<p>“Thank you, Carson,” Sophie said as he set her suitcases down and turned to head back to the driveway to empty the rest of her car. “I really appreciate you letting me stay here.”</p><p>Carson turned and offered a kind smile. “It’s not a problem. The guest house is yours for as long as you want it.”</p><p>Sophie laughed. “Be careful what you say. The weather in Florida is a hell of a lot nicer than in Vermont. I might never leave.”</p><p>“No kidding,” he said. “I wasn’t exactly sad when I got the offer to transfer down here. More money and better weather all year round? That’s all it took for me. Seriously, though, we’re happy to have you. You take all the time you need to get back on your feet.”</p><p>Sophie rushed over and gave him a hug. Carson put his arms around her and held her close without thinking. Her perfume filled his nose and he couldn’t help but notice how her breasts pushed into his chest. He pushed those thoughts out of his head and reminded himself that Sophie was his sister-in-law, she was fresh off a fairly messy divorce, and the least he could do was offer a hug without letting his mind wander towards the gutter.</p><p>“Thank you,” Sophie said as she stepped back and wiped away just a touch of moisture from the corner of her eye.</p><p>“It’s nothing,” Carson said. “The guest house just sits here empty most of the time anyway. It’s nice to finally have someone in it. I’ll go get the rest of your stuff. I think Lauren is making some cocktails to welcome you to Florida in style. She’s going to bring them out to the pool. If you really want to embrace being a Floridian you can put on a swimsuit, take a dip, and have a drink. Who cares if it’s a weekday?”</p><p>Sophie laughed and grabbed one of her suitcases. “I think I’ll do that,” she said.</p><p>Carson turned and headed back towards Sophie’s car to finish unloading. She’d packed it to the brim, which meant he’d be working for a while and building up a sweat, but that’s what the pool was for. He grabbed two more suitcases from the car and wheeled them towards the guest house. When he dropped them in the living room Sophie stepped out of the bedroom in a white bikini.</p><p>“What do you think?” she said before spinning around. “I did a little shopping on the way down here. I figured if I was going to be starting a new life I might as well do it with a killer bikini.”</p><p>Carson experienced the sort of desire he figured most men experienced when they looked at a tall, beautiful blonde woman in a white bikini. He thought Sophie looked astoundingly sexy, but he couldn’t say that to his wife’s sister.</p><p>“That is absolutely a killer bikini,” he said.</p><p>“I thank you for saying so,” Sophie said as she put on her sunglasses and walked past him and towards the pool.</p><p>Carson took a moment to watch her go – her ass looked breathtaking – and then told himself he wasn’t allowed to do that anymore. Sophie was going to be living in their guest house for however long she wanted and it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to be ogling her, no matter how beautiful she was.</p><p>“Who wants a drink?” Lauren asked as she stepped out of the house with a pitcher of margaritas and three salt-rimmed glasses.</p><p>Carson watched his wife and her sister hug and smiled at how joyful they both seemed to be. The considerable distance between Florida and Vermont meant they hadn’t seen each other often over the past five years.</p><p>“It’s so good to have you here,” Lauren said as Carson stepped out of the guest house and headed towards Sophie’s car for another trip.</p><p>“Yeah?” Sophie asked.</p><p>“Absolutely. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want. It’ll be nice to spend some time with my sister again,” Lauren said.</p><p>By the time Carson returned with another armful of Sophie’s luggage the girls were on lounge chairs with their drinks in hand. They gestured towards him – toasting to his willingness to do a little work in the hot sun – and sipped their drinks before laughing over a whispered joke.</p><p>It took five more trips and a fair amount of sweat, but eventually Carson unloaded everything into the guest house, changed into his swimsuit, and jumped into the pool. Sophie and Lauren soon joined him and they spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, drinking, and doing a whole lot of catching up before the sun made it descent towards the horizon.</p><p>“Carson, Sophie and I are going out to dinner and then I was going to take her for a little dancing,” Lauren said. “Would you like to join us?”</p><p>“Yeah, you should come,” Sophie said.</p><p>“Next time,” Carson replied. “Make this one a girl’s night. You two have a lot to catch up on.”</p><p>“We need to get ready to go, then,” Lauren said.</p><p>“I’ll clean up out here,” Carson said. “You go ahead and get ready. And make sure you have fun tonight.”</p><p>Lauren headed into the house and Sophie to the guest house as Carson remained on a lounge chair with a smile on his face and a very mild buzz going. He couldn’t remember the last time he and Lauren had made drinks and spent most of the day by the pool. Maybe having his sister-in-law around was going to make life a little more exciting.</p><p>It was Lauren’s joyous laughter outside the front door that announced their return. Carson listened from the couch as they seemingly struggled to unlock the door, eventually prompting him to get up and help them out.