Happy? Pt. 01

Her workout lacked the same intensity she normally put into it. Some of this was because the stress that she had sought to combat through activity was gone, a larger part was because Ashley was already thinking about her trip to The Daffodils Bloom after she was done. Her shower was brief and functional, her hair still wet as she stepped inside the café's doors.

Jerome greeted her with a smile, her coffee and pastry delivered to what she now considered 'her table' a minute or so later. There were still a few customers in, Jerome busy enough that he wasn't able to linger at her table. Ashley felt a slight pang of disappointment at that, it eased though as his hand brushed across her arm as if by accident.

When eventually he had time to join her, Ashley had finished her coffee and food. Jerome eased himself in the chair across from her, his smile sheepish in nature.

"How was the weekend then?"

"Good, good. You?" Ashley kind of felt uncomfortable as well but only now that he had opened the conversation with such awkwardness.

"Sorry, just don't really know what to say," Jerome said, clearly feeling as Ashley did.

"Yeah, I know. It's okay." She paused for a moment. "Look, it was wonderful and my weekend was only good because of it. So, thank you. Thanks for a night I will remember for a long time."

He fidgeted on his chair, turning his head to make sure nobody was coming in through the door before he took her hand, squeezing it gently in his own. Ashley fought down the shivering thrill that appeared in the bottom of her gut as his flesh touched her own.

"Friday, it made a difference to me that you can't know. I'm the one who should be, who is, thanking you." Ashley was once again struck by the two sides of Jerome. This one, kind, sensitive, loving almost. The other, bedroom Jerome, more forceful, assertive, cocky almost.

Asley squeezed his hand in return before freeing herself from his hand.

"I should go," she said, I've a lot on today."

Jerome didn't say anything except a simple 'bye' but she felt his eyes on her as she walked down the road, not turning around until she was sure she had passed out of sight.

On Tuesday Ashley decided to skip the gym. Something was bothering her since she had left Jerome that Saturday morning and it was only when he had touched her hand on the Monday that she'd realised what it was.

She wasn't content with that one encounter; she wanted him again. However, she knew it was wrong and she figured if she just avoided him for a few days, it would pass, she'd get over it. That evening she found herself distracted, barely following the show she watched each week with her husband, making non-committal sounds in response to his attempts to discuss the action on the screen.

Wednesday morning and Ashley worked out in her backyard garden instead. It was cold and it brought back memories of Covid lockdown but she considered it for the best. Avoiding Jerome didn't seem to be getting him off her mind however, if anything she seemed to be thinking of him all the more. Her workout, a normally surefire way of blocking things out became a bit of a nightmare. Stretching, squats, press ups, planks, glute bridges... each one seemed charged with sexual connotations and Ashley found herself reliving her night of passion as she worked herself into a sweat. A cold shower afterwards left her less horny but grumpier.

Colin took some of the flak from her own ill humour, he arrived home late from work without telling her ahead of time that he'd been delayed. For the first time in years, Ashley let fly at him, completely overreacting to his tardiness. It wasn't a shouting match, mostly because it was completely one sided, Ashley yelling at him, accusing him of not considering her feelings, not respecting her. Colin, innocent of the second but feeling that he might indeed be guilty of the first, took it all fairly meekly.

He apologised profusely, realising that it wasn't about just one missed dinner, and genuinely accepted he needed to do better. Mollified, Ashley had left him then to his overheated, dried out food, going upstairs for some alone time. Looking at herself in the mirror, replaying the fight in her head, Ashley knew she was far more blameworthy than Colin when it came to respect and consideration. A late dinner couldn't offset an affair. She knew the source of her mood and she decided that she had to see Jerome again, even it was just to tell him, to reaffirm, they couldn't be together again.

Wednesday morning and Ashley found herself almost pushing Colin out the door and off to work. He still seemed hurt after last night's fight, although he still broke into his usual toneless whistle as he began his daily commute. She collected her things, just her gym gear, there was no way she would be able to concentrate on work until she had spoken to Jerome, made sure they both understood that what they did could never reoccur. Ashley hoped, faintly, that doing this, drawing a line under it, that would fix things in her head.

