Vernon’s Valentines

Vernon was sweet and lovely, who made love to her and made her feel relaxed, sated and loved; while Harry was the exciting energiser bunny who fucked and sodomised her hard and fast, without a care whether she came or not. She did come, but mostly because it was rough and naughty and sinful. He screwed her anywhere: in his car, in the kitchen of the flat, on the balcony in the summer and even in the garage under the block of flats, bent over the bonnet of his Lexus just after he bought the new model last September.

Now she was heading towards a hotel suite where she would be royally screwed in each hole for three or four times each session, that would be Friday afternoon, Friday evening, Saturday morning, afternoon and evening, and Sunday morning. That's between 18 and 24 fucks over one weekend, while she hadn't been banged, no, that's more like she hadn't made love with her husband at all in January or February, and only four times in the whole of December, and two of those were in the same night, just four times in almost a quarter of the year. She'd only been with Harry Cox once this week, when she'd told Vernon that she was attending the parish discussion on the neighbourhood plan, so she knew Harry would be raring to go as soon as she arrived.

Not for the first time, Denise wondered whether she was jeopardising her future and was this affair really worth it? Once Vernon had finished the Local Plan, and the end of that project was in sight, maybe she should rebuild her relationship with the love of her life.

She loved Vernon, or she really thought she did, anyway, and when this affair with Cox ran its natural course, she knew that Harry would replace her with a younger model and she'd happily go back to Vernon. She was under no illusions what kind of man Harry Cox was; he was a housing developer and particularly unsympathetic landlord, a big fish in a small pond locally, frequently drawing swords with both the Council's Planning and Standards Committees. Most of the homeless in the Borough who were sleeping on the streets were his ex-tenants. It must be giving Harry a particularly satisfying rush to be screwing the Mayor as well as the husband of the head of one of the Council's departments that gave him most trouble in his business life.

Until now, she realised, she had thought the liaisons with Harry Cox were just additional sex, that she was still giving Vernon the conjugal rights that he deserved and still interested in the marriage. Clearly, she realised she was seriously neglecting her husband, and now he was being stalked by some rival skank bitch with these blasted Valentine cards and this Valentine Ball. Maybe, she considered, this weekend should be the finale, to tell Harry tonight or tomorrow that come Sunday it would all be over between them, so she could concentrate on picking up the remnants of her marriage before she lost Vernon for good.

Just then her phone rang. The caller ID told her it was Harry, although on her phone he was down as "Consultant 1", in case Vernon ever saw it.

"What the hell does he want, now?!" She said out loud. She pressed the green button.

"What do you want?" She snapped.

"Hi Honey, got you at a bad moment?"

"Sorry, yes, had a couple of meetings this morning and ... well, quite frankly, I'm worried about Vernon and these damn Valentine cards he's been getting."

"Oh, those. Yeah, I remember you saying he got one the other day. Whoopi do for Vernon! Someone must be really desperate sending the wimp a Valentine."

"He's not a wimp."

"No? So why're fucking me instead of the wimp, then?"

Denise was suddenly angry. "Yes, why am I?"

"Because you are Grade A Pussy, and I'm the Alpha Man who can fill that pussy like no other. Look, Sweetheart, I can hear that you are on your way on the train, I'm just entering the Congestion Zone so will be at the hotel about the time you get into London. I'll get unpacked and order coffee and snacks while you get through on the tube, OK?"

"Yes, OK," she sighed, "I'll see you in about three-quarters of an hour, then."

xxx

Denise checked in and was given a second card key, before making her way in the lift up to the top floor of the hotel. She let herself in to hear her lover's raised voice on his phone in the sitting room of the suite whee she put her overnight bag down, before he violently threw the phone at the hotel wall, scattering pieces of plastic all over the floor.

"What's going on?" she asked, putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him stepping onto any of the debris. He was barefoot in a bathrobe, probably already showered and naked waiting for her arrival.

He turned to her, purple with rage, "It's your pissant husband, costing me thousands on a block of retirement flats I'm building in Osborne Road."

"What's he done?"

"He inspected the site this afternoon to sign off the foundations and, looking at the excavated earth, he guessed we hadn't dug the foundations deep enough."

"And had you?"

