Unsheltered All The Way To Skin

(

Note to readers:

This story is an entry in the

Literotica Nude Day Story Contest 2024

. Feel free to read and vote and comment. All characters in sexual situations are at least 18 years old. The sex is consensual, hetero, and vanilla. The people in the story aren't necessarily attractive. If you can cope with that, then enjoy!)

***

"I guess, somebody doing this," said Earl, working to find words, "would have to, just, not care."

"Something like that," said Penny, in the monotone that meant that most of her attention was going to something else. In this case, reading.

"About, um, appearance," Earl continued. His body seemed unable to decide between standing still, and pacing. "About what other people think. And, these days, if someone is taking photos, and putting them on the internet."

Relaxed on the sofa, Penny looked his way, and held up the brochure. "It says here that visitors can't have phones or cameras. They have to be kept in the locker room. The camp managers take pictures, but only of people who sign waivers."

"We don't know anything about this place!" said Earl with an edge of panic. "I deal with the public. I can't have people thinking that I run around naked!"

Penny kept a straight face. "You sell appliances. It's not like your customers would judge whatever you do on your own time."

Earl looked at his wife. Middle age had been much kinder to her than to him. Penny had been pear-shaped all along, so childbirth had not adversely affected her contours. Her bright eyes and ready smile tended to raise the spirits of nearly everyone. Earl worried that her attractiveness to others, to

men,

had increased--as she, and

they,

had aged. He was often unable to enjoy the sight of her, because he was convinced that she would leave him for another man. The chances of that, he believed, only grew with each passing day, and his own aging.

There was not much wrong with him, physically, but his body had never responded well to exercise. He had a weak chin, and a paunch was building. His hair was unruly, and now it was thinning.

Their kids had grown up and moved out. He wondered what reasons Penny could have for staying with him.

And now, she seemed willing to show her naked body to total strangers. Putting him in a position where he would have to do the same. Or else, she'd go to this place alone, and definitely draw the attention of men far more desirable than Earl Burbage.

Penny said, "This is at a naturist park that's been there for decades." She glanced at the brochure. "We'd also do this on what some people claim is National Nude Day. I'm sure that's just silly, but the camp is offering a discount then." She smiled. "So we might save enough to pay for dinner on the way home."

Earl didn't look at the brochure, but also couldn't meet Penny's eyes. "The money is

not

what I'm worried about."

"Jane's been there. She told me quite a lot about it."

"That's her sort of adventure," he muttered.

Penny side-eyed him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He tried to wave it off. "Nothing. She's your friend. I, I shouldn't..."

She folded her arms, taking on her confrontational posture. "Speak your piece, Earl."

He was trapped by her. This released him from being polite. "Ever since her divorce, she's...out there. It's like she couldn't wait to be apart from Leonard, so she could, ah, do anything that strikes her fancy."

"Definitely. Leonard always tried to control her. Now, for the first time, she's enjoying life."

He needed a breath before he could go on. "Is that what you want, too?"

Her look softened. "I want to be your wife. Fortunately, I already am.

Also,

I want to enjoy life. Don't you?"

"I...I..."

Earl found that he couldn't answer that, as a simple 'yes' or 'no.' He settled for this: "I want us to be happy."

"You say that all the time," said Penny with a sigh. "I never know what would make you happy."

Silently, Earl conceded that he was usually on a spectrum between neutral and dour. There were so many things that could go wrong in life, and he could never ignore them. Through years of keeping a job and helping to raise children, worry had become his baseline condition. He hid that while at work, smiling and acting friendly to anyone who might be interested in a washer-dryer combo. He knew that when he dropped this act, at home, he merely subjected his wife to his darker moods.

"I don't have a problem with nudism," he said. "I just have no interest in it."

Penny felt the need to challenge that. "It doesn't scare you?"

"Of course not," he said, but less confidently.

What he didn't say, was that he thought being nude would likely bring him shame and ridicule. Not from Penny, whom he knew to be good-hearted, but from an imagined horde of Others.

Penny picked up her phone. "Jane sent me some pictures that the management took. Would you like to see them?"

"No!" he barked, with a shudder.

