It is still a beautiful night but had started to get chilly so Christian wrapped his jacket around my shoulders and pulls me a little closer as we walk in the moon's glow.
We reach the boathouse and Christian unlocks the door, flicks the light on and invites me to go in. I gasp at the inside, it's just like a mini house and although the décor is quite manly it has a stylish and modern feel to it. I think Mia has had some input with the soft furnishings, like blue satin and matt curtains with a weave design, sofa cushions to match and a blue Conran color burst rug. Everything is perfect.
Christian takes the jacket from around my shoulders and hangs it up. I notice that my luggage has been brought here already. He asks me if I would like something to drink and I ask for tea. I explore further while my tea is brewing. The bedroom is decorated a cool cream color with red accessories. The double poster bed has voile drapes, a textured red pleat throw over the bed and a red and cream wool rug. The pictures hanging on the wall are small and delicate but blend perfectly with the room.
Christian calls out to tell me the tea is ready, he is waiting on the sofa with a tumbler of whisky for himself, I have never seen him with hard liquor before, always wine or champagne. He takes a large gulp and asks me to sit down. I have a sense of foreboding about what is coming next.
"Ana, I told you I would try and share things with you. I find this really hard to do and I am trusting you totally that you will not reveal this to anyone, not even Kate" eek this sounds serious.
"The reason I dislike Elena so much" he takes a deep breath "she introduced me to the BDSM scene" Ok that could have been worse "when I was 15" he whispers. WHAT! I almost fall off my seat.
"But that was illegal Christian" I choke out "let me finish Ana" he says. Shit, there is more?
"She taught me how to become a Domme and she was my submissive, I am not proud but I was an angry horny teenager, she put this lifestyle and sex on offer to me and it helped me to get some sense of meaning to my life" he drains his glass and walks over to the drinks cabinet to fill again.
"After about a year I found out she had got her claws into Elliot as well but he had distanced himself from her and the BDSM scene on his own and I tried to break away from Elena. I found though, I couldn't get away from the feelings being in control gave me so although Elena and I no longer had a sexual relationship, she found and vetted girls to fill the submissive void. I continued with sub missives until about 3 months ago" he slumps back on the sofa and drains the glass again.
"Say something Ana" he pleads. I am totally shocked and my brain is in a whirl with the information he has just shared.
"I...I...Oh Christian, your parents don't know about this do they?" They can't do, they would not let Elena within 10 miles of any member of the family if they did.
"No they don't, they never will either" he says beginning to slur his words.
"Why didn't you stop her?" My mouth is talking before I am able to engage my brain.
"I told you, I was extremely pissed off as a teenager, I was fighting, doing very badly at school and she offered me an outlet for that and I guess I was hooked" he admits.
"But you were underage and that illegal, she should have known better and that makes her a pedophile" I spit.
"She leant me $100,000 to start GEH and in turn I help her with the salons" I can feel myself bristling.
"So you are tied to her as a business partner as well!" I question and I am almost shouting now.
"Yes" he replies as another tumbler is downed.
"Why in God's name would you want to have anything to do with her Christian?"
"Habit or convenience I guess" he mumbles sleepily. There is no point in carrying on this conversation now so I help him up, undress him and put him to bed. I wash, change into my nightie and sigh, this certainly wasn't the evening I was hoping for but I get to spend the night with him for the first time. At least I have had a glimpse into his world and some explanation as to why he is the way he is. I can feel my anger toward Elena building as I replay the conversation over and over in my head. How dare she use a minor for sex, I am guessing that Elliot was at least the age of consent when she got her dirty hands and mind on him. I would like to talk to him and find out a little more but Christian would be furious.
I glance at the clock and it is 2am. I sink back into the pillows. I lean over and stroke his forehead, he mumbles and turn's over. I settle down into the bed and fall into a restless slumber.
I am awoken to the prodding of Christian's morning glory in my back. I turn over and look into his smoking eyes; they are telling me exactly what he wants to do this morning. I guess his hangover can't be too bad I chuckle to myself.
"Good Morning beautiful" he smiles at me.
"Good Morning Christian "I smile back "How are you feeling this morning?" I say looking down at his groin.
"Oh, the little brain is always ready for action but the big brain is throbbing this morning" I laugh at the double entendre.
"How much did I drink last night?" he asks.
"Oh about a 1/3 of bottle of scotch" I approximate.
"I don't normally drink scotch but…" his eyes cast downwards.
