Authors: Sarah Elizabeth Ashley
If silence could be any more
silent, then that’s how it is. Quieter than quiet. The whole restaurant waits
for my answer. I look around at Anna, Gia and Roberto and unknown faces, all
willing me to say yes and then I look at my lover, my very best friend.
I drop down from my chair and
kneel before him. Putting my arms around his neck I pull him into a deep and
passionate kiss. He pulls me closer before drawing back. His speaks with his
eyes “
well?”
“Yes, James. Yes, I’ll marry
you.” My voice, barely a whisper.
The place erupts. Anna screams,
jumping up and clapping. She’s the first to fling her arms around both me and
James, “I’m so happy for you mum!”
Then Gia and Roberto rush over,
hugging us both tightly. James reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small
ring case, it’s the same one that we had this morning but when he opens it it’s
a different ring. I look at him, questioningly, “Oh!”
“Don’t you like it?” He asks.
I look at the huge princess cut
pink diamond seated between two smaller white diamonds, all set in yellow gold.
“It’s gorgeous James, absolutely gorgeous…But how?”
“I took it back and changed it.
The one we chose would have had bad memories, we couldn’t have that! So this is
totally different!” He slips the ring onto my finger, “I love you.”
I hug him and whisper, “You
think of everything don’t you? I do love you, totally and completely.”
“Not as much as I love you!” He
smiles, looking down at me. Of course, he has to have the last word.
As if on cue, and I have no
doubt pre-arranged Stephen Curtis Chapman starts singing
I will be here
.
I shift myself back onto my chair feeling totally overwhelmed, the knotted
feeling of this afternoon in my stomach replaced with one of sheer and total
excitement, I feel alive.
James stands and opens what I
can now see is Prosecco, he hands glasses to Anna, Gia and Roberto before
handing one to me with a kiss and one for himself.
“Another few bottles I think.”
Roberto calls as he goes into the back of the restaurant. Before I know what’s
happening every diner has a glass of fizz and we’re being toasted by just about
everybody, receiving congratulations from every direction
from people I
don’t even know. I feel a solitary tear trickle down my cheek, I am so very
happy.
We arrive home at around 10pm, it’s
early but then we expected it to be. Anna is shattered and heads straight off
to bed, I doubt we’ll hear from her until tomorrow. Before leaving Amici I
confirm the arrangements for Gia and Roberto to come over for Sunday lunch
tomorrow, I have that huge rib of beef, plenty to go around it’ll be really
good to have a proper family lunch, although it would have been nice to have
Ramiro here too.
Gia explained that he has to apply for a passport and
although they can obtain one relatively quickly, it still may still be a week
or two before he can get over, I really do hope it’s quick as I would have liked
him to meet Anna before she heads off to uni., I hope they can work it so that
he can visit before she leaves. The next time she’ll be at home will be
Christmas!
James and I head upstairs a little after Anna. I check on
her before I go through to our room, she’s fast asleep already. As I walk along
the landing I look at my beautiful ring, it’s stunning there are no words to
describe it, truly beautiful, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it.
I undress and brush my teeth, using a baby wipe I remove
what little make up I wear and hang my clothes. I’m stood in front of my
wardrobe in my new underwear as James grabs me from behind pulling me close.
His hands finding their way to my breasts, he cups each of them over my bra,
massaging gently. His hands travel down my stomach to the top of my knickers,
his thumbs working their way under the elastic, further down in between my
flesh and the silk, he tuts, “You still haven’t waxed Alex. What are we going
to do with you?” He breathes against my neck.
“I don’t know where to go - which beauty therapist to use.”
I make excuses.
“Use the one at the hotel.” He suggests.
“Not on your life – I know her, I can’t have someone I know
seeing my bits.” I huff.
“I could always see to it again?” He suggests, laughing.
“No, I’ll make an appointment, on Monday I’ll sort it. I
promise!” I’m grovelling now, I know I am.
“Good. Now, I have strawberries and chocolate sauce and a
can of cream. Where shall we start?” He growls, “I know, we lose these first.”
He unclips my bra from behind and lets it drop to the floor,
then he eases my knickers down my legs, “Step out,” he says as he reaches my
ankles.
“Bed!” He commands. I walk over to our bed, “Lie down,” and
as usual, I comply.
Barefoot he walks over to me losing the jeans and white
shirt as he goes, tossing them on the floor he stands before me. I note a
semi-hard cock just jutting towards me. His chest, so defined and those strong,
powerful legs. Turning he reaches for his bowl of strawberries, those bloody
strawberries of his and I see that wonderful arse, the backside that I find I
cannot take my eyes off when he walks in front of me, I can’t resist. Sitting
up I slap his backside quickly and sharply.
“Oi!” He snaps, turning around, glaring at me and placing
the bowl of ripe fruit by my side, “Naughty girls have to be taught a lesson!”
He growls as he picks out a fair sized berry.
Reaching for the can of cream he mumbles, “I think we’ll
have this first.” His voice is husky, deep and so very sexy. Flicking off the
ice-cream cone top of the can he squirts a circle of cream over each of my
nipples, I wriggle “Stay still lady.” His tone is firm, commanding.
“That looks good.” He smiles. I can feel my insides quiver
as he reaches for a strawberry, plucks the hull out of it and places it fat
side down on top of one of the blobs of cream.
“Umm – very nice!”
I can feel myself becoming wetter, aroused, “James, oh,
bloody hell James!”
“Nice?” He asks.
“Umm.”
He leans forward and picks up the strawberry between his
teeth and leans towards me pressing the fruit to my lips. I open and take it,
chewing it carefully – making sure I don’t choke myself, the juice runs down my
cheeks as I lie on my back but it’s expertly cleaned away by his delicious
tongue.
He licks the cream off each of my nipples before reaching
for his chocolate sauce which he drizzles around my breasts, between them
making a trail down towards my mound, “Shall I stop here?” He murmurs.
“Umm, hell!” I groan, writhing as the chocolate sauce runs
in all directions over my skin.
“You like?”
I moan in response as he licks away the chocolate away, I am
so turned on, out of control, out of my head. I feel like I could erupt now,
without any stimulation at all. He continues on his trail, licking the
chocolate away, down over my mound, where he stops and grumbles about the
re-growth. His fingers gently part my lips as his tongue brushes against my
clit, enhancing my arousal to a higher state.
I writhe as he works the little nub, my arms thrown back
above my head, my neck stretched back as I gasp, I cry out loud, “Oh Fuck!
James, hell! Aaargh!”
As he moves away, I see his manhood jutting towards my
entrance, he nudges in slowly, his rhythm slow, controlled and exquisite. He
rests his forearms level with my shoulders and looks directly at me, his dark
eyes full of want and passion, full soft lips brush mine nipping at my bottom
lip so gently as his rhythm picks up pace. “Look at me!” He says as I close my
eyes. I open my eyes and focus on him, on his eyes.
“Wrap your legs around me Alex.” I lift my legs up and hook
my ankles around each other, I hold onto his big shoulders, gripping tightly,
feeling every thrust, the feeling of fullness is one of extreme pleasure,
pleasure beyond anything imaginable. I cry out again, as he groans his pace quickens
slamming into me, driving forward.
“You ready baby?” He rumbles to my neck.
I moan in response, looking up at him and see his face
contort, his mouth opens and he gasps pounding into me over and over again, his
balls slapping against me, he thrusts hard, really hard and I feel him judder,
my own release causing me to shake uncontrollably beneath him. I hold on,
tightly not wanting to let go, my legs holding firmly as he slows to a stop. He
shifts his arms, cocooning me completely, entirely.
“I fucking love you Alex, totally and completely. When are
we going to get married?” He whispers.
“Where did that come from?” I ask, the question posed by him
totally out of the blue.
I shrug, I’ve given it no thought, none what so ever. “I
can’t think about it now.” I gasp, my climax continuing to send shivers through
me.
Moving away he lies by my side, I lie in the crook of his
arm, my head on his well built chest, his heart racing. I glance at the clock
it’s still today, we haven’t moved into tomorrow yet, I don’t feel sleepy, not
one bit.
“You want to come downstairs with me James? I feel wide
awake. I need to have a look through the paperwork for Henry’s, I need to know
what to propose to Nial on Monday when I table my offer to buy him out.” I sit
up feeling so alive.
