Chapter 7

Sharon drove out into the lane and pulled into the same gateway as the previous week.She switched off the engine. She was not shaking this time. Instead, her entire being was elated and invigorated. For the first time in her life she had been treated with respect and affection. She had also experienced being made love to and not used as a receptacle for sperm. She was blissfully happy and, for the first time in her life, felt fulfilled.

Then her heart sank. In less than two hours Richard had changed her outlook on life. He'd shown her consideration and affection and now she was his: lock, stock and barrel. But she couldn't be. She'd told him that there was no ulterior motive and that she was there purely to provide sex as a therapy. And then he'd treated her like he had and made her feel not only an attractive and desirable woman but one with a personality and feelings. She loved him but he would never love her back in the same way: fond of her, caring, responsive but never loving her.

"Aw, come on!" she thought to herself. "I've always known 'e's a nice bloke so why should I think different when 'e fucks me nice?... 'Cos I've never been treated like that and I've never felt like that ... I've never come like that from diddling me own clit ... and what he did to me tits! All the others just mauled them. On the other 'and 'e wasn't takin' no for an answer: get your clothes off, 'ave a shower, 'ave another shower, you're going to 'ave to learn to do as you're told. An' I said yes. An' I enjoyed sayin' yes. Oh shit! What 'ave I let meself in for?"

Further thinking did nothing and she suddenly realised that she'd better get a wiggle on for her next cleaning client.

"Stuffy old biddy!" she said to herself again and giggled.

Over the next week she continued to chew things over but, try as she could, she could not rid herself of the emotional angle. If Richard never found another woman she could probably live with love once a week and possibly a bit more.

She also decided that after all she enjoyed being dominated. She supposed that the men she knew had always treated her that way and that her aggressive front was a reassuring cover for and defence against it.

She wasn't going to become a sex slave and Richard had promised she never would but it was rather comforting to be told what to do from time to time.

She also realised that Richard would never try to mould her into someone she wasn't. He was much too caring and honourable person for that.

The problem was if her therapy worked and Richard found someone new to love. She decided to bide her time on that but if she reckoned that that woman was less than Richard deserved she'd make very sure that the romance died.

Richard did a lot of thinking too. The lust he had felt for Sharon was justified. Despite her broad shoulders she had a flawless and beautiful, athletic body. Her skin was soft and smooth. Her breasts were proud and firm. Her bottom was round, tight and smooth as a baby's. She had all the right erogenous zones. She responded to his love-making and would probably do more so as she relaxed further.

He was intrigued too by her acquiescence if he spoke firmly to her. Normally she was an outgoing, forceful person and became aggressive if someone crossed her. He thought about it for a long time and decided it was a defence mechanism.

For example, she had never, so it seemed, denied her husband's crude demands for sex. Perhaps that was her Romany upbringing and certainly their divorce rules pointed in that direction: men were the bosses and the women achieved their ends by guile and aggressiveness elsewhere.

In which case, provided he was open with her, as he had every intention of being, there was not going to be a problem and he could actually dictate how their relationship evolved. He'd quite enjoy gently acting the alpha male!

On the other hand, this could develop into her getting a crush on him and that would be the reverse of what they had agreed this relationship should be. He could see that if and when he did meet a new love Sharon could be more than a fly in the ointment. She could be a bloody great horsefly.

But all that was in the future and pretty unlikely. In the meantime he would enjoy Sharon and teach her the joys of sex with love. He might also enjoy dominating her in a gentle way. It might also help, as Sharon had insisted, help him get over his misery and mysogynism.