A flash of memory: A modest slap on my bare butt brings me back to awareness. I'm breathing I've just run a mile, except that I seem to be lying across the thighs of a woman, on a love seat. Her fingers are gently massaging my G-spot, giving me total-body aftershocks. Across the room on the sofa, I hear my best friend Sarah in the throes of orgasm. A quick glance between my aftershocks lets me see the black hair of the woman between her thighs, apparently licking her very well.

"Miriam, how long have we been best friends?" Sarah grabbed my arm, stopping me in the middle of the park, and turned toward me.

"I don't know, exactly. Maybe third grade?"

She smiled. "Yeah, except for that time in eighth grade when we were fighting over Darren O'Connor. Who dumped us both. We swore we'd never let a mere boy get between us again."

I sighed. "And we haven't. Boyfriends in college. Both married 12 years, kids in school and sports, crazy lives, we still do our girls' night out every month."

"And our weekend in the city twice a year," she agreed.

"And our weekly bitch sessions online."

She laughed. "About how our guys never have sex with us, and we should just get together and do it. We always wanted to. Except we never will; it would feel too much like incest by now."

I smiled, blushed a bit, and shrugged, and we resumed our stroll around the park. "How long until we have to meet the guys and the kids?"

"The skating session goes until three," she replied.

I glanced at my watch. "Another half hour. We should start walking there now."

"Let's take the shortcut through the woods. It's quieter there and fewer people around."

I grinned. "And why should that matter?"

She flushed just a bit and grinned back. "I have something I want to show you."

"Oh?"

She put her finger to her lips. Clearly, she was enjoying holding back on this. She linked her arm through mine and walked a little faster until we got to the edge of the woods.

"You know how we keep saying that we're too close to do the nasty together?"

I glanced at her, blushed, and looked away. She was outstandingly beautiful today with her new short haircut, like Audrey Hepburn in her gamine phase, or Halle Berry. "Uh huh," was all I could manage.

"I think I found a solution!"

I stared at her for a second, then looked down. She was pulling a slip of paper out of her pocket.

Best Friend Exchange Club! shouted the headline. I read aloud: "Want to borrow a best friend for a romantic night? We might trade." There was an anonymous-looking email address and nothing more.

"Where did you find this?"

"A friend of a friend pinned it to her Shareboard account."

"So?"

She hesitated, then blurted, "So I wrote her. Here's the reply." She gave me a second slip of paper.

Best Friends Exchange Club! We are a pair of best friends who have talked about love between women for years, but have been too cautious or cowardly to actually do it. Then we heard about the Best Friends Exchange Club, met other best friends, and our lives changed forever in a single night. Now we'd like to meet one or two other pairs of best friends for mutual friendship and maybe more. Definitely no pressure! A nice supper, a little wine, and let's see what happens. It was signed Janet and Chris.

I looked at her again. "So?" I repeated.

She looked around at the wooded area we'd stopped in, and lowered her voice. "So I chatted with Chris for a few minutes the other night. Told her a little about us. She said we sounded like her and Janet. They did an exchange with another pair of friends a few months ago. No, they haven't gotten together with each other, but they both say the sex with their husbands got a lot better."

I gaped at her for a moment. "Did they tell their husbands?"

"Janet did. Chris hasn't. Yet."

I thought. "Jay would probably think it was hot. Of course, he'd want to be there."

"Of course. So would Jimmie. Chris said the 'no husbands' rule needed to be strict."

"Gosh, Sarah, how do you even know that Janet and Chris are women?"

She grinned. "I did a video chat with Chris. She flashed me for a few seconds. Definitely not a guy in those panties." She blushed again. "Or out of them. She also showed me a picture of Janet."

"Nude?" I gaped.

"No, just a head shot with some cleavage. They're both really pretty, by the way."

"Hmm." My heart was pounding. "How would it work?"

"We would all get together for supper in a restaurant. If we were comfortable enough, we'd rent a suite in a hotel nearby."

I hesitated, then spoke slowly, in a whisper. "We might be able to do it during our spring city weekend."

She grinned. "I told her that. She said that was their first choice weekend too."

"God, Sarah, you really took a risk with this."

"I know, Miriam. But I really want to do this, and I can't do it without you."

We walked silently for a few moments. "Are you going to tell Jimmie?"

"Probably." She shrugged. "But maybe not until after. What about you?"

I swallowed. "Sarah. Stop. I haven't even agreed to this yet."

She squeezed my arm, and started us walking again. "Yes, you have. You just don't know it yet. Maybe."

She was right. Of course I would do it.

Another tiny flash: I am kneeling on the soft carpet before the love seat, between thin but muscly thighs. A little rose tattoo on the inner left thigh, just below the fold. Soft strawberry blonde curls on her mound. Lips glistening. Total scent of arousal. I kiss my way up to the tattoo, feel the soft ends of her hairs tickling my cheek. I look into her eyes; she is lusting, impatient, breathing shallowly. Can I do this? Her right hand weaves into my short curly hair, directing me to her center. I taste a woman's arousal for the first time, as she sighs.

