104 comments/ 209842 views/ 30 favorites One Slip By: patricia51 Donna Bellows checked her face in the mirror by the front door. She decided she would have to get by as she was. Her husband's best friend, Gil Gentry, had called to ask her to meet him in town at a little out of the way restaurant. She knew what he wanted, and she was uncertain how he would react to what she had to tell him. She picked up the big shoulder bag she usually carried. It wasn't that stylish perhaps, but it held all the things a mother of three needed to have with her. Picking up her keys, she looked again at her reflection. "I really am one damn idiot." she said aloud. She slowly closed the door behind her and got into her BMW. As she drove to meet Gil, her thoughts returned to the other night at the party she had attended at the company he worked for. She knew better than to go without her husband Steve. But he had an emergency at one of his construction sites at almost the last minute and had talked her into going without him. "Honey, you're all dressed up, the kids are at the sitter's and you surely don't want to stay here or in the truck while I try to fix this mess. Besides, the party will be full of our friends and its good for you to get out. I hate missing this, but equipment failure is no reason you shouldn't have a good time." So she had gone, and indeed had a good time. Most of the people there were familiar faces. She had circulated and enjoyed the food, the conversation and the drink. Perhaps she had enjoyed the drink too much. She shook her head. She was not going to put blame on anything or anyone but herself. She had indeed drank enough to lower her inhibitions, quite a lot in fact, but no amount of alcohol justified her acting like she had. She had gone out the back door for a bit of air to clear her head. The slight buzz was pleasant but she knew anymore and she would have to leave her car and get someone to take her home. She took a deep breath, and nearly jumped out of her skin as someone spoke. "Donna, what are you doing out here all alone and unattended?" "Gil Gentry, what are you doing? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" She laughed and walked over to him. He certainly was good looking, Donna thought to herself. Tall and blonde and handsome, he was such a contrast to Steve, who was stocky and dark. Not that Steve wasn't as handsome as Gil was. But Gil had that movie star look that made women melt. Even she had been guilty of flirting with him when he wandered through more than one party, including this one. But that was harmless, she reminded herself. She never went further than just a very casual flirtation. She certainly was never going to do more than that. "You look a little cold, Donna. Here." Gil swept off his sport coat and draped it over her. Donna admitted it did feel good. She had worn a black sleeveless dress that left her shoulders bare. It had been fine inside, but there was a little nip in the air. "Thanks." "No problem," he smiled. "That's what friends are for." Without giving her an opportunity to speak he went on, "Seriously, what are you doing out here? And where's Steve? Did I miss him tonight or what?" "Or what, I guess." she replied. She had explained what all had happened. She concluded, "I just wanted some time out of all the smoke in there. I don't understand how people can breath." "I know. But hey, its getting pretty cool out here. How about," he laughed and made a bow, "I walk milady down the hall and show her my new office? We'll stay out of the smoke and out of the cold at the same time." "Why Gil, this is so sudden," she had laughed in reply. "Are you going to offer to show me your etchings." "Would it work?" he teased her. "Now you know better than that." she scolded him. "I do and I'll behave." He offered her his arm and she took it. They strolled down the plushy carpeted hallway until he stopped and unlocked a door. "First Vice-President! That's new, Gil. When did that happen?" "Just a few days ago. I had a time moving everything from my old office and getting it all to work in here. but it all fit and it all works as it should." She wondered briefly at the wording of the comment but dismissed it. The office was indeed lovely. Dark furniture was offset by light wood paneling and bright drapes, drawn at the moment. "This really is beautiful," she commented. Absentmindedly, she slipped his jacket from her shoulders and draped it over a chair. "Yes, it is," he remarked softly. His hands gently touched her shoulders and rested there. "Not as beautiful as you are though." She couldn't even tell herself how it had started. It seemed one moment they were standing in his office, his hands lightly brushing her bare shoulders and the next they were locked in each others arms. He was wildly kissing her. Her hands at his shoulders, she pushed against him, once, twice, then three times. Each push was weaker than the one before as his tongue invaded her mouth, and she found herself accepting it. "Oh God, Donna, I've wanted you for so long," Gil gasped as he pulled her against him. The part of Donna's brain that screamed she was making a mistake fell silent under the all but choking lust that was overcoming her. Gil's hands lifted the hem of her skirt and then plunged inside her panties to massage her ass cheeks. His teeth pulled open the back of the already unbuttoned dress and be began to suck her nipples through her bra. The scrape of the black nylon over her nipples made her moan and pull his head right to her. She frantically pulled her arms out of her dress top, shaking it to the floor and managed to reach behind her and unfasten her bra. Gil released her ass to jerk her bra down her arms and then cup her breasts. His face lifted and he began to lick along her neck, then up to her ear. His fingers rolled her nipples, making them stiffer and stiffer. The more they ached for his touch the more the fire grew throughout her body. She felt his hands catch her dress and pull it all the way down to drop over her feet. Standing only in now wet panties, Donna felt only desire. When Gil took her hand and guided it inside the opening to his trousers, she immediately grasped his erection and began to stroke it. It took only one gentle push and she fell to her knees and greedily pulled it free and into her mouth. "Oh yeah, Donna," Gil moaned. He leaned back against the edge of his desk. Carefully he reached back and opened a drawer. He fumbled inside for a moment, then brought his hands to Donna's head. He tilted her face up towards him. He smiled broadly, "Yes, that's it. Suck my cock Donna. Mmmmm, you are so good at it." Suddenly he had pulled her up to him. In one move he scattered the items on his desk top and stretched her out on her back on it. He tore her panties off and let his trousers fall to the floor. Pulling her to the edge he settled himself against her. Spreading her legs he thrust his hips forward and buried his cock in her pussy. Donna was lost to the moment. She felt Gil's cock ride in and out of her, faster and deeper with every stroke. Vaguely she could hear him grunting as he fucked her. "Yeah, take it. Take it. Take it." Donna squeeze her legs tightly around Gil's torso. She felt him swell up inside her and bucked her hips to meet him. He cried out and she cried out with him. Sanity returned. Horrified at what she had done, she had thrown her dress on, stuffed her underwear inside her pocketbook and bolted out of the entire office complex. She had driven home and plunged into the shower as if somehow the hot water could wash away the incredible folly she had just committed. When Steve finally got home, she had pretended to be asleep. He snuggled into the bed and she curled up against him. Trying to lie still so as not to disturb him, she had finally dropped into an uneasy slumber. The next day had not been better. After getting everyone off to work and school she had sat at the kitchen table and grappled with what she had done. Not only had she betrayed Steve, it seemed as if she had done it without thinking. 15 years of faithfulness down the drain in one swoop. Well, it had happened. She felt awful. But by no means was she going to act as though having happened once it could happen again. She knew that supposedly the first affair was the hardest. For her, it would also be the last. "Damn, Donna," she spoke aloud to herself. "It wasn't even that good!" Gil's attractiveness was in his looks, that was for sure. His love-making skills were not even the slightest match for Steve's. Several days passed and she began to calm down a little. She still wrestled as to whether or not she should confess to Steve. She knew it would hurt him terribly, perhaps unforgivably. At the same time, she thought that the honesty they had always given each other demanded confession. She decided to think it over. She could not reach a decision. Perhaps by Saturday night, the night the two of them always tried to spend together, she would know what to do. Then the phone call came on Friday. "Hello?" "Hi Donna, its Gil. We need to talk." "Gil, I'm not sure that's a good idea. In fact, I know its a very bad one." His voice was determined. "You need to hear what I have to tell you." "Okay. Sanderson's at 1 PM for lunch?" "That'll be fine. Don't be late." He had hung up abruptly. The drive over had taken forever. Donna had considered and discarded a dozen different scenarios and conversations on the way. The one thing she knew for sure was there was not going to be any affair. What had happened was something she couldn't change but it was not repeating. She parked near the door and entered the small restaurant. She smiled at the maitre-de and asked him if Mr. Gentry had arrived yet. Receiving a nod, she allowed him to escort her to a small, out of the way table in the back of the room. Gil was sitting there already. "Hello, Gil," Donna said quietly as she sat down. "What?" he responded. "Come on Donna. No kiss for your lover?" "For heaven's sake, don't even joke about such a thing," she whispered. "Someone might hear you." He looked at her in amazement. "After the other night, that's all you have to say? It was magical, it meant something special to me." Donna gave a deep sigh and looked severely at Gil. "The only thing it meant is that you got your rocks off. You've wanted me for a long time, I know that. What I don't understand is why. You have a fantastic wife and Steve is one of your best friends." He grinned and shrugged. "That just makes it even sweeter, to know that good old Stevie's faithful wife, Donna, played the slut with me. I like getting what I can't have, or at least what no one thinks I can get." "God, Gil, I can't believe you're so callous about the whole thing," Donna marveled. "Well that makes it even easier." She stared straight into his eyes. "I'm telling you I made a horrible mistake the other night and its never going to happen again. I hope you enjoyed getting me, because that's it. I will never have sex with you again." "Oh, I think you will Donna," Gil laughed triumphantly and tossed a large manila envelope on the table. Donna opened it and gasped as a set of photographs spilled out onto the table. She frantically pushed them together and covered them with the envelope. They were pictures of her and Gil. Specifically, they were pictures of her and Gil having sex. "Look at that one," Gil sneered as Donna fumbled through the explicit pictures. "What a great shot of you sucking my cock. You look really happy on your knees there." Indeed, Donna recalled in shame, she actually had enjoyed it. "And that one is even better," Gil interrupted her agonized thoughts. "Look at you with your legs wrapped around me. I'm sure Stevie would love to see that expression on your face. Hell, Donna, I bet he never has. I'm doing you a favor by keeping you around." "What do you mean 'keeping me around'?" demanded Donna. "And how did you get these?" "Even a blonde like you ought to be able to figure both those questions out." "You son-of-a-bitch," Donna hissed. "That's why you wanted to go to your office. You have the whole place wired." "Indeed I do," He smirked. "And that's no way for you to talk to your new, well, 'Owner' seems such a possessive word, but it will do nicely. Unless you want all of this to come out you will be following my instructions from now on." Donna immediately realized what those "instructions" probably included. She clutched the envelope and pictures. "Oh, you can keep those, by the way." Gil nodded at the pictures. "I have several copies, in case you were wondering." As Donna sat mute, Gil nodded his head in satisfaction. "Now that the unpleasantness is out of the way, lets get down to business. Not only will you entertain me whenever I want you to, I think you would be a boon to my business." Donna lifted her head and shook it. "Now, now, we've already settled this. Its just a matter of you being nice to my customers. I'm sure you'll enjoy it." "As a matter of fact, this weekend will be a good start. I have a couple of prospects coming from out of town. I don't care what excuse you give Steve, as long as you are at my place by 7 PM. Just to show you I'm not a bad fellow, I'll even provide the underwear I want you to wear. In the meantime I think I'm rather in the mood right now. So you follow me to my place..." "No." Donna spoke softly. "What?" "I mean 'NO'." Donna looked at Gil. "I might have made a mistake that I can probably never fix, but I'm not stupid. If I went along with this I would end up deeper in your power, not out of it. Sooner or later, you would make me do something that would let the whole affair out anyway." She paused and had a sudden thought. "That's what happened to Sue Dalgreen, wasn't it?" The Dalgreens had been acquaintances, not friends, but the divorce had caught the entire community's attention. From the look on Gil's face, she was right. He calmed his features and leaned back in his chair. "What are you going to do?" He laughed. "Tell your moral, upstanding husband what a slut you are?" "Yes." Donna's one word answer completely stunned Gil. "You, you wouldn't dare," he stammered. "I know Steve. He'll toss you right out on the street without a dime." "He might." Donna agreed. "And if he does I won't be able to blame him one bit." She stood up, tucking the envelope in her shoulder bag. "I might lose everything; him, the children, all the material things I have. Not that those would be worth anything without Steve and the kids. But its a risk I have no choice but to take." Gil sat with his mouth open. His mind whirled. If she actually did that, no, she just wouldn't dare. This was all some bluff. But what if she did? "Gil?" He looked up. He was startled at the calm, determined expression on her face. "In case you're worried about your part in this coming out... worry." "I'll just deny everything. It'll be your word against mine," Gil almost gabbled in a panic. "Sure, and these photographs will be something I created? I guess you never stopped to think they work both ways. I think when this is all over that more than casual interest in going to be paid to you and your little scheme. I bet the Dalgreens weren't the only couple you ruined. In fact," Donna paused as a thought struck her, "Blackmail is a felony. You're going to find you fucked with the wrong woman." Gil obviously realized that fact. He pasted a smile on his face, rose and edged around the table. "Come now, Donna, there's no need for unpleasantness. I was just pulling a little joke. Can't you take it?" Donna slipped sideways herself, keeping the table between the two of them. "I did the other night, and I will regret it for the rest of my life. Even if Steve finds it possible to forgive me, I will have a very hard time to forgive myself for hurting him and my family for nothing more than a brief moment of not that great pleasure." Gil's face twisted and he lunged for Donna. "Give me that envelope!" Donna stepped rapidly back. Suddenly a looming figure appeared between them. "Mrs. Bellows, how nice to have you in the house today." Gil's face fell as his eyes traveled up almost 6 and a half feet of very large, very muscular black male. The man continued, "I do hope there is no unpleasantness here. I don't like it. It's bad for business." "Oh no, David," Donna smiled tightly at her old friend. "I was just leaving and Mr. Gentry felt we had not concluded our business." "I'm sure he's mistaken," David said flatly. "Would you like me to escort you to your car, Donna?" "Please, David." When she was settled safely in her car, Donna leaned her head against the steering wheel for a long minute. She started the car and drove mechanically to her husband's office. She pulled into the parking lot and parked next to his truck. She got out and locked her car. Even under the strained circumstances, she smiled at the contrast. Steve insisted she drive a nice car, and she liked her BMW. He, on the other hand, continued to drive a battered pickup truck. "If I buy a new one, it'll just get beat up too," he had argued. She stopped for a moment and ran her fingers over her car. It was quite possible that in a few minutes it wouldn't be hers any longer. Well, it would be the least of the things she might lose. She walked into the building and turned down the hallway that lead to her husband's office suite. "Hi, Mrs. Bellows," Darlene, Steve's long-term receptionist and secretary, greeted her cheerfully. "Hi Darlene," Donna tried to force a casual relaxation she didn't feel at all into her voice. ""Donna?" Darlene looked sharply at her. Darlene and her husband Bill had come to work for Bellows Construction when it was nothing but the dream of a young couple. Although they were always formal at work, they were often at Steve and Donna's house and the two women had been each other's confidants for years. Their children were the best of friends. Darlene knew her friend was terribly upset about something, but didn't want to push. "Its okay, Darlene. Is he in?" "Sure, and he's alone." "Thanks. Oh, Darlene? Is your brother still a Lieutenant on the Sheriff's Department?" "Sure, and his wife is a detective there too. Why?" "Just curious," Donna answered. She opened the outer doors to Steve's office. She paused with her fingers on the handle of the inner door. She could still turn away, go back to Gil and hope that she could somehow persuade him to drop his plan. "No," she angrily thought to herself. She hadn't been the first woman tricked by that man but she was going to be the last. Donna took a deep breath. She straightened her shoulders, blinked back a threatened tear from her eye and reached deep inside herself to a reservoir of strength she had never known she had. With her head held high, in spite of the guilt and anguish in her heart, she opened the door and marched inside. (The End) (This is as far as I take you, dear reader. The rest is up to you and your own imagination, although I would love to hear your thoughts. I do not have any plans for a sequel at this time. Thanks as always to Marian for her editing efforts. Thank you to Dot, who really encouraged me to write this when I first broached the idea to her. And thank you to The Troubador, for his wonderful story "How High A Price" that gave me the idea to leave this one as I have.) One Slip: A Hard Fall When Donna walked through the door, Steve blinked. And then he blinked again. The first blink was caused by his surprise at seeing her there; the second was caused by her expression. Something about the way she held herself erect and the quivering chin made him think of death and firing squads. Steve's testicles retracted in fear. The hair on the back of his neck stood at attention, as he watched Donna try to form words. The tension crackled. He started to stand, to rush to take her in his arms but something about her body language froze his muscles as solidly as the first time Steve had been supposed jump out of a perfectly good airplane. Involuntarily voicing his greatest fear, he asked softly, "Are -- are the kids okay?" "I cheated on you with Gil." she finally managed in a strained voice, the last word spat with incredible venom. Her eyes that had been darting around the room dropped to the floor and Steve found himself, incongruously, looking at her clenched hands and not at her face, bravely defying tears. Steve wondered how and why he was standing; he should have collapsed with the rest of the world. Yet as he stood there, he marveled. He had heard the words, understood what they meant, but he had no reaction to them. Less than if she'd said 'it's about to rain.' Much less than if she said, 'Someone dinged my car in the parking lot.' Nothing, there was nothing there. Donna had just told him that his life was over and he couldn't summon a response. His analytical rear brain searched for a clue that the body lived. No, air was being taken into his lungs, his eyes registered a woman in front of him, and his ears heard that entity make a sound, a sound that his fore brain identified as a forlorn sob. Could a human make a sound like that? A sound so desolate that his humanity demanded that he offer solace to such a tormented soul. "He's trying to blackmail me with these pictures to make me into a -- a -- a whore." Steve blinked, then blinked again as the images falling from her hand seemed to freeze in mid air like one of trick scenes in the movies. It seemed he examined those horrid images for a lifetime, for an eternity. Then, his mind sought some way to retreat from those intolerable images. Some way to destroy them. Unable to deal with the reality being presented, the primeval portion of Steve's personality sought a way to change reality. Overloaded with stimuli, he lost awareness of his surroundings. Still, the civilized part of his brain continued to seek a modern solution, an acceptable way to change this unwelcome new world. While that search was being processed the primitive portion of his brain had its solution, Gil's presence in this world was no longer desirable. Removing him from it would remove one source of the pain. As he marched past the entity sobbing in his office, the civilized porting of his was horrified to hear himself say, to Darlene, "Call your brother, tell him to send the coroner to Gil's office. Tell him to take his time. I'll kill anyone who tries to stop me, so don't rush." The entity, that had been his wife tried to tackle him. It clung to his arm pleading with him. The sight of it disgusted him. The primitive brain contemplated removing it from the planet also. The civilized portion recognized that he was losing control, descending into insanity. In a determined rear guard action, it managed to set boundaries for his savage. Instead of mindless violence he only said softly, "Get out." His voice now so cold it would shatter steel like glass, the primitive brain issued a Parthian shot. "If I ever see you or hear you've been around my kids I'll make you wish you'd never been born!" Shrugging the sobbing entity off, he marched to his truck. As he got in, he reached into the well between the seats and retrieved his 9mm Glock. Steve frequently carried large amounts of cash for his construction workers who wanted their wages in cash, so he had a license for the pistol. As the Steve checked its function, it felt good in his hand. Starting his beat-up pickup, he began the five-minute journey to his former best friend's office. It was the utterly mundane act of stopping for a red light that gave Steve's civilized brain time to re-gain control. A simple question that he asked himself, stumped him. Why did that slim ball need to die? Was it because he was trying to blackmail the love of his life? Steve had refused to listen to rumors of that sort of behavior on Gil's part before. Or, was it the images that had fallen from Donna's hand? Images of her with Gil's cock in her mouth and of her on her back on Gil's desk, her legs spread lewdly, her neck muscles straining as she absorbed his cock. Images that showed her need, her desire, her love? His mind shied, unable to deal with those images... yet. As the light turned green, Steve pulled over and began to think. Almost immediately he knew that while he could kill in heat, he wasn't a cold-blooded killer. Sitting there, thinking, planning, Steve's blood ran very cold indeed. Reexamining the images seared forever in his brain, he realized that the images were stills from several different security cameras. Gil's new office, had been set up to surreptitiously record events. It didn't take long to formulate his plan. Two minutes after he re-started his truck, he pulled up to Gil's office, in total control, knowing what he was going to do. He made sure no one could see the gun under his shirt as he waltzed past Gil's secretary. Gil was doing something behind his desk as Steve slammed the door open so hard it almost shattered as it hit the wall. The sound reverberated through the now silent office like a rifle shot. As it rebounded to click closed behind him, Steve pulled his gun and watched as the blood drained from Gil's face. The sound urine hitting the carpet was a precursor to the raw sewage smell as Gil's bowels released. Using a voice colder than liquid-nitrogen Steve said, "turn on your cameras, I'm going to give you thirty seconds to make a tape for Nancy and the kids before I settle this. If you do this like a man I'll make it quick, otherwise I'm going to slowly make you regret the day you met me." Gil looked like a cartoon character as he skittered around his office seeking some avenue of escape or shelter. Steve raised the gun. "If you don't want to say goodbye to your kids, I'll make sure everyone knows what a cowardly bastard you were." Gil wasn't dumb. Making the recording would buy time, and time was his only hope. The tape of Donna was right on top all the other tapes he'd been gathering to get to safety in case Donna followed through on her threat to go to the police. Keeping his hands in plain view, he activated the system that had made him so much money. It was a simple system, blackmail amateur women to provide sex for customers and then blackmail those clients for more business. He couldn't believe that Donna was destroying him, she'd always been a friend. Desperately seeking gain a modicum of sympathy, and more time, Gil began a tearful and manipulative farewell to his wife and kids. After a little more than a minute, just as he hoped his ploy might work, Steven's voice from coldest reaches of hell said, "Say goodbye. I'm going to let it roll for a few seconds so they don't have to see the rest if they don't want to." Every remaining molecule of piss and shit flushed from Gil's body. "Please," he stammered softly the word almost unrecognizable in his terror-constricted voice. "Please I'll do anything." Impossibly, Steve's voice got even colder, "I might have been able to forgive you cheating with Donna in a moment of hot passion but you cold-bloodedly tried to turn my wife into a whore." Sensing a possible escape Gil whined, "No, I'd never do that to Donna, I just wanted her again. I love her, really I do." Steve's voice now a few degrees colder than absolute zero said, "You're not blackmailing other women for your business?" Unable to deny it, with the evidence scattered on his desk, Gil, clinging to the last tendrils of hope, tried a different approach. "No, I do, I have a half dozen that's why I don't need Donna for that. Look, I have the tapes of them right here. Donna's special. You know me. I'm not like you. I can't keep it in my pants and Donna... I'm so sorry Steve, really I just lost my head and then when she didn't want to continue, I thought I could use the pictures. You can't blame me, Donna's the finest woman I know, and I couldn't help myself." Steve let a little incredulity seep into his voice and let the coldness warm to merely artic. "You swear that's true, you swear your oath, freely given like this was a court of law, in public where everyone can hear that you didn't intend to blackmail Donna because you already had enough women under control?" Hope springing eternal, Gil began swearing by every value known to man. He swore he'd say the same thing from the steps of the courthouse and that he would do anything to make it right. He didn't even slow down as he heard the sirens approach, and he was still in full confession mode when the police announced their presence. Steve's voice now cracked like a whip. "Gil, get your sorry ass out there before I change my mind." As Gil opened the door to his office to flee, Steve made sure that Gil saw him hide the gun in Gil's desk. Rushing into the arms of the police, Gil screeched, "He's hidden the gun in my desk, arrest him he's trying to kill me." Steve turned to the officer and said in a clam normal voice. "I think he's having a nervous breakdown. He called my wife and said he was going to commit suicide, so I rushed over here only to find him with my gun to his head." Gil was frantic. "He's lying, I've got it all on tape he was going to kill me, you can see it all..." The deadly smile on Steve's face stopped Gil in mid word. He'd just removed any chance that the tape he'd just made wouldn't be admissible in his own trial. It was at that point that Mike, Darlene's brother walked in. He took the tableau in at a glance and listened as his sergeant recapped what had been said. Looking intently at Steve, he said, "I'm going to have to arrest both of you, where's the gun?" Steve looked completely relaxed and said, "I put it in his middle drawer. It's unloaded, but I didn't want to make any of your guys nervous. The rounds are in my truck. You're gonna want to see the tape." Mike still looking Steve in the eye said, "Darlene called and told me what's going on. I told her to contact your lawyer, he should be here any second. Is there anything you want to say before I read you your rights?" Steve returned the steely glare. "I'm not sure I committed any crime, but I do know you have evidence on that tape he just volunteered that's going to send this bag of shit to prison for a long time. All I ask is that you make sure that if I make bail that bitch I married isn't around me or my kids." Because Darlene had been talking to him on his cell phone as he'd rushed here, Mike understood that Steve was asking that the tape of his wife disappear before his kids had to see it. Still there was so much pain and hostility in that voice that Mike was tempted to say something, but it didn't look like Steve was in any mood to hear it. Four hours later Steve walked out of the jail looking for his truck. Darlene and her husband Bill, one of Steve's site foremen, were beside him. Bill had brought Steve's truck from Gil's office and would ride home with Darlene, who had come to post bail. As it turned out, no charges had been filed yet on Steve. The DA had watched the video made in Gil's office and had concluded that he would need to go before a grand jury to seek an indictment. Privately he told Steve that he would be astounded the Grand Jury didn't no bill him, but that he would be grateful if Steve would keep in close touch. Steve, escorted by Darlene walked to his truck, his mind had been so focused on what he was doing with Gil, and getting out of jail, that he hadn't given a single thought to Donna or his children. Darlene put her arm on his gently as he unlocked the door to his battered pickup, "My sister Pat is with your kids at our house, Donna isn't at home, but she's desperate to talk to you, don't you think this would be a good time to let her see you?" The images that had fallen from Donna's hand exploded into his brain, and Steve felt the pain crash in on him. Suddenly he was finding it difficult to breathe as the air was sucked from his lungs and he couldn't seem to inhale. Steel bands where squeezing his chest ever tighter. Then, at first camouflaged by his emotional pain, he became aware that someone had smashed him in the chest with a sledgehammer. That pain exploded paralyzing his body. His mind marveled, 'it really does feel like an elephant sitting is sitting on your chest.' Unable to support the pachyderm, he slowly collapsed. The physical strength he'd always taken such a secret pride in, failed him. Grabbing Darlene's arm, aware he was dying he managed to croak, "Don't let that bitch near me, she's killed me." Steve's world began to go black just like one of those old cartoons. His last thought was 'where's the tunnel of light?' One Slip: A Hard Fall Now more voice were calling and pleading. Steve looked at the light and he looked at the darkness. The light was harsh and unyielding, painful. The darkness still seemed more comfortable, soothing. There were no problems in the darkness. But his children were in the light and he opened his eyes. Donna: Donna was aware of her mother's voice, gossiping, "Steve's going to make it, he finally came around, they were able put in three stints to open up the LAD. Did you know that it was 100% blocked and he didn't even know it? That artery carries almost half the blood to the heart. The doctors call that spot 'the widow maker.' The doctor said it wasn't unusual, at least in very active men who work out, for capillaries to form around a blockage as his did, but he was a heart attack waiting to happen. Who would have known? He's only 42, has low cholesterol, not even a pound overweight, no indicators at all, just bad genes. It was the Grace of God that there was someone there when he collapsed. Their CPR kept him alive until they could do something for him here. I've already told you, I don't know the whole story, just that Donna collapsed when she got here and that she and Steve are having some sort of fight. Steve's parents have the kids, I'll be going over there to see them as soon as her sedative wears off and I can ask Donna a few questions. There's nothing wrong with her, she just fainted like some heroine in a silent movie. Since she was in a hospital, they treated like hysteria and doped her up. Trying to avoid lawsuits no doubt. Look I've got to go, she's starting to stir." "Donna, Donna are you awake?" Donna wondered if she could fool her mother, she didn't think she could face her right now. If hearing that Steve was okay exhilarated her, full understanding of her situation terrified her. She wondered if there were any way that she could wait until after she'd talked to Steve to let her mother know about her... it wasn't an affair, it was just stupidity. "Donna, you've never cried in your sleep, so I know you're awake. I know the whole story, this is going to have to be handled very carefully or you're going to lose your marriage. You're going to have to take charge of Steve before he can lock you out of his life. You don't have much time. They're going to have him out of recovery soon and you need to be there when he comes down off the drugs." Donna held her arms out like she had when she was very little and her mother held her as she had then. Her mother's strength helped as it always had and when she thought she could control her voice she said, "Momma, I know I've messed up, but this shouldn't be the end of the world!" Tears of self-pity formed and rolled down her cheek. Dropping seamlessly into her accustomed role, her mother said, "Donna, you weren't raised to be a simpering ninny. We taught you to stand on you own two feet and face the world head on. You've never backed down in the face of trouble and I'm not going to see you do it now." The words were not softened by the tone. There was anger and disappointment in her voice, and Donna took a deep breath. Running away would be so much easier, but her mother was right, she couldn't. Even if she could somehow leave her children, she couldn't leave Steve. She might as well try to leave her skeleton! No, she had a backbone and now was the time to use it... except how, how did you fight when you were so fully in the wrong? "Do you know why you cheated?" Donna's head snapped back so hard and the pain was so sharp that for an instant Donna thought her mother had slapped her. Donna sighed again, but this one was different, this was the sound you make when you've decided something unpleasant can't be put off any longer. "I didn't really cheat, I mean... I don't know, I never intended to, it was almost like I wasn't there." Thunder clouds formed on her mother's brow and lightning flashed in her eyes. "Donna Elizabeth Truman Bellows, don't you ever say anything like that to Steve! It's the same thing as saying you'll do it again when conditions are right. You damn well do know why you did it and you'd better be able to tell him why and why it will never happen again!" Her mother's face became implacable, "You need to look Steve in the eye and say you didn't enjoy it. That Gil wasn't a better lover too! But most important you have to make him believe he can trust you again!" Donna was shocked, her mother had never spoken like this. They'd talked about sex of course, but it had always been a subtle thing. Her mother's bluntness forced her respond in kind. "It was exciting, and flattering that Gil wanted me so badly. He was so passionate that I felt special, needed. His penis is smaller than