Fates Tied (10 page)

It felt to her like they were watching her and deliberately timing their problems just to stop her going. Tiffany ended up saying as much when she got off the phone from Edward and when Suzanne’s phone had rung yet again with another task the younger woman had grabbed the handset and insisted that the client either call back on Monday or let her take care of it. Suzanne didn’t dare argue with the other woman as Tiffany dressed her in her coat and shoved her car keys in to her hand. She was a little surprised when her boss appeared and practically frogmarched her to her car and forced her into the driver’s seat. The two women were smiling though as Suzanne finally managed to drive away.

But it was dark now and the roads were narrow and winding. Suzanne thanked whichever gods were listening that the route was clear and was mostly composed of back roads. If she was on the main roads it was more than likely that she would only be halfway there by now, as it was she was only a few miles away.

She did wish that she could have seen the area in daylight though, the few glimpses that she was managing to get made it all seem beautiful and she wanted to see it properly.

As she pulled up in front of the hotel and got out of the car she looked up at the grand country house and cursed her clients for the twenty third time. She really wished that she could have seen the beautiful building in full light.

It was imposing in the darkness, lit with bright floodlights that threw strange shadows across the front facade. Eventually she grew cold and decided to head inside. The lights were bright inside, warm and welcoming and as soon as she stepped through the door Edward sprung to his feet from where he had been sitting and hurried over to her, a wide smile on his face.

“I was worried that you weren’t coming,” he said as he took her bags from her hands.

“I was worried I wouldn’t make it,” Suzanne said with a smile. “It was like it was one thing after another at work. Everyone wanted something doing as soon as possible.”

“I’m glad Tiffany took my advice,” Edward said.

They were walking down a narrow corridor, appointed in rich, elegant furnishings.

“What advice?” Suzanne asked.

“I kind of ordered her to get you here,” Edward admitted sheepishly. “I said if the calls kept coming she was to make sure you ignored them and came to me.”

“Well thank you for that,” Suzanne said with a smile. “Although I think Tiffany may have taken your orders a little literally.”

“Oh?” Edward said, placing Suzanne’s bags on the floor by a door and scrambling in his pockets for a key.

“Yeah,” she said with a laugh. “She pretty much frogmarched me out of the building with my boss and shoved me in the car.”

“Well I can honestly say I didn’t get your boss involved,” Edward said. Finally he got the door open and waved his arm towards their room, “Your boudoir m’lady.”

Suzanne giggled and walked through, running her hand through Edward’s hair as he bowed to her as she passed. Then she gasped as she took in the massive room with the emperor sized four poster bed and the stone fireplace which already had a fire burning in it.

She stepped further in and began to take off her coat. She slowly turned in a circle as she did so, looking all around her.

“Edward this is amazing,” she said eventually. “I can’t believe we’re actually staying here the entire weekend.”

“Well it’s worth it for you,” Edward said, “I want you to feel like a princess.”

Suzanne glanced at him over her shoulder and smiled fondly. He smiled back before making his way across the room and wrapping his arms around her.

“I’ve been waiting to do this since you stepped through those doors,” he said softly, towering over her.

Suzanne was about to ask him what he was talking about but then she didn’t need to. He leaned down and captured his lips with hers. She sighed softly and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her fingers in his thick hair. Their lips moved together, slowly and still closed. Edward sighed in the back of his throat and pulled her closer, kissing her harder. His tongue pressed against her lips, seeking entry and she happily gave it to him. They kissed, long and slowly. She couldn’t believe how different it felt. It was as though Edward were worshipping her with just his mouth.

She didn’t know why it felt different but as he held her she felt like the most precious thing in the world. There was passion in the kiss, more than there ever had been before and Suzanne could feel the pleasure rising in her. She was almost consumed with the desire to have Edward under her, his naked body pressed against hers. She reached to undo the collar of his shirt but he gently took her arms by the wrists and put them back around his neck. She smiled into the kiss and began stroking his hair once more. They simply stood there, in the centre of the room, as they kissed, holding each other tightly and humming in happiness. Eventually though they pulled away, Suzanne keeping her eyes closed and smiling. She giggled as Edward placed one last kiss on the tip of her nose and finally opened her eyes.

