Todd Manson – Atomic Surfer

This story is the property of the writer Kalimaxos.

Any unauthorized reproductions without the permission of the author are prohibited.

This story was initially called “The Gala Proposal.”

I always thought it needed a rewrite, and this was the time for it. It even has a new name.

***

A Different life

Hi,

I am Anna Sims-Renzetti. Owner of Simms Visions. Mother of Rachel and Bobby. Wife of Vincent Renzetti. I’m a respected member of our community, considered a woman who has it all by many. I have been interviewed by business journals, local TV, and newspapers to explain my success and how I make my life work.

I tell them the usual stuff expected of a successful woman like myself in her prime. How I owe it all to hard work, perseverance, and the support of my husband and family. I also say that I had a good family upbringing. Although inside, I know that I did not follow the path of honesty and doing things by the book as my father tried to teach me. Instead, I followed my mother’s last advice: That all that mattered was chasing one’s dreams.

I have to be honest; having a family and kids was not part of that dream. That was my husband’s aspiration. And it’s a good thing as he seems to be the one spending most time raising our kids on top of having a career of his own. True, we can now afford nannies and sitters to watch the kids. But we both know that he is the primary parent as I spent most of my time working at my business.

A business started as a small dress shop and is now a force in the fashion garment universe. The gowns we design are sold in high-end stores in the US and now internationally. While I bask in the glory of success, Vincent provides our children the stable home environment they need.

But it wasn’t always like this.

***

The Gala

It had all started at the club Christmas party. Held in a ballroom at the Anderson Regal Hotel, it had been the party of all parties for their country club. Anyone who was anyone in their city was there dressed in formal-ware; Tuxes for the men and expensive evening gowns for the women. The dress shops on Hilbert Road, where all the wealthy women shopped, counted the money they had made dressing their picky customers. It had been a great close to a good year.

It was during that large party that it began. The son of one of the wealthiest men in town saw her pass by in that tight red and black gown. Being single and always on the prowl, he noticed the rings on her finger and smiled inwardly.

‘And the chase begins,’ he said to himself.

Anna Simms-Renzetti was the head seamstress at Bonne’s. The most prestigious of all such upscale clothing establishments. She had learned the craft from her mom, a seamstress at Sax Fifth Avenue, and ran her own business on the side. While other girls in high school dreamt of careers and college degrees, Anna aspired to be like her mother. Not quite. Anna’s biggest wish was to make her mother’s dream come true of having the dress shop on Hilbert Road her mother never did.

Anna thought of her mom lately. How the poor woman was killed when a drunk ran a red light and killed four pedestrians. Her mom, Glenda Simms, had been one of them. It had taken her thirty hours to succumb to her injuries. Thirty hours of suffering, but hours she had taken to tell everyone how much she loved them. Her last words to Anna had been:

“Chase your dreams. They are more important than anything else if you are to be truly happy. Everything else is window dressing.”

Anna had seen the pain in her father’s reaction. Her mother had not said a single thing about her husband and children being her happiness. Instead, she had mentioned to every family member in her dying remarks that she was dying disappointed she had not achieved her dream.

“Don’t worry, Mom,” Anna had promised her mother. “I’ll make it happen. No matter what it takes.”

And after her mother passed, Anna had set out to do just that. She had a year to go before finishing her business administration degree. That, too, had been a part of her and her mother’s dream. Anna was to run the business end of their future dress shop as her mother provided the expertise. Now Anna would have to do it all.

A slight hiccup to her plans had occurred at the beginning of her senior year. Feeling empty after her mom’s passing, Anna had allowed herself to become emotionally and romantically involved with Vincenzo Renzetti. He, being the son of a policeman and brother of a detective older sister. Vince, as he liked to be called, had fallen heads over heels in love with Anna Sims. She, being a contrast to his dark Mediterranean looks with her reddish hair and light skin. Anna’s hourglass figure, long legs, and green-gray eyes were the finishing touch.

Somehow, the young accountant-to-be and the dress shop owner aspirant made a pact to make a life together. Anna loved Vince to no end, but the last words of her mother dominated her thinking. Any family plans had been set aside by both of them as they began their careers. He at a prestigious aerospace company’s accounting department, while she as a seamstress at a large mall corner store.

It was there that Anna had met Liam and Heda Manson. The wealthy owner of multiple businesses and member of as many boards of directors. His wife shopped at Anna’s store and liked how the young seamstress could take any dress and fit it to her peculiar body, making it look as if it was grown on her like a second skin.

Mrs. Manson, a thirty-eight-year-old beautiful woman, had been Liam Manson’s third wife. Clearly, the trophy to this fifty-plus alpha male who showered Heda Manson with lavish gifts and an opulent lifestyle. That had been a little over three years before the current Christmas gala. And Heda Manson was shopping at a low-end store, for her, on a whim.

Something had caught her eye, a lime-colored evening gown that would need extensive work. Something typically tasked to the seamstress shop if she was to wear it. Not sure of the abilities of the store seamstress, Heda almost walked away. That was when the young red-headed store seamstress walked up.

“I can make that dress fit on you perfectly,” The young redhead had said with confidence that stunned Heda.

“Are you sure?” head had said, staring down the younger woman. “it’s an expensive dress.”

Not for Heda, it wasn’t. But she wanted to test the young seamstress’s resolve. ‘I remember being that young and hungry,’ Heda thought.

“Yes, Ma’am,” the redhead had said, meeting Heda’s gaze with confidence. “Just buy the dress two sizes larger. Then I have extra material to work with to fit it on you as it should.”

“You seem pretty certain. Where did you learn that trick?”

“My mother was a Sax seamstress. I learned from her.”

“I see,” Heda feigned hesitancy. “OK. You got a shot. ”

Anna had smiled and went to find the dress in two sizes bigger than Heda’s. The young seamstress had not told Heda that the wraparound dress design made it fast for her to alter. Thinking she would have to return the next day for it, Heda told her husband to take her to lunch at the expensive mall upscale restaurant.

“I’ll have it ready in an hour,” Anna said. “Ninety minutes tops.”

“You got an hour, kid,” Liam, who had been quiet, cut in.

“I’ll need you to put it on and then five minutes to fit you.”

Liam chatted with one of the saleswomen, exchanging phone numbers, while his wife and Anna were in the fitting room. And when Heda came out, her husband took her to lunch. As they were leaving, he looked at his watch and Anna.

“Sixty minutes kid. It’s not just a TV show.”

***

“Liam! Look what Anna did with this dress!” Heda said, modeling it for her husband.

But instead of the dress on his wife’s near-perfect ass, Liam Manson focused on the young seamstress. But to him, she was one of many young women passing by in his life. Liam had a stable of them at his company and plenty more in other places he frequented. Women he sampled at whim behind Heda’s back. While cute and young, Anna was just another woman he cataloged as a possibility.

Heda’s lime dress had been the talk of women at the past Christmas gala. So much so that the wealthy woman decided to reward Anna. And that was how Anna landed a job fitting dresses at Bonne’s. A great opportunity that the young seamstress took advantage of.

Since then, Anna had created a clientele of wealthy customers that requested her by name to cater to their needs. Her bosses were happy and gave her raises as well as promoting her to head seamstress. But Anna had one and only one goal. To one day own her own shop, and fulfill her and her mother’s dream.

Vince had been supportive to no end. But he wanted children. Every time it came up in conversation, Anna reminded him of their deal. As soon as she had her shop, they would have a family. And thus it was that Vince had waited patiently as their careers blossomed. He had just landed a job as head of accounting at a prestigious bank. The bank’s big boss was a regular attendee of the Chrismas galas, but Vince and his wife were not invited. Only VP-level bank officers and above had been.

Yet Vince was in for a surprise. His beautiful young wife would be going to the gala, only not as a guest. Anna would be attending as a representative of Bonne’s to repair any attending customer’s gowns as needed. The things those women did in and out of those gowns left a lot to Anna’s imagination. More than once, she had been given dresses to repair with cum stains on them. Being wealthy did not make people have class.

“When will you be back?” he asked as his wife donned a red and black evening gown and black heels. “Wow, hun, you look beautiful. How much did this dress set us back?”

“Nothing,” Anna replied as she finished her make-up. “It’s a loaner from Bonne’s. Advertising, so to speak.”

