Shades of Blue

By: Jonnyflies



My thanks go to 'Smokahontas' for agreeing to read this through. This made me wait before submitting my first ever attempt to write a story and gave me the time to re-think, and hopefully improve, major parts of it.

**********

I suppose some might say all of this was Ms E L James's fault. After all, she was the one who wrote the "Fifty Shades" trilogy in the first place. But, I ask you, can anyone honestly say that reading a book is what caused them to behave in the way they did? I know it is common to hear this from lawyers, as mitigation for all kinds of misdeeds, claiming that their client wasn't responsible for what he or she did, because they were lead astray by drink, or a film , that book, or this computer game. These excuses have always sounded extremely weak to me, to say the least. Any person, unless they are incapable of rational thought, is responsible for whatever actions they take. He, she or it "made me do it", which is basically what blaming drink, book, film or computer game is really claiming, is an excuse, the credibility of which should have expired long before you made it out of kindergarten. 

By the same token, if I stay with the "He made me do it" way of thinking, I would have to accept I am the one to blame anyway. After all, it was me that bought the books in the first place, without which it is probable that my mother would never have read them. Even more than that, it was when she saw I was reading the first book in the trilogy, "Fifty Shades of Grey", my response to her comments challenged her to read them herself, before she condemned them, out of hand, as 'pornography'. 

-----------

At this point I expect you will be asking "what in heavens name are you going on about?" so I had better explain, and the best place to start is at the beginning. Obviously, all names have been changed, for the usual reasons.

------------

My name is Paul. I am 19 years old and work in an insurance office in the city of Bristol. I live at home with my Mother, Joanne, who is a 38 year old single parent, my father having left us when I was 10, to live with another woman. Following his divorce from Mum, he married this woman, but I hear that he is currently seeking another divorce because he has found someone else he wants to be with. I heard this from a friend, because I don't have anything at all to do with him. He left my mother and me with nothing, and she had to fight through the courts to get him to help support me. Even then he only sporadically paid up the maintenance the court had awarded, and to this day, I believe, owes her thousands of pounds. Mum says she would rather starve than beg him for anything.

Mum is employed by the local council in one of their many offices. It was her knowledge of the benefits available to people in our situation that helped us survive when my father was moving around and changing jobs in an effort to avoid paying the maintenance the court had awarded. 

I think she is still very attractive, although she doesn't seem to think so and refuses to believe anyone would be interested in her. I know this is not true but although I tell her she is still an attractive woman, she just laughs and says I am prejudiced because she is my mum. Maybe I am, but (just between the two of us) she has been my fantasy woman ever since I first became interested in girls. 

One thing I haven't told her is that in my last year at college, one of my 'friends' saw us out shopping, and the next day in college he said that he thought my mother was, and I quote, "a real foxy lady" (he thought he was cool). What he meant was, he really fancied her. In fact, he was a lot more 'graphic' than that and he asked me if I could arrange a date with her for him. I told him - "Back Off! That's my mother you are talking about." 

I did tell her that a guy at college fancied her, but although she looked surprised and, maybe a little pleased when I told her, she laughed it off saying that he was probably just being nice. I never told her everything he had said, or what happened between us, and certainly not about him wanting a date with her.

I bought the "Fifty Shades" books from our local Tesco's, where they were on special offer. Because of the reviews which had labelled them 'Mummy Porn', I started to read them in private, in my room. I had soon decided that they were not pornographic. Erotic? - Definitely! But it was a love story, well written and engaging. I wouldn't go so far as to say I couldn't put it down, but by the time I was a few chapters into the first book I couldn't wait to see how the story unfolded. In my opinion, anyone who labels them "Porn" has read them like a 13 year old, adolescent schoolboy, skimming through the story to find the "dirty bits". The "filth" is in their own mind, not on the page. Anyway, I digress. 

Mum was putting some clean washing away in my drawers and she saw the books where I had put them to keep them out of plain sight. I came in from work and she was sitting in the living room, the three books on the coffee table in front of her, with a face like thunder, wanting to know why I had brought these "dirty books" into the house.

That was the start of our discussion about them. I defended the books, which I thought, although they did have many highly erotic passages in them, had real literary merit. It was obvious from what she said that Mum's opinion had been coloured by what a lady she worked with, a Mrs Smith, had said. She had apparently been 'sounding off' to anyone she could get to listen that they were pornography and that it was disgusting that they were on open sale in the Supermarket where anyone could pick them up.

I asked Mum if Mrs Smith had actually read the books, to which she replied "No, she hasn't, she said that they were filth and she wouldn't allow them in her house".

My response to that was, "So she hasn't read them but she knows what is in them, I think she must be either very clever, or an idiot, and I am pretty sure on which side of that line she falls. I suppose she has based her 'informed opinion' on something she has heard on TV? Now, tell me, was that before, during, or after Coronation Street?"

Perhaps that was a little bit sneaky, but Mum and I had laughed about this same Mrs Smith seeming to base her life, opinions, thoughts, and most of her conversation around the latest soap opera plot. 'Coronation Street' was her favourite program.

Mum then said "I don't like you looking at dirty books. That was something your father used to do". 

Mum can be sneaky too. She knew that if she said 'that is what your father did', I would immediately, without question stop doing it. As I said, he might have been my father but I still want nothing to do with him. I consider him to be a real 'low life'. This time though she had 'missed the bus', because I had already read enough of the book to have formed my own opinion that they were not "dirty books". Erotic reading? - Yes, but not dirty books.

I told her that before she condemned the books as 'Pornography' she should at least know what she was talking about, unlike Mrs Smith, who had made up her mind and wasn't going to be confused by mere facts.

Mum agreed that I had a good point, and after some more discussion, said she would trust my judgement enough to read, just the first book, before she made up her mind about them.

I told her that, so far, in my opinion it was a love story, although "Mills and Boon" it most certainly was not. I warned her that some of the passages were, to say the least, erotic, so not to be too shocked if, when the bedroom door closed, the story didn't cut to 'waves crashing on the sea shore'. I also said that as I was well over half way through the first book, and really into the story, I would give it to her to read as soon as I finished it, and at the speed I was reading it, that should be within the next couple of days.

--------------

Two days later I had finished the first book. I took it downstairs and placed on the coffee table in front of her.

"There you are, delivered as promised; now you can make up your own mind about what you think of the story".

"I will make a deal with you" Mum said, "I don't think I will like it but I will read it as I promised, but I don't want you to read the next book until I decide what I think about this one. If I think its filth, you take it, and those other two books, out of the house. I don't care what you do with them, but they have to go. Is that a deal?"

"OK" I replied "but I will go further than that, if you honestly think that the book is pornographic, not only will I get rid of all three of them, but I will take you out to dinner, on me, at a restaurant of your choosing, as an apology for having bought them. 

BUT, if you agree they are not pornographic, the dinner is on you and I choose the restaurant. Is that a deal?"

One thing my mother really loved was to eat out, somewhere nice. It was a treat we didn't have very often, because, although we were ok now, with both of us working, in the past money had always been a bit tight. This way, whatever she thought of the book, it gave us an excuse to splash out a little for at least one evening.

"You're on!" she said with a smile; "I take it you trust me not to cheat and say 'they are filth', just so you have to pay?"

"Of course I trust you" I said with a grin; "anyway, If you say they are filth, I dump all three books and you don't get to read the other two. I am banking on you being so caught up in the story by then that the cost of the meal is nothing against knowing how it turns out. I'm itching to read the next one, but I will wait as you ask. That does mean you are going to wait for me to finish the second book before you get it.

Another thing" I said; "I can't lose. Which ever way the decision goes, I get a date with the prettiest lady I know", 

I bent down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, before running for the stairs in case she threw the book at me.

I needn't have worried, she was laughing so much she couldn't have hit me if she had thrown it.

--------------

It was three days later, on a Saturday morning. I had been sorting out some things in our garden shed and came into the kitchen to wash my hands. Mum was in the lounge reading the 'infamous' book.

I was just about to call out that I had finished outside, when I noticed that she was so deep into the story that she hadn't even noticed I was there. Something in the way she looked so engrossed in what she was reading, made me stop and step back from the door to where I could still see her, but unless she actually looked straight at me, she wouldn't see me. 

I don't know where this flash of insight came from, but I just didn't want to disturb her. Her face looked flushed and she looked, sort of 'strange', not really comfortable at all. I wondered what was the matter. 

As I watched she dropped her right hand down into her lap, leaving the book in just her left hand. Something in the way she did that made me move a little further back. I could still see her though and now I noticed she seemed to be breathing quite heavily. Her legs began to move apart and her hand pressed down between them although still on top of her skirt and as I watched she began to rub herself.

I was rooted to the spot. I was watching my mother, this beautiful, respectable lady, who had brought me up with very little help from my father, masturbating. Not only that, she was doing it while reading an erotic book that I had given her and only days ago she had denounced it as 'pornography'.

Now I knew that some of the passages were very erotic, in fact most of the book was erotic. I had sported an erection while reading most of it. Some passages had aroused me enough to make me masturbate, but surely it couldn't have done that to my mother as well, could it? Wrong! It certainly looked as if it had.

There was no doubt in my mind she was having at least as profound a response to the book as mine had been. Perhaps even more so, because when I had reacted like that to the story I had been in the privacy of my room, where respect for that privacy would have caused her to knock before entering. She was masturbating, sitting downstairs in the lounge on a Saturday morning, when she knew that I was only in the back, tidying up the shed. Surely she must have known that I could walk in at any time, without knocking, and catch her?

Her eyes were closed and as I watched her, her hand movement began to speed up and her whole body seemed to shudder. Her knees pulled up and spread apart and she dropped the book. A small groan forced its way from her lips. With her knees raised and spread as they were, I could see right up her skirt to her white panties and saw her fingers were pressing deeply into her groin as she rubbed herself to an orgasm.

When she came I heard the moan of pleasure it gave her and, grateful for the fact that her eyes were still closed, I slipped back into the kitchen before she recovered her faculties and saw me.

I was intrigued. I had never really thought of my mother being so sexual before. I had always considered her to be very attractive, well, quite a bit more than just 'attractive' if you must know, but I had never really thought about her sexual needs. When that, so called 'friend' had wanted a date, I knew what he was after and no way was I going to help him take advantage of my mother, but I had still never even considered what her needs might be. 

As I washed my hands I tried desperately to control my raging erection. Mum would hear the water running and know I had come in, but hopefully wouldn't realise I had seen what she was doing. Just for a moment a really stupid thought occurred to me, but I pushed it away as being far too ridiculous for consideration. What if she wanted me to catch her? Well! I did say it was stupid, didn't I? Why would she want that? Obviously she wouldn't! It must have been the book that had excited her so much she had given in to her desire for relief from the sexual tension it had brought on.

I was really curious about which particular passage in that book had caused such a relaxation of her normal self control that it caused her to masturbate, when she knew I was only just outside, in the shed. She must have been really turned on by what she had read to have done that.

Drying my hands I walked into the lounge, where Mum was now quietly sitting, still looking a little flushed, with the book in her hand, but not actually reading it.

"All finished out there" I said, smiling at her, "how is the book coming along? Have I won my bet yet?"

Mum looked at me and a little smile turned up the corners of her mouth. "I am not sure about that yet, although I will admit it is a very interesting story, not at all what I expected"

"I told you so" I said with a grin; "It really grabs your mind, doesn't it? How far have you got into it? I can see by the amount you have read in such a short time that you must be enjoying the story. It must have captured your interest, just like it did mine".

I took the book from her hand and saw she had reached the part where, for the first time, Christian takes Anastasia over his knee and spanks her. A section I had found very erotic indeed, it had had quite an effect on me too. 

Handing the book back to her I said "What do you think of those 'naughty bits' now? You know, the ones that you were calling 'pornographic' only a few days ago." 

Surely reading about Anastasia having her bare bottom spanked couldn't have caused Mum to do what I had just witnessed, could it?

"As the dictionary defines 'pornography' to be 'material which tends to deprave or corrupt'," I said; "do you think what you have read so far has depraved or corrupted you?"

I noticed a slight blush in my Mum's cheeks as she replied; "Don't be silly Paul, of course it hasn't".

"Oh, that's a shame, I was sort of Umm .. hoping? ......." I said, grinning at her.

"You do look a little tense though, Mum, would you like me to massage your shoulders? You always used to like me to do that".

Without waiting for her to answer I moved around behind her and began to work on her shoulders. Looking down I could see down the front of her dress where her breasts disappeared into her white bra. The erection I had managed to successfully control in the kitchen reared its head again. I had always thought that Mum had lovely breasts and I had always loved it when I got this view as I massaged her shoulders.

Mum relaxed as I began to work out the knots in her shoulders. She put the book down and closed her eyes, giving herself up to the pleasurable sensations she was getting from my massage.

After a few minutes she asked me "You haven't said, apart from defending the book against the charge of pornography, what you thought of those 'naughty bits' yourself?"

"Oh No!" I said "you can't catch me like that; the bet is about your opinion of them, not your criticism of my opinion. I will say this much though, just to justify why I do not consider this book to be pornographic. 

I admit I have read some books which I know are 'porn' and some erotic classics which are not considered to be so. I think the difference is, in 'porn' the sex is the storyline. That's what the book is about. The authors jump into the sex from page one and that is basically what they describe. 

After reading 'Fifty Shades of Grey' I would describe it as 'a love story'. A little unconventional, yes, but a love story none the less. That's what the book is about. Yes, I will agree that Ms James didn't shrink from writing about the more sexual aspects of her story, but they are just that, aspects of a story, about two people, one of them very unconventional in his tastes I admit, falling in love. I did warn you that it wasn't a 'Mills and Boon' type of love story, it was very erotic, but I don't think that makes it any less of a love story. 

Does that answer your question?"

Mum sat quietly, still with her eyes closed and then she said; "I can see you have thought quite a lot about this".

"Yes I have. I knew you would ask me about my thoughts." I replied; "porn doesn't require much of a plot. It just caters to a need, and is then forgotten. There is nothing in it which matters once that immediate sexual need has been satisfied. This book is not like that. It involves you in the story and with the characters, it requires you to think. Yes there are moments where the descriptions of events may create a similar physical response to 'pornography', but those descriptions are in the context of a developing relationship, not an end in themselves".

She was quiet for a moment, then she asked; "what were you hoping?"

[Ah! Careful now Paul, this could be awkward]; - "Hoping?" I asked, trying to sound innocent.

"You said you were 'sort of hoping', what for?"

"I was just teasing Mum".

"I know you were teasing, but explain it to me, in what way was it a tease?"

[Keep it light Paul; tread carefully now]; - "Well whichever way you decide about this book, I get a date with a beautiful lady. The loveliest girl I know. So perhaps I wouldn't mind too much if she had been, maybe just a little bit corrupted, before I get to practice my charms on her". With that I bent down and lightly kissed Mum on the neck, just behind her ear.

I felt Mum shiver as I did this, and she said, in a slightly husky voice "don't do that, it makes me feel all kind of, tingly inside".

"That sounds to me like a very good reason to do it again then" I said, and kissed her there again, this time allowing my tongue to gently tickle her skin, between my lips. I was still holding her shoulders, gently massaging them and felt her tense as if she was going to pull away. Then I felt the tremor that my kiss had caused run through her body and she took a deep breath, releasing it with a soft "Ohhhhh!" 


Shades of Blue



Her nipples had stiffened, now showing as quite pronounced bumps in the smooth material of her plain white bra. Her breathing had increased, and she was almost panting as she squeezed her thighs together. 

I suddenly realised that she was desperately fighting to control her body's automatic sexual response to my touch. She was struggling to prevent her arousal pushing her off that sensual cliff and into another orgasm.

'Oh my god' I thought; 'She is almost there! She is so turned on that just by massaging her shoulders and kissing her behind her ear, I have almost made my own mother cum, right here in front of me'.

I released her shoulders and quickly stood back; "does that feel better?" I asked.

With my hands now not stimulating her, she relaxed and after a moment, released her breath with another quiet "Ohhhhh" before she replied; "Yes! - Yes it does." Her breathing was returning to normal, but there was a deep husky quality to her voice, that I don't think I had ever heard before. 

Thinking that by just talking about normal, everyday things, I could help her come down from her aroused state without embarrassment, I sat down in my usual armchair and let her re-establish her control. Then I asked her; "Can I add a little something extra to the bet?" Hoping I sounded as if I hadn't noticed anything had happened between us.

"What else do you want to add to it?" said Mum. Suddenly she sounded more alert.

"I just thought, if I win our little bet over this book, I would like to choose what you wear on our 'date'".

"Oh I don't know about that" she said, "I am not going to wear anything that shows myself up or which I think makes me look cheap'".

"I wouldn't ask you too Mum" I said; "it's just that sometimes I don't think you dress to make the most of yourself, you have some nice things which you never seem to wear. They just hang in your wardrobe and never seem to come out. On our date I want all the other men there to be jealous of me, because I am with the most beautiful girl in the room".

Mum looked at me very strangely. "Now you are just being silly" she said; "I am your mother, how can I be your date? Anyway I am sure there will be far prettier ladies than me there".

"Not to me Mum" I responded, making sure that not even the ghost of a smile touched my face. I didn't want her to even think that I might be still teasing her. "I think you are beautiful. To me you will be the loveliest girl there, and I will be proud that you have allowed me to escort you, as my date, for the evening. I would just like to be able to choose what I would like you to wear. 

If you like, you can think of me as Christian, choosing something for Anastasia to wear. Would he choose something inappropriate for her? You have read far enough to be able to answer that question, without committing yourself to making any final decision regarding the merits, or the lack of them, of the whole book".

"When you put it like that, how can I refuse?" said Mum; "but I reserve the right to veto your choice if I think it's inappropriate, is that fair?"

I grinned; "Good point, well made" I said, stealing one of Christian's phrases from the book.

Mum almost blushed and looked down at the floor; "but I am not Anastasia" she said, quietly.

"I know, Mum; you are Joanne, not Anastasia, and I am Paul, not Christian. Anastasia and Christian are characters in a fictional story in a book. Who they are and what they do is determined by the author's imagination, not real life. We can inhabit their world for a while as we read the book, but when we close the book, that world closes with it. 

Trust me Mum, I will never do anything to embarrass or hurt you. You have been hurt too much by others in the past and as long as it's within my power to prevent it, I won't allow anyone else to hurt you ever again".

Mum looked across at me and there was a tear in her eye. "That was a beautiful thing to say Paul. I do trust you and all right, yes you can choose what I wear on our date. I withdraw my right to veto your selection; I will wear whatever you think is appropriate".

"Thank you" I replied; "and I am glad that at last you are thinking of our forthcoming evening out as a date, because that is how I am looking forward to it. I am going to be taking out a lovely girl, for a romantic meal for two. That, in anyone's language, is a date. 

On that evening, I will be your date and escort, I will not be your son, so please; I want you not to think of me as your son. I am your date for the evening. A man who is proud to have on his arm a beautiful lady who looks a million dollars. A man who is the envy of every other man in the place".

I grinned at her "and there is no way I am going to call you 'Mum' on our date; it would completely ruin the atmosphere. If I may, I will call you Anna. It's a bit less cumbersome than Joanne and 'Jo' sounds too much like a mans name, it doesn't suit you. I promise to remember not to go so far as to call you 'Anastasia'".

"As long as you don't want to go as far as Christian goes in this book I think that should be all right" she responded with a smile.

"Ah-Ha! Now that will entirely depend on how far 'Anna' wants me to go" I responded; "after all, on that evening I will be her date and how far Anna will allow her date for the evening to go, will be entirely up to her".

I got up from my chair and crossed to where she was sitting. 

"Anyway, I have been sorting out a dusty shed and I am all sweaty and dirty, and I need to pop into town for something, so I am going to take a shower and get changed into something more presentable". I bent down and kissed her gently on the lips. 

"You are, and always have been, beautiful, Mum. I don't tell you that often enough. I am really looking forward to taking you out to dinner, so please hurry up and decide about the book. 

You see, I really just want to be able to take you out for a romantic evening, just the two of us, and I don't much care who pays. 

It should be me anyway, it is good manners that when a man invites a beautiful girl out for a meal, he should pick up the bill, isn't it? This 'bet' is just a silly excuse, manufactured by me, to get us to forget for a few hours that you are my Mum, and allow me take you out as I would if you were my girlfriend.

I did want you to read the book, though, after you had such a negative opinion of something you hadn't even read. 

As I started to straighten up Mum put her hand around the back of my neck and stopped me. 

"It's a good job you are my son" she said, with that husky tone back in her voice again; "with a smooth line of chat like that I think I could be in a lot of trouble here if you weren't" and this time she kissed me, full on my lips.

"Now get up those stairs and get yourself cleaned up, we still have to decide where we are going. Tonight's dinner is, although I hate to have to admit it, on me. The book is not pornographic, although you must admit; it does skirt very close to the edges of that in places. After that little speech I will have to make a special effort to look nice, won't I? It takes a bit longer than it used to, to make myself look presentable".

"You always look presentable Mum" I said, then I grinned; "but, while you are still hiding behind being my Mum, you shouldn't make promises to your date for tonight, that, later, as Anna, you might not feel able to make good on. Not unless you really do want to find yourself in that 'lot of trouble' you mentioned".

