She could see her friend’s mouth moving, and she was pretty sure there were words coming out, but Mia had successfully managed to tune Rachel out while she took care of the final bits of dinner prep. As much as she loved her best friend, the last thing Mia wanted to hear was how exciting Rachel’s sex life with her husband was. It didn’t seem fair that after five years of marriage, the two of them were still hot and heavy. Especially since that was not the case with her own husband, Evan. And they’d only been married two years.

“Are you listening to me?”

Mia stopped, bread knife in hand and tried her best to look interested. “Of course I am.”

“You’re a terrible liar,” Rachel said and poured Mia another glass of wine. “Because if you had been listening, you would have heard how Dane did the most incredible thing with his tongue. I have never in my life come that hard. I thought I was going to literally break apart.”

Mia took a gulp of wine, letting the coolness of the chardonnay douse the flicker of flame deep in her own core.

“Rach,” Mia started. “As much as I—”

“Oh wait.” Rachel held up her hand. “You haven’t even heard the best part yet. I was lying there, totally wrung out. I mean, totally. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to move again, and just when I thought I couldn’t take another second, Dane—”

“Stop.” Mia dropped the knife against the cutting board and like a little girl, squeezed her eyes shut and stuck her hands over her ears. “I can’t hear another word. Seriously. You’re killing me.”

After a moment, when she thought it was safe again, Mia dropped her hands and opened her eyes just enough to see her friend smirking at her. “You done?” Rachel asked.

Mia nodded, picked up the knife and resumed slicing the bread.

“So, you want to talk about it?”

Mia didn’t even pretend she didn’t know what Rachel was talking about. They’d been best friends most of their lives and since their husbands happened to be best friends, too, the four of them spent as much time together as they could.

When Mia didn’t answer, Rachel nudged a glass of wine closer to her, raised her eyebrows and waited. Just as she always did, Mia sighed, picked up the glass and got ready to spill her guts. But before she did, she took a quick look behind her at the deck where Evan and Dane were standing around the grill, tending to the steaks.

Satisfied that they wouldn’t overhear, Mia leaned over the counter and whispered, “It’s sex.”

“Sex is great!”

Mia shushed Rachel with a gentle swat to the arm. All she needed was Dane overhearing Rachel say the magic word, and he’d be trotting inside to whisk her off to the nearest bedroom.

“I know, I know,” Mia said. She took another quick glance around. “Except when it isn’t. Let’s just say that things with Evan and I haven’t been very satisfying lately.”

In hindsight, Mia probably should have waited for Rachel to swallow her wine before she offered up her confession. But while Rachel choked and coughed her way back to recovery, it gave Mia a chance to figure out how much detail she wanted to go into with her friend.

Mia handed her friend a glass of water and waited while she took a sip and put the glass down. “Are you okay?”

Rachel ignored her. “What the fuck, Mia? You guys have only been married for a few years. Is everything okay between you two?”

Mia nodded. “Yes. We’re fine.” And it was fine. Evan was her best friend. They shared everything together and they still looked forward to the end of the day when she came home from teaching English at the high school and he got off shift with the fire department, and they could cuddle on the couch together. Evan still made her heart beat fast and her panties wet with just one kiss. But when it came time to get down and dirty, there just wasn’t much excitement lately. Everything was feeling just a little too routine. She told her friend as much.

“It’s just getting kind of stale,” Mia said. “And I just don’t get it. How do you and Dane keep coming up with new moves? I swear, every time I talk to you, you’re telling me about some new crazy shit you’ve done and some new way he’s made you come. I just don’t get it.”

Finished with her rant, Mia flopped into a kitchen chair and swallowed the rest of her wine before facing her best friend, who no doubt thought she’d totally lost her mind. But Rachel wasn’t looking at her strangely; instead, she was watching Mia with a sly smile on her pretty lips.

“What?” Mia asked. “I thought you’d have something to say for sure.”

“Oh, I have something to say, all right.”

But Rachel didn’t say anything. Instead, she reached into her purse and took out a business card. She handed it across the table to Mia, but before she could take it, Rachel pulled it back.

“Before you look at this, I need to know that you’re ready,” Rachel said.

Mia narrowed her eyes. “I’m ready.” She thought back to the last time she and Evan had sex and the less than gratifying, at least for her, conclusion. “Oh, I’m definitely ready.” Before Rachel could tease her with it again, Mia lunged forward and grabbed the card.

It was a deep purple, glossy card with raised silver printing. She ran her fingertips over the words, and read them aloud. “Passionate Pleasures Institute.”

Mia looked up. Rachel was smiling behind her wine glass.

“What is this?” Mia asked.

“Exactly what it looks like.”

“It looks like sex school.”

Rachel raised her eyebrow in response.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I’m very serious,” Rachel said.

“You guys needed to go to school for it?”

Rachel flicked a glance out the window before answering. “We didn’t have to,” she said. “We were like you guys. Things were getting a little boring, and we didn’t want to lose the spark. One day, Dane came home with the card from a buddy at the gym. I was skeptical at first too, but I swear, Pleasures is for regular people, just like you and me. It’s totally changed our lives. It really is amazing. Trust me.”

