Enlightened (10 page)
‘I suspect the same thing might occur if I were to attempt to teach you to dance,’ he said breathily against my ear as he performed another rub with those devilish hips that had me moaning whilst he merely leant back and grinned down at me. ‘Except I doubt we’d make it as far the bedroom.’ With the way he was making my arousal soar by just swaying against me I doubted we’d even make it to any proper dancing, but still, it was quite a tempting thought, especially when he leant in close to my ear and added his final remark, ‘I’d probably end up fucking you right there on the dance floor.’ Nicholas didn’t curse that often, and although he often gave commands when we were in the bedroom they weren’t dirty talk as such, so his statement literally made me shudder with arousal as images of him losing control and taking me on the dance floor leapt to my mind.
A wave of dizziness swept my body and I ended up clutching at his arms to steady myself before I gave in to the temptation to beg Nicholas to take me right here in the packed exhibition centre. Raising the glass with the remainder of my champagne Nicholas finished it off in one swift swig, and then looking completely unaffected by the last five minutes of hip grinding, pulse raising teasing he gave me a calm smile and offered me his elbow. ‘Let’s go and look at these flowers, shall we?’
Blinking several times in disbelief at his ability to change so erratically from one second to the next, I eventually steadied myself enough to slide my hand through the crook of his arm and nod, but I have to say I felt far from steady as we made our way through the crowds to meet the first florist. My dizziness certainly had nothing to do with the minimal champagne I’d had though, but it might have had a little to do with my man and his talented hips.
By the time we were at the third florist stand in a particularly busy section of the hall it was well over two hours later. The florist – a lovely lady called Julie – was telling us the details of how the bouquet could be taped and trimmed when Nicholas suddenly stood up, his chair almost toppling backwards with his haste. Flashing me a desperate glance he began to dig in his jacket pocket, removed his silent phone, and then blinked twice at me as if trying to pass some secret message to me which I completely failed to understand. ‘I have to take this call,’ he blurted. So he had to take a call, did he? The call from his phone which
wasn’t
ringing? With that he spun on his heels and was gone through the crowd quicker than a flash.
Watching his rapidly disappearing figure I turned back to Julie with a relaxed smile. Nicholas’ departure didn’t overly worry me, to be honest, given the cloying environment we were in I was amazed he’d lasted this long. Three overly enthusiastic florists vying for his money was more than I’d ever thought he’d deal with. ‘Sorry about that, Julie, he’s very busy with work at the moment.’
The florist smiled politely, and then continued to write up a quote for me. ‘No problem, Rebecca. Good-looking fella, isn’t he? Lucky you! That’s what I say.’ With that she folded up the quote and some sample photographs, gave me a wink, and slid them into an envelope. I had a good feeling about Julie, her prices were competitive with the other florists and her arrangements were beautiful, but the biggest point in her favour was her relaxed, down-to-earth manner.
Once I had finished with Julie I gathered up my handbag and the various freebies I’d been given earlier and set off in search of Nicholas. As much as I hadn’t been surprised by his sudden departure from the wedding fair, I was slightly worried it might have freaked him out and that he might be in need of calming down.
The cold air of the December day almost took my breath away as I burst from the stuffy hall to the steps outside the centre. Initially as I looked around the people milling about the pavement outside I couldn’t see Nicholas and felt panic rising in my chest. What if the wedding fair had panicked him more than I’d thought? Scanning the crowd again I was just about the reach for my mobile phone when I felt a hand at my wrist.
Turning with the pull of the grip I found Nicholas leaning on the wall beside the numerous sets of double doors, still with a slightly pained expression on his pale face. For a second or two we just stood there staring at each other; his eyes locked on mine as he blinked slowly and me holding my breath whilst I waited for him to say something. His grip was looser now, but his hand was still on my wrist, and suddenly he used this link to guide me forwards into his arms where he pulled me tight against him and immediately buried his head in my hair.
After seemingly inhaling my scent for a second or two Nicholas burrowed his face deeper and kissed the skin of my neck by my ear. ‘I’m sorry, Becky,’ he whispered, his voice was hoarse and strained, the warm breath making my skin tingle. ‘I let you down. I tried to stay. I wanted to, I know that stuff is important to you … but it was so crowded, I had to get out.’
Leaning back so that he was forced to look at me I smiled reassuringly. ‘Actually, given the event and the fact that you were practically the only man in there I think lasting over two hours is pretty good going.’ Glancing at my watch I grinned. ‘Nearly three hours actually.’
