(Free chapter)

It was Peter and his wife, Jane — an older couple who lived a few streets away from Lucas and Olivia — who first told them of this game. They had first met at the local health club and quickly became close friends. Within weeks, they were hosting regular dinner parties for each other.

One weekend, after having had dinner together and more than a few glasses of wine, conversation steered towards the topics of intimacy and sex. Peter and Jane revealed that they “were in the lifestyle,” as they put it. Basically, Lucas and Olivia learned, that meant that their friends were having sex with others outside their marriage.

Amazed at that disclosure, the younger couple had a battery of questions, and Peter and Jane answered every single one with aplomb. They told them about the rules, the boundaries, the partners, the positions, the emotions, and much more. Eventually, though, Jane had suggested they simply show them instead.

That was too big of a step for Lucas and Olivia, but the combination of alcohol and the graphic descriptions of mingling bodies and exotic pleasure, had affected all four of them. They ended up fucking like wild animals — each with their partner, but watching the other pair, too.

Each subsequent dinner party made the younger pair bolder. Jane kept pushing Olivia to “broaden her horizons”, but except for some mild kissing and touching between the women, the couples kept to enjoying each other visually.

One evening, still panting after their strenuous exertion, Peter told them of a game he thought they’d enjoy, now that they had begun awakening sexually. It was called “The Circle”. According to Peter — enthusiastically echoed by Jane — it was a mind-blowing experience, although they claimed that they weren’t allowed to share any details about it. However, the glow in their older friends’ eyes when they talked about it, plus their own curiosity, had both of the younger lovers immediately eager try it.

Peter and Jane promised to handle the application. A few days later, Lucas and Jane received an enigmatic postcard, inviting them to join an exciting evening at The Circle. All that it contained was a time and place, along with a one-hundred-dollar bill and a note reading, “The first of your winnings”.

Both of them agreed that they simply couldn’t decline.