Steve, and I felt accomplished an old goal when I could take all of him in my mouth. I wanted him, but once he started, he wasn't very good. It was like my mind was enjoying it but my body stopped responded. He came very quickly, and when he did he was done. It was mentally exciting but it wasn't very good sex. I felt so guilty when I got home, I wanted Steve more than I have in years, but I couldn't because I couldn't, and wouldn't give him sloppy seconds. I had decided never to do anything like that again before I ever got home." Donna stopped to control her emotions but one sob slipped out, "Oh Momma, it didn't mean anything. I didn't mean for it to happen..." Her mother's voice crackled, "I did mean something, it meant you didn't honor your marriage, your husband or your kids." She felt a flash of resentment before the truth crashed in on her. She looked at her mother, "Did you ever-- slip?" her voice was soft but it was her mature voice, no longer the little girl. Her mother's expression soften, her love evident. "No, there were times when it was a near thing, but no, and as far as I know your father never slipped either. That doesn't mean every thing I know about affairs I learned from those stupid women's magazines." You know people have always called me Dear Abby. Part of that is because I can keep secrets. You're going to benefit from that now, because I'm not going to have to go to court to see my grandchildren! But, be warned, if I have to choose between you and them it will be a very hard choice! So don't screw this up!" "He hates me! He said he'd hurt me if he ever saw me or if I ever got around the kids." Donna wasn't crying now, just explaining the facts. The pain intensified. Oh God how the could she stand it? Using years of experience and discipline she managed to leash it, allowing her to function. When her mother saw she was back in control she said, "Well that one's easy; Steve won't keep you from the children. He couldn't even if he wanted to, and you know he wouldn't. He just said the thing he knew would hurt you the most. You're lucky in a way that he's sick, that gives you a way back to him you might not have had." "What are you talking about Momma?" "Steve needs help, and you can tell him that you might have broken one part of your vows, but you will not let him force you to break any of the other parts. Look, he's mad and I don't know if either of us can understand how hurt he is. My experience tells me that you can't do anything about those emotions; you have to deal in facts. You broke his trust and you have to fix it. One of your best weapons is you marriage vows. Yes you broke part of them, but not all of them. You need to show that you still value you word as much as he does." Suppressing the urge to cry, Donna tried to absorb what her mother was telling her. She ran the marriage vow through her head and realized that there was more than 'forsaking all others" in the vow, there was a part about "sickness and health" too. Her mother continued, "You can't turn off love like a light switch, it dies like a fire without new fuel. All Steve could have done to this point is to have decided to stop feeding it. You've got until it dies to get him to change his mind. Now, I don't know what you were thinking when you brought those pictures to his office, Darlene showed them to me, but that was very dumb. You don't ever want your man to have those sorts of images of you. It can't be helped, but you can use it if you're very clever and very careful. A man reacts to visual images of his mate being 'claimed' by another. Someone did a study once on volume of sperm in a man's ejaculate. If it has been a long time since a man has seen his mate, like a long business trip his sperm volume is way up. No surprise there, except it doesn't matter if he jacks off the day before. Biologically he wants to claim his mate in case there have been claim jumpers. I think it's the same thing if a man sees his wife with another. Seeing her like that probably will make him very horny, at least for temporarily. Now listen carefully! Don't make the mistake of thinking that means he accepts it. Man isn't ruled by biology, and his logical mind generally tells him that it isn't worth the effort to stay with a mate he can't trust. If he hadn't seen those pictures, you'd need to do everything in your power keep them from him. It's easier to forgive cheating if you haven't seen the images. Since it's too late for that as a last desperate measure you might be able to use the pictures to get him into your bed one more time. In some of them, probably toward the end you don't look as happy. If all looks lost you might use a couple of those to prove it wasn't great sex." Her mother fixed her with a penetrating stare, "If you get him back in your bed, you make damn sure he never wants to leave it!" Donna's emotions were so jumbled it seemed impossible to sort them out. Steve was a very passionate man, something most people didn't know because he was also one of the most controlled people Donna had ever met. She knew he was more than capable of controlling a sexual urge for her. With another sigh of determination this time, she asked, "How can I use sex momma, he's just had a heart attack for God's sake, even if he wants me, which I doubt, and even if he were somehow to lose control and want to take me, which would never happen, I couldn't let him risk his heart like that." "One of the things they'll tell him is that sex with your wife isn't dangerous, but sex with someone new is, at least for a while. Now let me cover some quick dos and don'ts. Do tell him you love him, often. Do tell him you're sorry, but don't tell him constantly, it'll only remind him. Do have sex with him any way he wants you for a while. Don't let him hurt you sexually or any other way. It's tempting but it won't work in the long run. Let him try anything new as long as it doesn't break your vows. If you've never done anal let him, and let him know why!" Donna was horrified, "Momma! Steve would never want to do that, and I just couldn't!" Her mother gave her a knowing look and said, "Don't knock what you've never tried dear, with lube it can be a lot of fun, and a very special way to tell your man how much you love him. Don't make any offers like letting him cheat on you. It won't work and it will kill the marriage. Don't change from the person he loves. You can't keep him by being his slave or his doormat, he loved and wanted you and you have to give that person back to him, at least as best you can. This has changed you and you're going to have to live with it. Now, you're going to have to repent, and I don't just mean be sorry, you're going to have to try to make him whole after you've taken something precious from him." "How can I do that Momma, everything I have is his, I've never held anything back." Her mother's face softened, "Baby, I don't know, but I do know that in every marriage there are, places where neither got their way. You might start looking there. Not to be a doormat, Steve didn't marry a doormat. You'll just have to find a way to make it up to him. Now, I want you to picture a goal, I'm going to give you a mental image and I want you to really think about what you want. I want you to picture Steven in a nice hotel room, a large suite he's laying on the bed. He's all alone, can you see him?" Donna's mother had always taught lessons this way and Donna couldn't help but let the picture form in her mind. "Yes, I can see him." It took an effort not to cry at the pain of seeing her husband without her built in her mind's eye. "Okay," her mother continued their never forgotten game, "I want you to see him the way he was the last time he was panting for you. No, make that the look he had just before the best sex of your life. Can you see him; see the hunger in his eyes?" Donna knew where her mother was going now, this was the goal she needed, what it would look like when she got Steve back. This was the image she'd need to keep fresh as they worked through their problems. "Yes Momma, I see him, I've got the picture, I know that..." Her mother interrupted, "Now see a tight-bodied twenty something mount him, it's their wedding night and she's starving for him too!" The image flashed before Donna could stop it! She actually saw another woman, a younger woman with a better body, a tighter body, one that had never given birth mount Steve, right in front of her and she screamed, "MOMMA! Steve would never do that!" Her mother brought her face down inches from Donnas horror struck eyes, "You feel that flash of pain, well thanks to your pictures Steven doesn't have to imagine that, he can see your passion for another man any time he wants. Statically, that scene with Steve is going to happen. What's worse that young thing will do her best to steal him from your children so that her children have a full-time father. Your goal is to make sure that doesn't happen." Donna felt a new and different kind of pain welling up. With all that she'd been through, she still hadn't understood the pain she'd inflicted on Steve. The pain that would continue to grow as he saw real images of her over and over again. As he felt the pain of actual not imaginary betrayal. "Oh Momma, I never would have..." Again, her mother cut her off, "Baby, you can't say that, you did and in your heart you knew how much this would hurt. You fucked his best friend, and the husband of one of your best friends. You have to get it through your head just how evil this thing you've done is. But, I trust you, you don't always look before you leap, that's the source of some of your courage, but you do analyze it later. I know you're going to dwell on this until you get it right, because that's the way you are." "Now, some of that will have to wait, I've brought your war-paint and one of your better outfits. You're going to clean yourself up while I get you checked out of here. Then you're going to march yourself up to ICU and sit by your husband until he wakes up. You're going to look Bill in the eye and tell him that if you have to get security you will, because you promised sickness and health and you're not going to break that vow. That'll make him spew on you, and you'll look him in the eye when he does. Don't back down! Get to your husband's side and stay there until he has the strength to kick you out, if he does." Donna swallowed hard; did she have the courage to face Bill and Darlene? She took a deep breath, 'Unless I die, I'm going to have to face them sooner or later, and Momma's right I promised to take care of him in sickness and I'm going to keep my vow!' As Donna worked on her make-up in the harsh florescent light in the tiny bathroom she tried to conjure what she'd felt in those few seconds she'd pictured Steve with another woman. Because of her mother's skill, she could imagine the pain she'd caused and she could feel the tiniest foreshadowing of the pain she would feel if she lost Steve. What she'd felt when she thought he might have died was really self pity, but the idea of Steve with someone else, having children, cutting her out of his life was no longer unimaginable. 'Oh God, please help me, I couldn't stand that and Momma right about the children.' Donna had seen it among several of their friends. Even in the cases where the wife didn't try to punish her ex by withholding the kids, it was so very difficult to keep a dad involved if he re-married and had a new family. The cases it had worked best was when the father got custody... Donna pulled herself erect, could she give up her kids if it was for their best interest? After a few minutes, an eternity later, Donna had made a decision. She stood straight and threw her shoulders back, and looked her reflection in the eye, 'I'm not going to let it come to that. Steve loves me, and he needs me as much as I need him, I'll just have to win this for his sake as much as mine.' As she was finishing cleaning up, her mother re-appeared with her cloths and cosmetics. Her mother had always referred to cosmetics as 'war-paint' a term that had always embarrassed Donna, but this time it fit her mood. Her mother left saying, she was going to see the kids, and make sure that no one told them tales they shouldn't hear. When she finish, Donna gave a sigh that was close to snort and walked out of her room. It was only when she saw a big clock outside the ICU that she realized that it was 3:00 AM. She'd known it was dark but she'd had no idea of the time. She quailed and almost retreated, a cowardly voice saying she should wait for daylight before any confrontation. Almost, but she never broke her stride. She didn't see Bill, but Darlene was there. When she saw Donna she jumped to her feet and stood, arms and legs akimbo, attempting to block her. Donna stopped in front of her and said, "Darlene, you're one of my best friends. If you want to side with Steve, I wont have hard feelings, but you need to wait to see if there are going to BE sides. I made the worst mistake of my life. There are reasons, and one was that I was way too drunk and I wasn't prepared for my husband's best friend to take advantage of me. I'm not making any excuses, but we've talked before about the temptations we've both faced. I pray you never find yourself where I am today, but if you do; I know I won't try to stand in the way of you trying to fight for your marriage. My soul mate is in there, and in my weakness and eternal shame, I wasn't with him when he might have died. He won't have to kick hard if he wants to kick me out for what I've done, but I'm not going to leave his side until he's strong enough to kick me as hard as I deserve!" As Donna set her jaw, she saw Darlene searching her face before looking deeply into her eyes. Seeing a half nod, Donna knew that she won even before Darlene said, "Donna, you know I love you, how could you let this happen?" Donna took a deep breath, "I don't know if I can put it into words yet, I will, but the first person to hear that will be Steve. I need to share, and if you're willing, I'll be oh so grateful if you'll listen, but I don't want to practice it first. Steve deserves to hear this raw if he wants. After, or if he doesn't want to hear, you'll be the first I promise." Darlene's expression softened, "He still loves you, you know. He went over there to protect you from Gil's blackmail not to kill him for what you and he did. He told Mike to 'lose' the tape and pictures of you. He could have used that in a divorce, but I don't think the thought ever crossed his mind. Donna, he's my boss. If you break up, I'll stick with him. But if you're going to fight for him, I'm on your side. Despite what you saw with Bill this afternoon, he'll be on your side too. Things were just moving too fast. We weren't thinking clearly. I'm sorry for what I thought Donna. When you collapsed I was sure that... I knew that what you did was some sort of fluke. Then Mike came by and talked to us. He said that Gil, faced with all those tapes, and his lawyer saying he didn't have a chance of excluding them, has been singing like a bird. Your name hasn't come up officially. It seems your tape seems to have been lost. Mike said he was sure that yours was a one-time fling. He also said you're the reason this is all going down. All I ask that you pay real close attention to the medical stuff in there, if you're... well remember he's still kind of delicate and if starts getting worked up again it..." One Slip: A Hard Fall Donna smiled sadly and said, "I know Darlene, I'll have to play it by ear. I want you to know just how much I appreciate what you did to keep him alive for me, I'm not being melodramatic when I say I don't know how I could keep living if he'd died." Donna had to stop before tears started and ruined her make-up. As she pushed into his little room, past a nurse who was still sputtering, she felt her pride for her husband swell. She'd been afraid that Steve would physically look diminished by all the medical equipment keeping him alive. It was just the opposite. Her husband seemed a giant with everything around him fading into the background. She knew he was awake. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the pleasure in his eyes at seeing her. As the look of love faded Donna blurted, "Steve, please don't say anything yet, I'm here to take care of you the way I promised when we got married, let me get you well before you..." Steve held out the hand that wasn't connected to IV and Donna flew into it burying her head on his chest, soaking his sheet, gown and skin with her tears. "Donna," his voice sounded incredibly deep as she heard it through his chest, "I don't think we can fix this, but I've been laying here thinking about what I'd said when I thought I was dying. That's not the kind of man I like to think I am. That was pain talking and even if we don't make it, I wouldn't want you to think that I blame you for my heart attack." Donna waited until she knew she had control of her voice and said, "Oh Steve, can't we pretend for a little bit that nothing happened? Just until you get better, I won't fight you if you want to kick me out, but I just told Darlene that I want you well enough so that you can kick me the way I deserve." Donna tried to let her face show Steve that she was serious. Steve sighed sadly, "I don't know Dandy. Every time I think about what I saw, the nurse has to come in and stick me with something to put me to sleep, but I still haven't been able to stop..." Donna griped his hand in both of hers, pulling it to her breasts. He'd just used her pet name, and her hope soared. "Please just let me care for you, you said you didn't want to die letting me think that I'd killed you. Can't you see I can't live with myself if I can't honor all the other promises I made. Please Steve, you've always been the logical one, I've been the emotional one, please let me help. When you're well, you can scream and order me to crawl out of your house on my belly and I'll do it. I will do absolutely anything to make this easier for you. Momma came by, and gave me one of her talks; she told me that if I was truly sorry I had to make restitution. Well I am so very sorry. Please let me show you that. It'll be better for you long term too, no matter what you do. I love you Steve, please, please let me show you, please? I don't deserve it, but please?" Looking into his eyes, Donna saw the pain, Steve was the nicest man she'd ever met, but he wasn't going to be able to handle this. She crimped her conscious and felt it pinch, "Please Steve, this is going to be too much for the kids to almost lose you and then have to find out... about me and then lose their family all in the same day. Steve, I have no right to ask, I know that. I swear when you're better I'll come clean and let them hate me, but not just yet, please. I'll do anything you want, anything to make it easier on you, I promise, but not yet please." The only smidgen of pride left Donna was that she didn't cry. Steve yawned, "Okay Dandy, procrastination has always been easy for me. I can do that, I have to stop thinking about this whole mess for a while anyway, if I'm going to get well. I'll tell myself that 'I'll think about it tomorrow, ' whenever it pops in my mind.' You're right about the kids too. That's the other thing that I've been worrying about. If I'd died I would have set them up to hate you and I wouldn't want that either." He paused and when he resumed his voice was very grave, "I can put off responding to how I feel, but I can't completely pretend it hasn't happened Donna. I'll wear the best mask I can for the kids, but I can't pretend that I'm your loving husband. Donna, it will have to be separate rooms..." His voice trailed off his eyes showing more pain than Donna thought she could bear. She composed herself, nodded and said, "We can explain that as you needing to recover for now, you won't be sorry, Steve thank you so much for this..." she paused again, too choked up to continue. Steve met her eyes nodded slightly, then seemed to run down. In a matter of minutes, she heard the snore he'd developed recently. It had been a source of more than minor irritation, but as she heard it now, she swore that if she could ever sleep next to it, she'd never complain again. As she left to locate one of those sleeping-chairs she'd seen in one of the other rooms, she almost bumped into a formidable woman. One who seemed to define the term 'old battle axe.' With no preamble the head nurse began, "You must be the infamous wife I've heard about, that was a dangerous thing you just did, I was prepared to call security if I had to." Donna looked the woman in the eye, "You wouldn't have had to, but I know my husband, and I knew he wouldn't have wanted it left the way it was standing. He may still kick me out, but he'll never do it without giving me a chance to explain myself. I don't know if I would have thought of it, but I also knew he wouldn't force me to break my other vows. To be fair to him, when he can handle it, I'll let him see the pictures of me again. Then he can work out his anger, if that's what he wants to do. All we've done is put this off until he's well. It also lets him put his mind at ease about the kids. I knew he wouldn't want to have to deal with them now, not until he was able to get up and about. How long will he need to be here?" The conversation turned professional but occupied only a portion of Donna's mind. She'd bought time, now she had to make sure she used it wisely. Two weeks, maybe three that's how long she had to win her husband into a new relationship. She was determined that if Steve wanted one of the "claim your mate fucks," she would make it one for the record books! One Slip: A Hard Fall It had been a magical night. Steve had taken her to the best restaurant in the area, then to intimate dance club. When they finally got to his apartment, he built a roaring fire in his fireplace and they sipped wine and ate snacks while soft music played on his stereo. She had been completely relaxed and not a bit nervous when he led her to his bedroom. There the scent of gardenias overwhelmed her. She had told him that gardenias were her favorite flower but they had been out of season. Somehow, he'd managed to buy a room full. The bed had dark blue, high weave, silk sheets, and there were candles to provide a soft mellow glow. She'd felt self-conscious about taking off her clothes. Even though he'd touched every part of her body but he'd never seen all of it. The look of appreciation as she'd shed her underwear banished her inhibitions, and ignited a special joy that also cause her wet in readiness. After helping her between the sheets and then he'd worshiped her body. Kissing and suckling every inch of her, until his mouth was between her legs. As soon his wonderfully flexible parted her nether lips she belonged to him. For the first time in her life, she'd been vocal during an orgasm. Donna smiled at the memory, her scream caused lights to go on in all the surrounding apartment complexes. Yet, when she had spread her legs for the act, she'd felt more vulnerable, open and naked than she'd thought possible. In her memory, that moment, when she was spread and available, seemed to have lasted hours. She had been so scared she'd trembled--not at the expected pain, she was a jock, she knew she could handle pain. The reason her whole bottom had contracted in fear was that she didn't know what giving her body to Steve would do to her, and to the 'them' that become so important to her. After an eternity of kissing his way up her body, he was fully over her. He'd kissed her deeply, then reached down and adjusted one leg at a time until that her knees were raised. Feeling indescribable tension she felt her vaginal lip open, waiting for his first contact. It was such a strange feeling to give him that control over her body. To be forced to wait for him, to be the recipient not the instigator of action. She had also been embarrassed that she didn't know what she was supposed to do with her legs. She'd felt such a jumble of emotions in the those few seconds. Always excelling at any physical activity, she'd felt intimidated by her ignorance, anxious to experience what was going to happen, but concerned that she not make some sort of gaff. Overlaying all was an burning desire to move to the next stage. He'd felt her tense and he had smiled gently but hadn't entered her. Instead he'd let his organ slip up and down her more than lubricated sex. It had let her acclimate to the feel of it and to his motion. More importantly, it had put the most unendurable pressure on her clit. It had the quality of taking all her jumbled emotions and thoughts and focusing on that little nexus. Just when she thought she was going to have a second orgasm he guided her hand to it so that she could position him at her center. Once there she had there, she'd been a bit disappointed as he'd eased himself into her. There wasn't any pain at all, just a wonderful unique fullness. Although she'd concentrated, prepared to minimize her response to the pain for Steve's benefit, she couldn't feel her hymen tearing. It puzzled her, for despite her athleticism, she'd been certain she still had one. That thought occupied less than a second as she shifted to accommodate him, before she was overwhelmed by the feeling of physical and emotional oneness as she experienced his full length and girth. She remembered the pride that flickered when she knew she accepted all of him. She loved the feel as her vagina stretched to envelope him. Even after the birth of her children, she never felt she could ever accept anything larger, not by so much another millimeter. Using both hands and both legs she had clasp his body to her and wondered if somehow his skin was dissolved into hers. Steve had remained motionless for the longest time, kissing her and letting her press herself up to him. When he began to move again, Donna hadn't thought she could stand the pleasure. After less than a minute, he'd stopped. For a second she worried that she'd done something wrong or that he was 'finished.' Then he had pulled up from her and his eyes looked deep into her soul. As his movements began again, Donna lost all sense of her body. As intimate as his entry into her, it paled to his possession of her soul through his warm, tender eyes. Her body responded to his. She was aware of it meeting his thrusts, of her breath becoming ragged as she panted open mouthed. Yet, as intensely as she had wanted to know what making love would feel like, her most intense experience that first time had been giving herself to his eyes. Then, without warning, but at exactly the right second, he broke eye contact and plunged his mouth to hers, his tongue melding with hers. She hadn't a clue that she'd been approaching an orgasm until it erupted just as his mouth touched hers. She screamed and almost bit his tongue. Her fingers clawed his back and she groaned as her abdominal muscles clenched and spasmed. For the first time she felt her vagina ripple and grasp an organ inside her. Her hands flew from his back to his bottom as she tried to pull more of him into her. She'd broken their kiss as her lungs burned from lack of air. She'd groaned, every muscle in her body contracted and she arched her neck. She felt that part of Steve inside her twitch. A distant part of her mind wondered that she couldn't actually feel his release deep inside her. The rest of her mind exalted that she'd pleased him that she hadn't felt awkward or clumsy. She saw the pleasure of her in his face and her heart rejoiced that she'd been able to gain his release on her first try. She had felt his muscles tense again and then relax into her. She treasured her 'lover,' rolling that term in her mind as she had tried to absorb all of him into her body. An unwanted thought intruded in her cherished reverie. 'That was seventeen years ago, and I can feel it like it was an hour ago. I'm so turned on I can smell it. Yet, I don't remember what Gil felt like inside me at all!' She was ecstatic that the slim ball had left no impression on her. Her memories of that horrible interlude were mostly of the pictures Gil had forced her to look at. 'I must have been more drunk that I thought.' To force any remnant of Gil from her mind she began to relive some of the best and most memorable times making lover with Steve, or just raunchy fucking. She'd never attempted to rate their lovemaking and she couldn't now as she reminisced. It was only after she'd relived each of the first attempts to get her pregnant with their three children that she realized just how turned on she was. Immediately, she realized that if she couldn't rate the best time, she could never remember when she had yearned this much for her husband. She looked at the clock and was appalled to see that over a half hour had passed. At first, she felt a flash of irritation, she wanted her man and he wasn't--she jumped to her feet mid-thought as a horrible fear squeezed her heart. His heart! Oh God what if ... She dashed to their bedroom already envisioning Steve collapsed or even dead. Certain that the excitement, the prospect of taking her anal virginity, had brought on another massive heart attack, she was terrified! As she flew through the door, she saw him still calmly sitting up in bed with his laptop. He looked up, saw her naked and growled, "Get some clothes on before you come in here, you damn slut!" Donna stopped so fast her feet slipped on the hardwood floor. She had to grab the doorframe to keep her balance. As the harsh words penetrated, one hand flew to her mouth to cover her gasp, the other extended as if to block out what he'd said. Then blushing furiously she mumbled, "I was afraid you'd had another attack," and fled almost as fast as she'd rushed in. When she got back to her room, she collapsed on the floor in big gasping sobs. That he'd just left her kneeling, waiting for him, combined with his tone had driven home, as nothing else could, that he didn't want her. In her heart of hearts, she'd never believed that if she offered anal sex; her life-mate, her lover, the father of her children, the man who had shared her bed for over sixteen years, and who had wanted it for all that time, would turn it down. It had been her final ace. The trump card she had subconsciously been certain would bring Steve back to her bed. That he didn't want her, even that way hurt, hurt more than anything to this point had. It hurt more than she had thought anything could hurt. It hurt a thousand times more than childbirth, because at the end of was a new death, not a new life. But, her tears weren't for her pain. Her tears were because she now fully understood, at a level she'd never achieved, just how hurt Steve was. As bad as her own pain was, she would have died if she thought she could help relieve even a portion of his pain. How could she have missed how much he'd been suffering the last three weeks? Donna wasn't a very religious person. She only went to church around Christmas, generally for one of the special music services. In that, she followed the traditions of her parents. She never remembered praying in her whole life. Getting control of her sobbing, she rose up on her hands and knees and crawled to the end of the bed. She assumed almost the same position that she'd been in before, but now her hands clasped together as she looked up at the ceiling. With tears running down her cheeks she prayed. She didn't pray for herself, she prayed that God would somehow comfort Steve. She prayed for some idea of how she could help him hurt less. In her mind, she heard her 'little voice' ask, "Would you really do anything to make him feel better, or is this just more of the same?" She did a searching self-examination and decided that she was sincere. Her little voice asked again, "Would you divorce him, and walk out with nothing but the clothes on your back and a pair of shoes? Give sole custody of the children, move completely out of their lives? Would you let them all think of you as someone who had died?" "Oh God!" she murmured, "Please not that!" But the question swirled around and around in her head. "Do you love him enough to absolutely put him and his needs first with no thought of what you need or want?" She never knew how long she knelt there. She never told anyone that she'd prayed. She certainly never told anyone that after interminable agony, she'd whispered "Yes, Oh God help me, Yes, if that's what it take even that." Whether it came from God or self-understanding, Donna felt a certain peace as she put on her nightgown and crawled into her lonesome bed. She was almost asleep when Steve turned on the light. She sat up, and waited expectantly. "Donna, I need to apologize for what I called you, I know you weren't trying anything when you came in like that. I was upset with myself for not coming in here earlier and telling you that I wasn't going to --- do anything. I couldn't do it. It would be like cheating on my marriage if I really did pretend you were someone else. I'm not going to do that. Cheat. When the time comes, I want to be able to tell the kids that I never broke my vows. I knew I wasn't coming here when I heard you cleaning up in the bathroom. I should have come and said something, but then I was afraid that if I saw you bent over like that --- I'm sorry, I thought I might get sick at my stomach again." He turned to leave and Donna said, "Steve, I need to apologize too. I didn't understand. I WAS trying to lure you earlier, and that was wrong. I want you more than I ever have. I'm not sorry that I want you I never will be. I just have to keep reminding myself that it's my fault that you don't feel the same way. In all the years I've known you, you've never called me a name. I've earned that one, I just want you to know that when I came running back, I was scared to death for your heart. I wasn't trying to entice you then. If I ever forget and try to manipulate you again, you have my permission to remind me and I promise I'll stop. I love you Steve, I won't ever try to trick you again. Steve gave her a hard look, then with a quick nod, turned, and closed the door behind him. Donna took a deep breath, and once again, she whispered, "Yes God, if that's what it take even that." One Slip: A Hard Fall Donna paused and made sure that Steve maintained eye contact before she continued, "That's a promise, and I'll keep it no matter what you do, you can not release me from that promise. That will be until the day I die." She paused until Steve nodded that he understood that she meant that even if he divorced her. Donna smiled, she'd made an impression with her last statement, and she saw a bit more anger leaching out of Steve. "Next is that I was drunk. I knew I needed to sober up to drive, that's why I went outside, and you know that means I was pretty far gone. Please believe me; I know that is no excuse. No one drugged me or urged drinks on me. I'm totally responsible for every one of them I took. I also know that when I get smashed, I get very horny. I had no business drinking like that when you weren't there. I will never have even a wine at dinner if you aren't with me." Steve was silent but when she didn't continue he finally said, "Isn't that a little extreme, I mean if you're out with your girlfriends ..." For the first time, Donna let some of her self-disgust show. "Never again! Not for the rest of my life!" Seeing his expression, she smiled. "Well, you'll just have to come around so I can have some of my favorite wine every now and then." Then she turned serious. "Look, I've destroyed your trust in me, but I've destroyed my trust in myself too." Steve looked thoughtful then nodded for her to continue, "Then the biggie, and I don't want this to sound like an excuse either, but I trusted Gil. I felt safer getting a little looped around him than I would any of my girlfriends." She saw surprise on his face, nodded to confirm what she was saying, and then continued, "I haven't said any of the stuff about needed to feel younger. I think that's all crap. I enjoyed flirting with Gil, but you know I'm not a flirt, I can't think of anyone else I do flirt with ... did flirt with. Gil was your best friend and I thought he was mine. This is going to sound so lame, but even when he kissed me, I wasn't worried. My first thought, I think my last thought was something like a few harmless kisses would make me so hot when I got home, I'd rape you. I knew I was vulnerable, but I knew Gil wasn't drunk and I expected him to protect me like I know you would have protected his wife, Nancy." Donna felt a wave of pain wash over her and tears began to try to form. She broke eye contact and looked at the floor, "Steve, I did try to push him away maybe three times and I was lost. I never decided to do it, it's like my mind shut down. I know I get that way with you. I love getting that way with you, so turned on that I lose control. You've seen the pictures, I can't pretend I didn't enjoy what happened, but those were all at the start, in anticipation. When it got going, it wasn't good. He wasn't good at all. "When sanity returned and I was