*****014:

A rousing game of charades, then another rousing game of Murder. Then the kids went to bed and Aubrey, bless her pea picking little heart, decided to introduce us to adult Truth or Dare.

"In my family, there is a game we play called Truth or Dare." She began.

"Played it." Mutt called out, nuzzling his beer and his girl at the same time. Aubrey ignored him.

"The rules are these: You pick a truth or a dare, the last person to have done one successfully gets to issue it. You either do it or you face the consequences."

"What are the consequences?" Bertie Langdon slurred, she was sitting by Ben, and Ben was comfortably caressing her bikini clad back. I could see where this might be going, and was disappointed I had invited her. Wasn't trying to corrupt the kid. Just get him some female attention, maybe they'd hit it off better than I thought.

"You tell me. In my family we play this on top of our houseboats and if you don't comply you have to jump off."

"Whoa! Well, there's always cliff jumping." Someone said. The firelight flickered and the smoke blew in some faces.

"Not everyone can do that." I indicated my pregnant wife.

"Okay. How about if you wig out you have to strip and do a naughty pole dance for the rest of us."

I thought Aubrey would amend that suggestion, but she simply looked around the group. "Is that your choice?" Ben asked her, eyes narrowed as he continued to caress Bertie.

"It doesn't matter to me. I've never failed at either a truth or a dare."

"How dirty are the dirty dares allowed to be?" Anna called, as Levi sat with her between his legs, also caressing her familiarly. I was surprised, because he wasn't planning to marry her, but they had shared a tent last night. Whatever. I'm not his judge.

"It's up to you. I say nothing carnal or lewd." Aubrey announced. "Vote?"

I raised my hand high. "Nothing carnal or lewd."

"I don't even know what those words mean." Jeff laughed. Justine slapped his shoulder playfully.

"All in favor?" Aubrey called out and they all raised their hands. "Okay then. The vote also determines what is too lewd or too carnal, meaning raunchy. Right?"

We all raised our hands again, laughing.

"Since Rafe invited us here, and Rafe paid for it. I say Rafe gets to go first." Aubrey suggested with a wicked gleam in her eye. I took that very seriously and leaned forward looking around the assembled while rubbing my hands together. I was sitting on the ground on my jacket, it wasn't a cold night, and Aubrey sat in her canvas folding chair behind me. I finally looked upside down at her and said, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" She said instantly.

I pretended to think hard, while our group sat forward awaiting my dare. I was bad at this. My mind went blank. "Okay, stand up and pound your chest like a gorilla for one minute."

Aubrey's brows lowered. "That's all you got?" She pushed herself up heavily and then shook out her hands, cracked her neck to the left and then the right and then scaring us all, she hunched over, started jumping and bouncing and scratching her armpits yelling "hoo hoo ha ha!" as she circled the group, getting in everybody's faces, really hamming it up. I am glad I picked her and such an easy dare right off, it set the tone. Ben was using his stopwatch to count down her time, and she really bounced and hollered and scratched her pits.

"Time!" Ben whooped. "That was fearsome. Our own pet monkey! Do me, Aubrey, do me!"

"I'll do you good." She said to him in her sexiest voice and everybody laughed. "Truth or Dare, Ben!"

"Dare!"

Aubrey put her finger to the corner of her lips. "Hm.... Do you good, huh? Let's see about that. Bite the booty of the person on your left and the person on your right."

Raucous laughter met this statement as Ben looked first at Mutt and then at Justine.

"Touch my fiancé's booty and you die." Jeff warned.

"How'm'I gonna bite her booty if I can't touch her?" he stood up and shook down his shorts. He looked at Mutt and screwed up his lips. "Bud, present your butt."

Mutt leaned to one side of his chair and made a farting noise with his mouth, everybody laughed uncontrollably. Ben leaned down, then he knelt, and scooted forward, this made us all laugh even more. Aubrey looked like the cat that ate the cream for making him do it.

"Get it up here."

