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Chapter 146: The Virgin´s Wedding, Part 2, Nothing Will Change
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Buying Charlotte Chapter 147: The Virgin´s Wedding, Part 3, Down The Aisle
CHARLOTTEA whirl of people greets me as I step from the car, Richard´s own.Richard turns to Ross, chauffeuring. "Get parked up, and then join us inside.""I´ll be there as quickly as I can. Wouldn´t miss this..." says Ross. "Good luck, Charlotte. I´ll see you in there."Some in the gathering, I know, but not many. For the most part, the people milling around me are strangers.It is comforting to have Beth and Richard with me, familiar faces to settle me a little.Beth, as my bridesmaid, fusses with my train and my bouquet, then checks her own gown is as it should be"You look beautiful, Charlotte." says Richard "You take me right back to my own and Beth´s own wedding day. Thank you for doing me the honour, of asking me to give you away.""I have no father, Richard. You´re the nearest thing I have to a male relative. And thank you for accepting."He kisses my forehead. "Michael is a lucky man... Are you ready?"Am I ready?I´m not. I don´t think I ever will be,
Buying Charlotte Chapter 148: The Virgin´s Wedding, Part 4, The Wedding Night
BETHJames sits, talking a large gulp from his glass, then refills it.Richard is still chuckling. "Great speech. Got them all laughing."I watch James as he fills his glass again. "Do you think he´s alright?"Richard follows my gaze, watching quietly for a moment. "No, I don´t think he is. He´s putting on a very good face, but I think he´s finding this a lot harder than he expected."MICHAELIt´s getting late. I squeeze Charlotte´s hand, not saying anything, but letting my eyes meet hers.I asked James to prepare the room; to make it beautiful for her. Perhaps not the usual task one asks of one´s Best Man, but of course, we are a special case."So, Mrs Summerford... perhaps we should... retire?"She nods, looking around."Come on. Let´s go find him; say goodnight."James is at the bar, a brandy in hand, exchanging pleasantries with some of my family, his expression glazed. Marie, Charlotte´s house-mate from her university is close by too. Now, that I think about
Buying Charlotte Chapter 149: The Virgin´s Wedding, Part 5, The Seduction Of James
BETHThe party is dying down. "Fancy a nightcap?" asks Richard."Mmm, yes, good idea."We order a brandy apiece, and make our way through to the library.James is there, reading, sitting in a leather armchair by the fire, long legs outstretched in front of crackling flames.Richard, frowns, his eyes meeting mine. "I thought he´d be upstairs with..." he murmurs."James? Is everything alright? We thought..." My husband´s words trail away.James looks up at us over his glasses, mouth quirking in humour. "You thought... what?""Um....""It´s their wedding day. This is Michael´s night.""Ah..." Richard, hesitates, clearly trying to choose his words, and failing to find them. "Mind if we join you? We´re having a nightcap.""Be my guests. I was doing just that, myself." He lifts a balloon glass, swirls it for a moment, then sips.We seat ourselves, Richard rubbing his hands in front of the flames. "I think we can call the day a success," says Richard."Oh, I think
Buying Charlotte Chapter 150: The Virgin´s Wedding, Part 6, James´ Wedding Gift
BETH"James. I watched you take a bullet to protect her. That´s not the action of a bad man..." He regards me, eyes lidded, expression unreadable. Is he going to clam up again?I try to keep him talking. "Do you still not remember it? When you were shot?"Swirling the brandy in its glass, "The memory came back a few weeks ago." He takes a sip. "I´ve been trying not to dwell on it.""It´s giving you problems?""I´ve had a few sleepless nights, yes. It´s not a pleasant memory.""I can imagine. But my point is that you did it. And you did it with barely a thought, and without hesitation. I saw what happened, James. What you did was the action of a good man. Why should you doubt it?"His speech is slurring. "I bought her. I bought her at an auction. I took her virginity. And, without intending to, I made her mine. I didn´t mean to do that, not at first anyway, but I did it. And I changed the course of her life...""For the better. Much, much for the better. Where would s
Buying Charlotte Chapter 151: The Virgin´s Wedding, Part 7, Family
MICHAEL"James. How did you get this? It´s a downloaded mortgage statement. No-one should have been able to get this, except me."He scratches the side of his face, entirely unembarrassed. "Yes, well, your account wasn´t exactly difficult to hack. You might think about upgrading your passwords...."I break into laughter again. "James, you´re impossible. But thank you. So much." I pass the document to Charlotte. She looks at it, how much James has paid...She stutters... "Master... It´s such a lot...""No, it isn´t. I´m a rich man. Where else would I spend my money, except with my family?"And that´s it, isn´t it...Charlotte nods. Taking my hand in her left, James´ in her right, "Yes, that´s right. We´re a family, aren´t we.""That we are." I say. "Perhaps not the standard nuclear family, but a family nonetheless.""I´ve never had a family before, not a real one. Just the foster family, and they didn´t like me much.""Mmm. Now you put it like that..." says James, ".