scampering to get my clothes back, aside from the shame, all I could think about was how disappointed I was that I was going to miss making love to you when I got home. "I knew I couldn't be with you after I'd been with him, and I felt like I'd traded a diamond for fool's gold. I still feel dirty, I gave away something very clean at that party and like my virginity, I can't get it back. I'm not the same person sexually and I understand why you aren't attracted to me. I hope ... I will change that, but while I'll do my best to make it up to you, I will not resent how you feel about me. EVER!" Donna fought hard to keep that first tear from falling; this wasn't the time for self-pity or Steve's sympathy. She looked up at him and said fiercely, "I don't want you to ever wonder if he was as good as you. Please Steve if you don't believe anything else, believe that. How good or bad he was didn't have anything to do with my decision never to be in that situation again, but it's very important to me that you believe that dissatisfaction with my sex life was NEVER one of the reasons that this happened!" Donna was breathing hard, and she wasn't sure if it was anger or fear. She'd said her piece and now she was studying Steve's face trying to figure out how he was responding. He seemed to be in deep thought and it was only with the greatest of exertion of willpower that Donna held her tongue. She'd always heard the expression "heart was in her throat" but she this time she felt she feel every beat of her heart as she waited for him to speak. Finally, he looked at her, his eyes boring into her soul just as they had the first time they'd made love. "Donna, I don't know. I've spent these last three weeks trying not to make a decision. My every instinct is to either divorce you or make your life a living hell. I want to hurt you the way you've hurt me, but I can't. I find I do love you. As much as I hate what you've done, I love you. That doesn't mean I have to live with you or that I can't find a way to stop loving you. Still, I have to admit that the idea of you somehow making it up to me has a lot of appeal. There's nothing you can do sexually that will make this 'all better,' but there may be something else. I'm going to think about it. If I can, it's going to cost you." Donna nodded. "It won't be as hard as what I'm prepared to do." Her voice was flat and so certain that she saw Steve pick up on it. "Just what are you prepared to do, Donna?" There was suspicion in his voice. Donna felt her jaw clench, "It's not that I don't want to give you any ideas, but you'll think less of me if you know. Please don't ever ask ..." Steve's face hardened, "I am asking, if I'm ever going to learn to trust you, there can't be secrets." Donna sighed deeply, "I would agree to "die" to you and the kids. You could divorce me secretly and we could fake my death for the kids so they wouldn't think I'd abandoned them. Then I would never have any contact with you or them for as long as I live. That would allow you to find someone new and she could replace me in their hearts. I've read that the death of a parent is much easier on kids than divorce and the aftermath. I haven't done the forsaking all others very well, but your happiness is more important to me than even my children." She dropped her head and said, "Steve you don't know how many times I've wished that instead of going outside to sober up, which allowed that son of a bitch to ... Well I wish with all my heart I had had a fatal crash on the way home instead. It would have been less painful for everyone." Donna had tried but she couldn't stop her chin from quivering and as the silence stretched, she couldn't control the tears. She turned away, and when she still couldn't control them, she left. It was the God's honest truth and she didn't want any sympathy for how she felt. It took several minutes to get herself back under control in the kitchen, but then she began to bustle around trying to get lunch started. As she began to prepare a heart healthy lunch, she thought, 'You knew this was going to be hard, your tears aren't making it any easier for him, so shut off the water works.' Aloud she mumbled too herself, "I'd be a lot easier to not cry if he hadn't made me confess what a horrible mother I am too. Crazy too, 'fake funeral!' I can't believe I said something that harebrained. Oh God I do wish I'd died." She felt Steve's strong arms around her restraining her, not holding her just restraining her, "I'm not a monster, I would never agree to something like that. Our kids love you, and ..." his voice choked up. Feeling his arms around her thrilled her. She began trembling, but managed to get herself under control. Donna turned in her husband's arms so she could look up at his face, "Steve, when I decided I would do anything, I had to think about the worst thing I could imagine. That's it, not just leaving our kids but also trying to get them to replace me. I don't want to hurt my kids, but if I have to choose who to hurt, I have to choose not to hurt you." Steve pulled her to him, not in a sexual embrace, but a comforting one. "No Donna, I could never let you do anything like that. The idea is to limit pain, not multiply it. I'm going to need to do some deep thinking for a while. I'm not hungry, why don't you just order us a pizza, but let me stew alone until I have some answers?" Donna was torn, she hated the idea of letting him eat something as unhealthy as pizza, but she was elated about the way his thinking seemed to be going. This wasn't the time to pick a fight about food. She looked at the ultra healthy if unsatisfying lunch she was starting and said, "Sure, I'll order a mushroom pizza for both of us." As Steve was walking away he answered, "That'll be fine as long as my half has sausage pepperoni and double cheese on it. You said you wanted to make me happy...." Donna glared at his back, turned, and called in a Mushroom pizza light on the cheese. When she hung up the phone she muttered, "I'm going to make you happy, if it kills me, and you'll be alive for me to do it, buster." This was a fight she wouldn't back down from. Curiously that made her feel better about ordering the pizza. One Slip: Difficult Choices Another sequel to One Slip: Steve Bellows was poring over a construction schedule for the next few weeks that fateful Friday, trying to work up a six-day work week for the large motel that was the biggest project his company currently had going. In fact, it was the biggest project the company had ever tackled, a move into commercial construction that, if successful, would mean a quantum leap in its profitability. In order to win the contract, he had made the base cost comparatively low, but with some generous incentive bonuses if the project was completed on time and under budget. So far, the costs were coming in right where he'd projected them to be, and he'd done it without cutting corners, which was one of his pet peeves in the construction business. As for the completion deadline, it was still six months away, but winter was looming, with its ever-changing and unpredictable weather, so he was taking no chances. Hence the six-day schedule. He was trying to work out a staggered shift, in order to keep overtime to a minimum while still getting the job done. He was taking more of a personal hand in this project than usual, because of its size, its complexity and its importance to the company. If he could complete this project successfully, and with the kind of quality workmanship his company had long been known for, it would put Bellows Construction in the forefront of contracting companies in the region, and go a long way toward realizing the dream he and Donna had had when they had started the company 12 years ago. Steve had worked hard for what he'd earned. His father, rest his soul, had worked in the large smelting plant that was the area's largest industry, and he himself had worked on the line during the summers when he wasn't in school. He'd been smart enough to earn a scholarship to the state university in engineering, and had done well there. Now he was on the brink of making it big in his chosen industry, and he was grateful for the support of his wife, who had maintained a stable, well-organized home, thus allowing him to focus most of his attention on the business. The motel project, however, had consumed a lot more of his time than he'd wanted. It was what had caused him to miss the party his friend Gil had thrown the previous Monday to celebrate his promotion to first vice president at the firm where he worked. Steve and Gil had become friends at State, and had gone to work for the same company after college. They had stayed friends ever since. Just then, the door to his office opened and Donna burst into the room and stopped in front of his desk. "Well, hey babe!" Steve began, smiling wide at Donna's unexpected entrance. "This is a..." Then he stopped, and the smile froze in its place as he saw the look on his wife's face. There are some people who are so plugged in to the cosmic world around them, who are so intuitive, that they often get premonitions of events that are about to happen, and Steve Bellows was one of those people. It had served him for both good and ill through the years. This was one of those moments. As soon as he read the look on Donna's face - a look that was equal parts fear, anger, desperation and... guilt - he knew what had happened and why she was there. Instinctively, he got up from his desk, walked over to where she was standing, trembling uncontrollably, and gathered his wife in his arms. Donna had managed to maintain a serene facade through the tortuous days of indecision about whether to confess her adultery to her husband, had maintained her composure through the horrific confrontation with Gil, and had somehow kept her resolve through the drive to Steve's building. But the moment she entered his office and fell into his arms, the dam broke. "Oh, Steve," she cried, and dissolved in a torrent of gut-wrenching sobs. It took Steve 10 minutes to get Donna calmed down enough to where she could tell him what had happened. As he held her, a welter of emotions flooded his soul. His wife, the rock of his existence and the only woman he'd ever loved, had cheated. He knew it just from the look on her face and the language of her body, and he just didn't know how to react. But the truth was even worse than he could have ever imagined. Once he got Donna set down in a chair so she could tell him her story, once he got a good look at the pictures she'd brought with her, the outrage and the loathing began to build. "Steve, I am so ashamed at what I've done," Donna said finally. "I don't know how it happened or why. I'm so sorry." "You're sorry, all right," Steve spat. He was standing, staring out his office window trying to get a rein on his feelings. That Donna had cheated on him was bad enough. That she'd done it with one of his very best friends, a "friend" who had subsequently tried to blackmail her into becoming his whore, made it worse. And then there were the pictures. They left no question that, whatever seductive techniques Gil had used, Donna had been a very willing accomplice in adultery. He focused particularly on two shots, one of Donna on her knees with Gil's cock buried between her lips, and one of Donna lying on her back naked on his desk, her legs open wide, with Gil's cock just an inch away from her wet, swollen pussy. In both shots, the look on his wife's face was one of eagerness, of unrestrained lust. A million thoughts were running wild in his mind, including, unbelievably, a touch of arousal from the images he'd looked at, when Donna brought him back to the here and now. "Steve, someone has to stop him," she said. "Right now, before he has a chance to destroy the evidence. You need to get the Sheriff's Department out there immediately." Her words galvanized Steve into action. Steve was a doer, and having something that needed to be done right then shook him out of his reverie and pointed him in a direction. He picked up the desk phone and asked Darlene to call her brother. Once Mike was on the line, Steve outlined what Donna had told him about Gil, and that they needed an emergency search warrant for Gil's office. Mike said he would do that, and that he would send a unit to Gil's office to detain him and prevent him from destroying anything. "I'll see you out there," Steve said. "Steve, don't do anything you'll regret," Mike warned him. "Then you'd better hurry up and head me off," Steve said through gritted teeth. "Because I'm just likely to kill the son of a bitch." With that, he slammed the phone down, walked to the coat rack, grabbed his jacket, scooped up the envelope containing the pictures and headed out. As he reached the door, he turned back to his wife. "Go home, get your mom to take the kids for the night and wait for me," Steve said forcefully. "I'll deal with you when I'm done with Gil." "Steve, please, I love you. You, only you," Donna said, standing up to follow him. Steve just threw open the door and stalked out without a backward glance. Darlene jumped when Steve slammed the door shut, literally in Donna's face, and strode out of the office without a word. When he reached his pickup, Steve glanced over at Donna's BMW parked next to his truck. "Why?" he said out loud. He'd given her anything she wanted, all the material things she could possibly ask for, all given with every bit of love and affection he could muster. And it hadn't been enough. Panting in his rage, he climbed into his truck and drove off to confront his former friend. Steve hadn't even made it to his truck before Darlene was up and entering his office. She found Donna slumped in the chair with her face buried in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. Darlene pulled Donna up and held onto her as Donna cried herself out. And when Donna had finally calmed down, Darlene got her to repeat the story. "What am I going to do?" Donna blubbered when she was finished. "Steve and the kids are the only things in my life that I care about. They're my whole life. God, I'm so stupid." "No, you're not stupid," Darlene said, gripping her friend and confidante by the shoulders and looking her right in the eyes. "Yes, you made a mistake, a serious mistake. But you're human, and we all make mistakes. Your job now is to go home and convince Steve that you are as broken up about this as he is, that it's hurting you as much as it's hurting him, and assure him that it will never happen again. I'm not going to lie to you. It won't be easy. Steve's a very proud, very moral man, and his pride has been wounded in the worst way that a man's pride can be hurt. And you've done something he considers morally wrong. Just remember this, I'm behind you, and I'll do whatever I can to help you. I don't want to see you and Steve break up over this. You two have too much going for you, too much love still, and, hopefully, he'll see that, and see it in his heart to forgive you. Now, go home, and be careful." Steve stewed all the way to the building that housed Gil's office. He put Donna out of his mind for the moment and concentrated on Gil. How could he have done that to such an old friend? Was he that amoral that he seduced the wives of friends out of habit? Why did he need to fuck other women when his wife, Janet, was possibly the best-looking woman in town? Janet was a sexy, slender brunette with the looks of a model, which, in fact, she was. She'd been a fashion model in her youth, and despite her marriage to Gil and the years, she still had looks enough to get work as a model for department stores. So why would Gil feel compelled to go about seducing other men's wives? And what dark power drove him to blackmail those wives into becoming his corporate whores? As he pondered those questions, he recalled what Donna had said about Sue Dalgreen. He hadn't known them well, but word had spread around town that their breakup had been particularly nasty. Sue had been caught at a local hotel with two out-of-town businessmen, and had not only lost her marriage, but she'd lost custody of her children as well. Somehow, Gil's name had never been mentioned as a party to the Dalgreen's divorce. With that, Steve turned his attention to what he would do if he was lucky enough to beat the cops to Gil's office. Steve had the grim thought that he and Gil both were fortunate that he didn't carry any firearms in the truck with him. He did, however, have a large pocketknife that he carried with him everywhere he went, and the thought of using it to cut off Gil's nuts brought a vicious smile to Steve's face. At the very least, he'd rearrange Gil's perfect dental work, and give the asshole's groin something to remember him by. He slowed as he arrived at Gil's business, and pulled into the company's parking lot. Good, he thought, the sheriff's not here yet. But as he was stalking toward the company's entrance, he heard the screeching of tires from two patrol cars. They stopped in front of the building. Two uniforms, one of whom was Mike Gibson, climbed out of one unit, and another uniform and a plainclothes officer, undoubtedly a detective, got out of the other. Mike intercepted Steve at the door. "Steve, please let us handle it," Mike said, as they walked past the startled receptionist toward Gil's office. When they got to Gil's office door, they found it locked. The detective knocked loudly and ordered Gil to open the door. They could hear what sounded like frantic activity on the other side, and when the door remained closed, one of the uniforms forced it open with a battering ram. As expected, Gil was in a panic trying to dismantle his video equipment. But he'd only managed to remove one of the three cameras from its lodging, and was still fighting with the second when the cops arrived. Just then, the president of the company walked up asking the police what was going on. One of the officers took him aside and explained why they were there, and when he did, the man's face fell to the floor. "I had no idea he was doing anything like that," he said in a shocked tone of voice, nodding at the officers to indicate that they could do whatever they wanted. As another team of officers arrived with the search warrant, Gil was handcuffed, read his rights and ushered to the door. As they entered the hallway where Steve was still standing, Gil caught sight of his old former friend. He sneered as he leveled a contemptuous stare at Steve. "So, Stevie boy, how's it feel to learn that your sweet little wife's really a slut?" Gil said as he passed where Steve was standing. "You sorry bastard," Steve yelled and jumped at Gil, only to find himself grabbed around the chest by Mike as Gil was hustled off down the hall. Steve fought to get free for a second or two, then his whole body seemed to slump in resignation when Gil and the officers escorting him disappeared around the corner. "You can thank me later," Mike said after turning Steve loose. "You almost got to go to jail with him." "Mike, if I'd gotten a hold of him, I would have gone to jail, but he'd have gone to the hospital," Steve said, still panting in what was left of his rage. "Look, Steve, it's really none of my business," Mike said as they walked slowly toward the door. "But don't do anything stupid, like throw Donna out the door. Darlene loves both of you to death. She's told me so plenty of times. And my sis is a pretty good judge of character. So if she thinks Donna is worth sticking up for, then she must be a pretty good woman. Don't let one slip ruin 15 years of a good marriage." "I'll think about it," Steve said, as he watched the patrol car with Gil in the back seat drive off. "Do that," Mike said. "And think about this, too. It took an awful lot of courage for her to say no to this guy, then to confess her mistake to you. That has to be worth something. Steve, you can get over this, but you have to be willing to look at the good things about your marriage and not the bad." Then the two men shook hands and went their separate ways. Steve got back in his truck, and as he settled into the seat, he picked up the envelope with the pictures that were a chronicle of Donna's betrayal. He pulled them out of the envelope and slowly flipped through them. And as he stared at each image, once again his cock began to tingle and stiffen. "NO!" he said out loud and put the pictures aside. He couldn't believe that images of his beloved wife getting fucked by another man could arouse him. But they had, and the thought filled him with anger and self-loathing. With an audible growl, he put the truck into gear and drove out of the parking lot. Steve was in a daze as he thoughtlessly drove his truck onto the highway. Without thinking about it consciously, he drove onto the interstate beltway that encircled their city. As he drove aimlessly, he thought about what he was going to do. His knee-jerk reaction was to kick Donna out. The idea of having an adultress under his roof wasn't one that appealed to him. But then he recalled the many good times, how madly in love they'd been not long after they'd met, the joy they'd felt on their wedding day. He recalled, too, the many times when she'd nurtured him through one crisis or another, most recently when his father had died suddenly just over a year ago. He thought about the prospects for his children if they divorced. They were at a crucial age, 10, 7 and 5. His 10-year-old daughter was already talking about her friends from school who lived in single-parent homes, how they envied her for having a mom and dad at home. And what about the business? How would that fare if he had to worry about what was happening at home, if he had to take time away from the job to wrangle the kids? "Damn you, Donna," he said to the wind. "Why couldn't you have just said no, told Gil to fuck himself." Everything going on in his mind was a jumble, and he tried to sort it all out. And as he did, one overriding thought came knifing through. Almost from the start of their relationship, he and Donna had talked about what they would do if the other spouse was discovered cheating. It had mostly been directed at him, because his dark good looks and strong, amiable personality tended to attract the attention of women. And there was no denying that he was an incorrigible girlwatcher. He liked to look at pretty women, and Donna had been remarkably tolerant of this, so long as he just looked and didn't touch. Steve had been sorely tempted many, many times, and had fleeting thoughts all the time about what it would be like to fuck a particular woman that he saw. Even Darlene hadn't escaped his fantasies. But he'd never once acted on those fantasies, never followed through on his vague desires to have another woman. He'd never thought Donna would have had thoughts about cheating either, but here they were. She'd freely confessed to fucking Gil, and thrown herself on his mercy, although Steve had to wonder if she would have been so forthcoming if Gil hadn't tried to blackmail her. But she had, and the decision they'd long ago made about the consequences of cheating once again came blaring into his conscience. Suddenly, Steve knew what he was going to do, so he turned the truck in the direction of his house and headed home. As he drove toward home, he reached over once again and looked idly through Gil's pictures, looking at the pictures with one eye and the road with the other. Once again he felt himself getting hard, and this time he didn't fight it. Even though it hurt like hell, there was something supremely erotic about the way Donna was posed, at the lustful look in her eyes, one he'd seen too little of in recent months. And for the only time in his life, he allowed himself to indulge in the fantasy of his beautiful wife as a whore. He felt a combination of lust and anger building inside of him, and the more it built, the better he felt. Donna was sitting stiffly at the kitchen table staring out the bay window. The kids had come home from school not long after she'd gotten home, and her mother wasn't far behind. The kids had sensed that something was wrong, but she'd put a brave smile on her face and lied that everything was all right. Her mother had seen the look on her face, and the dried tears on her cheek, and asked pointedly what was going on. But Donna had said she didn't want to talk about it right then, that if something did happen, she'd be the first to know. Then they had left her alone to brood in silence. Suddenly, her heart skipped a beat as she saw Steve's truck pull up the drive. Well, here it comes, she thought, the moment of truth. She just knew he was going to tell her to pack her bags and leave, that he wanted a divorce. She was almost resigned to it, and had already started tentatively thinking about how she would get by on her own. It was not a prospect she looked forward to. Donna hadn't worked outside the home since becoming pregnant with Lindsey, 11 years ago, and she wasn't sure what skills she could offer an employer, especially if her involvement with Gil Gerard became public, as it almost surely would. She was not comforted by the intense look on Steve's face when he strode in the back door, the fateful envelope in his hand. "Fix a pot of coffee," he said as he stalked upstairs to their bedroom. It wasn't a request, but a command, so Donna did as she was told, as some confusion began to build. Once in his bedroom, Steve pulled off his boots, stripped off his work shirt, his jeans and his boxers. Standing naked, except for his t-shirt and his socks, he felt his cock already throbbing with anticipation. He was actually trembling with the potent combination of jealousy and lust. He slipped on a pair of sweatpants, picked the envelope back up and walked back downstairs. He walked through the kitchen, dropping the envelope on the table, and went out the back door to the wood pile. He gathered up several large logs and a few smaller ones then went back inside, stamping his feet to shake off the chill of the early autumn evening. He carried the wood to the fireplace in their den and arranged it on the grate. Empty-handed again, he walked to the kitchen, to the coffee pot, poured himself a cup, then poured one for his wife, and fixed it the way they each liked. One Slip: Difficult Choices "Steve?" Donna asked in a puzzled tone. He'd been home 10 minutes and hadn't uttered a single word, other than his command for her to make coffee. She took the cup Steve offered her and followed him to the den. She sat down on the sofa and sipped her coffee while Steve silently set about starting the fire. It wasn't until he had the wood in a good blaze that he stood up, took a big sip of his coffee and turned to look at his wife. "They arrested Gil," Steve said. "I don't think he had time to destroy anything. With any luck they'll have everything they need to send the bastard away for quite a while." "I'm glad," Donna said in a small voice. "Now, what about us?" "Donna, darling, I still can't believe this is happening," Steve began. "You have no earthly idea how hurt I am about this. I've put you on a pedestal all these years, worshiped the ground you walked on, and never once in all the years we've been together have I ever thought that you'd cheat on me." Steve was shaking as he took another big sip of coffee. "What I want to know is why," he continued. "Why did you do it?" "Baby, I don't know," Donna said. "Maybe if I knew why, I could deal with it easier. It happened so fast, and... I just let it happen, and I can't for the life of me tell you how it happened or why. But I know this. Nothing like it will ever happen again. This is going to be with me the rest of my life. I'm going to wake up nights and see the hurt on your face, and it's going to kill me inside. But that's good, because it will remind me of what I did, and it'll keep me from doing it again." "Will it?" Steve asked forcefully. "They say once a cheater, always a cheater. How can I know for absolute certain that it won't happen again, that you won't get drunk again at some other party and fall prey to some other smooth talker? How can I know?" Donna stood up and walked over to where Steve was still standing. They stood eye-to-eye, then Donna turned away and brushed a tear from her eye. "You can't," she said with a sigh. "All I can do is work day-by-day to rebuild your trust in me. If you'll forgive me, I'll do that." Steve turned back to the fire, picked up the poker and shook the ashes off the blazing logs, stoking the fire to a roar. His inflamed passion was about to burst, and he was having trouble keeping it under control. He turned and looked over at Donna, who had sat back down on the sofa. "What was it we always said we would do if the other was caught cheating?" Steve asked in a low voice. "That I'd forgive you the first time, but not the second," Donna whispered. "I never dreamed it would be you who would have to use the mulligan," Steve said absently. "I always figured that I'd be the one who would have to earn your forgiveness, and I'll bet you figured the same." Donna could feel her insides jumping with joy at Steve's words, at the prospect that he might forgive her after all. But she didn't realize that she still had purgatory to go through before reaching heaven. "Stand up and come over here," Steve ordered as he opened the envelope and spread the offending pictures across the coffee table. Donna was confused, but did as Steve said. As she stood in front of him again, she was a little disturbed at the look in his eyes. It was an almost feral look, and one she'd never seen before. Suddenly, Steve pulled her to him and kissed her, roughly, his lips crushing hers and his tongue forcing its way into her mouth. Donna was taken by surprise, but she quickly responded, kissing him back forcefully. With the pictures of her adultery as a backdrop, Steve kissed his wife with a wildness he'd never shown before, then he abruptly pulled his mouth away from hers, reached up with both hands and ripped her blouse open, sending the buttons flying in every direction. He forcefully pulled her tits from the cups of her bra and bent his face down to lick and chew on her nipples, and he was none too gentle about it. Despite the force of his actions, Donna felt herself responding. Her nipples stiffened and she could feel her crotch getting wet. Steve was oblivious. As he munched on Donna's tits, he ground his rampant cock into her crotch, while holding her tight to his body. Casting one eye on the table, he maneuvered Donna until the backs of her legs hit the sofa, then he pushed her down so that she was lying on her back. Donna looked up at her husband with a touch of fear, but also with lust. He'd never treated her this way, but if this was what it took to repair their marriage, it would be a small price to pay. And that was exactly what Steve had in mind, as his next words confirmed. "You want to be a slut, then I'm gonna treat you like one," he growled, as Gil's parting words rang in his head. He pulled his sweatpants off, threw them aside and climbed onto the sofa. Donna's eyes widened at the sight of Steve's throbbing-hard cock swaying in front of him as he straddled her chest and grabbed the back of her head. Instinctively, she took hold of it at the base, like she knew what he wanted. Sure enough, he hovered over her face before dipping his cock toward her open mouth. "Suck it, bitch, suck it like you sucked Gil's cock," Steve snarled. He was in the grips of an animal lust he had absolutely no control over. He pushed the head of his cock past Donna's lips and into her mouth, and he didn't stop even when she started gagging as he forced it into her throat. Finally, he pulled back and began to methodically fuck his wife's face, and she managed to gain a measure of control over his actions. Long, ropy strands of drool rolled down her cheeks as Donna struggled to accommodate his size, but she managed with some difficulty. Steve would have been content to blow the back of his wife's head off, symbolically, of course, with his orgasm. But he had something else in mind. Wrenching his cock from Donna's mouth, he slid down her body until he was on his knees between her legs. He threw her long skirt up to her waist, ripped her panties off and grabbed her legs at the knees, opening them so that her pink, wet pussy was on display. He glanced one more time at the pictures on the table, then released her legs, grabbed his cock in one hand and rammed it up his wife's cunt in one hard thrust. "Oh, oh, Steeeeeve," Donna wailed as her husband's fat cock pushed its way into her depths. In spite of the roughness he was displaying, or perhaps because of it, she could feel an orgasm of major proportions building in her guts. Stark need was fueling their coupling, as it had been well over a week since they had last had sex. Or, rather, it had been over a week since Steve had last had sex, as he began to remind his wife. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," he chanted. "Take it like a slut. That's it, fuck my cock, fuck it like you fucked Gil's." Steve's words hurt Donna to the quick, but her body responded just the same. She wrapped her legs around her husband's waist and rolled her hips around his churning cock, which was quickly picking up steam, giving back everything he was giving her. "Unnnnh!" she grunted as Steve pounded her pussy harder than he'd ever pounded it in all the years they had been together. "Oh baby. Fuck me. Fuck me like the slut I am. Uh, uh, uh, use me. Fuuuuck me!" Steve could feel the cum beginning to boil in his balls. He'd held it off as long as he could, but he could feel the tingle that told him he was the edge of a massive explosion. And he knew just what he wanted to do with it, something that Donna had never let him do before. Still pistoning his cock in Donna's spastic hole, he suddenly ripped it free, climbed over her body and cut loose with jet after jet of scalding hot cum all over his wife's face, as she squealed in surprise. He shot two incredible ropes of cum across her eyes, her forehead and into her hair, then painted the other bursts over her nose, her cheeks, her lips and chin, before crawling back between her legs and ramming his still-spurting cock back into her twitching twat. He pumped like a madman, growling as he forced the last oozing shots into Donna's cunt, and those last few strokes were what sent her over the edge. Pulling Steve to her with her arms, which were still encased in the remains of her blouse, she felt the climax roar through her like a freight train, shuddering and shaking as all the pain of the past few days came pouring out. Steve and Donna held each other in a death grip as their mutual lust ran its course. It was like nothing they had ever experienced before, a sort of catharsis, as the bitterness of the previous few hours was purged. Finally, Steve opened his eyes and gazed into the gleaming eyes of his wife, who still the woman of his dreams, flawed as she was. Donna stared back at her husband, always and forever her man, and she saw the man she'd always known, not the wild animal that had just all but raped her, the one she'd been so afraid would throw her out of the house. "Consider that your punishment," Steve said wearily, as he finally disengaged himself from his wife. "If that's punishment, then maybe I want to be punished some more." Donna said. "I haven't cum like that in a long time." "Don't go there," Steve said with a sardonic chuckle. Steve cast another look at the pictures that were still scattered across the coffee table, then he scooped them all up, stood up, walked to the fireplace and tossed them all in the fire. Donna looked at her husband, then to the pictures that were rapidly being consumed. Then she did something she never thought she would do. Donna had never much liked the taste of cum, but nevertheless, she methodically took her fingers and began to scoop up the congealing semen from her face into her mouth. She cleaned her face of the globs of cum, getting most of the pearly stuff into her mouth, as Steve stared at her, his cock beginning to revive already at the incredible eroticism of such a subservient act. "I love you, Steve Bellows," she said when she was finished. "I love you more than you will ever know, and I will love you until the day I die." "Donna, I love you too," Steve answered as he pulled his wife up off the sofa and gathered her in his arms. "Of course, you know it will take awhile for me to trust you again. You have to understand that." "I know," she whispered. "Right now I don't deserve your trust. All I can promise is that I'll do everything I can to make sure you don't regret forgiving me. And in time, hopefully, you'll be able to trust me again. The only thing I ask is please don't throw this in my face every time you get angry at me. I know what I've done, and it will be here the rest of my life. That's punishment enough." Steve and Donna kissed then, in effect, sealing their deal, but it quickly led to much, much more. As their mouths worked hungrily at each other, Steve reached around Donna's back and unhooked her bra, then pulled her skirt to the floor, while she pulled his t-shirt over his head and tossed it to the side. Now that his anger and jealousy had dissippated, he wanted - needed - more. They dropped to the floor in front of the fire, which still glowed warmly. Quickly, they maneuvered until they were on their sides face-to-crotch. Steve lifted Donna's left leg, and ran two fingers between her wet, slippery lips, while Donna grasped his dick at the base and slowly stroked it. He smeared the hot, bubbling fluid that welled from her insides all over the fulcrum of her crotch, then gasped as Donna slid her lips over the head of his cock and drew him into her mouth. Steve replied in kind, pressing his face to his wife's pungent gash, which was still wet from their earlier sex. He slashed his tongue over her gaping lips, and stabbed her depths with the tip of his tongue. His nostrils flared as he inhaled Donna's aroma, knowing that her arousal was for him only. Rolling onto his back, Steve pulled Donna up with him, so that her knees were on either side of his head. He grabbed her hips and pulled her cunt onto his face and set about seriously eating her out. Donna was also getting her fill, working her mouth and hand up and down on his iron-hard cock, her tongue curling around the shaft with every swallow of stiff flesh. Their hips were working in unison, as their arousal began to swell. When Donna began to feel the twitches of an imminent orgasm, she pulled her head from Steve's cock and her dripping cunt away from his face, slid her body down his until her pussy was hovering over his dick, which she held tightly in an upright position. She fit the head of his cock at her opening, then slowly lowered her hips, engulfing his length with her sizzling-hot cunt. As Donna impaled herself on her husband's throbbing rod, she threw her thick blonde hair back as she looked over her shoulder at Steve. They stared into each other's eyes, sharing a look of smoky lust, as she began to slowly work her body up and down. "God, you... are... the best," Donna gasped as they worked as one, his hips thrusting up to meet her downward plunge. Up and down, up and down, Donna rode Steve like a cowgirl, her head thrown back as her lust began to swell to a peak. As her climax built, she pulled her feet up under her and really began to ride him hard. Gasps, squeals and moans escaped her lips as the orgasm built until her back arched and a sharp cry burst from her lips. Donna shuddered and twitched as the orgasm flowed through her body. Steve just held her fully on his cock, perfectly still, while her climax began to ebb. When Donna was back on earth somewhat, Steve moved her up off his cock, and slid out from under her body. He positioned her on her knees, then climbed behind her, his rock-hard cock jutting in front of him. He paused for just a second and gazed down at his wife's wet gaping sex, thrusting back awaiting the return of his cock. "Mmmmmm, yeah, fuck me, baby," Donna purred. "Fuck me good, the way you always do." Steve didn't hesitate, but aimed the head of his dick at Donna's cunt and slid it in like a hot knife through butter. As he quickly got into a rhythm, he gripped her hips and surrendered to his lust. Coos, moans, gasps and cries filled the den as Steve and Donna let themselves go. Donna worked her body back on Steve's, trying to keep as much of his wonderful cock in her juicy cunt as possible. As she worked her sweaty body around her husband's pounding pole, she absently thought about how close she had come to losing forever the privilege of having sex with this man, this wonderful, sexy man who had never failed to give her pleasure. Even on the rare occasions when he'd had too much to drink and couldn't manage an erection, he'd pleasured her with his mouth, fingers, even his toes. Steve also idly thought about what they could have lost, and he knew in that moment that he'd made the right decision. And in their subconscious, it was clear that the whole episode, sordid as it was, had served at least one useful purpose. That was to help them restore some of the passion that had, over time, faded from their marriage. They had been coasting in their relationship, and it took a sudden, unforseen mistake on Donna's part to bring them both around to the realization that a marriage is fragile and needs to be nurtured one day at a time. Of course, at that moment, all either of them were thinking about was the glorious friction of Steve's cock in Donna's wet, velvety glove. Donna could feel another climax beginning to spike from the way Steve's cock was brushing her swollen clit with every inward push. She threw her head back and groaned, long and loud, as the orgasm burst through her body. Steve reached his hands around his wife's sweat-slick chest and filled them with her dangling tits, squeezing them and rolling the stiff nipples between his thumb and fingers. He could feel the tingle that spoke of a hard, rusty cumload that was ready to burst forth. But he willed himself to hold it back, as Donna twitched and shuddered from yet another climax. Donna threw her head in every direction as her body stayed at a high, orgasmic peak. She'd never felt anything like this in all of the years they had been together. In and out, in and out, Steve's cock was like a machine, working like a piston in his wife's drooling cunt. Faster and harder, Steve fucked his wife with absolute, utter abandon. If their earlier fuck had been all about catharsis, this one was all about redemption and renewal. As Donna thrashed about and moaned deliriously under him, Steve held back the tide as long as he could, but the ache in his groin became too much. With a gasp and a grunt, Steve pushed his cock in as far as he could, reaching depths he never knew possible, then let loose with a torrent of hot cum. He bathed Donna's insides with a seemingly-endless barrage of semen, so much that it foamed and dripped out her hole and down her legs. Finally, with a long, satisfied groan, Steve collapsed onto Donna's back and they rolled onto their sides, still panting in their passion. As his cock shriveled and slid wetly out of her distended pussy, Steve held his wife tightly and pressed his lips close to her ears. "Please, don't ever do anything like that again," he whispered. "I need you too much to have to live without you." "Honey, I'm a lot of things, not all of them good, but I'm not a fool," Donna whispered back, as she rolled onto her back and held her husband to her body. "I am very lucky to have a man like you, and I'm very lucky to have been given a second chance. Honestly, Steve, I would not have blamed you if you had thrown me out. I can't even imagine the hurt that I've caused you. I've received a wonderful and precious gift in your forgiveness, and I promise I won't let you down." Then they kissed again, softly, tenderly, the sign of a love reborn. At that moment, they both heard the rumbling of Steve's stomach, reminding them that they hadn't eaten anything all day. Steve stood up on shaky legs, stoked the fire a little and added a couple of logs. They went into the kitchen then and fixed another cup of coffee. Donna pulled out a frozen pizza and heated it up, and as they ate they discussed the mechanics of rebuilding their marriage. They both agreed that counseling might be a good idea, just to talk out some issues that may have lain dormant. Donna also wanted some answers to how and why she'd let Gil have his way so easily. She still couldn't figure it out, and she thought a counselor might give her some insights. They also agreed that they should give up drinking, or at the very least cut way back. Alcohol had lowered Donna's inhibitions that night and had rendered her vulnerable to Gil's seduction, and Donna was worried that if it could happen once, it could happen again. In every life there is a crossroads, where a person has to decide where to go and how to get there. No one would have blamed Steve Bellows if he had kicked Donna out of the house for committing adultery. Most men would have. But he'd made a promise that he'd give his wife one second chance, never dreaming that he might have to live up to it. When it came time to fulfill that promise, however, he'd honored it. Later that night, when they lay in bed, Steve gazed at the sleeping form of his wife. He thought about his beautiful lover, this human who had made a human mistake, but who had had the strength of character to step up and take responsibility for her actions, and who had shown courage enough to stand up to an evil man's pathetic plot. Yes, he thought, as he settled in and wrapped his arms around Donna's chest, she's my wife, and I think I'll keep her. One Slip: Judgement An ending to Patricia51’s classic story of a strong woman who found herself weak at a crucial time. Please read Patricia’s story on Literotica.com before reading this. And Patricia, forgive me if I have diluted the impact of your story. Donna stopped just inside the door to her husband’s office. Ignoring the light tan walls and the masculine leather and teak with which she had decorated it. His eyes had turned to her as she opened the door, his smile for her automatic and warm. As he watched his wife carefully close and lock the door behind her, something in her eyes caught his attention. They had been married fifteen years, through troubles and trials, and he knew her as well as she knew herself. His wife was deeply troubled. Without taking his eyes off Donna’s he keyed the intercom to his secretary’s desk. “If anyone needs me, Darlene, take a message. I’ll get back to them later. In the meantime my door is shut. Unless the Governor calls, I am not to be disturbed.” “Sure thing, boss,” she chirped back at him. After a short pause she added, “If there is anything I can do, anything at all, just tell me. I saw something in her eyes, too.” Donna hadn’t moved from the door as she listened to Steve’s conversation with Darlene. She was fighting hard to keep her composure. She wasn’t sure it was possible but she had to try. Jerkily she walked over to one of the dark red, leather easy chairs arranged around a low table in a corner of her husband’s office. After setting her large handbag on the table she tried to sit gracefully. To Steve’s eyes it looked like she fell, her legs unable to continue holding her. With a low curse, Steve was up from behind his desk, his long strides carrying him to his wife’s side. Kneeling beside her chair, he pulled her hands into his. After a pause he said in his low, gruff voice, “I’ve never seen you so upset, love. Whatever it is, we can work it out. Remember we are a partnership. Can I get you a drink from the bar, coffee, soda, is there anything you need.” “Oh God, Steve. A drink is the last thing I need. It’s part of why I’m in this mess,” she whispered. “Donna, take your time. As ominous as this may be, I love you... And you love me. Just tell me, please.” “I don’t know where to start, Steve. Monday at the party, today when Gil insisted I have lunch with him or even months or years ago. I guess I’ll just ramble. This is something I never, ever expected to have to face. It is something I never HAD to face until Monday.” Pausing a moment, Steve’s wife looked timidly at her husband. Seeing something in Steve’s eyes renewed her courage and she continued. “At the party, a lot of our friends were there, like we expected. I had a wonderful time, and I had one or two too many gin and tonics. That isn’t an excuse; it is just a fact. About 11 or 11:30 I had too much partying and stepped outside to get out of the smoke. I needed to get my feet under me, too. I knew if I had another drink I would probably need someone to drive me home. It had been great fun, and I was feeling blue because you had missed it. “It was cool outside and I was starting to shiver just a bit when Gil scared me to death. I hadn’t seen him at the party, though I’m sure he must have been there. Thinking about it now, I think he may have followed me outside… “Anyway,” Donna continued, “he saw I was cold and slipped his jacket around me. You know Gil and I flirt a little, all innocent and it’s been going on for years. Well, we teased one another a little and then he asked me to come see his new office. Did you know he just made First Vice President? But anyway he took me to see his office. It was really nice. Not as nice as yours honey, but I helped decorate yours.” Steve nodded, beginning to guess where this was going. Gil had a reputation with the ladies but he never suspected he would make a try for Donna. Donna took a big breath, leaned her head on the back of the chair, looked up at the ceiling and continued. “I took his jacket off, hanging it on a chair. You remember I was wearing that black sleeveless dress you like so well. You know the one, with the short, tight skirt and no sleeves. The one that ties behind my neck and my shoulders and back are bare. We were talking about his office and Gil casually put his hands on my bare shoulders. It felt really nice, and I was wishing you were there so I didn’t say anything. Besides it just felt like the flirting we had been doing for so long.” Donna took a big breath, letting it all out at once. Then she shut her eyes and continued, “Things got crazy then, and I don’t know exactly what happened but Gil was suddenly holding me and kissing me and his hands were all over my bare skin. I swear, Steve, I tried to push him away. But he didn’t pay any attention to me. I guess I wasn’t pushing too hard, I really didn’t think I needed to. Then suddenly it began feeling good. I can’t explain how it happened, it just did. “We were kissing and everything and I was trying to tell him to stop. Then he was peeling my dress off. Somehow I wasn’t able to stop him, couldn’t even stop myself. I swear Steve; it just came out of the blue. I never thought I had to worry about Gil, he was our friend: Your friend! When he picked me up and lay me back on his big desk. It was like a dream, a bad dream… Oh shit, Steve! Then he… I let him… I can’t say it! I’m so ashamed! I understand if you throw me out! It was nothing I ever expected to happen! Oh God, Steve!” Donna sobbed as she buried her face in her hands. “If someone had told me anyone could do that to me; and I’d just let them! I wouldn’t… couldn’t have believed it!” “And my god Steve but I even enjoyed it Not like with you, but I enjoyed it. I let him and I liked it and I hated it even when I was pushing back at him but I didn’t fight him and I’m so ashamed so sorry… I love you honey, but I let it happen! I know you will never forgive me! Please forgive me!” For a moment nothing was heard in the room but the ticking of the Regulator clock on the wall and Donna’s sobs. Steve was stunned, hurt deeply; but his mind had already gone to Gil’s reputation. He wasn’t shy in telling everyone how he could get “the girls” on their backs anytime he wanted to. Someway the bastard had gotten through Donna’s guard. But he didn’t think he knew the whole story. She hadn’t told him everything, why was she confessing now? “Donna,” Steve started, “why are you telling me this today? Why not Tuesday or any other day this week? Why didn’t you wait until we were home and alone tomorrow?” Taking a long, mystified look at his wife, “Why are you telling me this anyway, Donna? You have lived with this for almost a week. From what I hear you say it isn’t something you are proud of. Why didn’t you swallow it and keep it a secret? Tell me, Donna. It’s important.” Steve pulled his wife up out of the chair and helped her over to the couch where he sat beside her, pulling her against him, an arm around her shoulders. “I’ve seen you cry before, Donna. I’ve seen tears of joy, tears of anger. I’ve seen you cry from frustration, and I’ve seen you cry when you are filled with devastating sorrow. Remember when your sister’s baby died? You were sobbing like this, and your eyes got all bloodshot like they are now. That only happens when you feel a big hole in your heart and aren’t sure it will ever get filled up. So tell me, wife. What caused you to march into my office this afternoon and lay this on me?” In a little voice Donna said, while looking at her lap, “I’ve been trying to decide whether I could just live with this, Steve. I didn’t want to hurt you. For Christ’s sake, I don’t want to lose you! I could get along with nothing as long as I had you and the kids. I was, I am scared you will throw me out. I don’t know how I could live with that.” After a pause, she went on, “Gil called me today and insisted I have lunch with him. I met him at Sanderson’s at 1:00 PM. Thank God I had him meet me there! I didn’t want to go but when I thought about it, it made sense. I could tell him that what we did was a one-time thing, like it had never happened. I could tell him how bad I felt about what we did. I was going to make him understand that there was nothing between us. I was going to tell him he wasn’t even my friend any more if I had to.” She looked fiercely into Steve’s eyes, “But he wasn’t going to allow that to happen!” Despite her earlier claim that she didn’t need anything, Donna got up and got herself a bottle of water out of Steve’s hidden bar. Sitting back down, she looked into Steve’s eyes as she went on, “He has his office bugged, Steve. He took pictures of us, what we did, and he was going to show them to you and anyone else he thought of unless I did what he said. Steve, he told me he OWNED me! Oh, God…” and she broke down again but not for long. “I was really glad I had him meet me at Sanderson’s. He gave me an envelope with pictures in it!” “I told him never in a hundred years would I do what he said! Steve, he was trying to grab me and take the envelope away from me! Then David walked up to the table… He’s such a pussycat, but when Gil looked so far up to see his eyes he sure didn’t know that. He was so afraid of him it wasn’t funny! Gil just turned white! David walked me to my car and made sure Gil didn’t bother me again.” Mad as hell, Steve asked, “What pictures, Donna? Where are they?” “They are in my bag, Steve, but I don’t want you to see them! Please, don’t ask me to show them to you! I am so ashamed… But what he was doing was blackmail! And I remembered other women and some nasty divorces. Maybe they couldn’t do what he wanted either! I think he’s been doing this for a while.” After a long pause, she added, “The photos are in my bag, Steve. You can see them if you insist, but I am really ashamed of them and don’t want you to see them.” Steve looked at her a long time. She could see the questions in his eyes, the doubt, and the shaken trust. “Steve? There are some things I want to tell you. I didn’t ever want to have to say this, but now I have to. Don’t ever worry about another man being a better lover than you. I don’t think it could happen. And Gil certainly isn’t. God no! You are so kind and gentle, and when we make love, it is making love. It isn’t sex. It’s one of our ways of saying I love you and want only you. Do you understand, honey? “I don’t understand how I let this happen. If I had been stronger it wouldn’t have. But it will certainly never happen again. Whether you kick me or not, something like this will never happen again.” “What do you want us to do now, Donna?” Steve asked. “I want to call Darlene’s brother. You remember him? He’s a Lieutenant in the Sheriff’s office. What Gil tried to do was blackmail, and he has done it before. I want to turn it over to Buddy. I’m so ashamed of this, but he has to be stopped. And I’m afraid of what Gil will do if I try to ignore this. He isn’t the man we thought he was, Steve.” She waited until her husband gave a little not of acceptance. “Can I use your phone, dear?” Donna made her call, catching Darlene’s brother, Buddy just as he came in from a call. She explained what had happened and within thirty minutes Buddy was in Steve’s office taking Donna’s statement. Buddy called his office from Steve’s phone and started the wheels moving fast to obtain a search warrant for Gil’s office. That evening the deputies found several cameras hidden in his office. A small locked file cabinet/safe in a corner held over a dozen folders with similar photos to those Gil had taken of Donna. Along with the pictures he had kept detailed records of his activities with the women he had been blackmailing. Long into the night Steve lay awake, sleeping on his side, his back turned to Donna. This was a favorite position and he was sure his wife wouldn’t read anything into what might be called symbolically turning his back on her. With his eyes open, staring at the wall, he reviewed today’s shocker. He hadn’t expected it, could hardly believe it in fact. Still, he understood it. He had screwed up himself, six years before. It had been the one time, and it would never happen again. The guilt and grief he had endured had been just too tough. Hell, he still felt it sometimes! Now his wife was going through the same thing. But with Donna she had the added burden of the blackmail attempt. With it came the likelihood the mess would become at least semi-public knowledge. Thank god he had never told Donna what he had done. And she had been forced to confess to him. Now she would be terrified that he would be so outraged he would leave her. Well, if it had been an ongoing affair, he might easily have done so: But they had been life-partners too long for him not to see the anxiety she was gripped with. He smiled grimly. If he needed to punish her, what she was going through now was as good a way as any; better than most. Tearing the family apart wouldn’t solve anything; just add another layer of woe. He could tell her she had nothing to worry about, but she wouldn’t believe him. The only way was to live with her as they had been for the past fifteen years. He would treat her as he always had. Over time her fears would ease and he guessed their union would be stronger than ever. It was what he needed, too, to get beyond this: time and love. For now, they would be following the trials and tribulations of his former good friend. Probably the “trial” would be a criminal one. If at all possible he would keep Donna’s name out of it. There were certainly enough other women who had fallen victim to Gil’s depredations and one or two were so relieved to be free of him they were willing to testify. On the other hand, and he’d tell Donna this sometime, he had nothing but admiration for her courage. It would be a while before she could believe him, he’d tell her then. In the meantime he felt the tension in the heavenly body lying next to him. This was not a sleeping body. He’d better take advantage of it! Steve rolled over and began running his hands lightly over Donna’s body, sending shivers of pleasure wherever they touched. As he felt her relax, he leaned over and licked the nape of her neck, then gave it an open-mouthed kiss. He could feel her breath catch and her body arch as he did so. Donna rolled onto her back to be met by a hand tracing patterns on her upper chest, working slowly down to stroke and then gently knead her breasts. As her breathing sped up he fastened his open mouth on hers: Tasting her, loving her. When she began unconsciously rolling her hips he let a hand work its way down her flat belly, tracing patterns, spelling her name, spelling “I love Donna” on her skin. When her attention was fixed on the patterns he fastened his lips around a nipple. Gently suckling and tonguing, he soon had her moaning. He knew now her fears of being left were at least momentarily gone. Experience with his woman told him she could barely think at all. Pushing the blankets and sheet down as he worked, his lips and tongue leisurely worked their way down her belly. Reaching her mound, he tried to take it all into his mouth. The hairs were mildly unpleasant when they came loose in his mouth, but his wife’s obvious pleasure was well worth the mild discomfort. He’d been teasing her for years to shave, so he wouldn’t come away with hairs stuck between his teeth. Finally he moved down and engulfed her center in his mouth. Patiently and lovingly he played with her labia. Then working his tongue between their folds he began licking her slit. He paid particular attention to the slight rough area midway between where he clit now poked its way out and the channel placed for their ecstasy. As he felt her frustration he fixed his lips around that pearl while gently working two fingers inside her now sopping cunt. It took just a moment for her to reward him with a stunning orgasm. Before she could come down his shaft was embedded in her and he slowly fucked, in… then out: In… then out, over and over and over again. Steve couldn’t hold out for long, when he felt her channel begin to quiver and cling to his erection he began a faster tempo. Donna rewarded him with unintelligible syllables of love while her body worked to keep up with him. It came as a surprise to both of them, or maybe no surprise at all, when his wife came apart beneath him, forcing him to release and pump himself into her depths. Afterward they lay in one another’s arms, kissing and mumbling barely intelligible words of love. If the kids hadn’t gotten up they probably would have lain in bed until noon the next day. After all, what are Saturdays for? One Slip Over The Line "One Slip" by Patricia51 Patricia51 writes great stories. One "One Slip" was the tale of a faithful wife's one-time slip up. There really wasn't anything wrong with the story -- in fact, it's actually very good. So where did P51 go wrong? She didn't do anything wrong, unless you count that she left it wide open for hacks like me to write alternative endings -- except when I post the wrong version. Attempt #2 * Donna moved efficiently through her house, cleaning and straightening -- straightening and cleaning. It was in these simple acts of daily life that she wrapped herself in a shadow of dull comfort. Get up, husband to work, kids to school, clean and/or shop, kids coming home, husband returning from work, meals, homework, TV, and then all off to bed. Each day pretty much the same as the one before. There was no question of having enough to do; the holidays were fast approaching. The displays were already in the stores. A growing list of things to do: a house to be decorated, cards to be bought, signed and mailed, the coordination of party invitations and responses. The kids were getting excited -- Donna was getting exhausted. She stood in her living room wondering if this year's Christmas tree should be near the front window or over by the bookcase. The only problem with the bookcase location was that the tree would block most of the family photos on display. She loved her pictures. Her focus slowly centered on one photo in particular; one taken during her honeymoon in Hawaii many years ago. Her husband Steve was behind her, embracing her. Her vision tightened as she looked at her face, her smile, and her eyes; eyes alive with love, happiness, and fulfillment. The photo mocked her. ----------------------------------- Donna felt her body climb the familiar road to release. With her heels hooked over her husband Steve's shoulders, his rhythmic thrusting, and the slow circling of his thumb on his clitoris: her orgasm passed over from almost into surely inevitable. Oh God! Donna struggled against the increase of stimulation. Steve had repositioned his finger along the shaft of his cock. A slight curl upwards had his fingertip rubbing back and forth across her G-spot. The increased stimulation was too much; too intense. She tried to push the finger out of her before she lost control completely -- too late. Donna's hips bucked wildly. An intense heat flared from deep within her spreading outward as her attention centered in her pulsating pelvis. She heard her herself whimpering - a series of sharp inhalations, a long held breath - then crying out. Great waves of pleasure swept through her: on and on and on. She floated is a disconnected ecstasy. It took forever to return to normal awareness. Donna lay quietly in the echoing reverberations of another multiple-orgasm fuck. She felt a familiar trickle as Steve's semen begin to leak out of her. Turning her head she gazed at her husband. Steve's soft snoring confirmed his "little death." How could she not have noticed Steve's orgasm? She stared up into the dark ceiling of their bedroom as if trying to see her way out of this. Donna loved the man beside her with all her heart. And she knew he loved her too -- some might say more than she deserved. She had every reason to be happy; family, friends, and financial security. Everything seemed so perfect. Donna sighed as she felt the darkness envelop her. If everything was so perfect, why was she so unhappy? --------------------------------- "Our sex life?" Donna stirred her coffee into a dull beige uniformity. She lifted the cup to her lips, sipped, and put the cup down with a sigh. Looking across the table at Becky, her friend and confidante, Donna shrugged and then smiled. "We're having sex; lot's of sex - great sex. Becky, I know what you're thinking and you're wrong. Sex is not the problem. I mean I know it was the problem...with Gil. God I don't know. It's just..." Donna looked down and sighed. Becky waited patiently for her friend to continue. "Here I am with this great guy, who loves me so much that he has forgiven me for cheating on him. And I'm - God I don't know what I am right now - other than so deeply unhappy. You want to know how screwed up I am Becs...the better the sex...the harder I cum, the emptier I feel afterwards. How messed up is that?" Donna's whole being slumped floorward. "Tell me what's different about the sex before your affair versus the sex after." "It wasn't an affair Rebecca. It was once! One time, one stupid mistake. Once!" "I was trying to be..." Becky flashed a tight smile. "Okay how was your sex life before your one night stand?" "Oh God, that sounds even worse then affair. It's not the before that's the problem, it's now. It's the way..." "What? Say it, Donna." Becky looked earnestly at her friend encouraging her to speak. "It's like...Steve treats me like a problem at work. Because I cheated, because I had sex with another man, well then the problem must be sex. It's something to be solved. Steve is doing all of these different sex techniques and practices to make me cum. It's like if I don't have more then one orgasm...God, I can't believe I'm going to say this but sometimes one orgasm is enough." Becky sipped her coffee as she watched her friends reaction, or lack thereof. "When was the last time you said "no"? Donna simply blinked. "So you submit to him every time he wants sex -- is that it? You don't refuse him, no matter what? Was that the way it was before?" Becky waited her friend out until Donna finally shook her head. "No, so you're telling me that right now, your husband has complete control of your sex life?" "I...well...I really haven't...I wouldn't quite put it that way Becky." Donna felt herself becoming even smaller. "Look Donna, this may seem overly simplistic but men are wired to spray their seed around. So since they're always thinking about sex and they think they need to have lots of sex. When what they really need is love, they are desperate for fulfillment. It's our job to fulfill their needs so that they don't want something, or someone, else. So, is Steve getting what he needs from you or is he just getting what he wants?" Donna sat silent her face a mask of mild confusion. Becky slapped her open palm on the counter. "Donna, you've lost Cunt Confidence!" "Excuse me?" Donna looked at the older woman; a blush of astonishment spreading across her face. "Cunt Confidence -- somehow in this whole mess you've lost yours. I don't know why I didn't see this earlier. What we need to do is find out how to get yours back." Becky stood up and began to pace back and forth. "I really don't think..." Becky pulled her friend up from her chair and led her to a hallway mirror. "Look at yourself. You're beautiful, you have a great body Donna, what's not to like? I recall you telling me that you were one of those "stick-figure" girls growing up; all elbows and knees right? Do you remember how it felt when you finally got your boobs! One day you're walking around and guys are ignoring you. Then "bam" they think you have "pretty eyes, nice hair, blah, blah, blah." You discover that you have something guys really want. They want your body. "You start dating and you begin to fool around with guys. You realize that you have a power over them. You have the power to fulfill them. You have the power to frustrate them. You have the power to control them. Basically, a woman with Cunt Confidence can make a guy do whatever they want? Carry my books, take me here, I want to do this. A woman with Cunt Confidence is calling the shots. She's in control and more importantly, more importantly Donna; the guy knows that the woman is in control. Guys act the way you want in order to have access to you. That knowledge, that power - that's Cunt Confidence." "Really Becky, you think everything comes down to sex and how to manipulate men with it. You should write a book, Cunt Confidence for Dummies, or Discovering Your Inner Slut." "Interesting choice of words, look in the mirror Donna. Is that the term you would use to describe yourself -- slut? Isn't that what this is all about? Isn't that how you see yourself? Is that how you'd describe how you acted with Gil? Were you a slut when he stripped you naked and shoved his cock in your mouth? Were you a slut when you were begging for it Donna? Were you a slut when Gil fucked you in his office? Were you?" Donna nodded her head. "Yes." "Donna, Donna, Donna." Rebecca paused. "No Donna...a slut doesn't have Cunt Confidence. A slut is powerless, just like any other kind of addict. Look at the difference between a casual drinker and an alcoholic. Say you're at a party, you have a couple of drinks, you're relaxed, having fun -- you're confident of who you are and what you are -- no problems. You're in control. "But what if you get shit-faced drunk? Waking up, not knowing what you did, or who you did it with? There's no fun there, there's no confidence, nothing. "For whatever reason, the timing, the coincidence of it all, something happened that got out of control. You know what this is like? It's like a car crash. After the crash, you can't help but think about all of the decisions made and actions taken that led right up to the point of impact. Any one of them might have changed the timing, and that could have changed the outcome. Do you see where I'm going with this Donna?" Donna's nod was non-committal. "You can argue as much as you want. You can say you never fantasized about being with another man. You can say that being with another man never occurred to you. But there's no disputing reality. Everything came together in a way that was unavoidable and for that one evening -- in your own words - you were a slut. And there's no denying it because it happened Donna. It happened." "If you have a car accident, even a bad one, you might for a moment say that you're a bad driver. But do you stop driving and become a passenger for the rest of your life? No, of course not, you get back behind the wheel and you drive, more carefully perhaps, more consciously, but you drive -- you get your confidence back. "Donna, you had the equivalent of a sexual car crash. You were a slut for that one night -- it happened. But instead of learning from your mistake and getting back behind the wheel you're letting someone else drive you around." "I appreciate what you're trying to do Becky, I really do..." Rebecca waved Donna quiet. "Answer me this Donna. Are you doing things sexually that the two of you didn't do before? Anal is all the rage these days, does Steve fuck you in your butt?" "Becky! What Steve and I do in the privacy of..." "I'll take that as a "yes." Has he tied you up? Spanking, toys...has he suggested bringing someone..." "Stop it. Stop it right there." Donna squared up and glared at Rebecca. "I am not ever going to cheat on my husband again...got it! I am not some kind of stupid little slut who is unable to..." "That's Cunt Confidence!" Becky held up her hands. "You draw the line. You define the boundaries. You call the shots." Becky walked back to the kitchen and rinsed out her coffee cup. "Thanks for the coffee Donna. Think about it. I've got to go, but be sure to call me if you need a booster shot." ------------------------------ "The kids are in bed." Donna leaned against the door of Steve's home office. "And we need to talk." Steve finished typing and slowly looked over his shoulder. "Okay Donna what do we...wow that is some dress? You look fantastic. I don't think you've ever seen it before. Did you just buy it?" Donna shifted to the other side of the doorway causing the slinky black dress she was wearing to move revealing across her body. "No, actually I've had it for awhile. I did buy it with you in mind. I bought it so that you might notice me. Me, the woman you fell in love with. Me, the woman you wanted to spend the rest of your life with." "I'm sure I would have noticed you in that