Watching as his eyebrows rose I maintained my calm smile and felt his arms begin to relax around me. It seems he had been expecting me to angry with him, but how could I when he’d tried so hard for me?
‘I know you want a nice bouquet and for the tables to look good, but in all honesty, the only thing I need on our wedding day is you,’ he murmured. Given his occasional reluctance with emotions that was quite a statement. ‘Seeing as I deserted you in there my opinion might not count, but I really liked Julie.’
Nodding I smiled broadly, ‘Me too. She’s based just north of Birmingham and she’s willing to travel so I guess that’s the florist chosen!’ Taking his hand an idea suddenly occurred to me and I felt excitement settle in my belly. ‘Kensington isn’t far from here, is it?’ I asked as Nicholas turned us in the direction of the car park.
Looking down at me as he wrapped a possessive arm around my shoulders Nicholas shook his head, ‘Just north of here, probably five minutes in the car. Why?’
‘I have a reward for you for being so good and coming with me today. Will you let me drive your car?’
Now Nicholas looked completely confused as he continued to walk but stared down at me with furrowed brows. ‘You’re insured on it, but why do you want to drive?’
‘You can drive now, but I’ll drive us home later. Take us to Kensington High Street, you’ll need to find somewhere to park near the Tube station.’ I instructed him, smirking at his baffled expression as I dished out my instructions.
Just over fifteen minutes later we were standing on the pavement outside Piano, a very funky bar on Kensington High Street famed for its live piano music. Granted we were a little early, it had just gone five o’clock and the bar had literally just opened its doors, but that was actually perfect because the place was deserted and a little calm would do us both good after the hectic environment of the wedding fair. I knew from my internet search that the live music didn’t start until seven and so my plan was to try and get Nicholas a slot at the piano beforehand. Regardless of how much of a bad day he’d had, Nicholas could always turn to his music to relax him, and after the stress of the wedding fair I was hoping that this distraction might soothe his earlier tension.
Pushing open the door we stepped into the plush interior and made our way towards the bar. ‘I found this place on the internet a while ago and kept meaning to bring you here. I thought you might like it,’ I murmured as Nicholas looked intently at the large grand piano across the room with the stirrings of a smile beginning to twitch on his lips. ‘Seeing as we were just around the corner this seemed like a good reward for coming with me today. Am I forgiven for dragging you to the wedding fair?’
Turning back to me I could see an excited twinkle in Nicholas’ eyes as he slid his hands around my waist and pulled my hips firmly against his until the heat from his body almost seemed to be burn through my jeans. ‘You have no reason to need forgiveness. It’s my wedding too, I want to support you with the plans. I’m sorry I freaked out,’ he murmured as he dropped a brief kiss on my lips, making the skin tingle. ‘However, you will be especially in my good books if you get me a few minutes playing that piano,’ he added cheekily, throwing another glance at the huge instrument in the corner.
Straightening my spine confidently, I nodded. ‘Leave it to me,’ I said before wandering over to a man sat at the end of the bar with a large smile on his face. The man turned out to be the owner, Les, a lively fellow who clearly loved his music, and after instantly recognising Nicholas gave him a sturdy handshake and quickly ushered him towards the piano with great enthusiasm.
‘I saw you play at Wigmore Hall about two years ago, Mr Jackson, you were bloody fantastic,’ Les said with a hearty nod.
Nicholas settled himself on the stool looking far more animated. ‘I remember that gig; it was a concert raising money for the local hospital. Intimate venue, but great acoustics. I’ll have to set up another concert at the Hall now you’ve reminded me of it.’
Leaving the two men to talk piano I slipped away to the lone barman and ordered myself a bottle of chilled water. Just to try and perfect this experience for Nicholas I got him a double shot of his favourite single malt whisky – the reason I had asked if I could drive him home – and after paying my tab I crossed the bar, placed the drink on a table beside Nicholas, and propped myself on a stool by a high table to listen.
‘This is no ordinary piano, Becky,’ Nicholas informed me in an impressed whisper, looking like a kid in a sweet shop. ‘It’s a Collard and Collard.
Amazing
,’ he murmured in awe. ‘This must be over a hundred years old,’ he added with a respectful stroke of the lid.
‘Actually, it’s one hundred and sixty years old,’ Les informed us proudly as he stepped away from the piano and joined me at the table.
I had to stifle a grin at Nicholas’ enthusiasm; pianos were beautiful, even I could see that, but they were clearly precious to Nicholas because he looked almost on the verge of orgasm from just touching the keys. Smiling contentedly I sipped my water and let Nicholas wow Les with some of his music while enthusing about what a fantastic instrument it was. First we’d found our florist, and now my idea of a treat for Nicholas was going down rather well, it seemed today had been resurrected into a good day after all.
