Promotion Comes With Strings Attached

It was her favorite way of making love when she was on top.

It was teasing and slow, and every time I tried to speed up, she slowed me down. She stretched it out, taking us to the edge several times before with one final explosive push we came together.

As we lay together, she said, "You were right. Wyatt and I did have sex this morning, but I showered after, and because it was hot on the way home from the airport, I showered again. I promise, Darren. I would never be not clean for you."

We kissed and made love again. This time, sleep came easily. With her body pressed against mine, all seemed right with the world.

She was late most nights, leaving me to cook for myself. As the days passed, she asked, "What have you done about your studio?"

I had to admit, I had done not a damned thing. I had been wallowing around in despair. I didn't tell her that bit, but when I said nothing, she started lecturing me.

"C'mon, babe, this was supposed to be about you getting your dream, as well. Can I help?"

That weekend, she came with me as we did the rounds with a realtor, who showed us some empty spaces that could work. We must have visited thirty different buildings: old factories, warehouses, closed down storage facilities. None of them were what I really wanted.

Coby, though, was undaunted. She pushed the agent to try harder.

That night, she sat with me as I ordered the first of the equipment. Having her home made all the difference. I felt invigorated, and I started to chase down the dealers I had been stalling. It might have been for the wrong reasons, but because I had been stalling, they were prepared to negotiate, and I got some pretty good deals...

It was happening, the equipment was dispatched.

Fucking Wednesday rolled around too quickly, and what I had now come to call fly out day was upon us. Coby took control the final morning. When I woke up, she was giving me a tremendous blow job, which led to an incredible going away lovemaking session.

Full of passion and love, she made sure that this time, it was special.

The good feelings flowed into work, and into my desire to get my studio off the ground. Now I felt positive.

Coby called when they got into Philly, and we talked for a few minutes. She called again when she got back to her room after a late meal. As we were talking, I said, "We could try phone sex. I've never done that before."

I heard the hesitation in her voice. "Babe, I'm just about to go over to Wyatt's room. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, okay." I sighed.

"I love you, please don't forget that," she breathed.

"Call me when you get back to your room," I said far too quickly.

There was a pause before she replied tremulously, "It might be late."

I might be an idiot, but I'm not stupid. I knew that meant she was spending the night in his arms.

"I don't care, call me if you can."

"Fuck." I snarled as the call disconnected. "Fuck, fuck, fuck...." I felt like a complete loser. I sounded so god damned weak. I had practically pleaded with her to call me when she was done fucking dickhead.

I never got that call, I might add, although, I did get a photo of her pancake breakfast in the morning as I was driving to work.

The only thing keeping me going was working on the studio. I continued to seek out equipment and spent hours in the evenings studying manuals and instructional tutorials. It was one thing having good equipment, but entirely a different story making it work and getting good results.

Coby did ring that night, although it was short. At least I felt like she was trying... If only I could clear away the shame...

Friday night, I was nervous as I drove home. It was with great trepidation I opened the front door and found her in the kitchen getting dinner. Dressed casually, she again flew into my arms as I walked in the door. "Oh god, babe, it's so good to see you," she gushed, raining down kisses on me. Maybe I was hesitant, slow to respond.

She looked and acted just as she always had, maybe a little more excited than usual. There was no flashing neon lights, nothing that showed it was anything other than just another day. "How was your day? You look tired," she said cautiously.

"Yeah, it's been busy. How was yours?" I tried to keep the despair that was eating away at my insides hidden, show no fear.

That's when she started. It was every detail about her trip. She positively vomited information at me, and she was so effusive and passionate. It was impossible to not get carried away by her euphoric state.

She moved back to the kitchen to check on the food, and called out, "Go and have your shower. I'll get it all ready.

The piping hot water jets stung as I stood under the powerful spray, my muscles slowly relaxing. The door eased open, and Coby's naked body slid in, stunning me. "What about dinner?" I stuttered.

"I turned it down. I thought you might like some company," she said with her head tilted on an angle, a teasing pout that dissolved into a smile.

I welcomed her in with wide-open arms and a kiss, the water washing over us.

