The cottage was the perfect discreet bolthole, hidden in the trees, invisible from the lane that led from the distant main road. This was one of the reasons people like Lea booked it for a weekend break. In fact the cottage was a former gatehouse at the entrance to an estate. The owner, Joe, had inherited it and decided to turn the small place into a holiday let to help pay for the upkeep of his house nearby.
Lea had booked it for a long weekend. As far as he knew she was coming alone, which was unusual but not rare. A single woman down from London, wanting to 'get away from it all', he suspected. From her profile on the booking app he had seen she was an attractive mature woman with long fair hair and a seductive smile. He wondered what she imagined a weekend here would be like.
Typically he left his guests alone during their visit, meeting them only once, on their arrival, to show them round and give them the key. But he lived close by in case they needed anything. He could not help wondering whether this solitary woman would want anything he could provide. The cottage was cosy, quiet, isolated. So if a woman wanted to be alone it was the perfect refuge. But if she wanted any company, well, he would be happy to provide any personal service she desired. It wouldn't be the first time he had been invited in to the cottage by guests who found themselves craving some company in this most isolated spot. He still had the pair of knickers the last single woman had left!
She was due to arrive any moment. It was late evening on a warm Friday in early summer. Dusk had not yet fallen. The trees cast warm shadows around the cottage. The last rays of sun lit up the small windows. Joe had prepared the fireplace -- guests always wanted a 'real fire' with logs. He had left a complimentary bottle of red wine too. Would she want to drink that on her own?
Anyway, he thought, let's see how things go. I'll show her round, let her settle in, make sure she has my number. If she wants to be left alone, fine. Otherwise, anything is possible. It gets chilly at night out here, she might want someone to stoke the fire for her, keep her warm. He felt a thrill of lust as his imagination roved.
Having finished preparing the cottage, he was now just outside the door when he heard a car slowing down, turning in from the quiet lane. He stood waiting, dressed in black jeans and a blue denim shirt, untucked. He ran his hand through his hair, smoothed down his shirt and faced towards the lane. An Audi appeared, approached, stopped in front of him. He smiled as he saw the woman through the windscreen. He was pleased to see she was alone. She turned off the engine and stepped out. He took a step towards the car, trying to imagine how he would appear to her.
'Hi, you must be Lea. I'm Joe. Welcome!' He smiled again as she looked him up and down.
What was she thinking, feeling? What would she desire?
It wouldn't be the first time Joe Leman (his professional persona, though not his real name) had fucked one of his guests. Far from it. In fact he had lost count of how many women he had seduced, or been seduced by, during all his years in the hospitality industry: at business conferences he had hosted, in those identikit hotels where clients relished being away from their partners for a night, invariably drank too much, and ended up fucking each other all night; at Mediterranean holiday resorts, where sex-starved bored wives would take him to their rooms while their husbands were out playing golf; or at the small country house hotel in the New Forest that he had run until recently (in which he still owned a controlling shareholding), where women came for a girls weekend or hiking or riding, all of which made them uncontrollably horny and easy prey for their handsome host.
One of his most treasured memories of these numerous encounters was a night spent with a stunning and filthy executive from some marketing firm that had its annual retreat at a remote country hotel in Hampshire. He had been the hotel's lead facilitator, to make sure the client firm got what they were paying for, in terms of facilities, refreshments, evening entertainment. She, a slim fit blonde in her forties, had chatted to Joe in the hotel bar on the first night, having slipped away from her increasingly drunken and boorish colleagues.