Swing Time

At a convention of swingers, we pulled aside seven beauties to ask them why one man isn't enough--and to get directions to the orgy

Don't call them wife swappers. They hate that because it's not what they are. In the swinging community--insiders know it as "the lifestyle"--the women are in charge. They decide who will get laid and how. They show off their bodies, lick, suck, kiss and tell. They don't take offense to anything except a hand placed without permission. They say no if they must--or, as often, yes--and everyone moves on. They insist on condoms, at least with strangers, which is why bowls of them are everywhere.

We spent a sex-filled weekend at the Lifestyles Convention, during which 2,500 couples (participants must be part of a couple) take over a Vegas hotel to eat, sunbathe, gamble, dance, attend seminars, buy sex toys and fuck, watch other people fuck or both. While Playboy was in town, the women also posed. Like any community, the lifestyle has its hipsters, old guard, wallflowers and rowdies. We met them all in search of uncommon beauty. Along the way we had a few laughs. One thing you can say about women who swing: They have a good time, even with their panties on. This year's event--conventions are also held in Acapulco and Miami--begins July 7.

For more swingers, visit cyber.playboy.com.

"My husband always told me he would love to see me with another woman. I liked the idea of watching and being watched, but I wasn't sure about the girl thing. So we started reading more about the lifestyle at swinger sites. I had thought that swinging was disgusting--that they just had big orgies--but we learned that there are all kinds of levels, including what we do, which is soft swinging. That's foreplay only--touching and oral sex but no intercourse, and always together and in the same room. Those are the rules we follow, and it's safer when it comes to STDs. We found a lot of young couples online, so we started answering ads and interviewing people. We chose a couple we liked and met them at a club and danced and had a great time. Then we went back to their place, and the wife started touching me while the guys watched. The guys joined us, and it all fell into place; there were hands everywhere. It's still my favorite encounter because it was my first. Today we meet people at swing clubs or online, but my rule is that the other couple has to be happily married or we don't get involved. Too many couples get into the lifestyle because they think it will save a bad marriage. We still go to clubs, but we're voyeurs more than anything. If something more happens, it happens. I live in south Florida, where there are a lot of parties for younger couples who experiment. We will take breaks from the lifestyle, because we realize we're spending every weekend with swingers and missing our vanilla friends. I've been in orgies, but I don't like them--there are so many people, so someone is always left out, and you really have to concentrate. It's too much work. We're open with our friends about what we do, and a few have been curious and have come to clubs with us."

"By the age of 24 I'd had enough of guys being jerks or cheating on me, so I started dating women. I loved my first girlfriend as much as I had loved any man. But I began to miss guys, so I decided I would have both. I posted an ad online, looking for couples. As a young single woman I could be picky. I met a couple who introduced me to other fun people. Once we had a core group we arranged orgies with five, 10, 15 people--everyone having sex together. I began to write down my experiences and post the stories online, but people asked for photos. I had never photographed myself nude, let alone having sex, but I liked how they turned out. At the same time I was still searching. I wanted a relationship. With my site, that became difficult. It hit men like a brick if they found out. Four years ago I met a guy in an airport, and he asked me out. He learned about my secret life a few weeks later. The swinging is enough to throw off most guys, but I also had a website with photos of me sucking cock! We had a hard time for a year or so, but eventually he met my friends and realized they aren't freaks. Six months later I arranged his first swinging experience: three women, including me, all to himself. He loved it. Why wouldn't he? We live together now, and we aren't looking for anyone new. We have enough friends to keep us busy."

"When we were dating we talked about having a threesome. Bruce knew I thought the college guy who lived across the hall was cute, so when we went out drinking he asked him, 'Do you want to have sex with my girlfriend?' The guy got all defensive: 'No, man, no!' But then Bruce explained, and the guy did a fast 180. It was fun, no-strings sex. A few weeks later the guy introduced his girlfriend, and we swapped. We started looking online for other couples, but it took a year to find anyone who clicked. It's hard to find couples we both find attractive. Sometimes you'll do a mercy fuck for your partner, but it's not as if I've ever been with a guy I thought was ugly--he just wasn't my first choice. The first couple we liked took us to a party in Kansas City, which has a big swinger community. We arrived early and went to the pool, and everyone there was a lot older than we were or overweight, so I was ready to bolt. But the younger people came later for the dancing, and that night set the pace. Bruce and I swap only in the same room--mostly because we don't want to miss anything. His favorite position is to have me suck him while someone is having sex with me. I prefer group sex because I can come and go as I please. If a guy is outlasting me I can say, 'I think that girl needs attention.' Many guys don't like orgies because they feel so much pressure to perform."

