TamiraK
TMF Poster
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2020
- Messages
- 121
- Points
- 18
A Day at the Beach
by Tamira K.
Chapter 1
Nicolette, Dom and their four-year-old son, Jacob, were up and getting ready a lot earlier than they had been on the first six days of their holiday. As Dom worked hard to blink his eyes open whilst looking out the hotel window over the still sleeping town he observed that the morning haze hid any evidence that the coming day was supposed to be “lovely and sunny” as Nicolette suggested.
‘Are we sure this is worth it?’ he asked, ‘It doesn’t look promising.’
‘That’s because you’re always asleep at this time of the morning,’ Nicolette replied as she packed the beach bag, ‘That mist will clear by eight o’clock. You’ll see.’
‘I’ll see if I can keep my eyes open,’ Dom yawned.
‘Do you want another day like yesterday and the day before?’ she asked.
‘No,’ he replied, with faux spoilt-brattishness. For the past two days he had awoken “early for a holiday day” whilst Nicolette had been entertaining Jacob in the other room as quietly as possible. He then got up, showered, they headed to the breakfast buffet and eventually reached the beach by around 10am, by which time almost every patch of sand had been occupied by tourists and locals.
The need for a new strategy was inspired by a portly family the previous day who had planted a neighbouring towel and eaten hotdogs non-stop. It wasn’t the smell that was the problem—that fitted with the seaside ambience—it was the unending sound of lip-smacking mastication. For hours on end, Dom's inner voice was on a loop saying, If it’s so much that you can’t close your mouth then maybe put in a little less, next time? Hmmm? By the time enough was more than enough, Jacob had constructed a community of sandcastles with his new bucket and the idea of getting up to find another space wasn’t an option.
‘Then don’t complain,’ Nicolette said and, with a hint of patronisation, patted Dom on the bottom to encourage a more positive attitude.
‘I’m not complaining, just seeking confirmation that I’m breaking my oath to have a solid week of Lying in For Once for a reason!’ and, by way of retort, gave her a warning prod in the waist. Nicolette squeaked and jumped and her beautiful, bright smile flooded the room.
Dom loved that smile but the way in which he got it always came with a pang of unpleasantness, ever since the night he and Nicolette had drunkenly shared details of their past relationships. One of the principles they had developed early on, having learned lessons from past relationships, was that openness and honesty were paramount. They never lied to each other. This principle, however, had its pitfalls as he discovered when he asked her who was the best she’d ever had and, in a moment of candid thoughtlessness, she immediately responded, ‘Probably my ex. The one with the tickling fetish.’ It only took her a microsecond to see the reaction on his face and prompt the caveat, ‘But you first! Miles ahead of anyone else! I thought you meant: “after you, who was the best?”…!’
But the damage had already been done. He didn’t know, or want to know, anything more about the one with the tickling fetish. All he knew was that, from then on out, he had the in-built compulsion to prove himself at every moment and sex from then on had featured an element of competitiveness with her past. He also felt compelled to be the one to prove that only he could tickle her now but whenever he did, he knew that it didn’t come naturally to him and so he probably wasn’t doing it right. Whatever “right” is, in that freaky tickling fetish world. Still, he was the one who was married to her! She hadn’t done that with anyone before! And now, she was his.
She cocked her head, seeing that he was thinking something that wasn’t in-line with the holiday mood. He noticed her concern and his expression softened. She was beautiful. More beautiful than he could have wished for as a younger man: 5’3” and a curvaceous size 10, with long, wavy auburn hair, light brown eyes, Maltese olive skin and that killer smile. Right now, her electric blue bikini was visible through her loose chiffon beach shirt and rainbow sarong.
He was about to get turned on when she asked, ’You okay?’
‘Yeah. Just… I love you.’
‘Aww!’ she was about to kiss him when they were interrupted by an impatient Jacob.
‘Beach time!’ Jacob demanded.
‘Okayyy!’ Nicolette said in a manner to match his enthusiasm. She slipped her flip-flops on, picked up the beach bag and turned to Dom, ‘Breakfast buffet?’
Dom was in the middle of idly scratching the pale skin of his middle-aged spread and sucked it in. ‘No,’ he said, ‘let’s pick something up on the way.’
— — — — —
In the mini-mart next to the hotel, Dom stood at the counter as the young cashier rang up their picnic items. The total was rising faster than at any other supermarket he’d ever been to.
‘I want ice cream!’ Jacob said.
‘No...’ Nicolette responded.
Jacob considered. ’I would like an ice cream!’
‘Very good! But you can’t have ice cream before breakfast!’ Nicolette replied.
‘Not now. After sandwiches.’
‘Maybe later,’ Nicolette said, ‘We can’t buy them now, they’ll melt by lunchtime.’
‘Maybe later, or promise later?’ said Jacob, looking up at her with pupils that seemed bigger than his irises.
‘Okayyy! I promise!’ Nicolette said.
Jacob twirled and returned to his task of spinning the rotating rack of sunglasses until a pair flew off. Nicolette caught them before they hit the floor.
‘Good catch,’ said the young man behind the till in a manner that was a little too suave for Dom's liking. Nicolette smiled in response. Although not a flirtatious smile, Dom felt the need to remind the young man of his presence and edged between their eyelines as he pushed his credit card into the terminal and typed his number into the keypad.
He the turned on the spot, said to his family, ‘Let’s go!’ and gave an assured nod to the cashier as they left. The cashier nodded back with a cocky smirk that Dom didn’t appreciate.
Nicolette had been correct, the morning mist had made way for the sun. Jacob insisted on standing between them and holding one hand of each parent as they crossed the main strip that overlooked the beach. As they neared the edge of the strip and more of the beach was revealed to them, their walking slowed – it was more packed than yesterday.
‘Do you think everyone else heard your plan?’ asked Nicolette, deadpan.
Dom looked at her, slack-jawed.
Jacob was unaware of any reason for pause and dragged them all the way down the stone stairs to the beach. The hubbub of chatter, accompanied by the distorted bass-line of R&B being played on a speaker a little way off was far from relaxing. ‘It’s not even 9am!’ Dom said. At that moment a group of teens switched on a huge bluetooth speaker and blared out inane chart music, apparently oblivious to the level of discord it caused as it competed with the auto-tuned R&B track. Nicolette laughed at the irony of it all but Dom was forlorn. ‘I can’t do this,’ he said.
Jacob tugged them through the obstacle course of towels, parasols and glistening bodies to the shore and Nicolette looked up and down the coastline. She saw some cliffs in the distance. ‘What about there?’ she said.
Dom followed her gaze, ‘Yep!’ he replied, without hesitation. They picked up their flip-flops and made a game of the walk for Jacob’s benefit as they splashed through the surf and towards the cliffs.
The crowd dissipated as they walked. After about 45 minutes the last group they came across was a bunch of twenty-somethings who were already breaking open cans of lager and listening to their own selection of booming rave music, which seemed to be causing a hyperactive adolescent Rottweiler to bark without pause. One of them wolf-whistled. Dom glanced sideways at Nicolette and felt proud – as usual, she didn’t give it any sign of recognition.
Whilst there was no shortage of space, Nicolette agreed with Dom's urge to keep walking until the music was completely inaudible.
‘Let’s stop now,’ said Jacob.
‘Just a little further,’ said Dom, ‘Maybe round those cliffs there might be a place to find crabs!’
‘Yay!’ Jacob cried and ran off ahead.
As they rounded the first cliff they found a delightful, picturesque cove. The high slate-coloured walls were topped with trees and long grass. There was the sound of nothing but seagulls and the waves that echoed surreally off the curve of the cliff, which continued into the sea and sheltered them from the strong sea breeze. They couldn’t walk any further if they had wanted to. Nicolette and Dom looked at one another and sighed blissfully.
‘Crads!’ shouted Jacob as he surveyed the rock pools at the cliff edge.
Nicolette smiled at Dom, ‘You’ve got a task, Crad Finder! I’ll get the picnic stuff ready.’
Nicolette walked further into the cove, laid down the picnic blanket and three towels then arranged the food – sandwiches, drinks and fruit salad. She then took some time to observe as Dom and Jacob hunted for crabs in the rock pools. After some time she called ‘Food is ready!’ in a manner deliberately intended to stoke Jacob’s enthusiasm.
His attention immediately switched, he dropped his bucket and hurtled towards her. Dom shrugged as their hard work scuttled out of the bucket and straight back into the rock pools. Nicolette laughed. Dom then strolled up to join them, ‘Had enough of crab hunting, then, Champ?’
Jacob nodded, his face full of cheese sandwich. ‘Drink lots of water, Jacob,’ said Nicolette and encouraged him by racing to drink her own bottle. He tried to keep up but Nicolette’s comical expression made him laugh and spurt water everywhere. She kept up the joke, enjoying his amusement, until her bottle was empty. ‘I win!’ she cheered.
Dom slumped down onto his towel and laid down, pulling Nicolette into the same position. They gazed into each others eyes for a moment. ‘Sun cream!’ Nicolette said as she recalled that they hadn’t put any on since they left the hotel.
She struggled to put sun lotion on Jacob as he ate his sandwich with one hand and used his little spade to dig a hole with the other, sending wet sand high into the air and showering back down onto Dom. Nicolette laughed again.
Dom dusted himself off, ‘What’s the plan?’
‘I want to dig a big hole!’ Jacob replied.
Dom stood up, ‘That might take a while with that spade.’ He stepped over, got down on his knees and helped dig at the sand whilst Nicolette lotioned his back. He winked a thank you. After completing work on her boys, Nicolette sat on the towel, took a drink of water, popped open the sunblock and began lotioning herself.
Dom reached down deep until he’d completed a narrow hole and the sand was so sloppy and wet that it kept falling in on itself. He knelt back and looked at Jacob, ‘What now? Want me to bury you?’
Jacob shook his head adamantly and then pointed at Nicolette, ‘Mummy.’
‘Good idea!’ Dom said and looked to Nicolette who had just finished putting lotion on her face and neck and wasn’t paying attention.
She caught them looking at her. ‘What’s that, now?’
‘Into the hole, Mummy! Jacob’s orders!’ said Dom.
