by Alice Raine
‘It shouldn’t be too long. Would you would like a drink in the lounge? On us, of course. Or perhaps you’d like to make the most of the lovely afternoon and have a stroll around the house and gardens?’ The small smile and blink of her eyelashes would have looked completely innocent to most people, but seeing as I knew I wanted to take Rebecca around the house I couldn’t help but smile back at the girl conspiratorially. ‘That sounds like an excellent plan,’ I agreed, managing to suppress my smile as I turned to Rebecca and retook a hold of her hand.
‘Which would you rather? Drink, or wander?’ I asked, fairly sure that I knew her well enough by now to guess that Rebecca was inquisitive and liked to explore new places.
‘Let’s walk. My legs could do with a stretch after all that time in the car,’ Rebecca said, smiling at the receptionist and then stretching out her shoulders. Perfect, that was exactly what I’d hoped for.
Nodding, we set off around the extensive property. The grounds were very impressive, and as we walked we passed beautifully tended beds one minute, and then wilder, wooded areas the next, but the most awe-inspiring thing was the lakeside positioning of this beautiful building. Wandering down to the water’s edge we had a great view over Lake Windermere and paused on a small jetty to watch the gentle breeze propel a small sail boat across the surface of the water. Rebecca glanced over her shoulder and then shuffled back a few steps so she was positioned in front of me with her back pressed up against my chest. Smiling to myself at her move I wrapped my arms around her and tugged her backwards even further so that not a scrap of space was between us and leant my head into the side of hers.
Once we had lingered in our own little world for a few minutes we set off again, this time back inside the building where we set about a brief exploration of the house. Wandering through a series of wood-panelled rooms, all a beautiful dark oak that seemed to have mellowed over time to a gorgeous warm caramel colour, we eventually came to a room which I immediately recognised. Smiling to myself I felt my heartbeat accelerate in my chest from anticipation. This was it, the moment was nearly here. This room was a little smaller than others we had passed through, but beautifully decorated, with a stunning staircase wrapping its way around one wall before curving down to the centre of the room. Behind the staircase was a series of huge picture windows, giving masses of light to the space and allowing almost panoramic views over the stunning grounds beyond.
I felt a slight sweat break out on the back of my neck, I felt almost as nervous as the day I’d proposed. ‘This place is like something out of a fairy tale,’ Rebecca murmured softly as her gaze travelled up to the walkway and balconies that ran around the upper half of the room. As if in a daze she dropped my hand and made her way up the first few steps to gaze out of the window down towards the lake.
I simply couldn’t wait any longer – it was as if a bubble had formed inside of me that had suddenly grown to such huge proportions that it was likely to burst at any second, and suddenly I found myself almost tripping as I charged up the stairs behind Rebecca and grabbed her hand. Seeing her look of surprise at my uncoordinated dash, I marginally reined myself in and paused to control my voice before asking the question I could no longer hold back. ‘Shall I book it, then?’ I asked, cocking my head to the side so I could fully absorb her reaction.
Looking at me in confusion Rebecca frowned, ‘I thought we already had a room booked for tonight? The receptionist just said it wasn’t ready yet.’
Allowing a smile to break on my lips I took hold of her other hand so that both were clasped in mine. ‘For our wedding. Would you like to get married here, Rebecca?’ I enquired softly, praying she said yes, because even with my significant bank balance the amount I’d paid as a deposit for this place would definitely be missed.
My pulse was pounding as I waited for her reply, but the reassuring touch of her hands was keeping me grounded. Just. ‘I … I …’ Rebecca tried to speak several times, her eyes darting around the room again until they rested on me and I saw the first flicker of excitement mix with her stunned confusion. ‘What?’ she whispered, her grip on my fingers strengthening significantly.
‘I told a little fib, this isn’t just a weekend away. I wanted to show you this place as a potential wedding venue. What are your thoughts?’ I asked, my heart practically in my mouth by this point.