She found the soap, and her hands lathered my body before passing the soap to me to return the favor. Golly shit, her naked body sponged me as she gyrated against me, her nipples cutting lines through the soapy suds.

Her hand grasped my now raging erection, three days without sex showing my eagerness.

She giggled. "Jeez, babe. This thing is hard."

"Unlike some, I've been going without."

Her face lost the joyousness, and the pout returned. She was obviously not going to let my displeasure spoil the moment.

"I guess I better make sure it gets special attention then."

She bent at the waist, her mouth engulfing said erection, her soapy hands caressing my pulsating balls. It took me completely by surprise. We had tried this in the past, but she always said the soap tasted awful.

That night, there was no stopping her; she sucked me deeply into her mouth, her tongue swirled and licked as the head of my cock popped out of her mouth and she lapped like a starving Ocelot.

Back down she dived, but that wasn't what I wanted, the blowjob was nice, but I wanted more.

I turned her around, pushing her against the tiled wall I drove my cock up into her pussy.

"Oh god," she squealed. Her hot wet slippery ass pushing back against my thrusts, it only took a few strokes and I was close to coming.

She surprised me by pushing me off. "Dinner, it will be burning." A final kiss, before she ran out laughing.

"Fucking cock tease," I yelled loudly, not caring who heard.

The mood was full of innuendo, laughter and teasing. Although she did let out one bit of information.

"Babe, we gotta go to a function tomorrow night. It's a really big deal. It's a charity auction for one of our key charities. It's a black tie event, so you will have to come shopping with me for a new suit, oh, and a new ball gown.

When she saw the unhappy expression on my face, she flinched. "Darren, you promised."

"Yeah, all right, but I'll be taking it out on your ass later."

"I was hoping you would." She giggled.

Our lovemaking was passionate and torrid. We went at it like starving lovers. It was afterwards that the remonstrations and shame started to materialize in my head. I had burning questions, and I needed answers.

Saturday morning she woke excitedly, clearly looking forward to her day shopping.

"Darren, do you want to come with me today? I was hoping we could get out of the house, have lunch, and have a little fun and I have to go to the salon."

"To the salon, no thanks. I might not be much in your eyes, but I'm not going to the fucking salon with you."

"I didn't mean the salon, dick. I meant shopping for a gown. I could help you pick out your new suit, and you could help me select a new gown."

"Yeah, okay." It was with reluctance, but if we were going to get through this we had to find ways to talk, to communicate. At the moment, all I had was anger. Mostly at myself for allowing this to happen.

The day passed easily. Once out of the house, we talked a little, then a bit more. Then the laughter and some fun came.

She looked sensational in the long, flowing sapphire-blue taffeta dress. It showed just enough skin to be sexy without looking slutty.

I found a suit on sale for three hundred bucks, which I thought looked pretty good. She, on the other hand, kept pushing me towards the racks filled with thousand dollar ones.

I couldn't justify it; that wasn't who I was, anyway. The only time I wore suits was weddings and funerals. She was disappointed, but didn't fight. The only argument came when she went to pay for the suit.

As she passed over her credit card to the shop assistant, I grabbed her hand viciously. "What are you doing?"

"I was going to buy it for you, as a gift. I mean, you are only getting it to accompany me, it can go on my expense account."

I fished my card out of the wallet, and handed it over. "I can buy my own damn suit."

She flinched at my remark. "Fine, it's your money. I just thought you would want to keep as much as you could for the studio."

At lunch, she quizzed me about the progress on the studio. I gave her the rundown on where I was at, and that I was still struggling to find a premises.

"Babe, I could ask Wyatt to help. He has a lot of acquaintances in the realty game."

"Like fuck you will. In fact I would prefer when you're talking to him that you leave my name out of all further conversations. He is not to know my personal business."

"That's preposterous. He always asks after you."

"In future, you just say, I'm fine, and leave it at that. I don't want him hearing about our fights, our arguments. Our private lives are none of his concern."

"Darren, that isn't going to help. Wouldn't this work better if we were all able to get along?"

"Coby, let me be honest, let me make it absolutely clear once and for all. I hate him. I hate him with every fiber of my being. Do you know how I get through the nights you are with him? Let me tell you. I have vivid dreams about strangling the last breath of air from his lungs."

