Authors: Sarah Elizabeth Ashley
“No, not here. Why?” I walk
towards James, passing him a coffee that I’ve poured.
“Because, I’m with you Alex. I
think it’s him behind all this, we know he’s not at his house anymore but I
doubt he’ll be up and around on his own, I just want to be sure, you know.”
Benito puts his coffee down as he reaches for his phone to call, presumably,
his office.
Within half an hour another big
guy arrives with a pilot case, he dusts the can of furniture polish and then
goes to our room. He returns a few minutes later. “Nothing mate.”
“Can you look at some of these,”
Benito indicates towards the photographs. “See if there are any prints on them,
the ones on the inside of the pile haven’t been touched by anyone in the
household. The Jiffy bag has been handled by the postman, Alex and her
housekeeper. While you’ve got them, see if you can work out where the
photographer was standing, Ian may be able to help with that.” The instructions
are clear. Benito appears to know his stuff, I just wish I knew a bit more of
his
background.
“Right you are.” The fingerprint
guy mutters as he jiggles the Jiffy bag into a clear plastic bag before
leaving.
“Look Alex, James.” Benito looks
at me, “It’s clear that this Lewis bloke, your ex, is hell bent on making your
life a misery. We know it’s him behind all this, it doesn’t take a genius to
work that out but proving it, well I think it’s just going to take time. But,
we’ll do it – we will, I promise you.” He looks at me sincerely as he makes the
promise, and even though he’s said all this I don’t know if anyone will ever
get rid of him, hell he assaulted me in public and still appears to have got
away with it!
“I just want rid of him. Come
early October I want my Decree Absolute to be granted and I want him out of my
life, for good, forever.” I wring my hands, feeling flushed. He still gets
under my skin, no matter how long it’s been since I’ve left him, he’s still
there, lurking in the background, making me feel so terribly uneasy and frankly
frightened.
Benito stands, “I’m going, but
if anything else happens, let me know. I’ll see you James, Alex.” He starts to
walk towards the front door.
“Will do mate.” James follows
him to the door, there’s more hand shaking and backslapping as Benito leaves.
Once Benito has gone we both move to
the living room, I plonk myself down on the sofa and James joins me. We cuddle,
nothing more, he holds a reassuring arm around my shoulder.
“Not long Alex, what is it
another four weeks?” His lips brush the top of my head.
“It’s a little longer because of
the weekend. But, hey it’s only an extra couple of days.” I laugh. Although the
feeling in the pit of my stomach is that it will
never
happen, Lewis
will make this as protracted and nasty as possible.
“It’ll pass quickly,” he’s
trying to be positive, “Anna’s home tomorrow, we’re out tomorrow night and then
you need to go flat hunting.” There’s a little squeeze on my shoulder, he knows
how much I miss my daughter, how much I’m looking forward to seeing her again.
“Will you be okay on your own? I don’t think I’ll be able to spare the time to
come with you if I’m to hand over to Robbie as quickly as you want me to.”
I look up at him, my head on his
shoulder, “I think so, I know Birmingham just a little better than London,
although I still used to get lost driving around the place. I do miss the
countryside!”
“Do you? Really?”
“I do. You’ve never seen my old
house, it’s in a village, not totally rural but quiet enough, one or two small
housing developments but a fair bit of farm land and open fields before you go
to the nearest town.” I describe where I grew up, where I lived with Lewis.
“Relatively quick pace of life, but not like here where everyone goes at 100
miles an hour, back there it was more like sixty!”
He grins, “I’d like to see where
you come from.”
“You know where I come from
James. I was born here, in London, I only grew up in Staffordshire.” I shuffle
around so that I’ve facing him, my legs tucked under me so that I’m side onto
him. “You know the very first time I saw you, the time when you were really
awkward I thought you were stunning. I thought to myself no wonder Maggie never
came home with you and Roger being around the place. She must have missed home
though, the countryside, it’s where she came from, at least I think she did? My
mum never led me to believe any different.”
“Did you! Really think that?”
There’s a surprised look on his beautiful face.
“Yeah, I fell for you hook-line
and bloody sinker, there and then, and me, little old Alex Drake was never,
ever going to have another man ever again, or at least that’s what I told
myself.”
“You’re joking?” He shakes his
head, laughing.
“No. Definitely not joking!” I
frown at him, I’m deadly serious. “The day I walked out of my home, escaped
should I say, I vowed never again. I promised myself that I would never get
involved
with anyone from the opposite sex, nothing with any commitment anyway. Let’s
face it, intimacy didn’t feature in my life for so long and whilst it wasn’t
there I didn’t really miss it. But, there were times when I would have given
anything for just one night with someone special, I did miss being loved. But
you, when I saw you, it was a light bulb moment, you know?”
“I suppose,” he reaches his arm
out and I wriggle back around into his shoulder, “fancy a take away?” He
whispers.
