Piper rested an elbow on the table. “Mostly because she’s raunchy. Like, dirty dirty. She loves things raw, hard, and dangerous. She’s a tattoo artist with a dark pixie cut. She’s not exactly full-on BDSM, but close. We’ve had fun with her and Brad over the years, but she’s not your type. Neither is her husband. He’s a biker, covered in tattoos. He’s also really smart. He has some sort of big-time corporate job. But when he gets home, he’s all bad boy. I have to say, he’s completely sexy. He has this deep, baritone voice, and his arms are this big around.” She mimed a large circle with both her hands. “He gives me chills, but he’d likely make you duck and run for cover. We’ve only been with them a handful of times, because they sort of take your breath away—or suck all the available oxygen out of the room.” She laughed. “But I swear, Gillian was born into this lifestyle. She tells it like it is and would have a lot of great things to add. She and Emma have been friends for a long time. I’ll see what Emma thinks first, but we should consider it. I’m not sure how girly girl Gillian gets, or if she’d even be interested in getting together.” Piper shrugged. “But it’s worth asking them.”

“It all sounds good to me,” Caroline said as she sat back in her seat. “At this point I’m really thinking the more, the merrier. Women in this lifestyle don’t grow on trees. But let’s both agree that if one of us is uncomfortable, we should be able to vote them out or change things up. I don’t want to lose this dynamic.” She motioned between them. “I love what we have together.”

“Oh, totally. I don’t want to ruin this either,” Piper said. “This was ours first. If either one of us feels uncomfy, we toss out the offending member. When I bring it up to Emma, I’ll make the invite sound more informal. Then if we want to, we can ask her to make it a weekly thing. She had some funny things to say about her neighborhood. She surprised me with her personality, in a good way. I think this is going to work.”

“I’m willing to try it out. So what’s next in sex adventureland for you?” Caroline asked. “Any more workplace plans?”

“Possibly. Michael wants to make a top-ten sex list, with each of us putting down five.”

Caroline rubbed her hands together. “That sounds fun! Do tell. What’s on your list?”

“I don’t actually know yet. He just thought it up.” Piper got up from Caroline’s table and walked over to a drawer by the phone. She knew where everything was in Caroline’s house, because it was her second home. She plucked out a small pad of paper and a pen. The notepad had one of Caroline’s drawings on it. A beautiful train of ivy. “Let’s work on it right now.” Piper headed back to the table right as Jace, Caroline’s husband, walked in from work.

Piper watched her friend positively beam at her husband as he strode into the kitchen. Piper understood why. Jason Stratton was a specimen of a man. Tall, dark, broad-shouldered, and athletic.

And that man loved his wife. It was written all over his face.

“Hi, ladies. How’s it going?” he asked as he gave his wife a kiss. “Mm. You taste like wine. I like it.”

Caroline teased, “That’s because wine equals great sex. It’s Thumpin’ Thursday, after all.”

“That, too.” Jace winked. “I’m going to grab a quick snack and head downstairs to put together that toy we ordered. It arrived yesterday. I’ll be awaiting you at your convenience.”

Caroline’s gaze darkened. “I can’t wait to try it.”

“I’ll see you ladies later.” He grabbed a bag of chips out of the pantry and a Coke out of the fridge, then walked out of the kitchen, whistling.

Piper’s eyebrows hit her hairline. “What toy? Have you been holding out on me? And, by the way, I’m totally putting toys on my sex list.” She jotted down numbers one through five on the notepad. “But I want to try something really dirty.” Piper glanced up and saw Caroline gazing longingly after her husband. “Okay, spill it. What’s he assembling that’s got you so distracted?”

Caroline appeared a little sheepish, glancing down into her drink. “Well, it’s a…little embarrassing! All this sex-confessing is new for me. It’s just an automated…thingy.”

“What, like a battery-operated dildo?”

“No, it’s a…whole contraption. It’s a—” Caroline stopped to down her drink. After she swallowed, she cleared her throat, and finished, “It’s a fuck machine.”

“A what?” Piper gave out a peal of laughter. “Are you kidding me? Like one of those things where you lie on a board and a dildo on a stick fucks you?”

“Kind of, I guess.” Caroline shrugged, and then started to giggle. Her laughter quickly turned into less-polite snorts, which she tried to cover with the back of her hand. “Don’t ask me for details! Jace thought I might like it, and I told him I’d try it. Hell, he knows nowadays I’ll try anything once. His plan is to get me to feel like another guy is fucking me while he’s doing his thing. And, you know, it just might work. Especially after all this wine.” Caroline, still chortling, poured herself another glass. “Actually, saying it out loud makes it even sexier.” She had a twinkle in her eye. “I hope it’s not too hard to put together. I saw the box. It was huge.”

Piper hooted with laughter.

She was no longer able to call Caroline tame.

This proper woman from South Carolina was putting Piper to shame in the experimental department. But that was about to change. “Okay, sex goddess,” Piper chirped, “I’m making my list now, and you have to help me. I want toys, too. I’m counting both the office sex encounters as number one, so toys are technically second. I need three more. For toys, I’m thinking a double strap-on. What do you think?” Piper wrote TOYS! in all caps in the number two spot. “It’s always been a fantasy of mine to be a Dom, but just for a night. Not with whips or anything. I just want to feel like a boss and in control of what happens for an entire night.”

“Are you sure Michael will be okay with that? A double strap-on means…oh, my, it means…” She blushed. “I’m not sure Jace would—”

“Are you kidding me?” Piper cut her off. “If it got you going, Jace would do it in less time than it takes to pop open a can of soda. Like you said, we would try anything once, and so would our men. And, yes, I actually think Michael will enjoy it. The man hates being bored, and this is the furthest thing from boring. In fact, rectal orgasms for men are supposed to be completely intense. I think Mikey will likey a lot.”

“You don’t have to tell me about rectal orgasms.” Caroline winked. “I know they’re intense.” She had a satisfied look on her face as she took a sip of her wine.

“Caroline!”

“What?” She laughed as she set down her glass. “You don’t have to use a strap-on to get to that particular prize.” She held up her hand and wiggled the first two fingers. “A finger or two works just fine.”

“Oh my God!” Piper cried. “I’ve created a monster! If you keep saying things like this, I’m going to shoot wine out of my nose. What haven’t you done? No, don’t answer that.” She waved a hand in front of her. “I kind of like finding out this crap as we go. But if this keeps up, I’m going to have to think up some hard-core nicknames for you like Assrocks or Plumbline. Or make you get a tattoo.”

“Oh! I’ve always wanted a tattoo!” She clapped. “Something sexy on my pelvic bone.”

Piper snorted. “Dude, who are you?”

“I’m a liberated woman, that’s who I am. I’m also the gal who’s going to help you make your sex list.” She folded her arms on the table. “So let’s get to it, shall we?”

Piper grinned as she positioned her pen over the paper. “Okay, what’ve you got for me, Nippleclamp?”

Caroline giggled. “Well, these are your top fantasies, not mine. But knowing you the way I do, I’d have to say you’re going to have to get yourself into a bathroom stall somehow. I know you did the selfies in there, but sex in a public restroom should be up there—or in an elevator. I’ve always wanted to do it in an elevator. What about sex somewhere in plain sight? A place where everyone can see you, but no one knows you’re doing the nasty.”