When I looked at her, I saw the shocked look on her face. That only made me madder. "If you knew how many bloodthirsty ways I have dreamed up of murdering him, you'd be surprised. In future, I don't want to hear about him. I don't want to be around him. The only reason I'm going tonight is to support you."

Our nice lunch was ruined, the happy mood from earlier destroyed by his name. We finished the meal in silence. When we stood to leave, she passed me her shopping bags and said, "I'll see you at home. I'm going to the salon." She gave me a sad gloomy look. "I'm sorry this is so hard for you. I hope it gets easier."

I was chilling in the living room, headphones on, going through another tutorial. A couple of empty beer bottles lay by my feet when she walked in.

She glared at me. "Haven't you even started to get ready yet?"

Checking the time, I said, "What's the rush?

"You need to shave, get ready. Did you try on the suit with your shoes, see if they match?"

"No. they'll be okay. Sheesh, settle down."

"I can't, this is a big deal. There will be members of the executive team, the board, clients. This is huge, babe. I need you to be there for me."

Shutting down the computer, I stood up and hugged her. "I said I'd be there. I made you a promise, and I'll see it through. Just don't expect me to like it."

She gave me a kiss and replied with a sense of gratitude. "Thanks, babe."

Walking into the event was a bit intimidating. The place was overflowing with millionaires, beautiful glamorous women.

The room was laid out with long tables, and Wyatt was standing at the head of the closest table, holding court with a bunch of men. He waved to us as we walked in. Coby waved back and led me by the hand towards his group.

The men all parted as Coby walked into his open arms for a friendly hug and kiss on the cheek. All very business like. After they parted, he reached out his hand to shake, which I ignored.

I can't explain it. I went with the intention of being polite and trying to put aside my feelings of unease.

I nodded my head to acknowledge him, saying, "What's up?" and turned away. There were a series of gasps from behind me, and when I turned to look. Coby stood there with her mouth hanging open.

Yeah it was rude, and no I can't explain why. I was just fucking angry. I didn't realize it until I was there standing in front of him, and suddenly, I just wanted to punch him.

Trying to make light of it. He said loudly. "For those of you who haven't met Darren, he is Coby's husband."

A few who didn't know me nervously moved forward, and we exchanged handshakes as we exchanged introductions.

The groups all broke into new conversation, Coby, of course, was meeting some of these people for the first time as well. That meant she was dragged away with Wyatt to talk to wives and others.

That left me fending for myself. Luckily, a couple of the guys I knew joined our group and we found conversation.

With waiting staff fussing around. We were shown to our table. Wyatt sat at the head of the table and we were shown to seats beside him on the right. Coby went to sit beside him, but I stepped in and took that seat, relegating her to the one on my right.

From out of the mass of women who had been standing in a tight group talking, emerged the most attractive women I had ever seen in my life. She walked like a catwalk model. Tall and willowy, her head held high, her shoulders square, her hips swaying as she walked. Holy shit, her impossibly tall legs shone, the short mini dress showing every inch of them.

Surprisingly, she sat beside Wyatt and he introduced her to the group. "This is my date, Kailami.

She acknowledged the table occupants, reaching to shake hands with those she could reach, including Coby and me.

I recognized her from somewhere. With her walk, I knew she must be a model, and the fact I recognized her meant she must be at least moderately famous. She started talking, and my salivating came to an abrupt end. She was so conceited. Holy shit, she was full of herself and so damn patronizing, apparently the universe revolved around her. Jesus Christ. "I hope she's a really good fuck," I thought to myself.

With Kailami hogging the conversation and making people uncomfortable, Wyatt tried to change tacks. He started talking about random things and leaned forward so he could talk to Coby. I just ignored him. One of the other guests asked, "What do you do for a living, Darren?"

"I'm in construction."

"Do you own your own company?"

"No, I'm a scaffold supervisor for Jandy's."

Coby butted in. "Don't be so modest, babe." She turned to the men listening, and said, "He is in the midst of starting up his own business. Darren, is building a music recording studio, and has just started his own label."

