Three's a Crowd by RedLegoDragon,RedLegoDragon

(Or Dani Finds Her Muse)

[Content Warning: This story contains examples of emotional manipulation and gaslighting.

Author’s Notes: Before you get invested in this very long story let me give you the heads-up for the kinks so you know beforehand if this is worth it. This is a cheating girlfriend revenge fuck story, with a happy ending for her. There’s hate-sex, lusty sex, and loving sex: and as normal for my stories this is deliberately over the top smut with bodily fluids galore and little need for rest between rounds. If you’re interested then read on, otherwise check out any number of the amazing stories posted to Literotica on a daily basis – there’s probably another author writing stuff you’ll love more than my works!]

The UK county of Eroshire is a land of mundane features; mostly flat fields marked by colossal wind turbines and divided by old canals now used only by tourists in their plodding canal boats (though what happens on those boats is anything but ‘plodding’!). Only the route marked by the river Eros is different; winding a picturesque path up a gently sloping valley from the coastal city of Coytoss, up past the university near Clinterus, to the sleepy town of Myle Hye.

As she sat at the small table on their patio enjoying the early morning rays of a lazy March sun Dani Cohen sipped her morning coffee and endured the silence of a typical Myle Hye morning, as it seemed its inhabitants never woke up before ten. Dressed in baggy sweatpants and a blue sports bra that only barely held her large fake tits, with her long black hair tied up in a simple bun behind her head and her long pale neck exposed to a sun that somehow could never tan her skin, Dani was five feet and eight inches of home-grown Eroshire beauty (and when she opened her mouth sounded every bit the Eroshire lass).

Sipping her coffee, Dani mused on how much she hated mornings here in Myle Hye.

No traffic outside to wake her with the car horns of angry drivers; no screaming matches in the early morning with accusations of cheating being hurled at the highest of volumes; no drilling into old water mains in an endless, futile effort to discover why people’s pipes kept exploding; no bed posts slamming against walls as someone slammed into someone else in a fit of lust-fuelled coupling. Oh no: out here as far west as one could go before leaving Eroshire for its neighbour Cambridgeshire there was little noise save for the birds, the bees, and the odd car traversing the street on the other side of the house.

It was peaceful.

And Dani fucking hated it.

Yet it had apparently been her choice to ‘join the Myle Hye Club’, as moving to the town was often called, or it might have been her boyfriend’s, Jacob Cook – Dani couldn’t recall which of them originally came up with the idea. What she did recall was that Jake did not like living in the city: he had made it clear many times that he hated the noise, hated the bustle, hated the smell and the sights, and he hated the couple who had lived next door to their expensive flat, and who would often wake Dani with the sound of their fucking in the early hours of the morning.

Jake hated it; hated everything about that spacious flat, while Dani had loved every moment in it; being so much larger than any place she had ever called home before meeting Jake. Yet Jake had made it clear every day after she had moved in with him that he planned to move to a much quieter place someday, and just been looking for a reason to, and Babe: You Are the Reason.

After everything he had done for her Dani couldn’t so no when Jake began talking about options, and one of them (her memory was a little hazy on this) suggested Myle Hye, and before she knew it Jake had bought a small two-bedroom house in a town on the other side of the world (OK, county) and they had bagged all their shit and moved out within the span of a week.

Dani’s best friend, Zehra, had positively lost her shit about all of this.

The house was gorgeous, and Dani loved its rural aesthetic – good old-fashioned English abode with mock Tudor beams – and spacious garden, but what she wasn’t a fan of was turning an easy twenty-minute commute (from Jake’s old flat) to a gruelling ninety minute long journey on the train; travelling from Myle Hye’s single station into central Coytoss, where they both worked: Jake at the law firm Hills & Follett, and Dani at the animation company Blue Ball.

This hadn’t gone down well with Zehra, who constantly told Dani that she was trapped in a town where nothing happened, with a long, hellish journey back to the city; where there was life, love, adventure; where something was always happening just around the corner.

Her friend might have a point.

But it had been Dani’s choice, and she had made it for Jake: he definitely had cheered up since the move. Not having those moments of frightening anger from him made her days easier; Dani found she could concentrate on her art, and while Myle Hye was maddeningly quiet at least there wasn’t any chance of one of Jake’s ‘dark moods’ to disturb her attempts to sketch new ideas. Her boss had been on her case for a while now; the company struck gold several years back with a creation of hers, and she had had trouble coming up with anything quite as good.

With her art pad on her knees, Dani continued to sketch random ideas that popped into her head, as she listened to Jake’s phone conversation: he was just inside the house, pacing up and down the kitchen with his mobile held to his head; the kitchen sliding doors wide open to allow the pleasantly warm March morning air to waft through the house, especially after the disaster that had been this morning’s attempt at breakfast. Dani felt embarrassed about it, and more so that she had almost caused another dark mood in her boyfriend.

She should have listened to him when he had said not to get distracted.

“I don’t think you understand what’s at stake here,” Jake was saying as he paced the length of their modest kitchen. “No! You fucking listen to me, Theo! I don’t fucking care how much we’ve got on them; none of it will hold up in court. No… stop being an arrogant piece of shit… we need more if we’re to build a case… no you *will* listen to me: I have more experience on this than- I don’t fucking care, Theo. Fine… run to Ewa like the mummy’s boy you are. Yeah… fuck you too.”

Dani winced as she listened to her boyfriend talk with his colleague. After accidentally burning the breakfast this conversation definitely won’t put Jake in a good mood. She needed him to be in a good mood: she couldn’t draw when he wasn’t in a good mood, and she needed to come up with something good; her art pads were full of shit these past few months.

“Fucking entitled cunt,” Jake declared as he walked out to stand beside her.

“Was that Theo?” Dani said. She’d met none of Jake’s colleagues; he always said, when asked, that none of them were good people. Liars and cheaters, who would use her for their own means Jake told her. ‘It’s best if you don’t get exposed to the shit I have to deal with,’ he had said. Still, Dani had managed to learn the names of a few people through listening to Jake’s conversations on the phone, whenever his work called. Theo [last name unknown] was a recurring name.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jake said. Not answering her question about his work, as normal. Jake never liked talking about his job; preferring to listen to Dani talk about her work at the Blue Ball instead. “I tell you: my life would be so much easier if people listened to me to begin with.”

Dani nodded; it was always best to agree with him when he was like this. “Why aren’t they?”

“Because Theo thinks he knows better, despite working for the company less than I have,” he said. Jake had been working at Hills & Follet for over fifteen years; at thirty-seven he was almost ten years older than Dani. She always preferred older guys, and Jake had ticked all her boxes on their first date, some three years ago. Now she was living with him in a quaint Eroshire town.

Funny how that worked out.

“Sounds like he’s a difficult man to work with,” Dani said. Moments like this – where she got to find out more details of Jake’s life at work – were rare, and she enjoyed seizing the opportunities when presented.

“Yeah… him and Mark: the two are fucking inseparable,” Jake muttered. Then frowned, as if he suddenly realised he was talking about work; a subject he generally avoided. Glancing down at her, Dani had a brief rush of fear as it looked like he was going to chastise her for getting him to talk about his colleagues. Then Jake smiled: “don’t you worry about it. How’s the art?”

“Oh… erm… coming along,” Dani lied. She actually hated everything she was drawing. Nothing was working out how she imagined it in her head. What had happened to her art? Ever since she had moved here she just couldn’t get into the right vibe! It was so easy back in the city…

“See, babe: I told you moving out here to the country would help you,” Jake said. He kissed her on the neck. “You couldn’t concentrate with all that noise going on in the city.”

Had she said that? Sometimes it was hard for Dani to remember what she had said to Jake. He always said it had been her suggestion to move out here; he’d just acted on it. Though she didn’t recall having a moment of frustration where she might have angrily suggested moving out of the city. She loved the city! Though maybe she had… Dani wasn’t sure anymore.

“I guess…” Dani said, her voice trailing off. “But this used to be easier…”

“Relax, babe,” Jake said, kissing her neck again. “You’ll kill it. I know you will. This is the best place for your talents. You know I’m right.”

“Yeah…” Dani reached up behind her to scratch the back of his head affectionately. He liked it when she did so. Dani could tell that the conversation he had with Theo had annoyed Jake, and she wanted to placate him; it was too early in the morning for one of Jake’s moods, and despite the suffocating silence surrounding their little slice of Myle Hye it was nonetheless a pleasantly warm morning; maybe, if she really tried, Dani could somehow reconnect with how she used to feel when she drew. “You’re right, babe. You’re always right.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Moving out here was the best thing for you,” he said. “You look so much more refreshed than you used to.”

“Do I?” Perhaps she did; but Dani didn’t *feel* refreshed these days. “Maybe…”

“If you could see yourself how I see you now,” Jake said, gently stroking her long black hair. “I see a beautiful, talented woman, who one day will be a fantastic mother.”

She smiled: Jake did love to talk about their future. They had only been dating for three years – twice as long as Dani’s average, to be honest – but Jake loved to talk about raising a family with her. He said he’d never thought about having children with any of his earlier girlfriends; she was the first with whom he felt a genuine connection (so he said). Dani found it flattering at first; she had since grown used to it and treated it as just another way Jake told her he loved her.

Just as she loved him: Jake was so unlike her previous boyfriends. Growing up with a friend as wild as Zehra Sydin had introduced Dani to many men who were, with the benefit of hindsight, not great boyfriend materials: from the loudmouths to the addicts, Dani had slept with guys who she had later regretted fucking. Too many.

So Jake had been a refreshing change of pace for her. A high-flying lawyer at the most elite of firms in the city – Hills & Follett – who earned more than Dani ever thought she would in her life, and she credited his stabilising influence in her landing her job at Blue Ball. It was a job that let her fully unleash the creativity she had been dabbling in all these years; doodles on spare bits of paper between shooting up in the grimier pubs of the city; graffiti on the walls of underpasses in the centre of the city; using all manner of random sauces, foods and the like when, in the grip of drug-induced madness, she had created wild, elaborate works of art on the cum-stained walls of her current boyfriend’s bachelor pad.

That last one had seen at least two relationships end quickly afterwards (but not before Dani had managed to capture her work with her phone camera, when the drugs wore off).

In short, Dani was a fucking artist, and so joining a company like Blue Ball was just what she needed in her life. Being a company that specialises in taking on all manner of jobs for anyone who wanted to hire their team, Dani found herself bouncing from TV adverts to sports logos; the artwork adorning daycare centres and playgrounds, to helping re-design the map of the Coytoss train, rail and tram systems. Dani had frequently found herself at the University of Eroshire – a place she never thought she would see – working with art students on a range of projects.