‘Oh, really?’ Nicolette said with mock protest. Jacob nodded enthusiastically. Nicolette tied her hair up into a bun and took off her beach blouse and sarong. She stepped over.
‘Get in!’ said Jacob.
Nicolette jumped in and the wet sand covered her flip-flops. She found herself only as deep as mid-thigh level. Jacob shook his head, ‘Sit in it!’
‘Sit? Okay…’ she clambered out and analysed the hole, ‘It’s a bit narrow!’
Dom stood to help her. ‘Here,’ he said, taking her hands and helping her to lower herself. Eventually they got to a point of no return, Nicolette laughed as Dom struggled to keep hold of her and she slipped from his grasp. She put her hands down and slid awkwardly into the hole, sending her feet up high and accidentally sitting on her hands. Jacob clapped with delight.
Dom smiled as he looked down on his wife, ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yeah! I specialise in making these things look dignified(!)’
Dom and Jacob knelt down and swiftly filled in the sand on top of Nicolette’s body. As Dom watched her blue bikini disappear from sight, he felt his libido kick in and looked her in the eye. She knew what that look meant and responded with a look that indicated he would have to wait until tonight, then felt the surprising weight of the sand as it gradually pinned her into place, with just her head and flip-flopped feet above ground level. Dom packed it down as much as he could and then smoothed out the surface. ‘What are we going to do with all that spare sand, Jacob?’
‘Sandcastles!’ Jacob cried and ran over to get his favourite bucket. Nicolette watched happily as Dom and Jacob got to work building a masterpiece of sand architecture over Nicolette’s midsection which was eventually so high that it hid her own feet from her view.
Dom stood back to admire their work, ‘We’re getting there, I think. This will be one for the Instagram collection when we’re done! What do you say, Jacob?’
‘Ice creams!’ Jacob replied.
‘Not exactly the response I was looking for...’ said Dom. ‘We can’t have ice creams now, Jacob. There aren’t any shops here.’
Jacob looked to Nicolette, crushed. ‘But Mummy promised!’
Nicolette saw the upset in her son’s eyes and felt her heart begin to break, ‘Yes, I did…’ she looked at Dom.
Dom rolled his eyes, ‘Well, we’d better pack up then!’ He knelt in order to dig Nicolette out of the hole.
‘No!’ Jacob exclaimed, ‘We need to finish! But ice creams first.’
Predicting the impending debate, Nicolette spoke in a low tone to Dom, ‘Just take him. I’ll be fine.’
‘And leave you like this!? That would be ridiculous!’
‘Well, we’re on holiday, and I feel like being a bit ridiculous! Look, there’s no-one about, I’m in the shade of the cliffs and I’m actually quite comfortable.’
‘What about the tide?’ Dom questioned.
‘You can tell by the marks on the cliffs that the tide doesn’t come this far up the beach. Besides, the tide’s going out. Go on, take my purse and just do it. The quicker you go, the quicker you can come back and finish of your Instagram marvel!’ she flashed her perfect smile.
Dom contemplated and looked at Jacob, whose bottom lip was trembling, ‘Come on then! But let’s be quick!’ Jacob skipped in circles as Dom picked up his phone and the purse and they headed down the beach. He turned back to Nicolette and called, ‘Are you sure...?’
‘Yes!’ she called back, ‘Just bring me back a Raspberry Ripple!’
She watched as Dom tried to contain Jacob’s excitement, having to stop him from running in the wrong direction. Eventually, they turned the corner and were out of sight. Nicolette sighed and relaxed. The warm ocean breeze and the sound of the waves eventually caused her to nod off...
— — — — —
Nicolette woke with a start. She had no idea how long she had been dozing. If it had been five minutes, her husband and son would still be gone a long time. If it was an hour, they would hopefully be back soon.
It occurred to her that she should play it safe and get out. They could always bury her again and build more castles, but she wanted to call Dom to know when they would be back and then she realised why she had woken up so sharply. ‘Hmm... Shouldn’t have had all that water at once...’
She tried to shuffle but the sand had settled even further and almost felt like it had set. She couldn’t move any part of her body apart from her head and feet. Just then she noticed movement at the far end of the cove and felt relief. They were back!
Oh... No they weren’t. She began to grow concerned as she very quickly made out the hyperactive Rottweiler from further down the beach. ‘Oh, God. Please say he’s not on his own...’ she murmured to herself.
As if in response, the silhouette of a man rounded the corner and threw a stick for the dog. As the dog chased after the stick the man seemed to stop in his tracks as he noticed the empty picnic setup and started to walk closer. ‘Hello...?’ Nicolette called, ‘Oh, at last! Can you help me please?’
The man got closer – a fit, handsome man in his late twenties with a jarhead haircut and a healthy tan. He wore a pair of surfing trunks and an unbuttoned white shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
‘I thought I was seeing things,’ he said. ‘What’s up?’
‘Can you help me please?’ she said, squinting up at him and smiling hopefully.
‘What happened? How did you end up like this!?’
‘Oh, my husband and son thought it would be fun to bury me and build sandcastles on top. But then my son wanted ice-creams so they paused half-way through the project and went to get some.’
‘And left you like this!?’
‘Yes. I know. A bit silly really but it’s my fault – I insisted.’
‘And you can’t get out?’
‘No,’ she replied, wobbling her head and twirling her ankles to emphasise her predicament, ‘I’ve tried but I can’t move a muscle. It feels like cement from here!’
At that moment the Rottweiler, who had been kept busy by chasing seagulls, bounded towards them. Nicolette spotted him coming and couldn’t help a panicked tone to her voice, ‘Oh, can you stop him, please!?’
The young man clicked his fingers. ‘Rocco, come here!’ Rocco slowed as he approached Nicolette’s head, dropped his stick and then circled back to his owner. ‘Nervous of dogs?’
‘Not usually, but I’ve not seen one from this position before. Have you?’
‘Can’t say I have,’ replied the young man as Rocco sniffed around at the crumbs left behind by the picnic. ‘So, what can I for you?’
‘Can you help me get out?’
‘It will mean wrecking the sandcastles,’ said the young man as he knelt by her side, ‘That will be a shame.’
‘Yes, well, my husband will just have to do something else that he can show off on Instagram!’
‘But if you told them to go, why do you want to get out now?’ he asked.
‘Because they’ve been gone a while so I want to call my husband to see where they are. Plus…’ she hesitated.
‘Yes...?’
‘I should have gone to the bathroom before I got in here.’ The young man laughed. ‘I know, I know. Very funny! I thought it was funny half an hour ago, I’m not laughing now— Yeek!’ Nicolette’s thoughts were interrupted and her head lurched.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked the young man.
‘Your dog...!’ she exclaimed, struggling.
The young man stood up quickly and saw the dog sniffing around Nicolette’s toes. ‘Rocco! Here!’ The young man walked a little ways toward the cliff, stuck the stick into the ground and leashed the dog to it. ‘Lie down. Relax. Good boy.’ He returned to Nicolette and stood by her feet. ‘Gave you a fright, did he?’
‘No. I’m just a bit sensitive.’
‘Sensitive?’ the young man repeated with a blank expression.
‘Yes,’ Nicolette replied.
‘What do you mean, “sensitive”?’
As Nicolette watched, she saw one corner of his mouth curl up slightly. She recognised that kind of look and felt like she’d already said too much. ‘Oh, you know. Just a bit jumpy because I’m stuck like this.’
‘Oh, that’s all, is it…?’ he said, casually looking around. ‘I’m Jim, by the way. What’s your name?’
‘Nice to meet you, Jim. I’m Nicolette.’
‘Nice to meet you too, Nicolette. That’s a pretty name.’ He paused. ‘So, you’re married, huh?’
‘Yes, I am.’
‘Happily?’ he asked.
‘Yes!’ she replied indignantly.
‘Okay. Okay. I meant no offence. I’ve just got a thing for older women. Particularly attractive older women like you,’ he replied.
‘Ah, well. There are plenty of attractive older women in this town who aren’t married, I’m sure.’
‘Maybe,’ said Jim, ‘But not buried in the sand in front of me.’
‘No, of course...’ as she spoke, Jim looked down and knelt out of view behind the tower of sandcastles. Nicolette waited a moment, ‘Are you going to help me?’ she asked, impatiently.
‘I’m considering it,’ Jim’s voice replied from the other side of the sandcastle wall.
‘What’s there to consider—?’ Nicolette jumped again as she felt her right flip-flop get swiftly removed from her foot. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m just checking your shoe size from the bottom of your flip-flop,’ he replied, ‘UK size 5 / European size 38...’
‘You could have just asked! Why is that important, anyway—?’ as she spoke she felt the other flip-flop start to go. She tried to grip it with her toes but was too slow and he gently wrestled it free. ‘Can you put those back on, please?’ Her heart was pumping as she felt the sea breeze on her soles and she suddenly felt very vulnerable. She sensed the inevitable. The only tactic she could think of was to pretend she was irritated and ignorant of his intentions.
‘Why do you have so much sand stuck to your feet, Nicolette?’ Jim asked.
‘I... I just stepped in some wet sand before I was buried,’ she replied.
‘I see.’ Jim’s head appeared around the side of the sand castles. ‘They look like they need brushing off,’ he said.
‘No, thank you,’ she replied, maintaining an air of composure.
‘It wasn’t a question...’
Nicolette was about to demand her freedom when something stole the words from her throat. She felt his fingers begin to brush the sole of her right foot and her body reacted as she knew it would. All she could do was wriggle involuntarily as she stared at him with a confused smirk. Her nostrils flared as she became lost for an appropriate response, sweat instantly coated her body and, just as she could sense the she was about to lose it, he stopped.
‘You look like you have something to say, Nicolette,’ he said. There was something new about him – a look of sadistic mischief that she had known several years ago.
‘Please don’t do that.’
‘I’m just cleaning the sand from your feet, Nicolette. Don’t you want that?’
‘No, I don’t,’ she replied calmly, ‘and you know what you’re doing,’ she said.
‘Oh, do I...?’ he said, his inner devil coming to the fore.
‘Yes, and my husband would hate it. He wants to be the one who does that.’