“I’d say. You make it look fantastic,” Vince said, reaching for his wife.

“Hey, hey!” she protested, slapping his hands away. “You break it, you buy it. This thing costs almost two grand.”

Vince had gasped at that.

“I never realized how much money is in your business,” he said, staring at the dress this time instead of his wife’s stunning form.

“Most dresses by the women at the ball will be upwards of four to five thousand. Heda’s dress retails for almost ten grand. Some other women will top that with dresses from New York and Paris.”

Vincent shook his head at the revelation as he stared at Anna’s ass, covered by the glitchy red and black evening gown.

“I wish I were going with you,” Vince said.

“We’ve talked about it before,” she said as she clipped a set of dangling gold earrings from her earlobes.

With her hair up, they made her bare neck and shoulders seem more… sexier. Vince wondered how many men would admire his wife and ask her to dance. Men with money and power. It took all his self-control not to become jealous and ask her not to go. He knew this was an excellent opportunity for his wife. One he could not impede with his insecurities.

“What will you do tonight?” she asked. The question was almost obligatory the way she said it.

“I’m going over to Laura and Greg’s,” he said.

“I’m surprised they turned down going to the gala,” Anna said. “His parents and her parents will be there, as well as his CEO, Garrison.”

“They must have their reasons,” Vince said, sitting down on the bed as she finished primping.

They had become acquaintances of the Hansen couple last year and frequented their parties. The Hansen friends at their parties seemed awfully chummy as a group. And when the alcohol flowed, a bit touchy-feely with each other’s spouse. But nothing too overt or inappropriate. Still, Anna had a feeling the Hansens and their friends had something they were hiding. She hoped they would not involve Vince in it without her being there. She wondered if Greg’s cousin would be there. The woman was single and looking. Anna pushed any thoughts of jealousy aside and focused on the upcoming night she saw as an opportunity.

“Well, you have a good time over there,” she said, picking up the gold purse he had never seen before. “I’ll be at the gala late. I’m expected to be there until it’s over. If you drink too much, take an uber home.”

“Don’t worry about me. You just… get home safe. Text me whenever you need to. OK?”

“You do realize that I am going to be working, don’t you?”

“Yes, you just be careful with those vultures. OK?”

Anna turned, smiled, and walked over to him. She was careful not to mess up the dress as they hugged while she gave him a peck on the cheek. The lack of passion made things worse for Vince, but there was nothing he could do.

“How are you getting there?” he asked.

“Liam is sending a limo for me,” she replied, hoping Vince would not make an issue of it like he had last time.

And he didn’t, but she saw consternation in his gaze. Her husband was not thrilled at the attention the Manson couple gave his wife. Most of it without him present. He had been invited to just one of their parties for employees. Basically, an event for the Manson underlings. Only Anna was invited to their upper-tier parties. And no expense was spared for her.

Anna was glad to be out of the house and away from her husband’s suspicious attitude. Yes, men had hit on her at Manson parties. Especially those that Vince had not been invited. Anna had never accepted any such proposals to her credit, even though some men had been handsome and wealthy. There were times that Vince’s insecurities and suspicious manner irked her. Anna went to those parties to further her career and increase her client base. As she had explained to him repeatedly, it was only business.

She had gotten to the country club early to set up in a room with her assistant, Jimmy. The young man was gay. Vincent had met him and trusted her around him. Jimmy was more interested in learning from and being on Anna’s good side than anything else. He would work the repairs in the assigned room while she would be available to the customers outside. Bonne’s customers would have priority and preference, but Anna’s boss knew that helping other women could make them future customers.

Anna and Jimmy were busy almost from the start of the gala. And as expected, Anna received quite a few dance requests. She politely refused, letting the men know she was attending the gala as staff pointing to the Bohn’s vendor tag above her ample chest. While some left her alone, others would persist or return to ask again as the night progressed. But Anna followed her boss’s orders and remained on call.

***

A man in uniform

For some reason, by midnight, the requests for dress repairs dried up, and she decided to get a drink at the bar. It was then that the man in military uniform approached her.

“Nice gala,” he said. “Would you be interested in a dance?”

Anna found the young man quite handsome in his dark blue dress uniform. He was muscular and fit in a short dress jacket and lighter blue pants with a gold stripe. He had hash marks on the side of his arm, but Anna was not sure what they meant. Nor the miniature medals on his chest. He sure was dashing.

“Thank you,” she replied, pointing to her name tag. “But I’m here as staff.”

“Realy?” he asked as he took a sip of his drink. “What do you do here as… staff?”

Anna could have sworn he hardly drank any of it. Maybe being in uniform prevented him from getting soused as some others were.

“I work dress repairs for the ladies here,” she said, taking a small sip of her drink.

“Oh! You are Anna,” he exclaimed. “Heda told me about you.”

“You know Heda!” she asked. “I mean Mrs. Manson?”

He smirked to himself as if it was an inside joke.

“Yeah, I know Heda,” he said, trying to be polite. “She is my stepmother. The second one. If I am keeping up with dad’s marriage scorecard.”

“You are Liam’s, I mean Mr. Manson’s son?”

“Yes,” he replied. “The errant son who didn’t go to Harvard or Yale like my other siblings.”

“He must be proud of you,” she said out of obligation. In three years she had known the Mansons, not once had they mentioned a son in the military. “What exactly do you do… what service are you in?”

Todd flinched inwardly at references to his father’s pride, or lack thereof in him.

“Army,” he replied with what she determined was almost an eye roll.

‘Another civilian without a clue,’ he thought to himself. But then her knowledge of the services was not necessary.

“Have you ever heard of Delta Force or The Unit?” he continued, raising an eyebrow.

“I can’t say I have,” she replied with a mischievous smile. The drink and the young man’s demeanor interested her. “Is it fun?”

“Oh, you can say that,” the dashing military man said. “We jump from planes and do other exciting things like climb mountains, ski, and… well, I don’t want to bore you.”

“You are not. It sounds exciting,” Anna replied. “If anything, you are different from all the people at these events.”

The young man stared at her for a few seconds and then extended his hand.

“Todd. I’m a Staff sergeant in the Army.”

“Nice to meet you, Sergeant Todd,” she replied as he held her hand, sending electricity through her body. He dripped sex appeal. “I’m Anna.”

“Todd will do,” he replied. “Are you sure you don’t want to dance with a poor guy who is out of place here? You are the first non-snob I have run into tonight worth asking.”

Anna thought about it, trying to decide if she wanted to open that door. If she danced with Todd, then other men would be lining up. But this young man just seemed different. Interesting.

“OK,” she replied, waving her wedding band hand for him to see. “But you are dancing with a married woman.”

“I’ll manage,” he said as he led her to the dance floor.

‘Said the spider to its prey.’ Todd thought with a smirk she never saw.

Todd already knew her marital status, having noticed her rings. But just hearing her warn him that she was married turned him on more. He found married women a challenge, almost an aphrodisiac. Already feeling himself get hard from only the thought, he kept enough distance from Anna’s hips and groin so she would not notice. Like a serial killer who had not stalked pray for a while, Todd wanted to make sure he did not ruin this hunt through haste.

“So,” he said as they danced, “tell me about yourself.”

And Anna did. Without realizing it, she was falling victim to Todd’s gift of listening. He had an innate ability to compel women to trust him and tell him about their lives. Once they began, they would divulge more and more until Todd knew enough about what was lacking in their lives to strike. The more Anna told him about her dreams to open her own shop, the more Todd was driven to have her. To conquer the wife of another man.

Todd smiled inwardly at women’s need to unburden themselves to a stranger. All he had to do was be disarmingly interested and polite. That and to listen. A quality that most men lacked, as most tried to impress the woman. Usually with who and what they were – or had.

“Quite a goal you have,” he finally said.

“I would do anything to make it happen. Anything.”

Realizing she had revealed too much, she blushed and looked away.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to ramble on.”

“No,” he said with that dazzling smile. “You had me hanging on to every word.”

***

Todd had given up trying to figure out the origins of his compulsion. All he knew was that he had to find and convince a married woman to give up her marital chastity every so often.

This need had begun when he and a married teacher had an affair before high school was over. Having a crush on Mrs. Williamson for months, Todd had finally made his move. During class, he had starred at her without flinching when she caught him. Todd has smiled back politely until she looked away, unnerved enough to repeat herself.

