Page 5 of The Chalet


  you two on the dance floor.”

  “Shall we, Mrs. West?” I asked.

  She rose to her feet. “Of course, Mr. West.”

  “Jackson,” I said, taking my bride’s hand. “If you can find a way for us to pack up some food, I’ll let you and Felicia enjoy the honeymoon suite I had booked.”

  Someone might as well use it.

  “I’ll see what I can find,” he said.

  The crowd around us grew silent as we made our way to the dance floor. I took her in my arms as the soft familiar piano melody started to play. It’d been way too long since we’d had any sort of intimate contact. My erection was uncomfortable against my pants, though thankfully the folds of her dress hid it well.

  “I’m glad the suite won’t go to waste,” she mused. “Though I never thought I’d be spending my wedding night in an airplane.”

  I cringed. Not that the jet wasn’t nice; it just wasn’t the place I wanted us to spend our first night as husband and wife. And with that being the case. . . .

  “You know, I’m thinking,” I said.

  “Something not very pleasant from the look on your face.”

  “I’m thinking we should extend our month of nothing until we get to Switzerland.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Another night?”

  I smoothed her hair back and looked into her deep, dark eyes. “I don’t want our first time as husband and wife to be shared by a pilot and his crew.”

  “We’ve done plenty of things in your jet, why not tonight?”

  “It’s just different. I gave you a month. Can you give me one night?” I traced her lips with my finger.

  She kissed the tip. “If you can guarantee me one thing.”

  “Anything.”

  Her teeth scraped the skin on my finger and I felt the touch all the way to my groin. “Promise me you’ll last longer than five minutes when we make it to Switzerland.”

  I wrapped my arms around her tighter and, to the delight of the watching crowd, dipped her low. “Have I ever left you unsatisfied?” I pulled her back up and gave her a passionate kiss, just to prove my point.

  When we finally broke away, she was breathing heavily, but she kept her gaze steady. “I remember a weekend or two I was definitely unsatisfied.”

  “Let me rephrase.” I leaned in and whispered, “Have I ever left you unsatisfied during the week or on the weekend when you weren’t being punished for being a bratty submissive?”

  Her eyes flashed with longing and desire and she replied with her own whisper, “Not if you word it like that.”

  “I’m confident I’ll do the same in Switzerland.”

  “Remember that weekend you promised to take me five times in one night?” she asked.

  “You were naked that entire weekend, I’ll never forget it.”

  “I think we should try for six.”

  Before I could gather my thoughts to make a coherent reply, there was a tap on my shoulder.

  “Best man cutting in for a quick dance with the bride,” Jackson said.

  I realized then that the song had ended and a soft jazz one had started. According to my watch, we had another thirty minutes before we needed to leave, so I disgruntledly handed Abby over to him.

  I watched them as they made their way to the middle of the dance floor. Along the outer edges, other people joined in.

  “Nathaniel,” Felicia said from my side.

  I barely covered my shock. My relationship with Felicia was complicated. I knew she didn’t approve of the lifestyle Abby and I lived on weekends, though Abby had told me of the conversation the two of them had the day they looked at the church. For the most part, I still felt as if Felicia put up with me simply because she had to. Certainly, she never sought me out.

  “Dance with me?” she asked in a voice edged with uncertainty.

  This time I wasn’t able to cover my shock. Not only had she approached and talked to me first, but she was asking me to dance? I merely nodded and led her onto the dance floor.

  The first few minutes were awkward. Felicia was obviously as uncomfortable being in my arms as I was holding her. Her back was stiff and her body tense. It was only as we drew close to where Jackson and Abby danced that I could discern Felicia relax.

  “She’s glowing,” she said.

  Jackson was spinning Abby around the dance floor and they were both laughing. She looked stunning, as always, but there was something more about her today. It was as if joy filled her so completely, it radiated from her. She caught me staring and blew me a kiss.

  “She is,” I said in agreement with Felicia. “Thank you for standing up with us.”

  Felicia took a deep breath. “I need to tell you something.”

  I braced myself for the worst, though I couldn’t imagine what could cause her to seem so troubled.

  She looked uncertain for the first time, glancing away, looking at the wall behind me. “I won’t say I’m sorry for the way I treated you in the beginning. I was acting in what I thought was Abby’s best interest.” She shook her head. “I won’t apologize for that.”

  I was too stunned to say anything and we stopped dancing.