‘Do what, Nicolette? Say it, otherwise I might have to keep going until I guess. And I’m not such a good guesser.’
‘To...tickle me,’ her eyes dropped momentarily.
Jim growled to hear these words spoken from the lips of such a luscious and mature beauty. ‘What would it do to your husband to see me doing this to you?’
‘It would make him very jealous,’ Nicolette said and suddenly spasmed as she felt fingertips playfully dancing across both of her soles. ‘No...! Nnn—!’ she scrunched her eyes tight as she tried in vain to deny her response. The attempt to resist became too much and she burst out into silent laughter.
Jim growled with satisfaction. ‘Very good, Nicolette,’ he said, stopping his interrogation. He stood and pulled a smartphone from his pocket, ‘So your husband does Instagram, huh? Maybe I should befriend him. What’s his ID?’
Nicolette looked up at him and shook her head. ‘Why do you want to know that?’
‘I just want to show him what happens when he leaves his gorgeous wife unattended around a man with a penchant for tickling.’
‘I love my husband and I’ve told you what that would do to him and so, no, I won’t tell you. I just hope, for your sake, he doesn’t come back and find you doing this. You would be in big trouble, dog or no dog.’
Jim seemed not to take notice. ’Damnit. My phone’s out of battery...’ he said. Nicolette relaxed a little. ‘But I bet yours isn’t! We can just send him a message from yours!’ He walked over to the beach bag on the picnic blanket and searched through it until he found her iPhone. He flipped it into the air, caught it and returned to Nicolette.
‘Now,’ he said in a matter-of-fact, officious manner, ‘What’s the PIN...?’
Nicolette looked at him with angry defiance.
He grinned. ’This is going to be fun.’ He crouched next to her, ‘Look, I saw your old man and your boy walk past me without you a little while ago. Why do you think I came this way? I noticed you when you went past us earlier. Now, if your man has trudged all the way back to town, he’s going to be gone for ages yet so I’ll consider myself “safe” for now, alright?’
Jim woke the iPhone and made a genuine sound of appreciation for the heartwarming family photo wallpaper. He then swiped left, accessed the camera, propped the phone against the sandcastles and tapped the video record function. Nicolette looked at the screen and saw her own sun-kissed face looking back at her. It was somehow even more disconcerting to see the concern that she was feeling portrayed on her own face. ‘Why are you doing this?’
‘You’re an experienced woman. I think you know why.’ As he spoke, his hand reached towards her. She retreated as much as she could and was somewhat relieved when all he did was release her hair from its bun. It bounced down gracefully around her. He looked smitten. ‘You really are a beautiful woman. Have you ever come across someone like me before?’ he asked.
‘You mean, a little shit?’ she replied, surprising herself with the attitude she was still able to display in the current situation.
He smirked. ‘No. I mean someone who likes doing this...?’ and he quickly teased her under the chin.
She turned her head to avoid him. ‘What if I have?’
‘You have! In that case, Nicolette, you know that I will never hurt you—’
‘Sure. You’ll just keep touching me without my consent!’
‘I’m afraid you’ve got me there. But it’s done with the utmost respect and appreciation for you as a human being—’
‘I believe psychopaths say the same thing!’
‘You don’t really put me on the same level as a serial killer, do you, Nicolette?’
She just looked away with exasperation.
‘You will also know that I don’t care whether you tell me what I want to know or not,’ Jim said. ‘You just know that I am going to enjoy every single moment of torturing you. The only question is: will you be able to take it? Or will I be able to break you? Will you be able to endure what I’m about to do to you or will you do anything possible to give yourself just the teeniest bit of respite?’
Equally as pissed off at his cocksure attitude as she was at her inability to do anything to help herself, Nicolette conveyed nothing in her expression that indicated she would be at all susceptible to anything he did to her. She breathed as deeply as she could. Seemingly in response, Rocco raised his head.
‘It’s going to be interesting to find out, isn’t it, Nicolette? Am I going to be able to break you and get your PIN number...?’
She turned to look him squarely and unblinkingly in the eye. ‘No, Jim, you are not.’
— — — — —
Dom had just reached the mid-way point of an epic ice-cream queue, having navigated the quickest route possible along the beach with a son who insisted on analysing and critiquing every sandcastle that they passed along the way. Upon seeing the queue he had debated whether leaving Nicolette alone for the length of time it would take to get these ice-creams was the right thing to do.
It wasn’t so much predicting the inevitable protests from his son that subconsciously convinced him as much as the perfectly toned, high-cut bikini-clad bottoms of the two young women who stood in front of him. At least he would have something to look at while Jacob played hopscotch on the pavement.
He took out his mobile phone and unwrapped his headphones, intent on listening to some summer tunes that were more to his taste than the incessant beats merging from the speakers on the beach. As he plugged himself in he noticed a message had arrived from Nicolette. He knew it – she must have gotten impatient, dug herself out and was now asking how long they were going to be.
He unlocked the phone and found a video message ready to be played along with the legend: Part 2. He pressed play and found himself watching a few seconds of the sand. Great video, Nic, he thought to himself.
A dog stepped into view and stopped, looking intently at something off-camera, a man’s hand holding his collar to restrain him from moving forward. Oh, it’s a comedy clip or something, Dom assumed.
A young man spoke, ’Guess what we found in the sand?’
Dom frowned. The camera followed the dog as it took a couple of steps forward. Dom felt the hairs all over his body stand on end as he saw his wife’s feet come into view, still poking out of the sand where he left her and just a metre away from the salivating dog. The camera panned round to see Nicolette, her hair in a mess, several strands sticking to her forehead, which was dripping with perspiration. Her cheeks were flushed red, ‘Dom! I’m so sorry! I couldn’t help it—!’ The video ended.
Dom froze on the spot. What the Hell had happened?! He immediately dialled Nicolette.
The same young man’s voice answered, ’Hello, Dom.’
‘Who is this?!’ Dom asked in a panicked tone that brought the attention of several people either side of him in the queue. He stepped away to get some privacy. Jacob instantly hopped into the vacant position.
‘I’m just a passing stranger. Your wife asked me for some help, but as you left her in a position where she can’t move a muscle, I just thought I’d have some fun.’
‘Don’t you dare hurt her!’ Dom said through gritted teeth.
‘You don’t need to worry about that. That’s not my style. And, before you say it, I’m not asking her to do anything sexual for me while she’s in this position either. It’s a good job it was me who came by, really! Although, from what I just witnessed, she would be likely to agree to do anything I asked for.’
‘What do you want?’ Dom asked, confused.
‘I just want to have a bit more fun with her. I can tell it’s been a while since she’s had any like this – she seems ultra “receptive” to it,’ said the young man with a cavalier smile to his tone. ‘I can hear from the background noise that you must be at the town end of the beach. It’ll take you at least half an hour to get back here, even if you run. That doesn’t account for having a little kid with you. So just get your ice-creams and take your time!’ he laughed.
‘What sort of fun?’ Dom demanded.
‘Haven’t you watched the video?’
‘No!’
‘Oh, that’s right – I’ve only sent you part two. I’ll send you part one now. I suggest you watch it and then you’ll know the fun I mean,’ he said and hung up.
Dom immediately phoned back. After one ring he was put through to voicemail. Nicolette’s calm and happy-go-lucky voice said, ‘Hi, this is Nicolette. I can’t take your call right now but leave me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!’
He heard another message arrive and licked his dry lips. With shaking hands, he pressed play on Part 1.
The camera was at ground level. Nicolette’s face took up the whole screen. She wasn’t yet flushed or sweating. She did, however, look thoroughly pissed off.
The young man’s voice was close, ’Are you going to tell me the PIN number of your phone, Nicolette?’
‘I said “No.” Are you deaf?’ she responded. Dom was momentarily proud of the strength his wife was demonstrating but quickly remembered that he was watching a video sent from her phone and felt deflated.
‘Very well!’ said the young man, cheerfully. He picked up the phone, walked over to his dog and unleashed it from a stick in the ground. ‘Stay, Rocco,’ he said and the dog did as it was told. Then the camera went with the young man over to the picnic blanket and rummaged through the food that was left. ‘Let’s see what we have… Crisps, that won’t do… Fruit cups, no… Ahh, tuna sandwiches! An excellent choice!’ He carried the sandwiches back to Nicolette, knelt down and propped the camera up against the sandcastles so that just his knees, the tops of Nicolette’s tanned feet and the distant, ever-attentive Rottweiler were in frame.
Dom watched in confusion as the sandwiches were unwrapped, peeled apart and the contents smeared over and under Nicolette’s feet, which flinched as soggy bread, tuna and mayonnaise squelched between her pretty, painted toes and dripped down over her ankles. Then, without his face ever coming into view, the young man tossed the bread to one side and summoned the dog. The dog trotted over to Nicolette’s feet and laid down. ‘Get him away from me!’ she said. A note of concern undermined her attempt at authority.
Dom couldn’t blink. What was he going to do!? Make the dog bite Nicolette’s feet?! No, I saw her feet and they were fine. Plus he said he wouldn’t hurt her. But why should I believe him?! Why was Nicolette sweating so much and flushed so badly...?
The dog sniffed around Nicolette’s toes and she did what she could to avoid it. Suddenly, Dom felt the energy drain from his face as the dog took an investigative lick at Nicolette’s right foot and it twitched involuntarily. He suddenly realised what fun the young man wanted to have with his wife and he knew how she would react but prayed with all of his being that she wouldn’t.
The dog hesitated no longer and began to lap at Nicolette’s helpless soles. ‘That’s revolting! Get him off me!’ she shouted angrily, except Dom detected a subtle wobble when she said the word “off”. Her defiance was already crumbling.
‘He’s just helping you get clean, Nicolette,’ said the young man, ‘why wouldn’t you want that...?’ There was a lengthy pause while the only sound was the non-stop licking of the dog. ‘Nicolette...?’ he repeated with a smile in his voice that indicated he was observing something that pleased him.
Suddenly, there was a long, undignified nasal snort as Nicolette struggled hard to contain her laughter. Dom's heart thumped in his chest as he watched this stranger’s dog slobber up and down his wife’s feet, turning its head sideways to enthusiastically clear the food between each of her toes. That’s when Nicolette’s resistance gave way and he heard a wheeze of helpless laughter.