</p><p>They were still struggling with the keys by the time he reached the front door and opened it. “Hey there,” he said.</p><p>Lauren laughed again and from the way her arms were draped over Sophie’s body it was clear she’d thoroughly enjoyed dinner, drinks, dancing with her sister. It also seemed that catching up involved quite a bit of alcohol.</p><p>“I guess you took my recommendation seriously,” Carson said.</p><p>“We had fun!” Lauren cried out as she threw her arms in the air and promptly leaned away from Sophie. She nearly toppled over before Carson managed to wrap his arms around her.</p><p>“It’s probably best if we get her to bed,” Sophie said.</p><p>Carson chuckled. He couldn’t remember the last time his wife had cut loose to such an extent that she actually got drunk. She seemed genuinely happy, too, like she’d had a great time. “I agree,” he said.</p><p>They got Lauren down the hallway and into the bedroom, helped her out of her dress, and put her in bed. Carson filled a glass of water and placed it at her bedside and left the door open in case she woke up in need of something.</p><p>“How come she’s totally blitzed and you seem fine?” he asked.</p><p>Sophie smiled. “Your wife can’t hold her liquor,” she said. “We had the same number of drinks. I was riding a good buzz all night long and she was, well, a little more than buzzed, as you saw.”</p><p>“Can I get you a glass of water?” Carson asked. “Or another drink, I suppose.”</p><p>“A glass of water would be lovely,” Sophie said.</p><p>Carson stepped into the kitchen, grabbed a glass from the cabinet, and filled it with ice cold water from the dispenser on the fridge. He returned to the living room to find Sophie seated on the couch. She had her legs crossed and a whole lot of thigh was showing. Carson glanced at her smooth, pale skin – she’d be tan soon enough, he imagined – and passed her the glass.</p><p>“Here, sit,” Sophie said as she gently patted the couch cushion next to her. Carson sat and Sophie scooted a little closer. “My sister gets awfully chatty after she’s had a few drinks.”</p><p>“I know,” Carson said. “It’s one of the things I love about her.”</p><p>“She told me that your sex life has hit a rough patch,” Sophie confessed before taking a sip of her water.</p><p>Carson didn’t know Sophie well enough to be able to guess where she was going with this conversation and a dizzying array of possibilities popped into his head.</p><p>“She said it makes her feel unattractive, like she’s not beautiful or sexy enough to keep you interested. She said that sometimes she wonders if you’re cheating on her,” Sophie explained.</p><p>“I’m not,” Carson said. “And I never would. I love Lauren. I do. And she’s still as beautiful and sexy as she was when we met.”</p><p>“That doesn’t really matter,” Sophie said. “It’s how she feels that matters, and you don’t make her feel as sexy as she used to because you don’t fuck her like you used to. Why is that?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Carson said. “I don’t…I mean, I don’t even know that we don’t have sex like we used to.”</p><p>“Is it an age thing? I know men sometimes have trouble getting hard as they get older. You’re not even 40 yet, though, so it shouldn’t be that. And you’re in pretty good shape, too, so I doubt it’s that you run out of steam. According to Lauren you just don’t fuck her as often and with the same vigor that you used to. She says the passion just isn’t there. She says she misses that desperately, that she wants to feel that passion again, that it makes her feel alive, and desirable, and sexy, and everything else that a woman wants to feel,” Sophie explained.</p><p>This was the last place Carson had expected the conversation to go. Sophie seemed downright confrontational and she clearly had no problem discussing anything and everything with him in a way that Carson wasn’t particularly comfortable with.</p><p>“You’re kind of making me feel like shit,” Carson said.</p><p>Sophie put her glass on the coffee table and grabbed Carson’s knee, though not in a sexy way. Her grip was firm and just a touch painful. “Carson, I like you. I’ve always liked you. You’re a nice guy and you’ve always been good to Lauren. But, she’s the one I really care about, and she’s clearly not as happy as she deserves to be and as far as I can tell, you’re the reason why. Lauren deserves to be happy.”</p><p>“I know,” Carson said. “I’m sorry. I really am. I work more hours now. I don’t get to the gym as often as I want. I’m not old, but I’m certainly older than I was when we got married. Sometimes I’m just not in the mood.”</p><p>“And I appreciate all of that,” Sophie replied. “I just don’t care. None of that seems like a reason for my sister to be unhappy. Don’t worry, though. I’m going to take care of it. In fact, I planted the first seeds tonight.”</p><p>“What does that mean?” Carson asked as he felt a sudden sense of paranoia.</p><p>Sophie smiled and leaned forward to pull her phone from her purse. She opened her photo app and tapped the screen before showing it to Carson. He was certain he was looking at a picture of his wife dancing with another man, but he had such difficulty imagining Lauren doing such a thing that the notion didn’t quite register for a few moments.