JAMESThe wee small hours of the morning........ and I lie awake, staring into the darkness.Charlotte lies nestled against me, but from her breathing, I don't think she is asleep either. Beyond her, Michael's breathing is slow and steady.The sleep of the virtuous?Charlotte stirs in my arms. My face close to hers I murmur, "Are you alright?"Her voice is muffled against my chest, but I can hear the tears in her words. "I don't want you to be angry.""I'm not angry with you.""I don't want you to be angry with Michael either. He really did do nothing wrong.""Are you sure of that?""Yes, I'm sure. Richard asked me first. He was so nervous So embarrassed. He said if I was upset or offended to just forget he'd ever said anything. Michael wasn't there. By the time he arrived, I'd already told Richard I was happy with it so long as Michael was too. Master.... at first, he refused. He said all the same things that you did, about having just got married and being faithf
RICHARD"Lovely stonework."It seems a facile thing to say, but when I see what he and Michael have built between them in the cellars of their mountain home, I am momentarily lost for words.And it all looks strangely familiar....James grins. He knows exactly what I'm thinking. "When I saw what you had in your basement, I couldn't resist it.""Yes...." I circle, admiring the chamber. ".... but I simply built into rooms that were already there. The old kitchen and storage rooms under the house. You must have built this from scratch."He nods. "In fairness, I designed it. Michael did most of the actual building, along with quite a team of stonemasons and other workers of course.""What on earth did he tell them they were building?"He flashes brows. "Wine-cellars I believe. Let me give you a tour...."He shows me around like a kid showing off his train set. And I can hardly blame him. I couldn't have done better myself. In fact, I didn't do better myself. I stroll past
RICHARDJames points up the slight slope. "About a hundred yards that way is the walker's track Michael and Charlotte used the last time to escape. And the shelter they hid in for a while is a couple of hundred yards further along."If I were using this........ Or Elizabeth...."You would have trouble finding your way to that in the dark," I point out, looking back. Beyond the briar patch, the upper windows of the Threesome's home are visible. "And if you used a light, you could easily be seen from the house.""Ah, yes...." he nods. "That was my comment too. Michael had an answer." He beckons me to the nearest tree, then closes his eyes and lays his hand on the trunk, feeling at the bark at about chest height. After a moment he pauses, opening his eyes again."Feel there," he says, his fingers still on the tree. "Close your eyes. Imagine you're blind in the dark."Under the pads of my fingers, the coarse bark comes alive. And I feel.... what?Marks. Chiselled deep into
Ross - Richard and Beth's chef, among his other assorted duties - is doing the cooking, leaving me free to act as host. However, I don't take the head of the table, seating Richard there instead, where he will have a good view of anything happening.We took some care over the place settings. Charlotte sits between me and Michael, with Michael, as he normally does, holding her hand. He is, however, sitting directly opposite Beth and is, quite subtly, watching her.And Richard is watching Michael watching Beth, his eyes crinkling at her slight confusion.I have to admire Michael's style. If he overdid it, he might weird her out, but he doesn't. Instead, whenever she speaks, he pays close attention, holding her eyes for just a fraction of a second longer than he might normally.And I know he's doing it deliberately. Normally Michael shies away from Beth....An attraction he won't admit to...?I should have seen this coming........ Perhaps it's better out in the open....R
RICHARDMichael's approach to Elizabeth makes me want to break into applause. I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it.Together we lead my blindfolded wife from the dining room, along the long hall to the back stairway. Michael opens the creaking door then, still holding her fingers securely with one hand and with the other hand on the small of her back, guiding her, says, "Step, Beth, across a threshold and down."The door is narrow, too narrow for three, and I lose my hold on her, but Michael stays with her. "Twelve steps, Beth, but the stairs are wide. I'm to one side of you. Keep going." His left hand in her left, with his right, he supports her, keeping her safe as they descend.At the bottom of the steps, I reclaim her hand again, walking side by side with her. Elizabeth moves between us, blindly, her steps uncertain, but I let Michael do the talking.No point interrupting his flow....Her walk stiffens, her breath hitching...What just happened?Then I s
RICHARDElizabeth stands before Michael. She's quivering a little; I think with a mixture of arousal and nerves. But she no longer looks back to me. Michael has her attention.Standing close to her now, he repeats his move of earlier, tracing his fingers down her spine. She reacted before but was then trying to suppress her response I think. Now she shudders.I position myself where I can see Elizabeth's face without being in her direct line of sight, Michael's fingers now between her shoulder blades, at the top of the zipper of her dress. He takes the tab of the zipper, tugging it a little, showing her what he is doing, but he pauses, leaning back a little to look into her face. Poised....Waiting........ for consent?Always he makes it her choice....Her mouth is open and she's panting. Her skin gleams gold in light of the flames, lustrous with a fine sheen of perspiration and........ I can't see her face properly from my angle, but I know my Elizabeth; her eyes,
James follows my line of sight, his hand on Charlotte's breast. After a moment's hesitation, he swings her to face me full on then, his fingers knotting into her hair, pulling her head back, he speaks to her, close by her face.She blinks, her head jerking back.... trying to jerk back to him, questioning, but he pins her, speaking to her again and nodding towards me.Looking worried, she unravels the tie of her robe, letting it fall open. Michael looks up at the movement, grinning at what he sees, but returns his attention to Elizabeth, nudging her knees open to kneel between her thighs.I don't know which way to look. It's a cliché, but it's true. James tugs at Charlotte's robe, pulling it off, and then her nakedness fully displayed, he fingers at her breasts and loins. She yips, a yelp of pain, as he pinches at a nipple, but like Elizabeth, her skin gleams with her own juices.Michael is opening Elizabeth, his fingers scissoring between her labia as he stoops to mouthe at her
JAMESI think on that day, remembering the first day Charlotte met Richard, when I miscalculated so badly; when I reacted so badly.I punished her, betrayed her trust.And in doing so, I almost destroyed everything we had; everything that lay between us.Never again........ I let her have other men.What's different about this one?When it comes down to it, nothing, except that it is her choice rather than mine.Michael put a stop to sharing her....But that was to stop her getting hurt....Richard would never hurt her.He respects her.And she, him.I watch him, red-faced, sweating, watching Michael slow-fucking Beth, then turning to watch me fingering Charlotte.Poor bastard........ He thinks he's the only one that's not going to get laid tonight....Hardly fair....*****RICHARDJames moves in, sitting behind Charlotte, pulling her back against himself between his legs. Reaching forward, long-armed, crooking elbows under her knees to draw her