"Oh, and you only have fifteen seconds. Unless stipulated, like mine was." Aubrey clarified. "Or you forfeit and face the pole dance." We did have a light pole with a lantern on it nearby. Ben nodded and stuck his face down there. Mutt made this really sexy moaning face and grabbed his head and put it somewhere else. Amid the laughter, Ben jumped up and knocked over his chair trying to get away. One of the beer cans upturned. I was laughing so hard I couldn't tell if Aubrey thought that was too lewd.

Ben turned to Justine who decided to stand with her legs firmly planted and her hands on her hips. "Through the pants." She said. "Then you won't actually be touching me." We all saw the logic in that, but still waited to see if Jeff was about to kill him. Ben knelt, took a deep breath and bit her butt through her shorts. Justine screamed, and Jeff jumped out of his chair and made as if to chase Ben, who leaped away and ran into the darkness.

He came right back and showed his muscles triumphantly. "Anna, Truth or Dare?"

Anna was this really pretty diminutive platinum blonde with pale features, and big darkly mascara'd eyes. She looked all shy and embarrassed.

"Truth." She said softly.

Ben didn't even hesitate. "Where is your favorite place for Levi to kiss you?"

If she could have blushed in the firelight, she would have. She looked right at Levi who was sitting quietly next to her sipping his beer.

Then she bared her throat and showed her pretty neck, pushing her hair aside. "Here." She said sweetly, and we all ahhhh'ed. He leaned forward and kissed her there, and she squealed, and then smiled and they ended up kissing on the lips for a full thirty seconds. We all groaned and some applauded.

"Okay, Anna, your turn!"

"Rafe! Truth or Dare?"

"Dare!" I said sitting up straight again.

"Okay, it can be naughty if it's with your wife, right?"

"Naughty, but not lewd, crude or rude." I said laughing.

"Okay, kiss your wife's belly button for thirty seconds while we all watch. Bare skin."

I swallowed, the nude pole dance was still worse. I looked back and realized Aubrey was wearing only a bathing suit cover up and boy underwear –like bottoms under the baby bump. She probably had the sport bra top on too, whatever was comfortable in the heat.... I let my hands slide up her thighs. Then I spread them, and moved in closer. The group ooo'ed and ahhhh'ed and I chuckled to myself, I was really keeping her out of their view, not giving them a sneak peek. Using my teeth, I lifted the cover up over my head and then pulled it down against her legs, and they all laughed loudly. "Wow! Aubrey, it's sticking straight out." I said unfortunately not realizing the double meaning initially until everyone hooted again. She squirmed and pushed my head down with her hands to keep herself shielded pretty well. Then I said, "Start the timer." And I kissed her and sucked on her tender skin, and tickled her sides with my fingers so she squealed and squirmed, and giggled uncontrollably, while I ran my tongue around the puckered skin of her extended belly button and she ended up screaming and trying to get away.

At time, I came out, ran my hands through my hair and kissed her lips. "Was that good for you, babe? It was sure good for me."

Laughter was always the best medicine. "I pick---- Jeremy."

"Truth." He declared.

"What is your biggest fear in a relationship?"

He thought about it for about six seconds and then put his hands in megaphone style over his mouth. "That she'll smell my farts."

We all--- well, all the guys agreed. And of course, the fart on command man named Mutt, actually did. We all made oinking noises and Sarah hit him on the shoulder.

This went on with us finding out that Ben would never consider being a nudist, and that Bertie believed in love at first sight. We watched among other things: celebrity impressions, made up songs, the alphabet backward, impressions of Romeo and Juliet, and we watched as Jeremy took Abbie's bra off with his teeth, under her shirt of course.

It was pretty clean fun, and no one was drunk. I was satisfied with the evening and declared it was time for me to make love to my woman in our bed, by ourselves, reveling in the cat calls, and the whistles, as I took her back to our tent, and zipped the zipper. For a little while, we watched the shadows of flames on the front of the tent, and listened to the sounds of people saying good night and settling down. The breeze picked up thank goodness and billowed the tent walls delightfully. I rolled over to my beautiful wife, telling her how much I loved her, with my eyes and my lips and eventually the rest of me as she let me.

*****