"Well, the standards are way too strict so sometimes we cut a few corners here and there. Larry in the Planning Office and his previous boss usually just sign 'em off in exchange for a favour or two."

"Oh no, you didn't?"

"Maybe we did, I leave it up to the site foremen to work from the plans and adapt as necessary. Anyway, Vernon had my foreman dig up a section and it was four inches under minimum. So I've got to dig it all out and go down another six inches and refill with fresh hardcore and fresh concrete."

"Can't you just add another six inches of concrete on top, it's all underground isn't it?"

"No, I'm trying to squeeze 4 floors in an area where we are restricted on height, I've already got minimum ceiling heights in the flats and you can barely stand up in the roof space where the water and central heating header tanks are kept. I either dig out the foundations again or lose six top-floor flats with magic views of the valley at 300k a throw."

"But Vernon hardly ever does inspections, he sends Larry out most of the time."

"I think he just wanted to get out of the office. I popped me head in quiet like yesterday morning and he was surrounded by the office girls looking at his Valentine cards. He even had some flowers on his desk, pansies I shouldn't wonder. He's probably got pissed off about the pussy he's not getting at home and went out to clear his mind. Just my luck he pissed on my building site."

"Do you think he knows about us, or that anyone in the office knows?"

"Course not, we've been really careful," he put his arms around her waist and pulled her close, making sure she could feel his growing unfettered erection through the bath robe. Cox growled, "Now you're here, let's get a quick one in and then go get some tea."

She pushed against his chest, "Let me get a shower first, I'm all icky from the meetings and train journey down."

"No, darling, I want you as you are, even tastier than usual, also I need to work off my aggression towards your husband by giving you what I deserve and he's not getting!"

XXX

Saturday 17 February morning

Denise was out of town until Sunday afternoon, so Vernon got up alone when the snail mail arrived about 9am. There was a sixth Valentine card in a row, again in a printed handwritten font saying, "See you tonight, lover. PS, I've booked us the Honeymoon Suite for our first time together. XXX". For a moment he wondered if this this was Denise, trying to put some excitement into their married life, so he determined to go. Maybe this strange weekend course was all a ruse. That might be why she had packed the overnight bag with sexy lingerie: he had sneak peeked while she was making breakfast on Friday morning.

After making tea and a light breakfast of toast and marmalade, he checked his emails and downloads on his smart phone and assured himself that all was as he expected with the world. His face failed to show surprise, just disappointment.

Before dressing, he tried on the dinner jacket and trousers he received yesterday, the suit fitted so well, it was probably the same one he'd hired before. Denise had suggested he had his own made, especially as she was doing at least a two-year stint as Mayor and there were enough functions to justify including attire for the Mayor's Consort on the Mayor's expense budget, but Vernon had insisted that he really wasn't an "evening dress" person.

Saturday 17 February afternoon

After a light lunch at "The Bear" pub, he walked down the High Street to the "Cut Above The Rest Gentleman's Hairdressing Emporium" for his paid-for pampering. Although he had only had a £10 cut from "Barry's Salon" a week before, they still managed to find some hair to cut after his relaxing massage and having his nails cut and filed into shape. The cut-throat razor shave, he had anticipated with some alarm, but by the time they got around to subjecting him to it he was deeply relaxed and they could have done anything they wanted to him without a murmur of protest.

When he emerged from the emporium a couple of hours later, he smelt of bay rum and felt so good he thought he could take on the world, especially with the last-minute purchase of a couple of latex multipack products, just in case. So, striding determinedly towards the multi-storey car park, he went home, changed into his new silk boxers, sharp white shirt, bow tie and DJ, packed an overnight bag, collected the ticket and reservation from the fridge door and drove to the Hotel.

The Honeymoon Suite was dominated by an old fashioned four poster bed and, he noted, a shower built for two. He sat on the bed, suddenly weary. He had four hours to go before the Ball started. He stripped down to his boxers, carefully hanging up his suit, shirt and tie. He slipped under the covers and set his alarm for three hours' time. He must have still been totally relaxed from the massage, as he was deeply asleep within minutes.

