Author's Note:
My special thanks to The Soulful Bard for reviewing and improving my story.
All errors are strictly mine.
* * *
All three couples had arranged their excursions prior to boarding the cruise ship. Not surprisingly, Weil-ling and Bill, as well as Emma and Norman, had arranged their excursions together. Aiko and Gerald had chosen a different one. It gave the couple a chance to have a private discussion.
Although Gerald was reasonably sure his hot wife had enjoyed herself, he wanted to make sure. "I know we agreed to do what we did, but I'm still a little worried you might feel some guilt or resentment," Gerald said. "I'll be straight with you," he continued. "I had a really good time, but what bothered me the most was that might be jealous."
"Jealous? Why would I be jealous? How could I be jealous of you after what you did for me on our first cruise, you know, with Bob. If anything, I still owe you one."
Gerald felt the need to explain his feelings, and explain he did.
"Over the years, I've seen relationships go completely sour because one spouse has affairs, and thinks it's okay," Gerald explained. "Worse, the cheating spouse has the nerve to become extremely jealous when his or her own spouse does the very same thing. You know from your experience with Bob. I didn't get jealous. But you are a different person with a different personality. And a very lovable personality too," he added for good measure. "In real life, some people have double standards. I once knew a guy who fooled around on his wife and had the gall to think that was okay. When his wife decided yo have an affaire of her own, he went totally ballistic! What a hypocrite!"
The light clicked on in Aiko's mind. Now she understood. He was worried she would resent his enjoyment with Emma.
Gerald was still explaining himself. "There was always the danger that we would get into swinging thinking we were okay with it, especially because we laid down some solid rules for the two of us to follow. But the real thing can be different. Watching me enjoy myself with another woman might have sparked a streak of jealousy you weren't even aware of even as you made out with Bill."
"You're raising good points, hon," Aiko affirmed. "So let me be clear. I am not jealous. I'm glad you enjoyed having sex with Emma. I really do want you to have a good time too."
Gerald kissed his wife. "I figured that out already," he said reassuringly, "but I wanted to let you know what nagged at me for a short while. I'm not bothered by it any more."
"Did watching Bill fuck me bother you in some way?" she wondered. "You seemed okay with it at the time."
"No, it didn't," Gerald said emphatically. He kissed her again. "Besides, I was too busy enjoying Emma. You had a good time too, right?" he asked.
Aiko smiled. "Of course, dear" she declared. "It was wild and exciting and fun. Swapping spouses was, well, delightfully sinful. And what were you thinking while Bill and I were going at it." She hugged him tightly as she said it.
"Ah, my little Japanese cherry blossom," Gerald responded. "I'm always happy to see you enjoy yourself. It was a real turn-on to see Bill mount your lovely, sexy little body. But fucking perky, impish Emma, an entirely new and very horny little female, was an even bigger turn-on for me than watching you two. As you know, I like spectator sports but I like participatory sports even more."
"So does this mean you want to resume festivities with them tomorrow?" she asked.
"I do. And you?"
"Yeah, me too."
"We've really changed, haven't we?" Gerald observed. "We used to be so prim and proper. Now we're real swingers."
* * *
After the three couples came back from their excursions, they met at their assigned table. For a while the discussion focussed on their excursions.
"Are you guys coming to our party tomorrow? Bill asked addressing Aiko and Gerald.
"Yes, we are," Gerald confirmed.
The other two couples were clearly pleased with their decision.
"Aiko and I are curious to hear about your first-time swinging experiences. Would you guys mind telling us?" Gerald asked the other two couples.
"Of course," Bill said obligingly. "We'll tell you our story first, then Emma and Norman, then you theirs." A thought suddenly occurred to him. "Have you guys swung before?"
"Sort of, I guess," Gerald answered. "It was more a share than a swap."
"We'll save your story for last," Bill said. "It sounds interesting."
After the six friends had settled into their places, Bill began recounting their story.
"When I sold my business a few years ago," Bill said, "Wei-ling and I decided we'd take a two-month tour of a few Asian countries. We spent a month in China, three weeks seeing the sites across the country, and a week her relatives who live near Hong Kong."
"What did you enjoy the most?" asked Aiko.
"Sichuan for the food and Hunan for its magnificent natural beauty," Bill replied. "Although I have to say that Wei-ling much preferred the food of her home province."
"Tell them about Zhangjiajie," Wei-ling interjected.
"Are you guys fans of natural beauty?" he asked.
Aiko and Gerald nodded.
"And are you familiar with the James Cameron move 'Avatar'?"
"That was a really good movie," Gerald said. "I'm a sci-fi fan; Aiko not so much. She likes chick flicks."
"Zhangjiajie is in Hunan province. It was used as the backdrop, digitized of course, for the battle fought between the invaders from Earth and the dragon-riding Na'vi."
"Really!" Gerald was clearly both interested and fascinated.
"Hey, you two," Emma interrupted. "You can talk about tours some other time. Get back to your story."
"Point well taken," Bill said. "From Hong Kong, we flew to Singapore, toured Malaysia, returned to Singapore and the took a flight to Bangkok where we decided to enjoy our first real Thai-style massage in the country of its origin."
"We had a Thai-style massage in Vietnam," Gerald said interrupting Bill. "It was great. We felt really good and relaxed after that."
"Did yours turn out the way theirs did?" Emma guffawed.
Aiko and Gerald glanced at her curiously, wondering what she was talking about. Norman gave her a warning look.
Emma noticed their reaction. "Obviously not."
"Let Bill tell his story, you little imp," Norman admonished. "All will be made clear soon enough."
Bill resumed his story. "We didn't know where to go to get a massage. Fortunately for us, the taxi driver who took us to downtown Bangkok spoke a little English. He recommended a district where several such massage establishments were located, but he warned us we might be out of luck because the next was a Thai important holiday; most businesses would close early.
"We tried several places," Wei-ling elaborated. "All of them were already closed. We were about to give up when we just happened to notice a massage establishment that still seemed open because we saw some activity inside. So we walked in. We were greeted a beautiful young lady who told us in fairly decent English that the place was about to close."
"We pleaded with her to take us but she adamantly refused," Bill continued. "We were just about to leave when a middle-aged lady came into the front office. She must have heard us. The young lady explained the situation to her. Their discussion was all in Thai. We had no idea what they were talking about except that it had something to do with us."
Bill stopped for a moment to sip his wine.
"The sweet young thing turned back to us and said, 'Boss says she and her husband will do massage. Okay?' She pointed to a list of services and their prices in bhats and U.S. dollars. 'Please choose and pay first.' It was our only chance for an original Thai massage. So we quickly agreed and paid for a full massage. The sweet young thin then left."
Emma had a broad smile on her face, relishing the story. Obviously, she and Norman had already heard the story. Norman gave her another warning look. She pouted like a little girl. Norman laughed and wagged his finger at her.
Everyonel was amused by their interplay. Bill continued his story.