"It's ok, it was necessary for Dutch courage, thank you for your honesty last night but you know we need to talk some more" I prompt. He nods and gets out of bed to go to the bathroom.
I stretch lazily, yawn and swing my legs onto the floor. I jump in the shower quickly as we are going up to the house for breakfast.
We walk hand in hand to the house where we meet Grace and Carrick first.
"Good morning, are you alright Christian? You look a little under the weather" Grace the ever perceptive mother asks.
"I am fine Mom, just too much scotch last night" and he kisses his mom's cheek.
"Breakfast is served in the dining room so help yourself please" Grace ushers us toward the food.
As we enter the room, Kate and Elliot are already seated and I see Kate is positively glowing, Elliot looks happy too. I will have to grill her later on what has happened between them.
I have pancakes with a little syrup, scrambled eggs on toast, fruit and tea. I think everyone is surprised at how much I have eaten including myself but I am famished. I didn't eat a huge amount yesterday, Elena the ice bitch certainly quashed any appetite I had. Christian nibbles at a slice of toast with jam and a cup of coffee. Elliot is taking the rises out of him for being hung over and Mia joins in when she comes in for breakfast but I notice it's all taken in good part and the three siblings really are close to each other. I feel a little envious of them, being an only child myself, I would have loved a brother or sister to share with but it wasn't to be.
"Are you ok Ana?" asks Elliot
"Yes I was just thinking how nice it would be to have had a brother or sister" I explain.
"I imagine that to be hard dear" comments Grace
"My dad died when I was 9 months old and when my mom married Ray, although he never officially adopted me, is who I call dad but they didn't have any children together" I stop there as I can feel myself welling up. Christian puts his arm around my shoulders. Kate hands me a tissue and I feel a bit silly. I don't normally get upset about it.
Carrick changes the conversation and I am pleased he has. He has offered to take everyone out on the boat as it's a nice day and we all readily agree that it's a great idea. Grace leaves the room to ask Mrs. Logan to prepare a picnic lunch for us all and if it tastes as good as last night's food, I for one am really looking forward to trying something else she has made.
Kate, Elliot, Christian and I head out to the tennis court for a game of doubles. Kate and I take on the boys and lose dreadfully then Kate and Elliot take on Christian and I, the boys have obviously played quite a bit, where as we girls have played but not to that higher standard. We miss shots and burst into laughter, at one point having to stop to get our breath back but overall had a fantastic time.
We head back to the house as the boat will leave at noon. Grace has gathered everything we need, blankets, food, sun screen and a cooler with a variety of drinks surrounded with ice. I think I spy Carrick with some fishing gear too. We all take a couple of things to carry and walk to the jetty, load everything on board and pull out. Carrick is driving, Christian is helping him to navigate, Elliot is preparing the fishing rods with line and bait, Kate and I are helping Grace put the food and drink on to the table. Mrs. Logan has packed everything we could possibly eat, delicate sandwiches, chicken satay, finger foods too numerous to mention, gorgeous mini cream puffs and something like apple turnovers but different. Wow, just wow.
We all sit around the table, eating and laughing, I lean over to Kate on my right and whisper that I haven't had this much fun in such a long time, she nods in agreement with a big smile on her face too.
After a long delicious lunch and a few drinks, the boys go to the back of the boat to fish whilst Grace, Kate and I tidy up, cover the food that's left, we replenish our drinks and go to watch them fish. They have moderate success, each catching a fish but putting them back in the water as they are not edible.
"Have I said how lovely it is to see you two and how happy my boys are when you are around" says Grace.
"It's lovely to be here Grace" Kate responds.
"Kate and I were saying earlier that we can't remember having had such a nice weekend in a long time" I smile.
"That's very kind of you to say girls and it has been our pleasure" Grace smiles back.
The sun has started to set, the boys have finished fishing and Grace distributes the blankets to counter the chill forming in the air. We turn and head back to the boat house. Tea is made on the way back and that certainly helps to warm us up. We dock and unload the picnic equipment and as before each take a couple of items back to the house.
Christian and I say goodnight and thank Grace and Carrick for a lovely day, then walk back to the boathouse.
We stroll arm in arm, my face is aching from all the smiling I have done today, and I don't think anything could burst my bubble right at this moment.
At the boathouse I get ready for bed which looks very enticing, I lay down waiting for Christian to finish in the bathroom, and I close my eyes, sigh and fall asleep…
A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing.