Joel paused for a moment, wiping the sweat from his brow. They had finally reached the shade of the trees on their woodland walk and he was glad of the break from the sun's rays. His wife, Kelly, looked back but didn't stop.
"Come on, slow coach," she called back.
She looked beautiful. Even without making an effort she still managed to look sexy. Her dirty blonde hair was tied in a ponytail, the white strappy top clung to her slim frame and her shorts perfectly outlined her fine arse. Joel stared at it as she walked away. It was firm but had just enough wobble to it to drive him crazy.
In their late 20s, they had been married for less than a year and were enjoying their first holiday since the honeymoon. A week in the wilderness had sounded great but they'd spent most of that time in their hotel room. Finally they had escaped the lure of the bed and booked a guided tour of the local woodlands.
They had been expecting a huge group, a coach trip traipsing around. Instead they had Daryl as a guide and his younger brother Scott as the only other walker. Daryl was younger than them, maybe mid 20s. He was average height and build but had an air of confidence that put them at ease that he knew what he was doing. Scott, on the other hand, was awkward and nervous. They had learnt he was visiting his brother after being dumped by his girlfriend. As a gangly, pale-faced 18 year-old, Joel wasn't surprised he'd been dumped.
"Are you coming or not?" Kelly shouted back.
As Joel caught up with the waiting group, he noticed Scott staring at Kelly's arse. "He was looking again," he whispered to her.
"Oh, let him look. What harm can it do?"
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
Kelly didn't answer. She shook her head with a smile and continued on.
Further into the forest, they reached a small hill which they needed to climb up. Daryl went first to show the correct path.
"Do you want to go between me and Daryl or me and Joel?"
Kelly smirked at Scott's question. "There's an interesting choice," she teased.
Scott was horrified when he realised what he'd said. "Sorry, I meant..."
"She know what you meant," Joel interrupted. "You go next."
Scott was halfway up when he got stuck, unsure where to put his hand.
"It's this hold here," Daryl pointed.
"I can't reach," Scott answered.
"I'll give you a push," Kelly offered from beneath
him.
From the bottom, Joel could see that Scott was able to see right down Kelly's top. She had a strapless bra on that barely clung on to her ample breasts. Scott nearly slipped at the sight.
She didn't wait for a reply. She reached up and placed a hand on his thigh, sliding it up to his arse and then shoved him upwards. He clambered up and then reached back to pull Kelly to the top.
"Thanks," she said.
"I'm better at going down," Scott said.
"That'll make you popular," Kelly teased.
Joel reached the top and made sure he was with Kelly out of earshot of the others for a moment.
"Cut it out."
"Cut what out?"
"The teasing."
"He's the one saying things," Kelly protested.
"Jeez, lighten up."
She made a point of walking off ahead of Joel, deliberately close to Scott.
About an hour later, deep into the forest, Joel was walking alongside Daryl, with Kelly and Scott behind them. They had been getting on well, discussing Joel's work and comparing it to what it was like to like in a remote community. Daryl made it clear that the single life wasn't as lonely in that area as it may appear.
"Get a lot of ladies coming this way then?" Joel asked.
"Between you and me, these guided walks are normally gold. There's normally groups of girls looking for adventure."
"And you provide it?"
They both laughed.
"You must be disappointed today then," Joel said.
"I wasn't until I saw the ring," he joked.
Joel wasn't too sure how to take it so just smiled.
"Can I ask you something?" Daryl glanced back to where Scott and Kelly walked behind them.
"Sure."
"Is your wife always this...flirty? I mean, it's not a problem for me it's just Scott's going through a difficult patch."
"Well, she's..."
"Have I said something wrong? Look I'm sorry if..."
"No, no. It's just she's not normally like this. I think it's being away from people she knows. I'll try and have a word with her."
"Cheers, I'd appreciate that."
Joel dropped back so that Kelly and Scott caught up with him. He made sure to manoeuvre himself between them.
"How are you guys getting on?"
"Fine, thanks," Scott stammered.
"Good, we're just talking about how nice it is to be in a remote place."
"Oh, I think Daryl wanted to ask you something," Joel told Scott.
"OK, thanks," he said and went off to his brother.
"What was that all about?" Kelly asked.
"Nothing."
"Nothing? You're being weird."
"Daryl's noticed it too," Joel looked at her as though she should understand.
"What?"
"The teasing. He's just worried about Scott after his break-up."
"Bollocks. He's probably jealous more like."
"He's not jealous."
"Oh really? Watch this then. Guys!" she called out to Daryl and Scott, "can you wait a moment, I've got something in my shoe."
Kelly leaned down and untied her shoe. Then she turned away from them to tip the imaginary stone away. Bending over, she took a long time to retie her laces.
"Well?" she said to Joel as she stood.
He sighed. "Both of them were looking."
"Told you."
"That's not the point, you're my wife so you shouldn't be teasing other men," Joel protested but it fell on deaf ears.
The hike continued and so did the teasing. Kelly seemed to be doing it at every opportunity, becoming more overt with it in defiance of her husband's protests. She had bent over in front of them to examine bugs, given them views down her top each time her laces had mysteriously come undone again, as well as needing help from them both over every tiny obstacle. Despite his earlier requests, Daryl had been just as willing to lend a helping hand as Scott had been. If anything, he was flirting back with her as though Joel wasn't there.
"Shall we stop for a rest over there?" Daryl asked, pointing to a glade.
They all agreed and walked over to the clearing. Joel dropped his bag on the grass and sat down next to it. Kelly was about to sit down alongside him when Daryl made a suggestion.
"There's a few rocks over here, if you'd prefer.
All depends on whether you'd rather sit on something soft or hard." He spoke as though it were an innocent phrase.
"What girl can resist something hard?" Kelly giggled.
Joel rolled his eyes and Scott tried to hide his embarrassment as he sat on a fallen tree. Daryl took a seat on one of the rocks near Kelly.
"It's such a nice feeling to be this far away from civilisation," Daryl said.
"Aren't you ever worried about getting into trouble?" Kelly asked.
"Don't worry, you've got three men to take care of you," he teased.
"Only three of you?"
Kelly walked from her rock over to Joel, bending down to reach into the bag. Joel watched the men as they stared at his wife's arse.
"This is my last warning," Joel said. "Pack it in or there'll be trouble and I won't help you."
Kelly lifted the water bottle from the bag, peering over her shoulder to see the men eyeing her up.
"I don't need your help. You just look after the bag. Let me worry about handling them."
She walked back to sit next to Daryl on the rock. She took a sip of water and then leaned her head back, tipping the water over her face.
"That's so refreshing," she said.
Joel could see what she'd done, they all could. The water had doused her top making it almost see-through. Her cold nipples were poking through the material.
Daryl slipped his t-shirt over his head to reveal his almost hairless chest. There were hints of muscles there but it wasn't the toned body Joel had expected. It didn't seem to bother Kelly though.
"You guys are lucky. When you get hot you can just take off your shirt."
"So can you. Joel's seen it before and I can assure you that Scott and I don't mind."
Joel shook his head at Kelly but she took little notice.
"I don't think that would be appropriate. I'm a married woman after all."