‘It’s great to see you looking so much better Stella, and I can’t tell you how pleased I am that you’re well enough to come shopping this weekend,’ Rebecca said as she sifted through a rail of bridesmaid’s dresses of all imaginable shapes, colours, and sizes. ‘Taking Nicholas to that wedding fair last weekend was an absolute nightmare!’
The thought of slightly socially awkward Nicholas Jackson surrounded by frantic women in a wedding fair made me grin so much that my cheeks hurt, and I paused in my dress perusal to look across at Rebecca in amusement. ‘I’m still amazed he actually went with you. What did you have to promise him? A blow job a day for a month?’
Spluttering out a laugh Rebecca flushed bright red and shook her head, ‘No!’ To be honest, I doubted Nicholas would need extra action in that department, from the chats Rebecca and I had shared about their sex life I knew it was very healthy and
very
regular. ‘He just said he’d do it for me,’ she said with a shrug, which was really rather sweet. ‘He lasted longer than I’d expected too. But it wasn’t as fun as it could have been if me and you had gone together.’
‘Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m gutted I missed it too. Still, look on the positive side, I bet this shop is a much calmer buying environment than the wedding fair was?’
Nodding her head Rebecca gave me a knowing look, ‘God, yes. It was absolutely rammed. I’m surprised Nicholas even ventured through the doors, to be honest.’
‘I doubt Nathan would have,’ I pondered out loud, which for some reason made Rebecca completely stop her search and turn to me as she cocked her head curiously. ‘Do you think you and Nathan might get married one day?’
That was the question I just knew Rebecca had been dying to ask me for months, but my responding head shake was immediate and definite. ‘No chance.’
Frowning slightly, Rebecca moved closer, out of earshot of the assistant who was helpfully waiting to carry our choices to the fitting rooms and no doubt enjoying listening in to our gossip. ‘That sounds like a very sure answer. Why not?’
I couldn’t really describe it out loud, especially not given our surroundings and possible audience, but for some reason marriage to Nathan just wasn’t that big a deal to me. I had his necklace after all – his collar that claimed me as his – which was an ultimate show of commitment from him. I very much doubted he’d ever want marriage, but as long as he wanted
me
, I didn’t really mind.
‘You know Nathan, he’s not exactly the marrying kind.’ I said instead, trying to keep it brief. As one of my best friends Rebecca knew a lot about my relationship with Nathan; she knew that there was still a Dom/sub side to our lives, but I didn’t think she’d like or agree with the collar around my neck, so I hadn’t told her the significance of my necklace. When she’d commented that I always wore the same one I’d simply brushed her off with the excuse that Nathan had given it to me and it was one of my favourites. Which in essence
was
the truth, so I wasn’t technically lying to her.
‘And you’re OK with that?’ she asked, sounding more curious than pitying.
Nodding, I smiled reassuringly, ‘I am. More than OK. What we have together suits both of us pretty perfectly.’
Watching me thoughtfully Rebecca continued to chew on her lip before eventually smiling too. ‘Well, that’s all that matters then.’
Just as I was about to tell her that I was now seriously considering moving in with Nathan, we were interrupted by the door to the shop banging open loudly and Louise bursting in from the frosty day outside. ‘Don’t panic! The cavalry has arrived!’ she announced, practically launching her handbag onto a chair and ripping her winter coat off with a flamboyant tug at the belt.
For a second the shop assistant looked a little taken aback, but ever the professional she quickly hung up Louise’s coat and set about pouring some more champagne.
‘If anybody knows their Prada from their Primark it’s me! Not that I could afford Prada, obviously. But still, the knowledge is there!’ Smiling broadly, Louise gave us both a hug and then accepted the glass of champagne from the shop assistant with a yelp of joy. ‘Oh! Fizz, how lovely! So, what have I missed?’
‘Not much, we only just got here five minutes ago,’ Rebecca said as she turned back to the rail full of dresses.
‘Is your dress here so we can see it?’ Louise asked keenly, which was something I’d been dying to know too.
‘Oh yes! Is it? I can’t believe you bought it without us!’ I joked playfully.
Smiling shyly, Rebecca shook her head. ‘I know, sorry, girls, but when Mum came down the other weekend and we saw it here I instantly knew it was the one. It’s off having the length altered at the moment, so it’s not here, but you should be able to see it at the next fitting.’