My heart was pounding as we got out of the cab. I was a bit unstable as we got to the curb. Sarah had insisted that we stop for a couple of drinks before coming to the hotel restaurant.

Chris met us at the door. "Sarah! So nice to meet you at last." She was a short wiry redhead with a ton of freckles, a mischievous smile and a gymnast's body. She stood on tiptoes to give Sarah a little peck on the cheek, then turned to give my hand a warm squeeze. "And you must be Miriam. You're just as nice as Sarah said. We're all in a quiet alcove way in the back." She turned to lead us in.

"You didn't tell me how pretty she was," I whispered to Sarah.

Sarah just grinned at me, winked and mouthed, "yes I did" at me, and gently held my arm to keep me steady on my heels. Moments later we were in the back of the restaurant.

"Miriam, Sarah, I want you to meet my best friend Janet." Chris continued to stare across the table at me as we took our seats. I caught myself staring back at her; she looked strangely familiar, or maybe reminiscent of my fantasies the last few weeks.

Janet raised her wine glass. "To new friends and new adventures," she toasted.

 -*-

Dinner was light, salads and fish, fruit for dessert, and a few glasses of wine. The butterflies were starting to settle in my stomach when Janet spoke up.

"So, welcome to our new friends. I'd like to make sure everybody is in agreement with a few simple rules, and then we can adjourn to the suite for introductions. First, of course, 'no' means 'no'. I don't think anybody will have any trouble with this, but I heard about a bad problem at another club meeting, and wanted to make sure we don't have any issues. Even if someone says 'yes' and changes her mind, when she says 'no' please stop." We all nodded.

"Second, no jealousy. Please let your best friend explore without you if she wants." Sarah and I turned, smiled reassuringly at each other. She winked.

"Third, no photos or videos. None of us wants to end up on the Internet or in your home porn collection. Whatever happens here stays among us."

Chris, on my other side, muttered "What happens in Vegas..." I met her eyes and winked at her.

"Last, have fun! If you're not having fun, find someone to have fun with."

We clinked glasses once more and without another word, gathered our things and left the restaurant, heading through the lobby to the elevator. The elevator operator stared at each of us in turn before asking our floor and whisking us to the top. The doors opened onto a foyer with a single entrance, and Janet swiftly opened it with the key, ushering us into a large sitting area. There was an assortment of comfortable sofas and love seats, plush carpet, and a little wet bar. At one end was a king-sized bed, and enormous floor-to-ceiling windows gave a view of the night skyline. We sat facing each other.

I took my shoes off and started rubbing my feet.

"Here, let me help you with that." Chris, sitting beside me on the love sear, smiled and took my feet in her lap. She started her magic. I groaned quietly. She smiled knowingly. Janet took Sarah's right hand and began to massage it, eliciting a smile.

Chris and Janet winked at each other, and then Chris spoke up to my right. "I think we should introduce ourselves better. I'm a legal secretary, married almost ten years this time around, no kids. Janet was my roommate in college. She was the one who held my hair when I came home puking after parties. She was the one who consoled me when my boyfriends broke up with me. Also consoled me after the one girl I had an affair with dropped me. Introduced me to my husband. My first husband was really into threesomes with other girls, and it was okay but I was only doing it because he wanted me to. He dumped me for a 19-year-old college girl, and if Chris hadn't been there for me I don't know what would have happened. She kept me sane, kept me from trying to seduce teenagers, and eventually introduced me to the new husband."

Sarah smiled at me. "Miriam and I have been friends forever. Our husbands are wonderful guys, slowing down in the bedroom of course. If Miriam and I hadn't grown up basically as sisters probably we would have done something together before this. Oh, and I slept with my college roommate for a couple of months freshman year."

I gaped at her, open-mouthed. I'd never heard about that. Janet gave her hand a squeeze and kissed her palm.

Janet was next. "I've been married since right out of college. He's still my best friend. Two sons in college. I'm bored at work, but have enough time and privacy to chat online. I'd never been with a woman, but lots of chatting had made me interested, so when I found this club I knew Chris and I had to do it. The last time was so fantastic we're doing it again." She grinned.

I swallowed. "Sarah was always the adventurous one. My husband and I negotiated a semi-open relationship, well, I call it ajar, but I've never taken advantage. He has a friend he sometimes sleeps with when they go to conferences together, which is all right with me. I did kiss Sarah during a couple of sleep-overs in high school, you know, 'practicing for when we have boyfriends,' but I didn't know girls were allowed to be aroused by each other. I went in the bathroom to take care of myself, because otherwise I'd never have gotten to sleep."

There was a short expectant silence. Chris continued to massage my feet. Sarah and Janet turned to each other on the sofa and kissed softly.

Chris leaned forward to massage her way up my bare legs. Moving closer, I took her hands in mine, kissed her fingertips, then her palms. She placed one hand on each side of my face and drew me in for a soft kiss. Lips just brushing, smiling nervously into each other's eyes. I touched her hair and face, groaned a bit again as she caressed my neck. Could I do this? I hadn't kissed anybody but Jay since a year before we were married. My butterflies were back, trying to batter their way out of my belly.