She didn't shower after the gym; in fact, she didn't follow her normal routine at all. She had simply jumped onto the treadmill that faced The Daffodil's Bloom café, staring out the window as she ran, hoping for a glimpse of Jerome. Ashley completed an hour before she thought she had delayed things enough. She had to do it, make a clean break of it. As she slung her bag onto her shoulder, still wearing her workout leggings and top with a heavy coat over them, looking around the floor of the gym. Ashley considered that she'd probably have to find a new place to work out as well, being this close to Jerome's work, it just wouldn't do.

In the café, she gave him a wane smile as she came through the door. He was beaming and unsurprised by her arrival so he'd obviously been keeping an eye on the gym window for a sign of her. Ashley just ordered a coffee, her stomach was flip flopping with nerves, the thought of food made her queasy.

There was someone sitting in her usual spot and the superstitious Celt in her took this to be a sign in and of itself. Asley took a seat at the back of the café, shrugging off her heavy coat and taking a chair that allowed her to look at Jerome as he worked without making it obvious. After today she wouldn't see him again and a masochistic side to her wanted to drink in the sight of him while she could.

Things got quiet, a lull which left the two of them alone. Jerome wasted no time joining her at her table. From the look on his face, he'd sensed the vibe coming off of her and he didn't look pleased about it.

"Everything okay? I thought maybe you weren't feeling well, then I started to worry that... you know, your husband..." Jerome delivered the last two words in a whisper despite it just being the two of them there.

"No, it's fine, nothing like that." She could see relief on his face that their secret remained exactly that. This next part was going to be hard.

"Jerome. We can't, we can't see each other anymore. I mean I can't keep coming here every day, seeing you. It's too awkward, too hard. I wanted to tell you, I didn't just want to ghost you, disappear without an explanation..." She cut off, Jerome holding up a hand to shush her. He stepped over to the front door of the café, twisting a lock on it, flipping a sign that said "back in a jiffy" so that it faced onto the street. Returning, he took her by the hand, leading her to the back of the café, a small storeroom which contained everything from paper cups and tubs of coffee bean to cleaning materials.

"What exactly are you saying Ashley? I don't understand? Did I make you feel uncomfortable or something?"

"No! God... no, its nothing you did, honestly. This isn't a 'it's me, not you' deal, I promise. I just can't be around you, not after the hotel. It's too hard, stressing me out. We made a deal and it was the right decision... it's just hard." Her eyes shone, unshed tears. She felt childish in a way, like she was back in Ireland, being told to put back the bar of chocolate by her mother, listening to the 'it will spoil your appetite' speech.

Jerome cupped her cheek, turning her head so she was looking at him, not over his shoulder as she had been. His touch. It made it difficult to stay on track, to stay strong.

"Is this what you want?" His voice was low, gentle, kind.

"It's for the best, the right thing to..."

"No, I asked is this what you want?" His voice, deeper, edged with an authoritative tone.

She shook her head.

"What do you want then?"

"T-to be with you, be fucked by you..." she meant it, it was what she wanted even in the certain knowledge that it was so very wrong.

He leaned in, his lips sweeping over hers in a delicate kiss.

"You want that?" She nodded in response.

His hand slid into the waistband of her leggings, homing in like a computer guided warhead locked on target, rubbing across her smooth pussy that reacted to his touch like a faithful hound to its master's call.

"And this, you want this?" Again, she nodded silently.

"Ashley, you need to tell me. We need to be honest with each other. I've been missing you like crazy, afraid of what might have kept you away. I understand it's scary but if we trust in each other, be honest, we can find a way through this." It was as if he were a snake charmer, his voice the flute that drew the cobra from its basket, pulling Ashley into his orbit, his words making perfect, logical sense to her.

"So, tell me," His hand still pressed against her, moving slowly.

"I want this, I want this so bad. I want to get fucked again," she said, whispering the truth, shameful, wrong, but the truth.

He spun her round, the speed of his movement making her gasp, his hand disappearing from her pants like it was smoke. His strong body pressed against her back, Ashley's cheek, her chest, pressing against the smooth plastered wall of the storeroom. Jerome kissed the side of her neck. Those lips...

