest. "Sure...but that doesn't mean we can't play something else first..."
"Yes it does," Jack interrupted me. "I found the cards; we're ready to play."
We sat is a circle on Jack's bed. I sat cross legged facing Hope, who had on a dress and so was sitting with her legs together, mermaid style. Jack completed the triangle, hugging his knees to his chest as he passed the cards to me. For all my bravado in announcing the game, I wasn't entirely sure how to begin. That seemed to be a trend with me. Noticing my insecurity, Hope sighed. "Here, pass the cards to me." I did so wordlessly, my eyes large and innocent looking. She rolled her eyes at my vulnerable act and began dealing.
"Five card draw, no wild cards. No redeals. And no folding." This last bit was said with a rather evil grin, and I knew it was directed at Jack. He smiled sheepishly at having been found out—it had long been his strategy when playing anything to play it safe and not gamble. A far cry from my reckless do-or-say anything nature. It was a wonder we got along so well. Or at all.
Hope finished dealing and tossed her long, wavy auburn hair back over her shoulder before picking up her own cards. I shook my head, trying to clear it, and looked at my own hand. I almost groaned aloud. King high, absolutely nothing else. I peeked over the top of my cards, trying to read how the others had fared. Hope was obviously holding back a grin. Of course she would get a good hand—everything comes naturally to Hope. I rolled my eyes and turned to look at my boyfriend. His face was, as always, impassive. He could've had a flush or nothing for all I could tell.
Hope spoke again. "Okay you guys, prepare to get naked. Rules are this: the person who comes in last in each hand has to remove one article of clothing. First one naked loses."
I don't know what made me say it, since I was probably going to lose—oh wait, THAT'S why I said it—but I opened my big mouth anyway. "What happens to the loser?"
Hope raised an eyebrow and Jack and I exchanged glances. He narrowed his eyes at me. Oops. Guess he didn't have a flush.
"What did you have in mind, Des?" Hope asked me slyly. I gulped and looked to Jack for backup.
"Yeah Des, what did you have in mind?"
Great, no help there. I swallowed again and looked from one to the other. We were all twenty three, and I was actually the oldest of the group by a month or two, but that certainly never came across in our relationship. In fact, I was generally treated as the baby. I twirled my champagne blonde hair around a red-nailed finger and tried to think. What would be fun? Fun was my area of expertise...suddenly I had it.
"Loser is at the mercy of the winners. A sex slave for the night." I grinned triumphantly at the others. Jack rolled his eyes—he knew I expected to lose, and as a self-proclaimed submissive, the punishment (such as it were) was custom-tailored to my liking. Even Hope, who didn't know about my fascination with BDSM, was not convinced. Every time the three of us had gotten together for a night of fun, I somehow managed to finagle my way to the bottom of the pile or the center of the action. Besides that, Hope was most definitely not the submissive type, and on the off-chance that she lost the poker game, this punishment was hardly ideal for her. I gave her my most sincere smile and she narrowed her eyes further. I decided to try another track.