"Are you okay?" she murmured.

I leaned in and kissed her a little harder, softly nibbling her lower lip with my lips. Not trusting myself to speak, I nodded faintly.

She met my eyes and smiled a little more confidently. "Sit here on the floor, let me massage your shoulders a bit." I obeyed, sitting between her thighs. Her expert fingers started on my neck, a little into my collar onto my shoulders. She reached around and unbuttoned a couple of buttons. No groping, almost professional.

When she hit my shoulders I knew I was gone. My whole body started to tingle from my scalp all the way to my feet. I unbuttoned the rest of the blouse and slipped it off. I grinned over my shoulder at her. "I'll give you exactly thirty minutes to stop doing that!" I said in my sternest voice.

"Um-hmm," she murmured, and skillfully unsnapped my bra and slipped it off my shoulders. She alternated deep massage with light tickly scratches as I began to feel my breath catching a bit. Leaning in, she kissed and softly licked the right side of my neck as her hands slipped under my arms and cupped my breasts, pinching my nipples gently as she softly bit my earlobe. I groaned again. "You like this?" she whispered. I nodded. "This?" she asked again as she pinched my nipples even harder. A soft indistinct sound emanated from my throat in response.

"Shhh," she said softly. "No sounds. Come lie across my lap." As I rose to do so, she slipped off her blouse, undid her skirt zipper. "Take off my skirt first," she whispered softly. As she lifted her bottom off the love seat, I reached down to slip off the soft grey woolen skirt, and saw her little rose tattoo for the first time near the red silk panties. Raising my skirt to my waist, she guided me across her lap, laying me on the seat to her left with my legs over the arm, unsupported, to her right. Her fingers began tracing little elaborate drawings all up and down my back, over my lacy panties, across my neck, down my thighs.

I moaned again. Suddenly she gave me the very slightest of slaps across my panties. "Is that okay?"

I nodded.

"Okay," she whispered. "No sounds, remember?" I nodded again. She returned to my tickly massage, neck, armpits, breasts, back, bottom, thighs. Stroking downward each time. Her hand teasing apart my thighs a little further with each pass. Her hand getting closer to my now damp panties each time. Again I moaned involuntarily, and again she barely spanked me, just enough to sting. Little scratches with her nails brought the sting out a little more.

My hips started to vibrate with each pass over my ass. She slipped the panties down, stopping at the top of my thighs. I tried to lift up to let her take them off, but she gave me another stinging slap. "I'll tell you when your panties come off," she crooned softly.

She pinched my nipple again. I managed to suppress the moan. "Good girl" she whispered, as she kneaded the breast and tugged again at the nipple.

Her massaging and tickling and scratching continued this way for what seemed hours, punctuated by mildly stinging spanks once in a while. Finally she slipped my panties down past my knees and I somehow stepped out of them.

Now she started painting me with my juices. Reaching inside me she took some on her fingertips and liberally lubricated my lips, my ass, my clit. Never lingering long anywhere, with gentle, barely palpable touches, and soft spanks when I moaned. Had I ever been so turned on before?

"Shall I make you come?" she whispered softly.

"Please," I whimpered. Another soft slap rewarded me for speaking. I nodded silently. She gripped my hair and gently tugged back, reminding me to maintain my silence. She kept teasing me, making me vibrate with desire.

Suddenly her touches were no longer gentle. Two long graceful fingers were thrusting in me, fast, hard. Her thumb was pinching my clit, I was being fucked, was so totally gone, explosions and screaming and vibrating and growling, "ohh, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me ..." until I couldn't think.

-*-

I don't know how long I lay there with her fingers in me, rubbing my G-spot, the occasional spanks when I moaned. Somehow I managed to get off her lap, kiss her thoroughly, get her now-soaked panties off, tease and lick her to orgasms. We listened and watched Sarah and Janet make love a couple of times, one of which stimulated us into a gentle 69 and a few quiet pleasant orgasms. We spent the night spooning together on the bed beside our friends. I think we made love a few more times overnight, although perhaps that was just dreaming.

Chris and I took a playful shower together the next morning with lots of kissing. Room service breakfast was in the nude, and very giggly. Perhaps there was a little more kissing than might be expected between strangers. It was a little awkward, but nobody had any regrets.

In the car on the way home, Sarah and I both had grins on our faces and smiled a lot at each other. We sang along to oldies on the radio, but didn't really talk. As she drove up to my house, she finally looked at me and asked, "Well? Did you like that?"

I grinned. "It was amazing!"

She agreed. "It was amazing."

I started to open the door, and she took my forearm. "I'm glad you liked it. Because we have to do it again."

I gaped at her. "Why?"

She grinned. "Didn't you read the email?" She used a silly radio announcer voice. " 'All participants agree to host new friends for at least one more meeting of the Best Friend Exchange Club.' It's in the contract."

I gaped at her for a few seconds. Slowly I grinned back at her. "Will you post the ad for us?"