In short, it was a dream job, with people she loved working with; especially the new guy…

“What are you thinking of, babe?”

Dani tipped her head back to look up at Jake. “Just thinking how much I love you,” she said. Jake didn’t like to hear her talk about her work, and he especially didn’t like the new guy. Dani didn’t know why: Gareth was a warm, friendly man, six years younger than her (and fresh out of university!). Dani enjoyed working with him, and it was knowing that she would be back in the Blue Ball offices tomorrow that had brought the smile to her face that Jake had commented on.

“I love you too, babe,” Jake said.

They kissed: their heads in different directions.

“I’ve invited the Farrows round tonight,” Jake said. “I’m thinking of pasta.”

Dani forced her features to remain neutral: the Farrows were their neighbours. An older pair – the wife was on the town committee – and they were both filthy rich; and Dani was certain that was why Jake insisted on them coming round for dinner almost every week.

Not that she minded them: Albert Farrow was nice enough, although possibly old enough to be her father (and Dani wasn’t sure about the way he’d look at her), while Felicity Farrow was… exactly who Dani would think of as being on a town committee: the type of older woman who considered it her business to have her finger in every pie in the town.

They weren’t distasteful company, by a long margin, but not the type of people Dani wanted to hang out with.

No, *her* type of people were several miles away in the city. No doubt waking up to a day full of noise and activity; feeling the hustle and bustle of life in a large urban environment.

“Babe, try and be on your best behaviour tonight.”

“What do you mean?” Dani said, frowning. She was normally cordial with the Farrows.

“I know you mean well, it’s just… Felicity says you’re a little too forward with Albert,” Jake said as he stroked her hair. “It’s not your fault, babe: you’re naturally warm and friendly, I get it. It’s what I love about you. Just remember Albert is a little old-school and what you might consider appropriate he might not.”

That wasn’t how Dani remembered the last time the Farrows came over: Albert had squeezed her leg under the table when he thought his wife had been engrossed in conversation with Jake. Dani hadn’t said anything: she didn’t want to upset Jake, but the experience hadn’t been a good one. She had mentioned it to Jake afterwards, and he had laughed and told her that Albert was just being friendly, and she shouldn’t take offence to it. He was a product of his time, after all.

Dani didn’t think so, but she hadn’t said anything, and the next day wondered if Jake was right after all. Albert did seem such a sweet old man.

“I’m sorry if I caused you any trouble,” Dani said. She didn’t want to give Jake aggro: if only so she didn’t have to endure one of his dark moods. It wasn’t that he became violent or anything – Jake would never hit her, Dani was sure of it – but he did shout a lot, and there was an air to him when he was in one of these moods that reminded Dani of her past; of times spent in dark dens, with a needle in hand. It was when Jake was in one of his moods that Dani thought about when she had last hit up – almost four years now – and made her wonder… maybe… just one more.

But then he would smile, kiss her, and the Jake she knew and loved would return, and with his reappearance in her life the strength she needed to make it through another drug-free day came back, and Dani knew her life was better; and it would get better every day.

Moving here, to Myle Hye, was one step on that wonderful path, she was sure of it. Jake would turn out to be right, as always: she needed the peace and quiet to reconnect with her art, to find within herself the talent she knew was hiding deep inside her. It used to come to her so easily; it would again. Dani was sure of it.

She just needed to get used to this silence.

She just needed to trust in Jake. He had never let her down.

“You never cause me trouble, babe,” Jake said, stroking her hair. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Their tender kissing turned more passionate, and Jake stepped around to straddle the chair; a quick and effortless move on his part to lift her skinny frame and settle her on his lap. Their lips danced and their tongues slashed. Jake pulled down her sweatpants just far enough to reveal no underwear beneath (Dani often went commando when at home – it gave Jake easier access!) His own trousers were unbuttoned, and Dani helped him release the behemoth that made her feel so good.

In addition to being the best boyfriend a girl could ask for, Jake was hung like a fucking horse! At just over ten inches he was by far the largest she had ever taken, and he was definitely thicker than most guys she had fucked. As she helped him guide that monster inside her Dani moaned as she felt her pussy spread wide open by Jake’s colossal girth.

“Hmmm… oh fuck… oh you feel so good…” Dani moaned as she began to bounce her hips onto Jake’s thick cock. So fucking thick: he spread her wide like none of her previous boyfriends had. Dani felt so full of Jake’s cock it was unreal! He went deep inside her, reaching places she didn’t know even existed, and when he made her cum her vision almost blacked out. She saw fucking stars! “So fucking good… oh fuck…” Dani moaned as her hips rocked against his. His huge cock pumped up deep into her.

They always fucked without protection. Jake had told her that first night they had fucked that he never used condoms, and Dani, being on the pill, was fine with that. With a cock like this one why the fuck would she make him use rubber? She wanted to feel every thick inch of Jake’s huge dick as it plunged up again and again into her moist, warm pussy.

Right now, here on the patio of their spacious garden, secluded by the tall fences that Jake had installed the moment they moved in (replacing the ones that Jake, being 6′ 5″, could see over, no issue), they fucked with more fury and passion than one would expect from a couple three years into their relationship.

The sex saw them move from one position to another, as Jake held her face-down on the table between the patio chairs and fucked her ruthlessly from behind. Dani bit her tongue as she came hard, before Jake picked her up and carried her inside. In the kitchen he fucked her against the counter. Dani leaned back on the fake marble surface, knocking over jars and pots left lying out from dinner last night. Jake kissed her hard when she came, then lifted her into his arms again, carrying her over to the kitchen table and planting her on her back.

Spreading her legs wide Jake grinned at Dani as he pistoned his dick, and she came hard again and again until it felt like her pussy was about to explode – it had been just over an hour and she had cum a dozen times! Jesus Christ, her boyfriend was a sex machine!

Jake had his usual look of triumph when he slammed his cock all ten inches deep and blasted a truly staggering amount of cum into her. Yet another area where he outperformed her previous boyfriends: Dani had never felt so much cum in her pussy and womb. Thank God she was on the pill, for Jake’s cum was thick and full of sperm, and Dani had little desire to be a mother again.

Not yet, at any rate.

“Now that’s how you start the day,” Jake said, wiping his cock with a towel as he regarded her; Dani still lying back on the table, a hand on her chest as she struggled to catch her breath.

“Fuck! Yes! Oh my God…” Dani moaned, still recovering from her last cum. “Although… we do start *every* day like this…”

It was true: Dani had never had so much sex with a boyfriend before. Every morning Jake and her would fuck furiously for a good hour or two. Dani cuming hard many times; Jake often only the once, but that was all he needed. In the evening they would fuck again, and sometimes Jake would cum several times; displaying a truly shocking sexual stamina.

Three years and Dani had never had so much sex. It more than made up for the times when he could be… problematic… to put it mildly.

Still, in comparison to some of the men Dani had fucked before, Jake was a gentleman.

“Fuck you filled me up!” Dani gasped as she slowly sat up.

Jake grinned. “Might get you pregnant this time!” He said.

It was an old boast of his. The pill wasn’t one hundred percent, of course, and Jake’s cum was fucking thick with sperm, but three years of unprotected sex and he hadn’t managed to put a kid in her belly; Dani was confident he wouldn’t today, either.

“We’ll see,” she said, smugly.

Smiling at her expression, Jake made to leave; half-turning to give her a look: “You know, you would be a great mother,” he said. Not the first time he’d made that comment either.

When he left the kitchen, a man basking in triumphant sexual performance, Dani fixed up her sweatpants and returned to the patio, and to her art.

After several minutes her mind wandered to the end of the garden, where Jake had built a greenhouse and surrounded it with small plant beds, where he was slowly growing vegetables. It was a curious thing for a man in his thirties to do, but Dani found it somewhat quaint: it was obvious Jake was settling for the long haul here.

She wondered again about his continuing comments regarding her suitability for motherhood; Dani hadn’t told him about *that* part of her past. Not yet. There just hadn’t been a good time to bring Chloe into the conversation. Sooner or later she would have to mention to Jake that he was wrong: she wouldn’t be a great mother.

She *wasn’t* a great mother.

Though perhaps Jake saw in her something she wasn’t seeing herself.

Again: trust in Jake. He knew what he was doing.

Which was more than Dani could say for herself: her scribblings still looked shit.

*****

“I don’t think so, babe.”

Dani blinked: she had just zoned out, staring out the window at the fading sunset; the last light of day giving way to the streetlights. Myle Hye still had those old style of streetlights that bathed the front driveway, pavement and road going past the house in a sickly yellow; combined with an almost deserted road it made the whole scene like something from a horror movie. Dani missed the white lights of central Coytoss; where the colours of the streets were allowed to shine. After a day spent trying to recapture her old artistic spark, it was a shame that she didn’t have the time now to be inspired by such a creepy ambience. “Sorry babe, you don’t think what?”

Jake appeared by her right arm and proceeded to tug on the loose neckline of the blue blouse she had chosen for the evening. “Too much,” he said, drawing the fabric together. “Do you want them to think of you like a street harlot?”

“Jake… it wasn’t that much…” Dani protested, but she did nothing as he buttoned it up by one more button. She honestly wasn’t showing off that much cleavage! If anything he had now made it worse: the blouse strained against her tits, making it even more obvious she had a great pair.

“Bad enough you still have…” he didn’t finish his sentence; instead gesturing at her breasts.

Dani knew he was referring to her implants. A rash decision made when she turned nineteen, she had kept them for reasons that Dani found difficult to articulate on the occasion anyone had asked, including Jake. She hoped Jake wouldn’t make an issue out of it right now. “Jake…”

“Don’t worry, babe,” Jake said, suddenly smiling like everything was OK. “You look beautiful.”

“Thanks…” Dani said, returning his smile; although hers was laced with anxiety.

The doorbell didn’t make her feel any better.

“Jake!” Felicity greeted him at the door. “Thank you for inviting us over again! Dani! You look simply radiant tonight!”

“Thank you…” Dani said, holding her arms tightly around herself as the couple entered.

“Very beautiful,” Albert said, following his wife.

Handshakes were shared between the men, while the women kissed each other politely on the cheek. When Albert leaned down to kiss Dani’s cheek as his wife had done he lingered just a few heartbeats longer than Felicity; Dani swore she could feel him sniffing the perfume she had on.

Glancing at Felicity, worried what the older woman was thinking, she was disappointed to see Felicity watching her husband’s actions with something like amusement. Oh great: this was just Albert being Albert; Dani could practically hear Felicity’s voice in her head describing it as such.

“I can’t wait to see what you’ve prepared for us tonight, Jake!” Felicity said, taking Jake’s arm as he led her into the dining room.

