‘I loved being out with you today,’ she said as she pulled forward.
‘Me too,’ said Emilia. ‘It was nice holding your hand.’
Amy smiled and nodded as she continued. ‘I wonder what the boys have been up to?’
‘They’ve probably been asleep all afternoon,’ Amy laughed. ‘We must have exhausted them by now.’
Emilia listened to the crunch of the tires on the gravel as Amy rolled to a stop. She switched off the engine and the noise of the air con ceased, leaving them in silence. The residual heat of the day immediately began to warm the car as the girls looked at one another in the failing light.
‘This whole week,’ said Emilia, blushing as she paused. ‘I’ve never felt this way before.’
Amy smiled and reached across. ‘Me neither. It’s been really special.’
‘I don’t want to go home,’ she said suddenly. ‘I want our life to be like this, always.’
Amy laughed softly and looked down at their hands, clasped together tight over the central column.
‘I’m serious,’ she continued. ‘I don’t want to be away from you.’
‘That crazy-hot scale’s creeping back up.’
Emilia laughed and looked across at the Villa, frowning. Something was different but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
‘I want that too,’ said Amy. ‘But we have lives and jobs and family. It can’t be like this every day.’
‘I know, but this week,’ she paused, struggling to find the right words. ‘With everything that’s happened. I’m stronger with you. It’s made me realise that I want…’ She tailed off.
‘What do you want?’
‘It’s silly.’
‘You can tell me.’
Emilia looked back at the villa, as it finally clicked. ‘Why are the lights off?’
Amy frowned and looked up.
‘That’s odd.’
‘The shutters are open too.’
‘We’re coming back to this conversation,’ said Amy as she popped her door open and stepped out onto the gravel. ‘Don’t think you can distract me that easily Mrs Black.’
Emilia smiled and whispered to herself as Amy closed the door. ‘Mrs Hamilton-Black.’
She took a deep breath and pulled the internal handle, pushing the smooth door open wide and stepping out onto the crunching gravel.
Amy was looking around confused and then she shrugged.
‘Maybe they’ve gone out?’
‘For a walk?’
Amy headed around to the back of the car as Emilia started to walk towards the entrance.
As she approached the front door, it opened.
She frowned and looked back at Amy who was still unloading shopping from the boot. Turning back, she found Cassian had appeared in the frame, and as she made eye contact with him, he bowed.
He was dressed in a midnight blue suit. It wasn’t one she recognised. It was fitted, tucked and nipped in just the right places and it made him look devilishly handsome. His beard was trimmed neatly, his hair was cut short and combed.
He looked like a Prince.
She was so taken aback that she stopped walking altogether and stared, causing Amy to bump into the back of her and drop several bags onto the gravel.
‘Em, what are you doi-? Oh,’ she said as she saw movement and looked up to see Mark, standing next to Cassian, dressed from head to toe in a black dinner suit with a bow tie tucked neatly around his neck. In his hands he held two flute glasses.
The light behind them seemed to flicker oddly and as Amy looked past them she realised it was candlelight.
Dotted all around the entrance hall, along the edges of the walls, on top of the little table and around the edges of the sconces were maybe fifty or sixty tea candles, flickering in the darkness. It was beautiful and heart meltingly romantic.
The boys had been busy.
‘Welcome home, ladies,’ said Cassian, opening the door wide as Mark offered them the champagne flutes. In the background, Emilia saw the bottle sitting in a bucket of ice.
She found her feet once again and stepped forward, gracefully taking the glass from Mark’s fingers and turning to Cassian, a quizzical expression on her face.
‘You’ll find appropriate evening attire in our room,’ said Cassian to both of them. ‘If you would care to dress and then join us for a buffet dinner in the garden. The service will begin in fifteen minutes.’
‘This is amazing,’ said Amy, looking up at Mark who grinned back at her. ‘You did all this?’
‘You wait, you haven’t seen half of it yet,’ he said, winking at Cassian.