Averting his gaze, then eventually returning it briefly, told even the young eighteen-year-old that his thirty-five-year-old teacher was interested. At the end of class, he had asked her if she could help him with a math problem after class. She had looked away — again – then nodded, saying yes nervously.

After classes, Todd had returned to her classroom, but his “math problem” never came up in conversation. Instead, he asked her how things were with her. It had been nothing more but a way to break the ice with conversation. Todd was too young to have developed a seduction routine yet. But Mrs. Williamson voluntarily opened up to him as Todd merely listened out of both politeness and surprise that an older woman with authority over him was treating him as a trusted equal.

They had talked for close to two hours before she realized she had to rush home. But before Brenda Williamson did, she hugged him and thanked him for listening. His math question was long forgotten as she found herself captivated by the handsome senior.

The next day when he saw her in the hallway, she had blushed and slipped him a note. “I hope I see you again after school. I had a wonderful time.”

Well, Brenda Williamson did see Todd after school. Locking the door, she had practically raped him.

Well… in those days, it was still legal if he was over eighteen, which Todd had been by two months. In current times, she would have been summarily dismissed and lost her teaching credentials. In some states, she may have faced criminal charges. If found out.

Instead, Brenda Williamson – the proper mom, wife, and math teacher – had gone home happy with a whole load of Todd’s cum dripping through her panties. Once home, she did her walk of shame past her husband and kids to the shower. But this is not Brenda’s story. You get the point.

Yet, without knowing, Brenda had helped create a monster. What she was not aware of was that Todd’s mom, long out of his life, had been “caught” by his father having an affair with a man. Wanting a divorce from Jennifer, Liam had her drugged during an evening out and placed in a compromising position with a financially challenged good looking college student. For a price, the young man had claimed that the inebriated Jennifer had seduced him.

Of course, no one listened to poor Jennifer. Not even her parents or friends. The college kid was a stud, and Liam was older and relatively normal-looking. And of course, there were the pictures of Jennifer with the stud. The divorce did not go well for Jennifer.

Now, why had Liam done this to his young wife and mother of his son? It was not that young Jennifer was not pretty or attentive to her husband’s needs. Quite the opposite. The problem was that she was from a relatively poor family. In comparison, Lana Wesgarten, Liam’s future wife number two, was the daughter of a well-to-do businessman. Very well to do.

And so Jennifer Reardon-Manson became single again. And she was left without her son and just her clothes to her name. When she called her now ex to see Todd, Liam had snapped, calling her a slut and whore.

His father did so, knowing that the young Todd had been listening to Liam scream on the phone at his “cheating wife.” From then on, Liam either did not mention Todd’s mom or just muttered, “fucken, slut-whore,” when referring to her.

It was pretty traumatic for a boy to hear such things about his mother. That continued until Todd’s father remarried. Liam still trashed Todd’s mother, but he was more discreet about it.

When Jennifer Reardon-Manson, tried to contact her son, Liam always got in the way to prevent it and told the boy his mother had given up on him. Distraught after three months of trying, Jennifer realized that Liam would never let her see their son. Jennifer was contemplating suicide while drifting aimlessly past a military recruiting station when a Marine Recruiting sergeant bumped into her.

“It can’t be that bad,” the short-haired muscular Marine had said.

“I lost my son in a divorce, my ex-husband tossed me out, and my parents want nothing to do with me. I had no place to stay and little to live for. Can you top that?”

The Marine sergeant sized her up for a second or two, But she could tell it was not a sexual appraisal she was used to from men.

“You look fit. Are you?” the recruiter asked. “And are you healthy?”

“Yes on both accounts.”

“Come inside,” the sergeant pointed to the recruiting station.

***

Knowing only his father’s hatred for his mother, Todd had little respect for married women. And when Liam had caught his second wife screwing the gardener, Todd was convinced: married women were sluts.

After his affair with his teacher Brenda Williamson, Todd had rarely bedded single women. And while seducing the married ones fed the monster within him, Todd had become a vampire of sorts. Sooner or later, he had to “feed” on a married woman to recharge himself. Going in the service had been like sticking his hand in a cookie jar. There he had found multiple lonely and neglected military wives to bed. That week of the Gala, Todd was home for the holidays with an itch that needed scratching; the never-ending urge.

Psychologists could have written dissertations on how Todd was bedding married women in an attempt to connect with his long-lost mother. That the act of humiliating the husbands was but the subconscious revenge blow to his woman-hating father.

Todd had not been adept at seduction before Liam’s divorce with the 2nd Mrs. Manson. But he was quite the operator by the time he met Heda. In less than a month, Todd enjoyed aspects of his stepmother that should have been reserved for his father alone. And there had been others. Many others in between missions with The Unit/Delta. The base was full of married women so was the local area.

Outside Ft. Bragg, the home of Delta, North Carolinian women gush over the military. Especially the beefy Delta men or the 82nd Airborne Paratroopers. Todd found the local women more of a challenge as their husbands ofter lived at home and were a daily obstacle to overcome. But to a man like Todd, that was but a challenge.

There were two such civilian women he was “servicing” in his spare time and two military wives. As such, Todd’s married woman dance card was on the full side. But Todd was at Ft. Bragg currently, and only Heda was available to him, and she, being married to his father, had wifely obligations and limited time for Todd.

Sergeant Manson needed a distraction.

***

The price of the deal

And so it came to be that Todd was enjoying the company of Anna Sims-Renzetti as she shared her inner feelings and dreams with him. One would think that a soldier like Todd would not be interested in a young woman’s dressmaking business plans at a Christmas ball. But Todd was not your average military man. Still, one could say that young Todd was following a standard military strategy in conquest. The weakness of the conquest target. And Anna’s weakness was simple: her single-minded drive to attain her mother’s goal at any cost.

“I would do anything to make that happen,” she had said to him without realizing how she had spelled her own doom.

“And if you wanted to, how much money would you need to start?” he had asked.

“Oh, it’s out of my reach,” she had replied. “One hundred thousand to start. But then, I have the clientele and the knowledge to make it happen.”

Anyone with a dream usually says they would make it happen if they had the money. In fact, given enough cash, one could do just about anything. But to be successful, one has to have the knowledge and drive. Todd wondered if she had both.

When the song set ended, Anna said she had danced too long and went to check on her coworker. For his part, Todd went on an intelligence-gathering mission like any good soldier would when planning a conquest. He found Heda and pumped her for information. No pun there. Todd had “pumped” his stepmother enough that she was no longer much of a mystery or a thrill. But the information he needed was priceless. Heda confirmed that Anna was indeed capable and knowledgeable enough to make a business work.

“Anna knows her stuff Todd,” she said. “Why do you ask?”

Todd had given her a wry smile in answer and a grin.

“Todd, no! Anna is a good girl. She loves her husband and would never leave….”

“I don’t want Anna to leave him, Heda,” he had replied. “You know how I am.”

“Yes, I do. That’s what worries me.”

“I’m a philanderer Heda, not a monster,” Todd winked at her.

“You just want to score, don’t you? Just like you did with me.”

Todd remained silent, but his eyes and slight grin gave Heda her answer.

“Just curious, Todd,” head continued. “Are you fucking me just because I’m married, or is this some sick father-son conflict?”

“I thought your degree was in business, Hedda. But if you want to play therapist-and-patient with me, I’m sure we can find a couch to do it on.”

She snorted at his snarky remark then pursed her lips in disapproval.

“What do you want from me, Todd?” she said, exasperated with her stepson.

Todd smiled inwardly. He knew Heda was hooked on him but decided

“The question I have for you, Heda, is this. Is investing in a company created by Anna a good bet or not?”

“Wait,” Heda asked, perplexed by his switch in aims. “I thought you wanted to screw her. Now you want to go to business with her?”

“Oh, Heda, you think so little of me,” he replied. “Investing in her dream is the apple. The temptation.”

“You are a snake,” Heda replied.

“You had no problems swallowing my snake, Heda. You have no room to judge me. You and I are of the same make. We don’t play by society’s rules. We make our own. Now answer me. Is she a good investment or not?”

“She is,” Heda had replied.

“Enough to invest some of your own money so you can be a part-owner? To watch the business when I am not around?”