Dani mentally groaned as Albert slipped his arm through hers. “Surprising to find a couple like yours where it’s the man who cooks, and not his beautiful wife!”

“Oh I’m… I’m not much of a cook…” Dani said. She had a habit of burning anything she tried to cook; constantly getting distracted by something. Jake had learned quite early that he would be doing most of the cooking. He didn’t seem to mind: if anything Dani got the suspicion that he actually preferred to be the one in charge of the kitchen.

“Not to worry: I’m sure it’s not your aptitude in the kitchen that Jake here loves about you,” he said; Dani didn’t like the way Albert winked at her as he spoke, and she definitely didn’t like the way his eyes briefly looked down her blouse; even with Jake’s last-minute adjustments almost sealing the fabric to her neck. “A woman of your physicality need not worry about aptitude in the kitchen, anyway.”

Looking ahead, Dani was annoyed to see Felicity and Jake deep in conversation, having heard none of Albert’s comments.

She felt Albert’s breath on her ear, and her head froze as it was: looking ahead.

“Especially with lips such as yours,” Albert whispered. “So perfect to wrap around a man’s-”

Jake’s head suddenly turned back, and Dani breathed a sigh of relief as she felt Albert return to a normal posture. Although then her boyfriend spoke: “Are you OK sitting by the window?”

Of course he hadn’t seen or heard anything: Dani was annoyed at herself for thinking Jake had and was going to chastise Albert, or even (hopefully!) ask this creepy couple to leave the house.

“I’ll be fine!” Albert said cheerfully. He had the audacity to give Dani’s hand a squeeze before joining his wife at the table.

Giving her boyfriend a concerned look, Dani was disappointed to see Jake more concerned for the food than his girlfriend, and settled herself at the table, forcing a polite smile to her face as Jake and Felicity began to talk; conscious of Albert’s eyes constantly feasting on her.

*****

“Jesus… what did he do after that?”

“Nothing!” Dani said, before taking another large bite of the baguette. Noticing Gareth’s face she held her fingers to her lips to prevent food from exploding outwards as she fought back her laughter. “I know! But honestly nothing else happened last night!”

They were sitting on one of the art sculptures that someone, many years ago, had arranged to fill the large square outside the office buildings that Blue Ball shared with many companies. This time of the day lots of workers were enjoying their lunches at the portable food vans that called the square their place of business between the hours of ten and three. Several different cuisines were offered by the vans, from Thai to supposedly authentic Indian, but Dani and her colleague, Gareth Bates, always found themselves drawn to the simple sandwich van.

The sun was out in force – Dani and Gareth had stripped down to their t-shirts; their coats on the smooth marble of the sculpture – and the square was packed with people. Surrounded by so many voices, Dani found herself at ease; the uncomfortable events of last night having happened far away in another place entirely (quite literally!)

“Still… what a fucking creep,” Gareth said between mouthfuls of his own baguette (cheese and pickle, like Dani’s). “I mean he actually said you have dick-sucking lips.”

“He didn’t *actually* say that!”

“No, but he was about to, right?”

“I mean…” Dani laughed. “Yeah… I think that’s what he was definitely gonna say…” She looked at him and his expression, and laughed again. “I know! What a fucking creep!”

“I can’t believe you put up with that shit!” Gareth said, shaking his head.

Dani shrugged. How could she explain this to her colleague? She did it for Jake. As he ate she watched Gareth; she really did enjoy his company, despite being several years younger than her and fresh out of university, Gareth made her laugh and was easy to hang out with; and he was easy on the eyes as well! At five-foot ten he was a good two inches taller than her, although quite a bit shorter than Jake; Gareth was lean, muscular-but-not-too-much, with a mop of brown hair and light brown eyes. Working with Gareth made the long commute into Coytoss bearable for her, otherwise Dani might have taken up her manager’s offer of working from home a long while back.

“So Jake did nothing?” Gareth said incredulously.

“I don’t think he noticed,” she said.

“Have you told him how this guy makes you feel?”

“I…” Dani said, before her voice trailed off. She had tried to raise the topic with Jake, but each time she thought about how much Jake was trying to make a place for them both in Myle Hye; a good standing with Felicity Farrow would definitely help. If it meant smiling and grinning as her lecherous husband made inappropriate comments to Dani, well…

At least it was just comments.

“So you haven’t?”

“I’m getting around to it!” Dani said defensively.

“In the same way you’re getting around to that new tattoo you want on your other arm?”

She glanced at the bare skin of her left arm: her right was covered in an elaborate design she had been working on for several years now. Frequent trips to the tattoo artist Nikolaj had seen a simple sleeve swallow her right arm entirely. In contrast, her left arm was untouched. “I’m just thinking of what I want…”

“You’ve been thinking for how long now?”

“Shut up!” Dani said, giving him a friendly elbow. “You can’t rush art!”

“Spoken like a true artist!” Gareth said, smiling with her. “Speaking of which, how’s those new designs you were working on last week?”

“Oh those…” Dani sighed. “They weren’t going anywhere.”

“Really? I thought they were great! That dude with the axe for the head… wow!”

She smiled. Gareth seemed to be her biggest fan, but he only got to see the occasional doodles she made while in the office between projects, or when they were out here having lunch. He did not get to see the crap she spent hours on when at home. Maybe she should bring in her art for him to take a look at someday. Maybe not: part of her enjoyed Gareth’s praise for her work, and him seeing what she came up with when at home would definitely spoil that.

Why was it so difficult to draw at home?

“So… Do you think the strike will happen?” He said, changing the subject.

Dani shrugged. “Possibly.” The ongoing disagreement between Transport for Eroshire and the local government about pay was rumoured to be turning quite sour; talk was a strike could be on the table, possibly later this month. With the pay issue spilling over to both the local rail and the tram drivers the rumour was shaping up to be, if the strike went ahead, a total shutdown of train and rail transport into and out of the city. With decades of privatisation having stripped the city of almost all bus routes it would mean a long and miserable commute for anyone looking to get into and out of Coytoss by bus.

If the strike happened. It was all rumour, anyway.

“Wouldn’t affect me much,” Gareth said. Dani knew he lived fairly locally: renting a small flat with three of his friends; all ex-students of the UOE. He looked at her with sympathy. “Would be a bitch for you, though.”

“Yeah…” Dani sighed. “Downside of living on the other side of the county…”

“Erm… you can tell me to mind my own business if you think I’m overstepping boundaries,” he said, “but… er… I get the vibe you don’t like living out in the sticks.”

“What?” Dani tried a dismissive smile. It didn’t feel as genuine as she wanted it to. “No… I like the place. It’s peaceful. It’s helping my art.” Was it though? Wasn’t she just thinking that her art made at home wasn’t worth bringing in to show Gareth? Why was she defending Myle Hye? “It’s totally unlike the city,” she continued, although this was quite true. Even sitting here, on this bit of pretentious modern art that littered the area, Dani was surrounded by people; everyone going about their day, their lives intersecting only briefly as they passed each other.

It was all so beautiful. Pulling out the sketchpad from the satchel resting beside her Dani took it all in: the people, the food vans, even the fucking pigeons eating up scraps as people walked by without giving the birds a second thought. She retrieved a pencil from behind her ear – she never left the office without one perched there – and began to sketch as she continued to defend Jake’s choice to move out to the sticks. “I’ve got plenty of time to myself. No distractions. No neighbour to keep me up all night with his loud sex, or awful choice in music.” The latter had been so much worse than the former; at least Dani could masturbate to her neighbour’s sex life.

Gareth chuckled. “Yeah… that was uni digs for me. All three years. Mind you…” He looked over at her and winked. “I was that guy keeping everyone up all night.”

Dani shared his mischievous grin. “Same!” She whispered like a schoolgirl gossiping. “I was so bad at your age-”

“My age?!?” Gareth said, obviously pretending to be offended. “Come on! I’m not that young!”

“No, you’re a big strong boy now,” Dani said, ruffling his hair.

“Alright you old bat,” Gareth said. “I’ll forgive you because I know your menopause has set in.”

Dani looked at him, mouth wide in mock outrage. “The fucking audacity!” She gasped. “After I bought you lunch, as well!”

“Cheers for that,” Gareth said, finishing his baguette. He nodded at her sketch. “That’s coming along real nice.”

Looking at what she had been creating while they spoke, Dani smiled at the cartoonish pigeons waging a mock war between the feet of city dwellers. Rough outlines of pigeon guns fired small bullets as a half-sketched pigeon tank rolled between the suited legs of a banker. “What do you think I should have for flags?” She said, sketching a few pigeons planting blank flags on the dirty flagstones. “Bird feet? Beak? Or be really fucking tasteless?”

“What? A pigeon AK47?” Gareth shook his head. “Yeah… let’s not. You know Derek’s been looking for suggestions for a small kid’s project. Something to put on CBBC to earn a bit for the company.”

“Hmm… what if I swap the guns for swords?”

“Pigeon D&D?”

“Fuck yeah!” Dani was already scribbling over her work. Guns became swords, and wings had shields drawn over them. A few pigeons waved magical staves over their beaked heads. “I could have dragon pigeons!”

“Drageons? Pigons?”

“We can work on it,” Dani said. Her hand was flying over the page now. Ideas tumbling out of her head and onto the paper, like they used to. This was why she enjoyed coming into the city to work at the office. Work alongside Gareth. He reminded her of how easy it used to be to draw.

Pausing, Dani looked over at Gareth. “What time is it?”

He checked his phone and sighed. “Time we should be moving,” he said. “Don’t want to be late to the meeting, do we?”

“You wanna meet up after? Hash a few ideas out?” Dani said, knowing full well that Jake did not appreciate her staying late at the office. Still… if she gave him heads-up so he didn’t spend so much time cooking a meal only for it to go cold, like last time. She didn’t want to go home with all these ideas still buzzing in her head, and she really did enjoy creating with Gareth.

Jake would understand.

So why was Dani hesitating to call him? She would just be staying for an hour of two after her work ended to focus on some personal art developments. Working with a colleague. It wasn’t a date or anything.

Yet Dani found herself unable to call Jake and explain that, not after what happened the last time she spent time after work with Gareth.

Thankfully she was spared coming up with a plausible excuse when her phone rang on the way back to the office. “Hey Zee,” Dani said when she answered her phone.

“Hey Dee,” Zehra Sydin, Dani’s long-time friend and former partner in crime (literally), said. “Fancy a drink after you finish work?”

“Sure! Just got to finish a few things and I’ll be right over.”

