"We're not supposed to be doing this," Ashley whispered, even though there was no one else around. The other passengers were down at the surf line while Ashley and her sister Beth wandered near the far edge of the beach, close to the part where the sand ended and the deep jungle began. Their cruise ship sat idly off the coast, a glittering white vessel surrounded by blue-green water.
"But if they don't catch us, it won't matter," Beth replied. She squatted down and ran her fingers over the soft sand, then stood up again and adjusted her bikini. It was the pink and green one, the one that showed tons of cleavage and barely covered her ass. Not that Beth needed to wear skimpy outfits to get attention—with her curly brown hair, big blue eyes, and killer body, men would've stared at her even if she was wearing a burlap sack with a head hole cut in it—but the 20-year-old loved teasing the boys, so she milked her hot body for all it was worth.
Her sister Ashley, on the other hand, barely got any attention from guys. She had just turned 18 but was still as slim and athletic as a young girl, with practically no curves at all. She had the same brown hair and blue eyes as Beth, but her face wasn't nearly as pretty. She wore one-piece swimsuits and barely any makeup, and had spent most of the time during the cruise hiding under an umbrella by the pool with her nose stuck in a book.
Ashley shaded her eyes and stared at the other passengers to see what they were doing. About two dozen of them had come to the beach while the rest of the group went into town to shop for souvenirs. Ashley and Beth were already tired of the shabby island markets with their cheap trinkets and ugly t-shirts, so they went to explore the beach instead. It also gave them a chance to get away from their parents, who had smothered them with attention during their yearly family vacation. Now that Ashley and Beth were both in college, spending an entire week with their parents was the worst form of torture. Even the beauty of the Caribbean wasn't enough of a distraction, because by now all the little islands looked exactly alike to the girls.
They had already seen tons of beaches, but this one was different. Their activity director told the group that this beach was home to a special type of hermit crab that lived in gorgeous red seashells only found in this area. The shells were beautiful, but also protected by local laws. Tourists could take photos of them if they spied one, but it was illegal to remove one from the beach. That didn't stop Beth, though, who was determined to find one of the rare shells and sneak it back to the ship.
The older girl was wandering slowly with her hands on her hips, eyes down, scanning the sand for the red shells. Ashely watched her sister for a moment, insanely jealous of Beth's grapefruit-sized tits and perfect ass, then she crossed her arms over her flat chest and walked in the opposite direction. Beth could do whatever she wanted, but Ashley was ready to go back to the ship. This stupid beach was boring. She was ready to dive back under that pool umbrella with her book, and—ouch! Ashley winced as she stepped on something hard and spiky. She peered down and saw a torpedo-shaped red shell half-buried in the sand, its pointed end sticking up.
Ashley looked back over her shoulder. Beth was twenty feet away, facing the opposite direction. If she called to her sister, everybody else in the group—including the ship's activities director and the local guide who had met them at the beach—would know what they were up to. Besides, Ashley didn't want to be an accessory to something illegal. Beth could steal as many protected shells as she wanted, but there was no way Ashley was going to point them out to her older sister.
The girl had carried her phone with her to take pictures. Trying not to draw attention, she aimed it at the sand, zoomed in, and snapped off several photos of the shell.
"What are you doing?" Beth asked.
Ashely jumped, because she hadn't heard the other girl come up behind her. "Nothing. I just—"
"Nothing my ass!" Beth said, roughly pushing her sister aside. "Holy shit, you found one! Were you gonna keep it for yourself and not even tell me about it? I can't believe you!"
"Keep your voice down," Ashley warned, but it was too late. A few people from the group were peering over to see what the girls were up to.
"Here, stand in front of me," Beth ordered, taking her sister by the arms and arranging her like a human wall. "Pretend I'm adjusting my bikini or something." Beth ducked behind her sister, fiddled with the waistband of her bikini bottoms, then squatted down and grabbed the shell. When she stood up again, it was clutched tightly in her fist.
The activities director, a short middle-aged man named Bob who wore white shorts and a white t-shirt, had wandered in their direction. "Everything okay, girls?" he called out.
"Yeah, we're fine," Beth replied, flashing a smile as she stepped out from behind Ashley. "Just got a little sand in my swimsuit, that's all."
"Well, come join the group," the man said. "It's time to head back."
Beth giggled as she and Ashley followed after him. "This is so fucking cool!"
"If anybody notices—"
"Just shut up, okay? Nobody's gonna see it!"
But as they reached the group, a chill went down Ashley's spine. The local guide, a young dark-skinned islander named Melvin, was asking the passengers to turn their pockets inside-out before they boarded the small shuttle boat that would take them back to the ship. "My apologies, friends," he said with an embarrassed grin, "but we can't have any of our beloved shells following you home."
"Fucking shit!" Beth mumbled. The shell was so long that its pointy end poked out of her fist. There was no way to hide all of it, even if she kept her fist closed. And if Melvin asked her to open her hands, she was dead for sure. "Here, you take it," she told Ashley, bumping her closed fist into her sister's leg.
"No way!" Ashley hissed under her breath.
"Come on! I don't have any place to put it!"
"Neither do I! Just drop it and kick some sand over it. There's no way to sneak it onboard!"
But instead, Beth huffed and shoved the shell down the back of her bikini bottom. It was shaped roughly like a tube of lipstick and stood out clearly beneath the thin fabric, but Beth put her hands behind her back and did her best to hide the obvious bulge.
Melvin gave each passenger a quick, friendly inspection then smiled and thanked each one. His smile grew extra wide when he reached Beth, the young man's eyes crawling all over the girl's exposed skin. "Okay girls, no bags, no pockets, nothing in your hands?" Beth and Ashley both shook their heads and held out their hands, palms up. The guide nodded and was about to turn away when he stopped and frowned. It was impossible to ignore Beth's firm, peach-shaped ass inside the skimpy bikini, but there was something odd about it as well. "I'm sorry, miss, but could you please turn around?"
Beth blinked and swallowed hard. "Wh-why?" The guide leaned forward and tried to peer behind the girl's back, but Beth backed away from him. "What the hell's wrong with you?" she stammered. "Are you some kind of pervert?"
"What's that in your bathing suit, miss?" the guide asked, his smile gone now.
Beth snorted. "Don't you wish you knew! Now get away from me before—"
"Is there a problem?" Bob asked, raising his eyebrows as he looked from Beth to the guide.
Melvin ignored the activities director, then shouted Hey! so loud that Beth and Ashley both jumped. He was looking past them and waving an arm in the air, trying to get someone's attention. The sisters turned and saw another young islander, this one wearing a khaki uniform, jogging toward them from the small security hut at the dock where the shuttle boat was tied off. He was some type of guard, and sand flew up behind his feet as he dashed toward the girls. When he reached the group, Melvin rattled off something in his island language while pointing at Beth's ass the whole time.
The security guard frowned at Beth. "You taking something from the beach?" he asked in a heavy accent. "No taking shells. It's forbidden."
"You're both crazy!" Beth said. "I don't have anything!"
The security guard twirled a finger in a circular motion. "Turn around so we can make sure."