“Umm. You sort it, I’m going to
have a bath.” Standing up from the sofa I head off to the bathroom.
I run the water deep and add my
coconut bubbles, once the bath is full and warm I step in and slide down,
closing my eyes I relax in the warm water, let the heat soothe me and the scent
take me to my far away place. I’m daydreaming about the countryside, the
quietness of it. No hassle, hustle or bustle but am drawn from my thoughts as
James walks into the bathroom.
“You okay in there?” There’s
that wicked grin again.
“I’m fine, relaxed – a bit
sleepy.”
I’d be even better with you in here
.
Kneeling down by the side of the
bath he leans forward, his lips brush my against my cheek “Can I help?” I feel
his hand on my waist, his fingers moving lightly towards my breast, he squeezes
gently rubbing his thumb over my nipple, I gasp. “You like that?” He says.
“Umm.”
He kisses me again. I reach up
and run my fingers through his curls, pulling him closer. His fingers trail
between my breasts and over my stomach and over my mound, he stops, “You said
you’d wax.”
“I know – no guts!” I shrug my
shoulders.
“But you had a tattoo?”
“I’ll organise it!” I huff,
brushing the comment aside willing him to carry on down my body.
He looks directly at me, it’s
that look that makes me feel like he’s looking into me, into my very soul.
His fingers stroke my sex, I
quiver throwing my head back, “Alex, I fucking love you!”
Kissing me deeply again he slips
a finger inside me, his thumb brushing against my clit, he thrusts his fingers
deep into my core his thumb working its magic causing me to cry out, “Hell,
James, that is
so
good!”
“Baby, it’s all about pleasure.”
He rumbles.
The warm water gently caresses
every inch of me as the Bossman withdraws his fingers. I look at him and pout,
“Not fair!”
Laughing he signals for me to
get out of the bath, “Out!” He reaches for a bath sheet and holds it out as I
walk into the fluffy towel, I look at him, I’m confused but still, he wraps me
so gently patting me dry.
“You’re not supposed to soak the
ink for too long baby, not yet anyway.” He mumbles as he continues to pat me
dry so gently before dropping the towel and slapping my arse. “Bed, now!” He
orders, with a smile.
I look at him longingly and
scurry off to our bed. I lie back, my head on the soft pillows. I don’t know
quite what I’m trying to look like, Cleopatra maybe? Anyway, I assume what I
perceive to be a sort of sexy pose and wait for him to come through from the
en-suite
I hear him let the water out
from the bath tub and then I watch in awe as he walks across the bedroom like a
large cat stalking its prey, he’s stripped naked and showing those abs off,
they are truly glorious as is the rest of his amazing body. My God, how in the
hell did I ever manage to pull a bloke like this, in all the years of being
married to Lewis and seeing the flab every time he was home it never crossed my
mind that one day I would be living with a man like James. And, no matter how
many times I see it, I still cannot get over the size! The size of that thing
with the
I’m coming to get you
look about it.
He climbs on the bed and nudges
my legs apart with his knee, sliding between my legs he leans into me, kissing
one of my nipples, nipping and lapping. He moves his hand away and I feel his
cock at my opening, nudging slowly teasing me and filling me gradually. He
makes the most beautiful, slow love holding me tightly, caressing me, caring
for me, and paying so much attention – to me.
His rhythm gradually picks up
until he’s slamming into me, “Hold on baby.” He growls, I move my hands from
his curls to his shoulders and hold on tightly as he continues to pound into
me, over and over again. I feel my impending climax I’m literally teetering on
the edge “James,” I gasp “I’m…”
“Wait Alex, wait for me baby!”
He demands, “Wait!”
He continues to thrust, “I
can’t, I!” I let go, shuddering as he too releases I feel him pulse inside me
over and over.
Cocooning me in his big arms, we
lie for a while, him still inside me. I’m done in, shattered not wanting to
move.
He eventually rolls to my side
and I lie in his arms looking up at the ceiling, “What time is it?” I ask.
“It’s only eight. The night is
young!” It’s that sexy grin again.
“Did you order a takeaway?” I
look at him. He shakes his head.
“Do you know what I really,
really fancy?” I say as I’m gripped by a craving.
“What?”
“Fish and chips out of the
paper. Proper fish and chips with proper batter. Is there anywhere around here
that does them?” I enthuse about fish and chips and paper and vinegar and salt.
“I’m sure we could find
somewhere. I could eat that too! Lots of vinegar and bit of salt, and how about
some mushy peas on the side?” He licks his lips at the thought of a classic
fast food.
“You can hold the peas for me,
but yes. We can find a bench somewhere and eat them.” I think back to my
childhood and recount my love of the seaside. “When I was a little girl we use
to go down to Devon for our holidays. We’d always have one night sitting on the
harbour wall with fish and chips out of the paper. I used to love it.”
“Shall we go to the coast now?”
He asks.