"That was a very un-Christian thing to say" retorted Mum grinning at me.

"Perhaps that's just as well" I said; "Christian would have probably had you over his knee by now, for all of the mixed signals you are giving out. Mind you, now I come to think about it that might not be too bad a way to conclude the evening".

"Paul!" exclaimed Mum, as she blushed; "that is going too far".

"Yes, it was, I am sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Then I grinned at her; "after all it is only a first date, and even Christian didn't get that far on their first date"; and I scooted off to the stairs, laughing, before my mother recovered her composure enough to think of a fitting response.

When I added my extra bit to the bet, what I had actually said when I put that request to her, was, 'I want to choose what you wear'. Now I realised I hadn't defined exactly what that had included. I had just meant to choose her dress, which of course was what she had assumed as well, but that wasn't what I had said. I could now argue that she had agreed to wear whatever I wanted her to. She had also said, without me asking her to, she would not veto anything. I would have to be careful how I presented it to her, but I had a wicked thought and now intended to choose her underwear for tonight as well. I didn't think that Mum would let me go rooting through her underwear drawer to find what I wanted, even if she actually had what I had in mind, so my trip to town would allow me time to buy her something really pretty to wear underneath her dress.

Taking my change of clothes into the bathroom I locked the door and proceeded to undress. I realised I had no idea what Mum's underwear size was and I would need to get that right for this to work. A quick check of the washing basket was the order of the day. 

Bingo! A pair of panties and a bra were there and a quick look at the labels told me exactly what I needed to know. Now all I had to do was pluck up enough courage to go into a shop and buy what I needed. It isn't something men usually do, except maybe at Christmas, and certainly, I had never in my life been shopping for ladies underwear.

When I came downstairs, washed and dressed, Mum was still sitting in the lounge reading. I came up behind her and, bending down, gently kissed her neck. Once again I felt that little shiver and I knew that the story was still holding her enthralled and pushing her buttons.

"I won't be long Mum" I said; "is there anything you want me to bring back?"

"I don't think so love" she replied; "I was going to go out to get something for dinner tonight, but if we are going out to eat I don't need to. Have you decided where we are going yet?"

"I have an idea, but I will have to see if they have a table free. That's another thing I have to do".

"Where is it?" she asked.

"Ah, now that would be telling" I replied; "I have a couple of places in mind, but I assure you it will be somewhere nice".

"Not the local chip shop and park in a lay-by to eat them, then?" she said with a grin.

"My Anna is not a 'chip shop and lay-by' kind of girl" I told her with a grin; "She is much more of a 'champagne, caviar and a posh hotel', kind of lady".

"A high maintenance lady then" said Mum with a smile; "are you sure you can afford her".

"No, not really" I replied with a grin. I leaned down and whispered as if it was a secret; "but I would willingly break the bank tonight for the honour of taking her out". I kissed her again, just behind her ear, and was rewarded by another little shiver.

"Don't keep doing that" mum said.

"Why not Mum?" I asked, all innocent; "I quite like doing it. I love the little quiver I feel when I do. Does that little shiver mean you don't like it?"

"You are incorrigible, go away - go and do your shopping" she said, but the smile on her face told me she wasn't too upset; "I have things to do before tonight so go and do whatever you have to do in town. I can't get ready until you get back, can I? You have to choose what I am going to wear and I expect it will need pressing before I can wear it".

"Shall I get out the dress I want you to wear, before I go out then?" I ask.

"You have already decided which one then?" Suddenly she looked concerned; "you haven't been looking in my wardrobe when I am out, have you?"

"No Mum" I replied; "but I remember this dress from when you last wore it and I thought you looked stunning. I'll tell you what; I will pop upstairs now, take it out and put it on your bed. Then if you think it needs pressing, you can do it, or if you think it's inappropriate, you can tell me when I get back. I won't hold you to your 'no veto' pledge if you really do hate my choice, I want you to be comfortable being out with me tonight".

As I went upstairs I wondered what the look Mum had given me when she asked if I had been looking in her wardrobe, meant. Did she have something in there she didn't want me to see? Whatever it was, I wasn't going to spoil tonight by ferreting around in her private things.

It did feel strange, going into Mum's room to look in her wardrobe, but I went straight to it and soon found the dress I was looking for. It was plum coloured, which complemented her light auburn hair and green eyes, with a wrap-over, V neckline in a soft, flowing material. The softly pleated skirt fell to just below the knee, as I remembered it, which would be perfect for the underwear I had in mind. As I had told her, I thought she had looked really great in it when she wore it to her last year's office Christmas party, but as far as I knew, she hadn't worn it since.

Taking it down I carefully laid it on the bottom of the bed. Just for a moment I considered having a quick look to see if there really was something in there that she didn't want me to know about, but I restrained myself and just closed her wardrobe door. I was instantly glad I had, because as I turned to leave the room, there was Mum standing in the doorway, watching me.

"What do you think Mum?" I asked her; "do you like my choice?"

"Well" she said; "it's certainly a bit too dressy for the chip shop, where are you taking me that I need to get so dressed up for?"

"I told you, it's a secret" I said; "but I am not taking my best girl to a 'cheap, rubbish place'. It will be somewhere that you will need to dress up for, oh yes, and before I forget" and I went back to her wardrobe and opened the shoe drawer below the main hanging space".

As I did I heard Mum's sharp intake of breath. So this was where whatever she didn't want me to find, was. I noticed a shoe box tucked away at the back corner of the drawer, but I ignored it and took out a pair of black, two inch stiletto heeled, patent leather shoes. Putting them down on the floor I carefully closed the drawer and, as I did I was relieved to hear mum let her breath out again. 

So that was definitely where she had whatever it was that she didn't want me to know about. That shoe box looked very interesting all of a sudden.

Picking up the shoes I put them on the floor at the bottom of her bed, below the dress I had picked.

"I think these go well with this dress Mum" I said; "but if you don't like them we can choose something else together".

"No I think you have made a good choice there, but I am really intrigued to know where you are going to take me that I need to dress up like that for" she said.

"But don't you see Mum" I said; "these are not for you to wear. I have selected these for Anna to wear. She is my date for tonight. I know they will fit her because she is your size, and I know she will look lovely in them because she always looks lovely. I told you, she will be the most beautiful lady in the place tonight and I will be so proud to be seen with her".

Then I did something that, to this day I don't know where I found the courage to do. Stepping up to her I said; 

"But I really do need to talk to Anna, Mum, I need to know that she will be comfortable and happy to be with me tonight. I also need to know she is pleased with my choice of what I would like her to wear".

I put my arms around her waist, drew her to me and kissed her. Not the little kiss I had placed on her lips before, but a proper kiss. My tongue touched her lips through my slightly open ones, and hesitantly her lips began to open for me. Just for a moment, but then she pulled away, looking flushed.

Before she could say anything, I said "There, do you understand now why I need to see her, Mum? Anna was almost here just then. But just as she was about to appear, she came over all shy, and went and hid again. I need her to be there, with me, so I do need to speak to her and let her know this dress and shoes are for her to wear. I don't want her to be in hiding tonight. I promise both you, and her, tonight I will be the most attentive date she has ever had".

Mum was shaking slightly, so I carefully guided her to the bed and sat her down on the edge, kneeling in front of her.

"I do understand" I said "a transformation like that, from Mum to Anna, is bound to be a bit traumatic, but once you have made that step for the first time, next time it will be so much easier. We almost managed it, but her arrival was too much of a surprise and the step was just a touch too far. Can we try again?"

Mum looked at me in a dazed sort of way, but she nodded her assent.

I gently leaned forward and kissed her again. This time as my tongue touched her lips, very hesitantly they opened and her tongue touched mine as it slipped into her mouth. I had to be gentle with her, this was new territory for both of us, and so although it was so sweet for me, the kiss didn't last long. This time I was the one who broke the kiss and sat back on my heels.

"Hello Anna" I whispered.

Mum just sat there, looking a bit stunned but didn't say anything. I could see her breasts were rising and falling more quickly and I could feel her heart was beating quicker too.

"We almost found her then, but she is still hiding. If we try one more time maybe she might come out" I said, as I drew her back into my arms again.

This time as we kissed she put her arms around my neck and our tongues clashed in what was a proper 'lovers kiss'. I held her to me just a little longer this time, and was rewarded by a tiny 'whimper' into my mouth as her arms tightened around my neck, just before I broke the kiss. Still holding her very tightly I whispered into her ear; 

"Hello Anna".

For just a moment there was silence, then, very quietly, she whispered; "Hello".

"Thank you for coming, it's so lovely to have you here with me at last". I have been so looking forward to being with you and I want to ask you if you will come out with me as my date for tonight?" Then I sat back on my heels again and looked into her face.

She remained looking down, if she didn't trust herself to look into my eyes. Then she said, with that same huskiness in her voice that I had heard downstairs; "thank you, I would love to be your date, tonight and any other night".

"Thank you" I whispered, leaning forward and gently kissing her on the cheek. 

I then took her hands in mine and, looking into her eyes I said; "It's all right Anna, Mum can come back now, but you do understand why I needed you here, now, so that I could ask you out properly, don't you? By the time I return from town, I hope Mum will have become more accustomed to you being here, so we can be more relaxed and ready for our date tonight. I won't be long, I promise".

Dropping back onto my heels I held both of Mum's hands until she seemed to have calmed a little.

"Welcome back Mum" I said; "I am sorry about that. I realise that must have taken you by surprise, but I did need to speak to Anna, just for a moment. I needed to be sure she was really ready to accompany me on our date. 

Are you OK?"

Mum took a deep breath "I think so" she said, a bit shakily; 

"I must admit that you threw me a bit then, Paul, but I think I am OK now. I haven't been kissed like that for a very long time and I must say, coming from you, it came as something of a shock".

"I think it was something of a shock for Anna too" I said, smiling at her "but I hope that maybe she will get to like it, with a bit of practice".




Shades of Blue



"Oh, she liked it alright" said Mum; "but are you sure she should really be accepting kisses like that from you?"

When I heard what Mum said I almost danced with joy, but I knew I had to stay calm. Mum had, in her own mind, separated herself and 'Anna' into two separate people, so that our 'lovers kiss', wasn't between a mother and her son, but between me, Paul, and Anna. It was tentative at the moment, but it was a start.

"If she liked it, why shouldn't she?" I asked, and then I moved things forward a little more. "Whatever two adults do together, in private, is surely, just between them. Look at Christian and Anastasia, who are we to point the finger, and call them pornographic creations". 

Mum smiled but still looked a little concerned. I asked her what was wrong.

"It's just that, if you are going to behave like that while on your date with Anna, could you pick somewhere to go where we are not likely to be known. I wouldn't want anyone who knows me, seeing you and Anna together, they wouldn't understand. Imagine Mrs Smith's comments if she saw us behaving like that".

I don't know how I managed to keep my feelings off my face. Mum was almost agreeing that there might be some kind of intimacy between us tonight. Maybe just another kiss or two, but who knows, from little acorns .....

"Leave it to me, I think I might know just the place" I said as I got up off my knees, lifting Mum to her feet as well. Earlier I promised you I would never embarrass you, so trust me, I will be very careful not to be the cause of any embarrassment in front of anyone you know.

"Now I must go or all the shops will be shutting" I said; "I have a few details, I need to sort out for tonight out yet. I didn't know our date was going to happen quite so soon. When I get back I should have everything organised and I hope you will like what I have arranged." Then I headed off downstairs before she could pump me to find out what I had planned.

------------

Once in town I did what I had come to do, then made my way to the store where I knew Mum bought most of her underwear. Not a sexy place you might think, M&S, but I knew, as well as the 'everyday' things, they did keep quite a good range of very pretty ladies underwear, and with the sizes I had written down, I was sure I would be able to find what I wanted.

Browsing around the displays I found a beautiful range of underwear that I was sure Mum would like, in a soft red, with the most beautiful deep cream lace trim overlaying the fabric. I had just begun looking for her size, when a sales lady came up and asked if she could help. 

"I am looking for a present for my girlfriend" I said; "I rather like this design but do you have it in these sizes?"

"Of course sir" she replied, a little haughtily and she took the piece of paper I had written Mum's sizes on. Immediately she saw the sizes I had written down, her whole attitude changed and the haughty look disappeared.

"Perhaps you would come with me, these sizes are over here" and she led me to another display rack; "I am sorry if I appeared unwelcoming just now, but it's just that we have had several, shall I say, 'gentlemen with different needs', browsing in the ladies lingerie department this morning. They seldom buy anything, but they do seem to spend a lot of time browsing".

"Oh, I see" I said, grinning; "no, I really am looking to buy a present for my girlfriend, as I said. I know she buys a lot of her things from M&S so I thought if I get them from here, and I have her size, I was pretty sure that whatever I buy should at least fit her, assuming of course she is prepared to wear them. I know how sizes can vary in different shops, because my Mum is always moaning about it. 

I'll be honest; I got her sizes from her things in the wash basket in her bathroom because I want this to be a surprise.

"That's OK sir" she replied; "I can see by the sizes you want, they are definitely for a lady. Sometimes, with those other 'gentlemen' I mentioned, when they do buy something, that isn't always the case. What exactly are you looking for?"

"Well, I thought matching bra panties and suspender belt, would be nice, maybe with a waist slip too. Are they available in this range?"

"Oh yes sir" she responded; "we have all of those, now, what kind of panties would you like? There are briefs, normal and high leg, a thong or French knickers. They are all available in this design".

"Oh God!" I said; "and I thought this would be simple. Not a thong, I know she doesn't like those, but the French knickers might be something just a little bit different for her".

The sales lady took a pair from the display and held them for me to see. She chuckled when she saw how embarrassed I was.

"This is the first time you have bought underwear for a lady, isn't it sir?" she said with a smile on her face.

"It shows, doesn't it" I said. "Usually I get her chocolates or something but I decided I wanted to be different this time. I am beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea".

"I am sorry, I could see you were nervous so I shouldn't have teased you like that. She is a lucky girl to have a boyfriend who cares for her enough to put himself through the embarrassment of buying her lingerie. Do you know the style of bra she likes?" 

"Oh No! Not more choices. I am really out of my depth here".

"It's OK" she said, and she selected three different bras and laid them on the display. "Which style do you like?" she asked.

I pointed at the one I thought Mum would like best.

"There now, that wasn't so bad was it?" she said. Then she turned to another display which was next to the bra's and selected a slip from the same range, holding it against herself for my approval.

I nodded "yes, that is just what I wanted" I said.

"Good" she said; "now for the suspender belt. Does the lady usually wear stockings?"

"Errrr - No, she doesn't" I replied.

"But you would like her to. That's OK, in that case I would suggest this one, it's a little bit deeper than the other so should be more comfortable in wear if she isn't used to wearing suspenders, and, of course you will need stockings too if she doesn't have any. Do you have a preference for colour? Black is always popular, although some feel that is a little too, shall we say, 'obvious', especially if the lady is a 'first time' wearer".

Taking the items we had already selected, she took me over to another display where the stockings were.

"I think perhaps I should stick with the colour tights that she usually wears, which is a tan colour" I said; "I don't want her to feel self conscious just because her stockings are not her usual colour. I think going from tights to stockings might be a big enough jump for now".

"Very wise" said the assistant; "but why don't you take one pair of tan and perhaps one pair, a little darker, maybe a smoke, or charcoal grey, something like that, then she can choose for herself what she thinks suits the colour dress she will be wearing with them? I am sure she will be pleased with your choices for her. Any girl would be happy to have a present like this".

"I certainly hope so" I said; "I must admit I am more than a little nervous about her response to me buying her such intimate things as this".

The assistant smiled, and said "I think this is our most sensual range, so I am sure she will love them, but if she doesn't you can always bring them back, as long as she hasn't worn them". Then she came close and said in a low voice; 

"if she really hates them and you get into really hot water for buying them, I think I know someone who wouldn't object to wearing them for you" and she winked at me; "they are my size too".

Oh my god! I have just been propositioned by a young lady assistant in the M&S lingerie department. I could feel my face going red and I couldn't think of anything to say.

She chuckled again; "It's OK I am sure she will love them, but if she doesn't, please bring them back. Ask for me, my name is Sarah".

Without thinking I responded "Paul".

She slipped my purchases into a discreet bag, and I paid with my card. 

"Thank you very much Paul" she said with a little smile, then she wrote something on the back of the card receipt and dropped that into the bag as well; "don't forget, you can always bring any items back if your young lady doesn't like them".

I don't think I have ever exited a shop as quickly as I did that day.

Once on the street I took a deep breath; 'what is wrong with me' I thought; 'I have just been propositioned by a very attractive young lady, and all I can think of is going home to be with Mum'. I realised I needed to think about what I was feeling, and made my way to 'Costa' where I could sit down and work things out in comfort.

I couldn't stop thinking about those kisses and not only my reaction to them but Mums response to them as well. Now I had just bought her some very sensual underwear, which I was hoping she would wear tonight on our 'date'. Why was I doing that? No way was she going to let me see her in them, even if she agreed to wear what I had bought, so what was I hoping to get from this? 

Then I came back to those kisses. She had responded as if I was her boyfriend, or maybe even ... her lover! 

Oh My God! ..... What am I doing to her? What had I done to our relationship and how she would see me in the future? I knew I loved her. I had known that for quite a while, but I had always managed to keep my feelings for her in check, that is, until this morning. I had to sit down with her and talk through this, let her know how I saw, but not what I saw, this morning, and hope we could still be as we were before.

I finished my coffee and left 'Costa' intending to make for my car and go home, but then another thought struck me as I was passing M&S and it stopped me dead in my tracks. Almost without meaning to I opened the door and made my way back to the lingerie dept. I looked round and saw Sarah talking to another assistant, and, going up to them said "Excuse me".

Sarah turned round and as soon as she saw who it was her face broke into a smile; "Oh! Hello Paul. My, that was quick" she said; "didn't she like them?"

"It's just that I had another thought, do you have a nightwear section as well?" I asked.

"Yes, it's not really my department, but as you are already my customer I think I can look after you there as well. I don't want any of the other girls stealing you away from under my nose, do I?" she said with a smile; "come with me."

She led me to the displays of nightwear and, looking at me with a smile on her face said; "it looks to me like you have a really big night planned. I think this young lady of yours would be a fool if she lets you get away, just because you would like her to wear a suspender belt and a pair of stockings, but it really doesn't look as if I am going to get a call from you, am I?" 

"Sorry but I don't think you will" I replied; "but I was flattered by you suggesting I could. You are very lovely, but I think the girl I am buying these things for, just might be the one for me".

Sarah smiled a little ruefully; "just my luck, all the best ones are always taken. Sometimes I think my boyfriend would rather go to football and be drinking with his mates than be with me".

"In that case he must be a fool" I responded; "if I wasn't so absolutely stuck on my girl, I would be round here like a shot. You are beautiful and I think, a really nice girl. Obviously he doesn't appreciate what he has".

"Oh why didn't I meet you before your young lady did?" said Sarah; "she would never have got near enough for you to even see her. Oh well! Never mind, let me see if I can find something else you might like to see her in".

She looked through the nightwear on the display, before asking "do you want a short nightdress, or something a bit more flowing?"

"Flowing I think. I was hoping for something, not actually see through, but sort of suggesting what is underneath, if you know what I mean" I said; "sort of sexy but not too obvious."

"Yes I do" she said with a smile; "I think I know just the thing, how tall is she?" 

"About your height, maybe an inch taller but no more" I said.

She led me to a display, running her hand along the garments before extracting a hangar and holding it up for me to see. "What do you think?" she asked.

"I think that is perfect" I replied, and grinned; "I just hope I get to see her in it, that's all".

"If you do get to see her wearing this, make sure you are a good boy scout and follow their motto" she said with a grin; "we don't want any unplanned accidents, now do we?"

She laughed at me as I blushed. "Oh I could really love being with you" she said; "you can tell her from me that if she doesn't want her presents, she can send you back with them. I promise you I will be phoning my boy friend to dump him before the shop door has closed behind you". 

This time I didn't exit the shop quite so fast. It looked like I really had 'pulled', if I wanted her. She was very attractive, and fun too, but she was just not who I knew I wanted to be with tonight.

Just then I was walking past 'Superdrug' and another really naughty thought struck me; "if I am going to play Christian, I had better make sure I am, as Sarah put it 'a boy scout', a good motto that, 'Be prepared!" Turning into the store I made my way to the display of condoms. Selecting a pack I paid at the till and headed back to my car.

----------------

Back home, Mum was in the bathroom and I called out through the closed door that I was back and going to have a look on the internet for somewhere for us to eat. After the encounter in Mum's bedroom, I thought that a neutral location might be best and help her to relax. Maybe then, if she was still talking to me, she might allow a little more intimacy than she would usually have permitted.

"My original idea was a bit too near home" I said; "and anyway they don't have a table for tonight, so I will search a bit further afield." 

I heard her say something, but didn't catch what it was.

A quick look on a search engine soon gave me loads of choices, but I was looking for something a little bit special. I soon found what I was looking for. It looked like a very nice hotel and restaurant, about 30 miles away from home. Far enough to justify staying over, well away from anyone we knew, but not so far that it would require too long a drive to get there. On their web site, the rooms looked really good, and the restaurant had good reviews, so l made a reservation for a twin room, and a table for two for dinner, that evening at 8.0'clock. 