dress." Steve closed his laptop. "I bought it because...well at the time I bought it we were both so involved; you with the business me with the kids. We, you and me, weren't really seeing one another very much -- even when we were sleeping side by side." Donna felt her heart begin to pound. "I did wear it once before, though you never saw it. It had been a long week and I was really looking forward to spending some time with you -- you and me time. I wanted to look special; I wanted you to want me. I wanted you to need me. I was dressed to impress." Donna smiled sexily. "There I was primed and ready. I was horny. And then you called, and said you had an emergency and couldn't make it. I was wearing this dress that I had gotten for you, because I wanted my man to want his woman. I didn't want to go without you. But you insisted that I go. So I went - with Gil. I didn't realize until it was too late that I was having an emergency of my own." Steve nodded. "Donna, I love you, and I forgave you. How many times do I have to say that I..." "This isn't about you forgiving me Steve! It's about me forgiving myself. Please be quiet and just listen to me. When Gil saw me he looked at me like -- I'm trying to tell you how Gil saw me - as a woman; not as a wife, not as a mother. He saw a woman in need of a man." Donna wavered and she felt her resolve begin to ebb away. "I didn't fight him Steve. I didn't even resist. You've seen the photos. I wasn't seduced. I gave myself to him with hardly a second thought." Steve stood and turned towards his wife fire in his eyes -- a primal fire. There was rage there, but surprisingly Donna also saw arousal. Donna suddenly understood something about what had happened that night. Something that in its raw, naked power - frightened her. "Nothing else mattered when I was fucking Gil." Newfound strength filled her voice. "Yes Steve, I fucked Gil just as hard as he fucked me. I was willing to let him do whatever he wanted. I was his slut that night. "It was only after it was over that the guilt hit me -- terrible guilt. I was devastated by what I had done, by what I had become that night. I wanted to die. I knew I had to tell you. But how do you break someone's heart? I was about to tell you when Gil threatened to blackmail me if I didn't become his whore. Suddenly, I had no choices anymore. I had to stop Gil. So I confessed to you what I'd done." "Donna ..." Steve took a step towards her but she held her hand up to stop him. "After I told you I was petrified that you would leave me. I was ashamed, humiliated, and I vowed to myself that I would willing do anything to make you keep me." "Donna, I would never have..." "Let me finish Steve. That was when I became your slut. Letting you do to me, whatever you wanted -- never saying no. I let you treat me like a slut. I've allowed things to happen that I would have never..." Donna shook her head. "So, here I stand in this dress. It was supposed to bring a wife and her husband closer together. Instead it nearly tore us apart. This is my slut dress Steve. This dress symbolizes what I became that night and what I am to this day. First I was Gil's slut. Then I was yours. Is this what you want Steve? If this is how you want me -- a slut -- then I'll keep this dress." Donna's voice began to rise. "But if you want me to be your wife, if you want me..." Steve grabbed a pair of scissors from his desk and leapt across the room. He knelt and grasped the hem of Donna's dress. He cut it and pulled mightily as he stood up. The dress ripped in half and fell to the floor. Donna gasped in absolute shock. Steve pulled her bra forward and snipped between the cups pushing it off her arms. Kneeling again Steve he hooked his finger through the front panel of her panties and cut her panties off. He wasn't done just yet. "What are you doing?" Donna gasped as the snip, snip, snip of the scissors continued. Steve led his naked wife to his desk. "This started with you fucking Gil in his office. It ends with you fucking me here in mine. I want you to do everything to me that you did with Gil." Donna knelt before her husband and took his cock in her mouth. -------------------------------- Steve awoke to the incredible feeling of his erect cock in Donna's mouth. "You don't have to do that babe." Donna looked up at her husband and smiled as well as she could with her mouth full. "I want to...I like doing this for my husband." She resumed her slow sucking of his cock. Every few sucks Donna would stop and lick the head of Steve's cock. "Steve, thank you for doing what you did last night. I didn't understand why you cut off my pubic hair until you told me the story of women who fraternized with the Germans during World War II. I guess when you punished me it finally allowed me to accept you're forgiving me -- if that makes any sense." She resumed her sucking. "Yes, it makes sense - oh God -- to me. It just came to me -- oh fuck -- speaking of cumming." Donna stopped sucking again. "And when their hair grew back, everything was back to normal more or less." "Yeah, I suppose so, why do...?" Steve saw a wild twinkle in Donna's eyes. She rose up and straddled his hips. He looked down at her hand around his cock; the sight of his cock entering her was a guaranteed turn-on. He gasped in amazement, "You shaved it all off!" Donna settled slowly onto her husband's erection until he was fully engulfed within her. She slowly leaned back until the joining of their bodies was completely exposed. "Do you like it? Do you like the way I look?" Steve reached out and trailed his fingers across the smooth skin of her mons. The naked looked of her swollen labia and erect clitoris was incredibly arousing. A fingertip circled her clit until Donna moaned. "I like it Donna. I like it a lot." Donna leaned forward pinning Steve's arms above his head. "Last night you accepted me back as your wife." She leaned down and kissed him. "After we fucked on your desk, you carried me to this bed, our bed, and we made love. You fell asleep pretty quickly, I couldn't sleep I was so happy. I finally fell asleep happy and when I woke up this morning -- I was still happy. I went to pee and felt my stubbly hair. Then I remembered the rest of that story about those women during the war. So I shaved it all off." Steve looked at his wife and realized that any chance of truly understanding her was futile. His confusion was evident and Donna kissed him again. "I shaved it off for a reason and I need you to let me say all of this before you say anything, okay? I am happy to be your partner again, happier than you can imagine. But, at the same time, some of the things we did during the last couple of months, I kind of liked. And I want to go back to being your wife and if that means everything goes back to the way it was before that night -- I'm fine with that. But I shaved because there is a part of me that liked being that way for you. Part of me liked being a slut -- your slut." "Okay, just tell me what you liked and what you..." "No." "Donna, you just said you liked some of the things we did." "Yes." "But you won't tell me..." Steve felt a surge of blood into his cock and he felt it swell even more. "Oh. Oh I get it. I guess we'll just have to figure this out as we go then?" Donna bit her lower lip and nodded. "Yes." Steve shifted his hips and rolled over on top of Donna. Her eyes were wild with desire. He pulled out of her as she whimpered in frustration. He sat on the corner of the bad and called her to him. "Turn around, straddle my legs and look at us in the mirror." Donna turned and saw their reflection in the sliding mirrored doors of their closet. She saw her legs straddling her husbands, his cock pointed at her waiting cunt. She lowered her body onto his. One Slip Over The Line "Yes?" "Oh God yes." One Slip: Question of Intent This story is my ending to the story "One Slip" written by Patricia51. In order to understand what I have written, you absolutely must read her story first. I have merely taken up the challenge that Patricia made at the end of her story to carry the story on to its conclusion. Thanks, Patti! I was struck immediately by Donna and her decision to cheat. Was it intentional? Was it an accident? Was Gil a skillful drug wielding hypnotist--a kind of Svengali in a business suit? Or was what happened something that was, at least in part, intentional? This is my take on the situation. I hope you enjoy it. ********** "She opened the outer doors to Steve's office. She paused with her fingers on the handle of the inner door. She could still turn away, go back to Gil and hope that she could somehow persuade him to drop his plan. "No," she angrily thought to herself. She hadn't been the first woman tricked by that man but she was going to be the last. "Donna took a deep breath. She straightened her shoulders, blinked back a threatened tear from her eye and reached deep inside herself to a reservoir of strength she had never known she had. With her head held high, in spite of the guilt and anguish in her heart, she opened the door and marched inside." -----from "One Slip" by Patricia51 *********** Donna did not immediately see Steve. She took several steps into the office, but he was not at his usual place behind the desk. She stood in bewilderment in front of the empty desk, hoping against hope that she could continue to hold it together until her husband returned from wherever it was that he had gone. Then two familiar arms snaked around her waist, the hands caressing her stomach as they moved upward until they cupped her breasts. "Hello gorgeous." Even though it was Steve's voice, Donna tensed. "How's my beautiful wife?" Steve nuzzled his face into the long blonde hair flowing down Donna's back until he found that special place on her neck. Steve knew how to use that spot to give her shivers of delight. Between kisses, he whispered, "I probably haven't told you lately just how much I love you." Steve's words cut like a dagger. Wincing in pain, Donna pulled free. "Steve, we need to talk!" "I know. I know. I keep telling you that I'm going to take more time and I mean it. I promise, I'm going to back off so that we can spend more time together." Donna turned so she could face her husband. "But Steve..." Cutting her off, her husband pulled her into a gentle hug. "I'm sorry, I really am, and I promise! No more 80 hour weeks! Just bear with me until the Goldman-MacCormack Building is complete. Then we'll have your parents take the kids for a couple weeks so that the two of us can take that trip to Aruba we've been talking about." "Steve, stop it!" Donna again pulled free of her husband's arms. "This is important! We have got to talk!" At that moment the phone rang, providing Donna with another obstacle. "Let it go, Steve." Donna reached for her husband's arm as he hurried to answer the phone. "Please don't answer it. This is really important." "I can't, honey. I've been expecting a call back from Clinton MacCormack. Things are at a critical stage right now." "But Steve..." Donna's protests were ignored as her husband picked up the phone and took the call. Her nerves barely held her together as she paced across the office. This is how it had come to be between Steve and Donna. Something always got in the way, and more often than not, that something was Bellows Construction. It wasn't that way when they got married and started the company. It was a partnership in those days. Fifty-fifty on everything. They even signed papers making them joint owners. Donna, of course, had to quit working for the business eight years ago when she got pregnant with Brandon. Shortly afterwards, Bellows Construction took off. First, there was the Henderson Mutual Building downtown. Then Gil Gentry was instrumental in seeing that Steve and Donna's upstart little company was chosen for the Warren Fidelity Building where he worked. After that Bellows Construction soared. The only problem was that work took up so must time that Donna and the kids rarely saw him. Oh, Steve loved her! Of that, Donna had no doubt. When Donna stopped working, Steve made a commitment to reserve Saturday nights for themselves. It was their time, important time, and it was precious to both of them. It just seemed to Donna that work took up more and more of his time. Steve was indispensable--or at least he believed that he was. Maybe things would have been different if Donna had not quit working for Bellows Construction after the kids were born. Maybe.... A gnawing ache in the pit of her stomach told Donna that it was going to be no different today. This was the one time that she absolutely had to divert Steve's attention from the business. She'd worked her courage up to tell Steve all about what happened, to beg his forgiveness, to plead for a second chance. It terrified her to think that she might work her courage up again. She'd just have to get Steve to stop and listen to her now! Suddenly, Steve's phone conversation brought Donna back to reality. "Fifteen minutes. Can you give me fifteen minutes, Clinton? Bill and I can meet you at the airport in fifteen minutes. We can get this whole thing straightened out before you get to the meeting in Cincinnati. ... Good! Have Jamal bring his figures so we can compare. I think that as soon as Bill and I go over the budget and clarify spec's, we can put your minds at rest. ... Great, we'll meet you at the airport! Just don't make any decisions until we get there. ... Fifteen minutes! See you in a few!" Steve tossed the received back into its cradle as he started toward the door. "Gotta go. Sorry I can't talk now." "But Steve, we have to talk! It can't wait! I did something that..." Steve stopped briefly at the door. "It'll have to wait, honey. This Goldman-MacCormack project is about to go to hell. Bill and I have to fly to Cincinnati with MacCormack and put out the fire." "But you can't go, Steve. I need you; we have to talk." "Tomorrow. We should be home early tomorrow morning; we can talk then." With tears of frustration in her eyes, Donna watched her husband hurry down the hall toward Bill Bryant's office. Donna slumped to the floor and broke into tears. Later! Her world was coming apart and her husband told her that they'd talk later! It seemed like only a few seconds later that Donna felt the gentle touch of a hand on her shoulder. She whirled around, thankful that Steve had come back, but instead found herself looking into the concerned eyes of Darlene Bryant. "Men!" Darlene said with a sigh. "They can be such assholes." She knelt beside her friend and gave her a reassuring hug. As Donna let the mixed tears of pain, guilt, and frustration flow, Darlene whispered, "I'm sorry, girlfriend. I know I'm not supposed to eavesdrop, but I was worried about you. I could tell something was up when you came in. I can't believe Steve couldn't see it. I was so mad that I almost threw a stapler at him the way he flew out of here." Donna took a deep breath and let it out slowly. As she started to get to her feet, she said, "Thank's Darlene. I'll be okay." Darlene grabbed Donna by the wrist and pulled her back down. "Not so fast! You going to tell me what's up, or am I going to have to beat it out of you? A little while ago you asked whether Rich was still on still with the sheriff. You want to explain to me what that was about? If you're in trouble..." She gave Donna's arm another reassuring squeeze. It was as though a dam burst. Finally Donna was free to talk about what had happened with Gil. All of her pent up anger and guilt gushed forth. She handed the envelope filled with pictures to her best friend and shared the entire tawdry tale from beginning to end. Part way through, Darlene got up to call her brother and sister, inviting them over to hear the story. Then she rejoined Donna on the floor to hear the rest of the story. When she had finished, Donna wiped the last remaining tear from her eye and said, "I can't believe that bastard! And to think that Steve and I thought of him as a friend. I'd like to...Grrrrr!" Donna clenched her fists and pantomimed shredding some portion of Gil's anatomy. Donna again started to speak, but Darlene cut her off. "Back up, girlfriend! Let me clear up a few things. Are you mad a Gil for the sex, the blackmail, or both?" "Everything!" Donna spat the words out dripping with venom. "God! The nerve of that son of a bitch! He wanted to make me his own private company whore!" "So you're telling me that Gil seduced you, that you really didn't want the sex. He forced himself on you and you didn't enjoy it." Donna blinked in surprise and leaned back on her hands, drawing even her feet away from Darlene. "Whose side are you on?" "I'm on yours, Donna, but if you're going to fix this, then you need to be honest with yourself." Darlene pulled a picture from the assortment that had an especially clear view of Donna's face. Holding it up for her friend to see, Darlene said, "I don't know about you, but it sure looks to me as though the woman in this picture is really enjoying herself. If you show this to Steve and try to tell him that Gil seduced you, he'll call you a liar." Donna tried not to look at the picture, but wherever she turned her eyes, Darlene found a way of putting the picture in front of them. Darlene continued to sort through the stack of pictures. "Damn girl! This is a still picture, but I can see the movement. You're arching your hips up to him. He's not the only one moving here. Even your face says 'I'm having great sex'." Donna sighed and dropped her eyes to her lap. "I didn't go to that party planning to cheat on Steve. I never gave it a thought--not even when Gil came outside looking for me. It wasn't until we kissed ... I knew it was wrong; I tried to stop myself" Donna wiped a tear from her eye. "It just happened." "So you're saying Gil had no part in all this?" Donna shook her head. "Gil did seduce me. I haven't any doubt of that." She wiped a tear from her cheek, and in a whisper, said, "But I didn't make him work very hard. I wanted it to happen almost as badly as he did." "Do you have feelings for him?" Donna opened her eyes in horror. "Oh God no! Gil is a flirt and he's good to look at, but he's married. Kristin and Gil are--were--our friends. Having an affair was a mistake, a terrible mistake." "So why cheat at all?" Darlene shook her head. "God! You and Steve are the last people I thought would have problems." Donna averted her eyes sheepishly. "I know." She silently played with her finger for a moment. "Like I said, I didn't go to the party expecting to cheat on Steve. It's just that Steve and I have grown apart. Sometimes it seems as though Steve is more in love with this business than he is with me. I know he spends a lot more time thinking about it than he does me." "So have you and Steve talked about how you feel?" "No. My biggest mistake in judgement wasn't having sex with Gil, it was not being honest with my husband--and myself. Until Friday night I don't even think I knew how far apart Steve and I had become. Now I've lost him completely." Tears again began to flow down Donna's cheek. As Darlene comforted her friend, her brother Rich and his wife Sara arrived. With the skill of a crack reported, Darlene brought them up to speed on Donna's mistake as well as the sick plans Gil Gentry had for her. "Can you get a search warrant and check his office?" Darlene asked when she came to the conclusion of the seamy story. "Better yet, can you have that slime ball arrested?" Rich slowly shook his head. "It's doubtful. I Know the judges in this district. They're not going to sign a search warrant with only Donna's complaint. It would sound like this was an affair gone bad, a cheating wife trying to make it up to her husband. Sara or I could go talk with this guy, but not only will he deny everything but it would tip him off. We'd need more proof." "But what about Sue Dalgreen?" Donna sniffed. "I'd bet my life that Gil did the same thing to her." "I'll check her out," Sara replied. "I should be able to get her to talk. I've done things like this before. In the meantime, though, I have another idea. Are you up to doing a little police work, Donna?" "I am if it'll put that son of a bitch behind bars where he belongs!" "Good! And when is the earliest that you expect Bill and Steve to come back." "Tomorrow," Darlene interjected, "and I'm going to throttle him as soon as I see him. He ran out of here like he was going to a nine-alarm fire. He didn't even notice how upset his wife was." Sara rested her hand on Donna's arm. "You said that Gil wanted you to show up for work tonight at 7:00, is that correct?" "Yes, but I can't do that!" "And I don't want you to. I want you to call Gil. Tell him you couldn't confess to Steve. Tell him you're afraid of what Steve will do. Then ask if you can get together tonight and talk--just the two of you. If he pushes, tell him that you're not ready for more. If you need to, try to convince him that you're still trying to deal with the fact that you had real feelings for him. Work his ego, but just get him to agree to meet you--alone." Donna wiped her eyes. For the first time it felt as though she were doing something. It might not save their marriage, but at least she would be involved in nailing Gil. "We'll have you wear a wire--a microphone. All you have to do is to get him to talk. Make him say something about the blackmail or about what he wants you to do with his customers." Donna sighed. "Sara, it'll never work." "Why not?" "If I know Gil, he'll have me undressed within the first five minutes. He'll find whatever bug you've hidden on me." "Not a problem," Sara said with a smile. "I have a purse out in the van that's already wired. I've used it on a couple undercover investigations. It's got a very sensitive mike. We'll be able to hear every word." Donna had given a great deal of thought about how to dress tonight. If her outfit was too sexy, she would appear too interested. On the other hand, she had no interest in antagonizing Gil any more than he already was. She settled on a nice two piece Brooks Brothers suit. The skirt ended just below the knees and when matched with her low-heeled pumps, it was perfect. It would have the conservative, I'm-not-helpless look she wanted to project. At 6:00 sharp, and with Sara at her side, Donna dropped Brandon off to spend the night with Darlene and Bill. Then she left Abigail and the baby with her parents and headed off to Gil's home. Gil Gentry and his wife lived in one of the nicer condominiums along the riverfront. Donna and Steve always wondered how it was that Gil could afford a place so luxurious. Now she knew! "I don't know if I can go through with this," Donna whispered as they waited for a traffic light to change. "The thought of him touching me makes my skin crawl." "You're stronger than you think, Donna," Sara replied. "After all, you already did the hardest part. You took the whole story to Steve." "Big deal! Steve wouldn't even listen! My big confession amounted to squat!" "But you were going to tell him everything and accept the consequences." "Yes, but I never got the chance. As usual, the business was more important than my concerns." Sara shook her head. "Makes no difference what Steve's response was. You did the hard part by deciding to tell him everything--even knowing what his reaction would likely be." She gave Donna's arm a gentle squeeze. "You're a lot stronger than you think. Besides, all you need to do is get Gil talking--get him to brag. Once we have that on tape, your job's done." "Then just promise to get me out of there before he gets me into bed. If it goes that far, you'd better be prepared to arrest me, too, because I'll castrate the bastard." "Trust me, Donna! It won't go that far." Sara abruptly pointed to a parking lot next to a pharmacy. "Pull in that parking lot. This is where you go on alone. Don't forget, though, Rich and I are in the van right behind you and we're listening to every word that's said." Donna took a deep breath and tried to force a smile. "Just know that I will hear every word you say. Rich alerted everyone on duty at the Sheriff's Office tonight as to what's going down. All you need to do is call for help and we'll be on top of it like frosting on a cake." A cloud of butterflies swarmed in Donna's stomach as she turned into the parking lot to Gil's condominium. Cheating once was bad enough. What she seemed a thousand times worse. Donna shook her head. That wasn't true. If Steve was going to divorce her, he'd do it on the basis of what she'd already done. This was for her! Before the night was over, she was going to see that Gil Gentry was behind bars where he belonged. Out of the corner of her eye, Donna saw Rich and Sara's van slowly pull into a parking place in the far corner of the parking lot. The cavalry have arrived! Gil Gentry was going down. Donna walked at a deliberate pace as she made her way to the front door of Gil's condo. She remembered the last time she had made the walk. Steve was not only at her side, but they walked hand-in-hand. It made her sad to think that Steve may never again want to even touch her. "Well, sweetheart!" Gil said as he opened the door, a smug smile covering his face. "I didn't really think you'd come!" "Did I really have a choice?" Donna retorted. Gil chuckled as he held the door open for Donna. "Not really. But still, coming here was your idea, not mine." "Is Kristin home tonight or is she conveniently out?" "Kristin's travel plans are rarely convenient. The truth is that she is attending a seminar in San Francisco. She will be away until tomorrow night. That leaves the two of us with a whole evening and nothing to do." Donna shook her head, not certain what to say. She needed to find a line of conversation that would make Gil spill his guts without making him suspicious. Clutching the purse as though it were her security blanket, Donna followed Gil into the condominium's great room where Gil had a bottle of Johannisberg Riesling chilling in a bucket next to the sofa. "A fancy imported wine already uncorked," Donna cooed, irony dripping from her voice. "It doesn't look to me as though you had much doubt that I'd come." "I had hopes. I also knew that a slut like you would be back. After all, every bitch comes back to its owner with its tail between its legs when she's hungry. Isn't that true my pet?" Donna shook her head. "Gil, you really are a bastard! Do you know that?" "And you screwed up my plans tonight! You were supposed to be meeting with someone else right now, but I managed to smooth things over. You'll make it up to him next week with he'd back in town." "How am I supposed to do that?" Gil simply smiled and poured two glasses of wine, handing one to Donna. "I have to say that your choice of clothes tonight is interesting. It's a little too 'business professional' for me, my pet, but you always look beautiful." Donna felt as though Gil's eyes were drinking her dry as they slowly scanned her from foot to head, stopping at significant points for extra refreshment. "I have to say that I have a few clients who would think this look to be an absolute turn on. It's definitely not my cup of tea, though. I prefer my little slut to wear something a lot more sexy and teasing." Gil took a long sip of his wine. "You know, of course, you didn't have to get all dressed up just for me. This is a party of two--and we aren't going to be dressed for very long." One Slip: Question of Intent "Look, Gil you don't want to do this. You and Steve have always been close. You've known each other forever." Donna carefully laid the purse down in the center of the coffee table praying that the microphone would get good reception from there. "I mean, he's your best friend, for God's sake. Don't do this, Gil!" "Oh yes! Good old Stevie! And to think that his pretty, prim and proper faithful little wifie is my own private slut." His attempt at cheap irony was failing miserably, but as far as Donna was concerned, he was excelling at being a pompous ass. She smiled inside. That meant he was beginning to take the bait. "I'll feel so guilt when she has her classy little lips wrapped around my cock--now strip." "But Gil," Donna sat on the sofa and patted the spot next to her with her hand. "I came here to talk about the rules. I..." "Strip, sweetie. I can't hear you very well. I think your clothes are getting in the way." "Gil, I..." "Master says strip, pet, so strip," Gil snarled. Donna's mind raced, frantically searching for some way to get Gil to incriminate himself while she kept her clothes on. Gil pulled Donna back to her feet and slid his hands under her jacket. "I still can't hear anything, pet. Maybe I need to help get these clothes out of the way." His hands massaged her breasts momentarily before they slid toward the line of buttons at the front of her blouse. As his fingers slid under the enclosure and began to grip the silk of the blouse, Donna shrieked, "No! Don't rip it! Don't tear my blouse! I'll take it off if you want me to!" Gil grinned and slid his hands back to Donna's breasts, squeezing them roughly. "Good girl! You're learning. Now strip for Master." Though she was seething inside, Donna tried her best to hide it. Gil's arrogance only made her more determined. She was going to do whatever was required of her in order to put Gil Gentry behind bars. With slow determination she slid her jacket off, folded it, and laid it on a chair. She continued her leisurely pace as she removed her blouse and bra, folding them and putting them with her jacket. "Ugh!" Gil groaned as Donna kicked off her heels and slid her skirt down her legs. "For Christ's sake, loose the fucking pantyhose! God, I though you were smarter than that." The venom on Gil's voice caused Donna to freeze in place. "Get 'em off!" He took a step forward. "Or do you need me to help." Donna skimmed the pantyhose and slipped out of them. "Here, I'll take them," Gil insisted, reaching a hand toward the object of his disgust. As soon as they were in his hands, he jabbed a fingernail through the nylon and ripped a huge hole. "When you're with me or on assignment for me, you are never to wear pantyhose. As a matter of fact, don't ever wear them--even when you're out with little Stevie. From now on any time I see you, I'm going to check. If you're wearing pantyhose, I'll make you take them off on the spot." Donna finally saw her opportunity. She gave Gil a puzzled look. "Gil, I don't understand. Why are you being this way? I just thought you wanted to have an affair. I came here tonight hoping to convince you that this was it, this was the last time. We can't do this to Steve and Kristin!" Gil leaned his head back and laughed. He stepped forward, hooked his thumbs into the waist band of her panties and slid them over her hips and let them drop to the floor. "Nice try to cover, my pet, but it won't work. I mean, I enjoyed fucking you. You're a pretty good lay, but you know perfectly well what this is about, and it's not about a one-night-stand." Gil cupped her sex, sliding first one and then two fingers inside her. Donna fought to maintain her composure as he invaded her body. This time things were different, though. This was the last time Gil Gentry would ever lay a hand on her. Even her body maintained a cool distance from Gil's attempt to stimulate her. "Did you really think you could change my mind so easily? If so, you're not only a slut but a fool." "But Gil, I thought you cared for me as much as I cared for you." "Oh yea, I cared. I've wanted to add you to my collection for a long time. You were the one person I never believed would actually step into my little trap. You pretend to be so smart--so smug." Gil pumped his fingers in and out of Donna with an angry roughness. "I went to a lot of trouble to get you. For over a year I listened to you whine about how Stevie spent too much time at work and how lonely you were. Every time we talked I came away knowing that you were that much closer to becoming my slut. God! You don't know how many times I fantasized about having you naked here in front of me. Shit, even that magical moment at the party the other week wasn't an accident." Gil chuckled at his own brilliance. "Even Balanchine couldn't have choreographed it better. I watched you all evening. I saw how much you had to drink." "But I wasn't drunk!" "I know that. I didn't want you so drunk you didn't know what you were doing. But I knew that sooner or later you'd have enough and want a moment alone to clear your head. That was my cue. I knew if I got you to my office I'd fuck you." "You drugged me then?" Gil laughed as he unfastened his belt and slid his pants to the floor. "You didn't need drugging then any more than you need drugging tonight. I can feel how wet you are. You're a slut and you know it." "But it was no accident that you got me into your office." "Bravo! The blonde slut figured it out on her own. Yea, I had the cameras all ready and rolling. I knew that with a few good pictures Stevie's perfect little wifie would be mine." "Did you really think you needed blackmail to get me into bed, Gil? I cared for you--a lot. Didn't you believe that I'd make love to you willingly?" "Get you into bed? Nah! I didn't need pictures to get into your pretty little panties. I needed pictures to keep you coming back." Gil slid his shirt off, his rock hard member pointed at her as though it were an accusing finger. Gil was right. Donna knew that by the time of the party she had needed no coercion to climb into bed with Gil. Making love with Gil Gentry, cheating on her husband, throwing 15 years of faithfulness down the drain--it had all been by her own choice. Donna also knew she had to keep Gil talking. There was precious little time remaining before she again had sex with Gil Gentry. If it came to that, it would again be her choice. This time, however, things were different. It might cost Donna her marriage, but this time it would also cost Gil Gentry his marriage, his career, and his freedom. If she was going down, at least she took comfort in knowing that she was taking Gil down with her. Gil guided her onto the sofa and helped her onto her back. "So really, what did you mean by me being on assignment for you?" Gil knelt on the sofa and positioned himself between Donna's legs. "My God," he began with a chuckle, "you really think like a blonde, don't you! Let me make this so clear that even a blonde can figure it out. Unless you want good old Stevie to have those pictures mysteriously appear on his computer, you are going to regularly fuck me and any of my customers I need to impress. Your looks and my salesmanship are going to make me a lot of money. Got the picture now, bitch? You belong to me. I own you." The only sound Donna heard in that instant was the sound of a trap springing shut. The arrogant bastard had not only taken the bait but he had swallowed it whole. He had guaranteed himself a place in a comfortable prison cell for many years to come. As Gil aligned himself and prepared to enter her, Donna slid her hand between his legs. Gently, she lifted his cock into her soft warm hand and stroked down the shaft. Then she cupped his scrotum and massaged it tenderly. As Gil began to push forward toward her vagina, Donna abruptly clasped hold of the tender nut sack and squeezed it for all she was worth. "Yea. I got it you asshole! There's just one little problem. You fucked with the wrong woman! I won't be your whore." Gil howled in pain and tried to pull back from his attacker, but he couldn't shake Donna free. Her hand only clasped tighter. She pulled and twisted as though she thought she could castrate Gil Gentry by hand. "You'll fuck who I tell you to fuck," Gil growled as he drew his fist back to punched her. Donna's head bounced backward as Gil's fist struck her cheek. The back of her head cracked hard against the arm of the sofa and Donna felt the world move around her. The next couple minutes were blurry for Donna. From someplace behind her, Donna heard what sounded like an explosion and the room filled with people. A hand touched her cheek and something tickled her from her breasts to her thighs. Donna lashed out, hoping to gouge her attacker with her fingernails. "Hush," a gentle voice whispered. "It's me. You're safe. It's okay. We got him." As her head cleared the face hovering over her was no longer that of Gil Gentry, but Sara. The once nearly folded stack of clothes were now carelessly scattered over Donna's torso, covering her nakedness. "You got him? You arrested him?" Donna moaned as she rubbed the knot at the back of her skull. Sara's face beamed as she nodded. "You were great, Donna. We had enough on him that we already emailed some of the conversation downtown. We had no trouble getting a search warrant. Officers are giving Gil's office a thorough going over even as we speak." As relief washed over her, Donna burst into tears of joy. Sara brushed a strand of hair out of Donna's eyes. "Don't worry! I'm going to make sure that Steve has a chance to hear that entire recording as soon as I'm free to let him." "Oh god! He can't hear that!" "No! You're wrong. You'll want him to hear it. You were brilliant. We got Gil on blackmail, pandering, a