‘I can’t wait that long!’ Louise moaned with a mock pained expression.
Grinning, Rebecca rolled her eyes at Louise’s dramatic outburst. ‘It’s quite classical in style, fairly simple, so any design of bridesmaid dress should match. Basically as far as today goes, it’s a blank canvas, I want dresses that you will both feel comfortable in, something long and straight-ish perhaps, and if possible a colour that I can tie in with the table decorations and flowers.’
Sipping on her champagne Louise nodded. ‘Got it. Any colour preference yet?’
‘Well, I’m having cornflowers in my bouquet, so blue would be OK. We also picked roses, Stephanotis, freesias, and Lisianthus, but they’re all white, and obviously we’re not having white bridesmaid’s dresses!’ Rebecca said with a grin. ‘Anything that goes with those colours … I suppose silver? Or perhaps we could do the powdery, light coloured dresses that are all the rage, you could both have different if you like, powder blue, yellow, or pink?’
‘Please not that washed out pale pink!’ Louise pleaded dramatically. ‘It was all the rage in the eighties and it should have bloody well been left there!’ My eyebrows rose in curiosity at her tone and Rebecca rolled her eyes prompting Louise to explain. ‘When I was a kid I was bridesmaid three times in three months for various aunties and uncles, and all three dresses were hideous, huge, and
that
colour, so I now have a photo album full of me looking like a marshmallow fairy and an understandable dislike of the colour.’
Visions of Louise dressed up in a huge pink dress sprung to my mind, followed by several choice jokes, but before I could select which one to crack, Rebecca laughed and then spoke again. ‘OK, no pale pink then. Start having a look through, see if anything takes your fancy, girls.’
The next ten minutes were spent mostly in silence, with an occasional ‘What do you think of this?’, and then Rebecca finally turned and announced it was time for Louise and I to do some trying on. ‘Let me just get this last one …’ Louise mumbled. She was half-buried in a rack of dresses and obviously fumbling around for something right at the back.
‘Oof!’ Finally she came stumbling free holding the most hideous dress I’ve ever seen, and believe me, as a child of a wannabe hippy I had seen some
really
hideous dresses on my mother over the years. ‘Ta-da!’ she exclaimed with obvious pride as Rebecca and I simply stood there staring at her as if she had gone completely nuts.
‘But … I mean … it’s … it’s …
cerise pink
,’ Rebecca finally stuttered in total astonishment. The meringue bottom to the dress was pretty spectacular too, and definitely worthy of comment, but I guessed Rebecca was opting to deal with one thing at a time.
‘It’s just perfect!’ Louise sighed happily. Nodding solemnly she stroked the dress lovingly and sighed again. ‘We said no pale pink. Well, this might be pink, but it certainly isn’t pale.’
She had that right, the ‘
thing’
in her hands was practically fluorescent. I thought I’d gotten to know Louise and her tastes fairly well in the recent weeks of helping with the wedding preparations, but apparently there were certain nuances to her style that I had missed. Her taste for neon clothing being one of them.
‘I … um …’ Rebecca was floundering for words, but to be honest, so was I. Blinking several times Rebecca turned desperate eyes on me. ‘Stella, what do you think?’
Backing up I raised my hands defensively and shook my head rapidly. ‘Oh no, no, no, you’re not turning this on me! It’s your wedding, you decide!’
Thankfully, before Rebecca had the chance to say anything else, Louise dissolved into a fit of giggles, doubling over and laughing so hard that tears were soon streaming down her reddened face. ‘I’m kidding!’ she panted between wheezy laughs. ‘But oh my God, it was worth it … your faces are priceless!’ Feeling a grin slip to my lips I joined with Louise’s laughter, massively relieved that I wouldn’t have to wear the cerise fluff mountain after all.
‘Thank God for that!’ Rebecca said on a near-hysterical giggle. Louise was still laughing and wiping tears away from her eyes and in the background the poor shop assistant was looking slightly put out. Perhaps the dress was one of her favourites. Or perhaps she was rapidly beginning to understand that her peaceful morning was quickly disintegrating into giggly, crazy chaos.
Once we’d agreed on our favourites the immeasurably patient shop assistant sorted out the gowns for us to try on, and after topping up our champagne – maybe she was hoping the alcohol would numb us into calmness – she ushered us through to the changing rooms and then left us to it.
‘Which one first?’ I asked Rebecca expectantly, secretly hoping she’d say the gorgeous midnight blue one. It was slinky, stylish, and utterly gorgeous. Definitely my stand out favourite from the bunch.