After printing out the reservation, I began to feel uncomfortable about what I was setting up. We had to talk!

I went to the bathroom door, because Mum was still in there, tapped on the door and said; "I am going down to make a cup of tea Mum" I said; "I will make you a cup too, and if you would, I would like you to join me in the lounge for a chat. I want to discuss plans for tonight with you, before anything is finally booked and can't be changed."

I heard Mum say something, but once again it was a bit indistinct and I didn't catch what she said.

I made the tea and put some biscuits on a plate, with a slice of cake each. "It's in the lounge" I called up the stairs.

After a few moments I heard Mum coming downstairs, and stood up to meet her as she entered the lounge. When she came in I could see she looked upset, as if she had been crying, so I helped her to the couch, where she sat looking down at the floor. I sat in my usual chair, facing her and said; "I think we really need to talk, and perhaps, after what happened this morning, it might be better if we do it while we are sitting a little apart."

She just nodded; "whatever you think is best Paul".

Would you like me to start?" I asked her.

She nodded.

"OK! Now first of all I want you to know that I stand by everything I said earlier. I do want you to come out with me, not as my Mum, but as my date. I do think you are beautiful and will be the prettiest lady in the room, wherever we go, and I would be proud to escort you, anywhere and any time. Do you accept that?"

Mum nodded; "BUT? There is always a 'but' at the end of a sentence like that".

"There is no 'BUT'" I replied. "That is the truth! My problem is, now I have a confession to make to you. You see, when I asked you to agree to me choosing what you wore tonight, I was just thinking of the dress I wanted you to wear. The shoes came later, when I was getting the dress from your wardrobe. The reason for my choice was absolutely truthful. When you wore that dress to your office Christmas party, you looked stunning. You actually took my breath away you looked so gorgeous. I know you won't believe that you had that effect on me, but you did .... you still do, whatever you are wearing! But that's why I wanted you to wear it tonight".

"I never told you everything that Pete from college actually said to me, did I? I don't know if you remember him, we met him in town when we were shopping. The one who I told you said he fancied you".

"Oh yes, I think I remember him", said Mum; a tall, slim boy, who I said thought far too much of himself".

"That sounds like him" I said with a grin; "anyway, even though when he met you, we were just shopping and you were not particularly 'dressed up', what he actually said, was 'Your mum is a fox, how can you live in the same house as her without having a permanent hard-on?' Then he asked me if I could set up a date with you for him".

"No, you certainly never told me that" said Mum; "when did he say that".

"It doesn't matter, because I told him to 'Back Off and to keep his hands and his dirty mind off you'. Anyway, a few words were exchanged, he said something I took exception to and we, sort of 'fell out'."

"Fell out?" said Mum; "What do you mean, 'you fell out'? What did he say? What happened? 

"Mum, I don't need anyone to tell me that you are beautiful, especially a slime ball like him, I had always known that. As your son, all I could hope for was a chaste kiss on the cheek and maybe a hug on a special occasion, but he could ask you out on a date and from what he said I knew he would try to get you into bed afterwards, then, if he managed that, brag about it to everyone he knew. I couldn't even ask you out and I was as jealous as hell, so when he said what he did, I hit him! We just had a bit of a fight, that's all"

"Was that when you came home with your face bruised and you said you had tripped over?" I nodded.

"You are not usually a violent person so it must have been really bad, was it something about me?" She asked.

"No Mum!" I replied; "it was about me and I would rather not talk about it, if you don't mind".

"But what he said involved me, didn't it?"

"Please Mum, let it go. I shouldn't have said anything."

"Now, just when you said you trusted me, I have betrayed that trust. I started thinking about how I had phrased the addition to our bet, about me choosing what you wear. I thought I could use your agreement to that, to slip in something else I would like you to wear. That was underhand and wrong of me! So now, I want you to re-instate your 'veto' clause. Anything you are not happy with goes. No matter what it is."

"That goes for the dress, the shoes .... And ..... The underwear I bought for you this morning in town". 

Mum looked at me in surprise; "you have bought me underwear to wear tonight?"

"Yes Mum. I will bring it down for you to see and accept or reject as you choose. The sales lady did say I could take it back if you didn't like it. 

I have also, provisionally, booked this" and I handed her the print out of the provisional booking I had made for dinner and a twin room at 'The Grange Hotel'; "it's only a provisional booking so if you don't like the idea I can cancel that too".




Shades of Blue Ch. 02



When I wrote 'Shades of Blue' I had never intended to continue it to include their 'date' or them 'spending the night together'. The very kind and helpful comments, both public and private, almost universally pointed out that the ending was 'Rushed', and I must say, I have to admit it was. To those who left me a means to respond, either with an email address or their member I.D, I have already explained that this was, in a way, pure panic.

I am sure that many readers will recognise this situation. Many times before I had tried to write something, but it ended up all wrong and so was dumped into the trash bin, where it belonged. This story made it almost to a reasonable end, and it just seemed to work, so I thought it deserved to be 'aired'.

Then I found I was beginning to think along the 'trash bin' lines again!

This was when I made the decision to finish up and send it off before I 'chickened out'.

I Hope that also explains the, slightly odd credit to 'Smokahontas' for "making me wait", but then not waiting for her to 'edit' the story as I had asked her to. I apologise to her for being so impatient.

The comments I have received have convinced me that I had to continue the story to a proper conclusion.

The way I had ended the story, however, didn't really lend itself to its continuation.

For this reason I decided to re-write how I closed the original story.

That's the reason the ending of the first part is not exactly the same as the beginning of the second part.

I have tried to keep the 'content' and 'feeling' the same, so I hope you feel the changes are an improvement.

Once again, I send my thanks to all who took the time to comment. ALL were read and very much appreciated.

One anonymous private comment, made a very poignant comment about some of the content in the story.

I would have loved to have been able to reply to him, personally, but without a means of contact I was unable to do so.

If he reads this and feels he would like to comment on this continuation of my story, could I suggest that an 'anonymous' email address can be a very useful addition to have in your 'toolbox'.

I can only hope the continuation of this story meets the high standard my reader's comments suggest they are expecting from me.

oooooo000000oooooo 

Shades of Blue. Chapter 2.

I walked out of Mums bedroom feeling like a king. I was in love and the woman of my dreams loved me too. I didn't care what the rest of the world might think; my world was a wonderful place.

I phoned the hotel to sort out our sleeping arrangements. "I'm afraid I clicked on the wrong box on the web site when I filled in the booking form." I said. "I actually require a double room, not a twin."

The lady at the hotel assured me that this was not a problem, they did have a double room available.

I apologised for it being such short notice, and asked. "Is it possible for there to be flowers, a bottle of champagne and a box of chocolates in the room? Only tonight is a very special occasion and I really need everything to be absolutely perfect for my wife."

"Yes, I can arrange that for you sir" she said, "May I ask what the occasion is?"

I know, I should have anticipated that question, but I didn't, and I panicked a bit.

"It's ... ummm .... our anniversary" I blurted out, "But we don't want any fuss, we have had a very difficult day."

"Oh, I see!" She said. "When is the actual anniversary?"

I noticed a slight change in her voice.

"Umm! ... It's today." I said. Kicking myself for being caught out so easily, hoping she hadn't noticed my hesitation.

"I see!" She said.

The change in her voice warned me. She had guessed that I wasn't telling her the whole truth.

I know from my own experience, if your work puts you into a 'face to face' situation with 'the public', you very quickly develop an instinct for when something you are being told isn't true. She had picked up on my confusion and I knew I now needed to be extra careful.

Then I had an idea!

"Is it possible to have a box of 'After Eights' in the room as well?" I asked. "Only It is something of a running joke between us. After such a very stressful day, I think it would help my ...umm! ... Wife, into a more relaxed frame of mind for the evening."

The slight hesitation before I said 'wife', this time was deliberate and done for a reason.

Because I knew the receptionist was now suspicious about the booking, I wanted to allay those suspicions.

The last thing I wanted was for the hotel to think this was just a couple going away for a 'Dirty Weekend'.

Of course, I knew referring to Mum as 'my wife' was something I would have to be careful about in future, but on this occasion I thought it was necessary. After all we were going to be sharing a double room

"I realise this is all at very short notice," I said "But I would be really grateful if you could. A .... 'friend' was supposed to have sorted everything out for tonight, and he has let me down very badly.

He has caused a huge upset, when everything was supposed to have been organised and beautiful.

When we realised how he had let us down, my wife was in tears.

She shouldn't have been upset like this;" I said "Not today of all days, her day was stressful enough without this.

Hopefully, if the rest of the day is all right, my wife and I can put this behind us and it won't spoil the memory of what should have been a wonderful day. The rest of her day just has got to be right."

There was a slight hesitation before the receptionist answered, "I don't think that will be a problem sir." She said. "I think I can arrange that. I am quite sure we will be able make tonight really special for you both."

I could have cheered! I just knew I had pulled it off.

The hints I had given she had picked up on and she thought she had figured out why something hadn't sounded right. She was convinced now that she had guessed our 'secret', and she sounded quite pleased with herself for having done so. Now all I had to do when we arrived was to reinforce that impression.

I thanked her again for her assistance and said we expected to arrive at about 4 0clock, before hanging up the phone.

While I was talking to the receptionist I had, what I thought was another really good idea. I tapped on Mum's bedroom door.

"I need to go out to pick up something, but I won't be long," I said.

Mum opened her door and smiled almost shyly at me.

"I think it's going to take us both some time to get used to this new relationship," she said. "But if this is now going to be 'our bedroom', you really don't need to knock, before you enter."

I took her into my arms and hugged her.

"One step at a time" I said, "A lot of things are going to feel strange to both of us for a while, and just walking into, what I still think of as 'your bedroom' feels wrong to me.

I am sure you would have felt embarrassed, if I had just walked in and you had been undressed." I pointed out, "There are a lot of things we are both going to have to get used to.

Doing this," and I gently kissed her, "Is another thing we are not really used to doing. But as I fully intend doing it quite a lot in the future, I think you will get used to that rather quickly.

We have about an hours drive to where I have booked, so I suggest you wear something comfortable and change into your evening clothes at the hotel. I want you to wear something really nice to travel in, though. Pack the things you are going to wear tonight, there will be plenty of time to get changed into them at the hotel.

You are going to really 'knock 'em dead' when we walk into that restaurant."

"I suppose you have another suggestion about what you would like me to wear" said Mum, "What are you up to Paul? I get this feeling you are planning something else you are not telling me about."

"Trust me, Mum - please" I said, "What about that navy blue suit with the straight skirt? With a cream blouse it looks lovely on you, and its something else you never seem to wear. I will explain more on the way, but when we arrive at the hotel I want to give them the impression that tonight is a really special night for us."

I kissed her again and went to set in motion the idea I had when talking to the hotel receptionist. I had to get a couple of things set up, and then I would be ready to make our night perfect.

Mum, not knowing I had already got them, probably assumed I was going to buy condoms, she didn't know I had already bought them. I had something completely different in mind.

It didn't take me long to find what I was looking for. Within thirty minutes or so I was on my way home again.

I changed into my best suit and packing a change of underwear, a clean shirt and toiletries, and I was ready.

Mum was still getting changed.

Oh why does it take women so long to get ready for anything? Maybe they just like keeping us waiting.

I brought our cases down and loaded them into the car. Then I brought down the hanger with Mums dress for the evening and hung it up inside the car as well.

Now it was time to set up my surprise. I took something from the back of my wardrobe and, after a few minor adjustments, set it up on my chair in the lounge.

Then, as nervous as a kitten, I sat down and waited for her to come down.

At last I heard her coming down the stairs.

I met her at the lounge door, making sure I kept between her and my chair to hide what I had set up there.

"You look beautiful Mum," I said. "Have you got everything you need?"

"I think so" she said.

"Well! I think there is just one thing missing" I said; "I want you to come with me, please." I took her hand in mine and led her into the lounge, making sure I stayed between her and my chair.

Then I stopped with my back to my chair,. Facing her, and taking both of her hands in mine, I said:

"Everything I am and everything I have ever achieved in my life is because of you and your love for me."

Then I moved to one side and she first saw 'Ted', the old Teddy Bear she had bought me, years ago, as a comforter, when things were really bad between her and my dad and their constant fighting was upsetting me. I had folded and wrapped a white handkerchief around his neck to make it look like it was a clerical collar, and had put a pair of sun glasses on his nose. Under his arm (paw?) I had tucked '50 Shades of Grey'.

"I no longer have to hide my love for you." I said. "It is time for me to be a man, to stand up and declare:- "

"I, Paul Martin James, take thee Joanne Elizabeth Peters (her maiden name) to be my wedded wife. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, keeping only unto you, for as long as we both shall live."

Onto the third finger of her left hand I slipped the wedding ring I had bought for her not half an hour before.

"With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship and with all my worldly goods I thee endow."

I may have got some of the words wrong, but I think, somehow, she got the general idea.

Mum was dumb-struck. She had tears running down her face and her mouth was open in shock but she couldn't speak. She was shaking even more than I was and I just held her, kissing her tears away, laughing at her reaction.

"What are you doing? When did you....? Where did ....? Why ...? Oh My God! You can't do this!" she spluttered.

"I can't do what?" I asked, "I am only doing what people who love each other have always done. Offered my love, everything I have and all I am, to the one I love and want to be with for ever.

Our new life together begins here, today, and, to make it everything we need it to be, one thing was missing.

One more thing was needed to make tonight perfect for us both.

One thing, to show you how much I love you. How much I am committed to you and our future together.

There is no-one else that I want.

My feelings for anyone else have never even come close to the feelings I have had to hide from you for too long.

If it had been possible for us to be married, publicly, in a church, I would have arranged that." I said, "But we both know that, for us, this isn't possible. Today, this lounge has to be our church.

I make these solemn vows, to you, today, here, in our church, and, I truly believe, before God." I grinned at her "and in front of our very own .... 'Father Ted'." (reference a very popular comedy series on UK TV). "You are, from this moment, never mind what the rest of the world may think, as far as I am concerned, my wife."

I put my hand into my jacket pocket, took out a handful of confetti I had bought, and sprinkled it on her hair, just for effect. Then, with her still looking completely stunned, I led her to the car.

Tonight was going to be the start of our new life together.

Something I hadn't even dared to hope could ever happen, even in my dreams, was happening. Incest though it might be, I was going to spend tonight, and hopefully the rest of my life, in the arms of the woman I loved.

--------

During the drive to the hotel, I explained to Mum about my phone call and what I had told the receptionist to allay her suspicion that this was just a 'Dirty Weekend'.

Mum looked doubtful, but I assured her I hadn't given anything away about our relationship, but I had tried to give the impression, without actually saying it, that today was our wedding day and my 'best man' had forgotten to book us in anywhere for our 'wedding night'.

"That's why I wanted you to wear something that looks like a bride's 'going away outfit'." I said. "It will strengthen that impression. It was while I was talking to the hotel that I had the idea about us getting married today," I said. "I never expected any of this to happen any more than you did, and it's all happening to me just as fast as it's happening to you.

I have been doing some pretty quick thinking on my feet today. I must admit though, I think the idea of us getting married was a good one." I said with a grin. "The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.

I couldn't help a little chuckle as I said "and having 'Father Ted' to officiate at the service was just another one of my, quite normal, strokes of genius.

Did I mention, by the way, that I am a genius? Excessively modest, of course, but still a genius."

Mum laughed, which of course was what I wanted. I wanted us to arrive at the hotel with her at least looking hopeful, not with eyes all puffy from crying.

"I think it might be best if you leave most of the talking to me," I suggested. "Just play along with what I say, and if in doubt, just play the blushing bride. Leave it to me to sort it out. It's a good job that one of your dress rings was in that dish on the sideboard, or your wedding ring might have been a really rubbish fit."

"But we could have used my old wedding ring," said Joanne. "I still have it in my drawer upstairs."

"Over my dead body!" I replied. "Your first husbands input into our lives together ended over ten years ago. No way was I going to marry you using his ring! You are my wife and you will be wearing my ring, not his!"

That came out a little more forcefully than I had intended, and I think she was surprised. I did feel, however, that the point had to be made. It was only after I had said it, I realised I had said, "your first husband", not "my father".

The confetti had been an afterthought. There was a card shop next to the jewellers and I popped in there and bought a box. It turned out to have been a good idea though, because when we signed in at reception, a couple of pieces fell from Mum's hair onto the desk.

Lisa, the receptionist, spotted them and a self congratulatory smile spread over her face. She was now quite certain she had correctly 'read the signs' during our phone call. I just pretended I hadn't noticed the confetti and didn't say anything.  

Lisa looked at me. "When you told me on the 'phone how you had been let down, I spoke to my manager. He suggested, as 'The Bridal Suite' was not being used this weekend and this was such a special occasion, perhaps we could upgrade your room. I have taken the liberty of having everything you requested sent up to there. Will that be all right?"

I thanked her and said, "That would be lovely." I put my arm around Joanne's waist and hugged her.

She looked absolutely stunned and she really was, at that moment, truly a 'blushing bride'. I held her to me. "I promised you I would make sure everything was all right darling," I said, and I kissed her gently on the lips. "I won't allow Pete's 'foul up' to spoil your day, and I'll sort everything else out after we get home."

Joanne clung to me. Her face was pressed into my shoulder and her shoulders were shaking.

The smile on the Lisa's face was a joy to behold. She thought Mum was crying with relief that everything was going to be all right, after all.

She was now completely convinced that she had 'saved the day' for the bride and groom.

It didn't seem right somehow to spoil her pleasure by telling her that she had just been 'conned', and Joanne wasn't crying at all. Her face was pressed into my shoulder, as she desperately tried to control a fit of giggles at the audacity of what I had just pulled off.

I held her close and gently whispered, just loud enough for Lisa to hear, "It's all right my love. This morning I promised I would look after you for the rest of our lives. You didn't think a little thing like this was going to make me break that promise, did you?"

I could see that Lisa had a tear in her eye as she called a porter and gave him our room key. "The Bridal Suite please, John." She told him.

John picked up our cases and led the way to the lift. He was grinning too, but thankfully didn't try to talk to us. I suppose he was quite used to visitors staying in the 'Bridal Suite' not wanting to chat too much with him.

He unlocked the door and ushered us into the most amazing suite of rooms I had ever been in. Holiday hotels I had stayed in before didn't even begin to compare.

I realised that when Lisa had mentioned 'The Bridal Suite', it might be a bit special, but nothing like this. This was something out of another world.

The outer door gave entry to a small lounge. Decorated throughout in white, with a gold motif.

There was a beautiful white leather two seat settee where we could sit and watch the small television set. In front of the window was a small dining table with two chairs. The table was laid out with flowers, two champagne flutes, a box of 'Lindt' chocolates and, tucked in among the flowers, was a box of 'After Eights'.

On a shelf near the table was a glass fronted wine cooler, and inside that, a bottle of champagne.

The view from the window was across the gardens to a huge lake.

There were two other doors, one of which led into the bathroom. But what a bathroom!

A six piece bathroom suite, twin sinks, a Jacuzzi bath, a separate shower, a bidet and a WC.

Here again, the decorative theme was white and gold.

White tiles with a gold inlay. Taps and fittings, even the door handles, all in gold.

A connecting door then led directly into, what is, obviously, the most important room in the whole suite:

The bedroom!

Oh My God!

I have seen bedrooms like this before, but only in films. A huge queen sized bed, two quite small wardrobes, (I don't suppose anybody brings a lot of clothes for a stay in this room). There were also, two very comfortable looking armchairs. This was the only room in the suite not in white and gold. The whole room was decorated in a soft relaxing grey, with the carpet, a slightly darker shade than the walls. Curtains, bed cover and armchairs were in a soft red and the silk sheets on the bed were pure white.




Shades of Blue Ch. 02



"There is a telephone by the bed sir" said John, handing me the room key, "and another in your lounge.

If there is anything else you require, you will find the list of extensions by the phone, please do not hesitate to call. Breakfast will be served in your dining area on request, at any time up to 11.o'clock. Call 'room service' with your choices when you are ready. The breakfast menu is on the dining table."

I was in shock, "don't we have to come down for breakfast then?" I asked.

"You may, of course, breakfast in the restaurant with the other guests, if you prefer, sir. We have found, though, that sometimes, especially if other wedding guests are staying overnight as well, there can, in the morning, be a certain amount of teasing. This can sometimes cause embarrassment to the happy couple.

For this reason the hotel provides the option for them to breakfast together, privately, in their room.

It also extends the intimacy of such a special night together".

I reached into my pocket to tip him, but he held up his hand to stop me.

"Thank you sir, but that isn't necessary. It is our pleasure to provide for you. Please don't hesitate to call if there is anything else you require. In the main lounge tonight, we have our resident musical trio, and you will be very welcome, should you wish to join them. They are very good and have a wide repertoire. I am sure you would enjoy listening to them. There is also a small dance floor."

He then let himself out of the room, quietly closing the door behind himself.

I looked at Joanne.

She looked at me.

Neither of us spoke for several seconds, then, as always seems to happen in these situations, we both started to speak at once. Being the 'gentleman' I waited to let her speak first.

"How much is all this costing?" She asked in a shocked tone. "This room alone must be costing a fortune, never mind the flowers and champagne. With dinner in the restaurant, and room service for breakfast, you must have cleared out your bank account and 'maxed out' your credit cards for all this."