*****

‘A few things’ ended up taking two hours: Dani and Gareth had spent ages hashing out a whole backstory for the Pigeon Wars, as they took to calling Dani’s absurd depiction of the secret life of Coytoss’ ‘rats with wings’. An epic tale of avian combat beneath the sight of normal citizens. Two hours of Dani creating sketch after sketch of several principle characters, while Gareth’s excited banter fueled her imagination.

Eventually Dani had to apologise to him and tear herself away, otherwise she would probably still be at the empty offices brainstorming ideas about fighting cartoon pigeons with Gareth. She was kinda disappointed to say goodbye, even though she would be back in the office tomorrow.

Silly girl, she told herself as she walked through the doors of the Paradiso Costiero.

“Sounds like you’ve got a crush,” the blonde behind the bar was saying as Dani approached; Rhian Carter was a regular barmaid, and one of Dani’s closest friends. The other was sitting just in front of Rhian, resting her bare arms on the bar’s surface with a single drink in front of her.

“It’s more than a crush! I’m like…”

“Besotted?” Dani finished for Zehra as she sat down next to her friend. Similar in height to her, Zehra Sydin had hair of more a brown shade than Dani’s pitch black, with skin so tanned it was like she had just come back from a holiday in the Mediterranean. Contrasting nicely with Dani’s pale, almost white skin. Though like Dani, the other woman had several tattoos; done at the same time, and the same place (although Dani had paid less for hers, opting to settle her debt with the handsome tattoo artist, Nikolaj, with some great sex instead – this was all before meeting Jake, of course! These days she paid for her ink with cash like a normal person.) “Sorry I’m late,” she added with an apologetic look.

Zehra smiled at Dani. “You’ve got to stop staying late at the office,” Zehra said. “They’re not going to reward you.”

“I don’t mind it.”

“Gives her more time to spend with that cute newbie,” Rhian commented slyly.

Dani felt the heat rise to her face. “I just think he’s funny,” she muttered, and quickly changed the topic; her friends loved to challenge her on her relationship with Gareth. Dani was tired of insisting that there wasn’t anything going on between them! “Speaking of people doing their jobs: I’ll have an apple spritzer, thanks.”

Rhian rolled her eyes as she made off to find ingredients for Dani’s order.

“What does Jake think of all of this?” Zehra asked, supporting her head with one hand.

Dani didn’t like that smirk on her friend’s face. “We’re just friends!” She insisted.

“Well at least you’re ‘just friends’,” Zehra muttered. “Meanwhile Logan’s been making it very clear he can’t stand the sight of me.”

Logan Evans was the best friend of Zehra’s current boyfriend, Adrian Foster; Dani had grown used to Zehra complaining about him (Logan). Apparently neither of them liked each other; she hadn’t been able to figure out who started it, only having Zehra’s side of the story, of course, but Dani’s friend was always complaining about this man, to the point that Dani had suspicions…

If a guy was living rent-free in her friend’s head this badly it normally meant one thing.

(She was right, but that’s another story.)

“You sound disappointed,” Dani observed dryly. Oh yeah… she had suspicions…

Not that her friend would ever cheat: Zehra had always been a faithful woman to the men she dated (even the assholes). Dani had cheated once, and had immediately regretted it; destroying a decent relationship with a decent guy. She wouldn’t do that to Jake.

“I just think we could be good friends…”

“Just good friends?” Dani teased. She really shouldn’t.

“Just good friends,” Zehra insisted.

Dani left it at that. The conversation moved away from Zehra’s man problems, and the two had a lengthy talk about the current state of the city (endless maintenance on the water works, future strike action from TFE, and the ongoing encampment by environmental activists on land for the proposed second sexual health clinic to be operated by Yusuf “Cold Hands” Khan – a name given to him by his patients due to the cold way he would probe a vagina, as well as terrible circulation issues that made his hands literally cold to the touch; having endured a few examinations by him in the past Dani felt sorry for his bombshell of a wife).

Then, when they had finished laughing about the leader of the activists being the eldest child of their old friend from the force – Commissioner Newell himself – Zehra had to go and spoil the mood by asking “so how’s life out in the sticks working out for you?”

Dani sighed. She’d known Zehra too long to bullshit the woman. “It’s not. It’s too quiet.”

“See… I told you it would be a mistake,” Zehra said. Catching Rhian’s eye she added “didn’t we tell her it would be a mistake?”

“What? The tat?” Rhian said loudly; being several metres away from the women mixing a fresh cocktail for the customer sitting next to Zehra; a tall man with a messy mop of brown hair still in a smart suit he’d probably been wearing all day. Drinking alone, which was always bad news for a girl like Dani, in a relationship (which tended to encourage Coytoss men further), and so she had been trying not to catch his eye when looking at her friend.

“No! Moving to Myle Hye!”

“That was a mistake, Dee!” Rhian said, finishing the cocktail.

After taking it from the barmaid, the man half-turned to catch Dani’s eyes, revealing his own to be a most brilliant shade of green. “My condolences,” he said. Raising his glass.

“Oh it’s not that bad!” Dani said, annoyed with both of her friends and this stranger; as hot as he was. “It’s just quiet, that’s all.”

“You mean dead,” Zehra said, glancing at the man as if seeking his agreement.

Which he gave: “That’s an insult to dead towns,” he said, then he looked at Dani. “Is it true you all have to be in by eight? That there’s only one convenience store and all it sells is marmite and baked beans? Have you lived there long enough now to have forgotten all sex positions except missionary?”

“What? No!” Dani said. “My sex like is fucking incredible right now! How about you shut the fuck up… er… who the *fuck* are you, anyway?”

Before he could answer, Rhian slid into Dani’s view, dramatically gesturing with one hand as she wore a right cuntish smile. “Ladies, may I present the esteemed Theodore Miller, descendent of the great Maximillian Miller himself, and inheritor to the Throne of Sordid Delights.”

Dani’s eyebrows rose. Said Throne wasn’t a seat, but rather one of the most expensive houses in Eroshire: a colossal thirty-bedroom affair set amongst six hundred acres of private land, built over two hundred years ago and modified extensively throughout the years as it passed from one Miller to another, until its current owner, the reclusive Evangeline Miller; who no one had seen in the public eye since the death of her husband some twenty years ago. ‘The Throne of Sordid Delights’ was a nickname given to it since the days of Maximillian Miller’s infamous orgies; what the house was actually called no one could remember.

Theo Miller smiled a polite smile that suggested to Dani he disliked being introduced like that.

“Nice suit,” Zehra said. “What fancy office do you work at?”

“Only the fanciest,” Theo said, his smile becoming genuine as the topic moved to something he was obviously proud of; possibly because he had earned it rather than inherited it. “H&F.”

Dani’s brain connected two dots: “Theo, right? Do you know Jake Cook?”

“Jake? Yeah I know that wank-” Theo suddenly frowned, then his expression softened to what Dani could only interpret as sympathy. “Huh… guess you must be Dani.”

“Yeah… does Jake talk about me?”

“No… at least not as much as most of the guys talk about their other halves,” Theo said. He was still regarding Dani with that odd sympathetic expression, which was beginning to annoy her. “I think Jake’s mentioned you… twice… maybe? How long have you two been seeing each other?”

“Three years.”

“And you moved to Myle Hye with him?” Theo said, frowning. “That’s a big step for only three years.”

“Thank you!” Zehra said, gesturing wildly. Turning to Dani she said: “I said it was too big of a step for just three years!”

“How long do I have to be sleeping with a guy before moving in with him?” Dani said, raising an eyebrow. “I mean haven’t you just moved in with Adrian?”

Zehra gave her friend a look. “That’s not the same! My situation is one of necessity,” she said, referring to the property damage that had currently rendered Zehra’s flat uninhabitable. “Yours was lovesick infatuation.”

Dani felt herself blush: her friend wasn’t wrong. In the beginning Dani had been sickeningly in love with Jake; like a schoolgirl with a new crush. He had been everything previous boyfriends had not, except one: John, whose heart Dani had broken when she had cheated on him. Like her ex John, Jake had been kind, compassionate, a good listener, insisted on paying for their meals out (handy because Dani had not been in a great financial position), shared her tastes in music, films and TV, and encouraged her art; eventually helping her land her current place at Blue Ball.

His name also began with ‘J’, which Dani saw as providence that this was a second chance with a man like John, and she was not going to fuck it up this time.

Which made her feel guilty about all the time she was spending with Gareth lately.

“With Jake, huh?” Theo looked at Dani like she was putting on a show. “Guess he must be a different man outside work.”

“Most of us are,” Dani said, feeling compelled to defend her boyfriend against someone that Jake apparently didn’t like. She wasn’t sure why: Theo seemed harmless enough, although she was probably being distracted by his handsome looks and those eyes of his… “Jake’s a wonderful boyfriend. I moved in with him because I need some stability in my life.” She glanced at Zehra, and felt a stab of guilt when Zehra’s expression betrayed the guilt her friend apparently still had even after all these years for the shit they both went through when they had been younger. “Zee, I didn’t mean-”

“Nah, it’s cool,” Zehra said. Her sudden smile obviously a guard. “You’re right. You need a guy like Jake in your life. Doesn’t matter what the rest of us think, does it? So long as you’re happy.” Her expression softened; dark green eyes searching Dani’s face. “You *are* happy, right?”

“Course I am,” Dani said, a little too fast even for her own liking. She *was* happy, right? Sure there was the problem with sleep, but that was just getting used to how *quiet* it was there. She just needed more time to get adjusted to Myle Hye’s lack of nighttime ambience.

With sleep would come inspiration, and Dani would get in touch with her art once more.

She just needed to be patient, like Jake kept saying.

Her friend didn’t seem too convinced, but Zehra mercifully changed the topic. The two talked for a half-hour more before Dani’s phone rang. “Hey babe,” she said, bracing herself. Dani knew she had stayed out longer than she should have.

Sure enough: “Babe, you said you wouldn’t be out too late.” Jake had a knack for making her feel guilty. “It’s almost nine. By the time you get back it will be too late for food.”

A part of her wondered why: she was a grown-ass woman, right? She could snack late. Yet she nodded, despite knowing Jake wouldn’t see her chastised expression. “I’m so sorry Jake,” Dani said into her phone. “I’ll head out now. Sorry for making you worry about me, babe.”

“Really? It’s not even nine,” Zehra muttered after Dani had hung up and was sorting herself for a walk to the nearest station – Coytoss Main Street.

“Got you dancing to his tune,” Theo said; the first thing he had said to either of the women in a while. At first Dani had thought he was planning to hit on either of them – and she was prepped with ways to shoot down his advances – but when it became obvious Theo had no plans further than just sitting there at the bar beside them drinking and watching the closest TV, Dani found him to be kind of creepy, and had started to think her boyfriend was onto something with regard to Theodore Miller, inheritor of big homes out in the countryside.