Blinking at me several times with wide eyes I began to panic at Rebecca’s lack of response until suddenly she took me completely by surprise and hurled herself at me with an excited yelp. And I mean she literally threw her whole body up into my arms so she was clinging to me, legs wrapped around my waist, arms tight about my neck, and her face burrowed into my shoulder. Thank fuck that I was paying attention otherwise we might have both ended up falling down the bloody stairs, but as it was I caught her, adjusted my stance, and cradled her trembling body against mine as I lowered my lips to her hair and spoke near her ear. ‘Is that a yes?’ I asked as I inhaled her beautiful scent, ‘You like it?’
Raising her face from my neck I saw tears welling in Rebecca’s eyes, but just as I was about to go into full panic mode I watched the most stunning smile curve her lips. ‘I love it, Nicholas, it’s amazing. You’re amazing.’ Seconds later her lips found mine and as she kissed me senseless I tasted her sweet, soft flavour mixed with the salt of her tears.
As her tongue danced with mine Rebecca’s hands slid up my neck, ran through my hair, and even clawed a little at the nape of neck. By the time she had finished laying that stunning kiss on me I had such an enormous hard-on that I winced as she brushed against me while I lowered her back to her feet. Grinning wickedly she then leaned in and cupped me through my jeans, giving my cock a warm, firm squeeze that very nearly finished me off there and then. ‘Rebecca,’ I warned in a low growl as she continued to rub me, making me swell even more, but she ignored my warning, licking her lips and simply continuing with her teasing touch. Catching her wrist in a firm grip I halted her mischievous hand and gently pulled her to my side whilst I adjusted my groin and then flashed her a rueful smile.
Tipping her chin up I dropped one final firm kiss on her lips and then leant round to nuzzle her ear, now intent on some teasing of my own. ‘Just wait until we get to our room, Rebecca, I’ll make you pay for that little tease.’ My soft endearment and affectionate nuzzling must have briefly disguised my dark intent, because it took a second or so until Rebecca gasped and leant back with wide eyes as she bit down on her lower lip expectantly. ‘I’m going to get you so desperate for release that you’ll beg me to let you come,’ I added, my breath hot on her neck as I decided that I rather liked the idea of Rebecca begging and screaming my name in the elegant setting of this hotel.
Just to keep her on her toes I then completely changed tack and pulled back as if our lusty encounter had never occurred. ‘This room can seat fifty for the ceremony, I know that’s probably a little smaller than you were hoping for, but seeing as I have barely anyone I want to invite on my side it should help keep numbers down. Plus they have a larger room for the evening do so we can invite more to that.’ I watched in amusement as Rebecca attempted to reconnect her scrambled brain and get over her arousal to focus back on wedding plans.
Swallowing several times she let out a shaky breath, smiled at me ruefully, and then nodded. ‘Fifty is fine. I know you don’t like the spotlight, so I was also thinking we’d keep it small.’ Spinning on the spot she looked up at me with a tiny frown forming on her brows. ‘This place is just perfect, I love it, Nicholas, but the chances of it being free in March are pretty slim,’ she murmured, sounding dejected. ‘That’s less than six months away, I bet this place gets booked years in advance.’
‘It’s already ours,’ I murmured, trying not to sound too smug and failing miserably.
This time her face flew up to mine so quickly I was surprised she hadn’t hurt her neck. ‘What?’
Rolling my lips I prepared for my confession. ‘I actually made a reservation the week after I proposed.�
�� Now it was my turn to look contrite. ‘I didn’t tell you then because I was worried you might think I was rushing things. I came to this place years ago to play at a wedding, they have a beautiful music room just along that corridor,’ I added, indicating in a direction we hadn’t explored yet. ‘As soon as you agreed to marry me I thought of this place. I know how much you love the Lake District and seeing as most of your family are up this way it seemed perfect.’
Shaking her head I watched as more tears formed in Rebecca’s eyes as she gazed up at me. ‘I’m speechless,’ she snuffled, swiping the back of her hand over her eyes again in a pointless gesture as more tears immediately seeped down her cheeks.