"About five years ago my husband and I went out drinking with another couple. My girlfriend was curious about being with another woman, so she decided to go for it. When we got back to our house for a nightcap, she started kissing me. We made out for a while, then took off our tops. Soon we were giving each other oral sex. The guys were in awe. After an hour we asked them to get off the couch and join us. The next morning my husband and I had vicious hangovers. We looked at each other and said, 'What did we just do?' But we'd had fun, and our friends said the same. So we started looking for more couples. We aren't into sport fucking, when you meet someone new every weekend. We prefer friends with benefits. I've been to a few orgies, including one with 10 women. But generally I don't enjoy gang bangs; they aren't intimate. My husband and I are picky about who we play with, but we don't have many rules once it happens. We usually ask the other couple what they like. Some people we've seen at parties don't talk things through before they arrive, so you'll walk into the kitchen and say, 'Your husband is really going at it in there!' and realize the woman had no idea and she's upset. I don't care that my husband is having fun in another room, but I need to know where he is. If you're part of a couple, you can't swing alone."

"I was dating my future husband when he invited me to go to Hedonism in Jamaica--then we found out the week before we were going to leave that a swingers gathering would be there at the same time. I was not happy. I thought swingers were people who just needed an excuse to cheat. But we ended up going down on each other in a hot tub in front of other guests, and I had a great time! When we got home we visited clubs and started taking couples home. The first time was a disaster--the other couple got into a huge row because the guy couldn't get hard--and eventually we realized that we prefer finding a single woman or man. So now we go to bars, and my husband fades into the background until a guy tries to pick me up. Then he'll introduce himself and say, 'Do you want to screw my wife?' He's pretty blunt. Some guys think we're putting them on, but so far we have a 100 percent success rate. My husband lays out the ground rules, which basically are 'When we're done, you're done.' We still swing with couples, but we haven't swapped. It hasn't felt right yet. Usually no one has to say anything--body language says enough about what people want and don't want from you. When you have an open relationship, there is nothing you can't ask your partner. You may not always get a yes, but you can still ask. For example, I won't do anal, but we found a woman who likes it."

"My husband and I fantasized for the first four years we were married about having a threesome. One evening we went to our neighbors' to sit in the hot tub. We thought they were the most square people we knew-- but it turned out we didn't know much. I started rubbing the woman's thigh, and all four of us ended up naked in a big pile. They introduced us to other swingers. When we get together with friends we do silly things. Once we blindfolded the guys and made them sit on the couch and try to identify us by fingering our pussies or by how we gave oral sex. They claimed they couldn't tell. I will swing only with my husband nearby. Some couples separate for the night, but that would make me jealous. When you're with a new person it's like opening a present. People kiss differently; they give head differently. My favorite thing is to ride my husband while a girl licks his shaft and balls and another girl sits on his face. It's a challenge to meet couples you both like. I took one for the team once, but it made me feel like a whore--so never again."

"I was into the scene when this photo was taken--I loved all those hands on me--but I can't say I was ever enthusiastic, and I don't swing anymore. One of my boyfriends and I talked about my being with another woman while he watched, but I had never given it much thought. The more we discussed it, the more curious I became. So we went to a swinger site and browsed the ads. We weren't interested in swapping, and that eliminated a lot of people we met. Few wanted a girls-only encounter. We finally met a couple whom we found attractive and who agreed to our terms. We went back to our place after dinner, and the woman kissed me to get things started. There was no way I would have made the first move; I was too nervous. We made out and went down on each other while the guys watched. We got together again later and had sex with our partners in the same room. We also went to a few parties, but I never liked the vibe. Couples followed me around, which made me feel like fresh meat. Some were aggressive--they would say, 'We think you're hot. Would you like to get together with us?' That's a common line you hear at swinger parties. It was all a nice experiment, but I decided that I much prefer men-- one man. Not that I have regrets. I would never have known had I not tried it."