Her feet flicked left and right in desperation and she laughed out loud. ‘Something wrong, Nicolette?’ teased the young man.
‘Get him off me-hee-hee-hee!’ Nicolette protested through her laughter, ‘I don’t want dog spit all over me!’ she shouted, attempting to add a sincere, logical protest to the events.
‘Oh... Sorry!’ said the young man with matchless insincerity.
Nicolette’s laughter began to subside as Rocco polished off the remnants of mayonnaise around her twitching ankles, his interest waining as he began to lap up the occasional mouthful of sand. The dog then trotted off to it’s original spot and laid down.
‘Want to give me your phone PIN yet, Nicolette?’
‘No, Jim!’ she shouted angrily. Dom felt a pang of jealousy as he realised they were on first name terms and wondered how much interaction they had been through before these recordings.
‘Oh. I guess you are stronger than I gave you credit for,’ said Jim. ‘I tell you what, as you don’t want Rocco’s saliva on you, I’ll clean it off for you and let you go. How’s that?’
There was silence from Nicolette as it was obvious he wasn’t finished with her yet. Jim stepped out of view and continued to talk. His voice became distant and the sea breeze blew across the microphone so Dom couldn’t decipher the comments they were exchanging although there was no mistaking Nicolette’s level of irateness. He could observe her struggle just from her feet. She was doing her best to break free but there was no give whatsoever from the sand prison he had put her in.
The breeze diminished as Jim’s size 11 feet stepped into view. They dwarfed Nicolette’s by comparison. Then a bottle of suntan lotion dropped into view and landed in the sand. It was swiftly followed by Nicolette’s Conair paddle hair brush. Dom didn’t know what was going to happen next, but he knew he wasn’t going to like it and his eyes remained glued to the screen.
Jim lowered himself onto his knees. His face was again not visible, except for the occasional emergence of a well-chiseled jawline. Dom couldn’t help glancing at the young man’s six-pack through his open shirt, although the position of Nicolette’s feet hid his swimming trunks from view along with the signs of anything more lurid.
‘I couldn’t find any soap but this should do…’ said Jim and picked up the sunblock. He unscrewed the lid and poured it all over Nicolette’s soles. From Dom's viewpoint it dribbled like icing between her toes and down the tops of her beautiful feet. ‘If you’re worried about your feet being dirty, Nicolette, maybe they could do with a scrub.’
Nicolette said nothing but her toes clenched slightly in response.
‘And,’ said Jim, ‘I found this in your bag…’ he picked up the hairbrush and showed it to her. Dom thought he heard her let out a piteous whimper. He then watched as Jim firmly took the toes of her left foot in one hand and brought the hairbrush close to it.
‘No! Please!’ called Nicolette.
‘What’s that?’ asked Jim.
‘Don’t do this…’ she pleaded.
‘Are you going to give me your PIN?’
‘I can’t!’ she insisted.
‘Oh, well, this is going to go on for a longgg time, then!’ said Jim and proceeded to scrub Nicolette’s left sole with the hairbrush.
This time there was no resistance. Her feet spasmed in response. Dom's earphones were filled with the sound of his wife’s helpless mirth. She was laughing, she was squealing, she was making involuntary sounds of panic and hysteria that he had never heard from her before and amid the laughter she was begging Jim to stop, which he did not. Occasionally Dom caught sight of his sadistic smile and felt increasingly limp.
At that moment, an extra level of panic was injected into Nicolette’s voice that caused Jim to pause. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked as he let go of the toes of her left foot and gripped the toes of her right.
‘You have to stop!’ Nicolette mewed through residual laughter, ‘I’m going to pee!’
‘Oh, I see!’ said Jim, who didn’t hesitate in going to town on her right sole.
In response Nicolette tried to scream for help but laughter stole the volume from her. Her sounds of unfamiliar squealing grew ever more high-pitched and she finally cried out, ‘OKAY!!!’
Jim didn’t slow as he politely enquired, ‘“Okay,” what?’
Through her defenceless squeaks and squeals and spasms Nicolette eventually managed to plead, ‘I-I-I-I’ll give you…m-a ha ha ha ha! M-my PINNN!’ But Jim didn’t slow down.
Even in the heat of the midday sun Dom again felt the hairs all over his body stand on end as he heard his wife call out, ‘PLEASE Jim! Have mercy!’ before collapsing into ever more hilarity.
At that point, Jim picked up the phone and Dom at last got a glimpse at his handsome and gratified face, just as the video ended.
Dom looked round. The rest of the world was carrying on as normal and Jacob was just a couple of customers away from closing in on the ice-cream counter. He considered for a few seconds and then FaceTimed Nicolette’s phone. The phone was answered and this time he found himself looking directly at Nicolette. She was even more flushed and sweating than before. She smiled at him apologetically.
‘Nicky, are you okay?!’ he asked.
She smiled, ‘Yeah, I’m fine—‘
Jim butted in. ’Dom! Where have you been?! We’ve been waiting ages for you to call back! What have you been doing? Watching the videos I sent you a few times over, I’ll bet! I’ve had to keep myself busy by exploring Nicky’s very sensitive neck. Did you know that if you teased her right here with your tongue—‘ Jim’s finger came into view and lingered at the crook of Nicolette’s neck. She scrunched her eyes and instinctively began to giggle.
‘Leave her alone!’ Dom demanded, recognising the impotence in his own voice. ‘Please stop doing that to her,’ he said.
‘Doing what to her?’ said Jim.
‘Tickling her!’ Dom spat out, even the phonetics of the word spoken from his own mouth caused him to cringe.
Jim shuffled away from the camera. A look of apprehension came over Nicolette’s face as she watched him shift position. ‘Oh, I’ll stop,’ said Jim, ‘but I just need to check out one last thing…’
‘No…’ said Nicolette.
‘What?!’ said Dom.
Nicolette looked to Dom but just shook her head, not wanting him to be affected by anything more, but also knowing that she couldn’t reach her phone to hang up. ‘Hang up, baby,’ she said.
‘What’s he doing!?’ Dom demanded.
‘Don’t be rude,’ said Jim with levity, ‘Answer your husband!’
‘He’s burrowing into the sand… In the “middle”.’ said Nicolette.
Dom blanched. ’Don’t you touch her!’
‘Oh, shut up!’ shouted Jim, momentarily losing his patience, ‘I told you, I’m not going to touch her, sexually.’ Then adding with a laugh, ‘And I’m not going to ruin your lovely sandcastles!’
Nicolette and Dom's eyes met and for a moment they conveyed how much they loved each other without saying a word, until Nicolette suddenly jolted and her eyes widened. She turned to Jim, ‘Oh, God, please don’t…’
‘What??’ demanded Dom, ‘What’s he doing?’
‘Ahhh, here we are…’ said Jim with an evil grin in his voice, 'Dom, I've just felt the hard sand give way to reveal some soft, sandy skin. Unless I’m mistaken, Nicolette, that will be your waist, just below your ribs?’
Dom's mouth felt dry as he recalled that was exactly where he had poked his wife that morning in the hotel room.
Jim’s hand burrowed a little further and he closed his fingers around the right side of her waist. His fingers probed instinctively and Dom could only watch as Nicolette’s nostrils displayed their giveaway little flare. She tried to grip her lips closed with her teeth as her waist automatically tensed, delivering to Jim the requisite muscle tone into which he could press with the greatest effect.
Nicolette’s first laugh burst from between her lips. There was a wide-eyed abandon as she threw her head back and laughed in a way that sounded almost celestial as it echoed around the cliff faces of the cove.
‘Oh, I’m sorry Dom,’ said Jim, ‘This is just too good...’
‘What—?’ Dom panicked as the screen was instantly covered in sand. After a moment it was cleared off and the phone was placed upright, again facing Nicolette.
‘I just had to clear your sandcastles,’ said Jim. Then he addressed Nicolette, ‘Describe what I’m doing now.’
Nicolette had stopped laughing, ‘He’s climbing on top of me… He’s digging in on both sides…. He’s… He’s…’ her eyes widened again as she looked at Jim and smiled, ‘No, Jim, please!’ she shrieked as she felt the shock of sensations shoot through her entire body and overtake her mind. She threw her head back, glassy-eyed and her mouth both wide and silent. After a prolonged moment, she managed to draw in a deep breath and then screamed with laughter into Dom's face.
Her expression changed from pure hilarity to being mixed with surprise and she gasped, ‘OhmyGod! No-no-no-no-no-no! Jim...’
‘Yes...?’ said Jim.
‘I’m going to p... p...,’ she said, losing her breath each time. ‘Oh, Godddd!’
Dom watched as she threw her head back again. This time her laugh of abandonment was mixed with some kind of pleasurable release.
— — — — —
By the time Dom and Jacob returned to the cove the sun had cast it into complete shadow. Jacob saw his mother still in the sand and ran happily over with her ice-cream, which had evidently been melting down his arm for some time.
‘Thank you, gorgeous,’ Nicolette said, ‘Why don’t you wait for me over there?’
Jacob scampered over to the towels, not noticing that his sandcastles had disappeared.
Dom approached. He looked around. Large footprints and pawprints were the only signs that anyone else had been here. He looked down at Nicolette. She looked up at him. Without saying a word, he knelt down and began to dig her out. There were no protests from Jacob as he had already fallen asleep on the towels, letting the Raspberry Ripple drop sideways into the sand.
As he helped Nicolette to her feet, Dom couldn’t help but look at her feet and her waist – some telltale red patches on her skin. Nicolette kissed him on the forehead.
‘There are a lot less people on the beach at this time of day,’ said Dom. ‘For future reference, that is.’
‘Perhaps we could do something different tomorrow,’ she replied. ‘Right now, I need a swim…’
Dom sat on his towel and watched the silhouette of his wife as she swayed towards the sea, a new serenity to her step.
That night, after they had put their son to bed, Nicolette and Dom made love. Dom could tell that Nicolette was more turned on than she had ever been with him before but why that was, he did not want to contemplate.
THE END?
Let me know what you think!
