Where am I?Sleep-addled, I see low embers, their glow a mere crack amid white ashes behind a fireguard. A side-light casts a sort of light over where I'm sitting in an armchair.A blanket covers my lap....Beth........ And Richard....This is when you find out who your friends are....My neck is stiff, but I'm warm and otherwise comfortable.And I think of the empty bed in my room....I'll stay here for the night....*****.... And I blink open to a maid swishing open curtains. Brilliant sunlight casts across me and for a moment I hold a hand over my eyes while I adjust."Morning, Mr Alexanders. I wasn't sure if you would prefer tea or coffee, so I brought both." She nods down to a tray by my side with both tea and coffee pots, milk, cream and lemon. A glass of water sits by a packet of soluble aspirin.And the evening before floods back....Oh, God....The staff think I was drunk....I was drunk...."It was a good day, wasn't it, Mr Alexanders?" she s
And I really feel like celebrating. I can't keep the grin from my face. Reaching into the ice bucket, I fish out the bottle. "It's a bit early for champagne, but I thought buck's fizz would go down nicely." And it does, citrus and bubbles complementing cereals, devilled kidneys and laughter.Everything I ever wanted....When even Charlotte's furnaces have been stocked with enough fruit, eggs and extra toast to halt an army....How does she eat like that and never put on an ounce?Plenty of 'exercise'......... we settle down a bit.I've been looking forward to this moment. I take an envelope from my pocket, passing it to Michael. "This, by the way, is my wedding present to the pair of you."He looks a little surprised but gulps back the last of his fizz. He cuts it open the envelope with a knife, wiping butter and marmalade in equal amounts on the paper, extracts the contents........ and reads....For a long moment his face is a blank, then he scratches an eyeb
"Everything in place?" Michael leans back against the wall, arms folded, watching as I fill the racks, shelves, cupboards and drawers he so carefully built."Almost.""Where is she?""Upstairs, lost in a good book.""Engineering?""Tolkien, I think."He nods. "I suppose we can rely on that when it's raining."I stand back, admiring the display. "You're sure she doesn't know?"His face splits. "I've certainly not told her. I'm looking forward to seeing...."".... her face?"He winks. "Oh, yes.""I see you made up the bed too."His mouth quirks. "Yup. Did it myself.... I'm not about to ask any of the hotel staff to make this bed." "Perhaps not," I agree. Then, I eye-point toward the concealed exit. "The bolt-hole?" He sobers. "I think that's a discussion for another day, don't you?""Sure. Who exactly knows about it?""Right now, only you and me. Perhaps Charlotte has an inkling, but I've not discussed it with her. It didn't need to be pretty, just secur
"Oh, this is your call, James," replies Michael. "Whatever appeals to you the most."I stand over and slightly behind her, where she should be able to see me in her peripheral vision. The falls smell of bees and honey, whispering as I trail the tips along her spine. Her breath hitches, she shivers and her arms goose-pimple."Charlotte?""Whatever you want, Master. It's for you to say."Good girl....I caress her skin with the soft tresses. "What are your safe words?" "Yellow, Master. And red.""Stand up."Her face still lowered, Charlotte rises. I swing the flogger, just a little, letting her see the sweep and shimmer of the tails as they sway by my leg. "Stand over there."She follows my finger to the ceiling hoop and the rope, casually looped through. Michael acts as aide as she positions herself below, lifting wide mermaid-eyes as he murmurs something soft and she offers up her hands.Binding her wrists, not tightly, but effectively, he tensions the rope, dra
RICHARDI sit in the conference room, wading through brochures, catalogues and websites, trying to find something........ suitable........ and just the tiniest bit original....And something she doesn't already have....*sigh*There's movement in my office beyond.Elizabeth?She's early....Quickly, I whisk a plan of the City Project site over my work area, but when I look up, it's not Elizabeth but Michael standing in the doorway."Hi, Richard... Hope you don't mind. Francis let me in. Thought I'd spend half an hour on some more of that lot while I was twiddling my thumbs." He gestures towards the stack of tattered and dusty boxes housing forty years of junk paperwork from Elizabeth's recently deceased Uncle Albert."Not at all. It's very good of you to keep at this on Elizabeth's behalf.""It's no problem at all. I'm waiting for James and Charlotte so it's not as if I have anything better to do 'til they turn up. And as I mentioned, I'm actually finding it q
James suppresses a smile. "I've had Charlotte at the proofing yards down by the docks. Some useful add-on training in failure testing on metals and other materials."I scratch my chin. "How did you pull that off, James? We don't have connections with any of the firms down there do we?""City NDT would like to tender for the contract on the bridge, for the testing and maintenance program." He flashes brows. "I took the opportunity to take a favour.""Does blowing something to bits in a proofing yard qualify as non-destructive testing?" I ask."Nooo...." he concedes, "but their director mentioned that they were running a series of tests on rocket motors for a new government contract, so I, um, eased a lever into the crack. It's all useful experience for a trainee engineer, especially as...." He nods towards Charlotte.... ".... It's going to be all knuckling down academically for a while now, with exams coming up."He turns back to Michael and Elizabeth. "What was all the laught
RICHARDElizabeth walks in, dirty and unkempt. She flops down into a chair."You look exhausted my Love. How's the house clearing going?""Oh, you have no idea. It's all bottles and jars now for recycling." She pulls a face. "Mainly whiskey bottles. Old newspapers, all tied up with string and kept. There's been rats nesting in some of them, but he kept them anyway. And yet more old paperwork cleared out from the back of the attic."A tap on the door, a pause, then Ross pops a head around the door. "Would you like a bath running, Mrs Haswell? Or something to eat?""Oh Ross. Thank you. Yes, both would be lovely. You're a life saver.""You're welcome," he smiles then retreats back out again."Whiskey bottles, eh? That doesn't sound too good. Speaking of which, would you like a drink?""I would, but not whiskey. A glass of wine would be lovely."I pour two glasses of a Rioja James recommended. Rolling it around my mouth, it is indeed, rather good. I sit beside my tired wi
JAMESMichael, raising a finger to his lips, stands to rummage in the drawer for a moment, then takes out a small vibe. Holding it close to her ear, he turns it on, upping the power a couple of times, letting her hear the rising whine. Touching the tip, just barely, to her skin, he slips it across her cheek and over her lips, then slides it back to the nape of her neck and down. Tracing the outline of her spine, he follows the curve of her back, diverting for an instant around her bound wrists, lying between the twinned dimples at the base, and south.My fingers are slick, and the air laced with the tang of her growing excitement. Michael raises a questioning eyebrow and I withdraw my thumb which he replaces with the vibe. She rocks against me, wailing, but he pushes it home, twisting the base to turn up the power as he does so.Smiling as he stands back, he surveys her. I pull away too, leaving her unsupported, rocking and swaying as she tries to remain upright.Offering me hi