She tried to minimize the amusement in her look. "I could show you the ones of the park. Not the ones with Jane in them." She surrendered to a smile. "In all her glory."

He picked up the brochure. "Does the place look like it does in here?"

Penny looked at the phone, and scrolled. "Ah...it seems that way."

"Then I don't need to see them." He only glanced at the brochure. He was relieved that the people shown were depicted in a mostly-safe-for-work way.

"Earl, when was the last time you and I did something new, together?"

He tried to find an answer. He knew that going to a different shopping mall, three months ago, wouldn't count for much.

Her expression, which he had been reading for so many years, showed him that she was sincere about this. She wanted them to do this together. If he refused, would she stop wanting to do anything with him?

"I need to think about this," he said. "Is that all right?"

"If you like," she said. "We have three weeks until the deadline to sign up."

***

A few days later, they both found that the mood was right, for doing something that wasn't new. As they sat up in bed, with a late-night talk show rerun on the bedroom television, Penny's hand found Earl's under the covers.

During a block of ads, he leaned close and nuzzled her neck.

With one remote, she turned off the TV. With another, he turned off the lights.

Well into June, some evenings were still cool. Earl and Penny were comfortable as they snuggled under the sheet and blanket. His right hand stroked the nape of her neck, fingers playing gently with her hair. His left hand slid her pajama cotton along her hip. Being enclosed together calmed him, which in turn opened him to excitement.

He felt her fingers along his jaw, and then her lips met his. He shivered.

Sex doesn't have to be naked,

he insisted to himself, as he had done so many times.

You don't have to see everything that's happening. Porn insists that all sensations be made visual, and obvious. I know better.

He no longer said this sort of thing out loud. Penny knew how he felt. She worked with it, and enjoyed how her touches could surprise him, and please him.

Earl strove to please her also. Here together, with the world limited to the two of them, his worries were shunted to remote storage. Now he devoted himself to his dear Penelope, giving her skin the touches she enjoyed.

In this slow ascent of their passion, he was barely aware of what they did to get fabric out of their way. He simply waited for her to declare her readiness, which she did by closing a hand around his phallus and drawing it to her vulva. He found her warm and moist, as he had known she would be, from the quickening of her breathing.

They remained side by side. This did not provide the deep insertion they could have from other positions, but their bodies enjoyed the close embrace. She wrapped her top leg over his hip, for greater contact. His right arm bore the weight of her torso, but the touch of his right hand on her back was sure, yet gentle.

Their peaks were more like plateaus. Slow swivels, and grinding, made pistoning unnecessary. There was a rumble in the back of her throat that went on, and on. He maintained his motion for as long as the rumble continued. As it faded, their convergence produced his own heat, and spasms.

Then he softened. She felt that happening, and once again kissed his lips. His departure occurred without specific action by either of them. But their intimacy continued.

***

That was a Friday night. The following morning, after they had slept in, she asked him at breakfast, "How do you feel?"

"Grateful," he said, smiling as he raised his coffee cup. "Privileged."

Her smile was a bit smug. "The gynecologist says that, in perimenopause, I should expect to start feeling, mmm, dry. Thanks to you, that hasn't happened yet." She raised her coffee to him in tribute. "So

I'm

the one who feels grateful, and privileged."

He looked away, embarrassed. But he still smiled.

Penny knew that his pleasant mood wouldn't last. It never did. This was as good a time as any to bring up a topic that he probably wouldn't like.

"Can we talk again about, um, that excursion I suggested?"

As he looked at her, for a split-second he saw her nude. Above the level of the kitchen table, his mind insisted on seeing her breasts, areolas, nipples. And also, the details he saw when she emerged from a shower: the sideward sag, and the faint wrinkles below the collarbones.

His heart thumped rapidly from this image of her. He was appalled at himself.

He cleared his throat, looked at his coffee, and lifted it for an awkward gulp.

She said, "What we did last night was wonderful. Being sheltered with you, that way, is always a joy. But I also like the idea of being...outside of the shelter."

As he looked at her again, he was relieved that he now saw her in a denim button-down shirt. Yet her smile made him worry.