She turned back to Emilia and jumped up and down on the spot with excitement, her eyes wide with glee and anticipation.
‘Come on, let’s go get dressed,’ she said, grabbing hold of her girlfriend’s hand and heading off toward the bedroom.
Inside there were more candles, spaced out along the side dresser. Amy gasped as Emilia stepped in behind her.
‘Look,’ she said, pointing towards the bed. Laid out neatly across the duvet were two beautiful dresses and on the floor, two pairs of matching shoes.
‘Oh my goodness,’ said Emilia.
On the far side laid out for Amy, was a beautiful, intricate red lace, floor length, figure hugging evening dress with an open back and a long slit to the thigh. Closer to them both, laid out for Emilia, was a black lace, halterneck evening dress with a plunging neckline, a long thick silk belt and again, a thigh high split.
Both outfits were stunning, and by the look of them, perfectly sized.
Amy moved slowly across the room admiring both, occasionally glancing back at Emilia as their eyes glistened.
‘They’re beautiful,’ she said, quietly.
‘Where did they get them from?’ said Emilia, picking up hers gently between her fingers.
‘When did they get them?’
‘Do you think they smuggled them here all the way from home?’
Amy laughed as she picked up her own and held it up to herself, letting the long trail drop to the floor by her feet.
‘The lingerie,’ said Amy suddenly, looking up.
‘Oh my goodness, yes,’ said Emilia turning around and picking up the shopping bag from the floor. She upended it on the bed watching as the two luxury boxes came tumbling out.
Amy grabbed hers and excitedly started to unbutton herself, almost jumping up and down on the spot with excitement. Emilia stretched across the bed and unboxed hers, admiring the way it was presented, then she began to strip too.
The girls helped each other dress and a few minutes later, they stood looking at themselves and each other in the mirror.
‘This fits perfectly,’ said Amy. ‘Do you think they measured us in our sleep?’
‘You look amazing.’
‘So do you.’
Amy laughed and opened the door for Emilia, who blushed and smiled and then stepped through into the corridor. At the far end stood Cassian and Mark, holding a single red rose each, illuminated only by candlelight. She felt butterflies in her tummy immediately as she looked upon them and she turned back and took hold of Amy’s hand for support as her girlfriend stood proudly by her side.
It was like being back at her prom again, except this time she had three dates.
Together they walked towards their husbands, feeling beautiful and smiling uncontrollably. Emilia couldn’t help but imagine what it might be like if they could all marry one another. She thought it might not be far off from this.
The men stepped apart, each one offering an arm to his wife and kissing them on the cheek.
‘You look amazing,’ said Cassian to Emilia. ‘So does Amy.’
Mark nodded, as Emilia flashed a smile at him. The thought of them both looking like Greek god’s flitted through her mind again.
‘Would you care to join us for dinner?’ said Cassian, gesturing towards the doorway to the living room. Emilia nodded, giddy with excitement. As he guided her through, her jaw dro
pped open.
‘Oh my goodness,’ said Amy, a few steps behind her as they drew level.
The large patio doors were wide open and on the wooden decking next the pool sat a large, dressed table with a white cover, four old wooden chairs and a selection of sumptuous food which looked at a glance like a banquet.
All around the garden were dotted tealight candles, shimmering in the darkness like a sea of flames. There was even a path through them, wide enough for all of them to walk.
The pool was also alight with more than a hundred candles floating in the gently lapping water, bumping and moving around. It must have taken them an hour alone just to light them all.
But beyond that, and the real reason that both Emilia and Amy had stopped in their tracks and were now beginning to grin and laugh, was the bed on the lawn.
It was the king size monster from Mark and Amy’s room, but the men had erected a frame around it and draped sheer material down either side, leaving the top open to the star lit sky. It looked like a four poster romantic retreat on a tropical island.
‘This is amazing,’ said Amy quietly, shaking her head in wonder. She turned around and looked at Mark, her face a mixture of emotions as she smiled and tried to hold back tears at the same time. ‘This is so beautiful.’