"I don't think so Mum." I replied. "I booked us a double room with breakfast. Yes! I asked for the flowers, champagne and chocolates, and also made a reservation for dinner. The hotel has upgraded us to this suite, which I didn't ask for, or expect. I will only have to pay for what I booked. This hotel isn't the cheapest I could have found, but I thought it looked very good online, so I booked it.

We have a reservation in their restaurant for 8 o'clock. Once again, although it isn't the cheapest restaurant in the area, they have a very good reputation, and it looked 'special' which, as you know, was what I wanted." I grinned at her "You don't have to worry though. Even though you lost the bet and have to pay for the meal. I'll deal with it and you can settle up with me later."

(It's all right! Don't shout at me! She knew I was only teasing.)

"It was their idea to upgrade us to this. Did you expect me to turn it down? Anyway, if I do end up with my bank account empty, I don't care. I only intend getting married once so let's enjoy this, our special day." I gave her my best lecherous grin, "To say nothing of our special night."

I went over to the table and picked up the box of 'After Eights', "You did say you were looking forward to what follows dinner, didn't you? Would you like an early taste of paradise?" I offered her the box.

Perhaps, on reflection, that was not absolutely the best thing I could have said, under the circumstances. Joanne threw herself at me and hugged me so tightly I thought for a moment she was going to crush my ribs.

"I don't know how you have managed to do all this" she sobbed into my shoulder. "This morning I thought I had smashed my whole world and everything in it, to pieces. Somehow, from nothing, while I was hiding myself away in the bathroom, you have gone out and conjured up the most magical day of my whole life.

After our talk, even my 'chip shop and a lay-by' suggestion would have made a wonderful evening for me, just as long as I was with you. But this - this is like a fairy tale. It has surpassed anything I could have even dreamed of. I nearly lost it though, in reception, when she told us we were being upgraded to the bridal suite."

"I must admit, that nearly got me too" I said. "But even when she said 'The Bridal Suite', I never imagined all this." I looked at the list of telephone numbers and I noticed there was a hairdresser listed.

I pointed it out to Joanne and asked, "If she is still available, would you like me to see if she can 'glam up' your hair for tonight?"

"She will have finished and gone home by now." said Joanne, "But I haven't had time to do much to it myself. Yes! Give the number a ring and see if anyone answers."

I dialled the number and to my surprise it was picked up on only the second ring.

"I wonder if it would be possible for someone to look at my wife's hair," I asked "Only it has got a little windswept, and she really would like to be looking her best for tonight."

The lady on the phone asked for my room number.

As soon as I said "The Bridal Suite", she said, "Of course sir! If your wife couldcome down to the salon as soon as she is ready. We are in the corridor to the left of reception. I am sure I will be able to help."

I thanked her and said that my wife (I must admit, I do like the sound of that word) would be right down.

Looking at Joanne, I told her the salon was still open, and they could see her right away.

I reminded her, "Keep it a bit vague regarding what happened, but stick to what I hinted at to reception. The best man forgot to book anywhere for us tonight and this caused a big argument. I found this hotel on the internet, and booked us in here at the last minute. You can stress how grateful we are to the hotel for helping us out in this situation, but if anyone pushes too hard for details, I suggest that the usual ladies standby of tears, might stop too many more awkward questions.

We don't want to be thrown out of this lovely suite as frauds, do we? Then we really would have to fall back on the 'chip shop' option."

We left the suite, made our way back down past reception and I left Joanne at the hairdressing salon. I told her I would be waiting for her in the bar, when she was finished, and I said I would sort out the bill then. As I returned through reception, Lisa was still there behind the desk and she asked, "Is the room satisfactory?"

"Satisfactory doesn't even begin to describe the room." I said. "I cannot thank you enough for everything you have done for us. I can't even begin to explain how much this has meant to my wife and I. You knew, didn't you? You knew it wasn't our anniversary. Joanne was so upset, I thought it best not to mention that it was our wedding day. I didn't want her to spend tonight remembering what had happened. What was it that 'tipped you off'?"

"You seemed so unsure about such simple things. That's what made me think you were hiding something," said Lisa, "There was a slight hesitation before you said 'My wife', as if you were not used to calling her that, which at first made me think this was just another unmarried couple on a 'weekend away'. But then you mentioned that 'a friend' had forgotten to book tonight's room for you.

That was when it clicked. You don't ask a friend to book you a hotel for a 'weekend away', or even for an anniversary. That was when I guessed what was going on. It was the only explanation that made sense.

Today was your wedding day! That friend had to have been your 'best man'. You had trusted him to book somewhere for tonight, and he had messed up badly and forgotten. He was, wasn't he?"

Now I had to really think quickly. If I was going to get away with this, I was going to have to be very convincing.

"Yes, he was," I said, doing my best to look shamefaced at having tried to hide the truth from her. As it turned out, he was not really the best man I could have chosen.

His speech, which obviously he wouldn't let me see beforehand, was to say the least, disgusting. It was full of sexual innuendos and he insulted almost everyone. He even made suggestions about what Joanne and I would be doing tonight, which, as far I have ever understood, is the one area that he should have stayed right away from.

I suppose he thought he was being funny, but nobody else did. Especially Joanne's parents, who are a bit... Old fashioned. They were definitely not impressed about those comments.

Then, after the speeches, Joanne's mother asked him where we were spending tonight, he said, "I don't know, Paul hasn't told me." When she said that he was supposed to have booked somewhere, he claimed he didn't know he was expected to do that, but I know I told him to find us somewhere really nice, and he said it was all in hand.

Joanne's mother screamed and fainted. Father-in-Law, luckily, caught her and sat her in a chair. He was still fuming about that speech, and he wanted to, as he put it, 'punch Pete's lights out'. He didn't though! Instead he finished up holding me back, because I wanted to do it first.

Then someone else got in before either of us and floored him. I think it was the bridesmaid's boyfriend, who it seems was standing in line to have a go at him for a comment he had made about her in his speech. One of Pete's friends then joined in and whole thing turned into a total disaster."

I grabbed Joanne and we took a taxi back to her place. In the taxi, Joanne said she wished we had just moved in together like some of our friends had done.

Her parents would have had a fit if we had done, but at least, she said, all this would never have happened.

That's when I knew I had to do something to salvage her day. For a bride to wish, on her wedding day, that her wedding had never happened was unthinkable. But she wasn't just 'any bride', she was MY bride! He was MY choice for 'Best Man' and he had completely destroyed HER day.

Joanne locked herself in the bathroom and I could hear her crying. I fired up her computer, and searched for somewhere far enough away from the scenes of chaos we had left behind, but within easy driving distance. Somewhere that looked really nice, so we could get right away from everything which had happened and hopefully salvage something from the wreckage of the day.

That was when I found your website.

Then I went and messed up the booking form by ticking the box for a twin room instead of a double. A twin room! For our wedding night! I ask you! How stupid was that? Luckily, Joanne noticed it when I managed to get her to come out of the bathroom and showed her the Hotel web site and the print-out of my booking. As you can probably imagine, she went straight back into the bathroom in another flood of tears.

That's when I made that panic phone call to you. I was in such a state by then, I am surprised that I made any sense at all when I was asking you to change the booking. You can see why, after all that, I said the rest of the evening had to be perfect."

"When we arrived, Joanne was still a bit tearful, and when you offered the upgrade to 'The Bridal Suite' she almost broke down completely. I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined having what you have given us. I just cannot thank you enough."

"We are pleased we have been able to help," said Lisa. "I spoke to the manager after you phoned, and he asked me how sure I was that something had gone wrong at your wedding. I told him I was fairly sure but didn't have anything more definite to go on, it was just a feeling.

He then said I could use my discretion and if, when you arrived, I still thought the same, I could offer you the upgrade. I was already fairly sure in my own mind, so I asked for the room to be made ready. When I saw how upset your wife was when you arrived, I just knew I was right. For a bride to be that upset on her wedding day, whatever had gone wrong just had to be really, really bad.

I managed to catch Marie in the salon before she went home, and asked if she would stay on a little. I had a feeling your wife might have need of her services."

"So that's something else we have to thank you for." I said. "While she was crying in the bathroom, Joanne washed out what she had done to her hair this morning. I think she was trying to erase the memory of the whole day.

Luckily her case was already packed, so I just picked it up and put her things in the car. I had a bit of -- "I'm not going anywhere, everything is ruined", to contend with, but I got her into the car and here we are. Now she is in the salon having everything put right and, with that room as well, everything is looking great again. You have completely turned our whole day around. Turning a disaster, back into the magical time it was supposed to have been from the start.

I have told Marie to do whatever Joanne wants. 'Make her feel as a bride should feel on her wedding day' I told her."

I grinned at her, "I know! This could turn out to be a bit expensive, but I think it is a big part of the re-building of her day, and will be worth every penny if it helps us put the troubles of this afternoon behind us. I would like to thank you again for your help, and would you please thank the manager for me too?"

As I said that a man came out of an office behind reception.

"I am glad we could be of service sir" he said, "Lisa seemed so certain, and I know I can trust her instincts. I am sure, during the rest of your stay, we will be able to help you get over the disappointments you both have suffered today."

I realised he must be the manager, and had been listening from the office to the story I had given to Lisa. I must admit, I was beginning to feel quite guilty about having 'conned' them like I had, but I couldn't back out now. I made up my mind to at least put some of it right. I stepped forward with my hand outstretched for him to shake. As we shook hands I said. "I cannot thank you enough. I know, when a hotel offers a room upgrade, it is normal practice that the guest only pays for the room they have booked, not the upgrade. On this occasion, with everything you have done for us, I must ask I be allowed to pay for this room. I'm not a rich man, but whatever is the rate for 'The Bridal Suite', please allow me to pay it. The choice of 'Best Man' was mine. The 'foul up' was therefore, also mine.

You and your staff have been magnificent, helping me out of a really awkward situation at very short notice and I cannot, in all conscience, ask you to foot the bill, for what were, after all, my mistakes.

If I had known 'The Bridal Suite' was available when I phoned, I would probably have booked it anyway, so please allow me to at least pay for what the hotel is providing."

The manager looked at me in surprise. I could see he hadn't expected this. He thought for a moment and then looked at Lisa, smiled at her, and then said: "I must admit, I did wonder if this was indeed a genuine situation, but as I said, I do trust Lisa's judgement. Your offer to pay for the suite has proved to me, beyond any doubt, her instincts were right. Under the circumstances, I am pleased the Suite was available and we were able to offer it to you. I would like you to accept the upgrade, as a wedding present to you both, from the hotel."

I said, "When you put like that, I have no choice but to accept. It would be impolite of me to refuse. Thank you so much, and I know I am speaking for both of us, when I say we will never forget your kindness."

I looked from him to Lisa and back again. Something seemed to be happening here, right in front of me. The Manager was looking at her and smiling, and she had become softer somehow. She looked different, almost as if she had become, not shy, almost embarrassed. She was blushing. Was it because he was smiling at her? Not a reaction I would expect her to have, just because her boss was pleased with her for spotting our situation.

I hadn't realised until that moment, what she must have seen when we had checked in. Maybe I was just seeing 'love' everywhere today, but when someone is that much in love, it shows.

I could see she was in love with this man. It was written all over her face, as soon as she looked at him.

I am not a betting man, but I would have put money on the manager being in love with her too. But it also looked to me, as if he was as blind to her feelings for him, as she was to his, for her. He loved her, but somehow he couldn't see she was crazy about him. Relationships are complicated things. Life would be so much simpler, if less interesting, if they weren't.

--------

I had settled down in the bar with a stiff drink, which by then I really needed, to settle my nerves. I was on my second, when a man sitting across the bar, who was facing the entrance from reception, gave a low whistle of appreciation and began to get up. I looked round to see what had attracted his attention just as Joanne walked into the room. She looked absolutely stunning.

Not only had her hair been styled really beautifully, but her make up had been re-done to enhance her natural beauty. Every man in the bar was looking at her, and I knew, almost to a man they were wishing she was with them.

I felt so proud as I crossed the bar and took her hand, leading her to my table.

I was about to kiss her when she placed her hand on my chest, "Don't you dare!" she whispered, smiling at me, "This look has cost a small fortune to achieve and you are not going to mess it up - well not yet anyway," she said with a shy smile. "You said you wanted me to 'wow' the restaurant tonight, and that's just what I intend to do."

"That's going to be easy" I said, "The eyes of every man in this bar followed you as you walked in. I expect you are, at this moment, the subject of several, quite immoral, fantasies." I grinned at her "At least half of them are mine! But I can feel the waves of envy from here. Goodness only knows what you will do to them when you are wearing that dress tonight."

"Have I told you that you are probably the most beautiful woman in the world?" I asked.

She almost blushed. "No" she said, and then she smiled up at me. "Well, not in the last 45 minutes, anyway. But I am parched, don't I get a drink? You also need to go and pay Marie for her work on my hair and make-up. I thought it best not to use my card. If we only got married this morning, I wouldn't have a card in my married name yet, would I?"

"I must be getting forgetful," I said, "I haven't got over the transformation from you being merely 'beautiful' to being 'heart stopping-ly, breath taking-ly gorgeous', yet".

I must have had a grin that almost split my face as I went to the bar and ordered her a glass of white wine.

Putting the glass down in front of her I whispered that I needed to fill her in on developments, but I would sort out the hairdressing bill, first. "You were right to leave the salon for me to sort out." I whispered. "Don't you go running off with anyone else while I am away now" I said, "Because as soon as I walk out of this bar, leaving you here, there is going to be a queue forming." I took her hand and raised it to my lips. "Another thing I haven't told you in the last 45 minutes - I Love You!"

Back at the salon I paid Marie using my credit card.

Phew! These ladies hairdressing salons certainly do know how to charge don't they? Not that I am complaining, she had done an amazing job at very short notice, staying late especially for us. I gave her a large tip and didn't begrudge her a penny of it.

Passing through reception again, Lisa was still at reception, smiling all over her face.

"Your wife looked a lot happier when she came past just now." She said.

"Oh Yes!" I replied. "As soon as we saw the suite, I knew our whole day was looking up. Then having her hair and make up re-done was, I think, the thing which has convinced her that our day has just been given back to us. The look on her face when she entered the bar said it all. As I said, this is all down to you. Thank you! I think I must be the luckiest man in the world just now."




Shades of Blue Ch. 02



Back in the bar I sat next to my new wife, just holding her hand. I couldn't stop gazing at her. It was hard to take in that this beautiful lady beside me had, in a single day, gone from being the mother, who I had adored for years, to being the woman I was going to spend the whole of the rest of my life making love to.

-------

It was at this point the realisation of what we were doing really hit me and I think I went into a kind of shock.

Tonight, for the first time since that night. when a neighbour phoned the police, to report 'a domestic' ...... I was going to sleep with my mother.

The memories of that night came flooding back and I couldn't stop myself from shaking. My father had attacked her. I don't know what started this particular row, but I think he was drunk, again. I tried to get between them to stop him from hitting her, and he punched me in the face. When the police arrived, my mouth was bleeding and mum was on the lounge floor, crying and bleeding from her head. She was having trouble breathing because he had also kicked her in the stomach. The police immediately arrested him and took him to the police station, where he was charged with two counts of 'Assault'.

A policewoman stayed with us at the hospital, where I was examined first. Then Mum was checked over, including x-rays and photographs of her injuries, for evidence. Then the police took us home.

That night I slept in Mum's bed with her, and she held me close all night. I say 'we slept', but I don't think either of us did much sleeping.

The next day Mum took me to the police station with her and told them she wanted to press charges. They took her statement, and then a very nice lady asked me what I had seen and what had happened. She wrote it all down and I had to sign it. She then talked with Mum for a while and gave her the name of a solicitor to begin divorce proceedings.

When dad came up in court, he was sent to prison for 6 months. Mum's solicitor asked for, and got, a restraining order preventing him from coming within a certain distance from her, the house or me, when he got out. The divorce papers were served on him in prison, and within a couple of months of his release, we were free of him.

At the time I was 8 years old!

The difference tonight, of course was, I would not be a little boy, frightened and crying, and who she was comforting. Tonight I was her new husband, and I would be making love to her in our bed for the first time in our lives.

-------

Joanne was looking at me with a worried look on her face. She could see something was hurting inside me. "Paul ......?" She said taking my hand. "What is it?"

I squeezed her hand, "I am all right" I said, "but I need to bring you up to date on what I told the hotel while you were in the hairdressers. Nothing to be alarmed over, but just a few things you need to be aware of, so when you have finished your drink I think we should go up to the room so we can talk."

"Are you sure everything is all right?" she asked "Only you went very pale and you are shaking."

"I am all right now." I said, "I just had a momentary 'flash back' but I am OK now. I had to elaborate on our story a little," I said, "So it's best if you know what I have said, then, if anything is mentioned you will know where it is coming from.

There is no rush, just keep remembering that this is our wedding day, relax and take things slowly. After all, much as we might want to, it wouldn't be seemly to be seen rushing back to our room, would it. We don't want people to think we are sex mad, do we?"

I leaned in closer and whispered, "Even if I am! ..... Oh my love, I am going to make you so happy that we have found the courage to tell each other how we feel. I can't wait to hold you and bring out 'Anna', the girl I met and so loved to be with, in your room."

I planted a tiny kiss behind her ear, where it wouldn't make a mess of her make up, and was again rewarded with that lovely little shiver and her intake of breath.

"Not here ... please." Joanne said. "I may look composed, but believe me it's only an act. If you start doing that, the way I am feeling just now, somehow I don't think the hotel would approve of what I will do to you. Wedding day or not, I don't think the manager would approve. Well! Not in front of an audience, in the hotel bar, anyway."

She finished her wine and I picked up both of our glasses. I put the empty glasses on the bar and thanked the barman. Then I took Joanne's hand in mine and led her to the lift. I had not really noticed up to this point, just how many pairs of eyes were watching us. Most of the men had an envious 'you lucky bastard' sort of look on their faces, and there was a dewy eyed, soft smile on the faces of the couple of ladies present.

------

Once back in our room I took her in my arms and just held her. I knew I couldn't kiss her in case I spoiled her make up, so I held her close and told her how much I loved her. Then we sat on the sofa and I told her about the story I had concocted for Lisa and the manager.

I told her everything I had told them, the whole fantasy! The 'best mans speech' the 'insults' he thought were jokes, the fight, her crying in the bathroom while I frantically searched for a room for our wedding night on the internet, the whole tale.

I told her that it was Lisa who had asked Marie in the salon to stay late to sort out her hair and make up. How the manager had been listening in the office behind reception and how I had offered to pay the full rate for this suite, but that he had refused and insisted that the upgrade was the hotel's wedding present to us.

I grinned at the memory, as I told her about what I thought I had seen pass between him and Lisa, and I told Joanne everything I thought was happening there.

"Paul" she said "I think it's time I told you about some of the things which led up to your father and I splitting up. There are things you need to know. Things I have never been able to tell you about. Now, with the night you have planned for us and the step we are intending to take, before we do I want to tell you the whole truth. There are things which happened between him and me, you never knew anything about. You were far too young then to know about those things. I wanted to tell you earlier. That's why I showed you my 'box of shame', I was going to tell you then, but you wouldn't listen. But you have to know, or it is going to come back and haunt us later."

"No it won't" I said, taking her hands in mine, "I won't let it. All right, I admit, some of the things in that box were a bit of a surprise to me, but don't you see, they don't matter. It is not a 'box of shame' at all, it is just where you kept some personal items that you sometimes needed.

Tonight is a celebration of our love for each other and I will not permit anything to spoil that. Tomorrow, when we get home, we are going to have to figure out how we are going to manage to live together as man and wife, without any nosey outsiders noticing. Then I will listen! We can talk about whatever you want, then, but NOT tonight. We have the rest of our lives to talk, to get to know each other, not as mother and son, but as lovers, and to make decisions about what is and is not important to us."

"Tonight is for us, as a newly married couple, to begin our married lives together. All of my life we have been together, I know, but from today everything has changed. We can't be the people we were yesterday. I know, everything has happened to us so fast our heads are spinning with it. Things have happened to us so fast that you are afraid it could fall apart just as quickly, but I promise you, my love, that it won't."

"When I was about eleven or twelve, I knew you were the most important person in the world to me. I thought then, it was just because you were my mother. I thought every boy felt like that about his mother, but I quickly realised, although other boys loved their Mums, for me it was different, I didn't know why it was, but I knew it was not the same for them as it was for me. I thought maybe it was because, with dad being no longer around, there was only you, but because it was so different, somehow I just knew I had to hide how I was feeling."

"I think I was fifteen, maybe sixteen, when I began to understand what those feelings were. What the meaning of the feelings I had whenever I was near you, was. Then I was ashamed, because by then I was old enough to know, what I felt was wrong. You talk about your 'box of shame'! My shame wouldn't fit into a shoe box -- Mine would need a huge packing case."