Then she felt him tugging at her leggings, the tight stretched exercise pants, peeling from her post workout sweaty body. He tugged and pulled at them until they gathered in a navy-blue coloured bunch of material above her knees. Her breathing quickened at the sound of his belt opening; his zipper being pulled down with deliberate slowness so that the 'brrrr' of the teeth separating was clear as a bell to her.

"Tell me again that you want me, that you want my cock," he whispered in her ear, his lips lifting from her skin that now felt feverishly hot.

"I want your cock Jerome," she moaned, the corner of her own soft full mouth touching the unpainted wall of the storeroom as he kept her pressed firmly against it.

Then his cock was between her legs, big and black, the head nudging against her pussy like a terrier growling over a rabbit hole. She felt him flex behind her, pushing the cock inside, pushing hard so that she felt the thickness of his shaft peel back the walls of her pussy, oblivious to the confines of her vaginal passage.

"Hh-uuuh, Hh-uuuh, Hh-uuuuuh," Ashley grunted to the movement, his pelvic strokes pushing him inside her. Jerome's chin rested in the crook of her neck as he moulded himself onto her, mounting her with a raw sexuality that was all about sensation, about need. A hand stole beneath her top, pulling it up as best it could, making space to access her sports bra. The same hand worked inside her bra with utter determination until she felt him grip a bare breast, a finger rolling over a nipple that was already erect from the heightened state of arousal he had placed her in.

Ashley forgot about Colin, forgot about Jerome's wife, forgot about doing the right thing. Jerome's cock was inside her, that was all that mattered. He held her so firmly in place, she couldn't contribute, he was fucking her, taking her body. Had she wanted to break loose, she couldn't have, getting a taste of his strength now as he placed himself fully in control.

"Hh-unngh, hh-uungh," she gasped loudly as she orgasmed, loving the rawness of it all. His bare flesh sliding now in and out of her, her pussy opened up fully for his pleasure and use.

The way he was fucking her, fast and hard. Had it had been any of her previous partners, her husband for example, they'd have shot their load after a few score thrusts. Jerome lasted longer, far longer. But it was still an uncontrolled, fiery copulation, even for him, for his stamina, it was destined to be over sooner than normal.

She could hear the catch in his breath, not from exhaustion but from anticipation, Ashley knew he was close. So was her second orgasm but she didn't voice any complaint when he pulled out. She had already pissed on the ashes of enough of her good intentions for one day. Instead, she followed his lead, turning and dropping to her knees, pants nearly making her fall as she did so. Her top was pulled up, one of her 36E breasts hanging out from beneath her bra, splotched red from his fierce fondling of it. On her knees she opened her mouth so that he could thrust his black cock inside, pushing it in and out between her lips until he came inside her mouth.

She cleaned up in the toilets while Jerome reopened the café, letting some grumbling impatient customers inside. When Ashley reemerged, he smiled at her like nothing untoward had occurred, the picture of innocence as he went about his tasks. When he had a moment to spare, he brought her over a drink, an excuse to take a moment to talk to her.

"Friday night. Same hotel. I will see you then," he rose without waiting for her reply. Decision made.

Ashley couldn't stay out overnight again, not so soon after last time. That Friday night they wasted no time at all, fucking like rabbits for three hours until Ashley stumbled, sated and exhausted, back to her car. Jerome hadn't brought even one condom with him this time, Ashley hadn't even considered bringing any herself. His cock felt so much better inside her without one. Instead, he had ejaculated in her mouth, on her body, watching as she had rubbed his seed into her big breasts, smearing it across her nipples as she revelled in post orgasmic bliss.

Her mood improved, Colin and her no longer fighting, her husband happy to see her in a relaxed state. Ashley's mood was improved but she found her sleep disturbed, dreams... nightmares really, fuelled by her cheating activities became a nightly occurrence. Thankfully Colin could sleep through a thunderstorm so her tossing and turning made no impact on him. The weekend flew by, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday all going smoothly, Ashley reestablishing her routine, Gym, Café... working diligently in the Café, sharing little moments with Jerome as time permitted. That coming Friday they were to meet again, Ashley arranging this time for Colin to go out with friends for the night, leaving her free to stay all night in the hotel room with Jerome.

