Chapter 13: Chapter 13

We’re blessed with glorious weather and a good forecast for tomorrow.

A May Wedding….

Perfect….

Michael is somewhere in the bowels of the hotel finalising the reception arrangements….

Handy having our own venue….

Sitting on grassy slopes, stretching out my bad leg and letting the heat of the sun work its magic, I take time out to wallow in the glow of success….

Almost there….

Something rustles behind me. Michael, bearing two steaming mugs, his footsteps muffled by springy turf. Even before he speaks, the breeze carries the scent to my nose.

“Coffee?” he offers, holding out a mug.

“Ah, great. Thanks.” As I twist a little to take the mug, the wound in my thigh growls a quiet message to me. I wince.

Michael sits by me. “That thing giving you gyp?”

“Mmm. A bit.”

“The doctors said it would take several months to heal properly.”

“Oh, it is healing. It’s better all the time. But I’ve a feeling I’m going to have a weather-wise ache for the rest of my life.”

“Saves me buying a barometer I suppose.”

Smart-ass….

But I laugh. “I love you too…. How’s it going up there?”

He heaves as he speaks. “Oh, fine. Just getting everything in place for the Big Day.…”

Michael should be high as a kite. God knows that he wanted this enough, but….

“You okay?” I ask. “What’s wrong? For a man who’s getting married tomorrow, you look a little….

melancholy?”

He takes refuge in his coffee mug, looking away and taking a long swallow without speaking.

What the hell…?

There really is something wrong. “Come on. Out with it,” I insist. “What’s wrong? You’re not having second thoughts, are you…?”

God forbid….

After the time and effort it took me to make this happen….

“…. If you are, Now’s the time to say so….”

“No.... No,” His head shake is definite, but he continues, “Nothing like that….” His breathing shudders.

He looks heartsick. “…. but I’m wondering if Charlotte is?”

Christ, no…. Not now….

But I try to keep my tone conversational. “Why do you say that? I’m sure she does want to marry you.”

He’s swallowing hard. Blinking hard too. “James…. I’m not stupid. I know you persuaded her to do it, to marry me. If you’d asked her yourself, she’d not have hesitated. But with me….”

Whoa, Boy!

And despite myself, I launch into ‘lecture mode’, a finger wagging in the air. “Yes. You’re right. I did persuade her. That doesn’t mean it was against her will. And it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t want to do it now. She loves you. I’m sure she does.”

Gloom dripping from his words, “She’s been…. moody… the last few days. As though something’s bothering her.”

She snapped at everyone yesterday….

And she left some food on her plate the day before.

More than nerves, then…

Why do I never pick up on these things?

“Um…. You’re right, now I think about it.” I swill back the dregs of my coffee and push the mug into his hand. “Thanks. I’ll go find her, see if I can get to the bottom of this. Where will you be? If I come looking for you.”

He jerks a thumb back at the house. “Dining room. I’m getting all the place settings sorted out.”

*****

I find my Jade-Eyes in her study. Michael and I took some trouble to be sure she had a room to call her own and it’s a lovely space; light and airy, overlooking the long grassy slopes down to the lake.

As I arrive, she’s standing, staring out through the window. It’s a view worth looking at. In truth, there’s not a bad view from the house, but she gazes down pastures verdant with Spring to the lake far below, which shimmers and glimmers under a rippling breeze and a bright blue day.

And having her here, I take a moment for my own, to revel in her being close.

At length, I shift. She hears the movement, turning and smiling as she hears me.

“Do you like your new room?”

“It’s a beautiful room. How could I not like it?”

It’s not all in place yet. She still has furniture to arrive; a desk, seating, but priority was given to bookcases. Still, as my eyes roam the stack of cardboard boxes teetering in one corner….

“Enough space for all your books?”

“Michael says he’s going to put some more shelving up for me.”

The last of the great romances….

Close behind her, winding an arm around her waist, I pull her in tight to me. As always, the scent of her skitters through my nostrils, warming my soul and making my cock twitch.

Down Boy….

There is something in her, a tension not normally present when I hold her. But still, I steal a few more moments to indulge myself, and to try to relax her while I try to learn what is wrong, what is distressing her. Finger-combing her hair clear, I nuzzle and nibble at her neck from behind….