“Just after amazing sex – you want to start talking work?”
There’s a look of total confusion on his beautiful face.
“It’s not sex, not with you James. Its love making and with
you it wakes me, makes me feel alive!” I smile at him.
“Well, that’s okay then.” He grins, I think really pleased
with himself.
I use the bathroom and walk back to the bedroom naked
reaching for my robe.
“You know Alex, when you stand there like that you don’t
look forty-two, you look about thirty, thirty-five at the most.”
“Thank you,” I smile. “I’m forty-three soon!”
“Next month.” He says.
“Yes, you’ve got it. I’m a Virgo. My mum, not Maggie, used
to say I was a true Virgo, you know helping people, attention to detail and
things like that.”
“Umm, I can see the helping people, definitely.” He pulls on
some boxer shorts and we both walk down to the kitchen.
“Have you got everything you need for dinner tomorrow, with
Gia and Roberto coming?” He asks as he roots through the fridge.
“Yes, everything. There’s a huge beef rib in there, plenty
for five of us.”
“Great. Where’s the paperwork?” He asks as he starts to make
tea and coffee.
We sit at the island pawing over the
limited paperwork that was passed to me about Henry’s. There’s the initial
agreement that Nial signed when Maggie agreed to give him fifty per cent of the
funds he needed to launch the club, effectively the partnership agreement. She
advanced a fair whack five years ago, much more cash than, until recently, I
would ever have dreamed of.
James sits with his hand around my waist as we flick through
the sparse documentation.
“Where did Maggie get the money from, to start off with?” I
ask James, although I don’t know why I think he would know.
“I have no idea. I’d thought that myself, especially when you
turned up!”
“Oi, cheeky,” I smile, “what do you mean by that?”
“Well, you explained your roots, where you came from, that
Maggie was your aunt and so on, and I remember thinking to myself then that
Maggie didn’t come from a wealthy family, so where did it all come from?” He
looks at me, intently.
“Exactly. We’re not wealthy, in fact pretty average. My mum
and dad had a typical semi-detached home, I didn’t know my Grandparents, Maggie
and mum’s parents, but from what I’ve been told they were just Mr. and Mrs.
Average, my Grandfather was a coal miner!” I tell him a little more of my
family history.
“Maybe Ramiro knows?” He adds, thinking out loud.
“Maybe. I’d like to know, you know just out of interest.” I
thumb through the agreement. “Tell me about Nial, you said he was a playboy.
What else do you know?”
“I know he has, or used to have, a different girl every
night.” He smiles, must be thinking about his past, the nights spent at
Henry’s, being collected by Roberto in the early hours of the morning.
“They were generally a young wide-eyed blondes from the
club, punters,” he continues, “they were always goo-goo eyed when he’d throw a
few moves and then introduce himself as the owner. I used to see them go into
his office and come out a few hours later dishevelled and heartbroken after
discovering he was only after one thing! Night after night and a different one
every time!”
“You used to go there a lot then?” I question, of course I
know the answer, Gia told me.
“You know I did Blossom. But, well I grew up I suppose, but
I still like to go out for the odd night and I never behaved like Nial, I’ve
too much respect for ladies!” He lifts his mug and takes a deep drink of his
coffee.
“I think I’m going to offer Nial his money back and
twenty-five percent for his share, possibly rising to fifty per cent if he says
no
. What do you think?
I
think it’s fair, because he gets his
investment back and some extra for making it what it is.”
“It’s very generous Alex, and if what you say about the
clubs finances is correct, he’d be a fool not to take it. What’s the
alternative?” James flicks through the sparse documentation, checking all the
details.
“He has nothing because if the creditors issue final
demands, start proceedings, the club will close and he’ll lose the lot, but
then I’ll also lose the club. This way he’s getting his cash back plus some
extra and he’s saving face. I’ll clear all the bills as well but then I want to
put a manager in the place and we’ll just keep it. What do you say?” I look up
from the paperwork taking a drink of my tea.
He raises his hand and we high five, “It’s a plan!”
We both head back to bed after another drink and sleep
wrapped in each other.