VALENTINES BALL - CHAPTER 1

(By HGHUNT)

Chapter 1 -Finally the Kids Are Gone!

My name is Ron Grudin, age 53, and I am fortunate to have been married to a lovely woman, Gwen for the past 27 years. We have a family that we raised and we are proud of all our children. They all went to college and the oldest are now embarked on their careers. The youngest is still in college, a freshman. We now have a big empty house with little excitement.

Gwen and I are both career people. She took time off while the kids were little but then went back to work and she still works in the medical field. I am a teacher at a local university. I love Gwen immensely and she loves me dearly. Our sex life, like many middle-aged people has been satisfactory but often uninspiring. The absence of kids around the house now means we both could be a little freer to express ourselves sexually than we have been since the early days of our marriage. But that hasn't translated yet into a more wide ranging sex life. I have always wished for more sexual excitement in our love life than my wife. It seems that she is content to live within our comfortable cocoon while I ache for some activities that 'push the envelope' of our sexuality in some way. I have an active fantasy life and Gwen is a big part of it. Yes, I can't lie. I do have fantasies about other women too. But usually my fantasies come back to my favorite woman, Gwen.

During our thirties and forties it seemed that both of us put on more pounds than we should have. My wife couldn't seem to drop the weight after the kids were born. I don't have any excuses except to say that, like most of us, I ate too much and exercised too little. Well, two years ago both Gwen and I made the commitment to lose weight. With each other's support we were able to shed numerous pounds. I lost 25 lbs to get down to 165, which was my college weight. Gwen lost quite a bit also and slimmed down to a size 10 (8 in some styles), which she hadn't seen in years. I am very proud of my wife's new look. She has always been a very pretty lady, even though she never worried about makeup and mascara and all that stuff. She just never felt the need to spend all that time and effort, what with a house to run and a job to do. She is now 50 years old, but could probably pass for a woman 10 years younger. Her hair is short, straight, thick, and brown, with a soft cut that emphasizes her high cheekbones and sexy eyes. Her brown eyes can melt me with just a look. I have been complimentary to her regarding how sexy she is, especially since her weight loss resulted in the svelte figure she now possesses, and she has returned the favor to me, now that my pot-belly is gone. My hair has begun to gray a little. I never really thought of myself as handsome particularly, but many people that I knew growing up have remarked at how 'distinguished' I now look. I take the compliments with a grain of salt, but it does make me feel good inside.

Shortly past New Years, after the kids had gone back to homes and school, Gwen and I sat around the fire one evening listening to music on the audio system. It was a close and affectionate moment. I remarked how much I would like to see Gwen all dressed up. You know in a fancy evening gown, with her hair all done, makeup and the whole ball of wax. I told her how sexy she was and that it would be an incredible turn-on to go out with her all dolled up like that. At first she was cool to the idea, but as the evening wore on and I kept up my comments she began to think that maybe it would be fun too. We hadn't done anything like that throughout our marriage. She asked what could we do that would require such dress. Since we don't run in 'society' circles, black tie dinners aren't part of our life.

Well, guess what. I had a suggestion. I had heard on the radio one morning during my commute to work about a hotel about two hours from our home that was advertising romantic getaways. Since Valentine's Day was only a few weeks away I suggested that we book a room for the weekend and make reservations for their "Ball." My ears had perked right up the first time I heard the commercial, but when I heard it a second and third time I actually began to get serious about proposing the idea to my wife. The hotel was nestled cozily along a lake, frozen this time of year, in a quaint village known for its 'get away from it all' atmosphere. The hotel was going to have a lover's ball on Valentine's Day, which was a Saturday night. Live music, plenty of food, champagne, and the promise of a romantic mood were enough to get me excited even before I proposed the idea to my wife.

"Yes. Let's do it." Those were the words I had ached to hear. When Gwen consented to a hot sexy weekend with me, celebrating our 28th Valentine's Day together I could hardly contain my excitement. It seemed just the thing to add 'spark' back into our love life. Little did I know that that spark would turn out to be an inferno.