"You've heard me say," she went on, "that before we met, I enjoyed some silly opportunities. I skinny-dipped. That was always fun, and it made me feel

free.

" She took a sip of coffee. "I don't ever have to plunge into a cold lake again. But even at my age, I'd like to feel fresh air on all of me."

He kept his eyes on her face.

She reached across the table. Knowing this gesture, he opened his hand and let her take it.

"Earl, I can't make you like this. I won't try. But can you come with me, just once?"

"Will Jane be there?"

"Actually, no. She has to work that day. The only naked woman you'll know is the one you married." She chuckled. "And there won't be pictures of us. What I want is the experience at the time, not evidence that we have to hide from the kids."

He had already checked the calendar. July 14 was a Sunday. The store did a fair amount of trade on weekends, but salespeople alternated then. As they did today, giving him a Saturday at home.

Earl could be free on Nude Day. He wondered,

How many kinds of 'free?'

It was just one day. Maybe six hours. With, in theory, no adverse consequences.

He gave Penny very few opportunities for fun, or interesting experiences.

"All right," he said. "We'll go to...what's it called?"

"Alfresco Arbors," she said, suppressing a giggle.

He smiled at her amusement. "And I'll try not to be a wet blanket."

As he said that, he realized that a wet blanket could, at least, keep him covered.

***

The drive took more than two hours. Earl tried to reassure himself that the remoteness would prevent them from encountering anyone they knew. Yet worry reminded him of today's discount, and the chance that it might draw more people from their town,

their neighborhood?

As they had on other car trips, Earl and Penny worked together smoothly. She kept track of directions, on paper and online, while he drove. Sometimes he asked for guidance, sometimes she volunteered it. On a longer trip they would have alternated roles, with the person on the passenger side also, in years long past, paying attention to the kids behind them.

The last several minutes were spent on two-lane roads, through rising elevation and wooded terrain. Penny lowered her window and inhaled, with eyes closed. Earl conceded to this acceptance of nature. He turned off the air conditioning and lowered his own window. Despite his lifelong preference for the indoors, he found the freshness pleasant. "Nice day, for July," he said.

She merely nodded.

The sign for the turnoff showed the camp's name, in text, and an arrow. No illustration. At that moment, theirs was the only car that moved onto the access road. Earl calmed slightly, able to shed what he knew to be an irrational fear: That someone would link their license plate to a nudist camp.

The road led to a cabin barely visible among a dense growth of trees with low, leafy branches. Penny spoke before Earl could. "These might be planned plantings. To stop snooping."

What they saw, once the trees allowed, was a parking lot with about twenty spaces, in front of the cabin, which was white-painted stucco. There were three cars, and a RV, parked. As Earl pulled in, he saw a spry elderly couple leave the cabin. They were fully dressed.

Penny asked Earl, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he said, looking her way. "Do I look like I'm not?"

"I'm checking in," she said, "This is the last chance to back out before we mingle with people."

"I'll behave myself," he said, unable to keep that from sounding like a grumble.

She appeared to decide that this was the best she'd get from him. She opened her door.

The cabin was a reception center. Everyone inside was clothed. Some people sat in a waiting area, while a group of two adults and three kids was at a counter, behind which a middle-aged woman was pointing at a clipboard. "One of you must be with them at all times," said the woman, "even in the locker room. When they're in the pool, one of you must be with them, in the water or on the chair deck."

Penny stepped to the left. Earl looked to see her pull a ticket from a dispenser.

Earl then saw, high on the wall behind the counter, a digital sign with the number '70' illuminated. Below, there were shelves with racks of sunglasses, tubes of sunscreen and insecticide, and baseball caps emblazoned 'Alfresco Arbors.' To the side was a soft-drink vending machine. To Earl, these made the place seem almost normal.

Penny headed for open seating. He joined her, and when he sat she showed him the ticket with '74' on it. Quietly they waited. It took quite a while for the family to be cleared through, but the next three numbers--held by two couples and a single male--were processed quickly. By the time 74 was called, another couple and a family with two kids had arrived.

"Hi!" said the woman with a big smile. "New here?"

"Yes!" said Penny, just as bubbly. Earl made himself bury his suspicion, that a security camera had found that their images didn't match anyone in the files.

The woman handed over a map. She gave the briefing, on the facilities and the rules, to both of them--even once it was clear that Penny was the only one responding. Earl showed a blank expression.

The attendant wore thick glasses, and her curly light-brown hair was tied back. She wore a dark green t-shirt, and Earl saw that her tan seemed to be even on all of her exposed skin.

He found himself wondering what her tan was like on skin that wasn't exposed.

With a jolt, he looked away.

He spoke only at the very end of the briefing. The attendant asked, "Would you like to put this on a credit card?"

"No," said Earl, reaching for his wallet. "Cash."

"Of course," said the attendant blithely. Earl saw her and Penny share a muted smile.

Again in the car, they resumed their usual roles, with Penny using the map to show him how to drive to the main parking lot. He noticed that they passed a chain-link fence with an open gate, obscured by foliage.

"You heard what she said, right?" Penny asked. "Hats, footwear, and socks are allowed. If you feel yourself getting too...excited...cover up with a towel."

"I understand," he said curtly.

They pulled up to a much larger parking lot, about half-filled. To the left was a road to what appeared to be an RV park. In front of them was a large building with three marked entrances: MEN, WOMEN, and ANY.

"I think we'll only need one locker," said Penny, hauling her wicker beach bag from the trunk, "so we can go in ANY."

He nodded. He had nothing to carry. Every time he had thought about what to bring, he had to remind himself that he'd be nude the whole time. Soon, between his bucket hat and his walking shoes, there'd be...nothing.

They were alone in the ANY locker room. This was a relief to Earl, though it only postponed the inevitable. Penny's relief was a bit different. "In the old days," she said, unbuttoning her sleeveless blouse, "what made me nervous was undressing. I really don't know why. It's not like I thought people would make fun of my undies. Once I was nude, and everybody else was too, I felt fine. It was something about making the move from clothed to naked."

By the time Earl had stowed his polo shirt, cargoes, and briefs, Penny was already in the buff and slathering herself with sunscreen. "We could do this to each other," she said with a smirk, "but I can't let you get too excited. In some ways, nudism is puritanical."

He was aware of that, from his recent reading. He looked away from Penny. But she stepped into his line of vision as she handed him the sunscreen. "Please look, Earl," she said, seriously. "You need to get accustomed." She set her wide straw gardening hat on her head. Raising her arms raised her breasts. Earl stifled a gasp.

She then stood still while he smeared his skin, including in places where he had never before done so. The whole time, he looked at Penny. The entire experience was alien to him, and this kept him from unwelcome effects at the sight of his nude wife.

Each then briefly applied sunscreen to the other's back. Finally, Penny held out to Earl the locker key, and the zippered wristband that could contain it. "This way," she said, smiling, "you'll know that I'll have to come back to you in order to leave this place."

That got a smile from him, which in turn made her beam with delight. "Come on!" she said, hefting the beach bag.

Together they walked into bright sunlight.

At least, Alfresco Arbors wasn't full of young adults at the peak of attractiveness. Still, Earl was sure that he'd compare poorly with any of the men here, even the older ones.

They approached the large swimming pool, but the din of kids, and the splashing, deterred them. "Not our problem," said Penny with a chuckle.

She found a spot under a large oak tree, and spread their blanket on the grass. "Let's see what else is here," she said, setting the bag on the blanket.

They strolled past a sand pit with a volleyball game, at least ten people on each side. Then there was a gazebo where a youngish man played a guitar, with three people paying attention, more or less. Earl's attention, however, was paid to Penny.

It wasn't just that she was smiling. It was the way she was carrying herself, upright and loose-limbed, striding eagerly. Clearly with no worry about the fact that she was naked. At home, fully dressed, she seemed to trudge much of the time.

She called her skinny-dipping silly,

he thought,

but clearly it means so much to her, enjoying this freedom!

He forced himself to another thought.

Whenever she wants to commune with nature, in this special way, I should do everything I can to make it possible!

Then they reached a tennis court, which had been subdivided.