“You are serious about this!” she shook her head in amazement. “If I didn’t know better, I would say you are actually growing up.”

“Yes or no, Heda!” he pressed her. “I need to know now.”

“Will you make it worth my while?” she asked, leaning close to him.

“Not tonight,” Todd replied.

“I’ll hold you to it,” she said as the two once again conspired to betray his father.

“Deal,” Todd replied. “Now, what about Anna?”

“But yes, I would invest in Anna’s shop. She will need at least $150,000 to start the business, and if she is to rent a spot on Hilbert road, maybe more. Two hundred would be a safer number.”

Todd thought about it for a while. He had plenty of money in his trust fund. It had become active when he turned twenty-five and growing by the minute each trading day. Not wanting to let people in the Army know how wealthy his family was, he lived on a small budget with occasional splurges away from the service. He had been making investments with his money on the side. Why not combine business with some well-needed pleasure if Heda was vouching for Anna?

“Good,” Todd replied. “Now go get her and bring her to me.”

Having determined Anna was knowledgeable about her business, Todd moved on to the next phase. Deciding how determined she was to make it happen.

Five minutes later, Heda led Anna into the office where Todd was waiting, sitting behind the desk. Standing briefly, Todd offered her a chair. Anna took it as Heda sat on another. The young redhead seemed nervous as she gazed at Todd.

“We meet again,” Todd said to Anna.

“So it would seem,” she replied, nodding nervously. “Heda said you had something to talk to me about.”

“Indeed we do,” he said, smiling at each woman in turn. “We have a business proposition for you.”

“What kind of business?”

“After you talked to me about your plans, I did some research. Basically, I spoke to Heda here. She vouches for your expertise, work ethic, and business sense. And she and I think that you would be someone we would like to invest in.”

“I appreciate it, but as I was saying, it would require a lot of money.”

“We know. And it’s more than the 100 grand you thought,” he said, turning to Heda. “You mentioned at least $150,000. Maybe as close to two hundred, correct?”

“At least,” Heda calculated. “Rent on Hilbert Road is not cheap, and it’s getting more expensive by the day. Liam and I own some property on the strip and know the pricing there. Unfortunately, it is all leased. So you will have to find a place, and that will not be cheap. Then there are always unexpected expenses. Part of business 101, right?”

Anna stared at them both in shock. It took her a few seconds to process what they had just said to her. One minute she had been dancing with a dashing young soldier, and the next, he and his stepmother were offering to make her dream come true.

“I… eh… that is A LOT of money, Mr. Manson,” she said, reverting to business manners. “I would have to talk to my husband.”

“No, my dear,” Heda cut her off. “This deal is a one-time, right now, take-it-or-leave-it offer.”

“It’s a big decision…” Anna said. “I should talk to him.”

“Are you having cold feet?” Heda replied. “You have been telling me for close to three years how you hoped to do this one day. Well, this is the day.”

Wanting to stay on her young lover’s good side, Heda was doing everything in her power to manipulate the younger woman in his favor.

“But, I don’t know what to say,” Anna replied.

“We are hoping you say yes and make us all good money,” Heda continued.

“How can I ever repay you?” Anna said, gazing at them thankfully. Tears of happiness ran down her cheeks.

Todd and Heda glanced at each other briefly with matching, barely noticeable grins.

“There is a price for this generosity and opportunity, Anna,” Todd spoke in a low tone as he gazed into her eyes. “There is always a price.”

She returned the gaze with trepidation.

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean, dear Anna is that you have to put up some collateral.”

“We have twelve thousand saved,” she replied, thinking of her and her husband’s savings. Vincent had intended for them to buy a house, but Anna was ready to gamble it on her dream in that instant. “I am hoping to convince Vince to agree to it.”

Mark shook his head.

“That is not enough, and you know it. The collateral I am speaking of is not money or property. If you had that, you would be in business already. So all that is left is a show of commitment to your goal.”

“But I am…” she tried to say but never finished as Todd raised his hand to stop her.

“When we were dancing, you said, “I would do anything to make it happen,” right?”

“I can’t kill anyone for it. Please don’t ask me that!”

Todd and Heda smiled at each other, leaving Anna to wonder what they wanted.

“As far as I know, no one has ever died from what you will be asked to do to show us you are serious.” Heda scoffed. “In fact, no crime will be committed.”

Anna was beginning to figure out that it involved something she would not like, but she just could not fathom what it could be.

“Then what?”

Todd leaned in, looking at her directly again. Instinctively, Anna swallowed hard and almost backed away.

“To prove you are serious about this proposal and deal, you will have to break one vow and pledge another.”

Anna froze. Vow! Break one vow! That could only mean one thing, she thought. It was clear to Todd and Heda that she had figured it out. Todd smiled at her confidently.

“It was your words that made me realize you were committed, Anna. “I would do anything to make it happen.” That is what you said, is it not?”

“Yes, but…”

“Anything… is something, Anna. Something of value and a show of commitment. If Heda and I commit capital and support, there has to be a quid-pro-quo. Do you know what that means?”

“Yes,” she replied in surrender. “Something for something. You want me to put out. To cheat on my husband, to lie to him and betray him.”

“More than that,” Todd said, looking at a smirking Heda. “We want you to decide what is more important to you. Your wedding vows or your dreams coming true. You can’t have both.”

“Why are you doing this to me?” she asked, turning to Heda. “You know this is what I have wanted all my life.”

The older woman smirked but deferred to Todd.

“I knew that the minute I heard you say “I would do anything to make it happen,” that you would do this. That your dream was more important than “anything.” More important than your promise of fidelity to your husband.

“You see, we are not going to invest in someone who is not going to fight for the business we are about to finance with our money. We need proof of commitment and drive to succeed. Do you understand?”

She nodded, looking down at her hands. The weight of the decision upon her tormented her. She was so torn between fidelity and the realization of her dreams. She should not be. Not if she truly loved Vince. But she was conflicted. What did that say about her?

“This is crewel,” she said as tears ran down her face. “He is a good man, he doesn’t deserve this.”

“He?” Todd asked as Heda watched him work on Anna. “He had a name a few seconds ago. Now your husband is just, “he.” And we both know why, don’t we, Anna?”

The young woman bawled now as she shook her head and covered her face with her hands.

“No… oh no!” Anna lamented as Todd grinned at Heda.

His stepmother remembered how Todd had tempted her as well and talked her into betraying his own father. And he had not even promised her a life’s dream. Only sex. Good sex! Great sex, as she would find out and crave. Heda knew that Liam had her watched. That man was such a wife hater, she wondered why he had married her if he never trusted her. Probably just to torment her with mediocre sex so Heda would crave an affair. And affair she could not have and stay married to Liam.

Liam had made sure of that. A prenuptial agreement signed by her said that she would be on the street with the clothes on her back if she cheated on her older husband. Liam had trusted only one man to be alone with her. His only son, Todd. The man who had seduced her the previous summer and would visit to continue their illicit affair. On his time and conditions, of course. The Manson men were evil, she thought. But then Heda had a pact with the younger Manson. It was too late to back out, and there was no room for morality plays. If she backed away now, Todd would expose her. Heda realized she was in a trap of her own making.

Anna was no better than herself, Heda thought, staring at the dithering girl with disdain. She should have felt sorry for the seamstress, but instead, she loathed that the redhead still had an option; unlike Heda, who was trapped for life.

She was about to snap at Anna in anger. But Todd saw it and raised his hand to stop his stepmother.

“Enough talk,” Todd said, rubbing his hands. “You had your chance. Your husband wins. We lose. And… no dress shop dream for you, Anna. But who knows, two other rich people may just give you such an offer down the road. Right?”

Anna was still crying, but her sobbing was dry, reduced to hard breaths as she hyperventilated. Her life’s dream, so close minutes ago, was being flushed down the drain.

She stared in anguish as the dashing yet diabolical young man in uniform stood and started to walk out. Heda shook her head at Anna in disgust and followed Todd out of the office. Anna’s dream went with them in tatters.

***

“I thought she would cave,” Heda said as Todd stopped ten feet away from the door.

He looked back at Anna, who was staring back and pleading.

“Please!” the young redhead begged. “Please…”

Todd turned, gave her an unblinking look, smiled, and walked off.

“NO! PLEASE! Don’t go!” Todd and Heda heard Anna begging behind them.