‘I love you,’ she mumbled shortly before burying her head in my jacket and slipping her arms around my waist. Cuddling her to me I ran a hand up and down Becky’s spine as my eyebrows rose in surprise – I’d thought she would be upset that I’d booked it without consulting her first, but thankfully that didn’t seem to be an issue at all.
‘So what date do we have it? Saturday the twenty-ninth of March like we’d planned?’ she asked, excitement now replacing her tears as she stepped away from me with drier eyes and started to lightly bounce on the balls of her feet.
Hoping she wasn’t going to take my next statement as an over-the-top gesture I shrugged slightly awkwardly, ‘I booked the whole weekend. Friday night to Monday morning.’
Rebecca ceased her bouncing and paused to gawk up at me with several long, slow blinks of her beautiful green eyes. ‘What do you mean you booked the whole weekend?’ Her voice was a mere whisper, as if she already knew the answer to her question but needed me to clarify it anyway.
Here it comes , I thought, bracing myself. ‘I booked out the whole hotel for the entire weekend from the evening of the 28th to the morning of the 31 st.’ Taking the chance of her stunned silence I put on my most boyish face and raised my eyebrows. ‘Please don’t be mad. I just want everything to be perfect for you – for us,’ I corrected quickly, ‘and they don’t cater for evening functions here unless the whole hotel is booked out privately.’
My beautiful girl was obviously stunned into silence because she just continued to stare at me as if I had suddenly grown two heads. Jumping into the lull in conversation I gently took hold of her shoulders and spun her around so she was facing into the room again. ‘See the balconies that overlook the room?’ I asked softly, and in response I felt a small nod of her head. ‘Well, I was thinking that if your sister was up to the journey she’d be able to sit up there and watch the ceremony.’ Feeling a small, sobbing shudder run through Rebecca’s body I quickly persevered, ‘I know that since the … accident … Joanne hates crowds, but I’m sure she’d also hate to miss your big day, if we got it set up so she was away from the other guests and was just sat quietly with your mum, or maybe her nurse, then she could still feel part of our big day. What do you think?’
Spinning in my embrace I once again found myself wrapped up in Becky as her arms slid around my shoulders and she tucked her sniffling face into the crook of my neck. ‘You’ve thought of everything, Nicholas. I’m not going to moan at you about how stupidly extravagant you’ve been, because it’s all just perfect. Thank you. I love you so much.’
‘Not as much as I love you,’ I said with a smile, using our standard reply and making Becky flash a big watery smile in the process.
‘Do you think we can check in to our room now? Because I must look totally hideous,’ she joked, wiping at her reddened nose again. Admittedly she did look a little tear-stained, damp, and ruffled, but she was still my gorgeous girl, and so with a final squeeze I released her and led her back towards the reception.
Rebecca
I was still in a bit of a daze as we made our way back towards the main entrance. The beautiful paintings and exquisite art that had held my attention earlier were now just a blur beside me. Nicholas had booked this amazing place for our wedding … I could hardly absorb it, talk about a bombshell! Not only that, but Nicholas’ plans for how Joanne could be included were just so considerate – he knew how important my sister was to me, and for him to actually work out how she could be involved was incredibly touching.
When the reception hall finally came into view I saw to my horror that not only was the young receptionist waiting for our return, but that she had also been joined by two smartly suited men. Great, more spectators to witness my blotchy face and red nose. I shook my head with an amused roll of my eyes and straightened my back. There was very little I could do about it now, so making sure that I at least had a smile on my face I turned to them and found three expectant faces.
‘You have yourselves a confirmed booking,’ Nicholas said happily as he gave my hand a squeeze. Glancing up at him I saw uncharacteristic openness on his face as he shook hands with one of the two men. He was practically grinning, his eyes were crinkled at the corners with happiness in an expression that even I only saw on rare occasions, let alone anyone else. Seeing him so thrilled about our upcoming marriage I felt my heart fall just a little harder for my complex man.
