The first few rounds were moderately tame, with everyone choosing truths rather than dares: Malorie sharing the fact that she’d had two or three girl on girl experiences, Harry describing the loss of his virginity, and Brandon confessing that he’d once fallen asleep only seconds after coming, to the annoyance of his partner at the time.

Cath was, predictably, the first to opt for a dare when the dice gave her the highest score. Low scorer was Ricky, who smirked through his blond moustache in a way that Malorie knew meant something fiendish was coming.

“Got any ice in the freezer?” he asked, and when Cath admitted that there was plenty, he dared her to get an ice cube and slip it into her knickers. Cath disappeared into the kitchen and emerged with a little china bowl containing several cubes of ice and a little water. She set it down on the coffee table and extracted one dripping cube, which she popped into her mouth for a moment and then withdrew. She was wearing a white miniskirt to show off her tanned legs, and hitched it up to reveal that all she had on underneath was a white satin thong. With one hand, she tugged the front of it aside, showing off a shaven pussy that was as tanned as the rest of her – Harry and Cath were fond of swinger and naturist holidays in hot climates – and slowly ran the ice cube over her bare mound.

“Whoo, that’s cold!” she squealed, and Harry laughed. “Not often you get anything cold up there, is it love?”

With a succession of little squeaks and gasps, Cath slipped the piece of ice between her pussy lips and pulled her underwear back into place. She rose up on the tips of her toes for a moment, shivering, and then giggled. “Well, it’s different!”

“Roll again,” Ricky said, and they did. This time Jem scored high, and Harry low. The older man licked his lips and said, “Truth or dare, Jem, mate?”

“Dare,” said Jem, a little nervously.

“OK, get the ice cube without using your hands.”

This, Malorie knew, was a pivotal moment, at least for Jem, if not for the whole party. If he bailed out, then Cath and Harry were experienced enough to smooth over any social awkwardness, but it would have set a limit on the evening’s fun: no actual swingy-swappy sex-with-someone-other-than-your-date stuff for the newbies, please, and probably none in front of them.

Jem was up to the challenge, though. With one cautious but gleeful glance in Tiffany’s direction, he got up from his seat and went down on his knees in front of Cath, who obligingly raised her skirt again, and stood with her legs as far apart as she could comfortably manage in her high-heeled sandals. Jem carefully took a grip on the sidestrap of the thong with his teeth and began pulling it down. Once it was clear of her quim, he turned his head to one side, opened his mouth and began to probe with his tongue. Malorie raised herself up, resting her arms on Ricky’s knee, so she could get a clearer view of what was going on, and realised, as she brushed the front of his jeans with her elbow, that Ricky was getting erect. She wondered if Harry and Brandon were, as well, as she could feel a little dampness in her own quim by now. Cath, eyes closed, was clenching and unclenching her fists as Jem teased the ice cube free of her pussy and finally sucked it into his mouth. He stood up again, sucking the ice and then crunching it, as Cath planted herself on Harry’s lap and gave her husband a long, lingering kiss.