Heda almost turned, but Todd raised a finger to stop her. She stared as he smiled and turned to face the defeated Anna. He then walked up to her placing a finger under her chin.

“I want to hear it, Anna. Right this minute, what is your deepest, darkest desire?”

“To do as you asked,” she sobbed.

He stared at her as if searching her soul, then shook his head.

“Oh, no. You, are still thinking there is an escape from your predicament. That if you just say you were forced into it, you will be absolved of all sins. Correct?”

She was still in turmoil and again hyperventilating.

“Prove to me that you have what it takes for me to make your dream come true, Anna. And no theatrics or drama or tears. You have to choose and then be all in.”

She saw him grin at his last phrase as if it was profound.

“Yes!” he nodded as he chuckled. “All in! I love that phrase. Don’t you?”

Anna was no longer crying. She was not even breathing hard as she had a few seconds ago.

“Yes, Anna, you know what you want. And the road to it lies with us making your dream come true. Choose and give yourself to me… just as Heda did. Right, Heda?” he asked, raising his voice without looking back at his stepmother.

“Yes,” Heda whispered as she stood next to Todd as his willing accomplice.

She took pleasure in seeing the young woman succumb just as she had. Anna’s conquest was Heda’s validation of her own submission and seduction.

This time, when Todd Manson offered Anna his hand, she took it. With no hesitation, he drew her back into the office. Heda followed them with a sinister grin on her face.

“Do it, Todd,” his stepmother hissed.

But Todd ignored her, focusing on the young redhead instead.

“Right now, for us three to hear. Are you hear of your own free will?”

Anna nodded, almost in tears.

“Wrong answer,” Todd replied. “Stop crying like a fucken victim. You have choices. This is a choice. Yes, no. You are not being forced to do anything. Do you understand?”

Anna forced herself to get her crying under control and nodded.

“Say it,” Todd said with a cold voice.

“I’m here of my own free will,” she said, trying to keep it together.

“And what will you do for your dream to come true, Anna?”

“What you ask me to.”

“Am I forcing you to?”

“No. I’m here because I want what you can offer.”

“And in return?”

“I will let you have me.”

“Bingo. YOU are letting me, have you. I’m not taking it from you by force, am I?”

“No,” she shook her head in surrender.

“And why are you willing to betray your husband to do this?”

“To make my dream come true. That’s why!” Anna spat at him in defiance.

Todd smiled at her and nodded.

“Good girl. Glad we got everything defined and clear-cut. Now. After this moment, I don’t ever want to hear that you were forced into anything – that we coerced you or used your weakness against you. You are free to leave and end the association even after you, and I get acquainted. But that ends the minute you take the money. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Did you hear her Heda? Because I didn’t.”

Heda only smiled and shook her head. A year before, Todd had made her repeat a similar confession of self-choice. Later he found out he had recorded her saying it and played the recording back, giving her one last chance. Heda took seconds to reply that she was all in.

And just as he had the year before, Todd took the recording device out of his jacket pocket and played the entire conversation back to both women. But it was Anna who was shocked to hear herself say that she would do as asked. As stark as it was, she heard it all, nodding throughout — this time with no tears.

“One last chance Anna,” Todd said as they looked into each other’s eyes. “Here is the recorder and the recording in it. You can take it and go. No hard feelings, and we go our separate ways. But…”

“I’m staying,” Anna replied emphatically.

Todd passed the recorder to Heda and stood in front of Anna.

“Now. Show me,” Todd said, looking down at her. “Give me a sample of what you will do. Such a small price for a lifetime of happiness. Isn’t it? Anna?”

In one last moment of defiance, Anna asked what she should have asked before.

“How do I know that you will keep your end of the bargain?” she asked weakly.

“I had planned on transferring a downpayment into your bank account,” he said. “Now, you will have to wait. I’m done playing games, Anna! Either you submit or walk. There’s the door. You have five seconds. Four… three… two…”

Todd never made it to one because Anna made sure of it. In that one instant, Anna made her choice. Todd was right. An opportunity like that would come but once. Even if he played her and did not deliver, it would be just a blowjob, and Vince would never find out. Even if she had to fuck the brash soldier, it was worth the gamble.

Raising the hem of the expensive borrowed dress, she squatted in front of him. Her eyes, never losing contact with Todd’s as she nodded to him. As she undid his shiny belt buckle and reached for the button over his belly, she continued staring at Todd. In turn, he stood still as a statue as she lowered his pants then his boxers to expose a thick hard cock. All fight in her was gone.

Looking at the veiny shaft, she forgot her vows, her husband, their life together, and all she had ever planned to do and be with him. The road to her dream was through this manly dick. Its power over her dream awed her. Everything just then seemed as simple as it has ever been for women faced with choices in life.

Thousands of years before her, a woman of similar age had chosen one male over another in the wilderness they lived in. One was her mate in her cave-dwelling tribe. This male, before her, was a warrior from an enemy clan. And in not killing her outright, he gave her an option to serve him or stay loyal to her man, family, and clan. Seeing all the warriors the man brought with him, she chose him and forsaken her allegiance to what had been her people just minutes before.

Todd would not kill Vince, but Anna’s choice as she took his thick meat in her hands, had ended her marriage as it had been. The confidence and closeness of being exclusive to each other were fleeting by the second. Oh, she would remain Vincent’s wife for now. But she had switched allegiance just the same as the ancient woman had. In a final act of submission, Anna bent her head and took Todd’s cock in her mouth.

Todd smiled at Heda in triumph and watched as the voracious redhead worked her mouth and tongue on his cockhead. Anna stroked the thick shaft as her tongue bathed the head and underside.

“Don’t forget his balls,” Heda reminded the young woman. “As Todd said, you have to be all in. And be more enthusiastic.”

Todd snickered at his conspirator’s treatment of his new prey, then focused on Anna’s response. The young redhead was indeed following Heda’s instructions as her fingers encircled Tod’s balls. She weighed them in her small right hand as her left held his shaft. Anna’s mouth quivered as she debated what to do next.

“Go on,” Todd said from above. “All in, Anna. Use your mouth on them.”

If there were any doubts about how far she would go, they faded in that instant. Anna knew that she would do whatever he asked from then on. And without hesitation, she lowered her lips and tongue to lick and suck Todd’s gonads.

“Yes!” Heda said with a smile, high-fiving Todd.

Looking at his watch, the young soldier saw it was just past 1:30 am. It had taken him less than ninety minutes to seduce this married woman.

“Good job,” he said to the redhead after a few minutes. “Now suck my cock, like you mean it.”

And suck, she did. Opening her mouth wide, she licked the precum off Todd’s cock head with total abandon. He looked down at her with determination, then approval as she engulfed his dick, taking half of it in her mouth before it hit her tonsils. And then the serious cock sucking began.

“Look at her, go!” Heda commented. “The bitch wants it.”

“Just like you,” Todd retorted.

“You know it,” Heda replied, touching her breast over her expensive evening gown.

Todd smiled as he had an image of himself with both women — eventually. ‘All in good time,’ he thought to himself as the sounds of Anna’s mouth resonated around the small room.

“Yeah,” he said as he placed his hands on the sides of her head. “Suck that dick. Do it like your dream is going to be delivered by it. Make it give you want you crave. Worship it.”

Anna never wavered from her task. His thick cock pulsed over her tongue as she took it in and out, bobbing her head to his guidance. Somewhere along the way, Todd’s fingers intertwined with her red hair latching onto her scalp. And in seconds, she was no longer sucking but was being face fucked. She almost panicked. No one had ever done that to her before – not boyfriends nor her husband. Yet this man was, and strangely she thought it was his right to. What had come over her!

“Holy shit!” Heda exclaimed with her hand over her mouth.

Todd no longer paid attention to his stepmother. His mind, what part of it was still lucid, focused on driving his dick past Anna’s tonsils and into her pharynx. While some men drove their cock in a woman’s throat and held it there, Todd liked face-fucking them just enough for his head to go past their tonsils, then out. The sensation was more intense for him.

“That’s it,” he hissed. “Relax and let me fuck your throat. Keep your lips on my dick tight. Don’t let up. And keep playing with my balls.”