"For years I have wanted to take you out on a proper 'date', but I was too afraid to ask. How could I have asked 'Will you go out with me? Not as my mother, but as a proper date, because I think I am in love with you!' Then I saw a way I could at least ask for a date and take you out properly. I made it into a 'fun bet', a 'joke', if you like, when I challenged you to read that book. Yes, the book is a good, erotic read, and I still don't think it is pornographic. Let's be honest though, it isn't exactly 'Great Literature' is it? But whatever you thought of it, either way, I would still get to take you out, on a date. That would be, for me, a fantasy come true. Just to be able to take you out as my date for the evening. I could pretend for a few short hours, if only to myself, you were my girlfriend. That was why I was so insistent it was 'a date' even when you tried to tell me it wasn't. I was living my fantasy and I wasn't going to let go of it that easily."

"This morning, as you know, I saw something I wasn't supposed to see. I know I shouldn't have watched, but I couldn't stop myself. Watching you like that, you looked so beautiful, but even then, somehow I felt you were sad, so alone. I longed to hold you, to comfort you. Your sadness almost made me want to cry. The sexual tension seemed to take hold of us both, so I used needing to go into town, almost as an excuse to go and take a shower. I finished off with almost cold water, just so I could cool my thoughts down a little.

When I came back down after my shower, I don't think either of us had calmed down very much, and the tension was still there. I suggested I go and get out your dress for tonight, but you followed me upstairs and the tension between us in your bedroom was almost electric. It was so strong that it just took control of me, and that was when I kissed you."

"In that moment I felt something wonderful 'happen' between us. I knew you had felt it too and it had scared you, probably even more than it did me, but my whole being cried out 'kiss her again you fool, kiss her again'. That second kiss was when I knew you really wanted me too. You were still fighting it, hiding it, mainly from yourself, struggling against what your body was telling you, but I knew.

Now I knew I had to either convince you to stop fighting and follow your heart, or cut and run.

Something told me that finding 'Anna' was the key.

Without quite understanding how it had happened, we had created a fictional extra person within you. One who could be my 'date' not my mother, and as my date, she could allow me to hold her and kiss her like this, which, as my mother you thought you couldn't."

"That third kiss was the battleground. If I have ever put all my eggs into one basket, I did it then. That was the moment, I knew my whole life could become either heaven or hell! I still half expected you to push me away, and just for a moment you still resisted, but then you found your 'escape clause'. 'Anna' really was there, she was inside you, but she was more than a 'way out'. She really was you. The moment you found her, you surrendered. That was the moment when I knew you were mine."

"Of course I knew that I could have made love to you, I am not that innocent, I could see how aroused you were. I am not a saint, if it had been anyone other than you, I would have 'gone for it' and taken advantage of the opportunity. The reason I pulled back was not just because you were my mother. I want to make that completely clear. I had fantasised about making love to you for so long, it was all my wildest dreams rolled into one - but that was also why I couldn't do it. You are the woman I love, and if I had pressed on, I wouldn't have been making love to you. I would have been fucking you!"

"If we had fucked at that moment, something inside told me that after the 'ecstasy' would have come the 'agony'. You would have been so ashamed of what we had done, you would have blamed yourself. We only shared three kisses you went and locked yourself in the bathroom, in tears, because of what you felt, and what you knew you had wanted us to do. Imagine how you would have been feeling if I had taken that 'next step', laid you down and actually fucked you? Because if I had taken that step, at that moment, that's what it would have been."

"How could you have even allowed me to stay in the same house as you? If I had taken advantage of you like that you would never have trusted me again.

That's why I rushed off into town, we had to be apart. We both had to 'cool off' or we would have done something we would never have been able to forgive ourselves for."

"When I bought that underwear, my head was still spinning with the thoughts of what I had had the chance to do, but had stopped and moved back from. By the time I got home I had regained some control. I knew we had to talk about what had happened between us in your room. I knew you had felt my love for you, as I had felt yours for me.

We couldn't just pretend it hadn't happened, so we had to discuss where we went from here."

"So! For the last four or five hours you have known that I am in love with you. I have known that for four or five years, and I still can't believe what has happened today. I still can't believe I threw caution to the wind this morning. How could I risk everything by kissing you like that?

That kiss told you that I loved you. For years I had wanted to tell you, but didn't dare to. Now you knew! I knew you loved me, but your love had always been mother's love for her son. Had I read something into that kiss that wasn't really there? Something that was just what I had wanted for so long? I really didn't know!

I do understand though, how much of a shock discovering these new feelings must have been for you. Having your son tell you he is in love with you, telling you that he wants you to be, in all but name, his wife. Knowing he wants an adult, sexual relationship with you. It is hardly an everyday occurrence is it?

Suddenly, in less than one day, I am asking you to see me, not as 'your little boy' but as a 'life partner and lover'. If I assume what you said at home, still holds, and I know we wouldn't be here if it didn't, this is what you want too."

"What I need to know is how you are feeling about this now? Now we are on the point of it actually happening. Of us actually going to bed together, as a newly married couple, with everything that entails, what are your thoughts and feelings now?.  

If in the deepest recess of your mind, you don't feel you are ready yet to take this step. Unless you are absolutely sure you want me to 'sleep with you' - tonight I will sleep on this sofa. No-one in the hotel will know, but I won't lay a finger on you unless you are sure you want me to.

It won't stop me loving you, nothing will ever do that. I have loved you for a long time, in secret.

The only difference as far as I am concerned, is that now you know that I love you. I have dreamed and fantasised about being like this, with you, for years. So what if tonight doesn't happen?

I have already realised most of my fantasies just by holding you and kissing you. Having you knowing how I feel about you, and you letting me hold you and kiss you is a dream come true for me. If it takes another year before you are ready to take this final step, I will just have to wait -- and I will wait. I will wait forever if need be.

What I will not do, is make you do something you are not completely happy with.

If you think, now we have come this far, you have no choice. If you think it's now too late for you to back out, and you have to take this last step - If you have the slightest doubt that I really do love you, as I say I do.

Then I will sleep here, and tomorrow we can go home and try to work out where we are going with our lives together. But whatever you decide, we will be together. I said earlier, that nothing is going to happen that we don't both want to happen, and I meant it."

Joanne squeezed my hands and stood up, drawing me to my feet. "You are the one who likes to quote song lyrics, so here is one, from me: -- Elvis. - 'A little less conversation, a little more action' -- seems to fit the moment, don't you think?"

Not to be outdone, I grinned at her. "I can live with that .... But how about - Dr Hook. - 'When you think I've loved you all I can, I'm going to love you a little bit more'."

------

She led me into the bedroom and pushed the door closed behind us. I could feel she was embarrassed and a bit shy, standing in this beautiful bedroom with me, her son. She put her arms around my neck and held me tightly to her. She could feel I was already aroused, my hard cock was pressing against her tummy, and she couldn't stop herself from shaking. I guided her to the bed and sat her on the edge, before sitting beside her, gently lifting her chin so that she was looking into my eyes. "It's all right" I said "I know this is a huge step, but believe me, we don't have to do anything if you don't want to."

"Are you ever going to stop talking?" she said. "Just at this moment I really don't want to think about this too much. I am sure, next time I will be fine, but, for me, and I know for you too, this first time is going to be an enormous step, but it is one that I am ready, and more than willing to take."

She stood up and took off her jacket, carefully folding it and laid it on one of the chairs. Then she unfastened her skirt and, stepping out of it, put it with the jacket. Her blouse very quickly joined them and she then took off her shoes and her tights. For a moment she stood looking at me, wearing only her bra and panties, then she reached behind her back and released the fastenings of her bra, slipping it forward to reveal her breasts. Never taking her eyes from mine, for what seemed like a lifetime, but was in reality only, a few seconds, she remained standing by the chair.

I knew these were the biggest few seconds of my life as she made the decision which would define our future lives. Then she slowly walked back to where I still sat on the edge of the bed and stood before me.

"It has been a long time since I have been with a man, so please be gentle with me Paul. Later we can explore all kinds of possibilities but this, our first time, more than anything else, please, I need you to be kind and to love me. Undressing like I have, in front of you, is the only way I can think of, right now, to convince you that I really do want to be with you, here, now. The last step, though, is too much for me to take all of the responsibility for, on my own. You have to share this moment and accept the responsibility for everything it means, with me. I do want to be your wife in every way and I do want you to make love to me. I am making this commitment to you, as you made yours to me before we left home.

Paul, you say that you truly love me. You say you want me to be yours for the rest of my life. Only one other man has ever said that to me, and as you know he beat me, and then left me. Having you to focus on, to care for and look after, was all that kept me sane through those dark times. I know you are not like him. I believe you when you say you love and want me ...... But, if you truly do love me and want me to be your partner for life, you have to be the one to take my panties off."




Shades of Blue Ch. 03



Chapter 3.

Lisa was standing just outside the door to the lounge and as Joanne and I walked towards her she pushed the door open slightly and said something to someone inside. I gently squeezed Joanne's hand and whispered, "There is definitely something going on in there, and I have a distinct feeling that we are the 'Guests of Honour'."

Lisa smiled at us and as she held open the lounge door I heard the music in the room come to an end. She ushered us into the room, where everyone's eyes seemed to be fixed on us. The trio, on a small raised stage in the far corner of the room, began to play the introduction to something, which although I thought I should recognise, I just couldn't place for a moment. Everyone was standing and applauding as Lisa led us towards the dance floor.

It was then I recognised what this was the intro to. I should have spotted it from the first note! After all, we were being set up as the 'Guests of Honour'. Lisa had seen what Joanne was wearing tonight, the plum coloured dress I had chosen for her that afternoon. There really was only one song they could be playing, wasn't there?

Chris de Burgh's ..... Lady in Red.

There was really only one thing I could do at this moment, so I did it. As we stepped onto the dance floor, I took Joanne's right hand in my left, put my right arm around her waist and we went into the accepted, wedding reception tradition of the 'First Dance'. As her head rested on my shoulder, Joanne whispered, "I bet you are glad I made you take those dance lessons now, aren't you? But if you tread on my feet you are sleeping on the couch!"

I squeezed her gently, not trusting myself to speak at that moment. Luckily, the other guests observed the tradition of the 'first dance' too, so we were not alone on the floor for too long. I didn't trust my dancing skills enough to be doing an exhibition dance.

As the song ended, Lisa was waiting as I led Joanne from the floor to more applause from the other guests. She led us to a table which, unlike the others in the room had been laid with a white tablecloth, and where Simon (the manager) was waiting for us, and pouring two glasses of champagne.

Joanne went straight up to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Paul tells me we have you, and of course Lisa, to thank for arranging everything for us this evening," she said. "I want to add my thanks to his. For a time I thought today was going to be the worst day of my life. It seemed that everything which could go wrong, had gone wrong. Paul has done everything he could to make things right, but your contribution is what has really turned the whole day around. Thank you so much."

I shook his hand again, "That goes for me too" I said, "You have both been absolutely amazing. Now, if I get another two glasses, can I ask if you and Lisa will join us in a glass of champagne, or is it against Hotel Rules for you to drink on duty?"

Simon looked at Lisa and smiled, "It would be against hotel rules for us to drink, if we were still on duty. However, as our shift finished at 7:30, we are no longer on duty and I for one would love to join you. Will you stay too Lisa?"

Lisa blushed as she said "Oh yes please, I would love to."

"Great!" I said, "That means you don't have to rush away. I will get a couple more glasses, and I think we need another bottle, that one won't go far between four of us." I held the chair for Joanne to sit down and moved the chair intended for me for Lisa to use. I handed the ladies the two glasses of champagne, then moved two more chairs forward for myself and Simon. "I won't be long, just going for some more 'essential supplies'." I headed to the bar where I put another bottle of champagne on my bill and picked up two more glasses.

On my way back I took a detour to the stage, where I spoke to the keyboard player, who appeared to be the leader of the trio. I waited until they finished the song they were playing, and then I asked if they knew the Eric Clapton song, 'Wonderful Tonight'. He nodded, so I asked if he would give us a few minutes, then play it for us. He grinned at me and then said, "I would be glad to, shall we do two more, then put it in, would that be ok?"

"That would be great" I said, "Only I want to see if I can get Simon and Lisa to dance as well, I think they have been amazing doing what they have for us, and something tells me they quite like each other."

He laughed, "Do that!" He said, "We all watch them going all gooey as soon as the other one comes near, but they just don't seem to be able to get it together. If you can get him to at least put his arms round her, maybe he will see what everyone else can, that she is potty about him. If you give me a nod when you want 'Wonderful Tonight' and if you can get them on the floor, I will keep the slow romantic stuff going and try to keep them there until the penny drops."

Returning to the table, I was just in time to hear Lisa say to Joanne, "How did you two meet?" I put the glasses and the bottle down, wondering if I should answer for her, but decided I had to let Joanne answer this one, as she was the one Lisa had asked. Perhaps I could add little bits into whatever she said as opportunity arose.

Joanne, looked at me then said, "Oh, I have known him for years. I know his mother quite well." (I don't know how I managed to keep a straight face when she said that) "I went to work in the same office as her and she, sort of, took me under her wing. We lived not far from each other, so we travelled to and from work together on the same bus. I first met Paul when she invited me to dinner one evening, when he was around 10 or 11. He was a skinny little thing in them days, all arms and legs, and clumsy with it. He's filled out quite well since then though, don't you think?" 

I decided to add something here, so I said, "Steady on, they will be thinking you were cradle snatching. Joanne and I didn't really become a couple until much more recently. Mind you, I had been crazy about her for ages, but I thought no-one knew. It's not that easy to hide feelings like that from the people around you though, is it? Mum has been pulling my leg about it ever since we got together."

"There was a party at work, we had just won a major new contract, coming up to the Christmas before last, and the firm had organised a combined Christmas/Celebration do. I was 'between girlfriends', so I had no-one to take, so I asked my mum if she would like to go with me. Well, I think she still scrubs up quite well." (Joanne gave me a really dirty look for that one.) "She said I would look really sad, having to take my mother to a party because I couldn't get a date, so she suggested I ask Joanne. I would have loved to take her, I had been potty about her since I was about 16, but I didn't dare ask her out. I mean, how could I ask my mother's best friend to go out with me? Anyway, mum laughed at me, and said she knew Joanne wasn't doing anything on Friday night, the night of the party, so why didn't I phone her. When I came over all shy about it and said it was much too short notice, she just picked up the phone herself and called her. They spoke for a couple of minutes and mum hung up the phone, turned to me and said "That's that sorted out, she would love to go with you". I was amazed! It was as easy as that. Mum asked - Joanne said 'Yes', and I had a date with the lady I had been having hot dreams about for about 3 years."

Joanne joined in, "I could have done with a bit more notice though" she said, "Had to take Friday afternoon off to go to the hairdressers, and buy something to wear. These men don't understand how much effort it takes to look so casually beautiful, do they Lisa?"

Lisa laughed, "No, they think it is the same for us as for them, a change of shirt, a quick wash and shave, a splash of After-Shave and they are ready. I think we should make them grow their hair long and wear makeup, and see how long it takes them to get ready."

"Look out lads!" I said, laughing. "Feminist Alert!" 

"Anyway, we had a lovely evening." I continued, "We danced together most of the evening, although I did have a little bit of competition for her company from one or two of the other men. The slower numbers became more frequent as the evening wore on and I found I was spending more and more time with my arms around her. Then as another slow song finished and the party was starting to wind up, it just seemed the right thing to do at that moment, so I kissed her. Nothing passionate, just a 'Thank you for a lovely evening' sort of kiss, but Oh Boy! Did it ever set my heart racing. All the way home in the taxi I held her hand, but I couldn't get that kiss out of my mind. What was the correct etiquette for saying goodnight to one of my mother's friends, who had come with me as a 'fill in date' because I hadn't anyone else to ask? But she hadn't objected when I had kissed her, so .....? I just didn't know. Would she be offended if I kissed her again? Maybe she would be offended if I didn't kiss her. What was the right thing to do?" 

"She asked me in for coffee so I paid off the cab and went inside. Trying to be helpful, in her kitchen, which was quite small, I bumped into her, and she nearly fell. I caught her, and there she was, in my arms again, so I kissed her, a bit more passionately this time. Perhaps the drink I had consumed during the evening had made me brave, but she was definitely kissing me back. Then she dropped the cup she was holding, which smashed on the floor. The noise of it breaking broke the mood of the moment and put an end to the kiss, which I wasn't exactly pleased about. Joanne pushed me away and said, "I think it's time you went home, don't you?" Then she guided me to the door. I certainly knew the etiquette for leaving that night; it was 'The Bums Rush' out of the door."

Joanne burst out laughing, "It was no such thing" she said, "You nearly knock me over, grab me and kiss me, smash one of my best cups, and you still expected coffee? Huh! ... Men!"

Simon and Lisa were both laughing and I took the opportunity to catch the trio leader's eye and nodded to him.

As the introduction to Wonderful Tonight was starting, I said "Right! That's enough talking, come on, it's time we were back on the floor." I turned to Lisa, "May I have the honour?" Before she could say anything I took her hand, drew her to her feet. I winked at Joanne and nodded my head in Simon's direction, then began to lead Lisa towards the floor. A quick glance back told me that Joanne had understood and had taken Simon's hand and they were following us. As we took the floor, I mouthed "Stay close," before starting to dance with Lisa. I waited until the start of the second verse, when, after checking that Simon and Joanne were close by, I said to Lisa, "Somehow I get the impression that this combination isn't working, something doesn't feel quite right. I think you would much rather be dancing with Simon than with me." 

I reached out and tapped Joanne on her shoulder. She stepped back and I guided Lisa into Simon's arms, taking Joanne into mine. Simon and Lisa were now dancing, but as far as I could see, stiffly, not really together as a couple. I manoeuvred us next to them, and said to him, "It's a dance you know, not a military parade. You are supposed to be enjoying it. Take your lead from me at the end of this number and I think you will find it might help." Simon seemed to relax a little, and by the end of the song they were at least looking as if they were dancing together.

As the song ended I held Joanne tightly in my arms and kissed her, keeping one eye open to see what the reaction from Simon was. At first there wasn't any, but Lisa must have figured out what I meant. She put her arms around Simon's neck and drew him into a kiss. There was a moment when Simon didn't respond, but then he relaxed and began to return her kiss. A moment later the change in what was happening between them became obvious. I broke from Joanne and whispered, "I think we may have really started something here, look."

She turned and we stood watching two people, both completely oblivious to everyone, locked together in their own little world. If the roof had blown off the hotel at that moment I don't think they would have noticed. The group began to play another slow dance number, but Simon and Lisa didn't even move. I looked around and everyone on the floor was looking at the couple, locked together in the centre of the floor. I nudged Joanne and we began a round of applause. Almost at once others joined in, and within a few seconds everyone in the room was clapping.

I think Simon was the first to notice, as he ended the kiss. He looked around in amazement that everyone was looking at them. Lisa covered her face and was blushing furiously. She was about to run from the floor when I caught her arm. "It's all right, take a look around you, you are among friends, stay and dance with the man. For goodness sake Lisa, you have wanted him to do that for long enough. Getting over that hurdle has taken you two far too long, so don't run away from it now it's happened. I waited years before I found the courage to kiss Joanne. They were wasted years!" I handed her back to Simon. "I think even the group is waiting for you to get yourselves together so that we can continue." I indicated the stage, where the trio were all standing, applauding. 

Simon's arm was around Lisa, as she tried to hide her face in his shoulder. He raised his hand in acknowledgement. The trio began to play another slow dance. I nodded at him and took Joanne in my arms again for another dance, noting that Simon followed my example. This time there was nothing stiff and formal about them, they were definitely together. Part way through the number their lips were locked together again. They were not so much dancing, as kissing to music.

As the song ended I spoke to Simon and Lisa, "I think this calls for another glass of champagne, don't you?" I led the way back to our seats. Simon moved his chair closer to Lisa's and they sat down. He put his arm around her and she cuddled up to him, neither wanting to let go of the other. "So!" I said, as I refreshed our glasses, "How long have you two been so much in love you couldn't see what was obvious to everyone else? Come on now, don't be shy. When we were talking, Lisa, while Joanne was having her hair done, Simon came out of his office, and you almost melted. I thought I was seeing things and it was me for a moment, perhaps I was so happy myself, I was seeing love all around me, but he spoke to you and you were so happy that he was pleased with you, you actually blushed. I looked at you, Simon and there was so much love on your face. You couldn't take your eyes off her. You had to drag your eyes away from her when you shook my hand. I think the only people in this whole place, who don't know you are crazy about each other, are you two."

Lisa's face said everything about how she was feeling. She looked like the cat that had got the cream. "When I first started here, about two years ago, I thought he was really nice. But I knew he was married so I didn't really think about him like that. Then I found out that his marriage was breaking up. He was so sad and upset, I found myself wanting to hold him and comfort him, but of course I couldn't, after all, he was my boss. I suppose it was about 6 months after I started here. That was when I really knew how I felt about him."

"How about you, Simon" I asked, "When did you fall in love with her?"

He looked shamefaced, "From what she has just told us, it looks as if it was about 6 months before she realised how she felt about me. Lisa applied for a job in reception and I interviewed her. She came into my office and something happened inside me, she walked straight into my dreams. 

My marriage was, in all but name, over. My wife was seeing someone else, again! We had managed to agree on what was probably the only thing we had agreed on since the wedding. A divorce! Even then she wouldn't let it be an amicable arrangement. She was being, excuse my language, a first class bitch! She wanted everything. She would have left me with just the clothes I stood up in if she could have, and she was the one who was playing around. The man she was seeing was the third boyfriend she had had during the 2 years we had been married, that I knew about, there may have been others. That was why, when Lisa came to me and told me of her suspicions that this was actually your wedding day, but something had happened and everything had gone badly wrong, I began to wonder if we could do something to help. 

