He turned the Mercedes into the drive and came to a stop. This was the first time that he had arrived home early for months and he decided to walk the final fifty yards to the front door to complete the surprise.
Since the company had started to expand he had put in a lot of late nights and more often than not when he did make it home it would be with clients in tow expecting to be entertained. His young wife’s patience had been wearing thin. Until six months ago she had been employed as his personal assistant but it was agreed that, after they were married, she would stay at home to try her hand as a novelist. Now, it seemed, he was making more demands of her than ever.
The trouble was he had come to rely on her more than he would care to admit. Two years ago he had been considered the high flyer on the design team but he recognised that his appalling lack of self-discipline was holding him back. Caroline completely changed him. She encouraged him to become computer literate, generally organised his working life but most importantly of all she made him stand up to the people who were taking advantage of his good nature. He remembered vividly the first moment she walked into his life.
Her c.v. had led him to expect a well qualified but timid graduate, another in the long line that he had already interviewed, but when she strode into the interview room that morning, a twenty two year old vision of beauty, brimming with self confidence he was totally captivated. She had worn a dark two piece business suit over a simple white blouse. The skirt was daringly short. Already tall she nevertheless sported a pair of high heeled ankle boots which further served to accentuate her legs. Her black hair was expensively cut in a geometric bob and framed an impeccably made up face with deep blue eyes surmounting a neat nose and a mouth with glossed red lips which seemed to flirt of their own accord. Not only did she get the job she talked herself into ten percent per annum more than he had anticipated paying.
He was more surprised than anybody was when, eighteen months later, she accepted his proposal of marriage but he also recognised that she was, in some sense, using him to her own advantage.
The front door opened as he approached and she stood there in a form-fitting leotard with a broad smile on her face. She had a high colour in her cheeks and had obviously just finished a session in the basement gymnasium. He smiled and handed over a modest bouquet of spring flowers. She took them and kissed him on the cheek but as she broke from him she had a suspicious look in her eyes.
"You said yes to the Japanese didn't you?”
He could not lie to her.
"I'm sorry. I had no choice"
Her mood changed instantly.
"You're a bloody fool. You let them walk all over you!”
He walked into the house, his buoyant mood completely deflated, and she started to berate him with a vengeance. Such was the force of her anger that he decided to escape to the bedroom and get changed but she did not let him get away that easily. She followed him upstairs and, whilst he undressed, she continued her rant.
He knew better than to try to argue. He was in the wrong and nothing he could say would improve things. As he removed his boxer shorts he caught a brief glimpse of his naked body in the mirror and for a moment pleasant thoughts of how he had originally intended to spend the afternoon returned to mock him. He bent to pick up his discarded trousers and that's when she struck. She crossed the gap between them with four strides and brought her hairbrush down across his cheeks with the full force of her arm.
"Ouch!!!!!"
He brought his hands back instinctively but then, off balance, he fell forward onto the bed. Caroline followed up her advantage and leapt onto his back. In a fit of anger she brought the ivory-backed brush down on his fleshy buttocks again and again. He was eighteen years older than her and not nearly as fit and she managed to get in at least a dozen vicious strokes before he finally managed to buck her off. She fell onto her back and he quickly rose over her and pinned her arms. Her face was flushed with anger but he thought that he had never seen her so beautiful. She put up a token struggle beneath his weight but he held her whilst his body began to register the full impact of the beating she had given him. His buttocks were a blaze of pain and it was a second or two before he realised that he was fully erect. This new turn of events surprised him but it decided him on how he would exact his revenge. He worked his hand down between her legs and pulled the flimsy material of the leotard to one side and then braced himself to force an entrance but he was surprised to find that she was already sodden. He pushed himself home and she climaxed almost immediately. This served to spur him on and he took her with a frenzy but she came twice more in quick succession before he reached an almost heart stopping climax.
He rolled off from her and tried to marshal his thoughts. He had always considered their sex life to be mutually satisfying if not too adventurous but this afternoon was, without doubt, the most vivid sexual experience he had ever enjoyed. After a few minutes he fell into a fitful sleep with Caroline in his arms.
When he awoke she was brushing her hair at her dressing table. She was wearing a powder blue silk evening dress.
"Get up. You can take me to dinner. It's the least you can do if I'm entertaining your bloody clients tomorrow night."
He smiled as he padded to the bathroom confident in her forgiveness but her next remark cut him short.
"I'll want them out by eleven and then we're going to pay a little game of forfeits"
The following evening went remarkably well. Caroline was a consummate hostess and a first class cook and, as always, his guests were captivated - and on this occasion, it was just as well. Throughout that day he had been unable to concentrate on his work as images of the previous night kept invading his thoughts not least because his backside was so sore that the least movement served to remind him of what his wife had inflicted upon him; but, equally, the memory of their violent lovemaking afterwards ensured that he had spent a lot of the day with a painful erection.
He somehow got through the meal on autopilot as he considered his wife’s cryptic remark of the night before on which she steadfastly refused to expand. At eleven o'clock precisely the chauffeur rang the doorbell and, after a prolonged parting, his guests finally took their places in the car for the drive back to their hotel. He closed the front door and drank in the silence for a few seconds before going back into the living room.
She turned to face him as he walked through the double doors.
"Wait for me downstairs in the gym. Be undressed when I arrive"
Her haughty tone took him by surprise but his heart pounded in his chest. Without a word he walked back into the hall and took the stairs down to the basement. The gym was well lit but cold, Caroline rarely had the heating on down here, and it was with reluctance that he slowly took off his clothes. He had been unsure what to expect but such thoughts as he had entertained were centered on the warmth of the bedroom. One entire wall of the gym was mirrored and he could not avoid his reflection as he stood waiting feeling a little absurd with his jutting erection.
As the minutes dragged on Caroline still did not put in an appearance. His manhood wilted and he began to shiver. He was sorely tempted to get dressed again but something held him back. Finally he curled up on the padded massage table which afforded a vestige of warmth and, as the alcohol he had consumed finally took effect, he began to doze. When he came to his watch told him that it was one o'clock. He straightened his stiffened limbs, collected his clothes, and padded up to the bedroom where he found a note pinned to the door.
"I'm sorry that you could not see fit to stay awake. Use the spare room. We'll discuss it in the morning"
He tried the door but it was locked. He thought about knocking but in the end it just seemed easier to give in.
When he awoke the next morning it had gone eleven. He showered, shaved, put on a dressing gown and went downstairs. The cleaner had already cleared away the dinner things and left the house. Another note awaited him with the morning’s post.
"Be downstairs at twelve sharp"
His first reaction was anger but, to his surprise, he found that on re-reading those five simple words his manhood began to stir. He helped himself to a glass of fresh orange juice from the refrigerator and got down to the gym with two minutes to spare. At twelve exactly Caroline came in. She was simply dressed in a short navy blue skirt and black crew neck cashmere sweater. He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him short