Emilia felt Cassian’s hands wrap around her waist as she stood looking out across the scene.
‘Thank you,’ she said as his cheek touched hers, she placed her palm over his clasped fingers and her other hand on the side of his face.
‘We wanted to make our last night together special,’ said Cassian.
‘I don’t want this to be our last night.’
Cassian frowned. ‘I mean of the holiday.’
‘I know but I want this every night.’
‘This took quite a lot of effort,’ he laughed. ‘Not sure we could manage this every day.’
‘No, I mean I want us all to be together, every night. Even if we’re just sat in front of the TV in our pyjamas, massaging Amy’s feet.’
Cassian smiled kindly. ‘Maybe one day.’
Emilia turned around and pressed her head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.
‘Thank you,’ she said. As they embraced, she looked sideways and saw Mark and Amy swaying back and forth in the candlelight and she felt love. It was a love that came from within and spread out all the way to her extremities, and it felt wonderful.
‘We should eat,’ said Mark after a while. ‘Otherwise our Herculean efforts will have gone to waste.’
‘Herculean?’ said Amy, raising her eyebrows as she looked up at him
‘Have you seen the food?’
Mark took Amy’s hand and started to lead her over toward the table. Cassian, taking his cue, did the same. Emilia looped her arm through his as they walked in procession through the corridor of candle light.
The table was laden with the most incredible selection of food. It seemed to be overflowing with bowls and plates and dips and bread.
Mark pulled out a chair for his wife, inviting her to sit as Cassian did the same for Emilia. Then as he settled down, Mark collected a bottle of Champagne from the end of the table and popped the cork making both girls scream and laugh.
Like a well practiced waiter, he made his way around them, pouring out the bottle into each of the little flutes they had carefully and meticulously arranged on the clean white cloth draped across the wooden table.
Emilia had noticed that the cutlery, the serving bowls, the spoons and the plates were all perfectly positioned. She wondered whether if she were to take the time to measure the relative distances between each item, she would find less than a millimetre disparity across the board. Mark was very particular and very precise.
As he sat down he raised his glass and smiled, looking to each of them in turn.
‘To us,’ he said.
They clinked glasses and took a little sip each, all except for Amy who drank her whole flute in one go and burst into laughter.
‘Whoops,’ she giggled as the bubbles hit her nose, her eyes watering as she laughed.
‘If we ignore my wife’s readily apparent drinking problem for a moment, we have prepared a comprehensive selection of continental dishes this evening for you to choose from.’
‘You’re allowed to mix and match, you don’t have to stick to one cultural cuisine,’ interjected Cassian.
‘Quite right,’ said Mark nodding. ‘We have Spanish Tapas, Mediterranean Seafood, a traditional French casserole, and some coq au vin. Moules, a selection of cold meats from Switzerland and bread and cheese from all over Europe.’
He gestured to each dish as he made his way around the table.
‘Oh my goodness, I love moules,’ said Amy, her eyes widening.
‘I even got you a bib,’ laughed Mark, handing her a large silk napkin.
‘This is why I love you,’ she said giggling as she took it.
‘This must have taken you all day,’ said Emilia as Cassian poured both her and Amy a glass of red wine each.
‘Since you left this morning,’ said Mark. ‘With a short break to double team Celeste. She popped back round for lunch.’
‘I’m not even sure if you’re joking after this morning, Mark.’
‘What if we hadn’t gone out?’ said Emilia, diverting the conversation.
‘We had a contingency plan.’
‘But how could you have known we were going to go shopping?’
‘We’ve been dropping hints all week,’ laughed Cassian. ‘Little nudges, subtle suggestions.’
‘Oh my goodness,’ laughed Amy. ‘Are we that easy to manipulate? I’m going to have to pay more attention. That’s crafty.’
‘The most convincing ideas are the ones you come up with yourself,’ shrugged Mark.