host of sex crimes, and we're still adding to the list. Once Steve hears that tape, his whole attitude will change. Trust me!" Sara abruptly looked over her shoulder at two policemen who were sorting through Gil and Kristin's collection of DVD's. "Hey guys, can you do the rest of the place and leave this room till last? I've got a naked woman here who needs to get dressed and she doesn't need an audience." When the men were gone, Donna wasted no time in putting on her bra and panties. As she began buttoning her blouse, she paused to massage the back of her head. "I'm sure going to feel that in the morning!" "Do you want us to take you to the hospital and get checked out?" Donna shook her head and continued getting dressed. "Don't worry, Donna. It's over. It's really over." Donna finished zipping up her skirt and then slid her jacket back on. Taking a deep breath, she replied, "No it's not. This was the easy part! The worst part comes tomorrow morning when Steve comes back." "Do you want someone there? Rich? Darlene? I can come if you want?" Donna took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm guilt. In some ways I'm no better than Gil. I committed a crime against my husband and if there's any justice in the world, he'll throw me out. I'm guilty and it's time for me to face the music." Darlene called Donna at 10:00 the next morning. "I just got a call from the airport, girlfriend. Bill and Steve are back. Bill's going to drop him off at the house in a little while. You sure you don't want me to come over?" "I'm okay, but thanks for the offer." Forty minutes later Donna heard the car pull into the driveway. When Steve came into the house, Donna was sitting on the stairs, waiting. Two suitcases were lined up next to the hall closet. Steve took one step into the room and the smile that had been on his face immediately disappeared. For a long moment his eyes settled on the two suitcases, then they moved to his wife. "What's up, honey? You going someplace?" Nervous tension threaded through his words. "That's up to you, Steve." Donna watched as her husband studied her face. "Are you hurt? Your face...." "I tried to cover it with makeup, but yes, I have a bruise." "My God! What happened?" "That's not important right now," Donna said shaking her head. "You'll find all about it soon enough. If you want, I can tell you or Darlene can bring you up to date. It's up to you. Right now, though, we need to talk?" Steve took two steps toward his wife before Donna waved him away. "What happened?" Donna took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Steve, I need you to listen to me and not interrupt." "Honey, you're being awfully mysterious." "Steve, I cheated on you. You didn't deserve this. It was a deliberate choice, it wasn't an accident, and I'm very sorry. It should never have happened. I know that you probably won't be able to forgive me and I wouldn't blame you. But if there's any way you can get past this, you'd make me the happiest person in the world, because I love you." It broke Donna's heart to watch the tears well up in Steve's eyes. Slumping onto a stool in the entryway, he whispered, "Do you love him?" "God no! It happened only once and it's over. It was one slip, and you'll never know how I much regret it." Donna brushed a tear from her own eye. "I love you, Steve. I know it sounds strange, but I never stopped loving you. Cheating was a mistake--a horrible mistake, but I did it. It was wrong, and I'm sorry--I'm so, so sorry." "Who was it?" Donna sucked in another breath and said the word she hated to say. "Gil." Steve looked at her in shock. "Gil Gentry?" Slowly and painfully, Donna shared everything she could remember about the night of the party at Gil Gentry's office. She made no attempt to shirk responsibility, but admitted that it was she who had decided to cheat on Steve. She was no victim and she didn't want Steve to think of her as one. "You and Gil? What about Kristin?" "I was there alone," Donna continued. "You had to work and Kristin was out of town. Gil had been hitting on me for months, but he didn't make me do anything I didn't want to do. I didn't know it then, but I think this had been coming on for a long time. If it hadn't been Gil..." Donna shrugged. "...who knows. I felt lonely, Steve. Gil just found me at a weak moment. He invited me to his office and...." Donna hung her head. "I'm sorry, Steve. It was the stupidest thing I have ever done and it will never happen again." As Donna talked she watched the anger build in her husband's eyes. As she finished, Steve climbed to his feet. "I'll kill him!" Steve growled. "Don't worry! I think Gil already regrets what he did. He's in police custody at the moment." "Jail? This story keeps getting stranger! Why is Gil in jail?" Donna vigorously shook her head. "That's not important right now. We can talk about that later--or maybe you want to talk with Darlene. She knows the whole story. What's important now is us." Donna slowly got to her feet. "I love you, Steve. Don't doubt that for a minute." "Then why? Why did you do it?" Donna sighed. This was the part she least wanted to talk about. "We need help, Steve. I should have told you how lonely I was feeling months ago. We've needed help for a long time. I've been afraid to bring it up and you've been too busy with the business to notice." "I don't understand. I thought things were going along pretty well between us." "That's part of the problem, Steve. You notice every detail of Bellows Construction, but what about your wife and family? When was the last time you took a full day off to spend with the kids and I? When is the last time you spent an evening playing catch with Drew. He's eight, now. He needs to see more of his daddy. So do Abbie and Emily." "Don't do that to me, Donna! You know I love you and the kids! Don't try to turn this all back on me!" "I'll never do that! Cheating was my mistake, not yours. I know you love me--we know you love us--but we need to see more of you. I remember when Drew was a baby. You'd schedule a full day off. We'd drop the baby at my parents and we'd just spend the day together without worrying about the fate of Bellows Construction." Donna paused for a long moment, allowing her words time to sink in. "Steve, even our Saturday evenings alone--without the kids. They're not what they used to be--not what we promised ourselves that they would be. I knew there was a problem, but I said nothing about it. I didn't want to upset you and that was also my mistake. But can you honestly tell me when the last time was when we were able to spend the full evening without you getting a phone call from a job site or a worried client?" "So that's it, then! I work too much and so you're leaving me." "I don't know if I'm leaving or not. That's up to you. We can't go back. I wouldn't want to even if we could. Whether we go forward together or separately depends on you. Just know that I love you and I still want to grow old with you." Steve averted his eyes. "Look Steve, my parents already have the girls. Drew spent the night with Ethan and I told Darlene that I'd take him to my parents tonight so that she and Bill can have the night alone together. I've got to go. I'll tell mom that one of us will pick the kids up tomorrow." Donna sniffed back a tear. "I'll leave the suitcases here for the time being. I should be back in a half hour--forty minutes tops. When I get back, you tell me whether you want me to stay or not." Leaving the house alone was the hardest thing Donna had ever done. Knowing her husband as well as she did, though, she knew it was the best thing she could do. Steve had an analytical mind and he needed time to think. Pushing him to make a decision could make things worse. It took less than a half hour to drop Drew at his grandparents house and Donna was tempted to drive around town to kill the rest of the forty minutes she had available. She knew, however, that being honest with Steve in the small things was the only way she would ever regain his trust in life's big things. When she got back home, the suitcases were nowhere to be found. She froze at the kitchen door when she saw Steve calmly pouring two cups of coffee. "I just made an appointment with a psychologist. Dr. Fisher is a marriage counselor and comes well recommended. Bill said that he and Darlene used him a few years ago." "You--you forgive me?" "Part of me doesn't want to. Part of me wants to kick you out on your cheating ass, but the rest of me loves you too much not to at least try to forgive you." Donna started across the room, but Steve stopped her. "I put your suitcases in the guest room. I think we both need time." Steve handed Donna one of the cups of coffee. Donna, I wish this never happened. I wish you had talked with me about how you were feeling. I wish a lot of things, but I believe in our marriage and I believe in forgiveness. I just hope we can learn to forgive ourselves and each other and build something new." Tears. This time they were tears of joy. Donna wiped them from her eyes and stepped close to her husband. "Thank you, darling." Her husband welcomed her into his arms. "It'll never--ever--happen again." It felt good to feel Steve's hand caressing her hair, but Donna knew better than to rush things too quickly. There was hope and that was enough. There was no guarantee that forgiveness would come, but Steve's willingness to work on their marriage gave Donna renewed confidence. As Steve backed off from his wife, he said, "We start counseling the first of the week. We'll meet with him together each week as well as individually. Dr. Fisher says that if we both want it badly enough, there's no reason our marriage can't work." "I want that more than anything else in the world." "Honey it was only one slip!" "But--" "But nothing! It was one slip, and I've of heard worse." Then Steve set down his coffee and gave Donna a look that froze her soul. "The problem in our marriage is honesty. If we ever have a marriage again, we have to be completely honest with each other!" One Slip: Question of Intent "I agree, and I'll never keep anything from you again." "But you're not! You're still not being honest with me about what happened between you and Gil!" "That's not true!" "Then tell me, sweetheart. When were you going to tell me about the blackmail?" "I tried, Steve. I really tried!" "Yea, I know! That's why I need you to talk with Darlene. She just gave me quite an ear full. She said that I'd better get my shit together or she'll quit!" Donna laughed and promised to set things straight. "And she said that her brother has a recording that he made. Do you know anything about it?" "When you think you're ready, I'll tell you the rest of the story." Steve refilled their coffee cups. "No time like the present." ******* AUTHOR'S NOTE: Many thanks to Patricia51 for creating such a wonderful, open-ended story and well rounded characters who could tell their stories to me. There are literally hundreds of legitimate ways for this story to end. I chose only one and I encourage others to try their hand at it. To me there were two separate issues in the story. First was Donna's cheating with Gil at the office. Second was the blackmail. I chose a Donna who was guilty. No drugs, she was not drunk, Gil didn't coerce her against her will. She did it freely and willingly. I saw Donna as a woman who found herself drawn into adultery not so much as a conscious choice of the heart as much as having stumbled into it at a moment of weakness. I saw her as a willing participant who knew it was wrong at the time and yet dearly loved her husband. That meant that something had been wrong with their marriage. Being a guy, I saw what one possibility could be: the workaholic who was trying too hard to make his company a success. That neither makes Steve the bad guy nor absolves Donna. It just makes a good marriage a troubled one. It does absolve Gil of at least some responsibility for Donna's infidelity. Gil's guilt in the blackmail is undeniable. That's where Gil shows himself to be a class A bastard. The question was, how should it be handled? When I thought of how to deal with Gil I decided to try something that I have never read on this board. What if the guilty wife took out the cheating SOB rather than the macho, testosterone-filled husband? I may not have done it perfectly, but I hope it worked One Slip – Revisited ________________________ To the readers: My ending to patricia51 story. Enjoy and have fun! ________________________ She opened the outer doors to Steve's office. She paused with her fingers on the handle of the inner door. She could still turn away, go back to Gil and hope that she could somehow persuade him to drop his plan. "No," she angrily thought to herself. She hadn't been the first woman tricked by that man but she was going to be the last. Donna took a deep breath. She straightened her shoulders, blinked back a threatened tear from her eye and reached deep inside herself to a reservoir of strength she had never known she had. With her head held high, in spite of the guilt and anguish in her heart, she opened the door and marched inside. Steve looked up from his desk, "This is a surprise, honey. Glad you could stop by. Would you like a cup of coffee?" Donna looked Steve directly in the eye, "I had sex with Gill last night at the party. He fucked me in his office. I had too much to drink and things just got out of hand." Steve's jaw dropped while Donna continued, "His office is wired and he took pictures of me having sex with him. Today he tried to blackmail me into having sex with him and his business associates. He told me he has done this in the past with other women." Donna then tossed the envelope with the pictures on Steve's desk. "He didn't rape me. I did it voluntarily; I cannot lie to you. At the time, I enjoyed it. It was exciting and different. But when I told him there wasn't going to be a repeat, he tried to blackmail me with these photos." Steve studied the photos one-by-one and kept shaking his head in disbelief, "I thought we had something special. I thought our marriage meant something to both of us. I guess I was wrong." Donna sat down and sighed, "No Steve, we do have something special. That's why I am here. I have a problem and I feel that our marriage is strong enough to solve it. I made a mistake and I am asking you for forgiveness and help." Steve could hear his heart pounding in his brain. What Donna had done was now starting to sink in. Steve, replied, "Donna, I am not giving you a free pass. I would like you to leave my office and I need time to consider my options." Donna again looked him straight in the eyes as she angrily spoke, "I want you to consider this option. If you divorce me, I will keep the kids and the house. You will pay child support and alimony, and don't be surprised if Gil winds up fucking me in our bed. I am fed up with both of you guys. You're never home and he thinks I'm his free piece of ass." Steve looked at Donna in disbelief, "You are no better than Gil. You both deserve each other. We can discuss this further tonight. Now, please leave my office." Donna walked pass Darlene, gave her a look that could kill, and stormed out of the building. "How could that asshole not support me? If he wants to play hardball, it will be with my bat!" As Steve watched his wife leave the building, he picked up and dialed the phone, "Rick! This is Steve. I need you to call Bill Jackson and get him over here as soon as you can. I need an air-tight alibi for tomorrow afternoon and evening. I will cut you a $15K check for surveying services for my latest project. That should cover your expenses." Later that day, Darlene told Steve over the intercom that Bill Jackson was here. Bill entered Steve's office and they exchanged handshakes. Steve looked at Bill and said, "I need you to snatch one late model sedan and one late model pickup truck. I want the sedan left parked in Safeway Supermarket Parking lot near the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Course. I need a driver for the car. I prefer Bob Valdez if he's available. Make one set of keys for reach vehicle and give Valdez both sets of keys. I'll meet him by the truck at 4:00PM tomorrow. Rick will pay you 5 grand now and 10 more when you deliver the car and Valdez. You will pay Valdez." A couple hours later, Bill called back and told Steve, "I spoke with Valdez. He said, 'Tell them Valdez is coming!'" I went home and Donna was making dinner for the kids. I asked the kids how was school and talked for a bit. I ignored Donna and she ignored me. Then I went to the den and pulled out a map. I study the map for a while and decided there was a 4 mile stretch on highway 98 that normally had very light traffic. I marked the location with an "X." I went into my study and taped a photo of Gill on my dart board and threw three darts into it – a symbolic gesture. The evening passed and Donna went into the guest room to sleep. I was Ok with that because her presence was making me nauseous. Surprisingly, I slept well. I woke up early, before anyone else, and headed off to work. It turned out to be a busy day, which kept my mind occupied. I told Darlene that I had a golf engagement with Rick and a couple of his business associates. I would be leaving at noon and would be gone the rest of the day. About 2:00PM I teed off with Rick, Bill, and another close friend. We got in about 4 holes and I told them to cover for me, I had business to take care of. They understood. Rick drove me back to the club house in the golf cart and then drove back to catch up with the gang. I walked out to the parking lot and spotted Valdez sitting inside a nice looking Ford F150. I told him to wait there and I was going to put my clubs in the trunk of my car and I would be right back. After storing the clubs, I reached into the glove compartment, pulled out the map and two walkie-talkies, and walked back to the truck. I showed Bob the map and explained that on Highway 98 we were going to intercept a silver E350 Mercedes Sedan. I would be driving the F150 and following behind him. He would give a minor rear-end impact to the Mercedes and then pull off the road behind the Mercedes. I told him to keep his engine running, and under no circumstances was he to get out of the car. After I passed him, he would follow me back to the Safeway parking lot where we would leave the F150. Then he would drive me back to the Golf Course and then leave. We then drove to the Safeway parking lot, picked up the sedan, and drove to the beginning of the 4 mile stretch on Highway 98. We waited on the side of the road at the the top of the grade. From the slight rise in the road, I would be able to see the Mercedes coming at a distance with my pocket binoculars. I told Bob on the walkie-talkie to let the Mercedes pass and then catch up. I would be right behind him about 100 yards. That would give the driver 5 seconds to get out of the car. About 5 minutes later I spotted the Mercedes coming and told Bob to get ready. The Mercedes drove past us; Bob and I took off. After a mile, Bob had caught up to the car. I was about 100 yards back. Bob crept up and bumped the Mercedes. Sure enough, the Mercedes pulled over to the right hand shoulder and came to a stop with Bob right behind him. The driver of the Mercedes opened the door and pulled himself out. I was approaching the scene rapidly. The driver looked pissed. Just then the driver looked up and froze. I looked right into the drivers eyes as the F150 hit him at 50 mph and took the door off the Mercedes. I saw my dead, good friend Gil sailing through the air. In the rear view mirror, I saw Valdez pull out. I had made eye contact and that moron knew it was me that nailed him. We went back to the Safeway parking lot and dropped off the F150. Valdez drove me to the golf course and left. It didn't matter to Valdez who whacked Gil. Either way he got paid but I think he wanted to whack him just for sport. I rejoined Rick and the gang at the club house and we had a couple of drinks. I stayed for an hour and left and finally got home about 7:00PM. I poured myself a scotch, sat down in the living room, and let out a sigh. Donna came in and asked me why I was late and I told her I had been playing golf and just got back. We watched TV for a bit and then around 9:00PM, I told her it had been a long day and I was going to hit the sack. She told me she was going to stay up a little longer. I said, "Ok." It didn't affect me one way or another because she was sleeping in the guest room. About an hour later Donna came into my room crying. She had heard on the news that Gil had been killed in a hit-an-run accident. I told her that was really too bad but there is not much you can do when it is your time. Donna asked me in a whisper if I did it. I looked at her and lied, "No. I was playing golf with Rick and a couple of his friends and I did not do it. I told her not to flatter herself thinking she was worth it." The next day, she watched me walk into the den and remove Gil's photo from the dart board. She quietly turned around and went back into the kitchen. A week passed and I had come home a little early. I was upstairs in the bedroom and I heard a scream and a thud. I ran downstairs and went into the den. Donna had collapsed on the floor below the dart board. She had seen her photo taped to it. I removed the photo, dropped three darts next to her, and walked out of the room. She quickly figured out what role the darts played in the game of life...... Ten years later, I woke up and the sun was just beginning to peek over the mountains. I looked down and smiled. Donna was feverously sucking my cock. I just went with it and soon shot my wad into her mouth. She swallowed ever drop. She smiled at me and said, "Good morning, Darling." And, thus, began a typical day....... ________________________ To the Readers - I hope you enjoyed my story. However, if you didn't, please address your complaints to the Sultan of Brunei, His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzadin Waddaulah. Thank you. One Slip: The Aftermath Writer's note: This here little story is a continuation of one Patricia51 wrote - "One Slip". She wrote it without a ending allowing others, like me, to do our own. You need to read hers first to get the full impact even though I think you could read this alone and understand what was happening. If you have not read any of hers do so. She is an excellent writer and can come up with interesting plots. Her "Busted" is very good as well as "Nightlight" which is now one of my favorites. That last might be her best writing but it is an excellent story well told. So read it. :) Her football and butch story is fun and exciting also, And of course don't miss out on the To Serve and Protect series. Their about Mike and especially about his beautiful wife. Some good and different stories in that one. Of course I would like comments :) But ENJOY: Donna walked into her husband Steve's office in a manner that suggested both bravery and shame. Steve looked up and saw her than then stared for a couple of seconds, wondering why she had a look of shame and determination on her face. "Hi, honey, what's up?" She saw him look up at her and a look that seemed to akin to fear crossed her face quickly followed by shame than then back to determination. Why would she be afraid of him, Steve wondered as she spoke. "I have something to tell you and something to show you." For the first time he Steve noticed the manila envelope in her hand. Warning bells went off in his head and butterflies appeared in his stomach. He couldn't say why, but her expression and her tone indicated something was wrong and part of him suspected what it was, even though there was no evidence of that yet. Why that thought should come to mind now, - it was a thought he never entertained, - he didn't know. She Donna placed the envelope in front of him and said, "I...I... I can't say it." She paused took a deep breath and said, "I did something I shouldn't have done. You will understand when you look inside," she indicated the envelope. As he picked up the envelope he found himself hoping it was something like being conned into signing a contract to give away the house or some such. But as he felt what was inside the envelope the butterflies grew and took flight. He flipped the flap open and reached inside. His face was calm as he drew the contents, but even as he saw the top edge of the first picture he was in turmoil inside. In his mind he gasped "She did, Oh no... Why?" That last word would have been said in an almost wailing tone if he had spoken it. Donna stood there looking down at her feet as he quickly went through the photographs. Steve finally looked up at her, studying her stance and the look on her face. The fear was back as well as even more shame. He thought there may have been a tear in one eye but he wasn't sure. He now understood the fear. He said, "This isn't private enough, we need to discuss this at home... now!" He sounded calm, unemotional but that only made it worse for her. She looked up at him and said, "Okay." He got up, grabbed his coat and walked out the door without a backward glance at her. She quickly turned and followed. Once outside he said in the same tone,"Darlene, a family situation has come up. I'm leaving now, cancel any appointments and tell anyone that comes by that I am unavailable." Darlene looked up sharply at the words and his tone wondering what the situation was that would make him react like that. But as he headed for the door with out even looking her way Darlene just said, "Yes sir." Donna stopped for a moment and said, "Could you give me a telephone number to reach your brother?" Darlene looked at her in surprise and curiosity but only quickly flipped through her adderess book. She wrote the number down and gave the paper to Donna, and said to just ask for Lt. Mike Gibson. Donna took it, nodded her thanks and hurried out the door. Her husband was already in his pickup and had the engine started. She got into her vehicle and started the engine as he drove out without even a glance in her direction. She winced at that thought but got her car going. Before she pulled out of the driveway Donna stopped, got her cell phone out and dialed the number Darlene had given her. Once she was talking to Mike she said, "I am Donna. Darlene, your sister works for my husband, Steve." Mike said that he met her husband once or twice but what did she want. She said, "I am not sure how to say this but I want to bring charges against Gil Gentry for trying to blackmail me and for taking pictures of me without my knowledge. He has done this to other women." "And what did he try to blackmail you for?" "He wanted me to become his sex slave. To have sex with whomever he chose, whenever he wanted me to." There was a pause and he said in a voice that was still professional sounding but now had a touch of anger, "Do you have any proof of this?" "I, or rather my husband has the pictures Gil took, and if you check out his office you should be able to find at least two hidden cameras. He's probably in the process of removing them right now." "I can't promise anything but where is his office?" Donna gave him the address and which floor then they each said bye and hung up. All too soon she arrived home. Steve's pickup was in the driveway parked straight, which surprised her. She parked, turned off the motor then sighed and got out of the car. When Donna got to the front door she found it open which didn't surprise her. Steve was sitting at the kitchen table looking at the pictures. His expression was unreadable. She sat down across from him. He looked up from the pictures and said one word. It was a question, the one she had been fearing the most, 'Why?" She looked down trying to sort things out in the jumble that were her thoughts. After a minute she looked back up to him, determined to look him in the face as she explained. "I... I this is hard, I..." she stopped grabbed a Kleenex and blew her nose than tried to start over, "I...I. God, this is hard...I" Steve just looked at her and said, "You said that already." Tears formed in her eyes as she tried again, "I can't say why," the tears overflowed and began to trickle down her cheeks, "Everything just sort of came together and I..." She paused again and Steve spoke again, "can't or won't say why?" "I can't say why, I don't know why" that last was said in a wail, but she continued after swallowing hard, "maybe I had too much to drink, maybe I was mad at you." He just looked at her with an almost angry, and disappointed look. She said, "No, I'm not blaming you. I made the mistake. I just don't know why" "Tell me what happened." "It was the night I went to the office party without you." He nodded for he had figured that out already, While she explained what had happened he had been lazily flipping through the pictures. He seemed to be stuck on two of them always going back to those two and just staring at them. Donna couldn't see which two but she was sure it was the same two each time. She ended her explanation with her meeting with Gil at the restaurant. As she finished Steve mumbled something, part of which sounded like "so easily??". He just looked at the picture in his hand for undetermined amount of time. She thought about asking what he was thinking but from the unemotional look on his face she thought it would be better to let him process what she had told him. Finally Steve looked up at her. For a moment there was a look of pain mixed with anger on his face. Her heart broke as she saw it but then the unemotional mask slipped back into place. He said in a flat voice, "I am going to see Gil to see if all this is true. I can't believe he would do something like this. I know he's a lady's man but to seduce my wife and to try to blackmail you?? To own you?? That is not the Gil I know. But then again the wife I knew wouldn't give in like that either." "I think it would be best if you weren't here when I get back. You can take whatever you need, go wherever you want just don't be here when I get back." God that hurt, Donna had expected it but at the same time she had hoped his love for her would allow him to forgive her right then. She could only nod in response as fresh tears dripped down her cheek. He paused for a moment then asked something she hadn't expected. "are you becoming a slut now?" She let out a strangled noise and said "No!!" in a half wail. She wanted to ask how he could think that but she couldn't. She just sat there with a hurt look on her face as the amount of tears increased. Steve looked at the tears, watching them as they rolled down both cheeks and dropped on the table. For a moment compassion appeared on his face - but only for a moment. He just gave his head a slight shake, got up and headed for the door. Before he got to the door Donna asked, "Please don't tell the kids why I'm not home anymore... what I did." He stopped and without turning his head Steve said, "I will think of something to tell them" She stayed where she was until he walked out the door, closing it behind him. She then got up and started to walk to the stairs, but stopped and went back to gather the pictures. Donna wanted to put them someplace the kids would not be able to find them. As she gathered them she looked at the last two pictures he had been looking at. The ones he had kept going back to. One was of her pulling Gil's cock out of his pants- of her pulling his cock out of his pants- and the other was her voluntarily sucking his cock. From the expression on her face it looked like she was enjoying what she was doing to another man. God, how could she have done that??!! In her head she had gone over the whole night more times than she cared to count but she still there was no clue to why she had let herself go like that. Donna had been tempted before by other men but had always said no. She had never even kissed another man before. As she thought over that night again she hurried up the stairs to go to their room and start packing. Their room...It wasn't theirs anymore, now it was just his room. That hit her so hard she almost threw up right on the spot. She managed to get to the bathroom before anything came up but by then her emotions had calmed down enough so most of the nausea left. After recovering she put the pictures in one of Steve's drawers then packed. He had said she could take anything she needed so she packed two suitcases and hurried down the stairs. Once outside she put the suitcases down and stared at her car for a minute then decided she did need it so she could get around. She placed the suitcases in the car and drove away, looking in the rearview mirror with tears streaming down her face, as she did. Steve meanwhile had headed toward the building where Gil's office was. Half way there he decided that his wife must have been telling the truth about Gil. Someone took those pictures and from the angle it was most probably a hidden camera or two. He picked up his cell phone but had to think for a moment to remember the number he wanted to call. He had met Darlene's brother Mike a couple of times, so he thought Mike would know who he was. Darlene had given him the number if he ever needed to call. Steve called and got a hold of Mike. After Steve introduced himself Mike asked what he wanted. Steve said, "I think you need to get over to...," he gave the address of Gil's office, "before someone gets beaten up." "Who is going to be beaten?" "Gil Gentry." "And who is going to be doing the beating?" "I am." Steve imagined Mike's eyebrows going up at that. All he said though was, "Don't take the law into your own hands." After a pause Mike said in a more gentle tone, "I know how things can feel but you should let us take care of it. Your wife doesn't need you in jail." Steve thought that was a strange response - it was as if Mike already knew all about what Gil did. All Steve said was,"You better get over there fast then, I'm almost there." Mike warned him again about taking the law into his hands then wanted Steve to keep talking, but Steve hung up and stepped on the gas. His tires squealed as he turned into the parking garage that fed the building Gil's office was in. As soon as he found an empty slot he parked and rushed to the elevator. Once inside he thought some more of what had happened and he outwardly became like a rock. Steve managed to wait till the door opened all the way then calmly walked to the right office. Once he reached it he didn't bother to knock, even though the door was closed, he just opened it and walked in. He found Gil on a step ladder busy pulling something out of the air shaft. Another something that looked like a small rectangular metallic box was hanging from a hole that had been behind a ornamental wall sculpture. The thing looked like a flat tangled mess of metal string. No wonder Gil liked that ugly piece of modern art Steve thought, it provided a clear shot for the camera hidden behind it. "So Donna was right after all." Steve had entered the room so silently that Gil didn't hear him. When he spoke Gil jumped, almost hitting his head on the top edge of the open duct. He recovered and turned around quickly. Gil just stared at Steve for a moment and was about to say something like "Hi buddy" when Steve began to advance into the room. He turned right, walking around the walls instead of going straight across the floor. Gil must have seen something in his friend's face for he hurriedly got off the step ladder and started backing away from Steve. Finally he said, "I don't know what Donna said, but it isn't true." Steve waved at the cameras and said "This stuff and some certain pictures say otherwise." "Hey now, no need to do anything foolish." "You already did something very foolish and you're right, there was no need for it. That is one piece of forbidden fruit you are going to be very sorry you bit into." Gil was still moving backwards from the slowly advancing, angry husband who used to be his best friend. After a few steps he said, "Hey, I did you a favor." Steve looked puzzled over that but didn't stop. Gil went on speaking very quickly, "I showed you that your wife is a slut. I mean..." He stopped speaking for a moment because he almost tripped when his heel caught one of the wheels of his desk chair. After he recovered he continued with, "I mean... it was so easy to seduce her she must have done it before." That did give Steve pause for a second. Pause in his thinking that is, not in his motion. He was significantly closer to Gil and was almost in arms length. He said, "You really don't want to make me any angrier then I am Gil. I may not be a navy Seal but remember I am a Marine. I can still do nasty, painful things to your body." Gil swallowed hard with a fearful look on his face. After a minute Steve reached out and grabbed Gil's shirt front. His ex-friend yipped. Steve's expression turned very cloudy and he said, "Its bad enough that you had sex with her but you were also going to turn her into your personal sex slave and OWN her?" Each word of the second half of that sentence was angrier and deeper than the last one finally the