“What the fuck did you say about my boyfriend?” Dani snapped. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was suddenly so angry; maybe it was Theo’s comment and demeanour, maybe it was the lack of sleep (even with the pills), or maybe it was Jake’s insistence on ending her night out with her friend, but whatever it was Dani was not in a good mood; and she was not normally angry. That was Zehra’s scene, not hers.

Theo looked at her. Those brilliant green eyes of his filled with so much concern Dani found all of her anger draining away. “Look after yourself, OK?” Theo said. “Jake’s… he’s got a nasty side, that’s all I’m saying.”

If he was talking about Jake’s moods, then yes: Dani knew Jake had a dark side. Yet she didn’t think that was what Theo was talking about, and with a little hesitancy she answered “sure…”

As she left the Paradiso Costiero she looked over her shoulder to see Zehra and Theo in deep conversation. A part of her wanted to storm over and demand to know what they were talking about, but the rest of her didn’t want to keep Jake waiting any longer. Sighing at how her friend and some random stranger seemed to be so full of suspicion about her life, Dani walked out into the cold night air.

*****

“Hey babe,” Jake said, kissing her on the cheek after she closed the front door behind her. “No trouble on the train, I take it?”

“None,” Dani said, hanging up her coat and regarding her boyfriend wearily.

Jake seemed to be in a good mood: there was a smile on his face and the smell of his cooking still permeated the air of their house. Had he been cooking for himself? Dani felt a little guilty at how she had stayed out with her friend and colleague so late, instead of coming home for Jake to cook for her. It was almost half-ten!

“That smells nice,” she said.

“Sorry babe, I didn’t save anything,” Jake said. “Just made some curry for myself. It doesn’t keep well, I’m afraid, so I didn’t see the point in putting aside anything for you.”

“No, that’s fine…” Dani lied: that smell was too good, and was making her hungry. She felt bad about missing out on Jake’s great food. “I’ll get something for myself.”

“Don’t be too long,” he said, kissing her on the cheek. His lips moved across to meet hers, and for a good moment they locked their lips in the passionate kiss of lovers. “It’s been a long day: I might fall asleep if you keep me waiting upstairs.”

“I won’t… don’t worry,” Dani whispered back.

She didn’t keep him waiting: after shoving a quick sandwich down her gob Dani hurried up to their bedroom. She’d barely made it through the door before Jake had gathered her in his arms and thrown her to the bed.

Dani loved a good hard fuck like any decent Eroshire girl, and sex with Jake was that: hard. He dominated her in the bedroom; folding her legs up to meet her ears as he hammered his big ten inch dick into her like a fucking piston, until Dani was practically seeing stars as she came hard. Not only was Jake big but he also had incredible stamina; and after an hour of his relentless pace he pulled out. Knowing how he liked to finish, Dani got down on her knees on the bed and took his whole length into her mouth. Early on in their relationship Dani discovered that Jake loved to look down on her when she had him in her mouth; and as she sucked and throat-fucked him to orgasm his dark brown eyes were regarding hers with pride.

Thick hot jets of gunk splashed around inside her mouth; Jake came a lot, and he quickly filled her mouth to bursting, but Dani was a good girl, as Jake liked her to be, and swallowed each hot blast of cum until his cock stopped erupting.

“So tell me,” he said, stroking her hair as she licked his cock and balls clean of cum. “What did you and Zee talk about for four hours?”

“Oh we weren’t talking for…” Dani blinked. Shit. She had walked right into that one. “I mean-”

“You were hanging out with that guy from work again, weren’t you?” Jake said.

Was it her imagination or had his grip on her hair just got tighter?

“He’s just a friend,” Dani said. Looking up at him with her pale grey eyes. “It was just work.”

“Couldn’t have waited until tomorrow?” Jake said. He hadn’t let go of her hair.

“I…” Dani realised she didn’t have an answer to that. Gareth and her could have waited until tomorrow, but they hadn’t wanted to; she enjoyed his company, and she suspected Gareth did as well. Perhaps there was something there. Looking up at her boyfriend, Dani realised that what was buzzing through her head must be obvious to him, for Jake’s eyes were flaring with anger. “I didn’t mean to keep you waiting… I’m sorry babe… we’re just friends… we’re just-”

“That’s great!” Jake said, his whole mannerisms switching to a bright smile so quickly that she wondered if she had seen that anger in his eyes to begin with. Maybe she was just projecting her own guilt about how much time she seemed to be spending with another man. “I’m glad you’ve got friends at work. They sound like better people than who I have to work with.”

For a brief second Dani thought about mentioning her chance encounter with Theo earlier that evening, but decided against it: better not try her luck with Jake tonight. She could always bring it up at a later date, when Jake was in a better mood.

“It would just be nice if you’d join me for dinner,” Jake said, gently stroking her cheek. “I love hearing about your day. So much more interesting than what I get up to.”

Dani would love to hear Jake talk about his work; but he never did, and she didn’t want to say that with him in this odd mood of his; so she smiled at him, held his hand to her cheek, and said “I’m sorry, Jake. I’ll try not to stay too long at the office in future.”

His smile took on a slight edge to it; like he felt he had won an argument, although Dani didn’t feel they had been arguing. He kissed her lips. Gently at first. Then more passionately. Tongues entwined as Dani felt him push her back down.

Jake did love being on top.

It was almost midnight when he finally finished. Pumping thick globs of his hot cum into her, until Dani was practically overflowing with Jake’s potent seed. Even though she was on the pill Dani sometimes wondered if Jake would still get her pregnant; his talk about starting a family here in Myle Hye made her wonder if he were hedging his bets that his virile cum would get her knocked up soon. So she made sure not to forget a day when taking her pill.

Speaking of pills… as she heard Jake fall asleep – he was always quick to begin snoring – Dani got up and quietly headed into the bathroom. Retrieving the bottle of sleeping pills she kept at the back of the bathroom cupboard, Dani poured out two pills (the recommended dosage), and returned the bottle to its inconspicuous hiding place.

She didn’t want Jake to know she was having difficulty sleeping in the quiet of Myle Hye. Dani didn’t want her boyfriend to know how difficult she was finding it here. Moving to this town had meant so much to Jake; she didn’t want to hurt him.

Yet as she looked at her sleeping boyfriend – his large, muscular form illuminated by the pale moonlight coming in through the open curtains – Dani wondered if she was really keeping these pills hidden from him to protect Jake’s feelings…

…but what else was there to it?

Looking away from her sleeping boyfriend and the conflicted and confusing feelings Jake kept causing in her, Dani stood by the window and focused on the dark countryside that surrounded Myle Hye. As she knocked back the pills and swallowed them dry, her eyes searched the miles of unkempt fields and hedges that dominated the north-western Eroshire countryside; the distant lights of Kreenpye on the horizon, where Dani grew up in a household she’d rather forget; and in contrast on the horizon shone the towers of central Coytoss, where the Blue Ball offices resided; a way down the valley between her and Coytoss the lights of the university campus were still on, no doubt students of all ages were enjoying another night of debauchery. A life Dani would have loved to have lived.

And there, between those lights and the single road leading into Myle Hye from further down the valley, where the university sprawled like a drunken teen after blowing their load, Dani saw the great house partially hidden by surrounding forest. The Throne of Sordid Delights.

To think she’d sat next to its inheritor. A girl like her. Danielle Cohen from the block.

As the drugs began to take hold and Dni started to feel drowsy she noticed something…

A single light was on in a room on the first floor.

Dani frowned.

It had to have been her imagination: the distance from her window here to that window on the first floor of the old house had to be some five miles or so. The light was barely a dot. Yet she felt as if someone had just passed by the open window, and, for one brief moment, paused beside it.

Paused to look through that window.

Right at her.

And for the briefest moment Dani felt a sense of vertigo; like standing on the edge of the abyss, a vast dark infinite abyss, with the knowledge that one step forward and she would fall forever…

Reaching up she pulled the curtains shut.

*****

“Did you close the curtains last night?”

Dani nodded as she finished her cereal.

Jake sighed. “Babe, you know I love the night sky out here,” he said. “It’s so peaceful to look at the stars. Don’t you think?”

“Sorry,” she said. There was absolutely no reason to mention how she had felt last night, when she saw the light in that room in a house five miles away. In broad daylight it sounded insane; as crazy as a ghost story. Perhaps the quiet of this town was finally driving her insane.

Still, she managed to get a decent night’s sleep with the help of the pills. Dani wished she could manage to get to sleep without them, but it was either risk addiction or succumb to insomnia. A horrible choice considering she was coming up to four years clean now. Dani wished she could talk to Jake about this, but she knew her boyfriend wouldn’t understand.

Or worse: take it the wrong way and think she hated it here.

Well… she didn’t *like* it here… either…

“That’s OK, babe,” Jake said. He folded the paper he had been reading and stood up. “Going to the office again today?” When she nodded he quickly added “don’t stay too late. Remember we’ll be hosting dinner for the Farrows again tonight.”

“I haven’t forgotten, Jake,” Dani said, feeling a little annoyed with his patronising reminder.

Perhaps that was a mistake, as Jake’s smile dropped a little. “I don’t like you spending time with that guy from the office, Dani,” he said. Jake rarely used her name when talking to her. “I want you back by seven.”

He walked out without giving her a chance to respond. Dani dropped the spoon into the bowel out of frustration, taking a small measure of satisfaction in how loud it clattered.

*****

“Your boyfriend sounds like a cunt.”

Dani gasped, then playfully slapped Gareth on his arm. “Don’t be mean!” She said, “Jake just… he’s just looking out for me… that’s all! I’ll have you know he was very supportive of me when we first met. I wouldn’t have made it through my first year without his help.”

“Your first year of what?” Gareth said.

They were sitting at Dani’s desk in the offices of Blue Ball. Though it was nearly four there was still lots of people working; artists dwarfed by their multi-screen set-ups as they relaxed on large ergonomic bean bags that moulded into your form as you sat upon them. Dani’s was pink with a lot of white flowers, and she had been sitting at her desk so long it had begun to envelop her. A collection of half-finished images dominated her four screens; though her hand still manoeuvred the stylus over the touchpad resting on her knees as she spoke.

Gareth loved watching her create; the way her body almost subconsciously conjured up these amazing images while her mouth happily chatted about anything that was on her mind. Even if that subject was this boyfriend of hers that he’d not yet met. While he liked to consider himself a great artist – definitely the best out of his housemates – Gareth knew his talents were a drop in the vast ocean of Dani Cohen’s potential. He didn’t understand why she had moved away from a city she so obviously loved and that she used to help fuel her creativity, to some dead zone on the other side of the county, an hour away by train.