Then she said she thought it was your best man who had done something which had messed everything up and that settled it, I just had to do something. I knew the bridal suite was free this weekend, so I suggested the upgrade. When I heard you telling Lisa what had happened at your reception, it was almost like listening to a re-run of my wedding day. One thing was different though, about ten minutes after my new wife went up to get changed, my mother went up to see if she needed any help getting ready. The door wasn't locked and my mother walked into the room to find my bride, on her back on the bed, with my 'Best man' between her ........! Oh God! That still hurts so much! I thought he was my best friend, how could he do that to me? She was still wearing her wedding dress and she was ........! " He covered his face with his hands as his shoulders shook with the pain of the memory.

Lisa had tears running down her face too. She wrapped her arms around him, moving his hands from his face and kissing him. "Oh My God!" she sobbed , " I never knew about any of that. I knew the divorce was because she had someone else, but no-one said anything about any of that. I will never ever do anything to hurt you, my love," she sobbed. "I promise you now I will be faithful to you. I have never been with anyone else, you will be my first and you are the only one I want, or will ever need. I have loved you from that first time we met and I always will love you, just you, and only you!" 

Joanne hugged me. She had tears in her eyes too, "I think I am going to have to forgive you for ignoring me when I said about not interfering in someone else's relationship. You're a right little Cupid aren't you?"

I looked at her in disbelief, "Who, me? All I did was to see what everyone else could see. I just gave them a little push to get them to dance with each other, that's all. Well, perhaps I did hint that maybe he should kiss her too."

Just then the barman came up, and put another bottle of champagne, and a room key, on the table. "Mr Richardson - Miss Collins. This is from all of the staff, with our congratulations and best wishes. I don't know yet who has won the sweep on when you would finally realise what we could all see, but it was agreed by us all, that a bottle of our best champagne was to be provided from the pot, when you eventually got together, and it looks to me like you have, at long last, finally figured it out. As your barman I can see you have had far too much to drink tonight, to drive home safely, so I took the liberty of speaking to reception on your behalf."

I couldn't help myself, I burst out laughing. "That is priceless" I said, "The staff were running a sweep about how long it was going to take you two to get together, and you didn't even know?" I hugged Joanne, "Now do you believe me about how obvious it was?"

The group of four people at the nearest table to us, had heard what had been said, so this time it wasn't us who started the applause. The whole room was standing applauding. I put my hand on the barman's arm as he turned to go. "Could you open whatever you need and hand round a glass for everyone?" I asked. "I think this is going to be a night we are all going to remember for a long time."




Shades of Blue Ch. 03



He had a big grin on his face, "Already on its way" he said, and indicated the door. "Don't worry about the cost, the sweepstake pot can stand it." Three of the waiters from the restaurant were walking in with trays filled with glasses of, what looked like champagne and had already begun to hand them around. Other staff members were coming in, as well as other guests, all with glasses in their hands, picked up from the bar on their way in. No matter where you are, mention 'Free Drinks' and you soon have a crowd. The trio were playing softly in the background, but nobody was dancing. The applause died down as hands were filled with fresh glasses.

I pulled Joanne to her feet, "I think we might need the microphone in a moment" I said. Then I took Lisa and Simon's hands and pulled them up as well. Joanne took Simon's hand and I took Lisa's, and we led them to the stage, collecting fresh glasses from one of the waiters as we passed. The leader handed me the 'mic' and I held up my hands for some quiet.

"Ladies and Gentlemen" I began, "Tonight seems to have become something of a special night, for more than just myself and my new wife. I sort of, got a feeling when we came in, that you were expecting us, it appears that our story had been 'leaked'." A ripple of laughter ran around the room. "What you may not have realised is just how much these two wonderful people here have done, to rebuild for us, the day it was supposed to have been. When talking to Lisa, I realised just how much she cared for Simon here, but for some reason he couldn't see it. Probably because he was so blinded by how he felt about her. Now I have just been called 'Cupid' for having got them to dance together, a title I really have no right to. Cupid had already been here, long before today. Everyone on the staff knew it, and I now discover there was even a sweep running as to how long it would take them to get together." Another ripple of laughter. "I think we can confidently say that somewhere in this hotel we have a winner, because, Ladies and Gentlemen, look at them! These two are meant to be together and after tonight I think it would take teams of horses to drag them apart.

I would like to thank each and every one of you for the welcome you have given myself and my new wife, this evening. BUT! As must be obvious to everyone, we are not what this evening is really about any more. I ask you all, to raise your glasses and drink a toast. A toast to two beautiful people, who have at long last found, what everyone else knew had to be. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I ask you to raise your glasses and drink a toast .... To Love! - And to LISA and SIMON!

The toast was echoed around the room and a few cries of "Speech, Speech" were heard. I looked at Simon, shrugged my shoulders and handed him the 'mic'. "Go for it pal" I said, "I've got them warmed up, I think they will cheer for you now, if you just read them the weather forecast."

As I stepped away and put my arm round Joanne she whispered, "I think that second date you mentioned is looking like a distinct possibility. First you arrange a wonderful day for us out of nothing, then you drive me to distraction in bed. You can open champagne without breaking things and making a mess, and you take me to a restaurant where the food and wine is out of this world. Now you put two people who love each other, together – And you make a speech which has almost every woman in the room in tears. Yes, that second date is definitely looking like a possibility."

I kissed her gently behind the ear, and yes, I got that response again. "We haven't finished the first date yet" I said. I have plans for you, young lady. The night is still young."

"Oooh!" she replied, "But mummy wouldn't like it."

The old jokes are still the best, aren't they? I had to respond to it. "But mummy isn't getting it!"

She chuckled, and whispered, "OH YES SHE IS! And she is going to really enjoy it. I told you, I intend to be really, really indecent tonight. I may border on or even slip over into, the positively pornographic, that is, if we haven't done that already. This could be a very busy night."

Yes! I know! She set me up for that one, didn't she? I walked straight into it! Never mind, win some, and lose some. When I thought back over the day, I really couldn't complain. I had risked everything by telling her I loved her. The 'mock' wedding ceremony had worked out very nicely. The Hotel had been an absolute dream, come true, and our session in the bedroom couldn't have been better, for either of us. I must admit, I did still hope I hadn't got her pregnant with our first full lovemaking session, but somehow even that didn't really worry me. I reckoned I was still well out in front. 

Simon had finished his few words and handed me back the 'mic', which I returned to the trio leader. He was grinning all over his face as he shook my hand. "That worked out rather well, didn't it?" He said. "Bar takings will be up tonight that's for sure. We have been trying to get those two together for ages."



Shades of Blue Ch. 04



Back in our seats, Lisa, cuddled up tightly to Simon and asked, "What happened after she gave you 'The Bums Rush' after the party? You both seem to have managed to survive an awkward start."

I took one of Joanne's hands in mine and squeezed it gently. "Yes, it does seem to be working out, doesn't it?" I winked at them, "Ask me again in the morning! .... So! After being thrown out into the cold, well at least it wasn't raining, I walked home. It wasn't far, didn't take me more than a couple of hours ...."

Joanne smacked me on the leg, "Oh, he is a liar! Yes it was a little cold, but he had his coat on, and I didn't throw him out, I just suggested it might be better if he went home, that's all. The walk home might have taken him 15, 20 minutes at most. I have to admit though, I didn't exactly struggle when he kissed me, and it was me who dropped the cup. I had expected him to kiss me at some point, it was just a bit of a surprise at that moment. The biggest surprise though, was my reaction when he did. When he kissed me at the party it was nice, it had been coming for a while. I'm sure you know the feeling, Lisa, when you know someone wants to kiss you and hasn't built up enough courage to do it." She stared straight at Simon, "Present Company is not excepted! - You know it's coming, and you just wish he would get on with it. The one in my kitchen, though, took me by surprise a bit, and something happened inside me, something I was not expecting at all. Something a bit like what just happened to you on that dance floor I think, although perhaps not quite as emphatically."

"If I may be allowed to continue," I said. "When I got home, mum had gone to bed, but she was still awake. I got the usual set of questions, you know, the sort of thing. Did I have a nice time? Did Joanne enjoy herself? Was I going to see her again? The usual stuff, you know how it goes I am sure. I didn't dare tell mum I had kissed her and she had thrown me out, so I pleaded that I was 'tired' and went to bed. I didn't sleep much that night, and in the morning I was up early and off into town before mum surfaced. I bought Joanne a new tea service and went round to apologise. I wanted to get in quick, before the inevitable 'phone call' from mum, and Joanne telling her she had thrown me out because I had made a pass at her."

"I think she was a bit surprised to see me, but she invited me in and made me a coffee. I stayed out of the kitchen this time. We chatted, and I realised we had never really just talked before. I had made polite conversation, but we had never 'talked', if you know what I mean. One coffee became two, then three. Then she offered to make lunch, and I accepted. We talked over lunch, and then I did the washing up, and no, I didn't break anything, before you ask. The afternoon just flew by and it was getting late, so I asked her if she would like to go out for a meal. We had a nice meal at a local pub/restaurant, and then we dropped in to see mum on our way back."

"I was already beginning to wonder how I could tell my mother that I had been with Joanne all day, and I was going to ask her if I could see her again. Turned out, I didn't have to. When we walked in, mum looked first at me, and then at Joanne. Tactful as ever, she jumped in with both feet and said "So! When are you two going to make the announcement then?"

"I have always thought that my mother was a great loss to the diplomatic service. Put her in the 'Foreign Office' and she could have had half of the countries in the world, at war with the other half, within months."

"I was dumbfounded but she laughed at me. She said "Paul, you have been going all soft and silly whenever Joanne walks into the room, for about 3 years. Why do you think I ducked out of a free meal and drinks and told you to ask her to go with you? I know she likes you, because she let it slip months ago, that if you weren't my son ......"

"Hey! Just hold on a minute there. She never finished that sentence come to think about it, what did you say?"

Joanne was laughing, "Oh No! That was strictly 'girl talk' definitely not for the ears of you men." She winked at Lisa, who was laughing too.

I shook my head and finished the second bottle by topping up all of our glasses again. Simon was about to protest, but I pushed the room key towards him. "Stop worrying, you don't have to drive home. Relax my friend, you have a room, a beautiful girl in your arms, and who knows, if you play your cards right, you might even get more than a goodnight kiss." Joanne looked at me as if I had gone mad. "And that, my darling wife" I said, "is 'Man Talk', and definitely NOT for the delicate ears of you ladies." I winked at Simon who was laughing so much I thought he would choke.

The band was playing another slow tune, so I took Joanne's hand and led her out onto the floor. As we started to dance I asked, "What do you think, did I pull it off?"

Quick as a flash she replied, "I certainly hope not, I have plans for that particular part of your anatomy. But if you are asking about the story of how we got together, yes, I think you might have done. So! You think I scrub up quite well do you?"

"Yeah!" I replied, "Not bad at all. Has that 'skinny little thing' filled out well enough for you?"

"You'll do, until I find something better" she said smiling. "Oh Paul! I think that for the first time since my first wedding day I am really happy. That time it didn't last long. He managed to spoil that within a few weeks. I do so want this to last, not just longer than that, but forever."

I kissed her, "Shhhhh! My love," I said, looking into her eyes. "I told you, I am only getting married once, and that was today. In our own private church, with Father Ted officiating, I promised you I would love and cherish you. I am going to make you happy for the rest of our lives together, and if you remember, the words used were until death do us part! Would I tell a lie to Father Ted? Joanne Elizabeth James, I love you. I will always love you. Nothing and nobody is ever going to separate us. I can't promise 'forever', only for the rest of my life, but for that long, I promise, I am yours and yours alone."

As the dance ended it found us, much as it had with Simon and Lisa such a short time ago, our lips locked together in a kiss and like them we were completely oblivious to the fact that the music had stopped. As we ended our kiss, other guests gathered around us, wishing us well, I had my hand shaken by quite a few men. Joanne was kissed by several ladies, and I got a couple of kisses as well, but luckily not from any of the men.

Back at the table, I said to Simon, "I think it is time we turned in. All things considered this has been quite a day. Thank you once again for everything you have done. I am dreading the bill in the morning, but whatever it is, it will have been worth it. Will you be staying here for a few more minutes, Simon? Only I have something for you in our room."

Simon nodded. "Lisa is going up now, too, but I will wait down here for a bit." He said. He looked at the room number on the key-card and said, "We are going to be in the next suite to yours. Because you're in the Bridal Suite, they have put us in 'The Windsor Suite' next door."

I took Lisa's hands in mine. "And as for you!" I said, "Thank you again for seeing what I was trying to hide and taking the trouble to put right what was, after all, not the fault of the Hotel. I think you are a very special lady, and Simon is a very lucky man. If in some small way we have helped bring you two good people together, we are proud to have helped." I leaned forward and gently kissed her on the lips. I grinned at her, "That's all I am allowed or one or the other of those two 'green eyed monsters' behind me will beat me up. Be happy, you deserve to be."

Joanne took my hand and said, "Come on you. Don't tell me I have gone and married a smooth talking Romeo. I can see I am going to have to watch you."

"That will be YOU! Watching ME! Watching YOU! .... errr .. Watching ME - Watching YOU! ........ Umm! ... I think? Tell you what. Why don't we just invest in a pair of handcuffs? Handcuff ourselves together. Then we can both get some rest.

Simon and Lisa were both laughing. Joanne said, "Oh God! Don't you just hate a smart ass?"

I kissed her gently, "Never mind my ass, I think you might find that the rest of me has 'filled out quite well' too. Come on, you naughty lady, I have been having distinctly immoral thoughts about you all evening, and I need to ... 'talk?' to you. Anyway," I winked at Simon, "I think these two might have some ... umm, 'talking?' to do themselves."

Lisa was blushing again. I leaned into her and whispered, "You are going to be in the arms of someone who loves you more than words can say. Trust him; he has been hurt in the past, so he knows what that is like and he will be extra careful not to hurt you. All I can say is don't think, let your heart decide what feels right and go with it. You don't have to do anything. Simon loves you and you love him. That's all that matters and tonight, that is all there is, just you and him, together at last."

Taking Joanne's hand in one of mine I took Lisa's in the other. "I will see them both safely to the rooms Simon, and I will see you in the bar in a few minutes."

Going up in the lift Lisa was shaking. I put her hand into Joanne's and said, "I think it might be time for a little 'Girl Talk' here, You go with Lisa and if we open our door, you can hold onto our key and stay with her. I will pop in, get what I need and close the door behind me when I come out. Ring down to the bar when it's all right for us to come up."

Inside the room I opened my case and took out the pack of condoms I had bought that morning. Taking six from the dozen in the pack I slipped them into my pocket, before leaving the suite and closing the door. As I passed the Windsor Suite I thought I heard someone crying. I hesitated, but decided that whatever it was, it was better leaving it to Joanne, she would be better at sorting it out than I would. I made up my mind to get Simon to wait for the 'All Clear' before he went up.

Finding him in the bar, I asked what he would like to drink. We both ordered a small glass of lemonade, neither of us wanting another strong drink. I pointed out a seat in a quiet area, where we could talk, then turning to the barman I said, I am expecting a call from upstairs, Paul James, give me a shout when it comes, would you?

"Of course Mr James" he said.

Following Simon to the table I sat down next to him. Slipping the packs of condoms from my pocket, I discretely handed them to him under the table. "Just in case you need them" I said. I then told him how Lisa had seemed very nervous going up in the lift and that Joanne had gone with her for a little 'Girl Talk'. I also told him I thought I had heard crying from the suite as I passed it on my way back down. Simon was about to jump up, but I put my hand on his arm and restrained him.

"Joanne is with her and she is going to phone down when it is ok to go up, but if there is a problem, she is the best one to deal with it. When she phones we will know more about what the problem is, but until then we are going to have to be patient. It might just be a case of first time nerves; she did say she has never been with anyone. Whatever it is, you are going to have to be gentle. I told her that you love her and after being hurt so much, yourself, you would never do anything to hurt her. If it's just nerves, as everything has happened so fast, you might be best advised to just be extra careful. It might even be better if tonight you just kiss and hold her. Sharing a bed with you might be as much as she can cope with tonight. Obviously I will have to leave that decision to you and her, but Simon, remember; less than an hour ago she was in love with you but had no real prospect, except in her dreams, of being with you. Now, you have both declared your love for each other and you have been given the key to a hotel room where you are going to spend the night together. That's a very big step at such short notice for anyone, and if, as she said, she is still a virgin, that is mind-blowing in its scale for her. You are the one who has to slow this down to a speed she can cope with. You have waited what, two years for this night? A few days are nothing, to make sure she is ready to surrender what she has been saving for you all of her life."

Simon looked at me, "Thank you" he said. "You are right of course. It will do no good for me to go barging in, but this is your wedding night and your wife is spending it helping Lisa. That isn't fair on you."

I laughed, "Fair be dammed!" I said. "That woman has designs on my virtue. From the look in her eyes when we went up, I will be lucky to survive the night!" Simon's face broke into a smile, he understood I was making light of whatever was going on upstairs to put him at ease. "Simon, we have our whole lives before us, as do you and Lisa. A few minutes, hours, days even, don't matter. Let Joanne sort out what is upsetting Lisa, and then you will know how to deal with it. Once that is sorted out, it will be time enough then for me to lock myself in the bathroom and scream that I need to be protected from her." Simon was now laughing, so I knew I was getting through to him. "It's probably nothing, but let's wait till we know. Until we do Joanne is the best one to leave in charge. She can sort Lisa out if anyone can."

I heard the bar phone ring and picking it up, the barman spoke, then he looked over to us and held up the handset, before putting it down on the bar. "OK!" I said to Simon, "I will see what it is all about and come back to you." I walked across to the bar and picked up the phone.

"Paul?" Said Joanne, "Is everything all right? How is Simon?"

"Simon is fine, we have had a little chat and I told him I heard Lisa crying when I passed on my way down. I had to stop him rushing off upstairs, but I convinced him you were the best person to deal with it. How are things at your end?"

"That depends to a great extent on how much Simon loves her and on what he expects the rest of tonight to go like. Am I right in thinking that what you needed from our room were some condoms?"

"Yes!" I said. "I gave some to Simon as I didn't think he would have any on him and he might just need some before the night is over."

"Well!" said Joanne, "I am sorry to tell you that he isn't going to need them. That was why Lisa was so upset. All of her dreams came true here tonight, except one! She started her period this morning. How is that for Mother Nature playing a rotten trick on her?"

"Ooooh! That really is rotten luck" I said, "But I don't think there will be a problem. I must admit I didn't think of that one, but I did warn Simon that if, as she said, she is still a virgin, all this has happened so fast, she might not be ready to take that last big step yet, and he would be better to just ease off, lie beside her and just hold her tonight. I thought it was possibly just first night nerves when I said that. You know, like the ones you had before we went to dinner, when you ravished me."

"Shut up you fool, this is serious." She said.

"I know" I said. "You look after Lisa, and tell her not to worry, try to calm her down. Simon is only concerned about her, that she is all right. Leave him to me, I will mark his card for him, and he is going to be consideration personified by the time we come up. We will come to you so stay with Lisa until we get there."

Hanging up the phone I went back to Simon, who was waiting nervously to find out what was happening.

He looked at me, concern all over his face. I sat down and said, "Relax, I told you Joanne would look after everything. She has done what she can, but there is one thing she couldn't fix. The reason Lisa was so upset and the tears I heard as I passed, is a simple matter of unfortunate timing. Tonight, all her dreams seemed to come true, except for one thing. She started her monthly period this morning. What I said about just holding her and cuddling tonight, looks like it will be all that is on offer, but it does give you the opportunity to prove to her it's not just her body you are after. She is upset because she wanted to offer you the gift she can only make once. The gift she has been saving for that one special person, which in case you have any doubt, is you. Mother Nature has gone and put a spoke in her wheel. That's what all the tears were about."

"The silly girl" he said, "She doesn't need to worry, I will wait until she is ready for me, of course I will."

"A word to the wise here," I said. "Whatever you do, don't tell her she is being silly. Women get very touchy around their 'time of the month'. I know, believe me. Joanne can be sweet as pie the day before it strikes and an avenging demon when it does. My advice is to hold her, tell her you understand and it is not what either of you wanted to happen, but it doesn't matter. I suggest the 'rest of our lives together, a few days is nothing' approach. Reassure her that you love her, that sort of thing. So! Shall we finish our drinks and go up? Don't be surprised if she is a bit tearful, but treating her right now will make a world of difference in the future."

"Listen to me, the old married man of what? Less than twelve hours. Just be gentle with her. It's your future as well as hers. I don't need to tell you she is a special person, so remember that, treat her as if she is the most wonderful person in the world. Tell her that your whole world revolves around her. No! Don't tell me it does, tell her. That is what she needs to hear right now. It looks like you won't need my little present, but save them, have your first couple of times on us. I won't ask you to think of us as you use them, you had better be thinking only of her, then."