“If it’s so amazing, how come I’ve never heard of it before? How could you keep this a secret? We tell each other everything.” Mia’s head spun. Her best friend went to sex school. How did a thing like that even exist? She couldn’t wrap her head around anything Rachel was saying.

“You have heard about it,” Rachel said. “I’ve been telling you for ages about the things we’ve been trying. Where do you think we learn them? Besides, there’s a code. I couldn’t tell you directly about the Institute until I knew you needed it. That’s how they keep it exclusive. Invite only.”

Mia flipped the card around in her hand, and once again ran her fingers over the raised lettering. “So that’s what this is,” she mused, “an invitation?”

“Oh yes,” Rachel said. “And trust me. You’re going to want to accept.”

* * *

Mia rolled over and stared at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of Evan preparing for bed. After Rachel and Dane left, she’d done her best not to think about the purple card in the back pocket of her jeans. Rachel might think they needed it, but they didn’t really need classes telling them how to get off, did they? They’d been doing it for years and with the exception of the last few months, they’d never had any trouble in that area.

But the last few months...

Mia tried not to think about it. No. She was determined to prove her friend was wrong. It was just a phase they were going through. Nothing serious. And definitely nothing they couldn’t work themselves out of. And when Evan was done brushing his teeth, she was going to prove it.

The faucet turned off and predictably, the bathroom door opened seconds later. Mia’s breath caught in her chest at the strong silhouette his lean body provided. There was an instant quickening deep inside her, just by looking at him. That had to prove something, she thought.

“Are you sleeping?” Evan asked as he made his way across the room in the dark.

“I’m most definitely not,” Mia said. She did her best to sound sexy and sultry, but even to her own ears, the effect wasn’t quite what she was going for.

“Are you feeling okay?” Evan pulled the covers open and slid in next to her. The mattress sank with his weight and she instinctively braced herself so she wouldn’t roll into him.

“I’m fine.” Mia shook off the feeling of insecurity that threatened to derail her and reached out to trail a hand down his bare chest to the waistband of his boxer briefs.

“Oh,” he said. “Is that what’s going on?” His voice had a hint of playfulness, but there was also a tone of predictability in what he said that Mia tried not to be irritated by.

“You know exactly what’s going on.” Mia let her fingers wander farther south, where they were rewarded with a stirring in his shorts. Stroking her fingers slowly along Evan’s inner thigh, she waited until his cock was hard before slipping her fingers inside his shorts and wrapping her fingers around him.

Mia was rewarded by a groan. Encouraged by his response, she slid her hand up and down with just the right amount of pressure. She knew exactly what he liked. Not too hard, and just light enough to tease. And she knew what would come next, too—although secretly, Mia hoped Evan would surprise her.

She tried not to be disappointed when he predictably said, “Come here. I need you. Now.” And he did. That much was evident, but she needed more. She wanted more. Sure, she was wet. But it wasn’t enough. For a moment, she thought about protesting. About telling Evan she wasn’t ready. But before she could think it through, his hands gripped her around the hips and forcibly lifted her onto his lap.

His member pressed against her slit, hot and hard. She rocked up and down, letting the friction build against her clit. A spark fired, and she let out a small moan of her own. Wanting more, she shifted her body to continue the pleasure, but Evan caught her in his grip and when she rocked up, he used the motion in his favor and in one move, plunged deep inside her.

Mia let out a gasp, which Evan took to be a sign of pleasure and guided her in the rhythm he set. His hands traveled to her breasts, cupping and squeezing. He rolled her nipples between his fingers, but just when she thought he was going to squeeze, and give her the pressure she craved on her sensitive buds, he pulled back.

Desperate to salvage the situation, Mia leaned forward, increasing the pressure on her clit as their bodies rocked together in rhythm. It was too soon when she felt the familiar tensing of his muscles that signaled Evan’s release. Too soon. Frantically, Mia picked up the pace, letting her mind go blank, all her concentration focused on her pleasure center.

Just as Evan clenched and released into her, Mia felt the stirrings of what would have been her own orgasm, but then, just as quickly as it showed up, it was gone.

Tears of frustration pricked at her eyes as she climbed off. When did it get so bad? So routine? Rachel was right. Mia didn’t bother lying down next to Evan. Instead, she crossed the room, ignoring her bathrobe, and headed for the walk-in closet.

“Mia? Babe?” Evan called.

She didn’t answer. Intent on her task, Mia scooped up her discarded jeans and dug into the back pocket before heading back into the bedroom.

“Are you okay?” Evan asked. He was propped up against the headboard, his face lined with concern. “I hope that was good for you. I mean—”

“We need to talk, Evan.” She sat on the bed, holding her hands in front of her. “I love you, but...”

“Our sex life,” he finished for her.

She nodded sadly. “I don’t know where it went so wrong,” she said. “But I know we can fix it. Look at this.” Mia thrust the card at him.

She waited while he took it from her and read over the words. She didn’t say a word while he digested what she was showing him. And when he finally looked up to meet her gaze, she said, “We need to call.” For the second time that day, she ran her fingertips over the words, and read them aloud. “Passionate Pleasures Institute.”