That drew a few gasps. I just smiled, before rebuffing her, "Don't listen to her. The studio is just a small hobby one. It'll be a bit of fun, but my real job is scaffolding."

Coby bristled at being corrected. I felt her body stiffen and tense up. There was no missing the death glare she gave me, and it wasn't missed by the others either.

Wyatt, always the politician, changed the subject and started talking about the auction. The food turned up, and that put a stop to the conversation for a while.

That brought us to the auction, and I couldn't believe the crap that was thrown up. I was more stunned when the bids started rolling in, and the prices, holy fuck. It was crazy.

We watched as almost everybody at our table had won at least one item. Many, like Wyatt, had brought several items.

Coby and I watched intently, this was our first time at one of these events. As it was winding down, she leaned close to my ear. "What should we bid on?"

"Nothing, don't you dare waste money on this shit."

"Darren, we are expected to put in bids, the money is for charity."

"If you want to help, donate some money directly. The last thing we need is any of this shit cluttering up our home."

Wyatt, playing the big shot, bid some ridiculous sum of money for a terrible painting, painted by one of the board members wives. The bid was accompanied by rousing applause, loud whistling and cheering.

I guess Coby was feeling the pressure. The next item, a horrible little porcelain caricature, went under the hammer and Coby raised her hand. "Five thousand dollars."

She smiled at me, and seeing my nasty glare, leaned back in. "Don't panic, somebody else will bid. I won't go higher."

Nobody did offer a bid, and she got stuck with it.

With the auction finished, the band started, and the dance floor filled quickly. Wyatt leaned across in front of me again and asked Coby, "Would you like to dance?"

I cut him off before his mouth had closed. "Sorry, pal, she promised her dance card to me tonight."

I stood quickly and led her out onto the dance floor. She didn't fight me, but as soon as we came together, she hissed furiously. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Dancing with my wife. It's what married people do."

"Christ, Darren, he only asked for a dance."

"Polite men ask the husband's permission before asking his wife to dance."

"Polite, my ass, you've been nothing but rude to him all evening. You refused to even acknowledge his presence. Why the hell would he feel that he had ask your permission?"

"Because it's the accepted practice, and you know it."

We danced for five or six songs before returning to the table.

We had been sitting for a while when an older guy leaned over and asked me, "Would you mind if I asked Coby to dance?"

"No, go for it."

She accepted, and they headed out. Wyatt and his partner returned, his date was dancing with somebody else and most of the group close to us were also out on the floor. He glared at me as we sat in silence, and damn it was tense. He was gnashing his teeth so hard I could hear the enamel grinding away.

Kailami returned and was about to sit down when Wyatt gave her a head nod. I watched as her eyes rolled back and she pouted unhappily.

Changing direction she walked around behind me. With her hand on my shoulder, she asked, "Would you like to dance?"

Turning and looking up into her questioning eyes, I replied, "No thanks."

Her face was a picture. Clearly not used to being turned down, she humphed noisily and returned to her seat.

Wyatt, who was clearly surprised, couldn't help himself. "You're going to kick yourself later, pal. She is one hell of a dancer."

I just turned away as if I hadn't even heard him. When Coby returned, she smiled at me, but looking at Wyatt quietly seething, asked. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, I was just waiting for your return."

Before she could answer, another man leaned over my shoulder. "Would it be all right, if I asked your lovely wife to dance?"

With my blessing, they headed out, and I was shocked when a much older lady asked me. I accepted, grateful to be away from Wyatt.

Coby ended up dancing with several men, mostly clients, and I did my bit dancing with a few of their wives. It was actually a lot of fun.

Once Coby and I found ourselves sitting alone, she rasped, "Why are you being so rude to Wyatt? He has been nothing but polite to you?"

"He's having an affair with my wife. I think that gives me the right to be unhappy, don't you?"

Weighed down by frustration she whispered. "Jeez, babe, you promised to be on good behavior tonight. You've done everything you can to rile him up."

"I'm doing my best. Just cut me some slack. If he stays out of my way, there'll be no more trouble."

Kailami was the first to return to the table, her dance partner vanishing into the crowd.

Coby, and Kailami moved to sit beside each other and fell into giggly conversation.