Tamira. 😉
You can visit my site here...
by Tamira K.
Chapter 1
Nicolette, Dom and their four-year-old son, Jacob, were up and getting ready a lot earlier than they had been on the first six days of their holiday. As Dom worked hard to blink his eyes open whilst looking out the hotel window over the still sleeping town he observed that the morning haze hid any evidence that the coming day was supposed to be “lovely and sunny” as Nicolette suggested.
‘Are we sure this is worth it?’ he asked, ‘It doesn’t look promising.’
‘That’s because you’re always asleep at this time of the morning,’ Nicolette replied as she packed the beach bag, ‘That mist will clear by eight o’clock. You’ll see.’
‘I’ll see if I can keep my eyes open,’ Dom yawned.
‘Do you want another day like yesterday and the day before?’ she asked.
‘No,’ he replied, with faux spoilt-brattishness. For the past two days he had awoken “early for a holiday day” whilst Nicolette had been entertaining Jacob in the other room as quietly as possible. He then got up, showered, they headed to the breakfast buffet and eventually reached the beach by around 10am, by which time almost every patch of sand had been occupied by tourists and locals.
The need for a new strategy was inspired by a portly family the previous day who had planted a neighbouring towel and eaten hotdogs non-stop. It wasn’t the smell that was the problem—that fitted with the seaside ambience—it was the unending sound of lip-smacking mastication. For hours on end, Dom's inner voice was on a loop saying, If it’s so much that you can’t close your mouth then maybe put in a little less, next time? Hmmm? By the time enough was more than enough, Jacob had constructed a community of sandcastles with his new bucket and the idea of getting up to find another space wasn’t an option.
‘Then don’t complain,’ Nicolette said and, with a hint of patronisation, patted Dom on the bottom to encourage a more positive attitude.
‘I’m not complaining, just seeking confirmation that I’m breaking my oath to have a solid week of Lying in For Once for a reason!’ and, by way of retort, gave her a warning prod in the waist. Nicolette squeaked and jumped and her beautiful, bright smile flooded the room.
Dom loved that smile but the way in which he got it always came with a pang of unpleasantness, ever since the night he and Nicolette had drunkenly shared details of their past relationships. One of the principles they had developed early on, having learned lessons from past relationships, was that openness and honesty were paramount. They never lied to each other. This principle, however, had its pitfalls as he discovered when he asked her who was the best she’d ever had and, in a moment of candid thoughtlessness, she immediately responded, ‘Probably my ex. The one with the tickling fetish.’ It only took her a microsecond to see the reaction on his face and prompt the caveat, ‘But you first! Miles ahead of anyone else! I thought you meant: “after you, who was the best?”…!’
But the damage had already been done. He didn’t know, or want to know, anything more about the one with the tickling fetish. All he knew was that, from then on out, he had the in-built compulsion to prove himself at every moment and sex from then on had featured an element of competitiveness with her past. He also felt compelled to be the one to prove that only he could tickle her now but whenever he did, he knew that it didn’t come naturally to him and so he probably wasn’t doing it right. Whatever “right” is, in that freaky tickling fetish world. Still, he was the one who was married to her! She hadn’t done that with anyone before! And now, she was his.
She cocked her head, seeing that he was thinking something that wasn’t in-line with the holiday mood. He noticed her concern and his expression softened. She was beautiful. More beautiful than he could have wished for as a younger man: 5’3” and a curvaceous size 10, with long, wavy auburn hair, light brown eyes, Maltese olive skin and that killer smile. Right now, her electric blue bikini was visible through her loose chiffon beach shirt and rainbow sarong.
He was about to get turned on when she asked, ’You okay?’
‘Yeah. Just… I love you.’
‘Aww!’ she was about to kiss him when they were interrupted by an impatient Jacob.
‘Beach time!’ Jacob demanded.
‘Okayyy!’ Nicolette said in a manner to match his enthusiasm. She slipped her flip-flops on, picked up the beach bag and turned to Dom, ‘Breakfast buffet?’
Dom was in the middle of idly scratching the pale skin of his middle-aged spread and sucked it in. ‘No,’ he said, ‘let’s pick something up on the way.’
— — — — —
In the mini-mart next to the hotel, Dom stood at the counter as the young cashier rang up their picnic items. The total was rising faster than at any other supermarket he’d ever been to.
‘I want ice cream!’ Jacob said.
‘No...’ Nicolette responded.
Jacob considered. ’I would like an ice cream!’
‘Very good! But you can’t have ice cream before breakfast!’ Nicolette replied.
‘Not now. After sandwiches.’
‘Maybe later,’ Nicolette said, ‘We can’t buy them now, they’ll melt by lunchtime.’
‘Maybe later, or promise later?’ said Jacob, looking up at her with pupils that seemed bigger than his irises.
‘Okayyy! I promise!’ Nicolette said.
Jacob twirled and returned to his task of spinning the rotating rack of sunglasses until a pair flew off. Nicolette caught them before they hit the floor.
‘Good catch,’ said the young man behind the till in a manner that was a little too suave for Dom's liking. Nicolette smiled in response. Although not a flirtatious smile, Dom felt the need to remind the young man of his presence and edged between their eyelines as he pushed his credit card into the terminal and typed his number into the keypad.
He the turned on the spot, said to his family, ‘Let’s go!’ and gave an assured nod to the cashier as they left. The cashier nodded back with a cocky smirk that Dom didn’t appreciate.
Nicolette had been correct, the morning mist had made way for the sun. Jacob insisted on standing between them and holding one hand of each parent as they crossed the main strip that overlooked the beach. As they neared the edge of the strip and more of the beach was revealed to them, their walking slowed – it was more packed than yesterday.
‘Do you think everyone else heard your plan?’ asked Nicolette, deadpan.
Dom looked at her, slack-jawed.
Jacob was unaware of any reason for pause and dragged them all the way down the stone stairs to the beach. The hubbub of chatter, accompanied by the distorted bass-line of R&B being played on a speaker a little way off was far from relaxing. ‘It’s not even 9am!’ Dom said. At that moment a group of teens switched on a huge bluetooth speaker and blared out inane chart music, apparently oblivious to the level of discord it caused as it competed with the auto-tuned R&B track. Nicolette laughed at the irony of it all but Dom was forlorn. ‘I can’t do this,’ he said.
Jacob tugged them through the obstacle course of towels, parasols and glistening bodies to the shore and Nicolette looked up and down the coastline. She saw some cliffs in the distance. ‘What about there?’ she said.
Dom followed her gaze, ‘Yep!’ he replied, without hesitation. They picked up their flip-flops and made a game of the walk for Jacob’s benefit as they splashed through the surf and towards the cliffs.
The crowd dissipated as they walked. After about 45 minutes the last group they came across was a bunch of twenty-somethings who were already breaking open cans of lager and listening to their own selection of booming rave music, which seemed to be causing a hyperactive adolescent Rottweiler to bark without pause. One of them wolf-whistled. Dom glanced sideways at Nicolette and felt proud – as usual, she didn’t give it any sign of recognition.
Whilst there was no shortage of space, Nicolette agreed with Dom's urge to keep walking until the music was completely inaudible.
‘Let’s stop now,’ said Jacob.
‘Just a little further,’ said Dom, ‘Maybe round those cliffs there might be a place to find crabs!’
‘Yay!’ Jacob cried and ran off ahead.
As they rounded the first cliff they found a delightful, picturesque cove. The high slate-coloured walls were topped with trees and long grass. There was the sound of nothing but seagulls and the waves that echoed surreally off the curve of the cliff, which continued into the sea and sheltered them from the strong sea breeze. They couldn’t walk any further if they had wanted to. Nicolette and Dom looked at one another and sighed blissfully.
‘Crads!’ shouted Jacob as he surveyed the rock pools at the cliff edge.
Nicolette smiled at Dom, ‘You’ve got a task, Crad Finder! I’ll get the picnic stuff ready.’
Nicolette walked further into the cove, laid down the picnic blanket and three towels then arranged the food – sandwiches, drinks and fruit salad. She then took some time to observe as Dom and Jacob hunted for crabs in the rock pools. After some time she called ‘Food is ready!’ in a manner deliberately intended to stoke Jacob’s enthusiasm.
His attention immediately switched, he dropped his bucket and hurtled towards her. Dom shrugged as their hard work scuttled out of the bucket and straight back into the rock pools. Nicolette laughed. Dom then strolled up to join them, ‘Had enough of crab hunting, then, Champ?’
Jacob nodded, his face full of cheese sandwich. ‘Drink lots of water, Jacob,’ said Nicolette and encouraged him by racing to drink her own bottle. He tried to keep up but Nicolette’s comical expression made him laugh and spurt water everywhere. She kept up the joke, enjoying his amusement, until her bottle was empty. ‘I win!’ she cheered.
Dom slumped down onto his towel and laid down, pulling Nicolette into the same position. They gazed into each others eyes for a moment. ‘Sun cream!’ Nicolette said as she recalled that they hadn’t put any on since they left the hotel.
She struggled to put sun lotion on Jacob as he ate his sandwich with one hand and used his little spade to dig a hole with the other, sending wet sand high into the air and showering back down onto Dom. Nicolette laughed again.
Dom dusted himself off, ‘What’s the plan?’
‘I want to dig a big hole!’ Jacob replied.
Dom stood up, ‘That might take a while with that spade.’ He stepped over, got down on his knees and helped dig at the sand whilst Nicolette lotioned his back. He winked a thank you. After completing work on her boys, Nicolette sat on the towel, took a drink of water, popped open the sunblock and began lotioning herself.
Dom reached down deep until he’d completed a narrow hole and the sand was so sloppy and wet that it kept falling in on itself. He knelt back and looked at Jacob, ‘What now? Want me to bury you?’
Jacob shook his head adamantly and then pointed at Nicolette, ‘Mummy.’
‘Good idea!’ Dom said and looked to Nicolette who had just finished putting lotion on her face and neck and wasn’t paying attention.
She caught them looking at her. ‘What’s that, now?’
‘Into the hole, Mummy! Jacob’s orders!’ said Dom.