“Now, it’s eight on a Friday
evening James, the motorway will be packed, everyone will be heading that way!”
I shake my head, I’m not spending all night on the motorway.
“So, we’ve no ties, nothing to
get back for. We’ll go to Brighton, we’ll be there in a hour and a half. Come
on Alex! Let’s be spontaneous!” He stands, ready to go it would seem.
“You haven’t got to go in
tomorrow?” I roll so that I’m facing him, smiling at that stunning body of his.
“No. Free all weekend. Come on,
let’s go! Get dressed, we can eat a fish and chip supper on the beach.”
I think about it for a moment
“Why not?”
By 9.30 we’re on the M23 heading
towards Brighton, the motorway isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, the Jag
making easy work of eating up the miles. We arrive and find a great fish and
chip shop. Both ordering haddock and chips, James also asks for a small tub of
mushy peas, personally I have no idea how he can contemplate eating them, I
hate the things with a passion!
We take our meal with our little
wooden forks to the beach where we sit huddled to each other and enjoy the
excellent, albeit alternative cuisine, with a rich orange coloured batter and
fat chips, lots of sachets of vinegar and a sprinkling of salt. Bossman scoops
out the disgusting mushy peas with his fork – they look totally and utterly
gross. We finish off with a couple of cans of Coke.
Once we’ve binned our rubbish we
walk along the beach, it’s bracing, the sun having long set in the late summer
sky. He holds my hand as we kick our way through the sand listening to the
sound of the waves lapping gently at the shore mixed with music and revelry
from various pubs and clubs along the front and the pier.
He stops and stands in front of
me, halting me in my tracks. Placing his hands on my shoulders, “We need to
sort an engagement ring out.”
“I know, I know we do and I do
love you, so much. I still can’t believe that you even looked in my direction –
chose me! Of all the people you could have had! Me, well I was just a sex
starved house wife who frankly, would have been happy to remain totally celibate,
until I saw you. But then I thought Roger was you to start off with!”
“You fancy Roger!” He snaps
looking complete shocked.
“No, no. But when I sat in the
foyer on that very first day and Roger came to get me, I just assumed he was
you and I thought…”
“What did you think?” His tone
becomes demanding.
“I thought, fit bloke! That’s
all!”
“Umm. Well, Roger is happily
married.” He frowns at me.
“It doesn’t make any difference
James, you were the one I was attracted to, I’m just so surprised that the
feeling’s mutual and every day that goes by I feel exactly the same, think the
same. I’ve agreed to marry you James and, do you know? I can’t wait. You’ll
always be my very, very best friend. You know too much about me to be anything
other than a best friend, a lover and I hope an excellent husband.” I look into
those dark eyes, willing him to know that I speak from the heart, that I mean
every word I say. I love him with all of my heart, completely, so much so that
it hurts.
He hugs me tightly “Alexandra
Drake you are
so
special!”
We walk back to the Jaguar and
start our drive back to London. “Shall we go and get a ring tomorrow morning?”
He suggests.
“Umm, I suppose so. How long
will it take us to drive to Heathrow, how long have we got? I don’t want to rush
into anything and I don’t want to be late for Anna.” I look at him as he
drives, the lights on the motorway flashing past in the darkness.
“It’s about an hour.”
“Okay then, as long as we’re out
early. I really don’t want to be late for Anna.” I agree to go tomorrow
morning.
“Don’t worry. We’ll be in town
for nine.” He places a reassuring hand on my leg. “Did you speak with the
accountants, about Henry’s?”
“I did. It’s not good, not good
at all. It appears that the club is making a profit, a good one, but the
money’s not going back
into
the club, if that makes sense. I’m getting
my income each month, but the staff
are
being paid late and the
suppliers are well behind. Gerald says we’ve only a week or two before they
start drastic measures. He suggests I buy Nial out, clear all of the debts and,
well I suppose run it ourselves, put a manager in. I don’t know what to do with
a club, I wouldn’t know where to start. We’d have have to put a manager in
place.”
“How profitable is it?” James
asks as he moves the car into lane three overtaking the good vehicles and
slower cars, I glance at the speedometer, hell I’m not looking at it again
we’re not far from being airborne. I grip the edge of my seat and decide to
look straight forward, no wonder the lights are flashing past at an alarming
rate.
“I have no idea. Gerald says
it’s a
money factory
. Personally, all I can tell you is that a very nice
sum lands in my account each month.”
“Keep it then, buy him out, if
he agrees to be bought out that is?” James is very matter of fact, and he’s
right it think it is the best option, but only if Nial agrees.
We arrive home in the small
hours, I’m whacked. After a large glass of water I head off to bed. James
snuggles in beside me.
“I love this,” he murmurs as he
runs his fingers around the edges of my strawberry, “it’s beautiful the way
he’s worked the J.A is stunning. Thank you!” He kisses the nape of my neck. I
think we’re both totally done in and fall asleep wrapped in each other.