Chapter 1

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?"

"We have your honour"

Joan Roberts held her son's hand and squeezed it gently as together they looked across at the jury of seven men and five women who would decide their fate.

Joan was a beautiful looking woman of thirty two, who'd given birth to her son at just fourteen, after a brief but passionate affair with her form master at school.

She'd never revealed who the father was, but had been forced by her strait laced parents to give the baby up for adoption. She'd left school at sixteen and gone straight to work in her father's shop, becoming an instant hit with his regular customers, as much for her bubbly personality as her stunningly beautiful face and figure.

She had several meaningless affairs with customers, but only to satisfy her incredibly high sex drive, showing no interest in a long term relationship with any of them at all.

Among her many friends, she had one special girlfriend with whom she had her first lesbian affair and who she managed to persuade her father to employ in the shop. Often both girls would sneak up into the store room during their lunch breaks for some quick sex and it became a joke between them that their panties went up and down more often than the tail lift at the rear of the shop's delivery van!

Mainly as a result of her drive and ambition, trade in the shop boomed until they were forced (much against her father's will) to open another one and two years later a third. Her father made her a partner just three weeks before he and his wife were killed in a motorway pile up, leaving Joan devastated but at just twenty years of age, a very well off young woman.

She immediately branched out into other aspects of the retail trade and by the time she was twenty five, owned fourteen shops across the capital.

She bought herself a beautiful home deep in the countryside and ran her empire from there, enabling her to keep a succession of lovers (male and female) discreetly out of the public eye, but even as the business continued to flourish, she spent at least two days a week trying to trace her son with the help of private enquiry agents and the internet.

Two months before his eighteenth birthday, she received a phone call from an investigator who informed her that a young man had read one of his newspaper adverts and contacted him by telephone, asking about the person who was employing the agent.

A trembling Joan looked across her desk at the handsome young man sitting in front of her, she knew it was him, she just knew it!

"Thank you so much for coming to see me" she said softly, "But before we continue, I have just one question to ask you, is that ok?"

He smiled at her, showing perfect white teeth and shook his head, "I'll save you the bother" he said and stood up to take off his jacket.

Pulling his shirt out of the waistband of his trousers, he showed her the birthmark on his right hip, the birthmark she already knew would be there!

Leaning forwards, she touched it gently with her finger tips,

"Yes" she said quietly, "A "T" a perfect "T" that's why I named you Tim" and then her eyes filled with tears.

Tim's adopted parents were pleasant, intelligent people, they greeted Joan warmly, but with some trepidation and although they knew their adopted son was very fond of them, it was obvious they'd lost him.

To begin with, the youth spent one or two nights a week at his mother's home, they'd talk about their lives without each other, both eager to know everything there was to know, sometimes they'd dine out in a restaurant or a pub, other times Joan would delight him with her culinary skills at home and gradually they became comfortable with each other.

Tim found himself looking at his young, beautiful mother more as a woman, she always dressed immaculately if going out somewhere, but around the house she liked to wear jeans or shorts and it was pretty obvious to him that she preferred to go without a bra beneath her tee shirts or blouses!

On the day of his eighteenth birthday, Joan was surprised and pleased when he rang and asked her to be the guest of honour at a party to celebrate the occasion and agreed instantly.

It was held in a large hotel and she was amazed when on her arrival, Tim stopped the music and introduced her to all the guests as, "the best birthday present a boy could have"

She chatted with almost everyone there and seemed to spend most of the evening on the dance floor, even Tim's adopted father had two dances with her, it would have been three but for feeling his hands on her bottom when the lights went out for a second or two!

Towards the end of the night she was sitting alone at the bar when her son came up to her and smiled,

"Thanks for coming mum, you made the night for me"

She looked at him in surprise and felt her emotions rising, "You called me mum"

"Yes"

"Thank you"

"Will you dance with me mum?"

"I thought you'd never ask" she laughed and took his arm.

It was a slow one, Tim held her closely and inhaled her perfume making her giggle girlishly,

"What are you doing?" she held him at arm's length, a questioning look on her face,

"I was smelling your perfume mum" he said shyly, "It's like you, it's gorgeous"

She laughed as they drew together again, enjoying each other unashamedly and completely unaware of the glances from her son's adopted parents.

"I've got a present for you in my bag darling" she said, "But I think I'd better leave it until another time"

"Why?"

"Because it's a rather large cheque and you've had quite a few drinks"

"I've got the only present I've ever wanted mum" he said seriously, "Not only have I found my mother but she's also absolutely bloody gorgeous too!"

That remark made her giggle again, but it invoked feelings she knew weren't right, he was a very handsome young man and although they both knew he was her son, he was also like a stranger to her, a very sexy stranger!

"Can I come round in the morning for it mum?"

As he spoke, Joan became aware of a slight pressure against her groin, she looked at his face, but it showed nothing.

"Your present?"

"Well yes" he grinned, "But I'd rather have you, with or without the present!"

And leaning forwards, he kissed her gently on the lips, not a quick peck, nor was it a lover's kiss, but his lips lingered for perhaps a split second longer than she would've expected.