We finished our drinks and, returning our glasses to the bar, headed to the lift. Standing in front of the door to 'The Windsor Suite', I looked at Simon. "Are you OK?" I asked. He just nodded. I tapped gently on the door. Joanne opened it, and I could see Lisa sitting on a chair, looking like she thought her world was about to collapse. Simon stepped into the room and hugged Joanne, "Thank you" he said. Then he walked across to where Lisa was sitting. He knelt down in front of her and took her hands in his.

Lisa looked as if she was about to start crying again. "Oh Simon" she said, "I am so sorry. I couldn't help ....... "

"Shhhhhh!" said Simon, cutting off her apology, "You have nothing to apologise for. The timing might be ... inconvenient, but it doesn't matter, nobody chooses these things. Yes I want you, because I love you, but because I love you I can wait. What does matter is that we both know how we feel about each other at last. I have been in love with you for so long and it took two strangers to get me to tell you how I feel. Tonight we have both had our eyes opened by Joanne and Paul. Little did I think when I authorised that upgrade, it would lead to this being the happiest day of my life. Because of them I have found out that you love me too. Lisa Collins, will you make my happiness of tonight, last for the rest of my life? Will you marry me?"

Lisa looked at him, not believing what he was saying. "But ...... It's too soon, you can't be sure this quickly."

"I am sure. For two years I have dreamed of this, rehearsed what I was going to say, imagined your answer, but been afraid to ask in case you said no. I am serious; this is not a sudden decision. If you are not ready yet to say yes, I will just keep on asking until, either you tell me you don't love me, or you do say yes. I love you Lisa. I want you to be my wife."

Lisa looked towards Joanne and me standing by the door. I know I was grinning all over my face. Joanne went to her, put her arm around her shoulders and quietly said. "What have you just been saying to me? This isn't a 'set-up'. You heard what I said to Paul on the phone, I never mentioned to him anything you had said to me, did I? This is Simon telling you how he feels about you and asking you to marry him. I have only met him this evening, but honestly, I think he means every word. You must do what you think is right, go where your heart tells you to go. It's the one question no-one can answer for you. Only you know your heart.




Shades of Blue Ch. 04



Lisa looked at her, then back at Simon. "Do you really mean it; you really do want to marry me?" She asked.

Simon just said "Yes!"

"Then you don't have to keep asking. Yes! I will marry you. I can't think of anything I want more than to be your wife."

Joanne came to me by the door and hugged me. Simon and Lisa had eyes only for each other. I opened the door and said "I think that is our cue to leave. Sleep well, tomorrow brings a new day and, I think, a new life for all of us. Goodnight."

Simon looked at me "I don't know how to ..... " he began.

"Oh shut up!" I said, "You will have me crying in a minute. But if you hear me banging on the wall begging for help, you will come and protect me from this predatory female who is dragging me off, to her lair, won't you?"

Lisa burst out laughing, after her tears it was a lovely sound. "He will not! He will be too busy trying to protect himself. He has his own predatory female to contend with in here."

I looked at Simon, "Then I think we are both done for mate. We might both have to 'Lie Back and Think of England'."

Joanne pushed me out of the door. "Come on you" she said, laughing, "I'll give you 'predatory female'." She looked to Simon and Lisa, "I was pure and innocent until he corrupted me, and now he tries to blame me for his unbridled lust. Huh! Men!"



Shades of Blue Ch. 05



Back in the 'Bridal Suite' I put my arms around Joanne and hugged her. "Well Mrs James" I said. "How do you think that went?"

She kissed me, "I think the story you made up has worked out amazingly well. Where did all that stuff you told them, come from? I know I put in the bit about how we met, really to explain the difference in our ages, but after that you threw in the party at work, what happened after the ride home, all the stuff about how we got together? That's not to mention all the stuff you had already told them about our wedding. I just added a few minor pieces that seemed to fit in, but you built a whole life together out of nothing."

"I honestly don't know" I said, "It started when I had to justify Lisa's upgrade to this suite with a story about a disaster at our wedding and somehow it just grew from there. When Simon walked out of that office I almost panicked. I didn't for a moment think they would set up a whole wedding reception to replace the one which had 'gone wrong'. Then, when I realised that the rest of the hotel were now a part of 'putting things right', I knew I was going to have to create a whole new story. I first realised something was happening when the sommelier brought that bottle of wine. I ordered a £15 bottle and the one he brought, compliments of the restaurant manager, I think was about £50. Then the meal: Wow! That was really something, wasn't it? I know you couldn't see from where you were sitting, but everything being brought to our table, the maitre d' checked as it came from the kitchen. Then Lisa had obviously been sent in to make sure we would go into the lounge after dinner, where everything had been set up for a full reception. That was when I realised I was going to have to expand on what I had said earlier, and I knew it was going to have to be convincing."

Joanne didn't speak for some moments, then she said, very quietly, "What bothers me is, if you can make up lies so convincingly, how am I going to know if you are telling me the truth, you could lie to me and I would never know until it was too late."

I hugged her close to me, then leaning back I looked into her eyes. "I will never lie to you. You have always have been and I know I will always need you to be, the one person my whole life revolves around. I love you. I will never hurt you. I will never lie to you. If I am feeling bad about something I will tell you. If it is something you have done which has made me feel bad, I will talk to you about it and we will find a way round whatever it is, but you will know what it is and why I am feeling like I am. For now, all I can do is ask you to believe in me. I love you. I promise I will always love you. Earlier tonight, in that bedroom, you believed I meant what I said. You knew then, that was the truth about my feelings for you. We both knew then that if we took that step, we could never go back. You committed your life to me, just as my life is committed to you. Nothing has changed since then. The real story of our love cannot be told, so I made up something acceptable which could be. Yes between us, we put in a lot of small details, but they were the sort of things which made the story believable, and none of them can be checked, not without really digging deep. We have not given anyone reason to dig. I know, we can't use that story at home, where people know us. There we still have to be 'Mother and Son', unless we are alone. That is what we must live with, but we knew that. We have to be strong and be together, keeping the world out of our private lives. We both know it won't be easy, but together we can do it, I know we can, because we have to. I will never give you up. I will never leave you. My father was the world's biggest fool, but because he was, and still is, I get to be with you. You said that you were truly happy for the first time in nearly twenty years, because of me. Let me be the one who brings you that happiness, for the rest of our lives."

She hugged me and kissed me. "I really will have to watch you" she said, "You have a line of chat that could charm the knickers off a nun. Please stay with me Paul, You have my heart and you are my whole life."

I grinned, "Will you get the handcuffs or shall I? Because I am going to keep you so close to me that people are going to think we really are handcuffed together. " 

She looked at me with a tear in her eye, "You don't need to go out to get handcuffs" she said very quietly, "there are some in a box in the attic if you feel you need them. Only please, I beg you, only use them to hold us together."

Without her saying, I knew this was something else she wanted to tell me about. There were things which had happened between her and my father which I knew nothing about. Her box in the wardrobe held some of her things, but now it seems that hidden in the attic, were more of the secret things from her life with him. I was fast coming to the conclusion that I was going to have to have a talk with my father, and see if he was as tough when confronted by me now I was grown up, as he had been when I was only eight and he had punched me in the mouth for trying to protect my mum.

I hugged her tightly, "Shhhh my love" I said. We don't need handcuffs to hold us together, you would only need them if you needed to keep me locked away from you. Otherwise I am going to spend my whole life with my arms around you, holding you. I sense there is another story here, connected to the one you wanted to tell me earlier. It's one that I don't want to know tonight. I will say again what I said then. Not Tonight! Tonight is for us, for our future. The past is exactly that, the past. What happened then is in the past. It cannot be changed, so for better or worse it is what it is. Why the great rush to tell me now? We have the rest of our lives together, so if you want to, and only if you want to, you can tell me about it another time. Tonight is for us to be together and show how much we love each other. So now, Mrs James, I think it's time we got started on those promises you were making earlier." 

Joanne stepped back away from me and took both of my hands in hers. "Paul there is something you really do need to know about, and although I understand what you are saying, for my own peace of mind I need to tell you now, before we go to bed. For all we know, after this afternoon, it is possible I could already be pregnant and there are some things I must say before we go any further" she said, leading me to the sofa and sitting down. "Sit down and please don't interrupt, because what I want to say isn't going to be easy for me, but I am going to say it." 

I sat down beside her and squeezed her hand. "All right, if you feel so strongly about it that you must tell me now, you must go ahead, but whatever it is, it isn't going to change the way I feel about you."

She raised my hand to her lips and kissed it. Then she took a deep breath and said "I really do hope that will still be so after you have heard what I have to tell you. First of all, I do really love you. I am not just talking about the love I have always had for you, as my son. You have told me how you really began to think about me sexually, as a woman, rather than your mother, when you were about fifteen. I have allowed you to think that you were alone in those thoughts, which isn't actually true. I began to think of you in a sexual way after you left your bedroom door slightly open one night when you were about sixteen, and I saw you masturbating in your room as I was going to the bathroom. I am ashamed to say that instead of walking on, I stood on the landing and watched you. Ever since then I have had these thoughts about you. You have been the only man in my life and my dreams since then."

I was about to speak but she stopped me.

"I cannot count the number of times since then I have heard you in your room and wanted to get up and come to slide into bed beside you, but like you said to me, I couldn't even tell you how I felt about you. I was terrified that if you knew of my desire for you, you would reject me, like Stephen, your .... father, did. I couldn't bear the thought of that happening, so I had to keep my desire for you secret."

She paused to consider how to continue, allowing me time to speak. "You know now that if you had given in to those feelings, I would not have rejected you. I am not my father, if it was possible to have his genes torn out of my body and have them replaced by someone else's, I would. I have had nothing to do with him since that night when I was eight, and if I never see him again it will be too soon for me. If I do see him again it will definitely be too soon for him."

Joanne squeezed my hand and said, "I know, but let me continue please. I told you Stephen spoiled my happiness within a few weeks of our wedding. He actually began that while we were on our honeymoon. He insisted on taking some photographs of me in our hotel room. Not the usual 'honeymoon snaps' you would expect to see. These, he promised me, were strictly private pictures for us alone. He began with pictures of me in my underwear and progressed from those to nude shots. By the end of the honeymoon, the pictures were ...... well, they were a lot more explicit than just nudes. He said they were just for us to look back on and remember the fun we had had on our honeymoon, although I was by then beginning to wonder why he wanted to have photo's like that of me. I had always been ..... easily aroused, sexually, but some of these photo's were a bit too explicit, to say the least. "

"He had always taken charge of things, but he now began to be much more domineering and it was as if my feelings just didn't matter. Within three months he had changed and if I dared to question anything he did or said, he began to threaten me. Then one day, the inevitable happened, he hit me. It was over nothing important, I had been out shopping, missed the bus I intended to catch home so I had to catch a later one. This put me behind and his dinner wasn't ready for him when he came in from work. That was the first time he hit me. Of course, afterwards he said he was sorry and that it would never happen again, and like a fool, I believed him. For a while things seemed to be getting better between us. Then it happened again. I don't even remember what caused it this time, but I don't think it was much. This time he started with the 'it's your fault, you made me do it' line, to justify what he had done, which of course is a classic excuse men who abuse their wives use. Shouting and threats, and occasional blows became more frequent, until I began to believe it really was my fault, I was a bad wife and deserved to be beaten. It got so I was almost afraid to speak in case I said the wrong thing."

"Wednesday night was always his 'cards night' and I was kept busy bringing snacks and drinks for him and his friends. One of these nights, it was about nine months after our wedding, I brought in fresh drinks, and, spread out on the card table were the photo's he had taken of me on our honeymoon. I screamed, dropped the tray of drinks and grabbed the photos off the table, but of course it was too late, even though I burned those photos, his friends had already seen them. That was when the systematic humiliation of me in front of his friends began. Later that night, after the 'friends' had gone, we had a huge row. That was nothing new; they were a regular part of my life by then. Of course he slapped me around, that was also normal by then, but I stuck to my guns and said he had no right showing those pictures to anyone. He said he would show them to whoever he liked and he wasn't bothered that I had destroyed those because he had copies."

"After that I made a point of going out on Wednesday nights, I signed up for evening classes on business administration and after that course finished, I signed up for others on office management. That was where I gained my qualifications that allowed me to get the position I now hold, and that is what has kept us as you were growing up. The real reason I began those courses, though, was to keep out of the way on Wednesday nights. The games of cards were by now being interspersed with 'Adult Films', of which Stephen had quite a collection. The amount of money involved during these 'friendly' games of cards had increased to a seriously frightening level and there were times I went hungry because he had had a bad night at the table." 

"Then, one night when I came home from my class, he was very quiet. This was usually a bad sign, it meant he had lost quite a lot and money was going to be very tight for the next few weeks. This time though he was different, it was as if the man I married had come back. He was loving and attentive, just as he had been then. I wasn't convinced that this change would last, but when you have been starved of affection for so long, you tend to take whatever is on offer. That night we made love and everything seemed like it used to be between us. The next night he said he wanted to play 'games', like we used to, and although I was a little apprehensive about it, because I wanted this new 'loving' man he seemed to want to be, to continue, I agreed. I should never have trusted him, I was a fool."

"Dressed only in a bra, panties, stockings and suspender belt I allowed him to handcuff my wrists to the bed frame. All of the time he was doing this, he was kissing and caressing me, so I was becoming very turned on. Then he produced some rope and tied it around one ankle, passed it around the bed frame at the foot of the bed and then, around my other ankle. He then spread my legs apart before pulling the rope tight and tying it off. I was now spread-eagled on the bed with almost no freedom of movement at all. This wasn't the first time he had played this 'game', it turned him on to feel I couldn't resist and he could do anything he wanted to me, but he had never actually hurt me when I was like this so I allowed him to do it. I put up a token resistance, but he liked me to do that, it was part of 'the game' as I thought it still was. All of the time he was tying me like this he was kissing, and stroking me, and I was getting more and more aroused. When he pulled my panties aside and inserted his fingers into me I was soaking wet. Then his voice became much harder and he started saying things like 'You like that, don't you?' and 'It turns you on to be my little whore, doesn't it?' Then he said 'It's about time you earned your keep in this house, whore!'"

"It was at that moment I realised that this was not a game and it never had been. This was something far more serious. Before this I had been the 'helpless victim' he was so much in love with he had snatched off the street to 'make her fall in love with him'. I told him to untie me as I wasn't going to play this game anymore. He just laughed and said 'Oh yes you are. I lost quite a bit last night and now you are going to pay my debts'. I opened my mouth to scream for help, but he put his hand over my mouth and told me to be quiet. Then he took a scarf and a cloth, which I hadn't noticed before, from behind the pillow. He forced the cloth into my mouth as a gag and tied the scarf tightly around my head to hold it in place. He then tied another scarf over my eyes so that I was blindfolded and could see nothing. He continued to touch and caress me and in spite of being so scared I could feel my body responding to what he was doing to me."

"Then he moved away and I heard the bedroom door open. I sensed there was now someone else in the room and a strange voice said, very quietly 'very nice Steve, so much nicer in the flesh than the photos'. A different pair of hands began touching me. He released the front fastening of my bra and began to touch my breasts. Then he began kissing and sucking at my nipples, which have always been sensitive. The only thing I knew about him then was that he had a small moustache. I could feel it against my skin. Stephen saw my response to him sucking my nipples and whispered to me 'That's a good girl, he won't hurt you, he won't do anything which you haven't done before, but this time you will also be clearing this debt so we can still eat. Just relax, you will enjoy it, you know you love to be fucked and he has a magnificent cock'. 

It must have been Stephen who took a pair of scissors from the dressing table, because this other man never stopped touching and licking me. I felt the cold steel touch my tummy as he cut my panties away, leaving me completely naked except for the suspender belt and stockings."

"The strangers lips left my breasts and slowly kissed their way down my tummy until he was licking and sucking my pussy. I am ashamed to say that after only a few moments of him doing this, I had my first orgasm."

She paused, looking down at the floor, unable to look at my face. I put my hand under her chin, raising her head, and gently kissed her. "There is nothing for you to be ashamed of my love" I said, "You were helpless, he could have done anything to you, tied as you were. Your body was automatically responding to the sensations it was getting and preparing your vagina for the insertion of a penis. This isn't something that is under your control, it was like my 'natural physical reaction' when I held you, and without that natural preparation, if he had forced himself inside you, which was obviously what he was going to do, you could have been injured."

"Thank you for that" Joanne said, "I hoped you would see it like that. I was helpless, tied as I was, and I knew I couldn't prevent this man from raping me, but I was also ashamed that my body was responding to him like it was. I couldn't look to anyone for help, my husband was the only other one there and he was the one who was prostituting me to pay off his gambling debts. I could do nothing to prevent it, I couldn't even cry out. I had been a fool to trust him and let him tie me to the bed and I knew, now I was going to pay for my stupidity. All I could do was let this man do what he wanted and hope he wouldn't hurt me."

"I felt him climb onto the bed and then he was between my thighs, his penis touching my pussy lips. I will say though, he didn't just slam it into me, he was very gentle, pushing forward and allowing me to become accustomed to it being there before pushing a little more and gently moving inside me, loosening my vagina as he went. It was just as well he did, because he was bigger than Stephen by quite a bit, in both length and girth, and if he had not been so gentle, even though I was so wet, I am sure it would have hurt me. It was at this point I began to wonder if he was wearing anything, because I wasn't on any form of birth control, Stephen always used condoms, but of course, gagged as I was, I couldn't even ask. It wasn't long before I knew he wasn't. He was already very excited and I quickly realised what Stephen had meant when he said what he did about this man's cock. He had already gone deeper inside me than Stephen had ever reached when I began to orgasm for the second time. Stephen would have just pushed on into me, but he didn't, he just waited and held me as I recovered. Then he pulled back and gently pushed in again, going even deeper, until the whole length of his cock was inside me." 

"He had reached places that Stephen had never even touched, and, although I am ashamed to admit it, after that second orgasm, I no longer cared whether he was wearing a condom or not. I just wanted him to make love to me. At that moment, if my arms and legs had been free I know they would have been wrapped around him, holding him inside me."

I was about to sat something but Joanne put her finger to my lips to stop me.

"No! Please let me finish this" she said. "He began to move inside me, taking long, slow strokes, pulling back until he almost slipped out of me, before gently and smoothly driving back in, back to that place where he alone could reach. I felt as if he was touching my soul. Then, all too soon for me, he drove into me, if it were possible going even deeper than before, and, with a groan of pleasure he began to cum, spurting his seed deep inside me. He held me, his body shaking, as he pumped his sperm deep inside me." She went quiet for several seconds, before she whispered, "That was when I came for the third time. I felt every pulse of his cock as he came, deep inside me and I had a massive, third orgasm." 




Shades of Blue Ch. 05



"I had never felt anything like it before. Stephen had never made me cum like that. I have treasured the memory of that orgasm since then, even though I hated the memory of how I was when it happened. That was the moment I thought I understood what a truly mind-blowing thing a real orgasm was. Until then they had been nice, good even, but never like that. I have even wondered if being helpless and forced had made the difference, but of course I wasn't going to risk ever putting myself in such a position ever again. Then this afternoon, before dinner when you made love to me, Paul, the memory of my greatest ever orgasm was eclipsed. You once again touched places only he had been and, like when he was inside me, I no longer cared about possible consequences, I needed to feel you filling me with the proof of your love for me. I knew then that being tied and helpless was no part of what I felt. I was on top, I was in control. I could have got off you in time, you warned me you were about to cum, and I was free to stop this. You blew that memory away completely in the moment when you came inside me. That was, I thought, the ultimate moment in my life, but then you went and surpassed even that, when you took me directly to heaven with your mouth. That really did rock, not just my world, but my whole existence."

She leaned forward and kissed me, "For that alone I will thank you for the rest of my life."

I held her for a moment, then I said, "I know there is more to this story, isn't there? I think now you have got this far, it is best if you finish it." I already had an idea where this was going, but I needed to hear it from her, not to make up my own ending which might have been completely wrong. 

"Yes, you are right, there is more" she said. "When he had finished, he slowly pulled out and I could feel his cum running out of me. This only confirmed what I already knew, that he hadn't been wearing a condom."

"Stephen then removed my gag, warning me to be quiet and not to do anything I might regret later. He forced my mouth open and held my head as that large, softening penis, dripping with a combination of his semen and my juices was inserted into my mouth. I was still recovering from that last orgasm and I admit that I sucked and licked it clean. There was one last small spurt of cum from him and I swallowed that with all of the rest of our juices. When I had finished cleaning him, he lay down on the bed beside me and just held me for several minutes, then he began to kiss my breasts again. He was much gentler this time and, in spite of everything, I was responding to his touch again. I felt his cock was getting hard against my leg, and I just knew this wasn't over and he was going to fuck me again. The gag hadn't been replaced, and I managed to say 'No! Stop! Please don't – Please!' Stephen must have realised he wanted to go again, and started to say this wasn't part of their agreement. The man just told him to shut up. Then he said to me 'Is something the matter love?' I was shocked that he cared, after all he had just raped me, but I managed to say 'Please don't! Don't do this to me'. Stephen started to tell me to shut up, but the man told him to get out. Then he said something that really surprised me. He told him to undo the handcuffs and untie my legs before he went. Stephen started to say something, but, in a tone that left no doubt as to who was in charge, he said 'Do as you are told, untie her and get out!' He then whispered to me 'I want you to leave the blindfold on, its better if you don't know who I am'. I just nodded."

