Choosing Her Lover

*****

‘An Illusion of Happiness’

A Tale of BDSM Erotic Romance

And the Meeting of Strangers

Part Two

An Illusion of Happiness

As I stroll across the sands, a familiar figure jogs towards me, a small dog trotting alongside; a terrier that looks as though it has been assembled from a junkyard of other dogs.

As the runner approaches, he angles my way. Drawing close, he pulls to a stop, huffing.

“Hi, Kirstie,” he says, “I was hoping I’d run into you. How are you?”

His face is severe. Ben is not an unhandsome man, but his natural expression is unsmiling, which detracts from his looks, making him appear austere, perhaps even puritanical.

And is that just an appearance….? Or is that really the man?

“Hi, Ben. I’m good. You?”

“Yeah, I’m great. Mind if we join you for a bit?”

“We?”

He nods down toward his dog. “Scruffy wants to make friends….”

True enough, Scruffy is making moves on my Meg, who rumbling low, curls up a lip, unimpressed by this rag-tag terrier.

“…. and he’s not the only one.”

“I’d love you and Scruffy to join us. I was about to have some coffee actually.” I hold up my flask. “Want a cup?”

“Great idea.”

Sitting on the dune, close to each other, we sip coffee. The wind blowing into our faces sends my hair streaming over my shoulders. It feels very comfortable, very natural.

sits, staring out to sea, not speaking. Then he turns to me.

towards him. He leans to me, finishing the movement, tilting his head to the

of sunshine and fresh air, strawberries, and vanilla. His hand cupping my cheek, his

for a moment, holding my eyes, then he leans into me once more, but this time, his mouth opens over mine, and he pulls

away, he looks at me again, then away out to sea. “I wanted to do that the other night, but I thought maybe I’d be moving too fast,”

a long time since anyone kissed me in that

to break away. “Emma! Will you put that down….” Emma drops the semi-rotted fish she is holding, letting it

want the car to smell of that on

roll too, competing for the stinking thing, then Scruffy joins

up. “Scruffy.

time we have retrieved the fish, tossing it as far out into the waves as Ben’s long-armed throw can manage, and persuaded the dogs to play in the water long enough to get rid of the worst of the smell, we are

ice cream?” I suggest, waving vaguely towards the bar further along the beach. “My treat. I owe you

he replies, with the kind of smile that suggests that ice cream is just an excuse for hanging

smiles, his face transforms. He becomes an

I juggle change in my

sure. What

chocolate and

powerful for me.” He sniffs. “I’ll have the

Of course you will….

good man, but I think you’ll always

want something

But…. You’re nice….

Is ‘nice’

the beach again, eating cornets, licking away

do?” he asks. “For a living, I mean? If you don’t mind me

those dream jobs for a lot of people, but I hated it. I’m starting a new job in a couple of

“Something different?”

in one of the office blocks in the new part of

a change. Which

went up so quickly after the old headquarters got burned

works there. What made you

seeing people all the time. And the company has a good reputation

“Yeah, the sis said something about that too. She’s going through their training program

I’ll get