“Being sober,” Dani said. The look she gave him was one of honesty, not meant to shame, but Gareth still found himself looking away out of guilt. Of course that was what she had meant. He knew she had a past with addiction problems; Dani had mentioned going into rehab in the first week Gareth and her had worked together.

“Sounds like he’s been good to you,” Gareth said. Not quite believing it; Dani spoke a lot about her boyfriend, Jake, and while he seemed like a decent sort there were a couple of red flags with his behaviour that had Gareth worried. This insistence on her coming back in a timely manner felt a little beyond loving boyfriend concern for her safety.

“He has,” Dani said, though like Gareth (a fact obviously unknown to her) she didn’t feel what she was saying was the whole truth. No, it was just complicated: Jake had indeed been there for her in that crucial first year after she started rehab. They had met by chance when she had left her fourth meeting; a cliche ‘meet-cute’ which saw them have a drink (hers was non-alcoholic; at the time Dani wasn’t confident in herself not to swap drug addiction for alcoholism, something that she had since conquered and could drink socially in confidence) and talk for a while, before discovering a mutual attraction that saw him take her back to his place for the evening; Dani had discovered Jake’s huge cock and drive when he fucked her silly for hours. But it wasn’t just the sex that had kept her coming back (although the sex was great!), but Jake’s ability to provide her support; a shoulder to lean on during the moments when she felt most vulnerable; without him Dani was certain she would have fallen off the wagon and been back shooting shit into her veins in the toilets of the more seedy nightclubs in Coytoss before that first year had finished.

“But still…” Gareth persisted, giving her a sympathetic look. “Ordering you to come back home before seven like you’re a teenager-”

“Yeah, I know how it sounds…” Dani said, not sure how she could spin this in any way that he would find acceptable; Gareth definitely didn’t trust Jake. “But we do have guests round tonight; Jake just doesn’t want me to be late again.”

“The Farrows again?” Gareth rolled his eyes. “Think that Albert’s going to be a sex pest again?”

“He’s just… a little handsy…”

“That’s what they said about Harvey Weinstein.”

“Gareth! Albert’s not like that!” Dani said, though a part of her felt he had a point: Albert was not a man Dani wanted to be alone with. “He’s just…”

“A little handsy?” Gareth said, grinning.

Dani elbowed him. “Stop that!” She said, although she couldn’t keep from smiling either. Why was it so easy being around this guy?

They looked at each other, smiling, until Dani looked away; she realised she had been doodling something and now realised what it was: on the fields she was supposed to be enriching for this wellbeing app’s advert she had added a couple lounging on a crudely sketched rug, arm-in-arm.

“I think that works better,” Gareth said.

Dani was aware of how close he hand leaned towards her; it was certainly so he could get a better look at the main monitor, but a part of her wondered if he wasn’t just using it as an excuse to get close to her, and she realised that she was kind of glad he had… it was… nice… having him so close to her… close enough that if she turned her head-

Their lips were barely an inch apart. Her eyes were so close to his; and for a few seconds that seemed to stretch like an eternity Dani gazed into his eyes, as Gareth did likewise to her.

“They want it to be an open field,” she whispered, not wanting to look away back to the project she was working on.

“I say surprise them with this,” he whispered back; not wanting to look away either. Her eyes held him captive: like the expansive grey sky outside the windows of the office. “I think it looks a lot better…”

She thought so too. Those two little figures added some humanity that should work better for a lifestyle app…

“Hey you guys! Going for drinks after we’re done?”

They both snapped their heads away from each other at the sound of their colleague’s voice. “I can’t,” Dani said, hurriedly. “My boyfriend’s got friends round.”

“Yeah… I got shit to do this evening,” Gareth muttered, feeling the heat rise to his face. For one moment he felt all he had to do was lean forward just an inch and she would have reciprocated.

“Fair enough,” Amanda Byron said as she carried on walking past the two; though she couldn’t keep the smile from her face at how she had caught her colleagues looking at each other like lovesick teens. The gossip around the office was that Dani Cohen and Gareth Bates were in denial about how much they obviously wanted to fuck; the secret pool was that Dani would be hoping on his (supposedly) big dick sometime near the end of this month.

Completely oblivious to the gossip amongst their colleagues, Dani and Gareth made to look as if there was absolutely nothing between them; they were professional colleagues, that was all.

“I better make a move,” Dani muttered, saving her work. “Sorry I can’t hang out this evening-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Gareth said, giving her a warm smile. “See you tomorrow?”

“Of course!” Dani said, beaming like there wasn’t a greater certainty in the world.

As she left the offices Dani paused by the TVs behind the reception desk, where a report on the latest developments surrounding TFE’s proposed strikes suggested talks were in progress. With the next few weeks looking optimistic – train strike called off and the memory of her almost-kiss with Gareth burning bright in her mind – Dani smiled and began her long journey back home to Myle Hye.

Little did she know that the future would be a lot brighter than she could ever imagine…

*****

Gareth too kept thinking about that almost kiss; even when he arrived back home at the house he shared with three ex-students from the University of Eroshire: a modest semi-detached in one of the many post-war (now ex-)council estates that had been built on the ruins of where the Luftwaffe had thoroughly done a number on old Coytoss during the Blitz. His housemates were a decent lot, if just a little messy: Gareth sighed as he stacked dirty plates by the sink, having not even taken off his coat since he got in.

“Mate, I’ve got the dishes tonight,” Harry Watts said as he walked into the small kitchen with a bottle of Peroni in hand. Harry was a tall guy (a good six inches taller than Gareth) with a thin frame that he refused to bulk up despite Gareth telling him some muscles would help score with the chicks. “What are you doing back so early, anyway?”

“Not spending time with what’s-her-name?” Cathy Vern said as she leaned against the frame of the door leading into the living room (the house had no dining room, not that anyone cared; they either ate food watching TV or sitting glued to their PC screens). A slim woman of French descent, Cathay wore her long dark hair loose over a top that seemed a size too large for her.

“Dani,” Harry said, smirking as he watched Gareth’s reaction.

Gareth looked at his two friends. “First off: Dani has a boyfriend,” he said. “Secondly: she has guests round hers tonight, so couldn’t stick around for the evening.”

“Too morose to head out and bag yourself a distraction fuck?” Cathy said. “That’s what I would do if the girl I hopelessly fancied was having dinner with her boyfriend and friends.”

“Yeah… I’m not in the mood,” Gareth said. There was something about having meaningless sex to take his mind off of Dani and how close he had come to kissing her that didn’t sit right with him. Which was odd because just under a year ago that would totally be something he would have done. “Gonna Netflix and chill tonight. Literally.”

“So lonely,” Cathy teased. Though she gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. “One day.”

“Don’t tease.”

“I’m being serious,” Cathy said, draping an arm around his shoulder as they both left Harry to the dishes (much to his annoyance). “I see your face when you talk about her. You really fancy the fuck out of this girl, don’t you?”

“She’s great,” Gareth said, knowing how dorky he must be looking right now with the dreamy smile creeping across his face. “She’s just your type, actually: tats, tits and talent.”

“She bi?”

“Might be. Tell you what,” Gareth said as they parted at the base of the stairs, “if – and I mean if, ’cause this is all as unlikely as fuck – if I fuck her I’ll ask Dani if she’s up for fucking you too.”

“Good boy,” Cathy winked at him as he walked up the stairs.

“You know it’s not going to happen!” Gareth said just before he disappeared from her sight.

“I have faith!”

Smiling at his friend’s confidence in hook-ups that would never happen, Gareth walked into his room and closed the door behind him. Collapsing onto his bed his mind returned to that kiss that never happened. The feeling of being so close to her; the scent of Dani as she was right next to him… feeling his hard-on Gareth pulled off his shoes and socks and unbuttoned his flies. His huge eight inch cock sprung out, sticking up towards the ceiling; fuelled by how charged that one moment had been a few hours earlier.

As his hand vigorously flew up and down his long, thick shaft, Gareth recalled being so close to Dani, but in his mind that moment hadn’t been interrupted by Amanda; they had kissed. Finally. His imagination created the taste of her lips. The feeling of their tongues intertwining.

In his mind the office had been empty, and they had torn their clothes off in lust. He saw what her huge fake tits would look like without clothes in the way; skin so pale and so soft as his hand squeezed them. She moaned in his imagination as Gareth gasped with the pleasure he was giving himself: his hand flying up and down his considerable length as his mind’s eye saw him fuck her on that huge pink bag chair thing she always sat on. He imagined her riding his cock for hours before he pumped his thick load inside her warm, tight cunt. He imagined them fucking on all of the desks, the chairs, the staff room sofas and pool table; Gareth imagined them fucking on the rooftop garden; the sun shining down on them as moved from position to position, moaning and gasping as they fucked like university students. He filled her with his cum again and again. Dani screaming his name as he made her cum; harder than that controlling boyfriend of hers could.

His real life orgasm interrupted this fantasy of his: Gareth quickly grabbed a sock and stuffed it over his cock as he felt the first load of cum travel up from his balls. He watched the fabric of the sock expand as he pumped his hot gunk into it, until white goo began oozing through the soft wool and all down his hand. His other hand grabbed another sock and swapped it over, though it didn’t take long before that was swollen with his gunk.

Tossing the socks aside Gareth held his cock as it sprayed jets of gunk across his room, hitting the door five times before his cock finally stopped ejaculating thick white gunk.

Lying on his bed, smelling the odour of his own copious cum, Gareth sighed, and began to beat his meat once more: his cock barely softening despite cuming so hard and so much.

“Fuck my life,” he muttered. Knowing how sad he must look masturbating to a woman totally unavailable to him. He’d fucked girls before who had been in relationships, but they had been in shitty relationships, and Gareth had been only too happy to be the outlet for their frustrations.

Dani obviously loved her boyfriend, and he very much doubted she would ever fuck him; even though there was so much energy between them. Their sex would remain entirely in his mind.

Fortunately for Gareth, events would soon prove him wrong…

*****

The train ride back from Coytoss was always a surreal journey for Dani: getting on at Coytoss Main Street would see her fighting for a seat in the eight-carriage reject from the 80’s, but as the train made its ponderous journey past the next two stations servicing the outskirts of the city a strange transformation took place; at first half the train would empty at the next stop, and Dani would often be able to grab a seat (but not always!), then the next station would see half get off again, then half again at the next stop, and so on for the next five until, after fifty minutes or so, the train would terminate at Myle Hye’s short platform, where the ticket barriers were overseen by a single attendant: an old man often asleep on a chair beside the ticket machine. By that time Dani was often the only one left in the carriage.