Amy tied off her napkin around her neck as Mark served a large ladle full of moules into a bowl for her. As she began to crack open the first one, Emilia served herself a portion of coq au vin and picked up her knife and fork.
‘This is incredible,’ said Emilia as she tasted it. ‘Where did you learn to cook like this?’
‘Paris,’ said Mark. ‘I lived in the city for three years, studied at the Pantheon-Sorbonne.’
‘What did you study?’
‘Art History.’
Emilia raised her eyebrows. ‘I was not expecting that.’
Mark shrugged. ‘It’s a passion of mine. That’s part of what kept Amy and I together.’
‘That and his huge cock.’
Emilia burst into shocked laughter, trying her best not to spray her mouthful of red wine and chicken all over her plate.
‘I’m not joking, seriously it’s as thick as a log. The first time we had anal sex I thought my bum hole would never recover.’
‘Oh my goodness,’ laughed Emilia, wiping tears away from her eyes and almost choking on her food. ‘You are terrible, Amy.’
‘Cheap date. One drink and I’m all yours, and yours, and yours,’ she shot finger pistols at each of them in turn, winking as she blew them away, then picking up a squishy muscle on her fork. ‘Em, do you want a moule?’
She shook her head politely and turned back to Mark as he continued.
‘In answer to your question, Emilia,’ said Mark with a sly grin on his face. ‘I took a job in the kitchens of a restaurant in the eighth arrondissement, on Avenue Montaigne.’
‘You were a chef?’
‘I was a Chef de Partie, or specifically a Chef de Tournant, so I worked in different parts of the kitchen each night, filling in.’
‘He loves filling in different parts,’ giggled Amy, chewing on another moule. As she bit down on it, it popped in her mouth and squirted out, narrowly missing Emilia. ‘Oops, little squirt.’
Amy’s eyes met Emilia’s and immediately she began to laugh, as her friend shook her head.
‘No, no, don’t you dare.’
‘Did she tell you?’ said Amy, looking pointedly at Cassian.
‘Tell me wh
at?’
‘Amy, no,’ Emilia waved her hands, then hid her face in shame.
‘About last night?’
‘Amy!’
‘She squirted.’
‘I hate you.’
’Or peed herself, I’m still not quite sure which.’
‘You are the worst.’
Cassian laughed and looked at Mark, shaking his head.
‘Like I said earlier, mate,’ nodded Mark. ‘We’re going to have to up our game.’
‘Sounds like it.’
Emilia was still covering her face in shame.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Amy as Emilia felt her girlfriend’s hand slide over her thigh. ‘We have to set the bar higher for them somehow though. You have to understand the male psyche. Now all they’re going to be thinking about is how they can make you squirt too.’
‘Oh my goodness, you don’t have to,’ said Emilia looking up at the two men before hiding again.
‘You’re going to have the best night ever,’ she turned back round, grinning. ‘Oh and guys, Emilia made me squirt too.’
She dropped another empty moule shell back into the bowl as she finished her sentence, raising her eyebrows, cocking her head and leaving her hand dangling in the air.
‘Challenge accepted,’ said Mark.
Amy sat back in her chair, smiling then she reached out for Emilia, prying her fingers away and uncovering her face.
‘Hey in there, there’s no need to be embarrassed, I loved it.’
Emilia nodded, blushing and smiling. She licked her lips as Amy squeezed her hand and leaned forward. She felt nervous. All this food and the amount of effort the boys had gone to. The bed, the candles, the dresses, their secret lingerie. It was incredible, and somehow intimidating at the same time. Everything was perfect and yet she was petrified.
‘Good grief boys, Champagne and moules,’ said Amy suddenly, interrupting her train of thought and winking at her subtly. ‘Are you trying to get us into bed or something?’
Mark smiled and reached for another olive, smiling as he popped it into his mouth.
‘As a matter of fact, yes we are.’
Amy laughed and bit her lip and then leaned into Emilia to whisper, taking hold of her hand.
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