‘Hmmm.’ Rubbing her chin Rebecca assessed the selected gowns again. ‘I know Nicholas mentioned that he wouldn’t mind a silvery grey colour theme to the wedding, so let’s start with the silver one that you spotted, Lou.’
I hid my slight disappointment with a smile. I suppose the silver dress
was
beautiful too, so I grabbed one in my size and stepped into a large cubicle. Looking around my eyes widened – there was a sofa and a side table in here with me, adorned with a stunning vase of flowers. Wow. I suppose the changing areas here needed to be big because they catered for brides as well as bridesmaids, but this was pure luxury.
Assessing the design of the dress I decided that sliding into it from the bottom was the easiest option, and miraculously I managed to get my arms and head up through the underskirt and two layers of thin silk without any mishaps. Judging from the giggles and grunts coming from the cubicle next door, Louise wasn’t having quite as much luck. Stepping out into the main changing area Rebecca looked over me and raised her eyebrows in pleasant surprise. ‘Ooooh! I like it!’ she said, almost skipping around me to check out the back view.
‘How you doing, Lou-Lou?’ Rebecca asked, circling me again with a growing look of pleasure on her face. ‘It looks great on Stella, we just need you to match and we might have found our dress on the first try!’
There were several more huffing noises from behind the curtain to Louise’s cubicle. ‘Well, girlies.’
Grunt
. ‘If it’s a show stopper you want.’
Grunt
. ‘Then this is the dress.’ With a whoosh the curtain to Louise’s stall whipped back and Rebecca and I were met with the sight of her standing there, hands on hips, bright red in the face, hair all over the place, and most obviously, with her bra clad boobs on full view squashed up outside the top of the dress. I looked at her cleavage again to check that what I was seeing was correct, but it definitely was. Her boobs were
outside
the dress
.
‘What can I say?’ Louise said with a shrug as she blew some wayward hair from her face, ‘My tits are clearly too boobylicious for this dress.’
Simultaneously Rebecca and I burst into laughter until we were clutching at our sides and clinging to each other for support. ‘Wanna know the best thing?’ Louise said over our giggles, ‘I’m stuck tight like a frigging sardine so we might have to buy this bloody thing anyway.’
By this point Rebecca had a hand shoved between her legs and was practically hopping around the room, ‘Stop! Stop! I’m gonna wet myself laughing!’ she cried desperately as a knock on the changing room door instantly silenced us all.
‘Alright in there?’ The voice of the shop assistant calling through the wood was tinged with disapproval, making us all grin and slap hands over our mouths and stare at it like three naughty schoolgirls about to be caught out smoking a cigarette behind the bike sheds at school.
‘Everything OK, ladies?’ the assistant called again. Rebecca was frozen by the wall, still with one hand over her mouth and the other clutched at her crotch, Louise was standing there stuck in her dress and clutching her boobs like they were going to fall off, and I was clamping my lips together to stop myself laughing and digging my hands into my hair, because quite frankly I didn’t know what else to do with them. Waving her hands like an out of control windmill, Louise frantically indicated for me to go and help her. I dashed over and began desperately tugging at the dress to try and free her more than abundant cleavage, while Rebecca flashed us a comical expression and cleared her throat. ‘Everything’s fine, thanks!’ she called, her voice high-pitched and slightly manic, which only set Louise and I off sniggering again.
After a five-minute team effort of tugging and coaxing the material over Louise’s curves we finally had the bloody dress off of her and back on the hanger only looking marginally out of shape. Puffing out a breath I leant back on the wall. ‘That was more exhausting than a run!’ I quipped. At least I wouldn’t need to go on the treadmill later.
‘Well, that’s one design out.’ Rebecca said, giving the dress another amused glance. ‘Let’s try the blue one, it has a zip and it’s a little roomier up top.’ She lifted down the dress that had been my favourite from the start. Taking the hanger from her I almost pranced back into my cubicle in my eagerness to try the fabulous dress on.
The dress slid on like a glove and I stepped out to let Rebecca do it up for me before turning to the full length mirror on the wall.
‘Oh!’ It wasn’t just my voice, expressing a happy exclamation, Rebecca and I had spoken almost in unison as we stared at the beautiful dress now clinging to my body. It was strapless, hugging my torso tight and then falling to the floor in looser folds. It had to be said that the colour looked pretty amazing against my blonde hair too. We were joined then by Louise, who had a similar look of wonderment on her face as I quickly helped her with the zip before swivelling her towards the mirror.