</p><p>“She looks happy, doesn’t she?” Sophie said.</p><p>Carson nodded. She did look happy. Sophie swiped right and another picture appeared. The guy’s hands were on Lauren’s lower back and she was looking up at him with what Carson was certain was a sense of desire. “What did you do?” he asked.</p><p>Sophie swiped right and Carson stared at a picture of his wife kissing another man. It looked like Sophie had taken the photo mid kiss, too, because Lauren’s lips were clearly parted and Carson was quite certain his wife had another man’s tongue in her mouth.</p><p>“Lauren kissed someone?” Carson asked.</p><p>“It’s more accurate to say he kissed her,” Sophie explained. “Though Lauren certainly welcomed it. It was quite the passionate kiss, in fact. Did you notice his hands?”</p><p>Carson hadn’t and when he re-examined the picture he saw the other man’s hands on his wife’s ass. He had a good grip, too, and it seemed that he’d pulled Lauren’s body close to his. For some reason the first thing Carson wondered was whether the guy was hard and if Lauren had felt it.</p><p>“Did you do this?” Carson asked.</p><p>“He was eyeing her all night. He sent a round of drinks over and I told Lauren she should dance with him. She acted like I was crazy, but I could see that she wanted to. I could see it in her eyes and her body language. I could see that she wanted to feel just a little of that heat she used to feel. She wanted to feel just a little bit of desire, so I fanned the flame. I told her there was nothing wrong with dancing with someone. I told her to have a little fun, and she did,” Sophie explained.</p><p>“Are there more?” Carson asked.</p><p>“Pictures?” Sophie replied.</p><p>He nodded with his eyes on her phone and Sophie swiped right. Lauren was still kissing him in the next picture. He’d pulled up the bottom of her dress a little, seemingly in a quest to grasp her bare flesh. Their bodies seemed closer together and Lauren seemed as if she’d sunk even deeper into the kiss.</p><p>“Why aren’t you angry?” Sophie asked.</p><p>“I…I don’t know,” Carson said as he stared at her phone.</p><p>“Would you like to see a video?” Sophie asked.</p><p>Carson looked up from the phone and saw the smile on his sister-in-law’s face. “Of them dancing?”</p><p>“Not just dancing,” she said.</p><p>Carson noticed for the first time how hard his heart was beating. He felt considerably warmer than when he’d sat down and his senses felt more acute.</p><p>“Show me the video,” he said.</p><p>Sophie tapped her screen a few times and a video came up. Carson saw his wife and the other man on the dance floor in the still image. Sophie’s finger hovered over it for a few seconds before she tapped the screen.</p><p>Lauren and the other man moved slowly to a song he didn’t recognize. She smiled and he pulled her closer. She offered no resistance. He said something, but Sophie had been too far away to pick up the sound.</p><p>“He just told her how beautiful she is,” Sophie said.</p><p>Carson watched the other man reach up and caress Lauren’s face. He saw his wife close her eyes and smile at his touch. When she opened her eyes again he saw the desire. He saw why the other man had kissed her. He watched Lauren accept his kiss. He watched her mouth open. For a split second he saw her tongue dart into the other man’s mouth. He watched another man’s hands move to his wife’s ass and squeeze her flesh. He saw the kiss deepen. Then the video ended.</p><p>“Did she…did she do anything else with him?” Carson asked.</p><p>“They danced and they kissed. He tried to give her his number, but she turned him down. She felt a little guilty afterwards, but I told her she didn’t need to. I told her that if you weren’t going to give her what she needed then she didn’t need to feel guilty about having a little fun elsewhere,” Sophie explained.</p><p>“What did she say to that?” Carson asked.</p><p>“She’s on the fence,” Sophie said. “She said she needs some time to think about it. She doesn’t know I told you and I expect you to act like you know nothing about this.”</p><p>“Why would I do that?” he asked.</p><p>“Because if you don’t I’ll tell my sister you tried to take advantage of me,” Sophie said. “I’ll tell her that after we put her to bed you made a move on me. She’ll believe me, too. I can be very convincing.”</p><p>Carson recoiled from Sophie and she smiled like it thrilled her to instill fear in him.</p><p>“I will not allow my sister to trap herself in a marriage that leaves her unsatisfied, Carson,” Sophie said. “I will do whatever it takes to ensure that she’s happy and I will not let your inability to be the husband she needs get in the way of that. If you can’t get your shit together and make sure that my sister is sexually satisfied, I’m going to make sure that she gets what she needs from someone else. Do you understand?”</p><p>Carson nodded. Sophie was right. She could be very convincing.</p><p>“This doesn’t have to be bad for you,” she said. “There are so many ways it can be good. You just have to open your mind to them.”</p><p>Sophie stood, straightened her dress, and headed for the back door. “Goodnight, Carson. Sleep well. I’ll lock the door on my way out.”</p><p>“Goodnight,” he said.</p><p>Sophie walked through the kitchen and out the back door. She locked it like she said she would and no doubt headed across the lawn to the guest house.