"Mark, wake up."
Groggily, Mark woke up to feel his wife, Mia, gently shaking his shoulder.
"What? What is it?" he asked. It was still dark in their hotel suite.
"It's 3 am, time for our bet!" she said.
Mark remembered now. They were playing tourist on their honeymoon, walking by the Provincial Legislature building, when Mark had casually suggested that they go back to their nearby hotel room for a quickie. Mia had teased him about that.
"We're taking photos of the building, silly, can't you wait a few minutes?"
"Let's do both. You could take photos while we have sex on the main steps of the legislature."
"Please, you wouldn't have the guts to have sex in public."
"Well maybe not at high noon. Wake me up at three in the morning and we'll see who's chicken then."
They shared a laugh over that, but now she was actually waking him up at three in the morning.
"You're serious?"
"Sure, I was out on the balcony just now and the streets look deserted."
Mia suggesting sex Mark usually got him instantly aroused, but the idea of doing it where they could get caught added a exciting rush that he didn't realize would be there.
"Ok, let's do it. Get dressed and leave your underwear behind."
They quickly got dressed. Mark had a loose pullover and button-fly jeans. Mia was wearing a knee-length skirt and a tight sweater. They both wore their running shoes - just in case.
The Legislature building was the sort of sprawling gothic marvel popular with government buildings 100 years earlier. It sat at the back of large grounds with a variety of ornamental gardens. It was very popular with newlyweds, so much so that Mark and Mia originally had to make an appointment to take wedding pictures on the grounds.
The building faced a picturesque harbor. Across the street to the left was a large museum and across the street to the right was the couple's hotel. They choose it for its central location and that certainly was coming in handy now.
Mark and Mia walked through the near-empty lobby of their hotel, nodding to a bored front desk attendant. As they left the building they were immediately met with a strong wind blowing from out to sea. A storm was coming in, but had not reached the city. There was a chill to the wind, but not quite enough to make them return to their rooms to grab jackets.
"Let's walk around and case the building," Mark said.
"Hmm. That's not going to look suspicious at all at 3:30 in the morning," replied Mia sarcastically.
They walked north along the road and then turned along the street fronting the building. The first problem was evident. At night, the building's front was lit up with floodlights. It was very pretty, but not in any way secluded.
During the day, the grounds were busy with tourists. The street in front had spots for horse and carriage tours. You couldn't walk five feet without seeing a busker or a street vendor.
Now of course, they were the only people on the streets. The bars had all shut down over an hour earlier and the approaching storm had sent even the night owls indoors. No guards were in evidence, but that didn't mean there weren't any there.
"Don't expect a lot of foreplay'" said Mark, "Well need to go pretty fast".
"Don't worry about that - I'm pretty turned on right now. My heart is going like a hummingbird right now."
"How about right there?" Mark asked, pointing at a spot out of the direct light of the floodlights.