word "own" had been said with a very menacing growl. Steve spoke again with a slightly less menacing tone. "I lost a best friend as well as a wife today and I am not in a very good mood." Gil swallowed again and tried to say, "Hey we can still be friends, I still got things to offer you." "I never knew you. The Gil I knew would never have 'owned' a woman like you do, which means the Gil I knew was a fake. I have been conned all these years. I do not like being conned and I hate men who use woman for their depraved pleasures. Remember we have talked about that a few times over the years? - while you were pretending to be something you're not." At that point they had still been backing up, but now Gil bumped into a wall. As Steve finished the last statement he lifted Gil up off the floor and shoved him into the wall. He didn't hit the wall all that hard, but there was still a thud and Gil winced. He opened his mouth to say something but Steve just repeated his action but this time Gil hit the wall a little harder then the first time. Suddenly there was knock. Gil glanced at the door and Steve put him back down. He said, "For your sake I hope that is the help I called." Gil just looked at him strangely then shouted, "Whoever it is come in now." "Its Mike Gibson of the Jackson County Sheriff's department." "I don't care just come in." The door opened and a no nonsense looking man wearing in a suit came in. He identified himself again and as he did Steve backed up a step. Gil turned to the new comer and said, "You need to arrest this man he was threatening me." "Oh? I didn't see or hear anything threatening." "He was and I want him arrested." "Hmmm, I have a slight problem. You see I can only arrest one man at a time and I will have to choose who has the biggest offense" Gil looked stunned then said, "I want to call my lawyer." Steve said, "He catches on pretty fast for a slime ball." "People like him usually are smart. Smart enough to think they are above the law or won't get caught." Mike then turned to Gil and said, "You can call your lawyer from the station." He handcuffed Gil, read his rights to him and took him downtown where he was charged with enslavement, blackmail, recording somebody without their consent and a couple of other minor charges. Two weeks later as the case progressed and the trial date got closer Steve went to see Lt. Mike. They shook hands and Mike invited Steve to sit. "Did you have something to say or did you just come by to see how the casewas coming along?" "I came to ask you two things." "What are they?" "How did you know what to charge him with?" "Your wife called me before you did and explained what he did. That was how I was able to get there so fast, I was already on my way." "That would explain your response to me over the phone about my wife needing me." Mike nodded and then asked, "what was your second question?" "Does my wife need to testify in court? The media has gotten hold of this story and the publicity has grown since Gil was arrested. That means Donna will have to say in court when she did and...I.. was wondering if she could be spared from admitting that in public, wher ethe media would get a hold of it." "You know your wife is a brave lady. Not only to say no to Gil under those circumstances but to be willing to tell you and then to be willing to testify in court like that. You should be proud of her." "I am. She has always had a special spark." He paused for a moment then shook his hea das if to clear it then said, "Donna has been through a lot already and I was hoping to spare her the public hearing of what she did." "You still love you don't you." "Yes.. I do. I've thought about it a lot and I do love her." "Have you told her?" "No, we haven't spoken much since she told me." There was a pause and Steve took a deep breath, "I'm afraid I said something I shouldn't have. I was in shock. It was bad enough she told me about it but those pictures just made it so much more real. I couldn't keep my eye off them, especially two of them. I wanted to stop looking at them but I couldn't. A part of me wanted to scream, to shout and throw things, to tear up those pictures but as I said I was in shock. All I could do was sit there and stare at the pictures as she told me what happened." Another pause and he said in a queiter voice, "I told her I was going to see Gill and that I don't want her there when I got back, I didn't care where she went or what she took just not be there." One Slip: The Aftermath This story is a followup to the story One Slip written by Patricia51. If you haven't read it yet, please do so before reading this story,, both to gain a better understanding of where this story is, and because of the quality of the original story. At the end of her story Patricia invited others to carry on from its conclusion, and this is my attempt to do so. I hope you enjoy it. ________________ _______ ______ Steve Bellows stood quietly at the drafting table in his office, looking over the plans for one of his current projects. Things had been pretty hectic over the last while, especially on this project. For whatever reason, little glitches kept coming up, little emergencies like the one he was looking at today, or like the one that caused him to miss that party the other night. Fortunately, Steve was very skilled and knowledgeable about his work, and always seemed to be able to work out a fix for every crisis that arose. As he contemplated the current problem, Steve suddenly thought he saw a way to deal with the concerns, make the necessary changes without jepordizing the construction schedule. Just as he started to make notes, he was interrupted by the sound of his office door opening. His initial reaction was to snap at whoever it was, because he didn't like to be interrupted, especially when he was working out a solution. But as he looked up, a smile came to his face, as he saw his wife. Donna, his wife of fifteen years, the mother of their three children was the pride of his life. While happy to see her, he was a little surprised, as she normally didn't just drop in to see him. As Steve stepped towards Donna, intending to greet her with a hug and kiss, he pulled back, noting the rather serious expression on her face. "Donna, what a surprise, I didn't expect to see you until supper. What's wrong, is something bothering you?" "Steve, we need to talk. But before I say anything else, believe me when I say that I love you, and that you are the most important person in my life." The serious tone of voice set him back a bit, while not totally foreign, it wasn't one that he heard very often, and rarely if ever in a conversation between the two of them, and especially not when prefaced with a profession of love. "What is it Donna, what are you trying to tell me?" Steve said, the concern evident in his voice. "I wish there was some easy way to say this, but there isn't. At the same time, I wish I could explain it, understand how it happened..." "What is 'it' Donna, what are you trying to tell me" he said, a little harder edge appearing in his voice. "I, I," Donna quivered, finally going on, "I fucked Gil Gentry"" "You what", I asked, not believing what I heard. Surely Donna wouldn't cheat on me, after all we'd often talked about couples that got burned fooling around, and how we'd never do that to each other. "The other night, at the party you couldn't make, somehow he seduced me, I don't know how, but suddenly we were doing it..." "How could you?" the bitterness and anger now evident in my voice, "I suppose you're hear to tell me you that you're leaving me." "No Steve, I love you, but I had to tell you what happened, and what's happening" "So tell me Donna, make me feel better!" the bitterness evident in my voice. "I don't know how it happened, it just did, he seduced me and I let him. Please believe me, I feel awful, and then today Gil tried to blackmail me..." and she poured out the story of what had just happened. I found it somewhat hard to believe, first that Donna had apparently cheated on me so easily, and even moreso, that Gil Gentry, I person I'd considered a close friend would do something like that, to me, and to the others that Donna was suggesting. As hurt and angry as I was with Donna, I couldn't let that bastard get away with it, especially after I saw the pictures, which clearly suggested a hidden camera. I knew that if I didn't act quickly, he'd get away with it, and I couldn't let that happen. I stepped out to the front and asked Darlene to see if her brother was available, that it was an emergency. She immediately took steps to find him and get him on the line for me. I headed back to my desk to take the call when she got him for me, walking by Donna without a second glance. "Mike, we've got a situation here that requires immediate attention. It seems that Gil Gentry has been seducing women at his office, and then blackmailing them with pictures from a hidden camera to provide sex for clients, himself and whomever he damm pleases. I know this because one of those he fucked was my so called loving wife, he just tried to blackmail her and I have the pictures. I'm afraid if we don't move quick, he'll have the camera ripped out and destroyed any other evidence." I could see Donna cringe at my remark about her, but what did I care about her feelings, after what she'd done. After I passed on a little more information, including the suspected identity of Sue Dalgreen as another victim. Sue and her husband had been a friend of Mike's, and he like most people was shocked when they divorced and her husband moved away. After a moment, Mike asked me to meet him at the court house with the pictures in ten minutes, and he'd get a search warrant and tear the office apart. You could hear the intensity in his voice as he apologized for the potential embarrassment, but indicated that the pictures would help satisfy the judge of the need to issue the warrant. I stood up to head to the station, and suddenly realized that Donna was still sitting there, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." "Yeah sure, you didn't mean to, but you did. Go home, maybe we'll talk when I get there." With that I was out the door, not even looking back at Donna, telling Darlene I was gone for the day, and only to call me if it was a dire emergency. Before I started the car, I couldn't help myself and looked through the pictures. Pictures showing the love of my life sucking the cock of another man, of her lying on his desk with her legs spread, waiting for him, them accepting him eagerly inside her. I'd thought I really knew her, but obviously I didn't. A thousand thoughts were rolling through my head as I drove down to meet Mike, "What should I do, should I kill her, kill Gil or what. Why would he do that, we were best friends, and best friends wouldn't do that to each other, would they? Was my marriage over, why would I want it not to be? What had I done to drive Donna to do this to me, to us." One thing for sure, I wanted them to pay for what they'd done. Looking back now, I realized that while I knew that Gil had to be the truly guilty one, after all the set up for the pictures made it clear he'd planned something, I still felt Donna was equally at fault. After all, she could have said no, she could have stopped him, but no, she sucked his cock and fucked him. The next few hours were a blur, I met with Mike who after talking with me a few minutes, went into the judge's office, and came out with a search warrant. After assuring me that they'd get that bastard, he told me to go home. He promised to get back to me as soon as he could to tell me what they'd found. I wasn't ready to face Donna yet, so I told him to call me on my cel, and headed out in my truck. There really wasn't anywhere I wanted to go, or needed to be. So I just drove around aimlessly, waiting for my phone to ring. It seemed like forever, but finally Mike called. "Steve, I can't give you all the details, but we got there just in time. It looked like your friend Gil was about to remove the evidence, but he wasn't quick enough. I wish you could have seen his face when I handed him the warrant and told him to stick around in his waiting room. Well, to make a long story short, we found the camera, and a link to his computer. One of my men is a bit of an expert, and sure enough, he found lots of pictures. It may not be any consolation to you, but Donna was only one of many. Sad to say, we both know a lot of them, and yes, Sue was one to. From what I can figure out, Gil slipped a little something into their drink, and that made it pretty easy for him." Mike kept going, "I know you're pissed at Donna, and to some degree I can't blame you. But think things over carefully, I don't think she really had a chance." Mike went on to say a bit more, but most of it just passed over my head, until he told me that Gil had been placed under arrest for sexual assault and extortion. "With any luck, he'll be gone for a few years." In some ways that was music to my ears, but in others, it just intensified the pain I felt over Donna's betrayal. Maybe it hadn't been deliberate, but still she could have stopped him, she could have fought it, but she didn't. I still wasn't sure what I was going to do, but knew that I needed to confront her. To put it mildly, things didn't go well. On the bright side, Donna had arranged for the kids to spend the night with friends, so we didn't have to worry about them walking in on us, or hearing us fight. But that was about the only good thing. I'm not sure what I expected to hear, or for that matter, wanted to hear, but whatever it was it wasn't heard. Donna kept telling me how sorry she was, and how she loved me, but she couldn't tell me why. I tried to ask her what I'd done to make her do that, and even though she told me nothing, it didn't make me feel any better. Donna assured me that she'd never do anything like it again, but how could I trust her? I'd never thought she would be unfaithful, after all, she'd already stood up in front of our family and friends and made a vow so many years ago, a vow that had clearly been broken. After going back and forth a while, it was clear that nothing was going to be settled. I told Donna that I needed time to think, to decide if we were through, or if we could work things out, and she needed to give me time. She agreed to go and visit her sister for a few days, leaving me at home to contemplate my future. It's a good thing the kids weren't home, I don't think they like to see their old man get drunk, but that's just what I did, for the first time in a long time. I sat there refilling my glass and thinking back over the years. Remembering how we'd met, and fallen in love, thinking about the first time we'd made love. I woke up the next morning feeling a little the worse for wear. After I staggered to the bathroom and swallowed a few painkillers, I stood under the shower, trying to look ahead, but only seeing what had been, and what had been ripped apart by Donna's action. No matter how I tried to find any silver lining, all I could see was Donna sucking on Gil's cock. By the end of the morning, I knew I had to get out and get some fresh air. I changed into my running gear and headed out to the park, figuring a good run might do me some good. It was about half an hour after I started when I got up to another jogger. I really wasn't paying much attention, automatically moving over to the side of the path to go by her. Just as I passed her, lost in my thoughts, I heard her call me by name, "Steve, please stop, I have to talk to you" Surprised I pulled up and looked back, it was Nancy, Gil Gentry's wife. My first reaction was to ignore her and race away, but one look at her face had me feeling that I was looking in a mirror, for she bore the same haunted look about her that I'd viewed when brushing my teeth that morning. Instinctively I knew that as much as I wanted to swear at her for what her husband had done to me, that I had to listen to her, because she was obviously a victim as well. I pulled off the path, and waited for Nancy to catch up, hesitating, not sure what I should say. Fortunately she spoke to me first, "Steve, please believe me when I say I didn't know what he was doing. I can't believe he did that, to Donna, and the others" As she spoke, a tear trickled out of the corner of her eye, and slid down her cheek. Nancy went on to tell me of the shock she'd experienced when she got a phone call that Gil had been arrested, and that the police were coming over to their house with a search warrant. She told me that they took the computer and a bunch of disks with them when they left, as well as leaving quite a mess in the computer room. As other joggers moved on by us, casting strange looks at the two of us, I realized we should move elsewhere to continue this conversation, and was surprised when she suggested we go to her house, albeit a little morosely, "After all, nobody else will be coming home." I followed her there, thinking how past visits had been different, with Donna by my side, other friends present, friendly, joyful encounters. Today it felt vastly different as I walked inside with just the two of us, two bruised souls trying to understand what had happened to us. We sat and talked, and she explained that yes, she knew that Gil always looked at, and even flirted with most of their female friends, but thought that all of us guys did that. I had to acknowledge yes, we all probably did, after all, I'd flirted with Nancy herself a few times, and had known that Donna had flirted with Gil, and several of our other friends. But in my case, and Nancy's, and so I had thought Donna's, looking and flirting was all we had done, well, maybe a bit of fantasizing from time to time. It soon became clear, that as badly as she had been hurt herself by the realization of Gil's treachery, she was more concerned about the impact on the other parties that Gil had effected. I tried to explain that I understood it wasn't her fault, that it was something inside Gil that he had hidden from all but those that got caught up in his web of deciet. At the same time, the bitterness that I felt about Donna shone through, and her betrayal of me. We sat there for a while, as we shared a drink, pouring out our stories, our sorrows to each other, knowing that we'd be understood. Finally, after going on for a while about Donna's betrayal, I thought that maybe I should leave. I stood up and walked toward the door, and turned to thank Nancy for listening to me. As I did she approached me and gave me a big hug, trying to tell me it wasn't Donna's fault, that somehow she'd been caught up in something she couldn't contain or fight, and that maybe I should give her a second chance. As I felt her arms go around me, and her breast press up against me, I responded by hugging her back. It seemed like that hug helped us both understand our hurts, and I guess, our needs. Soon the intensity of that hug changed, from one of pure comforting, to one of need, a need of closeness. I'm not sure whose lips sought out whose first, all I know is that soon we were involved in a passionate kiss, our sweaty bodies pressed closely together. I felt Nancy's tongue press into my mouth, and met it with my own. At the same time, I could feel her nipples against my chest through the thickness of her tee shirt and sports bra. I've always found Nancy to be attractive, she was about 5'6", curly red hair, slim build. I would guess about a 32 bust, not that I'm an expert. I must admit that I'd seen those nipples poke through a few times, and was amazed at how long they seemed to be. But at the same time, that's all I'd ever done, look and imagine. Of course, I'd never been involved in more than a friendly kiss at New Year's, or a quick hello or goodbye hug at the door, but this was clearly different. I brought my hand up to feel that breast, to caress it. Even through her clothes, I could feel the nipple harden even more, as I squeeze her breast, Nancy moaned into my mouth, pressing harder up against my crotch, where I know she could feel my erection thrusting back at her. It's funny, yesterday and earlier today I felt like I'd never have another erection, yet her I was at full mast. We stayed pressed together, but our hands started moving, hers running up and down my back, over the cheeks of my ass, pulling me more closely into her. I ran one hand over her face, our lips still pressed together, feeding off each other in our misery. Suddenly I wanted more, and slid my hands down to the hem of her tee shirt, clutching at it and starting to tug it up. Without releasing me from our liplock, she pulled back and made it easier, only breaking our kiss as the shirt passed her neck, when she grabbed it herself and pulled it over her head, tossing it on the floor. As soon as she let it go, she reached for mine, which quickly followed with our help. She pulled back, looking deeply into my eyes, then taking my hand and pulling me towards the bedroom. We must have looked like quite the pair, Nancy in her sweaty sports bra and running shorts, me in my shorts. Normally I'm not nuts about a sports bra, preferring to see Donna in sexy lingerie, but today, it just seemed right. Nancy stood by the bed, and slid her shorts down, showing me a pair of plain white cotton panties, but panties with a clear wet spot in the crotch. She stepped forward and slid my shorts off, taking my underwear with them. As they fell to the floor, she looked up into my eyes and kept eye contact as she knelt on the floor, moving ever closer to my rock hard cock, finally taking her tongue and running it over the swollen glans. Over and over the head it went, licking up the drops of precum that oozed from the end, then moving forward and taking it deep into her mouth. All this time she kept eye contact, watching the expression on my face, listening to the moans of pleasure that came from my mouth. I could feel the intensity building deep inside me, but I didn't want to cum yet, as much as I needed it. With that I pulled back and reached down, lifting her to her feet, kissing her again. Then I picked her up and carried her to the bed, pulling that sweaty bra off, leaning over her to admire her pale white breasts, with those rock hard nipples pointing up at me. I moved lower and took one in my mouth, teasing it with quick sharp tongue movements, until she pulled my head down forcing me to suck it deeply into my mouth. I could feel her squirm as I gently bit the nipple then sucked on it again. Despite her initial sounds of protest, I pulled away, silencing them as I moved to the other one, which stood there demanding equal treatment. At the same time, I slid my hand lower, over the top of those cotton panties, across them until my fingers reached her crotch. I could feel the heat, the wetness of her as I moved my fingers over the depression of her slit, her hips rising up to meet my wandering hand. As I rubbed across her pussy, the wetness spread, leaving those panties a sopping mess. Finally I felt both of us had had enough, and pulled away from her breast, to slide those panties over her hips and down her legs. Her red pubic hair glistened with the juices that had poured out of her, and the lips were red and engorged, spreading themselves open before my eyes. I couldn't help myself, and dove headfirst between her thighs, my tongue devouring her taste, thrusting into her as deeply as possible. I could feel her hands on my head, encouraging me on, so I slid my tongue up until I felt the nub of her clit, flicking it again and again until I could feel her thighs tighten around my neck. With that I sucked on her clit as hard as I could, as Nancy flew into a powerful orgasm, not letting up until she pushed me away. "Fuck me now, fuck me Steve, I need it." Nancy said as she finally moved, rolling over and raising her ass, looking back at me, "now, please, now." Who could resist the sight of her pussy gaping open beneath her cheeks, certainly not me. I crawled up behind her and slid my cock all the way in with one hard stroke, easily accomplished through her wetness. As I felt myself bottom out, my pelvis up against her cheeks, I could feel her thrust back. Normally I prefer gentle lovemaking, but today I was fucking, and fucking is what Nancy wanted. I pulled back and pushed back hard, feeling and hearing myself slap up against her, and hearing her words calling me to do it harder. One Slip: The Aftermath We went at it hard, until I could feel her pussy spasm with the onset of another orgasm, at which time I thrust hard one more time, feeling the first spurt pour deeply inside her, pushing again until it was all ripped out of me, until Nancy quit pushing back. With that I pulled out and we rolled over, our arms wrapped around each other. Neither of us said anything for quite a while, letting our breathing get back to normal, giving us time to collect our thoughts. I think we both realized that it was something neither of had sought, unlike Gil who had preyed upon Donna and others, but at the same time it was something we needed. Finally I stood up and reached for my clothes. I think Nancy saw the confusion in my eyes, for she said "Steve, don't hate me, I'm not like Gil, I didn't intend to seduce you, and I know you didn't intend to do it either. I needed this today, to restore my faith and belief in myself after what he's done to me. I know you love Donna, don't let the hurt destroy you, and her, but you needed this to. I consider you to be my friend, and thanks for being here today." We hugged one more time and I headed home, back to think about what had happened in the last few days. But now I had much more to think about. I realized that I had just cheated on Donna, I hadn't meant to, but I had, just like she had cheated on me. At the same time, I realized that unless I was certain my marriage was over, revenge was no excuse. I wondered if things had been different, if Donna hadn't cheated, but I'd still gotten together with Nancy, if I would have owned up and confessed my infidelity, and couldn't answer. Had Gil not tried to blackmail Donna, would she have confessed to me? The more I thought about things, the more I realized I loved her, I was hurt, and had a hell of a right to be. Did I hate her, or just what she had done? At the same time, was what I'd just done any more right that what she had done. In all likelihood, Donna now had a right to be hurt about my actions. I spent a long time thinking about things, trying to decide what I should do, finally making my mind up. With that I cleaned up my supper dishes, and headed off to bed. Needless to say, I had another almost sleepless night, tossing and turning, falling off to sleep briefly before being jerked awake by pictures of Donna and Gil, or of Nancy and me. Donna sounded quite surprised when I phoned her, suggesting that it was time to talk. Even as she agreed to meet me in an hour, I could hear the questions, the anticipation and fear mixed equally in her voice. It was easy to recognize, I share the same emotions, knowing that we had to talk and bring it all out into the open, and realizing that it needed to be now, and not down the road. Things were a little awkward at first, both of us not quite sure of what we wanted to say, other than simple words of greeting. I think Donna wanted to reach out and hug me, but was afraid of how I would react, and I was afraid to hug her until after we'd talked. Donna finally started talking, trying to apologize for what she'd done, but still making it clear that she couldn't understand how she'd come to cheat on me. It was clear from what she was saying, that she could never do that again, if only I would allow her to come back to me. Before she went on to long I told her that I needed to say some things, not just about what she'd done, but about what I had done. With that I explained how angry and hurt I'd been, about drinking myself into a stupor, and in an effort to feel human and at the same time punish myself, going for a run. I could see Donna tense up as I told her about meeting Nancy, going to her house and how we'd had sex with each other. But as I talked, she also seemed to relax a bit, especially as I told her how my getting together with Nancy, though unintentional, led me to understand the need to forgive her, and seek my own forgiveness for my actions. At the same time, I made it clear that I knew that her actions had not given me an excuse to cheat on her, nor had I intended to. In truth, without my encounter with Nancy, I don't know if I could have gotten over Donna and Gil, especially as I'd had a chance to look at the pictures. The reality was that after I got home after Nancy, I realized that sometimes things can happen without intent. Neither Nancy or I had intended to make love, and the more I thought about it, I came to accept that Donna hadn't intended to screw Gil. Yet both of us had been unfaithful. Now it was up to us to see if we could move forward and try and rebuild our relationship. It wouldn't be easy, after all both of us would be facing trust issues. We also would be faced with the likelihood that Donna would have to testify in Court, opening our lives and her mistake up for the world to see. But we agreed that we had, and did share too much to give it up, and needed to make that effort. EPILOGUE We did move forward from that day, with some setbacks along the way, but a common goal and shared love kept us moving forward. I know we both had moments when we thought of our partner with someone else, and clearly, it bothered us. We had forgiven, but really weren't able to forget yet. One huge break was Gil deciding to plead guilty, perhaps facing overwhelming testimony from Donna and others who had been caught up in his scheme. While we were prepared for a trial, the guilty plea took a huge lift off of Donna's shoulders, and yes, provided a sense of relief for me as well. We had our problems to work through, but at least we wouldn't have to share some of them with the entire community. Another factor that helped was an emotional meeting between Donna and Nancy, a few months after our worlds had exploded. Nancy immediately wanted to apologize, first for what her now ex-husband had done to Donna, and then for making love with me. To her surprise Donna hugged her, telling her that it was okay, and really blew her away when she told Nancy that in fact, she needed to thank her. Donna told her that without my involvement with Nancy, I probably never would have forgiven her and worked with her to rebuilt our marriage. Surprisingly perhaps, especially in light of our encounter, we renewed our friendship with Nancy, something that meant a lot to her, as a lot of people had ostracized her because of Gil's wrongdoings. Gradually we began to spend a lot of time together, culminating one night when she invited us to share her hot tub. But that's another story. One Slip: The Aftermath Mike nodded for he knew they won't living together at the moment, "I know something like that can be a shock but if you love her you can get past it, it's possible. One Slip shouldn't destroy a marriage, all those good years you two had." (Sigh)"I know but its also what Gil told me that day. He said that it had been so easy to seduce her she probably had done it before. I know it turned out that he's a liar but what if there was a touch of truth to it?" "I have something to tell you I probably shouldn't," Mike said, "but as a husband I can relate to what you are going through. Before I tell you though I have to say that you will have to take my word for it. The proof is evidence and I am not allowed legally to show it to you." Steve nodded with a mystified look on his face. He understood what Mike was saying about not being able to show him evidence, but didn't know what that had to do with him. "Did you find some more pictures of my wife?" "We found pictures of various victims. Gil liked to save them, probably as reminders of his conquests. But when we searched his house we also found a journal he kept. In it was a description of each of his victims and how he seduced them, as well as what he made them do once he had them under his control." Mike paused for a moment and Steve looked at a puzzled expression on his face. "Gil had lots of entries concerning you wife. This is what you are going to have to take my word for, since I am not allowed to show you the journal, as I said. Gil, according to what he wrote, set his sights on your wife a year ago." Mike paused again and obviously anticipating a question he thought Steve may be thinking he said, "It doesn't say why he took so long to set out to seduce your wife or why he choose then to do it. It does say, however, that it took him the whole year to accomplish his goal." "But I was around him most of the times he was with my wife. I never saw him do or say anything out of place. If he had attempted anything while they were alone she would have spoken up about it. Just like she told me about the, um, err, one slip." "He had made a practice of seducing women subtly. It sometimes took longer but it was more satisfying to him. Here is one example of how he worked on your wife a few months ago. He 'happened' to meet your wife at the gym and they exercised together. Afterwards he went to your house with her." "I remember that. I was home soon after they got there but everything was on the up and up." "Not everything. You remember Gil giving your wife a neck message afterwards?" "Yes, I watched him and he kept his hands where they should have been." "You should have been watching his mouth." "Huh? He never kissed her, well once on the cheek after he was done but it was quick and chaste." "I wasn't talking about what he did with his mouth but what he said." Steve looked puzzled again and Mike continued,"Gil had developed a way of talking that was hypnotic. He talked low in a voice only your wife would hear and it was in a friendly, peaceful tone. He complimented her on how well she looked, how well she did her exercises. Then, when she didn't react to that in a bad way, he went on to talk about how sexy she was, how he had always liked her body. Most of the time he was massaging her and giving her good feelings while he was telling her how good she looked." Steve's mouth dropped open slightly and he looked incredulous. He said, " he hypnotized her?" "In a way. This hypnosis isn't like you would see on a stage show with post hypnotic suggestions or even as we have used a few times to crack hard cases. This was more subtle. It helped to get the words he was using into her subconscious without her realizing they were even said. Later they would appear in her conscious mind and she would think they were her ideas or suggestions. I need to add that she would be able to reject those ideas but if she thought they were hers she would be more likely to go with them. Especially if they were supported by good feelings and continual support." Steve shook his head in disbelief, the guy who was his friend, who he had trusted, had done this. "Did you see how he was dressed? He went to the gym that day specifically to find Donna, he knew what time she exercised and knew what exercises she did. He made sure that he was dressed in a muscle shirt and speedo shorts. When he found her he made sure he had a lifecycle then a treadmill right next to her. She was in a front row right in front of the mirror wall. Gil knew that when he was right next to her she would have no choice but to look at him in the mirror especially when he was talking to her at the same time. And he made sure his outfit showed off his, um, attributes. As I said, it was no coincidence that he just 'happened' to be there at the same time she was. Since he was a friend and trusted he could talk to her and get her attention on him and the way he looked. After a pause with Steve's face again developing an incredulous look, Mike went on, "Remember the party you guys went to before this last one?" "Yes, we both went to that one." "Remember how Gil and your wife talked a lot?" "Yes, they did seem to talk a lot but I trusted him so I didn't really think that much about it. And at one point I walked past them and they were talking about boring stuff about work and fixing a yard up." "Well, intermixed with the boring stuff were more compliments about the way she looked and a description of how he looked." Steve looked puzzled at this and was about to ask when Mike continued. "Gil wrote he was doing some redecorating in the back yard. Taking out trees and bushes and putting in new stuff. In the process he had to dig out some hardpan. He described how, since it was the back yard he took off his shirt and used a pick to break up the hardpan. He also described how hot it was and how sweat poured off his shoulders and back as he swung the pick. As Gil described how he looked it became easy for your wife to picture his muscles rippling as he swung that pick." "The next day, Donna mentioned a dream she had where Gil took the place of a specific mythical hero on a certain TV show, during one scene like that. The actor had long hair and rippling muscles. A few times through the run of the show