‘Oh, really?’ Nicolette said with mock protest. Jacob nodded enthusiastically. Nicolette tied her hair up into a bun and took off her beach blouse and sarong. She stepped over.
‘Get in!’ said Jacob.
Nicolette jumped in and the wet sand covered her flip-flops. She found herself only as deep as mid-thigh level. Jacob shook his head, ‘Sit in it!’
‘Sit? Okay…’ she clambered out and analysed the hole, ‘It’s a bit narrow!’
Dom stood to help her. ‘Here,’ he said, taking her hands and helping her to lower herself. Eventually they got to a point of no return, Nicolette laughed as Dom struggled to keep hold of her and she slipped from his grasp. She put her hands down and slid awkwardly into the hole, sending her feet up high and accidentally sitting on her hands. Jacob clapped with delight.
Dom smiled as he looked down on his wife, ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yeah! I specialise in making these things look dignified(!)’
Dom and Jacob knelt down and swiftly filled in the sand on top of Nicolette’s body. As Dom watched her blue bikini disappear from sight, he felt his libido kick in and looked her in the eye. She knew what that look meant and responded with a look that indicated he would have to wait until tonight, then felt the surprising weight of the sand as it gradually pinned her into place, with just her head and flip-flopped feet above ground level. Dom packed it down as much as he could and then smoothed out the surface. ‘What are we going to do with all that spare sand, Jacob?’
‘Sandcastles!’ Jacob cried and ran over to get his favourite bucket. Nicolette watched happily as Dom and Jacob got to work building a masterpiece of sand architecture over Nicolette’s midsection which was eventually so high that it hid her own feet from her view.
Dom stood back to admire their work, ‘We’re getting there, I think. This will be one for the Instagram collection when we’re done! What do you say, Jacob?’
‘Ice creams!’ Jacob replied.
‘Not exactly the response I was looking for...’ said Dom. ‘We can’t have ice creams now, Jacob. There aren’t any shops here.’
Jacob looked to Nicolette, crushed. ‘But Mummy promised!’
Nicolette saw the upset in her son’s eyes and felt her heart begin to break, ‘Yes, I did…’ she looked at Dom.
Dom rolled his eyes, ‘Well, we’d better pack up then!’ He knelt in order to dig Nicolette out of the hole.
‘No!’ Jacob exclaimed, ‘We need to finish! But ice creams first.’
Predicting the impending debate, Nicolette spoke in a low tone to Dom, ‘Just take him. I’ll be fine.’
‘And leave you like this!? That would be ridiculous!’
‘Well, we’re on holiday, and I feel like being a bit ridiculous! Look, there’s no-one about, I’m in the shade of the cliffs and I’m actually quite comfortable.’
‘What about the tide?’ Dom questioned.
‘You can tell by the marks on the cliffs that the tide doesn’t come this far up the beach. Besides, the tide’s going out. Go on, take my purse and just do it. The quicker you go, the quicker you can come back and finish of your Instagram marvel!’ she flashed her perfect smile.
Dom contemplated and looked at Jacob, whose bottom lip was trembling, ‘Come on then! But let’s be quick!’ Jacob skipped in circles as Dom picked up his phone and the purse and they headed down the beach. He turned back to Nicolette and called, ‘Are you sure...?’
‘Yes!’ she called back, ‘Just bring me back a Raspberry Ripple!’
She watched as Dom tried to contain Jacob’s excitement, having to stop him from running in the wrong direction. Eventually, they turned the corner and were out of sight. Nicolette sighed and relaxed. The warm ocean breeze and the sound of the waves eventually caused her to nod off...
— — — — —
Nicolette woke with a start. She had no idea how long she had been dozing. If it had been five minutes, her husband and son would still be gone a long time. If it was an hour, they would hopefully be back soon.
It occurred to her that she should play it safe and get out. They could always bury her again and build more castles, but she wanted to call Dom to know when they would be back and then she realised why she had woken up so sharply. ‘Hmm... Shouldn’t have had all that water at once...’
She tried to shuffle but the sand had settled even further and almost felt like it had set. She couldn’t move any part of her body apart from her head and feet. Just then she noticed movement at the far end of the cove and felt relief. They were back!
Oh... No they weren’t. She began to grow concerned as she very quickly made out the hyperactive Rottweiler from further down the beach. ‘Oh, God. Please say he’s not on his own...’ she murmured to herself.
As if in response, the silhouette of a man rounded the corner and threw a stick for the dog. As the dog chased after the stick the man seemed to stop in his tracks as he noticed the empty picnic setup and started to walk closer. ‘Hello...?’ Nicolette called, ‘Oh, at last! Can you help me please?’
The man got closer – a fit, handsome man in his late twenties with a jarhead haircut and a healthy tan. He wore a pair of surfing trunks and an unbuttoned white shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
‘I thought I was seeing things,’ he said. ‘What’s up?’
‘Can you help me please?’ she said, squinting up at him and smiling hopefully.
‘What happened? How did you end up like this!?’
‘Oh, my husband and son thought it would be fun to bury me and build sandcastles on top. But then my son wanted ice-creams so they paused half-way through the project and went to get some.’
‘And left you like this!?’
‘Yes. I know. A bit silly really but it’s my fault – I insisted.’
‘And you can’t get out?’
‘No,’ she replied, wobbling her head and twirling her ankles to emphasise her predicament, ‘I’ve tried but I can’t move a muscle. It feels like cement from here!’
At that moment the Rottweiler, who had been kept busy by chasing seagulls, bounded towards them. Nicolette spotted him coming and couldn’t help a panicked tone to her voice, ‘Oh, can you stop him, please!?’
The young man clicked his fingers. ‘Rocco, come here!’ Rocco slowed as he approached Nicolette’s head, dropped his stick and then circled back to his owner. ‘Nervous of dogs?’
‘Not usually, but I’ve not seen one from this position before. Have you?’
‘Can’t say I have,’ replied the young man as Rocco sniffed around at the crumbs left behind by the picnic. ‘So, what can I for you?’
‘Can you help me get out?’
‘It will mean wrecking the sandcastles,’ said the young man as he knelt by her side, ‘That will be a shame.’
‘Yes, well, my husband will just have to do something else that he can show off on Instagram!’
‘But if you told them to go, why do you want to get out now?’ he asked.
‘Because they’ve been gone a while so I want to call my husband to see where they are. Plus…’ she hesitated.
‘Yes...?’
‘I should have gone to the bathroom before I got in here.’ The young man laughed. ‘I know, I know. Very funny! I thought it was funny half an hour ago, I’m not laughing now— Yeek!’ Nicolette’s thoughts were interrupted and her head lurched.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked the young man.
‘Your dog...!’ she exclaimed, struggling.
The young man stood up quickly and saw the dog sniffing around Nicolette’s toes. ‘Rocco! Here!’ The young man walked a little ways toward the cliff, stuck the stick into the ground and leashed the dog to it. ‘Lie down. Relax. Good boy.’ He returned to Nicolette and stood by her feet. ‘Gave you a fright, did he?’
‘No. I’m just a bit sensitive.’
‘Sensitive?’ the young man repeated with a blank expression.
‘Yes,’ Nicolette replied.
‘What do you mean, “sensitive”?’
As Nicolette watched, she saw one corner of his mouth curl up slightly. She recognised that kind of look and felt like she’d already said too much. ‘Oh, you know. Just a bit jumpy because I’m stuck like this.’
‘Oh, that’s all, is it…?’ he said, casually looking around. ‘I’m Jim, by the way. What’s your name?’
‘Nice to meet you, Jim. I’m Nicolette.’
‘Nice to meet you too, Nicolette. That’s a pretty name.’ He paused. ‘So, you’re married, huh?’
‘Yes, I am.’
‘Happily?’ he asked.
‘Yes!’ she replied indignantly.
‘Okay. Okay. I meant no offence. I’ve just got a thing for older women. Particularly attractive older women like you,’ he replied.
‘Ah, well. There are plenty of attractive older women in this town who aren’t married, I’m sure.’
‘Maybe,’ said Jim, ‘But not buried in the sand in front of me.’
‘No, of course...’ as she spoke, Jim looked down and knelt out of view behind the tower of sandcastles. Nicolette waited a moment, ‘Are you going to help me?’ she asked, impatiently.
‘I’m considering it,’ Jim’s voice replied from the other side of the sandcastle wall.
‘What’s there to consider—?’ Nicolette jumped again as she felt her right flip-flop get swiftly removed from her foot. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m just checking your shoe size from the bottom of your flip-flop,’ he replied, ‘UK size 5 / European size 38...’
‘You could have just asked! Why is that important, anyway—?’ as she spoke she felt the other flip-flop start to go. She tried to grip it with her toes but was too slow and he gently wrestled it free. ‘Can you put those back on, please?’ Her heart was pumping as she felt the sea breeze on her soles and she suddenly felt very vulnerable. She sensed the inevitable. The only tactic she could think of was to pretend she was irritated and ignorant of his intentions.
‘Why do you have so much sand stuck to your feet, Nicolette?’ Jim asked.
‘I... I just stepped in some wet sand before I was buried,’ she replied.
‘I see.’ Jim’s head appeared around the side of the sand castles. ‘They look like they need brushing off,’ he said.
‘No, thank you,’ she replied, maintaining an air of composure.
‘It wasn’t a question...’
Nicolette was about to demand her freedom when something stole the words from her throat. She felt his fingers begin to brush the sole of her right foot and her body reacted as she knew it would. All she could do was wriggle involuntarily as she stared at him with a confused smirk. Her nostrils flared as she became lost for an appropriate response, sweat instantly coated her body and, just as she could sense the she was about to lose it, he stopped.
‘You look like you have something to say, Nicolette,’ he said. There was something new about him – a look of sadistic mischief that she had known several years ago.
‘Please don’t do that.’
‘I’m just cleaning the sand from your feet, Nicolette. Don’t you want that?’
‘No, I don’t,’ she replied calmly, ‘and you know what you’re doing,’ she said.
‘Oh, do I...?’ he said, his inner devil coming to the fore.
‘Yes, and my husband would hate it. He wants to be the one who does that.’
