Bonds of Love. Sarah K

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СКАЧАТЬ stared at her. ‘You think he would fake a wedding?’

      ‘I don’t know, do I? I wasn’t the one who met him.’

      ‘I’m sure he wouldn’t. He was really nice, good company, tall, blond, broad shoulders, and I really fancied him,’ I said, scooping up the last of the saag with a piece of naan bread.

      ‘So what’s your problem?’ said Gabbie.

      ‘What if I’m wrong?’

      Gabbie stared at me. ‘About what? Him being nice or faking a wedding?’

      ‘Fancying him.’

      ‘Are you planning to marry him?’

      I stared at her. ‘No, of course not. I’ve only just met him.’

      ‘Right, well, in that case lighten up for God’s sake. Just go and see how you get on. You’re over-thinking this, Sarah.’ Gabbie pulled out her mobile from her handbag and reading from the screen tapped in a number.

      ‘What on earth are you doing?’ I asked.

      ‘Ringing the hotel so we can check up on Mr Tall-Blond-with-Broad-Shoulders,’ Gabbie said. Then, before I could protest, she continued in a warm, super-cheery voice: ‘Oh, hello there, I’m just ringing to check up on a booking we made for later this week. Mr Alex Fallon?’ She paused for a moment or two, listening to whoever was at the other end, and then continued, ‘That’s right. Coming up for a wedding. Yes, that’s it, booked in on – yes – that’s great. I just wanted to make sure he’s got it all sorted. You know what men are like. Thursday for two nights? That’s great, thank you so much, that’s lovely,’ she gushed, and with that Gabbie hung up.

      ‘Are they allowed to do that?’ I asked in amazement.

      ‘You just have to get the voice right, and there you go – so far his story adds up. Double room, single occupancy for two nights is what the lady said, but then again I suppose anyone can book a hotel, although booking it a fortnight ago shows some forward planning if he is making it all up.’ I knew Gabbie was teasing me, but it wasn’t helping. She turned her attention back to the screen and started to tap another number into the phone.

      ‘What the hell are you doing now?’

      ‘I was going to call the RSVP number,’ Gabbie said mischievously. ‘Get it straight from the horse’s mouth.’

      ‘Don’t you dare,’ I said, trying to snatch the phone out of her hand.

      ‘I’m only joking, but maybe we ought to ring the wedding venue and check that out too?’

      One thing I should say is that Gabbie doesn’t know that I’m into BDSM – as far as she is concerned Max was just another man, and Alex too. I’m not sure what she would think of the BDSM thing and, much as I love her, I’ve never told her. I’m worried that she won’t understand.

      Gabbie, meanwhile, was back on the phone. ‘Hello?’ she said. ‘I’m just ringing to make sure I’ve got the right place. We’re coming up for a wedding this Friday and I wanted to make sure that we end up at the right one.’ She laughed; someone at the other end of the line laughed too. ‘The name of the wedding party? Certainly.’ Gabbie read the names of the bride and groom off the screen and nodded in response to whoever she was speaking to. ‘That’s lovely – no, we’re really looking forward to it. Oh right, that’s great. I’ll take a look on your website. Fine. See you soon. And thank you – that’s really helpful.’

      Gabbie glanced across at me. ‘So far, so good. She said all I needed to do was put the postcode into my sat nav. Apparently they’re very easy to find and they’re really looking forward to seeing me. So, little Miss Prim-and-Proper, have you made up your mind?’

      I glanced at my plate. ‘What the hell do you wear to the wedding of people you don’t know?’

      Gabbie handed me her phone. ‘Why don’t you ring Alex and find out?’ she said, spooning the last of the rogan josh onto her plate.

      Which was why the following Thursday I found myself sitting in the passenger seat of Alex’s TT, heading up the coast road towards Whitby with a hatbox balanced on my knees and a genuine sense of excitement and anticipation. We’d stopped for lunch in York and then taken a detour off the main route so we could see the sea. It was a good choice.

      It was the most perfect early-spring day and you could see for miles. The other good news was that on a second viewing Alex was just as fanciable and just as good company as he had been the first time around, and we were getting on like a house on fire. We’d talked about family and friends and holidays and places we had been and places we’d still like to go. The drive was pretty much uneventful except for Alex announcing one slight change of plan.

      Since we had spoken on the phone he had swapped hotels and hotel rooms with one of the bride’s family because the room Alex had been booked into was on the ground floor, and the family member had small children and was worried that the wedding-venue hotel, full of celebrating newlyweds and their guests, would be too noisy. So we now had a suite at the wedding venue with two adjoining rooms. Alex insisted that I let Gabbie know where I was, just in case she (or I) was worried and felt the need to check up on me. As I got into the car he had handed me a sheet of paper with the new number and details on it and insisted that I text her.

      We had talked for hours about our lives and our families, but as we drove down the hill towards the coast and our destination, Alex, whose eyes were firmly fixed on the road, said, ‘We haven’t talked much about the main reason we’re both here.’

      I glanced across at him.

      ‘Don’t worry. I’m just glad that you said you’d come. I understand if you don’t want to play for whatever reason, or if you want to wait until we know each other better. If you don’t want to play, then we’ll just have a great weekend away and call it quits. There is no pressure whatsoever, but if you do want to play you’ll have to ask me.’

      ‘Ask you?’

      Alex nodded. ‘If you want to play.’

      I felt a little ripple of excitement and smiled. It seemed to me Doms were big on making you ask for what you wanted; maybe they got a kick out of hearing a woman beg. ‘What do you want me to say?’

      He grinned. ‘I don’t mind. Anything you want.’

      I hesitated. Wasn’t this what I wanted? Wasn’t this why I was here? With Max, before he and I had got to this stage we had exchanged lots of emails about what he expected from his submissive, and before there had been any physical contact we’d both signed a contract, which outlined the rules of engagement and included safe words, what he and I would commit to and the boundaries we had both agreed on.

      ‘What about safe words and limits?’ I asked Alex.

      ‘We can sort that out as we go. I want us both to be able to explore this – although if you want a contract then I’m sure we can draw one up, but before we get to that point I need you to ask me.’

      I stared at him and unexpectedly felt my eyes filling up with tears. I wasn’t sure that I was ready for this. I wanted to play, but maybe it was too early for me to start over. I barely knew Alex and I wondered if he really knew what being a Dom meant.

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