  “But I will say I’m sorry for assuming the worst about you and what you and Abby do.” She finally met my gaze. “It’s nothing I’d want to participate in, but you’re what Abby needs. I know now you’re looking out for her and I thank you for that. I’m glad she has you and I was proud to stand up with you two today.”

  To call me flabbergasted would be an understatement. “Thank you, Felicia,” I finally managed to get out.

  She nodded. “One more thing. If you ever try to pull one of those public things like what you guys did at the Super Bowl again, I’m calling the cops. That’s just wrong.”

  Her reference to my go big or go home method of introducing Abby to sex in public caught me by surprise and I threw my head back and laughed.

  Chapter Six

  Abby

  Thoughts of the honeymoon filled my mind as we drove to the airport. Once in Switzerland, if we wanted, we could spend entire days in bed. With two weeks together and no set plans, I hoped several days would pass in that manner. I knew he had my collar packed somewhere. Though we’d agreed I’d wear it some, we’d left open exactly when.

  The pilot waited for us. “Mr. West.” He nodded, then smiled. “Mrs. West. Congratulations.”

  Nathaniel shook the pilot’s hand. “Thank you. Are we ready to leave?”

  “Everything’s ready, just been waiting for you.”

  We made our way into the main cabin. I loved Nathaniel’s jet. It was comfortable and modern, with plush leather captain’s chairs in the main cabin. Down a short hall was a small bedroom and bathroom. Most of our time in the jet had been spent on weekends, so I’d had his collar on. I wondered where he had packed it.

  I walked over to the table between the chairs and opened the drawer Nathaniel usually opened when he collared me. The drawer was empty.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “I’ve never been able to figure out where you keep my collar during the week.”

  “And you thought maybe I kept it on the jet?”

  “No,” I said. “I just wanted to pick on you.” I had a good feeling he probably kept the collar in the playroom during the week. I’d never looked there. The playroom wasn’t off-limits to me Monday through Friday, but I never felt quite right in there without Nathaniel being present.

  I sat down and tried to buckle the seat belt. I had to readjust the strap twice before I got it to fit over the yards of lace and silk of my gown. When it finally locked in place, I looked over to Nathaniel and laughed at the picture we made. Dressed so formally and buckled up on a plane.

  Nathaniel grinned at me and held out a hand. “Something funny?”

  I stroked my thumb over his palm. “Just that when I woke up this morning, I didn’t see myself jetting off in a wedding gown before the day was over.”

  “Nothing ever
seems to go as planned, does it?”

  “I’m starting to see why your backup plans have backup plans.”

  He ran his free hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, Abby. We rushed through cutting the cake. You barely got to talk with your father. And—”

  “Nathaniel, don’t. Don’t think you’re to blame for the weather. Even if you had known, what could you have done? Nothing. We’re married and that’s all I care about.”

  ***

  It wasn’t until we sat down and stopped moving that I realized how tired I was. I was tempted to fall asleep where I was, but the gown was starting to get uncomfortable. When the plane leveled off, I unbuckled.

  “I’m ready to get out of this gown if you’re still willing to help me out of it.”

  “I suppose the only other option is to keep you in the gown until we land in Switzerland and I’m thinking that’s not a viable option.”

  I shot him a not on your life look and turned my back to him. “I’m guessing now’s not the time to tell you the only thing I have to sleep in is the gown I’d bought for our wedding night. Everything else is packed in my main suitcases.”

  He started working on the ties on my gown’s corset top. “And I’m guessing now’s not the time to tell you I didn’t plan to sleep in anything on our wedding night, so I’ll be in bed naked.”

  I groaned. Thoughts of him naked were chasing away my fatigue. “Not if you want to keep to the wait until Switzerland plan.”

  The gown slipped from my shoulders and he peppered kisses along my shoulder blades. “I promise it’ll be worth it.”

  I twisted out of his embrace. “You better not, I’m low on self control at the moment.”

  But minutes later when I slipped out of the bathroom and joined him in the bedroom, I knew I wasn’t the only one facing self control issues. I blamed my nightgown. I’d picked it out because it was elegant while still being seductively sexy. Made of sheer material, it covered me while at the same time leaving nothing to the imagination.

  His gaze followed me as I walked to the double bed and he silently lifted the sheet and blanket so I could crawl in beside him. I turned, so my back was to his chest. He gave a sharp intake of breath when I brushed against him.

  “Fucking hell,” he said.

  His erection was pressed against my ass. “Yes, exactly.”