"Stephen undid the handcuffs and ropes then left the room. As soon as he had gone, the man helped me to sit up on the side of the bed. I was shaking and now I was released from my bonds, the situation I was in came home to me and I started to cry. He just held me until I finished, not saying a word, then he kissed me, very gently on the lips. Then he did something which really shocked me. He took my hands in his and knelt down on the floor in front of me. He asked me to forgive him for what he had done. He said he had always thought I was beautiful and had wanted me for some time, and Stephen knew this. Stephen already owed him quite a bit, and last night he had lost a lot more money to him at cards. When it came time to settle up, the other minor debts were settled and everyone else left. Stephen waited until they were alone and then told him he didn't have the money, but because he knew I really liked you, he offered to set this up as part payment of his debt."

"I was dumbstruck! This man who had just raped me was now asking me to forgive him. I told him that if he had really liked me that much, he wouldn't have done this to me. I told him I knew nothing of Stephen's debts and tying me up was, I thought, just another game he wanted to play. I told him that Stephen liked to play games where he dominated me pretended to have to force me. This time, when he had me helpless he called me 'His Whore' and said it was time I started to 'Earn my keep'. I also said that I now thought Stephen had plans to turn me into a prostitute, with him as my pimp."

"He apologised again, and then he asked me to trust him. He promised me that whatever ideas Stephen might have in that direction, they were not going to happen, he would make certain of that. He then told me that Stephen had shown him some pictures of me and said that I would be willing to settle the debt in this way. He said he was surprised at this, he had always thought I was not the kind of girl who would do something like that, but Stephen had insisted I would be 'up for it'. He said he now realised that he had been conned into raping me, and it was part of Stephen's plan to put me 'on the game'. Tying me up wasn't just 'a bit of fun' as Stephen had said it was, what he had done to me actually was rape. He said it now looked like he had been used like I had, and while he couldn't undo what he had done, he would do whatever he could to make it up to me. He asked me to wait upstairs until he had gone, promising that he was going to make sure Stephen never attempted to do anything like this to me ever again. I heard them arguing downstairs as I was getting dressed, although I couldn't hear what was being said. Then the front door opened and closed, a car door slammed and he drove away."

"After that, the card nights ceased. Those photos were never mentioned again. Before this he would threaten to show them all over the town to make me do what he wanted but those threats stopped. Sexual demands from him also stopped and he began to treat me much better. Two days later I received a handwritten note, unsigned, that said all of those photos, including the copies, had been destroyed. It also said that he honestly didn't realise that I hadn't consented to have sex with him or he would never have done what he did. He again asked me to forgive him. There was also a phone number and written beside it was 'Keep this number. If you ever need my help, if he threatens you or tries anything like that again, ring this number and just leave your name'."

"To this day I don't know who that man was, but whoever he was, I know Stephen was scared of him. He wouldn't tell me who he was, but I got the feeling that somehow he would know if Stephen stepped out of line and he had enough influence to make sure Stephen would be sorry if he did."

"The morning after Stephen had hit us both, I really didn't know what to do so I phoned that number. A man's voice answered and I told him my name. The man just said 'Stay by that phone, someone will be in touch'. Less than five minutes later the phone rang and I recognised the voice of the man from that night. He asked me what had happened and I told him that Stephen had attacked us both and was now being held in the police station. I had to go to the station that morning to tell them what I wanted them to do about it, but I didn't know what to do. He didn't hesitate, he told me to tell them everything he had done and that I wanted to press all charges against him. He also said I should see someone to start the proceedings to divorce him. I told him I was afraid of what Stephen might do if I did that. He promised me that Stephen wouldn't ever touch me again. He also said that I mustn't worry about anything, he would make sure I was safe." 

"I never told you, but while he was in prison for assaulting us, Stephen got beaten up quite badly in the showers. I have no proof, but I have always thought that it was done to order, in retribution for him hitting us that night. Before that happened he had been arrogant, saying he would throw us out on the street. He suddenly changed and never even contested the divorce. I got everything, the house, which had been in his sole name, the furniture, everything. I also never received a bill from the solicitors who handled the divorce. When I went in and asked what I owed, I was told that the bill had already been settled in full. I asked 'who paid it?' but they wouldn't tell me. I was taken in to see the senior partner who told me that he couldn't even tell me how much the bill had been. He just said that a condition laid on them when the payment was made, was that it must remain anonymous. "

The importance of what Joanne had said began to dawn on me and I squeezed her hands, stopping her from continuing the tale. "You say that my father's sexual demands stopped after this happened. Do you mean stopped completely, or just the demands for these 'games' that he liked to play?"

She nodded, "You are now beginning to understand why I needed to tell you about this. All of his sexual demands stopped from the moment that man walked out of the door. We were never again intimate after that moment. Ever since we first started seeing each other, whenever we had sex he had always worn a condom because he didn't want children. After that night, I missed my next period and a pregnancy test I bought from the chemist showed positive. I was pregnant. Nine months later, you were born." 

"Paul, your real father is not Stephen James. I don't know the name of your biological father, but I know for certain it was the man who first raped me while I was tied to the bed, and then apologised and begged on his knees for me to forgive him. I am sure that ever since then he has been watching over me, and you. What he did to me was wrong, but at least, when he realised what he had done, he was sorry. I am sure if he had known I hadn't consented, he wouldn't have had anything to do with it. Stephen tricked him into doing what he did, I don't think he was really a bad man. I think he has done what he could to make up for it since, short of letting me know who he is of course. I truly believe that he isn't a bad man and would never have done what he did if he had known I was not willing and that it really was rape. I think Stephen must have told him I liked to be tied up as if I was being raped, that it turned me on." 

"Although I have tried, I have never been able to find out who he was. I don't know what he said to Stephen before he left, but Stephen wouldn't tell me his name. He was genuinely frightened that somehow he would find out, if he told me."

Suddenly things I had wondered about for years started to make some sense. The fight with Pete at college was nothing, but the response from people who didn't really know me, had always felt a bit too excessive. How he was trampled on the rugby pitch. His inability to find and hold a job afterwards and getting finished as 'unsuitable' for the position he seemed to be doing ok in. The job I applied for at the insurance company. I knew people with far better qualifications than me, who didn't even get an interview. I not only got an interview, but it always seemed as if the job was mine from the moment I walked into the room. Although I hadn't been there all that long, I had been taken in hand and guided by one of the most senior managers and had already been promoted to 'Team Leader'. I had people, far more experienced than me, working under me. Maybe someone with 'clout' was watching over me, opening doors that might otherwise be closed.

I squeezed her hand, stood up and walked over to the dining area. The feeling I had had, about what she was building up to telling me had been right. Filling the kettle I switched it on, before looking back to where Joanne was sitting. "Wow!" I said, "I need a moment after hearing all that. I could do with a cup of coffee right now, and I expect you could as well."

Joanne just nodded , she looked really scared. I put the coffee and sugar in the cups while I considered my next move and what I should say. I didn't want to rush this and say the wrong thing at a moment like this. The kettle came to the boil and I made the drinks, but I left them on the table and went back to where Joanne was still sitting. Taking both of her hands in mine, I knelt down in front of her on the floor.

"It would seem that the men in your life make a habit of kneeling in front of you" I said. "Are you sure you are not related to royalty? Or is that another little secret you intend to tell me about later."

Not even a smile! So that attempt to lighten the mood fell on stony ground. 

"Joanne" I said, "There is only one thing I need to know now. I am sure I will have more questions later, but this is one I must ask and I need you to answer this completely truthfully. Will you do that, for me?"

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"OK!" I said, "Do you still love me and still want to be my wife? I am talking about the rest of our lives together, forsaking all others, till death do us part. The full 'Father Ted' thing from this afternoon .... The whole nine yards? " 

She had tears in her eyes as she answered "Oh yes! You know I do."

I raised first one of her hands, and then the other to my lips and kissed them. "Then what you have just told me, while I am angry that Stephen would do such a thing to you and I fully intend to give him a good smack for that, sometime, it makes me glad that I do not have the shame of having his genes inside me. My biological father did a terrible thing to you, but from what you have said, it seems as if he was tricked into thinking you had consented, and was genuinely sorry afterwards when he realised you hadn't, and it was rape. It also appears that he has tried to make good on his promise to make it up to you. Maybe he really did love you and today is something of a case of 'like father - like son', because for me nothing has changed, I love you too. All that matters to me now is that we love each other. This makes no difference to that at all. So! Can I get up from my knees now? ....... Your Royal Highness."

"That, by the way, is just in case you really do have another secret you are going to tell me about later, I don't want to be spending the rest of my future in 'The Tower'." 

Ah-Ha! I at least raised a smile this time. Things are looking up! I got up from my knees and drew her to her feet as well. Then I put my arms around her and just held her close. "I should never have mentioned handcuffs" I said, "If I had known what he did to you I wouldn't have. When we get home I am going to clear out that attic and we are going to get rid of everything. Anything that makes you sad is going. For now I think we should drink our coffee and just go to bed." 

After we had finished our coffee I took her hand and led her into the bedroom. She was almost in a trance and meekly came with me without a word. Beside the bed I gently undressed her, taking her new nightgown which she had laid out ready and slipped it over her head. Then I drew back the covers and laid her in that beautiful bed, before covering her up again. I then quickly undressed and put my pyjamas on, glad now I had thought to bring them, before slipping in on the other side and sliding across, put my arms around her. 

"I am here my love" I whispered, "I am by your side, which is where I am going to be for the rest of your life. Trust in me my darling, I will never, ever hurt you and no-one else is ever going to hurt you again, I promise. This has been a very long and eventful day so I think perhaps we should just cuddle until we fall asleep in each other's arms."

She put her arms around me, and then with a smile she spoke, for the first time since she had finished the story. She said "Pyjamas! You are wearing pyjamas on your wedding night," and she began to giggle.

I raised myself up on my elbow and tried to look stern. "Now you listen to me young lady" I managed to get out, before I started to giggle as well. In seconds we were both laughing out loud at how ludicrous this situation was. We were back together as if nothing had happened to spoil things. "I think we should both get some sleep" I said, "Perhaps I was right earlier, when I said 'Mummy wasn't getting it', but I promise you, that doesn't include tomorrow, before and after breakfast, - Sorry, not during, I might spill my cornflakes, - Then tomorrow night and forever and ever – Amen!"

She grinned up at me. "Oh God!" she said, "The 'smart arse' is back."

"You had better believe it" I replied, "And just in case you are wondering, this 'smart arse' still thinks you scrub up pretty well."

She drew me down into a deep kiss. Then she said "Perhaps you had better get some of those things you gave Simon within reach, because when I get you out of those pyjamas, there is a distinct possibility we are going to need them. No way am I waiting till tomorrow morning and we have pushed our luck enough already today. It only took your father one time to get me pregnant with you, and from what I have already discovered, there is at least one of his attributes you have inherited." She slipped her hand into my pyjama trousers to where I was rock hard with desire for her. "It was a long time ago" she said, "I only experienced him once, and I was blindfolded then, but I think you compare very favourably to your father, down here." 

I kissed her again before slipping out of bed and collecting a couple of the condoms, which I put on the bedside table. She lay there watching me with a smile on her face.

"Only two?" she said, "Huh! I don't know what the younger generation is coming to. Absolutely no stamina the young people of today! For goodness sake, will you get out of those pyjamas! I am not going to fight my way past them to get to what I want, and be prepared for a long night. You might need a week off work to recover from tonight, so come here and let me get at you."

I picked up the box from my case and put the other four alongside the first two. Leaving my pyjamas in an untidy heap on the floor, I slipped back into bed and held her to me. She pushed me onto my back and, swinging her leg across me, straddled my belly. She was just about to move down to re-position herself to receive my cock when I grabbed her wrists and stopped her. I dew her face to mine and kissed her, before whispering, "Not so fast, you were on top last time, it's my turn now," and holding her in place I rolled her onto her back, underneath me. Kneeling up I reached across and took one of the condoms from the bedside table, tearing the packet open and unrolling the condom onto my penis. She took my face in her hands and gazed lovingly into my eyes. As I leaned down to kiss her with one hand I positioned the head of my cock at the entrance to her very wet vagina. We kissed and I gently began to push forward, very slowly spreading her lips as the head entered her love tunnel. 

As I slipped inside her I was rewarded by a low moan into my mouth, and her arms tightened around me. Then she broke away from the kiss and whispered, " Oh Paul I was so afraid that when I told you about how you were conceived you would be angry with me. Angry for the years I stayed with him and suffered his abuse, angry because of the way he abused you as well and for letting you think for all these years that he was your father."




Shades of Blue Ch. 05



"Hush!" I said, "Yes I am angry, angry that the man I thought was my father could do such a thing to you, and I fully intend showing him just how angry I am, after we get home. I am also a little angry at my real father for allowing you to stay in that awful marriage for so long, but I am sure he had his reasons that he couldn't take you away from it. But at least he never forgot you, or what he had done, and he never forgot his promise to you. You phoned a number he had given you, it must have been, what? Nine years before? Within five minutes he had phoned you back to see what the problem was, giving you advice. He even found out the solicitor you used for the divorce and paid the bill. We won't look at the possibility of what else he may have arranged to have done, but I think it is obvious that some pressure must have been applied to Stephen to make him hand over everything like he did." I gently kissed her again, "Now, if you don't mind, I think I was about to do something, and while there is a time for talking, I am sorry to have to tell you, my mother and my beautiful wife ..... This Is Not It! " 

With that I pushed forward, sinking myself into her pussy until I could go no further. The groan from Joanne's lips, I am sure could have been heard outside in the corridor. Her legs pushed the bed covers onto the floor as she wrapped them around me and pushed back against my thrust deep into her. I drew back until only the head of my penis was inside her, before thrusting forward again. "Oh My God! Yes!" she cried out, as the head of my cock bottomed out in her pussy. This was followed by another groan as I pulled back again. "Ohhhhh Yes – Yes!" as I drove in again. Keeping a slow even rhythm I pulled back and then thrust forward, desperately trying to control myself, not wanting to finish too quickly, trying to think of anything but where my cock was and what we were doing. I never thought repeating the 12 times table, over and over in my head, would be so useful, but it was working for me tonight. Suddenly, almost without warning she threw her head back and screamed "Ohhhhh ....... Ohhh .. OH GOD! Yesssss ....... OH F*cking Hell! .... Yesss ..... Ohhh .. SH*T!!!! .... Yes! ..... Yes!" She sunk her teeth into my shoulder and groaned with passion as her orgasm hit her. Two more hard thrusts from me and I joined her in ecstasy as I fired my sperm into the safe haven of the condom.

Joanne was crying and I just held her to me, kissing her and laughing as we each responded to our orgasms in our own way. It took several minutes before we both came back to earth from wherever we had gone to. My cock was softening and I gently began to pull back, holding the condom so that it didn't slip off as I withdrew from her pussy. Rolling off her onto the bed, she came with me so we were both on our sides facing each other. "Oh God! Did I do that?" She said as she saw the marks that her teeth had made where my shoulder joined my neck. I tried to look down, but it was too close to my neck for me to see, although I was now beginning to feel it. "I hope so!" I said, "Otherwise there is a vampire hiding somewhere in this room and I am now one of the 'legion of the undead'."

She got out of bed and brought some tissues from her bag. Then she pushed me onto my back and began to dab at the bite mark. I must admit I was a little shocked when I saw the blood on the tissues, I hadn't realised she had bitten me quite that hard. Joanne was almost crying. 

"I am so sorry" she said, "I didn't even know I was biting you, and now you are bleeding. I just remember you setting off a firework inside me and my head going back, but then nothing until you were pulling out of me."

"I think you have just 'branded' me as your own property. So! Do you think I might have hit 'the spot' again then? But don't you ever tell me off for swearing, again. Let me tell you, lady, when you are cumming ... You are No Lady! You have a mouth like a dockyard navvy." 

"Only for you, Paul" she whispered, "No one else has ever made me feel like that. The only one who has ever come close was your real father, and then, maybe if the circumstances of our meeting and situation I was in had been different ......" 

I kissed her, "Shhhh!" I whispered, "Let's not go back down that road again now. That happened around twenty years ago and you have kept that secret all this time. Now I know and you don't have to worry about it anymore. I think, from what you have told me, he would have liked to have taken you away from Stephen, but he didn't so obviously he couldn't. Asking you to keep the blindfold on, to me suggests that he had reasons he didn't want to be identified. More pressing than just the risk of a charge of rape. If you had seen him you might have recognised him, so either he was someone in the public eye or he was someone you knew although not well, because you didn't recognise his voice, even though, nine years later when he spoke to you on the phone, you knew it was him." 

"He had his chance. You could have been his, but for some reason we can only guess at, he couldn't take you with him. Now you are mine! I love you and if he wants to come back into your life he will have to fight me for you, because I am not going to give you up for anyone, not even him. Now if you will excuse me, there is something that needs attending to."

I slid down the bed and began to kiss her breasts before working my way slowly down, taking care to lavish some time on her 'belly button', where she seemed to be very sensitive, before moving lower.

"Oh God!" She said, as she reached down to stop me. "You can't do that to me again. You're not going to .......... Ohhhh! Ohhhh No! ..... Paul ..... You mustn't ..... Don't ........ Stop ...... Ohhhh .... Paul! ... Don't! ... Stop! ........ Ohhhh God ...... No! ......No! .... Don't .. Stop ........ Ahhhhhh ..... Yes! Yesss! ....... No! – Don't stop! ....... Ohhh .... God ... I love you so much Paul, just don't stop ...... Ohhh God! .. Yesssss! Yes! ........... Aaaaaaahhhhhh! "

There is an old joke in which, when a woman is asked if she could hold her liquor, to which she answers - 'Yes! Usually by his ears'. Mum seemed to prefer the 'hands around the back of the head' method, and for a moment I thought she was trying to actually pull me inside her beautifully shaven pussy. A slight taste of rubber remained from our earlier exertions, but all in all it was, I thought, a very pleasant experience. She seemed to enjoy it anyway, although maybe she was a little loud with her appreciation. As I rolled away from Joanne's pussy, the thought crossed my mind that she was so loud that I hoped we weren't keeping Lisa and Simon awake. As that thought took hold I began to giggle. I tried to hide it but I couldn't and the giggle soon became a full burst of laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Mum asked, "You've just reduced me to a hopeless mess again. It's a good job I don't need to get up because I don't think I could, and now you are laughing at me."

I couldn't even kiss her I was laughing so much. "I'm not laughing at you my love" I managed to say, "It's just that you were so loud then, I wondered if we might be keeping Simon and Lisa awake. In fact, if you get any louder we might be keeping half of the hotel awake."

She tried to look offended, but it didn't work. Her attempt at the 'We are Not amused!' line, failed miserably, as she too began to giggle. We lay there arms tightly around each other, both trying to stifle our laughter.

After a little when we both calmed down a little, I said "Pity we finished all the Champagne, I could do with a drink right now. Never mind, we will have to do without I suppose. Right! Where were we? Oh yes! I remember." I raised myself up and reached across her to pick up another little packet from the bedside table.

"O.M.G - You can't be serious!" she said, when she realised what I was doing.

"You were the one complaining about the youth of today having no stamina" I said. "Don't tell me it's getting too much for you? You really are going to have to learn to pace yourself."

The look she gave me was absolutely priceless. She really thought I was ready to go again. I held up the little foil packet and asked, "So you don't think we should use this then? Do you think we should save it for morning?"

"Yes!" She said, "I think that might be a good idea."

"Hmmmmm! OK! Perhaps you're right" I said, "It's much better bare than covered, and I don't mind the risk if you don't. Anyway, it might all be academic, you might already be pregnant anyway, after this afternoon." Then I went and spoiled the whole 'Macho image' effect by starting to giggle again.

It took a second before she realised I was teasing her and was nowhere near ready for another round myself. That one earned me a gentle punch on the shoulder before she pulled me to her, hugging me tightly she said "All right, you win! I take back what I said about the youth of today, well ..... this one anyway. I am beginning to believe that this 'very naughty boy' could indeed be 'The Messiah' ..... Well my own personal 'Messiah' anyway." 

"In one day you have turned my whole world on its head. This afternoon in my room I thought nothing could improve on the orgasm you gave me. Then, before dinner, here on this bed, you did things to me, I didn't even know were possible. After you had given me the three most amazing orgasms of my life, I really wasn't joking when I said I couldn't stand up without help. Then, I don't think you noticed, but I had another 'little moment' when you kissed me in the middle of the dance floor, after you had put Lisa and Simon together."

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't notice that one" I said with a grin, "although I did think you responded quite well when I kissed you then, especially when you consider we did have something of an audience. I must say though, in my defence, that at the time I was watching Simon and Lisa, to see if anything was happening between them. I think we can say that maybe something did 'click' there."

"Well it 'clicked' for me as well" she said. "And now you go and wipe me out again. Oh Paul, you do things to me that until today I would have said were only found in fantasy stories, like the one that started all this for us. I don't know how, but you do things to me no-one has ever even got close to doing before. I have hopes that you will continue to reduce me to the wreck I am now, but after all that, I think what I really need right now is some sleep, so if you don't mind, I would rather like you to just hold me."

I kissed her and settled down with my arms around her, holding her close to me as we both drifted off to sleep.