Walking back from Myle Hye train station was an easy route following a curving road, where it seemed most of the village’s houses could be found; several smaller roads leading off ended with bulbous cul-de-sacs and large detached houses of the type not even Jake’s salary could afford. A quiet road; Dani had only passed about five people on the pavement since moving here.

The quiet was practically suffocating her by the time she walked up to her front door.

“Hey babe,” Jake said as he kissed her on the cheek. Taking her coat from her, Dani eyed him cautiously as Jake then returned to the kitchen: so far her boyfriend seemed in a good mood. “I got that nice dress out for you. The red one. I think you’ll look beautiful in it.”

Dani actually hated the red one – bought for her by Jake a year into their relationship – but she had never mentioned it to him for fear of offending. She’d hoped hiding it at the back amongst all the other clothes she rarely wore these days meant she wouldn’t see it again, but it seemed he had dug deep and unearthed it. “Thanks babe,” she called out to him as she headed upstairs.

One reason why she hated the red dress was how it collected and pushed out her tits. She felt a little bit like a prostitute when she wore it (not that Dani had ever been a sex worker, although she did have a few friends who were), and she was certain it wasn’t appropriate attire for their guests (although Dani was certain Albert would appreciate the view).

Still it was what Jake wanted her to wear…

“You look beautiful,” he said when she came back down into the kitchen.

“Are you sure this is appropriate?” Dani said, pushing her tits together slightly; looking at how the plunging neckline seemed to show off a lot of her pale flesh.

“Of course,” Jake said, seeming baffled by her comment. “Why? Do you not think so?”

“No! I mean yes! I mean of course this is fine!” Dani blustered. “It’s a lovely dress, thank you.”

“Not sure why you haven’t worn it since I got it for you,” Jake continued to talk as he cooked whatever was bubbling in the large saucepan on the stove. “Don’t you like it?”

“Of course!” Dani said, very quickly. “It’s lovely!”

Jake smiled at her. “I’m glad to hear it.” Returning to his cooking, Jake focused on the sizzling meat in the pan. “Tonight should be good for us. Felicity is not only happy to recommend us for the town committee but she’s also looking to switch legal representation from Hoffman and Stye to H&F.”

Dani wasn’t surprised to learn Jake had been courting the Farrows to join his law firm. From the little she had been able to squeeze out of him regarding his life at Hills & Follett it seemed to her that Jake was quite career-oriented, and moving an affluent couple like the Farrows from a rival law firm like Hoffman & Stye to H&F would probably be quite the feather in his cap.

So she would need to be on her best behaviour-

“I need you by my side, Dani.”

-and not fuck it up-

“Whatever they say, just smile and be amazing.” Jake looked over at her. “I know you can do it. You’re an amazing person, Dani. You’ll do this for me, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Dani said. She stood close to Jake, an arm around his waist. “I can see this means a lot to you. I’ll be on my best behaviour.” What? What was she saying? She was apologising like she was a child to her parents. Not a twenty-eight year old woman who’d done nothing wrong!

She stepped away from Jake; somewhat horrified by her thoughts.

“Best behaviour, Dani,” Jake said. This time there was no humour in his words. No teasing: his eyes were cold and regarded her with a sense of dominion that made Dani feel as helpless as she had the day Zehra had dropped her off at the rehab clinic. Only there was no Zehra here to hug her and whisper that everything would be OK. That she just had to be strong.

Be-

The doorbell sounded.

As if a switch had been pressed in his head at the sound, Jake’s eyes were suddenly filled with a compassionate warmth that made Dani question whether she had even seen that coldness just a moment ago. “Can you get the door for me, babe? I’ve almost finished the chicken.”

“Oh… sure,” she said. Her head was spinning. Dani felt trapped, but she didn’t know how, and what by. Just an overwhelming feeling that she was constrained by something she couldn’t see. It all felt surreal, and Dani wasn’t sure how it had come to this. Wasn’t moving out here her idea in the first place? She wanted space? Somewhere to concentrate on her art because it wasn’t…

No, that wasn’t right.

Fuck. Whose idea had it been?

When her hand touched the door handle Dani banished all confusion from her mind: this was not a night to let Jake down. She needed to be on best behaviour (why? What had she done?). It was an important night for Jake (what about her?).

Opening the door Dani forced a smile to her face as she saw the Farrows. Felicity had dressed herself in a flowing black ensemble that showed off a tight figure impressive for a woman of her age, while Albert had found a suit somewhere that strained at his expanding gut. “Welcome!”

“Danielle! Darling!” Felicity said, giving Dani a quick peck on each cheek. “So wonderful to be back here again! I do find your little home charming, have I mentioned that?”

She had. Many times. Emphasising ‘little’ each time. Dani knew that the Farrows lived in one of the big cul-de-sac houses she walked past to and from the station; she just didn’t know which one.

“Danielle!” Albert said, coming in to hug her.

Dani braced herself, and sure enough she felt a harsh squeeze of her left buttock. Creep.

“Now, now, Albert,” Felicity said without a trace of concern. “Be on your best behaviour.”

“Of course, dear.” Albert released Dani. He gave her a look that continued for a few seconds, a look that Dani did not like one bit. His tongue briefly flickered across his bottom lip.

Dani felt like she was going to throw up. But she shouldn’t: Jake had spent a lot of time in the kitchen preparing the food.

Slipping her arm between Dani’s, Felicity began walking Dani into the dining room. “So tell us about your art, dear. How is it going?”

“Erm… well… thank you…” Dani said, momentarily thankful for a conversation she could have without feeling out of her depth, as tended to be the case between the Farrows and Jake; as well as thankful that Felicity seemed to be taking her away from her lecherous husband. Whatever it was between these two, Dani was thankful that Felicity didn’t seem to want her husband being a creep all evening.

Be thankful for small mercies, she guessed.

Unfortunately any chance for Dani to talk about her art was swiftly interrupted by Jake; as he entered the dining room – Dani and the Farrows having just walked in themselves – he carried a huge tray of cooked chicken, neatly sliced after being soaked in all manner of flavourings. “Take a seat, everyone!” He said. “It’s a buffet meal tonight. Please help yourselves. Eat as much as you like!” He then promptly vanished back into the kitchen for the rest.

Feeling she should be the polite hostess Dani pulled out a seat for Felicity, who thanked her as she (Felicity) sat down, then did likewise for Albert; trying to smile as politely as she (Dani) could despite the way his eyes drifted to her dress-enhanced cleavage all the time.

“Tell me, Danielle,” he said as Dani walked to her seat. Jake didn’t like anyone helping him in the kitchen when he cooked, so she figured she would keep the Farrows company while he laid the food out for them all. “I’ve been meaning to ask you: are they real?”

He asked the question just as Jake entered with two plates worth of vegetables. Yet all he said was “anyone for wine?”

“Red please,” Albert said, smiling politely at Jake. Then his eyes turned to Dani: or rather, to her tits. “They appear to be quite fake. I’m surprised a woman like yourself would debase your body like that.”

“What?” Dani said weakly. They had barely started! Couldn’t this old fuck at least wait until it was time for desert before being a cunt? “I don’t see how…”

“You had them done when you were nineteen, didn’t you darling?” Jake said as he poured out red wine into Albert’s glass, then Felicity’s when she held hers up for him.

“What size were your tits before?” Albert said.

“Albert, darling,” Felicity said. Her face seemingly like this was a natural thing for her husband to ask his hostess. Not for the first time Dani wondered if these two got off on being as weird as possible. “That’s not a question we should ask a lady.”

“Not much of a lady if she’s got fake tits and ink all over her body!”

Dani looked at Jake, desperately hoping for him to defend her, but her boyfriend had sat down at the table after helping himself to wine. He hadn’t filled Dani’s glass, she noted. What had she done?

“I do apologise for my husband,” Felicity said, looking at Jake rather than Dani.

“Nothing to apologise for,” Jake said. “Tell me about the proposals for the new road-”

“Absolute nonsense!” Albert roared as he shovelled food onto his plate. “We don’t need a new road into Myle Hye! We barely have any traffic!” His eyes found Dani, who had been trying to fill her own plate. “Tell me: what parts of you have you covered in drawings?”

“That’s something Albert and I are quite proud of,” Felicity was saying to Jake, apparently she was quite happy to ignore her husband now. “The train station was a compromise, of course, as are the bus routes, but the through-road they wanted to build between Kreenpye and King’s Lynn was rejected, keeping our little village secure against traffic and our roads quiet-”

“Do you have one of those… what do you call them… ‘tramp-stamps’?”

“I love how quiet it is around here,” Jake said to Felicity, cutting the meat on his plate. “It was one of the many things that drew us to this village, isn’t that right, darling?”

“Erm… sorry… what did you say?” Dani was thankful to look away from Albert’s gaze.

“Darling, are you feeling OK?” Jake said. He turned to Felicity. “She’s not been herself lately. I think work is putting her under pressure. I’ve been telling her she should take time off work to heal. She’s been working a lot of overtime lately. I think one of her colleagues is putting pressure on her to work more.”

What? No, Gareth wasn’t… where was all this coming from?

“That’s terrible,” Felicity looked at her. “You really should take your boyfriend’s advice.”

“Gareth isn’t-”

“So his name’s Gareth,” Jake said, and his eyes flashed with a brief flare of anger as he looked at her; Dani felt a sudden jolt of fear inside her. “How long has Gareth been working with you?”

“Erm… a few months…”

“Been working late since he started?” Jake said. He swallowed a chunk of chicken as he looked at her. The anger had disappeared but his eyes had none of the warmth he usually showed. They were cold, and regarded her like… like the meat he was eating, Dani realised. “I really hope this is all just a coincidence, babe.”

“What else could it be?” Dani said, then caught Felicity’s smirk out of the corner of her eye.

“Tell me more about this Gareth.”

“He’s just a friend,” Dani said.

“They always say that,” Albert suddenly interjected. Dani was surprised to see him looking not at her, but at Felicity; the older woman, however, was ignoring him and regarding Dani with a curious, knowing smile, that Dani didn’t like.

Dani also didn’t like the way Jake was looking at her either.

“He’s just a friend!” She said. “There’s nothing going on between us!”

“Even if she isn’t right now, she wants to,” Albert continued. His pudgy face alight with an evil grin. “You can see it in her eyes. You have my sympathies, dear boy-” he briefly turned his head to look at Jake, who hadn’t taken his eyes off of Dani “-for I know what it is like to live with this type of woman. A cheating hussy-”

“SHUT UP!” Dani screamed, slamming her hand down on the table.