Saturday 17 February evening

When Vernon's alarm went off and pierced his consciousness, he was in the middle of a dream, where he was making love and deeply involved in the satisfying pleasures of the flesh, both in giving and receiving with a beautiful woman whose physical attributes were outstanding but her facial features vague. The alarm only gradually invaded his perfect dream and he ignored it over and over again, before suddenly sitting upright in a strange and dark bedroom. He followed the sound of the alarm, obstructed by the fabric surrounding the four poster bed, which had somehow been closed during his sleep. It took him a while to find the gap in the curtain, before he swished it to one side and located his phone on the bedside cabinet to switch off the clamouring alarm. He was shocked to find he had overslept by an hour and must have slept through the repeating alarms, muffled by the curtains and the deepness of his unworried sleep.

The bedside lamp on the opposite side of the bed was left on. He stumbled around the bed, eyes still gummed half-shut, pulling back the bed curtains as he went, before seeing the scanty pink negligee spread out on the unruffled side of the double bed. She, and it was clearly a she, had been in the room while he slept and was now gone.

The bathroom visit helped him ungum his eyes, so he could see more clearly. A few female products had magically appeared to adorn the bathroom shelf, including a new box of rubber johnnies, a different brand to the ones he had left still packed in his overnight bag. The wardrobe in the bedroom revealed a change of female clothes, but gave Vernon no clue to his new partner. It was certainly not Denise who was planning to sleep with him tonight, they were not her clothes, and there was no need for the stock of latex contraception, since her hysterectomy shortly after the twins' birth, due to the detection of a cyst on her ovaries. Besides, he now knew for a fact that she was far away and fully occupied tonight as she was last night and afternoon.

He was reminded of his lovely dream. He wasn't making love to his wife in the dream and he suddenly felt both sad of that fact and exhilarated at the possibilities that tonight might bring. This spurred him on to get dressed quickly which, in his anxiety, meant he had to have three attempts at tying the unaccustomed bow tie before he was ready to leave the room. A glance at his phone told him that not only was he already twenty minutes later than he had been, but the battery life of the device was down to single percentage figures, so he plugged it into the charger and left it on the bedside table on his side of the bed to check it out later.

Downstairs he consulted the table plan at the door of the ballroom to find his table at the right of the stage, where a small jazz band were playing a set before the meal was served, half a dozen couples were up and dancing. At last, the list revealed the name of the person who had sent the Valentine cards.

Vernon made his way around the dancing area. As he approached the table, the lovely Teri stood up, smiling at him and worked her way around the table to meet him halfway.

"You're late, the waiters have warned us that the starters are to be delivered after the next couple of numbers and I was about to come fetch you," she smiled.

"Well, I'm here now." Vernon returned her smile. Without taking his eyes off of her eyes, he added as they touched hands and he kissed her offered cheek, "You look ... absolutely stunning," before looking her over close up.

Her red hair was permed and bigger than it appeared in the office, like a halo of fire around her beautiful face. She was wearing a cream coloured sparkling cocktail dress with tiny shoulder straps holding it up, to prevent her straining breasts bursting out the top, and showing her black stockings all the way up to mid-thigh split. To Vernon she looked absolutely gorgeous.

"Thank you Vern, you clean up just right yourself. Are you fully rested now?" she smiled, returning his kiss with a kiss on his cheek.

"Yes, I slept with the innocence of a babe. I don't think my present thoughts, though, would allow me to sleep in innocence any more."

"Let's dance, Vern," she whispered in his ear, her red lips still close to his cheek, "I need to speak to you and walls have ears."

They walked arm in arm into the centre of the dance floor, the band starting another slow romantic tune, just as they turned and faced each other.

"Closer Vern, I need to talk and you need to listen from start to finish without speaking or stamping off and leaving me, can you do that, honey?"

Vernon released his right hand from her grip to hold her around her waist and pulled her close, cheek to cheek before moving his feet in time to the waltz beat. Teri melted into him and they moved as one.

"We are probably being watched, Vern, and what is happening this week and weekend is because someone wants to hold something to use against you."

"Well, I'm holding you against me at the moment and Denise did tell me not to come."

"Shh, don't talk, Hon."

He nodded silently.

"I'm here because I'm being blackmailed," Teri said.

"Of course you are," Vernon replied, "I knew this was all a set-up and I know who was behind it."