Then, I have to shift, tension or no, to relieve the pressure at my groin. But she slips her fingers into my own hair, easing me closer again.

It’s as good a time as any….

“Are you happy, Charlotte?”

“Yes, Master, I am. Very happy.”

“No regrets?”

“No, none.” She turns her head to me, twisting back to press her cheek against mine. “None at all. I wouldn’t change a moment of it. Not even the bad parts where we fell out with each other, because in the end, it brought us closer, brought us all here….”

Really?

“How about the bit where I got shot?” But I keep the laughter in my voice, keep it light.

She chuckles. “Well, yes. I might change that bit.”

She turns in my embrace, draping her arms around my neck. I pull back, framing her face with my palms. Her eyes are bright with life, green as the May morning outside.

Her eyes drop, then rise again, holding my gaze. “Master…”

“Mmmm?”

“I wanted to say…. thank you.”

“Thank you? For what?”

“For…. for everything….”

Where’s this going…?

“I mean it. You’ve changed my life. Even to making me realise that I want to marry Michael….”

Something inside me relaxes, the stress uncoiling. Whatever the issue is….

…. We can deal with it….

Whatever it is….

“You do want to marry him? I’m very aware that I… I manipulated you into it…”

“Yes, I do…. I do want to marry him. Only….” Her head droops.

“Only? Talk to me, Jade-Eyes.”

Talk to me….

“Only…. It’s not…. It’s not going to change anything, is it? My being married to him?” Her voice is unhappy, full of doubt.

“What would change?”

“The three of us. It will still be the three of us?”

Ahhh……

Of course….

…. So damned obvious….

“Is that what’s been bothering you?”

Dumbly, she nods.

Why didn’t I think of that?

Why do I never think of these things?

Not that Michael did either….

Letting out a long breath, “Yes. It will be the three of us. Michael has been worrying about why you were so quiet when you should be excited. He’s getting quite upset about it.”

Oh, God….

What to say….

“Charlotte… I know I am…. flawed…. Not always easy to know. And yes, I manoeuvred you into agreeing to marry Michael. I’ve tried hard to be…. unselfish…. about our relationship. But… I don’t think I’m capable of being that unselfish. Believe me, I would never have tried to do this, to have you wedded to Michael, if I had thought, for one second, the cost would be that you and I would be separated.”

I’m not sure what else to say, how to ease her fears.

I want you to be happy.

I want tomorrow to be wonderful….

…. For all of us….

Patrolling the room, I wonder what to say, how to deal with this. Her eyes, great, green, limpid pools, follow me.

Should we do it now?

Yes…

“Listen, Charlotte. We…. I was going to leave this until after the wedding. We thought it would be more appropriate. But on reflection, perhaps now is the time. I think you need the reassurance, and to settle your nerves. And this way, both you and Michael, and for that matter, I, will be happier, and have the joy which you should be taking from this.

“Wait there….” I stab a finger at her, holding it until I am sure she will stay put, then, ignoring the consternation on her face, stride off in search of Michael.

Her voice follows me. “Master…?”

I reply back over my shoulder. “Wait. I’ll be five minutes.”

*****

I find Michael exactly where he said he would be, setting out place cards. He havers over the top table, a card in his hand, sucking at his lips.

“Problem?” I ask.

He startles, then, “Just deciding where to put Ben. He pretty much has to be on the top table. He’s my brother after all. But he needs to be at the far end away from you, otherwise, we’ll be at Defcon One before we hit the fish course. But that puts him near Aunty Edna. She’ll talk him to death over the state of her health and he’ll have a go at her when she hits about the third sherry.”

“They sound well matched to me. Should keep them both out of trouble.”

His face clears. “You’re absolutely right. They can annoy each other and leave the rest of us alone.”

With a flourish, he sets the card on the seat at the extreme end of the top table. Then his faces changes. “Any progress on our other problem?”

“Absolutely. She’s worrying that tomorrow changes things and it’s not the three of us anymore.”

“Ahhh…” He clicks his tongue. “So sodding obvious, isn’t it?”

“You took the words out of my mouth. Let’s go deal with it, shall we.”

“You got it on you?”

“Yup.”

*****