‘Do what, Nicolette? Say it, otherwise I might have to keep going until I guess. And I’m not such a good guesser.’
‘To...tickle me,’ her eyes dropped momentarily.
Jim growled to hear these words spoken from the lips of such a luscious and mature beauty. ‘What would it do to your husband to see me doing this to you?’
‘It would make him very jealous,’ Nicolette said and suddenly spasmed as she felt fingertips playfully dancing across both of her soles. ‘No...! Nnn—!’ she scrunched her eyes tight as she tried in vain to deny her response. The attempt to resist became too much and she burst out into silent laughter.
Jim growled with satisfaction. ‘Very good, Nicolette,’ he said, stopping his interrogation. He stood and pulled a smartphone from his pocket, ‘So your husband does Instagram, huh? Maybe I should befriend him. What’s his ID?’
Nicolette looked up at him and shook her head. ‘Why do you want to know that?’
‘I just want to show him what happens when he leaves his gorgeous wife unattended around a man with a penchant for tickling.’
‘I love my husband and I’ve told you what that would do to him and so, no, I won’t tell you. I just hope, for your sake, he doesn’t come back and find you doing this. You would be in big trouble, dog or no dog.’
Jim seemed not to take notice. ’Damnit. My phone’s out of battery...’ he said. Nicolette relaxed a little. ‘But I bet yours isn’t! We can just send him a message from yours!’ He walked over to the beach bag on the picnic blanket and searched through it until he found her iPhone. He flipped it into the air, caught it and returned to Nicolette.
‘Now,’ he said in a matter-of-fact, officious manner, ‘What’s the PIN...?’
Nicolette looked at him with angry defiance.
He grinned. ’This is going to be fun.’ He crouched next to her, ‘Look, I saw your old man and your boy walk past me without you a little while ago. Why do you think I came this way? I noticed you when you went past us earlier. Now, if your man has trudged all the way back to town, he’s going to be gone for ages yet so I’ll consider myself “safe” for now, alright?’
Jim woke the iPhone and made a genuine sound of appreciation for the heartwarming family photo wallpaper. He then swiped left, accessed the camera, propped the phone against the sandcastles and tapped the video record function. Nicolette looked at the screen and saw her own sun-kissed face looking back at her. It was somehow even more disconcerting to see the concern that she was feeling portrayed on her own face. ‘Why are you doing this?’
‘You’re an experienced woman. I think you know why.’ As he spoke, his hand reached towards her. She retreated as much as she could and was somewhat relieved when all he did was release her hair from its bun. It bounced down gracefully around her. He looked smitten. ‘You really are a beautiful woman. Have you ever come across someone like me before?’ he asked.
‘You mean, a little shit?’ she replied, surprising herself with the attitude she was still able to display in the current situation.
He smirked. ‘No. I mean someone who likes doing this...?’ and he quickly teased her under the chin.
She turned her head to avoid him. ‘What if I have?’
‘You have! In that case, Nicolette, you know that I will never hurt you—’
‘Sure. You’ll just keep touching me without my consent!’
‘I’m afraid you’ve got me there. But it’s done with the utmost respect and appreciation for you as a human being—’
‘I believe psychopaths say the same thing!’
‘You don’t really put me on the same level as a serial killer, do you, Nicolette?’
She just looked away with exasperation.
‘You will also know that I don’t care whether you tell me what I want to know or not,’ Jim said. ‘You just know that I am going to enjoy every single moment of torturing you. The only question is: will you be able to take it? Or will I be able to break you? Will you be able to endure what I’m about to do to you or will you do anything possible to give yourself just the teeniest bit of respite?’
Equally as pissed off at his cocksure attitude as she was at her inability to do anything to help herself, Nicolette conveyed nothing in her expression that indicated she would be at all susceptible to anything he did to her. She breathed as deeply as she could. Seemingly in response, Rocco raised his head.
‘It’s going to be interesting to find out, isn’t it, Nicolette? Am I going to be able to break you and get your PIN number...?’
She turned to look him squarely and unblinkingly in the eye. ‘No, Jim, you are not.’
— — — — —
Dom had just reached the mid-way point of an epic ice-cream queue, having navigated the quickest route possible along the beach with a son who insisted on analysing and critiquing every sandcastle that they passed along the way. Upon seeing the queue he had debated whether leaving Nicolette alone for the length of time it would take to get these ice-creams was the right thing to do.
It wasn’t so much predicting the inevitable protests from his son that subconsciously convinced him as much as the perfectly toned, high-cut bikini-clad bottoms of the two young women who stood in front of him. At least he would have something to look at while Jacob played hopscotch on the pavement.
He took out his mobile phone and unwrapped his headphones, intent on listening to some summer tunes that were more to his taste than the incessant beats merging from the speakers on the beach. As he plugged himself in he noticed a message had arrived from Nicolette. He knew it – she must have gotten impatient, dug herself out and was now asking how long they were going to be.
He unlocked the phone and found a video message ready to be played along with the legend: Part 2. He pressed play and found himself watching a few seconds of the sand. Great video, Nic, he thought to himself.
A dog stepped into view and stopped, looking intently at something off-camera, a man’s hand holding his collar to restrain him from moving forward. Oh, it’s a comedy clip or something, Dom assumed.
A young man spoke, ’Guess what we found in the sand?’
Dom frowned. The camera followed the dog as it took a couple of steps forward. Dom felt the hairs all over his body stand on end as he saw his wife’s feet come into view, still poking out of the sand where he left her and just a metre away from the salivating dog. The camera panned round to see Nicolette, her hair in a mess, several strands sticking to her forehead, which was dripping with perspiration. Her cheeks were flushed red, ‘Dom! I’m so sorry! I couldn’t help it—!’ The video ended.
Dom froze on the spot. What the Hell had happened?! He immediately dialled Nicolette.
The same young man’s voice answered, ’Hello, Dom.’
‘Who is this?!’ Dom asked in a panicked tone that brought the attention of several people either side of him in the queue. He stepped away to get some privacy. Jacob instantly hopped into the vacant position.
‘I’m just a passing stranger. Your wife asked me for some help, but as you left her in a position where she can’t move a muscle, I just thought I’d have some fun.’
‘Don’t you dare hurt her!’ Dom said through gritted teeth.
‘You don’t need to worry about that. That’s not my style. And, before you say it, I’m not asking her to do anything sexual for me while she’s in this position either. It’s a good job it was me who came by, really! Although, from what I just witnessed, she would be likely to agree to do anything I asked for.’
‘What do you want?’ Dom asked, confused.
‘I just want to have a bit more fun with her. I can tell it’s been a while since she’s had any like this – she seems ultra “receptive” to it,’ said the young man with a cavalier smile to his tone. ‘I can hear from the background noise that you must be at the town end of the beach. It’ll take you at least half an hour to get back here, even if you run. That doesn’t account for having a little kid with you. So just get your ice-creams and take your time!’ he laughed.
‘What sort of fun?’ Dom demanded.
‘Haven’t you watched the video?’
‘No!’
‘Oh, that’s right – I’ve only sent you part two. I’ll send you part one now. I suggest you watch it and then you’ll know the fun I mean,’ he said and hung up.
Dom immediately phoned back. After one ring he was put through to voicemail. Nicolette’s calm and happy-go-lucky voice said, ‘Hi, this is Nicolette. I can’t take your call right now but leave me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!’
He heard another message arrive and licked his dry lips. With shaking hands, he pressed play on Part 1.
The camera was at ground level. Nicolette’s face took up the whole screen. She wasn’t yet flushed or sweating. She did, however, look thoroughly pissed off.
The young man’s voice was close, ’Are you going to tell me the PIN number of your phone, Nicolette?’
‘I said “No.” Are you deaf?’ she responded. Dom was momentarily proud of the strength his wife was demonstrating but quickly remembered that he was watching a video sent from her phone and felt deflated.
‘Very well!’ said the young man, cheerfully. He picked up the phone, walked over to his dog and unleashed it from a stick in the ground. ‘Stay, Rocco,’ he said and the dog did as it was told. Then the camera went with the young man over to the picnic blanket and rummaged through the food that was left. ‘Let’s see what we have… Crisps, that won’t do… Fruit cups, no… Ahh, tuna sandwiches! An excellent choice!’ He carried the sandwiches back to Nicolette, knelt down and propped the camera up against the sandcastles so that just his knees, the tops of Nicolette’s tanned feet and the distant, ever-attentive Rottweiler were in frame.
Dom watched in confusion as the sandwiches were unwrapped, peeled apart and the contents smeared over and under Nicolette’s feet, which flinched as soggy bread, tuna and mayonnaise squelched between her pretty, painted toes and dripped down over her ankles. Then, without his face ever coming into view, the young man tossed the bread to one side and summoned the dog. The dog trotted over to Nicolette’s feet and laid down. ‘Get him away from me!’ she said. A note of concern undermined her attempt at authority.
Dom couldn’t blink. What was he going to do!? Make the dog bite Nicolette’s feet?! No, I saw her feet and they were fine. Plus he said he wouldn’t hurt her. But why should I believe him?! Why was Nicolette sweating so much and flushed so badly...?
The dog sniffed around Nicolette’s toes and she did what she could to avoid it. Suddenly, Dom felt the energy drain from his face as the dog took an investigative lick at Nicolette’s right foot and it twitched involuntarily. He suddenly realised what fun the young man wanted to have with his wife and he knew how she would react but prayed with all of his being that she wouldn’t.
The dog hesitated no longer and began to lap at Nicolette’s helpless soles. ‘That’s revolting! Get him off me!’ she shouted angrily, except Dom detected a subtle wobble when she said the word “off”. Her defiance was already crumbling.
‘He’s just helping you get clean, Nicolette,’ said the young man, ‘why wouldn’t you want that...?’ There was a lengthy pause while the only sound was the non-stop licking of the dog. ‘Nicolette...?’ he repeated with a smile in his voice that indicated he was observing something that pleased him.
Suddenly, there was a long, undignified nasal snort as Nicolette struggled hard to contain her laughter. Dom's heart thumped in his chest as he watched this stranger’s dog slobber up and down his wife’s feet, turning its head sideways to enthusiastically clear the food between each of her toes. That’s when Nicolette’s resistance gave way and he heard a wheeze of helpless laughter.