  We lay in silence for several long minutes. Neither one of us moved, which only made it more obvious that neither one of us was moving. I tried to steady my breathing, but all that did was highlight the fact that Nathaniel was behind me totally naked. I balled my fist and told myself to think of anything other than how easy it would be to roll over. He was already naked, so I could have my hands wrapped around him in seconds. A quick hike of my nightgown and he’d have complete access. Then with a shift of hips—

  “This isn’t going to work,” we both said at the same time.

  He gave a tight laugh. “Damn, stupid idea.”

  “Yours or mine?”

  “Both.”

  I rolled over to face him. “I don’t think I can go another night. This entire time I’ve been thinking I’d be okay if I just made it to tonight. And now it’s here and we’re going to wait another night?”

  “I agree. We have to do something.”

  “I hope by something you don’t mean separate beds.”

  “Hell, no.” He sat up. “Where’s my phone?”

  “You’re going to call someone? Really?”

  He raised an eyebrow at me, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he rummaged through his carry-on bag and pulled out his phone. “You were worried about me lasting five minutes? Tonight, we have exactly five minutes to get each other off. Hands only.”

  He brought the phone to the bed and set the timer. “Starting now.”

  We were sitting on the bed and my hands were over his body in an instant. It took him just a bit longer to wrestle with my gown and yank it up. On any other given night, I would have helped him out a bit, but at that moment, my skin was hungry for him.

  I kissed his scruffy chin. “I need to taste you.”

  “Later,” he said, pulling back only so he could slip the gown over my head. Then his hands roamed over me, touching and exploring. He situated himself between my knees and I gasped when his fingers brushed between my legs. “I feel like I’m in high school.”

  I took his erection in my hand. “Like you’re making out under the bleachers, trying not to get caught?”

  “Something like that.” He glanced at his phone. “Four minutes and seventeen seconds.”

  I put myself to work on pleasuring him. We knew each other’s bodies well enough to know just how and where to touch. And while I’d learned in the last six months how to delay my orgasm, I hadn’t frequently practiced rushing them. That’s what I wanted tonight but suddenly I wasn’t sure if I could do it.

  I took his touch and drank it in like the thirsty woman I was. I allowed it to sweep over me and as my arousal built, I worked his cock faster with my hands. I knew very well just how long he could hold off his orgasm, but I’d never seen him rush it. Tonight we were both letting ourselves run uncontrolled by pleasure, and I had no idea what would happen. It was like a whole new level of mystery between us.

  He lifted his hips up to my hand. “Fuck, Abby. You feel so good.”

  My mind was on the two fingers he had inside me and the way his thumb ran over my clit. “Oh, yes. Right there.”

  We were both so needy and our desire so urgent, it felt like no time had passed when my climax neared. He wasn’t far behind me, I could tell by the way his cock twitched. A few more strokes and I came around his fingers, right as he spilled into my hand.

  We collapsed onto the bed. The phone’s timer immediately went off, and we both broke out in laughter.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever come that fast,” I said, wiping my hand on the towel he gave me.

  “Me, either.”

  “It took the edge off, though.”

  He pulled me into his arms. “Yes, but not quite enough.”

  “I feel so naughty,” I said with a giggle. “Like I cheated.”

  “We better not talk about you being naughty at the moment.” His arms tightened around me and his tone grew serious. “You know, I can’t help but think that even though tonight and this evening didn’t go as planned, the day couldn’t have been more perfect.”

  I ran a hand along his arms. “You’re officially mine forever and always. It doesn’t get better than that.”

  I thought we’d spend some time talking; after all, it was our wedding day. But the crush of the day’s events caught up with us, and we drifted off to sleep after a few minutes of whispers and soft kisses.

  ***

  I woke up to soft sunlight streaming through the plane windows about an hour before we landed. It took me a minute to realize it was probably close to noon in Europe, even though my body thought it early morning. I’d never been a big world traveler, so time changes always did me in.

  Zermatt, Switzerland didn’t allow cars to be driven into town. We flew into Sion, where we had to transfer to a helicopter. The short ride only took fifteen minutes, but I was captivated by the scenery. Everything was a crisp white and looked so calm and serene.

  After landing in Zermatt, we took a taxi to our chalet. Nathaniel pointed out the Matterhorn in the distance, looming high above everything. I loved the fact that the ban on any vehicle that wasn’t electric also meant the absence of any smog that would hamper our view of the majestic sight.

  “Is that it?” I asked as a three-story chalet built into the side of a mountain came into view.

  Nathaniel glanced at the taxi’s GPS and looked again at the building. “Yes, that’s it.”

  “It’s magnificent.”