In the silence that followed Dani became acutely aware of the sound of Felicity’s necklace as it moved against itself; the older woman’s chest rising and falling with heavy breathing; Dani saw Jake’s expression, and was rooted to the chair like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming truck.

Then it changed: Jake smiled. “Babe, do you mind checking on the desert? I don’t want to burn it.”

Dani looked at Felicity, who was regarding her with amusement, and then risked a glance over the table at Albert: the old man had settled back and was looking at her with a smug smirk, as if he had just won something. Dani had never wanted to punch someone so much in her life. “Yes, dear,” she said to Jake, rising to her feet – surprised at how steady she was on them – and left the dining room.

Entering the kitchen she paused when she saw the oven was off: there wasn’t anything in it.

She then felt his presence behind her. Heard the kitchen door quietly close.

His hands gripped her shoulder. His lips barely an inch from her ear. “All you had to do was sit there and smile,” he whispered. It was the calm tone of his voice that was most frightening. “All you had to do, Dani. Ignore him. He’s a fat, old fuck married to a woman who’s sleeping with all the young men in this town. He’s so fucking emasculated, and the only thing he has to enjoy is trying to get a rise out of her by leering at anyone with tits. All you had to do was sit there and show them off for him so I could talk with her. She’s the fucking power in this town, Dani. She’s almost ready to join our team. So fucking close. You better pray that your FUCKING IDIOCY in there hasn’t ruined it for me.”

Dani felt tears running down her cheeks.

“Now… stay here and get a hold of yourself,” Jake continued to say in a horribly calm way. “I’ll go back and tell them you had to bin the desert. There’s an Eton Mess in the fridge. We’ll serve that and pretend that’s the back-up I had prepared earlier. OK?” He kissed her cheek. “There’s a good girl… I know I can count on you… oh… and Dani?”

Turning her around, Jake looked down on her and smiled, and if anyone were to look in on the scene at this very point it would seem like a loving boyfriend talking to his distressed girlfriend; possibly trying to console her. Yet Dani felt anything but consoled by the look in his eyes.

“He better be a fucking friend,” Jake said. That smile never wavered despite the venom in his voice. “I swear to God, Dani… he BETTER be just a FUCKING FRIEND…”

Somehow… miraculously… Dani found it within herself to look him in the eyes, and, with all the strength she had within her, lie: “He’s just a friend, Jake. We work together. That’s all.”

For several, horrible seconds Jake’s eyes searched hers; and somehow he was satisfied. “Good. I’m glad to hear that,” he said. Letting her go. “Take a moment. Then come in and tell them that you burnt the desert I made. Then tell them I made a back-up in the fridge. OK?”

“OK, Jake,” Dani said. Her eyes never leaving his. “I’ll do exactly what you tell me.”

“Hmm…” Jake regarded her for a few more seconds, before returning to the dining room; the door closing behind him before either of the Farrows could see her standing there; her breathing heavy, tears running down her face, realising that her friends had all been right to be wary of her boyfriend.

Well… Jake’s mask was off now. But where would she go? She’d sold her flat. Added his name to her bank account. Fuck… he even knew her phone password… she had been in love… and he’d used that to trap her.

She was just his hot piece of ass to dangle in front of potential clients, wasn’t she?

Dani wanted to run. Run to Zehra. To Rhian. To Gareth. To her friends.

But no…

No… fuck him… he thought he could do this to her? After everything she’d been through?

Fuck him…

No… not yet… she would have her revenge… She needed to be patient.

Two could play the long game…

So she gathered herself; wiped her eyes and checked her reflection in the window (by now the darkness had swallowed the garden); rearranged the dress to push her tits up even more; and, a forced smile on her face, strode back into the dining room and loudly announced to the Farrows that, due to her epic cock-up, her talented boyfriend’s creation had to be ditched; but, thankfully due to Jake’s incredible foresight regarding his girlfriend’s abysmal skills in the kitchen, he had prepared a back-up for everyone; then promptly sat down to finish her dinner (which had gone stone cold by this point). Giving Albert a wink as she shovelled food into her mouth, and was very much amused to see a brief flicker of fear in the old man’s eyes.

Obviously the type of man to be afraid of a strong woman.

Perhaps he wasn’t the only one at this table who was…

*****

Dinner passed by without any further drama: if anything Dani behaved the perfect bimbo host as her boyfriend commanded the conversation. Felicity declared that she would love to see his boss, Ewa Kowalska, about switching legal representation to Hills & Follett; Jake couldn’t be any happier as he shook her hand as the old woman and her lecherous husband left.

When the door closed shut that smile vanished, and Jake turned to look at Dani, who stood in the hallway behind him. Her face was perfectly neutral.

“Thank you…” he said. Though his face betrayed his suspicions.

Dani smiled sweetly. “I’m doing this for you, Jake,” she said. “Like you wanted.”

Jake regarded her for a moment longer, then walked towards her. Dani stood her ground. “Do you think you’re clever?” He said. Standing right next to her Dani was acutely aware of the seven inch difference between their heights. “Do you, Danielle?”

“What do you think… JACOB?”

In answer his hand gripped her neck. Gently, but firmly, Jake pushed her back onto the stairs; Dani capitulating only out of fear for his strength. When she felt the stairs against her back, Jake pulled up her dress with his other hand. Finding her underwear he pulled it down, and began to softly, gently, fuck her with his fingers.

His eyes never left hers, and Dani didn’t look away for a moment as she felt her body betray her: this whole situation was horribly arousing, and she hated herself for how wet she became in only five minutes of his touch. Her self-disgust must be showing in her eyes, for Jake smiled as he pulled his hand out and, reaching down to his own trousers, unzipped his flies and pulled out his huge ten-inch cock; by now fully erect and hard as rock.

Pushing himself into her, Jake fucked her on the stairs; his pace hard and fast. His hand left her neck to brace himself against the stairs as he plunged his dick into her. Her own hands were gripping the stairs and the bannister. Giving herself purchase as she held firm against his thrusts as his cock hammered deep into her.

Then… after five or ten minutes, Dani began to thrust back. Her breathing deep and heavy, her moans loud as she took his massive cock with hard and fast thrusts. Her hands gripped the steps tightly as she slammed herself against him.

They had fucked hard and fast before, but this was different. This was a dark, primal fuck. Her eyes never left his. She hated him. Loved him. Wanted him. Was disgusted by him. Emotions all tumbled in her head as she took his cock with a feral ferocity.

They said nothing to each other. The hallway was filled with the sound of grunting, and the wet sound of his cock plunging deep into her soaking wet pussy; their fluids gushing out all over the carpeted stairs. Dani glared up at him, even as she felt herself cum; her new-found hatred for the man mixing with how much she realised she still enjoyed having sex with him.

That made her hate him even more; and Jake knew it. His smug expression was of vile pride in what he was doing to her. Making this woman cum as she embraced her new loathing of all that he represented. It was obviously enough to tip him over the edge, or perhaps Jake wasn’t even bothering to display some dick control: his cock began pumping massive amounts of his cum as he continued to thrust deep into her. Thick, potent gunk sloshed around inside her. Coating her fertile walls with his potent goo.

Jake didn’t stop thrusting as he came. Hot, thick gunk squirted out over the carpets. Drops landed beneath their battling hips as he hammered away for a good minute, before he reached beneath her ass to pick her up.

Slamming her against the wall Jake continued to fuck her hard. Dani snarled as she wrapped her long, pale legs around him and helped him give her his dick with a strength he hadn’t given her before. She felt her ass collide painfully with the wall; the pain drowned out by how good his dick felt as it slammed up into her.

Jake’s face was a triumphant smug grin as he locked eye contact with Dani; her snarling as she came hard betraying her mutual emotional mix of contempt and lust. This whole situation both turned her on and filled her with disgust, which in turn turned her on even more. A sordid loop that made Dani cum hard again and again, as Jake carried her from wall to wall; slamming Dani against each surface so hard it knocked the wind out of her, before he proceeded to pound every inch of his ten-inch cock up into her.

He came just as much as she did, but Jake barely slowed down as his cock ejaculated massive quantities of his potent gunk up into her; his cock was a piston that kept going, as he threw her onto the sofa and pounded her into the cushions. He carried her to the table where they had just had such an uncomfortable meal; his arms sweeping the mats and remaining cutlery off before throwing Dani onto the tablecloth and furiously fucking her until they both came.

Hours passed and the hate sex only grew more intense, as both of them fucked each other until they came, over and over, until finally, out on the patio, Jake folded Dani up with her legs held to her shoulders and blasted her insides with his thirteenth load.

When the last glob of his cum splashed across her cervix, Jake leaned close to her. “I’m going to put a baby in that belly of yours,” he whispered.

“I’m on the pill, you cunt,” Dani whispered back. Their faces barely an inch apart. Expressions soaked in contempt for each other.

Jake just smirked. “Don’t worry: my cum’s potent as fuck,” he said. “You won’t be the first girl I get knocked up who was on birth control.” He suddenly went in for a kiss. Their lips smashed together in a most grotesque way. “We’re going to make a beautiful family here. Remember what you were when I found you. I made you who you are now. The least you can fucking do is give me what I want.”

Dani didn’t know what to say to that: the thought, previously uncomfortable, was now quite horrifying. She lay there as Jake withdrew himself and walked up the stairs past her. Feeling his thick cum ooze out of her, Dani’s mind was suddenly clear.

When Dani finally picked herself up off the stairs and tentatively walked upstairs she found Jake fast asleep on the bed. Taking two sleeping pills for herself, Dani settled on the bed, facing him, and as she waited for the pills to take effect she stared into the sleeping face of a man she thought she knew.

Something caught her eye through the window, and she turned to look out into the night.

A light was on in the creepy old mansion again. So far away, yet Dani could see it clearly.

That sense of vertigo caught her again, and she looked away as the pills took effect; crawling up the bed to lie beside Jake, Dani allowed sleep to take hold of her despite her mind still full of horrifically contrasting thoughts.

She needed to get away from this. Somehow.

*****

A loud snap cut through the office chatter. A few heads turned to notice the new guy, Gareth, sitting next to Dani Cohen with a foul look on his face. She didn’t seem too happy either, but the day had just started and the company had just taken on several new projects that needed to be completed by the end of the week and today was Thursday.

Those heads quickly turned away, giving the two privacy.

Gareth opened his hand and looked at the plastic pen he had just snapped in half.

“Hope that wasn’t expensive,” Dani said sardonically.

“Don’t worry about it,” Gareth muttered. It was a cheap biro. Nothing important. “Jesus! Dani! I can’t believe this cunt thinks he can put you through shit like that!”