On the Friday afternoon, Ashley was out shopping on the high street when she bumped into someone from Colin's office, an older woman she remembered from a couple of Christmas parties and the day she had interviewed for a position with the firm. For love or money, she couldn't remember the woman's name.

"Ashley! How are you?" the greeting from across the street pulled her to a halt. She waved, thinking furiously, searching her memory for the woman's name but coming up blank while the woman in question crossed over the street to talk to her.

"My God!" Ashley explained, "I haven't seen you in ages. God, it must have been pre Covid right?"

"Yes, the last party before it all turned so vile," the woman replied. "You're looking well."

"Thanks, yes, keeping myself busy as best I can."

"I know. I actually saw you last week. Friday night. Out by the airport, coming from the Comfort Inn. You must be busy."

Ashley thanked Christ that she was already tensed up from trying to remember this woman's name that she didn't react to her statement. It was bitchy, loaded with innuendo and typical of the office politics shit that her husband often complained about. The problem was that it was also accurate.

"I know. Complete pain." Ashley didn't miss a beat in her reply, "Ever since I had to give up the office because of the lockdowns, I've had to use Hotels for some meetings. Too many clients need face to face interactions. Cheaper by far to use the hotel facilities than rent an office. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, yes of course," the woman was completely stumped by Ashleys answer, delivered with such an air of indifference, even Ashley thought it could be true. She dropped a smile on the woman, bidding her a good day before walking on.

Out of sight, she let out an explosive gasp, only realising she'd been holding her breath, fearing there might be a follow up question, maybe remarking on Ashley's dishevelled appearance that night?

How could this have happened? She'd been so careful. She'd had a plan! What was she going to do now? Jerome and she were due to meet that night. They couldn't use that hotel again, not now.

She fretted away the next few hours, doing her best to disguise it by acting pleased for Colin, happy he was getting time out with his friends. She sent him on his way with a long lingering kiss that had him spinning happily down the street as he walked to meet up with his friends in the city centre. Ashley waited thirty minutes, long enough for Colin to get on his tube, long enough to still be home in case he returned unexpectedly having forgotten something in the house.

Ashley locked up the house, checking to make sure she had remembered everything she might need. She wore a short skirt that night despite the cold, Jerome having mentioned the last time how much he liked her legs. Jumping into the Range Rover she drove to collect Jerome at their meeting place.

He was there on time as usual, hopping in through the passenger side door before Ashley had even come to a full stop. As always, he kept it low key, just raising her hand to his lips for a kiss of greeting, there were far too many locals about who frequented his café for him to risk anything more in a public place. She pulled into traffic, explaining the problem that had arisen that day.

"What do you think?" Ashley asked him after she'd recounted the afternoons events.

"I think she's a nosy old bitch and you did well putting her in her place," he answered. Ashley grinned, he wasn't wrong, the woman had been a bitch.

"Thanks, but I meant, what do you think about now?"

"You don't want to go to the hotel? That's definite?"

"Definite. Her type, I wouldn't put it past her to camp out in the hotel bar just to prove herself right. No, we can't use that place tonight. Ever."

"Okay, you're probably not wrong but driving around all night isn't a plan either. What about going back to your place? Your husbands out for the night? Right?"

Ashley blanched at the idea, shaking her head vehemently.

"Fuck that. My neighbours are all curtain twitching busy bodies. They'd love to watch me arrive home with a stranger."

"A black man."

"I didn't say that" Ashley protested. "I said a stranger. A man. They'd get a kick from it, be sure to 'mention' it to Colin first chance they had."

"Okay. And don't worry, I know you love black... now," Jerome ran a hand over her bare leg, the short skirt riding high on her thigh. She shivered in pleasure, blinking furiously to regain her concentration on driving.

"Fine. Let's do something different instead. Head west at the end of this road," Jerome said.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere quiet," he answered, settling back into the seat.

They drove for about ten minutes, London traffic mercifully light for a Friday evening, Ashley following Jerome's directions as she guided the SUV through the darkened streets. October's gloom was in full effect and a light drizzle had begun to fall, keeping the pavements free of pedestrians as well.