Anna had always thought that taking a man in her throat would make her gag. But Todd was never past her tonsils long enough for her gag reflex to kick in. Focusing on breathing between his jabs, she managed to keep it under control and revel in the first-time experience of being throat fucked. Had she kept her faculties just then, she would have been aware of how wet her pussy was.

Todd loved the sensation of her throat around his cock each time he fucked it. And also the sheer head rush and power trip of it. But he was experienced enough to know that a few more minutes of this and he would blow a nut in her mouth. While doing so and making her swallow it, Todd wanted to do that later. Right that minute, he had other plans for sweet Anna.

When he let go of her head, Anna continued sucking, even taking his dick in her throat! Oh, she was promising indeed. He allowed her to continued for a few more seconds before putting a stop to it.

“Stand,” he commanded her. “Take off that dress.”

Anna nodded and obeyed instantly. Having crossed the line by sucking his dick, whatever else came, was part of the course. If anything, she wanted to make sure her opportunity was not wasted. Reaching back to unzip it, Heda helped her. With the zipper lowered to her ass, the dress slipped off only for Anna to catch it and drape it over a chair. She was now in just her heels, black stockings, and matching black lace underwear.

“Strip,” he said and watched as the redhead exposed her perky breasts to him.

She had golden freckles on her neck, tits, and cheeks that accented her red hair. Her greenish-gray eyes shone like stars as she kept her gaze on the man who held her future in his hands. And her puffy reddish nipples were hardening, exposed to the air as they bounced for him to view.

“Everything,” he said, pointing to her underwear.

Todd watched the young wife lower her panties to the floor and step out of them. Reaching into his pant’s pocket on the chair, he took out a condom packet and tore it open.

“Put it on me,” he said briskly to Heda.

The older woman leaned over to roll the rubber over his cock.

“Suck me first,” Todd ordered her.

Anna watched the older woman she had known for three years and could not believe her eyes. Who was this clone that had taken over the pleasant and friendly Heda she had known? One of those sad lessons people eventually learn is how some people can be something else but put on a front for others. Then Anna thought she knew herself until that night. When it came down to it, she wanted that dress shop so bad that she was willing to fuck for it. Who was she to judge Heda?

Was it all that bad to do? For something as important as her life’s dream? How many times had she let Vincent fuck her? And how many men before him? None of them had ever given her this option. Todd would be gone back in the Army as soon as the holidays were over, and she would finally have a shot at her dream. She could handle Heda watching her and the business. And she could cope with what she was about to do so she could make her dream come true.

“On the edge of the desk, facing me,” Todd said as if directing his own porn film, and he was the star. “Just so you know, this is the preliminary signing – your signature to the deal. There will be more.

The legal papers and such will come later before the money. But it all starts now.”

Anna nodded and sat on the desk edge as he asked. When he moved closer, he slapped her thighs apart and stepped in between. And then he took what he wanted.

His hands roughly fondled her tits. Then he sucked her nipples. Unlike the sex she had with her husband, this was devoid of love and affection. It was purely sexual. Even when Todd kissed her, it was an erotic, not a loving kiss. But strangely, it all aroused her. His brusque manner was surprisingly a turn-on of sorts.

His hand found its way between her legs to caress her shaved lower pussy with a small tuft of trimmed hair above. It was as red as the hair bunched on her head. When his fingers invaded her wet hole, Todd smiled at her.

“You nasty girl, already hot and bothered,” he sneered. “Let’s see about filling this void you have in your life.”

She wanted to tell him that she wasn’t missing anything sexually but suddenly wondered if he was not right after all. Her life until this point had been as vanilla and dull as her sex life. What was missing was her dream coming true and some adventure and excitement.

“Fuck me, Todd,” she murmured.

“What did you say?” Todd said as the head of his cock teased her entrance.

“I said fuck me…” then she looked up at him. “You are right. Something is, missing from my life.”

“Oh, we are about to fix that,” he said, moving his cock to her entrance. “Now, raise your legs up and spread them. Show me what you have to give. Show me everything.”

Anna trembled as she complied. She felt so open and vulnerable to this man she barely knew. But in many ways, she had been waiting for him all her life. Arching her legs, she presented her hot little pussy to him and reveled in seeing the approval in his eyes.

In seconds, Todd took in her sensuous form as she presented herself to him. Her body was flawless. Long legs lifting and spreading, revealing her most prized body part as her breasts accented that slim waist below. A cunt that until now was another man’s to enjoy and sample. The thought of it made him harder as his cock pulsed in anticipation. Leaning closer, he rubbed his cock head over her slit, spreading her labia apart.

Anna first looked into his eyes, but as he stared below at her body, so did she, not wanting to miss his entry. Now wet from her juices, the bottom of his cock felt so good rubbing her sensitive clit. He looked up at her once more.

Anna was surprised that she had no doubts anymore. She wanted him and all he was offering her. But in that instant, she wanted to experience that fine specimen of man meat. To have it inside her — filling her. And without thinking anymore, she nodded to him to continue.

Pushing forward, Todd felt her tight entrance slowly yield to him. Her lips forming an O as her eyes bulged in surprise from the intrusion. And there was more! As half of his girthy manhood plunged into her insides, Anna grunted.

“It’s so… ” she gasped, “…thick.”

Todd smirked, realizing that this young wife was not used to a cock like his. Asking if his dick was bigger than her husband’s would have been crass and superfluous. He already knew it was. And more importantly, she knew. And they both knew that they knew.

To say that Todd’s cock size had not influenced his self-confidence would have been wrong at best. All guys with big cocks have ego boost issues. To most, the world revolves around their cock. And many believe that all they need to bring is the big D and nothing else much for their conquests.

In fact, the first time a woman had a well-endowed man, that aspect became the centerpiece of their encounter. And Anna had been no different in being impressed and so focused. The sheer magnitude of it captivated her as it had Heda and other women before them. But nothing prepared her for it at the moment of truth.

Anna had been shocked at his first entry… her pussy walls struggling to adjust to his girth. But as soon as he was in, Todd withdrew, leaving just an inch of himself inside.

“You OK,” he asked.

“Oh yes… that was… ahhhh!” she gasped as he plunged in her again, this time deeper by two more inches.

The pleasure his cock gave her was unbelievable. His thickness was exposing nerve receptors that had never been exposed to be activated. Her legs trembled… as she felt something she had never before.

“Oh God!” she uttered.

In the next thrust, he inserted more of himself and more in the next yet. His thickness spread Anna’s folds wide open until he was in her balls deep. Todd then held her slight frame savoring her tightness and warmth.

Once again, he was inside a married woman. He forced himself not to let go and cum quickly. Experienced at his first-time reaction with a wife lover, Todd kept it under control and savored the moment.

Anna gasped. His cock felt like an iron club spreading her open. How had she managed to take him in her so effortlessly? Her husband’s cock was not small, but it didn’t feel this wide. Then she realized how aroused and wet she was. And how she had spread for him so willingly; how she had gladly welcomed him inside her! Her cunt swallowing him as if he belonged there.

Todd Manson so craved to fuck her bareback. But he was in the service, and more so the prestigious slot at Delta Force. Catching an STD, contrary to civilian lore, is frowned on by the military. Careers have been ruined for contracting and, yet worse, transmitting an STD. But he promised himself that one day, he would have the fair Anna bareback. That one day, she would be his just as Heda was. Only Anna was younger and… fresher.

It may be cold to think less of Heda because she was over forty already, but the reality was stark. And not because of her age. Heda looked better than most twenty-five-year-olds and was a great fuck. To Todd, married was better than single, so Heda was still a draw to him. But… a fresher lover always garnered his attention — and newer and married was an event. One to be savored.

Todd Manson was different than most men in every regard. Physically, he was in the top 3% of the male population in his age group. Most guys in the high end of special forces were professional sports-level-fit — the nature of the job. And mentally, he was above average as well, with a 160 IQ. Both traits had served him well professionally and otherwise. And he was very well endowed. Long and thick, just as the ladies liked him. And he liked the ladies – especially married ones.

Todd was a creation of life’s circumstances. And sadly, his father’s influence. The result had not been good for humanity. Todd wasn’t even twenty-seven yet and had left a trail of broken marriages behind him.

Anna knew nothing of Todd’s past, having just met him. All she knew was that he had made her the offer of a lifetime, and the price was to give her body to him. Had he been an ugly, fat, or much older man, she may have resisted. More like resisted a bit longer, that is. That Todd was a handsome, fit, and confident man only made her submit faster.

