Author Notes:
Everyone in this story is 18 years old.
This is the fourth story in the chronicles of Bella (ooh, how grandiose!), but each story can be read on its own.
There is no boy-girl sex in this one, and some girl-on-girl action.
* * *
I woke when I felt someone sitting down on my sunbed. It was Carter, of course. I was working on an all-over tan and had securely locked the front door. My husband had a key, obviously.
"Oh!" I sat up with a jolt. "Did I sleep so long? I just closed my eyes for a minute."
"Relax, honey," said Carter. He leaned forward to kiss me. His hands around my bare body felt nice, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I came home early to help you with the party preparations. It's only six."
"Oh, that's a relief." I sank back again. There was an hour to go before our guests arrived. I'd already set the buffet table on our patio, and the food was ready. Carter's hand on my breast reminded me that I wasn't ready -- I had to get dressed. "Plenty of time, then."
Carter's company was having a convention in our town. Carter had invited a few people home for dinner tonight. Carter knew them from orientation sessions or earlier conventions he had attended. I knew almost none of them but was looking forward to meeting them.
Carter gripped my nipple and pulled me toward him for another kiss. We were on a small terrace at the end of our backyard, with screens on two sides providing privacy. None of the neighboring houses were tall enough to look into this terrace.
"Yep, most of our guests won't be here for an hour. But I picked up Anissa and Lucy from their hotel, and their husbands, Tyler and Charles. The others will come on their own."
"Anyone I have to be careful around?" I asked him. "Any company heavyweights?"
Carter shook his head. He walked his fingers down my breast and into my navel, making me squeal. "I didn't invite C-suite people. It kills the party vibe -- everyone has to tiptoe around them. These are all people at my level, more or less. I've done orientation with many of them.
"Twenty people, you said, so I've made arrangements for that many." I looked at him questioningly. I always worried about running out of food or liquor at a party at home.
"Yes, that's right," said Carter. "Ten of my colleagues and their partners."
"We're all set for that many." I was relieved no guests had been added at the last minute. "Ten men and as many women?"
"Yes, it's worked out that way," said Carter. "There's one male gay couple, but Jessa and Penelope are a couple, too, so ten and ten." His hand covered my pussy, a finger probing between my lips. I closed my eyes as he found my clit and rubbed it side to side. "It's lovely to come home and find you naked, Bella. You've never done this before."
"You better stop this, lover boy, or your guests will wonder why you've disappeared." I looked up at him, smiling. Reluctantly, he took his hand off me. "Are those four in our living room? I'll get dressed and join you all quickly." I got off the sunbed, and Carter stood with me, too. He peered over the parapet wall.
"No, they're all on the patio." Carter waved to them and took a step down. "I'll look after them till you join us.
He continued down the stairs, and I could hear him join the conversation below. I peered over the parapet, hoping no one would look upward and see me. I saw Carter carry an empty tray into the kitchen.
I looked around and realized I hadn't brought a robe with me. All too well I remembered the thrill of sprinting across the exposed part of backyard and hoping none of our neighbors would be looking. I stepped back from the parapet and considered my situation.
l was completely naked on our sun terrace and must cross our backyard and patio to reach the house. Four of our guests were on the patio. No matter which way I went, one of them would see me if I crossed to the house.
I considered just staying on the terrace until Carter came back to look for me. I could ask him to bring me clothes or a robe. That would be the ideal solution.
I realized that might take a long time, though. Carter would assume I'd made it to the house and was getting dressed and party-ready in our room. He wouldn't come looking for me anytime soon.
I peered over the parapet again. There was a hedge along the side of our backyard, starting near the terrace stairs and reaching to the patio. Could I go down the stairs quietly and make a dash for the hedge?
The hedge was recently planted and less than three feet high. I would have to crawl on my hands and knees to hide behind it. It wasn't dense enough to hide me either, and I knew his colleagues would see me.
Nuts to that, I thought. If they're going to see me naked, it'll be standing up straight, not crawling like a puppy. I straightened my back and stood at the top of the stairs.
I had to stop there. My heart was thumping hard, and my vision was blurred. The four people below looked like a huge crowd, and I thought again about waiting for Carter.
Carter never hurried me when I was dressing to go out. I knew he wouldn't call up to our bedroom for me, no matter how long I didn't appear. He would just struggle on with mixing the drinks and serving the food on his own.
Nothing for it. I pasted a confident smile on my face and went down the stairs. One of the men saw me first, and he stopped mid-sentence, mouth open. The other three turned to see what he was staring at.
In a complete, stunned silence, I walked up to them and offered my hand. "Hi, I'm Bella. Sorry I didn't welcome you before, but I was on the sun terrace."
"Yes, we turned up early." One of the women managed to speak after several seconds. "I'm Lucy."
The other three also shook my hand and introduced themselves. I expected both men to ogle me, but Lucy and Anissa were also running their eyes all over me.
"You have a lovely home," said Tyler politely, looking up from my breasts. "Carter brought us through, and it looked very organized."
"Thank you," I said. "Carter puts in a lot of work with me to keep it so. He's a stickler for neat and organized."
"Oh, but you don't have a drink," said Charles. "Shall I ask Carter to get you one?"
"Not right now, thanks," I said. "I've been lying in the sun for a couple of hours and feel light-headed. I'll wait a bit."
"Your tanning is going well." Anissa dropped her eyes to my thighs and brought them up my body. "Are you trying to get rid of your tan lines? They're pretty faint now."
"Yeah, you're a nice even color." Tyler moved sideways, and I realized he was trying to get a view of my side and back. "Wish we had a private sun terrace, eh, Anissa? Would be nice if you had a lovely even tan like Bella."
"Well, our backyard is pretty open on two sides." Anissa grinned at me. "And tanning completely nude isn't for everyone. Needs a lot of guts."
"I don't usually do it," I said. I wished I could go up to my bedroom and get dressed. Standing naked with four of Carter's work friends was pretty awkward. "But we're going to a nudist resort next month. So I thought an all-over tan would be good." I saw Anissa nodding in agreement as I explained it. "Not having big white patches on my body will help me blend in."
"That's good thinking," said Tyler. "You won't stick out among all those naturists with their uniform tans."
"Yeah, and it's good practice to tan nude here, before doing it at the resort." Lucy agreed with me. "Doing it for the first time at a resort might be difficult."
"But what you're doing is wonderful, absolutely," said Charles. "Carter's a lucky guy. Lucy's never agreed to come to a clothing-optional resort."
"I don't have a bombshell body like Bella," Lucy said, and the others laughed and agreed. "Or maybe I would. Oh, here's Nick, and Erica."
The newcomers came onto the patio, visibly shocked to see me standing completely naked. They all knew each other, so only I needed to be introduced.
"This is Bella, Carter's wife," said Anissa. I shook hands with Nick, then Erica. "They're going to a nudist resort next month, so Bella's preparing by attending this party nude. Sort of easing into it."
"Oh, that's a clever idea." Erica stepped forward and hugged me. "Yeah, it would be difficult to get naked in a new place. Doing a trial run at home makes so much sense."
"That's awesome!" Nick looked me up and down, his gaze lingering on my crotch. "I'd be terrified to go to one of those nudist places."
Carter opened the door and ushered two men out. From the way they were holding hands, I guessed they were the gay couple. Charles introduced them to me.