Her feet flicked left and right in desperation and she laughed out loud. ‘Something wrong, Nicolette?’ teased the young man.
‘Get him off me-hee-hee-hee!’ Nicolette protested through her laughter, ‘I don’t want dog spit all over me!’ she shouted, attempting to add a sincere, logical protest to the events.
‘Oh... Sorry!’ said the young man with matchless insincerity.
Nicolette’s laughter began to subside as Rocco polished off the remnants of mayonnaise around her twitching ankles, his interest waining as he began to lap up the occasional mouthful of sand. The dog then trotted off to it’s original spot and laid down.
‘Want to give me your phone PIN yet, Nicolette?’
‘No, Jim!’ she shouted angrily. Dom felt a pang of jealousy as he realised they were on first name terms and wondered how much interaction they had been through before these recordings.
‘Oh. I guess you are stronger than I gave you credit for,’ said Jim. ‘I tell you what, as you don’t want Rocco’s saliva on you, I’ll clean it off for you and let you go. How’s that?’
There was silence from Nicolette as it was obvious he wasn’t finished with her yet. Jim stepped out of view and continued to talk. His voice became distant and the sea breeze blew across the microphone so Dom couldn’t decipher the comments they were exchanging although there was no mistaking Nicolette’s level of irateness. He could observe her struggle just from her feet. She was doing her best to break free but there was no give whatsoever from the sand prison he had put her in.
The breeze diminished as Jim’s size 11 feet stepped into view. They dwarfed Nicolette’s by comparison. Then a bottle of suntan lotion dropped into view and landed in the sand. It was swiftly followed by Nicolette’s Conair paddle hair brush. Dom didn’t know what was going to happen next, but he knew he wasn’t going to like it and his eyes remained glued to the screen.
Jim lowered himself onto his knees. His face was again not visible, except for the occasional emergence of a well-chiseled jawline. Dom couldn’t help glancing at the young man’s six-pack through his open shirt, although the position of Nicolette’s feet hid his swimming trunks from view along with the signs of anything more lurid.
‘I couldn’t find any soap but this should do…’ said Jim and picked up the sunblock. He unscrewed the lid and poured it all over Nicolette’s soles. From Dom's viewpoint it dribbled like icing between her toes and down the tops of her beautiful feet. ‘If you’re worried about your feet being dirty, Nicolette, maybe they could do with a scrub.’
Nicolette said nothing but her toes clenched slightly in response.
‘And,’ said Jim, ‘I found this in your bag…’ he picked up the hairbrush and showed it to her. Dom thought he heard her let out a piteous whimper. He then watched as Jim firmly took the toes of her left foot in one hand and brought the hairbrush close to it.
‘No! Please!’ called Nicolette.
‘What’s that?’ asked Jim.
‘Don’t do this…’ she pleaded.
‘Are you going to give me your PIN?’
‘I can’t!’ she insisted.
‘Oh, well, this is going to go on for a longgg time, then!’ said Jim and proceeded to scrub Nicolette’s left sole with the hairbrush.
This time there was no resistance. Her feet spasmed in response. Dom's earphones were filled with the sound of his wife’s helpless mirth. She was laughing, she was squealing, she was making involuntary sounds of panic and hysteria that he had never heard from her before and amid the laughter she was begging Jim to stop, which he did not. Occasionally Dom caught sight of his sadistic smile and felt increasingly limp.
At that moment, an extra level of panic was injected into Nicolette’s voice that caused Jim to pause. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked as he let go of the toes of her left foot and gripped the toes of her right.
‘You have to stop!’ Nicolette mewed through residual laughter, ‘I’m going to pee!’
‘Oh, I see!’ said Jim, who didn’t hesitate in going to town on her right sole.
In response Nicolette tried to scream for help but laughter stole the volume from her. Her sounds of unfamiliar squealing grew ever more high-pitched and she finally cried out, ‘OKAY!!!’
Jim didn’t slow as he politely enquired, ‘“Okay,” what?’
Through her defenceless squeaks and squeals and spasms Nicolette eventually managed to plead, ‘I-I-I-I’ll give you…m-a ha ha ha ha! M-my PINNN!’ But Jim didn’t slow down.
Even in the heat of the midday sun Dom again felt the hairs all over his body stand on end as he heard his wife call out, ‘PLEASE Jim! Have mercy!’ before collapsing into ever more hilarity.
At that point, Jim picked up the phone and Dom at last got a glimpse at his handsome and gratified face, just as the video ended.
Dom looked round. The rest of the world was carrying on as normal and Jacob was just a couple of customers away from closing in on the ice-cream counter. He considered for a few seconds and then FaceTimed Nicolette’s phone. The phone was answered and this time he found himself looking directly at Nicolette. She was even more flushed and sweating than before. She smiled at him apologetically.
‘Nicky, are you okay?!’ he asked.
She smiled, ‘Yeah, I’m fine—‘
Jim butted in. ’Dom! Where have you been?! We’ve been waiting ages for you to call back! What have you been doing? Watching the videos I sent you a few times over, I’ll bet! I’ve had to keep myself busy by exploring Nicky’s very sensitive neck. Did you know that if you teased her right here with your tongue—‘ Jim’s finger came into view and lingered at the crook of Nicolette’s neck. She scrunched her eyes and instinctively began to giggle.
‘Leave her alone!’ Dom demanded, recognising the impotence in his own voice. ‘Please stop doing that to her,’ he said.
‘Doing what to her?’ said Jim.
‘Tickling her!’ Dom spat out, even the phonetics of the word spoken from his own mouth caused him to cringe.
Jim shuffled away from the camera. A look of apprehension came over Nicolette’s face as she watched him shift position. ‘Oh, I’ll stop,’ said Jim, ‘but I just need to check out one last thing…’
‘No…’ said Nicolette.
‘What?!’ said Dom.
Nicolette looked to Dom but just shook her head, not wanting him to be affected by anything more, but also knowing that she couldn’t reach her phone to hang up. ‘Hang up, baby,’ she said.
‘What’s he doing!?’ Dom demanded.
‘Don’t be rude,’ said Jim with levity, ‘Answer your husband!’
‘He’s burrowing into the sand… In the “middle”.’ said Nicolette.
Dom blanched. ’Don’t you touch her!’
‘Oh, shut up!’ shouted Jim, momentarily losing his patience, ‘I told you, I’m not going to touch her, sexually.’ Then adding with a laugh, ‘And I’m not going to ruin your lovely sandcastles!’
Nicolette and Dom's eyes met and for a moment they conveyed how much they loved each other without saying a word, until Nicolette suddenly jolted and her eyes widened. She turned to Jim, ‘Oh, God, please don’t…’
‘What??’ demanded Dom, ‘What’s he doing?’
‘Ahhh, here we are…’ said Jim with an evil grin in his voice, 'Dom, I've just felt the hard sand give way to reveal some soft, sandy skin. Unless I’m mistaken, Nicolette, that will be your waist, just below your ribs?’
Dom's mouth felt dry as he recalled that was exactly where he had poked his wife that morning in the hotel room.
Jim’s hand burrowed a little further and he closed his fingers around the right side of her waist. His fingers probed instinctively and Dom could only watch as Nicolette’s nostrils displayed their giveaway little flare. She tried to grip her lips closed with her teeth as her waist automatically tensed, delivering to Jim the requisite muscle tone into which he could press with the greatest effect.
Nicolette’s first laugh burst from between her lips. There was a wide-eyed abandon as she threw her head back and laughed in a way that sounded almost celestial as it echoed around the cliff faces of the cove.
‘Oh, I’m sorry Dom,’ said Jim, ‘This is just too good...’
‘What—?’ Dom panicked as the screen was instantly covered in sand. After a moment it was cleared off and the phone was placed upright, again facing Nicolette.
‘I just had to clear your sandcastles,’ said Jim. Then he addressed Nicolette, ‘Describe what I’m doing now.’
Nicolette had stopped laughing, ‘He’s climbing on top of me… He’s digging in on both sides…. He’s… He’s…’ her eyes widened again as she looked at Jim and smiled, ‘No, Jim, please!’ she shrieked as she felt the shock of sensations shoot through her entire body and overtake her mind. She threw her head back, glassy-eyed and her mouth both wide and silent. After a prolonged moment, she managed to draw in a deep breath and then screamed with laughter into Dom's face.
Her expression changed from pure hilarity to being mixed with surprise and she gasped, ‘OhmyGod! No-no-no-no-no-no! Jim...’
‘Yes...?’ said Jim.
‘I’m going to p... p...,’ she said, losing her breath each time. ‘Oh, Godddd!’
Dom watched as she threw her head back again. This time her laugh of abandonment was mixed with some kind of pleasurable release.
— — — — —
By the time Dom and Jacob returned to the cove the sun had cast it into complete shadow. Jacob saw his mother still in the sand and ran happily over with her ice-cream, which had evidently been melting down his arm for some time.
‘Thank you, gorgeous,’ Nicolette said, ‘Why don’t you wait for me over there?’
Jacob scampered over to the towels, not noticing that his sandcastles had disappeared.
Dom approached. He looked around. Large footprints and pawprints were the only signs that anyone else had been here. He looked down at Nicolette. She looked up at him. Without saying a word, he knelt down and began to dig her out. There were no protests from Jacob as he had already fallen asleep on the towels, letting the Raspberry Ripple drop sideways into the sand.
As he helped Nicolette to her feet, Dom couldn’t help but look at her feet and her waist – some telltale red patches on her skin. Nicolette kissed him on the forehead.
‘There are a lot less people on the beach at this time of day,’ said Dom. ‘For future reference, that is.’
‘Perhaps we could do something different tomorrow,’ she replied. ‘Right now, I need a swim…’
Dom sat on his towel and watched the silhouette of his wife as she swayed towards the sea, a new serenity to her step.
That night, after they had put their son to bed, Nicolette and Dom made love. Dom could tell that Nicolette was more turned on than she had ever been with him before but why that was, he did not want to contemplate.
THE END?
Let me know what you think!
Tamira. 😉
You can visit my site here...
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