She had more in common with the ancient woman in the field than she could ever imagine. Because just as Anna was now, the prehistoric woman had submitted to the invader chieftain just minutes before his force had murdered her family and friends. All Todd was doing was killing her marriage.

But Anna was past any thinking of consequences and her husband. In that instant, all that mattered was giving in to and pleasing her new benefactor; the new dominant male in her life.

“Aw… eh…” she sighed as he took her, feeling his shaft burn in her.

Anna let herself be lost in the sensation of a man taking her hard. It felt good to be fucked again. She would get love when she went home. She shook her head of thoughts of her husband and marriage. Dealing with that would come later.

Instead, she focused on her dream coming true and closed her eyes. Todd Manson mistook her smile for ecstasy. But it didn’t matter. They were both getting what they wanted.

Still, as time passed, Anna’s body relaxed and was aroused enough to reach two orgasms. Todd was in his personal universe as he pumped inside her like a well-oiled piston. He usually lasted longer than the nine minutes it took him to cum. But the new conquest always aroused him more than usual. When he came, it was explosive.

***

Todd had taken Anna back to his hotel, while Heda found her husband playing a high stakes card game and once again became his ornament. And that is how Anna became the owner of Simms Visions, and Todd Manson played Santa for her.

Sometime around five in the morning, Anna woke up sore from all their fucking and went to the bathroom. When she returned, Todd was awake and smiling at her. Anna hadn’t been fucked this good in years. If ever.

“Are all you soldiers this fit and horny all the time?” she asked as she stretched, showing him her body while staring at his.

“Not all of us,” he replied. “Some more than others. If I weren’t this fit, I wouldn’t be in The Unit.”

“The Unit?”

“What’s that?”

“It has many names. Most people know it as Delta force. Or just Delta.”

“What do you do there?”

“It’s a commando unit. Special mission. Most are secret, so that’s all you get.”

Having never met anyone from that walk of life, she was impressed.

“You look like a pro athlete or something!” she said.

She didn’t have to lie to puff his ego. It was true. Todd was hands down the best-looking and fittest man she had ever been in bed with. And the best fuck. If letting him screw her was the price of his financial support, she would always find time for him.

“We need to talk,” he said, changing the mood.

Not wanting to upset him, she lay on the bed, latching her body to his.

“Anything you want,” she replied and kissed his bicep.

“I know you have to get home and face your husband. Is this the first time you stepped out on him?”

She looked away and nodded. But Todd took her face in his hand and raised it back up.

“No judgment Anna,” he smiled at her. “I understand that you will go through some moments where you will question what you did tonight. It’s part of being who you are now. It doesn’t mean you don’t love your husband.”

“Some would differ with that notion, including him.”

Not Vincent or Vince, just “him.” As if mentioning his name made what she did worse.

“True, they would,” Todd replied. “But they… were not given the option you were. It’s easy for them to judge from their place in life. But they don’t matter. Nor will they know what you did to achieve your dream. Neither will your husband.”

“You don’t think he will be able to tell?”

“Only if you act guilty,” Todd said as he caressed her nipple. “What you need to do is act as nothing happened. You will have an alibi in Heda. So all that is left is how you behave when you get home. Will you look away from him in shame? Or walk up to him, kiss him and tell him you love him. Then take him to bed and fuck his brains out.”

“You make it so simple.”

“Because it is. It’s your new life now. There is no going back, Anna. You signed the contract with your sweet pussy and mouth.”

“I guess I did.”

“There is one more thing,” he said as he reached between her legs.

“There is more?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said, reaching for a tube of lube from his end table. “I want everything. I want all of you.”

Anna realized what Todd meant as she felt his fingers probe under her cunt to her rear hole. She should have been scared. But instead, she let him insert fingers in her asshole, enjoying the sensation.

“Do you want me on my knees?” she asked.

“On your back is fine. I want to look into your eyes.”

She focused on his eyes as he maneuvered between her legs and raised them over his arms.

“Guide me to you,” he asked. No. He commanded.

Reaching behind her, she grasped him at the shaft, feeling his wide girth. His size between her fingers intimidated and enticed her both. She and her husband indulged in anal sometimes, but not often. In the past, she had been either drunk or close to it. This would be the first time sober.

Todd had lubricated her plenty, but she was still a bit weary. He could see the apprehension in her gaze, but she seemed determined to give him what he had asked.

“Anna,” he said. “Do you do this often?”

“No,” she replied. “First time sober… so I’m a bit….”

While they talked, she had been rubbing his now lubricated head over her ass-gromet. Placing him over it, she spread her legs wider as he applied pressure. And slowly, he slipped in her.

“Oh, Gawd!” she gasped as she felt more of him inside her.

As Todd fed more of him to her, she found the sensation different than other times. Not being under the influence, she was more aware of it all. How different it felt. Filling. It was stretching her insides yet pleasantly so. After he was as deep as his cock was long, he stopped to let her get used to it.

“Touch your clit.”

There he went ordering her again. But she found herself responding and doing what he asked willingly. It sure felt good. And soon, he began thrusting in and out of her slowly. It took her minutes, but she had a mind-blowing orgasm. The first with a cock in her ass.

“I want more,” she said.

Todd nodded with a gentle smile. Inside he was ecstatic. Nothing like married ass, he thought; nothing like it.

***

He had driven her home around five in the morning. She kissed him up the street, so when he pulled up in front of her apartment complex. After she stepped out, Todd drove off.

Looking at their assigned spot, she noticed her husband’s truck was not there and sighed in relief. He was not home. Vince probably stayed at the Hansens. Inside the apartment, she had the urge to take another shower. And even though Todd had not once spent inside her, Anna felt like he had. She brushed her teeth and went to bed. She was thinking about what she had done when she drifted to sleep, exhausted.

After dropping Anna off, Todd had returned to his hotel, had a drink, and went to bed. The fragrance of Anna Simms-Renzetti was still on his sheets. Her newfound sexual enthusiasm and responses were still fresh on his mind. Thoughts of her, as well as her scent, aroused him again. He lay still in the dark, not moving, just savoring the sensation, eyes closed… grinning. Eventually, he, too, went to sleep with a smile.

***

Anna and Vince Renzetti

Anna had woken to an empty apartment the next day. It gave her plenty of time to think about what she had done and how to proceed.

When Vince had returned, she had run up to him just as Todd had instructed her and kissed him. Then took him to the bedroom and fucked his brains out. And for the first time, she had anal sex with her husband while sobber. Later as Vincent slept, she was surprised how easy it had all been to face him.

Anna had done the math. In the time they were married, they had saved just twelve thousand dollars. Saving up the money needed to start the shop on their own had been but an unattainable dream. For his part, Vincent wanted a home and family. Sooner or later, their differing goals would have clashed. This way, she rationalized, her plans and his were both possible. She was getting her business, and they would have money for a house. All it had taken was to give her body to another man. She had indeed traded her vowes for a shot at her dream.

Once Anna began opening her own business, any thoughts of how it had started were long set aside. She had visited her mother’s grave and left flowers. But her father had refused to go when asked. There was still a pain in his face from the day before his wife died. What Anna’s mother had said about dreams being more critical than anything had shattered all her father thought of his marriage and wife.

Anna took one lesson from that. If she and Vincent were to have a life together along with her company, she could never say anything as cold as her mother’s comment to him. And least of all, she could never let on to her affair with Todd. It would be the end of her and Vince. And she didn’t want that. It was not Vince’s fault that he had not been born rich to give her the option Todd did.

***

It had taken her a lot of work to get that store running right. So it was not until the second half of the first year that she showed a profit. But once she did, losses were in her rearview mirror.

If Vincent ever learned what she had done, he never said a word. He acted like he bought the story of Heda being the silent partner. That the Mansons had recognized her potential and chose to reward her with the realization of her dreams, still, he had questions.

“So, how does this work Anna,” Vince asked. “The Manson’s will own the company or you?”

She didn’t like the dig but knew she had to answer her husband.

“It’s complicated, Vince,” she replied pensively. “But once the company is making money and I pay them back the original loan, it will be mine. I mean ours.”

“And all we have to invest is ten thousand dollars?” he asked in disbelief. “I know, I’m only an accountant. But the bank where I work requires more collateral than that.”