‘You must be Mr Jackson and Miss Langley,’ the taller man said, stepping forwards to shake my hand as well. ‘It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person. I’m Paul, the hotel manager, and this is James, he’s our master of ceremonies and will be overseeing your big day.’ James was younger than Paul, but had an air of command about him that would no doubt make him perfect for the job.
‘I was thinking that while you are here you might want to meet with James or myself to discuss further arrangements? How about we get you checked in and then after you’ve rested and freshened up we could meet before dinner?’
‘Sounds good,’ I said with a nod. ‘I got a bit emotional when Nicholas told me he had booked this place so I could do with sorting my face out,’ I remarked with a grin. At least now they knew why I looked such a state. To our right the receptionist was busy laying out a sheet of paper and our room key with a sympathetic smile. ‘Why is it us women cry when we’re happy?’ she remarked, ‘I’ll never understand it!’ she added with a friendly, supportive grin.
Once we were checked in Paul insisted on seeing us to our room, but to my surprise after he picked up my weekend bag he headed out of the main door, and not up the staircase as I had expected. Flashing a confused glance at Nicholas I saw him suppressing a smile as he placed a hand on my lower back and guided me after Paul down the front steps in the direction of the lake. ‘We’re not staying in the main building,’ Nicholas commented mysteriously.
Following a path through the beautiful gardens I realised that we were in fact headed to an elegant stone house sat at the water’s edge. Leaning down close to my ear Nicholas finally filled me in, ‘This is the Lake House, it has eight rooms, all with lake views.’
Wow. The surprises just kept coming, didn’t they! ‘I’ve just booked one room for this stay, but during our wedding weekend I thought that we could have the rooms on the top floor for just us, and that the rooms on the lower floor could be used for your parents, sister, and her nurse. That way Jo can have privacy if she needs it.’
As I continued to stare at the gently lapping water of the lake behind this stunning house I felt a trembling start in my lower lip and I had to work really hard not to burst into tears. Again. I was so overwhelmed by all the thought Nicholas had put into this that I hardly knew what to say, or how to express my immense happiness and gratitude. I hardly believed that all this had been arranged by a man who less than a year and a half ago had declared that he wasn’t sure he was capable of sustaining a real relationship. Shaking my head at the enormous changes that I’d witnessed in Nicholas Jackson during our time together, I licked my lips and drew in a deep, fortifying breath that helped keep my tears at bay before I turned to him.
‘You are an amazing man,’ I whispered. My words were such an understatement for the gratitude I felt, but I was so lost for what else to say, so instead I slipped my arms around his neck and pulled his face down t
o mine for a kiss that might better express how much I appreciated his incredible gestures. Running my tongue along the seam of his lips, he immediately granted me access with a low growl before our tongues began twirling and rubbing across each other, exploring and arousing and quickly making things rather heated.
A polite cough behind us had me pulling away from Nicholas with an embarrassed flush as I realised that the hotel manager was still behind us and patiently waiting. Oops. Cringing I screwed up my face, knowing that I now had to turn around and face the man who had just witnessed me practically humping Nicholas on the pathway, and my blush deepened even further. My step away was hindered by Nicholas, as he kept a firm hold on my forearm and flashed me a warning glance that I didn’t understand at all. It wasn’t until I allowed him to guide me in front of him that I realised what his earlier expression had been about – he had a monster hard-on and needed me to stay in front of him to cover it.
Trying not to grin at his predicament I obediently placed myself before him and smiled apologetically to Paul, who I noticed had a fairly decent colour to his own cheeks as well. ‘I’ll show you in and leave you to … er … unpack,’ he stuttered, sounding like he knew exactly what we would be up to the second the bedroom door closed behind him – and it certainly wouldn’t involve any suitcases.
Once we were in and Paul had made a speedy exit I took a second to look around the room. Just like the setting and main building, the room was beautiful; a huge bed dominated the space, made up with soft cream linens and complete with a high-backed leather headrest. At the foot of the bed was an elegant roll top bath and spanning the opposite wall were floor to ceiling windows, revealing a private balcony and breath-taking views over the lake.