</p><p>Carson sat on the couch and tried to wrap his head around what had just happened. Lauren had kissed someone else. Sophie had engineered it, and she’d encouraged Lauren to cheat on him. On top of that, Lauren was apparently considering it.</p><p>The thing that Carson found most embarrassing was his inability to recognize his wife’s unhappiness. He knew that he no longer tended to her needs like he used to, but he had no concept of just how bad it had gotten for her.</p><p>Carson’s phone dinged and he pulled it from his pocket. Sophie had sent a text: “I thought you might want to look again.”</p><p>He opened her message to see that she’d attached a handful of pictures along with two videos. Carson felt an odd compulsion to watch. He tapped one of the videos. It was the same one Sophie had showed him. He watched it again and he did so intently. He watched Lauren’s face. He studied the kiss. The same unexpected, intense feelings returned.</p><p>Carson pulled up the second video. He tapped the screen. Lauren and the other man were no longer dancing. Instead, they were standing on the far side of the bar. It was a little darker, but it was clear they were kissing and that it was more of the same intense kind of kissing. His hand moved down her thigh and under the bottom of her dress. Carson pulled the phone closer to his face as he watched the other man’s hand travel up his wife’s leg. Lauren reached up and her fingers moved to the back of his neck. It was the sort of thing a woman does when she’s enjoying herself with a man.</p><p>The video ended suddenly. Carson tapped the screen and it played again. He watched Lauren kissing the other man. He watched the other man’s fingers move under her dress and up her thigh. The video ended before he saw where the fingers ended up.</p><p>Another text from Sophie arrived: “One more.”</p><p>Carson pulled it up. She’d sent another video. He tapped the screen. He saw Lauren and the other man seated in a booth. They were kissing vigorously. His hand was between her legs. Sophie was filming from a little too far away for it to be perfectly clear, but Carson was certain he was watching someone else finger his wife. His heart was pounding. There was sweat on his brow. His hands were shaking a little.</p><p>The video ended and he texted Sophie: “I thought you said they danced and kissed?”</p><p>“They did both of those things. I left out the part where he fingered her. She said it’s been a long time since someone fingered her. She said she loved it,” she texted back.</p><p>Carson stood and paced the living room with his phone in his hand. He felt an odd sense of wetness between his legs. He looked down to see a small wet spot in the front of his shorts. He slipped a hand into them and found the spot. It was slick and sticky. It was precum. He was leaking precum.</p><p>He gripped the phone in his hand. He wasn’t hard but he was definitely leaking precum. He was excited. His body was producing lubrication because of his excitement. Why was he excited after watching a video of someone fingering his wife?</p><p>Carson played the video again. He watched his wife kiss another man in a booth at the bar. He watched the other man finger her. Lauren had said she loved it. She loved having someone else finger her. Carson looked down. His cock was half hard. Why was his cock half hard?</p><p>He rushed towards the bathroom, shut and locked the door, and pulled down his shorts. He put the phone on the counter and played the first video again. He wrapped his fingers around his cock and stroked as he watched Lauren kissing another man.</p><p>He played the second video. He watched Lauren kissing him. He witnessed his wife’s desire and the sense of passion that she seemingly needed in her life. He watched the other man’s hand move up her leg and towards the destination it clearly reached.</p><p>Carson played the third video as he furiously stroked his now-erect cock. He watched the other man’s hand move under his wife’s dress. He imagined the fingers in her pussy. He imagined someone else inside her wetness, pleasuring her. He imagined her loving it and he spilled his cum into the sink. He held his mouth closed to prevent his groans of pleasure from filling the house and waking his wife and he gripped the edge of the sink to keep himself from falling over from the power of his climax.</p><p>“Fuck,” Carson whispered as he looked down and saw that some of his cum had missed the sink. He cleaned his hand and his cock, put himself back in his shorts, and grabbed a big wad of toilet paper to clean the mess he’d made.</p><p>Carson flushed the toilet paper and turned around to lean against the bathroom sink. He couldn’t quite wrap his head around what had unfolded over the past thirty minutes. He couldn’t begin to understand why watching his wife kiss someone else had ignited his desire in such an unexpected way. He didn’t want that. He didn’t crave that, and yet it had happened.</p><p>Carson grabbed his phone and headed back to the living room. He needed a little time to cool down before going to bed. He poured a drink, put his feet up on the coffee table, and surfed channels until he found something suitably mind numbing so he could delay thinking about what had happened until the morning.</p>