The word collateral made Anna flinch, but she kept her emotions in check. How could she tell her husband that she had already paid the collateral with her body? That those payments would continue to be paid whenever Todd called her to come to him was something she had yet to grasp herself.

“They said they have been watching me for some time and are convinced I can do it with Heda’s guidance. You know she has an MBA, right? She used to work for Manson Enterprises. It’s how she and Liam met. She is quite capable.”

“So they can pull the plug at any time?”

“In the first year, yes.”

“And we could lose our ten grand,” Vince said, pinning her with his gaze.

“Vince, it’s my only opportunity to make my dream… mine and my mom’s dream come true. Please trust me on this. I can do it,” she said in a pleading tone. “I know how this business works with all my experience. I have been preparing for this moment for years.”

She saw that Vince was not convinced as he looked back at her.

“Baby,” she leaned close to him. “Please don’t spoil this for me… for us.”

“We worked hard for that money, Anna,” he replied. “If you want my approval, I want a promise from you.”

“Name it,” she replied apprehensively.

“You have two years to get this company going. In two years, we start a family. Two kids. I need you to remember that you need to have the place running on its own in two years so you can get pregnant and take time off if needed. Pregnancies can have complications with stress, even without it. My sister lost her first child, trying to be super-cop-woman.”

“OK, but that’s down the road.”

“Two years will be here before you know it, Anna,” he replied. “Make sure you hire a good manager to run the shop in our absence, so when the time comes, you don’t have to live in that place like some new business owners do.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I am the accountant attached to the loan division. The loan officers know a lot about business, and they love talking about being able to spot the well-run ones and those doomed to failure. One worse are the ones where the owner is indispensable. He or she runs ragged, trying to micromanage. But you know all this. I’m just reminding you. Two years Anna. In two years, we have kids. So plan ahead and prepare.”

Anna realized that this was the best moment she would have to let him know the part of the agreement she dreaded the most.

“There is something in the agreement we have to sign,” she said. “It’s related to your apprehension about our small investment.”

“What about it?”

“It’s a clause in case we…” she looked away for a second, then back to him. “In case we divorce.”

“Excuse me?”

“The Manson’s want you to feel secure that in case of divorce, you will get your ten thousand back with interest if we divorce before the company is profitable. Once you and I have accrued twenty thousand dollars in profit, that deal will no longer be needed. But early on, if you and I were to split, you will get ten thousand dollars. Plus, what you and I divide up in personal assets. But that is all you would get from the company as it is all you and I invested.”

“So they are covering their… assets.”

“Their investment,” she smiled back to defuse the tension.

“Whose’s idea was this?” Vince asked.

“Heda’s Lawyers,” she replied.

She did not tell Vince that the Manson layers had developed this codicil to protect her from Vince in divorce.

“I am not signing that,” he replied. “You and I are in it together. Win or lose. If we make money from your company, so be it. If the company folds and we lose the ten thousand, so be it as well. Otherwise, you have my full support so long as you agree to my two-year deal for starting a family. And that deal is between us, Anna. No contract is needed. Just our word to each other. Do we have a deal?”

“Yes, Vince,” she said apprehensively.

But inside her, she knew she was lying to him. She had barely agreed, yet somehow she knew that she was not likely to honor it. Having broken their marriage vow of fidelity, she knew she and Vince were no longer a team. Todd had been right. In choosing the deal he and Heda offered her, Anna had changed her allegiance from her husband to herself.

“Good,” he said with a smile. “I’ll hold you to it.”

***

Anna was left to tell Heda the next day.

“Vince did not agree to sing the ten thousand payout.”

Heda listened and just smiled stoically.

“That was always a possibility,” Liam’s wife replied stoically. “But you are not planning on divorcing your husband, are you?”

“I don’t know what I want for him and me anymore, Heda.”

Heda scoffed at that.

“Oh no…” she laughed. “Don’t tell me you are entertaining notions of leaving your husband. Are you?’

“I’m not sure, Heda. After everything that happened between Todd and me….”

“Let me explain something to you, Anna Renzetti,” Heda emphasized Anna’s married name. “You have a deal with Todd. Nothing more. Todd is not like other men. He is not interested in being your husband’s replacement.”

“What do you mean?”

Heda scoffed in irritation.

“Stop thinking conventionally and grow up. The night of the ball, you left that basic world forever. You still think you are a typical woman who can ditch one man and substitute him for another. If you think Todd is that man, you are sorely mistaken.”

Anna wanted to protest but did not. She had to admit; she had entertained notions of leaving Vincent and marrying Todd. But she knew that would be an insurmountable undertaking under their circumstances.

“I know Todd is in the military and far away. But we could…”

Heda first smiled and then laughed incredulously.

“Don’t make me laugh. The minute you divorce your husband, Todd will no longer be interested in you.”

Anna was shocked to hear Heda say it. And Heda saw the reaction on her face and nodded with a knowing smile.

“Oh, yes, my dear Anna. Sweet married good girl that you used to be. But you no longer are. Are you?”

Anna stayed quiet, realizing Heda was right. She had been the good wife. She left her apartment, the “good married girl.” Yet returned a different woman, a woman who had chosen to give her body so she could gain something in return. And what did that make her?

“No, I am not,” she replied. “But that doesn’t mean…”

“Oh, it means a lot, sweetie,” Heda chuckled. “On the one hand, you convinced Todd that you had what it takes to commit to this new company. And so long as you are married, he will call for you. But he will never trust you to be his mate. Assuming he ever decides to get married, that is. And trust me, my dear, Todd is not the marrying kind. He is the kind of man we married women have on the side. The one we go to for fun and games. To get royally fucked.”

Anna looked away uncomfortably.

“If anything, Todd will only call on you, as he does me, so long as we are married. So long as he fucks another man’s wife. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

Anna shook her head silently as the implication of Heda’s assessment of Todd hit her.

“It’s actually not so bad, is it?” Heda chuckled. “We have our husbands, and we have our lover on the side. And unlike your husband, Todd doesn’t care about anything but you showing up with he needs you to give him his fix.”

Anna froze at Heda’s starkness.

“Next time you see our Todd, why don’t you ask him?” Heda scoffed again. “See if he ever calls you again. It will most likely be the last time he does.”

“How do you do it, Heda?”

The older woman’s expression changed to one of introspection.

“Unlike you, I have accepted my place. I am Mrs. Manson. Wife of Liam. So long as I play that role, my husband is happy, and Todd occasionally calls on me. That he chooses to, makes me feel special. When he ravishes me, I feel like a total slut giving in to a sex god, taking and giving pleasure. And you, my dear, have had the pleasure of his company to know I am right.”

Anna said nothing at that, knowing Heda was speaking the truth. A truth they both shared.

And in time, she accepted her role.

***

The Mansons were Anna’s investors, with Heda Manson being the mentor and advisor as far as Vince knew.

At first, Anna had followed Todd’s advice and been as attentive to her husband as possible. While her mind was always on her business, she knew it could all come crashing down on her if her husband were to find out.

As time passed, things between Anna and her husband began to change. She was always busy working late. That was expected from someone starting a new company; she would also be tired and distracted with all the pressure on her. It wasn’t long that their sex life changed as well. It was not a general decline, but the incidents of either good or bad sex were sporadic.

Vincent tried going to her new shop to help but soon felt like a fifth wheel. His expertise was accounting -something that was done by Heda Manson’s staff. It was made clear to him that it was “handled.” So Vince stopped going over.

Most times, he would drive by her new location on the way home from work. He did not go in to bother her, as he didn’t like visits to his job as well. But he felt comforted to see her car outside as he passed by. Occasionally it was not there, but it was rare, and he decided to let it go.

Occasionally, Anna was invited to “girl’s” parties or lunches that Vince was not. By then, he accepted it as her relationship with her wealthy investors was what made their new life possible. To fill his time, Vince worked more at his job. And that led to them drifting more as time passed. They lived in the same place, but Anna had a life he was not a part of.

Then there were the trips to North Carolina. Something about a sewing company doing some of the work for her shop. She had to make occasional trips there to check on the work of her new designs. She took him with her once, but he was bored as he stayed at a hotel as she went to meetings. After that, she went to North Carolina alone. When Todd called on her, that is.