he would do some heavy work without a shirt, with sweat pouring off of him like you said Gil described. In the show and in the dream he poured a wooden bucket full of water on himself. I thought there may have been more to the dream than what she said but I wasn't that worried about it. That must have been Gil's hypnotic suggestions working on Donna" "Or just the decription after seeing him in that outfit as he worked out, working on her libido . Those are just two examples of how he worked on your wife. He also stated that during these talks of his he added a suggestion that people who liked her should be rewarded. He didn't say when he added that suggestion, but I think the first time was while he was massaging her shoulders. And the next two times he reinforced his suggestion. Then a month later he 'accidentally' let it slip that he always liked her. In fact if she hadn't been married to his best friend he would be pursuing her. He dated a lot of women but none captured his attention or desires like she did. Yes, that sounds like a line, but he was supposed to be your friend, so it wouldn't be a line coming from him." Steve's eyes narrowed and his face got hard. Mike continued, "From what he wrote, not only was your wife not an easy mark but she was a real challenge. The night of the party hadn't been the first time he tried to have sex with her. Three months previous to that night he tried but it failed so badly she didn't even realize he was attempting anything. Then, when he saw that she was a little drunk and that she probably was a bit angry at you he decided to try again. Starting with another massage. He had already given her a couple with no attempts at getting fresh, and after all, he was safe - being a friend." The detective shrugged his shoulders, "You know the rest of the story." There was a pause then he said, "remember, Donna was dealing with an expert at seduction who has had a lot of practice, and she didn't even know he was taking aim at her." Steve nodded and finally said, "I think it's good that bastard is in jail, for his sake." Mike said, "I don't blame you for that statement. As a husband of a beautiful wife I can relate, but at the same time its never good to take the law into your own hands." "I think I can wait till the law can punish him but the law can't stop me from being there when he is sentenced and applauding when he gets what he deserves." "We have a good case against him but I warn you that sometimes you never know what a jury will do. I have seen it when we have had an open and shut, air tight case and the jury still found the guy innocent but then there are cases where we go to court not sure if we have any case and yet the jury goes our way. As I said one never knows." "But in this case people will know what type of person that bastard is, what ever way the jury goes." "With the publicity, I think you're correct. Speaking of the publicity and your original question, Donna may not need to testify. We want to keep her ready just in case, but with the publicity, two past victims of Gil's have come forward and are willing to testify. One I think you know, also we have his pictures and the journal I just told you about. Not to mention the cameras we found in his office. However, even if she doesn't testify some news hound could still find out who blew the case open, and what your wife did could still get out. It would make a good story about the brave woman who decided not to be a victim." "I understand... about both things you mean, but I thank you for trying to keep her out of the spotlight and for doing what you can to get him sent away for a long time." "As I said, not only am I a police officer trying to do his job, but I am a husband and I understand how you feel." "One more question. Whatever happened to Gil pressing charges against me." "I'm not sure. Could be that during his arrest he just forgot, too many more pressing matters and I think his lawyer adviced him not to since it would look like he was just trying to get back at you." They shook hands and Steve thanked him and left. Two days later after more thinking he called Donna. He asked her to come by the house and to make sure she brought her car. Steve used the same unemotional voice he had used the day he told her not to be there when he got back from visiting Gil, and she wondered what he wanted. She had received one phone call from Steve's lawyer and had kept expecting that he would have her sign some papers sooner or later. She was afraid it was time for her signature. The strange request for the car supported her thoughts. With a heavy heart Donna arrived at the house hoping to see the kids, but only Steve was there. He had been expecting her and almost immediately, after asking politely how she was, told her to get in his pickup. She did, wondering what was up. Was he driving her to the lawyers to make sure she went there? Instead, though, they ended up back at the place she had been staying. "Oh," she thought, "he has finally got around to wanting my car back". She started to fish her keys out of her purse as soon as he parked. Steve spoke first, "I have been doing a lot of thinking the past few days, but first I want to say that I'm proud of you for taking a stand against Gil. That took a lot of courage." He paused as she looked at him funny, wondering what he was trying to say. He continued with, "It's about time that Gil was stopped. He can't be allowed to destroy any more marriages." Donna said, "From what Mike has told me, if Gil is convicted he won't be able to destroy any more marriages in the future." "True, but I wasn't talking about future marriages he might mess up." Donna looked at Steve and something that was almost hope appeared in her eyes. Steve continued, "I had you come over and brought you back here not so I could take your car away, I, well, I..." He looked down for a moment then looked back up straight in her eyes, "I overreacted the day you told me what you... what happened and I was in shock and those pictures didn't help. I'm not blaming you. I know the whole story now. You did good when you showed the photos to me and told me, I'm the one that overreacted." There was a pause and he took a deep breath "I also have an apology to make to you about you and Gil. I spoke to Mike and he told me about some sort of diary Gil kept. It seems he was working on seducing you for about one year." "What?" Donna interrupted, but Steve kept on talking. "The bastard had perfected a whole routine, including some sort of hypnotic method, he used on the women he seduced. Donna, my love, you took far longer to break than any other woman Gil had tried to get." He went on to explain what Mike had told him then ended with, "In the end I think it became an obsession with him. I'm sorry I reacted like I did. I think I even said to you something about 'the wife I knew wouldn't give in like that'. I should have realised how true that was. I should have known my wonderful wife didn't do those things, on her own. Please forgive me." "Thank God," Donna said, "I have never been able to give myself a reason for what I did, let alone be able to explain it to you. It is a great relief in one way to know what happened, but I am still ashamed and sorry for what happened. Thank you for believing in me Steve. I need you so much". Steve spoke again, "There's one more thing I need to apologize for. I'm sorry for asking you if you were going to be slut... God, that was a stupid question," he looked down in shame and said, "I'm sorry, even at the time I knew you wouldn't do that...all I can say ia that I was in shock." She said, "I was in shook too." After a short embrace Steve told Donna, "I brought you back here in my pickup because your car probably won't be big enough to carry all your stuff back to the house... where you belong... if you still want to come back home that is." The last was said in a soft voice almost as if he was afraid of what her answer might be. Donna was almost tempted to say that she would think about, just to tease him but decided she couldn't even pretend to think that way. She reached across the cab and hugged him. In the middle of the tight embrace she said, "Of course I want to come home. If you can forgive me for what I did I can forgive you for overreacting especially since it wasn't much of an overreaction. I love you, Steve." He put his arms around her and pulled her across the seat until she was right next to him. "I love you too." After a minute she said, "I'm not complaining, but what made you change your mind?" "I've been thinking and there are a number of reasons. The upper most one is that I love you and it was just one slip. You were influenced by a master seducer after all. Among other reasons are that the kids miss you and they need you. Third, as I said it took courage to stand up to Gil and to bring charges against him. That should be rewarded." He paused then said, "It took me longer to reach this decision than it should have. I, um, initially I had my doubts that this was the first time." Donna drew back her head and looked shocked. "I'm not proud of those feelings but after what some of the pictures showed and what Gil said, well". He stopped and shrugged his shoulders. She said, "I know what the pictures showed, but what does what he had to say have to do with me?" Steve went on to explain what Gil had said when confronted by Steve. She said, "I have never done anything like that before, I've never even kissed another man since we were engaged." Steve said he believed her but then went on to explain what Gil had told him that day. As Steve finished her expression was hard as she considered what she would like to do to Gil. Steve finished his naritive with, "when Gil was saying it to me it sounded sort of reasonable. I know now it was all bullshit, but at the time it hurt me bad". When her husband was done Donna said in a very angry tone, "Why that bastard, that son of bitch!" "That's pretty much what I said and thought after Mike explained all that to me. If I had known all that the day I confronted him I would have done more than just shove him against the wall a couple of times, even with Mike arriving when he did. If he does get off I will go looking for him." "If he does get off he better wish you find him before I do, but at the same time it wouldn't do the kids any good if either you, I, or both were in prison" "I know, so in that case he better not get off for our sakes." They hugged again and then at Steve's suggestion they got out of the pick up and loaded her stuff. They drove home and unloaded it all with Steve carrying most of it back upstairs. When the kids got home and saw that mommy was there they climbed all over her and told her they had missed her, while she was gone on business. Donna hugged each one and told each one that she missed them too. With tears in her eyes she looked at her husband and said thanks. He just nodded. Later that night they went to bed and Steve said, "I missed you." He started to say something but this time it was her turn to interrupt him, "I am sorry for what I did and not just because it came out in the open. I would have told you." "I believe you." At that he took her in his arms and kissed her. He again said, "I missed you." "I missed you too." Steve looked at the bed again and said,' 'I missed you in bed." He stopped for a moment then quickly added, "I don't mean in just that way, but I missed your companionship, your presence and you being here next to me in bed and in my life." "I understand and I missed your presence too. And I missed you in 'that' way too." They got to sleep late after having sex three times, to make up for lost time and to express their love for each other. The first time was soon after they declared how much they had missed each other. There was a silence for a couple of moments, with both of them just standing there. Steve wanted her almost as much as he had on their wedding night but after what he had just said he didn't want to have Donna think he only missed her for sex. And on top of that he wasn't completely sure she would want to make love after what he had put her through. She moved closer to him, reading his desire on his face and his uncertainty in his stance. Her body and her emotions were feeding her the same desires, so she took another step his way. He looked at her face. He must have seen what he was feeling mirrored there because he suddenly reached out and grabbed her, quickly pulling her to him. He mashed his mouth against hers. It was a little rough but her body was demanding the same thing therefore she kissed back just as hard. After one long hard kiss he broke it to breathe but after a short gulp of air he shoved his lips onto hers again. After two kisses like that he started unbottoning her blouse. He went right down the line as fast as he could make his fingers move. She obviously didn't mind since when he was done she unbuttoned his shirt. They somehow managed to undo each other's pants at the same time. Soon he had her on the bed pulling off her pants. Donna's shoes had gone missing somewhere along the line so Steve didn't have to bother with them. She laid there with her unbuttoned blouse and bra on plus her panties. He could see a small spot in the area that hid her pussy indicating that she was aroused already. He just licked his lips and stared then grabbed hold of her panties and pulled them down her legs. He did it so fast they almost ripped but she managed to lift her butt to allow him to remove them in time. He slid them down her legs but somehow in his haste he got one leg off but not the other. As he reached for the other leg he looked between her legs and stopped his hand. He stared at her slit, then looked at her face. One Slip: The Aftermath "God you're so sexy... I love you and I missed you for you but I missed that too." "I know and I missed you too." He looked back down and suddenly with a noise - almost a growl - he dived in-between her legs, almost colliding with her clit. He just breathed in through his nose, smelling her scent, then started licking up and down her outer lips. She groaned her approval and even lifted her hips up a bit. He used his lips to separate her pussy lips then licked inside as far as he could reach. He tried to extend his tongue further than it was meant to go. After a few seconds he settled in licking first one wall of her pussy then the other. God she tasted so good. He just kept at it, not even noticing when she grabbed his head to hold it there. Soon she bucked against him and as he suddenly took hold of her clit with his mouth she let out a scream. Seconds later she bucked and jerked her way through a climax. She wasn't able to relax though because he brought up his hand and quickly inserted two fingers deep inside her. Normally she would have thought they went in a bit rough but tonight she didn't care, the roughness even added to her euphoria. Soon Steve found her G-spot, and as he sucked hard on her clit he massaged that wonderful thrill producing spot. Another two minutes and Donna cried, "Yes, harder. Suck me! I'm, cumming." He did suck harder and at the same time pressing his fingers that were inside her harder. She again bucked against his head and jerked as she came. Her breasts shivered for a few seconds then she relaxed. Donna looked at him and said, "Thank you. I needed that," as she smiled. His heart melted at that smile. Steve would do almost anything for that smile, he was glad he listened to Mike and to his own heart. She saw the love on his face and smiled even bigger. They kissed again for a minute or two then she said it was time for him to get out of his clothes. Donna undid his pants and began to pull down the pants when a serious expression suddenlyzipped across his face. He gave his head a slight shake as an image from the pictures went through his mind. Now was not the time for that and he banished the thought and image, but not before it had effected him. Not only did it show for a second on his face but his hard cock partly softened for a moment. It didn't take long for her to figure out what had just gone through his head. Donna sighed and asked, "which picture just went through your head." He tried to deny it but she pressed him. He finally gave in. "It was two. The one where you took his cock out and the one where you were sucking on him. I'm sorry I know this is not the time for this but for some reason that is those are the ones that hit me the hardest." She looked down for a moment then said, "I know why they effect you that way. Those two effect me the hardest too. Its the ones that show I...I wanted..." He put his hand over her mouth and said, "You don't need to say it. We can talk of this later if need be." She just nodded then said, "Maybe I can give you a better image to look at in your mind." She scooted back on the bed and spread her legs giving him a perfect beaver shot. Next she reached down and lazily played with her clit. His eyes bugged out, Donna had only played with herself for him a small handful of times. After a few seconds of caressing and flipping her clit back and forth she groaned twice then reached down further and ran two fingers along her pussy's lips. Steve's breathing got harder and desire showed on his face. She next stuck those two fingers into her slit almost to the second knuckle. Donna groaned louder as she rubbed one inside wall. He licked his lips and looked at her face which was beginning to show the feelings she was producing in herself. Finally after the longest moan yet she withdrew the fingers and slowly brought them to her mouth. He could see them glisten with her juices and his eyes opened wide as he saw where she was going with them. Sure enough she put them in her mouth and sucked. His mouth dropped open and he panted because she had never done that before. She had kissed him after he had licked her to a climax so she had tasted herself before, but not this brazenly. She repeated the hand motions twice more. His hand was on his cock - he subconsciously moved it there to give it some relief. She smiled as she saw his hand move but then said, "Time for something else, Big Boy, before you make a mess all over me." He just nodded, half smiling, liking the image of his mess all over her. She scooted to the end of the bed so she was now sitting on its foot. Next she reached for his hardness. Donna hoped that what she was about to do would not bring back that image to his mind. It was bad enough that it was in hers. She however wanted it in her mind, to make sure she never did anything like that again, no matter how good the seducer was or how drunk she was. Of course there was one way to make sure no other image intruded on his mind as she carried out her plan. She slowly moved forward opening her mouth as she neared his hard, precum dripping cock. Just as slowly she kept going covering first the head of his cock then the entire shaft with her mouth. She didn't stop until her mouth was all the way at the base where she could feel his pubic hairs on her lips. Then she clamped her mouth closed and sucked hard. His head reared back and he let out a roar-groan she was afraid might wake the kids. She sucked again and his body convulsed as he let out another very loud moan. Half a dozen more sucks she bought her head back uncovering his now glistening shaft. She stooped when just the head was in and licked it as she sucked. He was starting to chant "God, God, God". Finally Donna reached up and took hold of the shaft with one of her hands. She made a fist around it and slowly but with increasing speed started sliding that fist up and down his hard and at the same time soft manrod. She sucked the head and licked the tip as she did. Steve had his head back continually, trying not to scream as he groaned. After what to him seemed to be eternity he managed to say through gritted teeth, "I'm close, God, God, God. So close." She mumbled something around him he didn't catch but just kept on sucking on the head. In less then a minute he let out a moose call he couldn't help as the first wad of sperm blasted out of the slit on top of the head. He let out a second yell only slightly less loud as a second spurt shot out with the force of a bullet. A third softer groan followed as the third glob shot out. This was followed by the fourth through sixth as his body finished jerking. Donna had been surprised as the first glob hit the back of her throat it was almost like a soft bullet hitting her. The second was almost the same and somehow she managed to swallow both before the third one blasted into her mouth. She swallowed that one and the rest. Finally as the last bit dribbled out she removed her mouth from Steve's tasty cock and licked the head. She kept her hand moving until he was all the way done and relaxed. Finally he drew in deep breaths looked down at her and said,"God, I think that was the best one yet. Thank you, I needed it." He smiled as he said the last. "Good, I'm glad...but now I think we also need something else." So she scooted back again. Again she spread her legs giving him a view of her open and wet love flower. He gabbed at it and at her breasts and was about to say he needed a rest first when he glanced at his cock and saw he didn't need a rest after all. Steve knew he was horny but this was better then he had imagined. He looked at her face and said,"here I come." Donna smiled her approval as he climbed onto the bed. Within seconds he was over her and in the right position. He stabbed forward but missed the spot slightly. He lowered his body a fraction of an inch and stabbed again. This time his shaft found its familiar target and slipped in. He just kept going deeper and deeper until his spear bottomed out. Once there he rested for a moment and looked at her face. "I love you, my beautiful and sexy wife. And I did miss you in all ways." "I love you my handsome, strong husband. And I missed you in all ways too." To herself she added, "and I thought I would never be in this position again, boy I'm I glad I was wrong". Two seconds later he pulled out half way then pushed back in all the way. He soon had a good, easy rhythm going. Both had earlier climaxes so there was no rush. They had all night to re-consummate their love for each other. Steve's body continued to move in strong easy strokes and Donna's body joyously continued to receive them. Soon she had a third climax and another two minutes after that Steve was approaching his second. He started do jam his hard cock in harder and deeper as his euphoria built. Donna didn't mind though because her body was starting to demand faster fucking. Soon she was joining him thrust for thrust and before too much longer his motions got very frantic and almost desperate as he reached the brink. A few seconds of hard, fast thrusts and Steve groaned and groaned again, almost too loudly since his mouth was next to her ear. A harder deeper jab and her fourth climax began. Donna moaned loudly in his ear and that set him off. Their bodies jerked and convulsed in a shared dance of ecstasy. As their bodies relaxed Steve said, "Boy we haven't cum together in a long time." Donna peppered his face with small kisses and said, "Steve, I love you, no matter how I seemed to act." He said, "I know, I always knew that." He withdrew his shrunken rod and slipped off her so they could cuddle. "Darling, I love you more than I can say, your body is so wonderful and sexy next to mine, I want it always there." Donna snuggled in closer and smiled. After a short rest they made love again and after more cuddling with a short nap in-between as they fell asleep, they made love once more, and somehow again managed to cum at the same time. They were tired the next day but neither cared. The trial continued without Donna having to testify. Gil Gentry was found guilty on all counts. Two of the victims did testify and two others who had moved to get away from Gil wrote letters that were read in court. Each told of Gil's blackmail and how he forced them to engage in sex acts they didn't want to do. All four were under going counseling to fix the damage done by Gil. Three had gotten divorces while the fourth was still having problems in her marriage. She and her husband were still working at it and she thought hers could be saved. She had moved four years ago to get away from Gil who, even though her husband had found out about the sexual slavery, had still tried to force her to keep "working" for him. The police had found a fifth woman but she had actually enjoyed the sex and had become a slut, even working with Gil voluntarily at times. There was no word on her husband or what he thought of her change. Two business associates of Gil's also testified. One was under subpoena and was considered a hostile witness. The other one voluntarily testified. The story he told seem to agree with the four women. He testified that he had sex with a couple of women that looked more like middle class housewives than the usual prostitutes Gil had supplied, but they seemed to enjoy the sex so he hadn't thought much about it. A couple of weeks later a third woman who had been sent to his hotel room didn't seem to want the sex. She talked right, and even at times acted like she wanted him but her demeanor was one that said she would rather be anywhere else. So this witness had told her she didn't have to have sex with him and when she left the next morning she had thanked him. Two weeks later the same witness was over at Gil's and had walked in on Gil and another man having sex with two women. This woman was one of the two. He explained that he had gotten sick watching them because as before her demeanor said she didn't want to do all they demanded of her. But Gil and the other man hadn't cared about her feelings, they just worried about 'getting off' on and inside her. It was one thing to have sex with a willing woman but the one he was watching wasn't. It was that event that caused this guy to decided to break off his association with Gil. Gil looked surprised during that part of the testimony, since he hadn't known why the guy stopped doing business with him. At the start of the trial it looked for a moment like things were not going so good because a legal argument ensued about whether the cameras could be submitted as evidence. No search warrant had been presented to Gil when Mike had entered the office and saw them. But the argument later became academic when all of Gil's pictures were submitted as evidence. It was obvious they had been taken in his office and without the consent of the women. A second legal hurdle had been overcome when the two letters were protested. Gil's lawyer tried to say they weren't admissible because the writers were not under oath. The judge finally decided to compromise, he said they could be read, but that the jurors would be reminded that the writers weren't under oath. Gil was found guilty on all counts and the judge sentenced him to the maximum term for each offence. If it had been a three strikes state he would have been sentenced to life. Two would served concurrent but the rest would be served one after the other. After the sentencing Steve sent a note to Gil. He asked Mike to make sure he got it. weather or not Gil would read it one could say but he would get it. Steve told his ex-friend that Steve made a mistake the day he confronted Gil. It was true that Steve had lost a friend someone people respected, cared for, someone who was getting ahead. It turned out that he was a person that not only did not deserve respect but who deserved what was going to happen to him. However it was not true that Steve had also lost a wife. Donna and him were doing good and would continue to grow as husband and wife. Meanwhile Donna was mentioned in only a couple of reports in the media. Two newspaper accounts and one TV news show. Perhaps because the reporters had other women who had been hurt far worse than Donna Bellows, and were therefore deemed to be more news worthy, Donna was mentioned only in short paragraphs. Both newspaper articles were in the middle pages in the first section of the paper, one of those misspelled her first and last name. The TV report was less than ten seconds long. Two TV segments did mention the brave woman who pulled the plug on Gil's scheme but they never mentioned her name. Only a small handful of the populace associated her with the woman who charged Gil, even though many thought that woman was a hero. Donna and Steve did a lot of talking in the next few days but eventually everything returned to normal - even after her "One Slip". One Slip: The H20wadr's Ending ***** the ravings of a known lunatic. Copyrighted by The H20wader June 2006. This is another ending to Patricia51's One Slip. Please read that at here or this story will make no sense. There are other endings at here here here here here There may be others that my search did not find. Please read them all for they are valid endings. My ending fits as well with all of these ending as well as the original story. I did gain Patricia5's permission and I did give her a outline of this ending. She neither approved or dis-approved. She just said GO. ***** Tom, As you are the presiding judge in this case, I want to plead guilty to one count of attempted blackmail. You will sentence me to 40 hours of community service and a year's probation. I also want the case sealed. I want the evidence returned to me or destroyed. I know that will be stretching your limits but do not worry. As you are the sitting judge in this case, I want no evidence presented in an open court. Let me tell you how this whole thing began. I had been working in the business for 10 years. I just was not making it. I mean I was doing ok, but it was hard. The men in the business who controlled things just seemed to not want to deal with me. I was good at the negotiations and delivered the contracts on time and at a good price. They seemed happy with my work but no promotions. They listened, thanked me and gave the promotions to others. Steve, my best friend, was having the same problems getting his construction company into the real money jobs. We just could not figure it out. We were going to be small potatoes for the rest of our lives, scrambling for a jobs and just getting by. That all changed for me at a company picnic. The President of the Company was holding the party on his estate and Steve and I and our wives were invited. We saw it as chance to networking big time. I had a drink (one), I wanted to be stone cold sober. I noticed the President (John Williams at that time) was spending a lot of time with Nancy, my lovely, luscious, great looking wife. I was not worried, Nancy could handle anything he could do or say. I was talking to men who could help me, the members of the board. They seemed to be nice guys. I felt that the day was a huge success. That night I learned how big a success it was. Nancy came out of the shower, nude as always, and I was ready. It had been a great day. I was on my way to more contracts and more money. I was happy and as hard as a rock. "Gil, we have to talk." "What? Baby time? Well, I guess one more will be OK." "Gil, no more babies. Two is enough. You are being promoted." "I know, baby, the networking went well, I am sure that I will be getting more contracts from the right people. I think I will be promoted in a year or two and we can live better. WAIT! I am being promoted?" "Gil, John Williams will announce your promotion Monday morning. You are head of your department." "But why tell you before me?" I was confused. What had happened at the picnic? "Gil, you are promoted. John always tells the wife first. Come here and let me have the next Department Head of Purchasing fucking me in that bed." She outdid herself. She did anal for the first time. She was great. Funny though, I thought she would be tighter back there. That Monday I moved to the corner office in the Purchasing department. There was a huge raise. We began spending more time at the parties and picnics and golf outing with the higher-ups in the company. I felt important, I could see my name on the door to the CEO's office. I also noticed that the vender contracts I was getting from our suppliers were suddenly cheaper. From 2 to 5% cheaper. I knew I was doing a great job. After three years of being a department head, I was up for promotion again. Vice president of Procurement. I was called in the Mr. Williams office. The conversation was, shall I say, very enlightening. Nancy was the reason I was promoted to Department H-minded ead. Nancy was the reason I would be promoted to the Vice-presidency. She was having sex with whoever John Williams told her. He was giving her back to me to use the same way and to help me find other women that were willing to see their husbands get ahead. I was sick. I never knew she was being unfaithful to me. I had to use the restroom to vomit. John was waiting for me with a glass of cold water. He then explained that there was a state-wide network of men and their wives (and some daughters) that controls the business in the state. A little sex would go a long way. And for three years, Nancy had been very helpful, to John and for me. If I objected to the way my wife was helping I would never be promoted; I would have a much harder time negotiating contracts. I would slowly be demoted. John said there were many films of Nancy pleasuring various men and with a little computer help to hide the faces of the men, Nancy would be a great porn queen. I had two weeks to let John know if I was out or in. I went home to my wife. She was waiting for me. She knew what had happened. She had known this day was coming for a year. She said as my position went up, there would be less demands for her. Only a very small number of men could have her now and even less when I was promoted again. She was proud that she had been so helpful in my career. I knew she was a hard-minded woman. I married her for her ability to handle me. She was all I wanted in a wife and a mother for my children. I slept in the guest room for one week before I saw the light. She was fucking for me, for us, our future, our children's future. If she was willing to do that, I had to support her. I moved back into the master bedroom. The next day I informed John that my wife and I were in. As you are aware, Tom, the State Supreme Court will have a vacancy in the coming spring. You also are aware how you received your present position. That twenty-four year old daughter of yours is very choice. I have enjoyed her myself on three occasions. In six weeks you will be invited on a week long tour of the western states to study their sentencing standards. The governor will be the head of that committee. You will take your daughter. After returning from the tour, the governor will name you to be confirmed by the State Senate. Your daughter will be the lead in gaining the votes you need. She will have to convince 27 senators to vote for you. Well, two are gay, and there are some religious nuts but she should count on 27 anyway. It might help if you convince your youngest daughter to help her. Do not worry the university will let her have a month off and her grades will not suffer. Oh, if she is a virgin the governor wants the cherry. Now Back to the Donna Bellows case. I made a error. She was hot to go and she was a great fuck. That woman laid on my desk and fucked my brains out. She sucked me off and swallowed like a pro. I did not tell her how her husband Steve got the contract. That was my mistake. Later, when I tried to explain her new duties to her, she was struck with indignation. I tried to explain to the silly bitch about how things work in this state. But she would not listen and she rushed to Steve and confessed. Steve and his cheating slut went to the police and I was charged with rape and attempted blackmail. View the films, there was no rape, she was as willing as any slut I have ever seen. Steve will lose a lot of money of the construction job he has now. He will pay a penalty for failing to meet the deadline. Every yard of concrete he pours will be closely inspected. He will have to rip out and replace several yards a day (after it has cured, of course). No one will use him again. He will go back to building garages and pouring driveways. Donna will see just how big a fuck up she is. In less than a year, Donna will be on her knees with my whole eight inches down her throat and then she will beg me for another chance. As I am basically a nice man, I will give it to her. She will a gang-bang queen until she figures it out that she can do nothing for Steve except sell pussy on the south side of town. I hope she does not give Steve a STD. LOL!! Move quickly, Tom, the next man up for the job has a wife and three daughter ready to fuck the Governor and these 27 men in the state senate. One of them just turned 18 and according to her gynecologist has a real hymen. Gil Gentry First Vice President Roadway Construction Company ***** I see that some will be disappointed by this ending. However it is a valid ending. Lay on MacDuff and damn'd be he who cries, "Hold enough!" Macbeth, Act V scene VIII i am The H20wader