"Don't leave, Vern, please hear me out. In normal circumstances I would be happy dancing with you, you're a lovely man and far too nice for your wife to treat you like she does. She's a stupid bitch." She pulled her head back and looked in his eyes, "Sorry, Vern, I feel so angry about what she's doing to you, to us, that's all."

"I know, she is stupid and she's a selfish bitch, even though she probably doesn't realise quite how stupid she is yet." Vernon spun her around and carried on dancing with her, "So why are you being blackmailed and what exactly are you being directed to do to me?"

"Well, it is both my Mum and I are being blackmailed for something we did together a few years ago. She won't tell me who she thinks the blackmailer is, she says she doesn't know exactly, but they know enough to ruin us both and put her away for years and possibly me as an accessory."

"I know who it is." Vernon said, his jaw set grimly.

"You do?" she looked him in the eye, "I wondered if it was your wife trying to catch you out, but I guess you don't normally do this sort of thing."

"No I don't, I've always been faithful, I don't know any other way. I guessed who it is and now I have the evidence. I assure you it's not Denise, she would be horrified that I would find out, so she wouldn't intentionally wave it in my face. So I assume he wants more on me than just us dancing together?"

"Yes, the bedroom is wired for sound and images. I had a quick look around earlier, but I have no clear idea what I am looking for."

"There are plenty of ways of recording bedroom scenes, Teri. One way is a fisheye lens and microphone in an overnight bag with the battery sewn into the lining, operating via Bluetooth through the errant spouse's own mobile phone, and streaming into the cuckhild's phone through an app. It can be set remotely or by timer and, once live, it reacts to noise or movement. There is always a risk of such a device being left in a wardrobe and having to rely on sound alone, but judging from the rate my phone battery is running down, I've got plenty of stuff for my solicitor to work on for the divorce."

"Mmm, I know you are a lot smarter than me, so I thought you'd be able to figure something out. So, in order to get me off the hook, Vern, I need you to come up to the room with me. I will try my best to seduce you and I need you to fend me off and resolutely walk out of the room in a huff, OK?"

"Of course I can do that," he smiled.

"We need to make it look good, though. I will have to try everything to make it look as though I tried everything, so I want you to relax, perhaps have a drink with me, then a kiss and cuddle, until I go too far and you swear that you want to remain faithful to your loving wife. I will try and drag you back, strip naked, use tears on you even, but you must resist and go, so you can remain innocent and yet make it look as though I really tried my best to seduce you."

"I can do that." He paused, "however, if you don't intend to make love, why the contraceptives in the bathroom?"

"I didn't say I actually object to the possibilities of our lovemaking, Vern. The contraceptives are a contingency in case I misread you and you turned out to be like every other man I ever got close to and took from me what I was forced to give. I've never had a proper boyfriend, so I've never been on the pill. I suppose I'm a love-virgin, never had anyone to love or love me, until ..." she looked him in the eyes, "hopefully now."

"I want us to be honest if we're going to be able to trust each other, Teri. I don't want to be hurt and I don't want you to be hurt or your mother by any involvement with me. Tell me, why are you being blackmailed?"

She looked closely into both Vernon's eyes before speaking, tears welling up in her eyes. "Yes, Vern, my love, I think I can trust you. I've never told anyone before."

"You can trust me. I will regard this conversation as never having taken place, including what you tell me about your mother. Who is she, by the way?"

"She works in HR."

"Hilda Brankstone?" Vernon guessed, and Teri nodded, "she must have helped you with placing the cards."

"Yes, she did. Well, she was a widow and remarried, then divorced acrimoniously, so after that she reverted to her birth name of Brankstone. That's why we have different surnames, because my father was Corporal John Jones, deceased."

"What did you and Hilda do that could attract blackmail?"

"My father was in the Army, he died overseas and Mum remarried another soldier, a safe friend of the family, she thought. When I was just a little girl my step-father used to rape me, threatening he would strangle us both if I told my mother. She never knew or suspected anything. When I left school, I also left home. I ended up living on the streets and was picked up by a man who turned out to be a pimp. It was good at first, to be out of the cold, regular meals and a tender lover, who was nice to me ... to start with. Then he took me and other girls in his control to parties of businessmen, lots of parties. He would beat me up if I didn't join in the games and pretend to the punters that I enjoyed it. Then he beat me harder and more thoroughly, especially when I fell pregnant with Josie. I, I called ..."