Buying Charlotte Chapter 152: The Virgin´s Wedding, Part 8, Two Husbands
CHARLOTTEFeet up on the settee, I´m reading, engrossed in The Silmarillion.I love Tolkien...Rain lashes against the window, all but wiping out the views of the mountains and down to the lake, but the fire´s blazing, my new husband and my Master are both with me, I have a glass of wine to one side and, lost in a good book, does life get any better than this?I´m in Heaven.It dawns on me that I´m being watched.Tilting my book down, I look over the top. In his chair, opposite me, Michael, chin resting his fist, has that look...Yes, that one...In the other chair, my Master also regards me, waiting for me to notice.What are they up to?"What? What is it?"As if I need to ask...They both rise, walk to stand over me. Each offers me a hand. Putting down my book, I take both hands, and they pull me to my feet.Michael pulls something from his pocket; a long, black silk scarf that he uses as a blindfold. He doesn´t speak but winds his finger around in a circle.
Buying Charlotte Chapter 153: The Master´s Wife´s Birthday, Part 1, Shareholders´ Meeting
AUTHOR´S NOTE: Strictly speaking, this part of the story belongs in the ´Bought By The Billionaire´ story. However, that story is intertwined with this so, for a reader, with the timing of the events concerned, it is better placed here.Enjoy!Simone Leigh (Author) xxMICHAELThe day is going to be hot. Already, sunlight slants across the bed and the room is growing uncomfortably warm."Fancy a swim anyone?" I ask.James nods agreement. Charlotte stretches and yawns. "Mmmm. Good idea. I´ll just get into my costume.""No need. The pool´s all locked up yet. It won´t be open to the hotel guests for another couple of hours.""Great. I´ll just grab a towel."The three of us amble through the hotel to the pool in bathrobes, and I re-lock the doors behind us to be sure we have privacy. James dives cleanly into the water, eating lengths with a steady crawl. I follow. Charlotte, slightly more demure, steps down into the pool. Perhaps, with her full figure, diving is not so
Buying Charlotte Chapter 154: The Master´s Wife´s Birthday, Part 2, Birthday Dinner
BETH"So where are we going?""Spoilers..." Richard grins at me, looking indecently pleased with himself."And why are you driving instead of Ross?"He shakes his head. "Ah-ah..." As we turn off the highway up to the mountains, the penny drops. "We´re going to James´ place? Michael and Charlotte´s house?"He looks smug. "Yup. We´re having dinner there.""Oh, lovely. That´s great. But why the secrecy?"He simply looks smug, saying nothing, meeting my eyes for a moment, mouth twitching, before turning his attention back to the road.The drive is amazing. The lovely road winds up the mountain and past the lake, with the late afternoon sunshine drawing brilliant ripples across the surface. Clouds scud across a sky which fades from azure to a pale opal on the horizon. Squadrons of electric blue dragonfly´s zig-zag through rushes, landing on lily pads, iridescent against the brilliant green. The hotel is buzzing. Michael´s spa project looks to be off to a bouncing start
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