“That is much better now,” Edward said, smiling at her. “But it is almost time for dinner and I bet you want to shower.”

“Oh god a shower,” Suzanne moaned. “That sounds like the best thing in the world.”

She pulled away from him and began to unpack her things, watching Edward from the corner of her eye as he threw himself on the bed and lounged there watching her.

“Aren’t you joining me?” She asked once she had her wash stuff in hand.

“We need to make it to dinner,” Edward said with a grin, looking her up and down. “And we both know that wouldn’t happen if we went in together.”

“Suit yourself,” Suzanne said with a shrug.

She slowly pulled her clothes off, keeping her eyes locked on Edward as she did so. She saw the passion in his gaze, the way his pupils dilated and his breath grew harsher but he stayed where he was. She grinned as she noticed that his hands were fisted tightly against his thighs, the knuckles almost white. She giggled and ran off into the bathroom, squealing in delight as she saw the shower.

“I’m the one who’s supposed to make you make those sounds,” Edward called to her. “Behave or I might get jealous.”

Suzanne blew a raspberry and got into the shower.

Dinner was delicious. Every course they tried, though the servings were small, was packed with flavour.

“I feel like I’m on an episode of Master Chef or something,” Edward said as he poked a single ravioli on his plate. “Now I get why the servings are always so small at those fancy restaurants.”

“You watch a lot of Master Chef?” Suzanne asked as she bit into her third course.

“It’s a guilty pleasure,” Edward said, sipping his wine. “I like to sit with a notebook and jot down the recipes. I try them myself when I have the time.”

“You cook?!” Suzanne said in surprise, “I didn’t know that.”

“I’m a fabulous cook darling,” Edward said, hamming it up. “My tortellini is divine.”

“You’ll have to prove it to me one day,” Suzanne said with a small smile.

“Oh I plan to!” Edward said confidently, “I’ll blindfold you and give you two versions.”

Suzanne’s eyes widened before she smiled at him saucily. He grinned and finally tucked into his plate.

The rest of the meal was much the same, full of conversation that slowly revealed more and more about who they both were and what they liked and disliked.

Edward was even brave enough to share his feelings about his separation, how it had hit him out of the blue and how he kept walking around his house expecting his wife to be just around the corner.

“It’s my son I miss the most though,” he admitted over dessert. “He used to wake me up at the weekends by jumping on me and then I’d make him breakfast while Ellie did whatever it was she did.”

“You didn’t know?” Suzanne said, frowning.

“No,” Edward said, “I asked her a few times but she always gave these really vague answers like she was going out with the girls or she had a few things to do.”

“Didn’t she leave you because you weren’t spending time with her?” Suzanne asked in confusion.

“Yup,” Edward said. “That’s exactly what she said, ‘You’re never here, you never want to be around me, it’s like you don’t even care about either of us’. The thing was though that before the end, when I felt like she was pulling away, I started making sure that the weekend was just for us to spend as a family. But she’d just be busy with her friends and stuff, ignoring any plans we might have made in the week.”

“That sounds terrible,” Suzanne said quietly, “I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah,” Edward said, sighing heavily, “It hurts to think about it.”

The conversation turned away from their terrible marriages and moved in to more positive areas. Suzanne couldn’t believe how much Edward was opening up to her, telling her whatever she asked him without even trying to steer the conversation away on to other topics. It seemed that he had really meant it when he said he would try to change. She smiled with satisfaction as they continued to eat.

CHAPTER 9

Even though the meal was done and their plates had been cleared away by the waiter Edward and Suzanne continued to sit and talk while sharing another bottle of wine. They talked about everything and anything, passing the time and sharing their deepest secrets.

“Oh my neck is killing me,” Suzanne said at one point.

She sat back and tilted her head from side to side. That didn’t relieve the pain although it was slightly lessened. She reached up and rubbed at the muscles all around. Edward watched her with a small amount of concern.

“Is it from work?” He asked eventually.

“Yes,” she said, “I spent most of the day with the phone glued to my ear and my head poked forward to look at the computer screen. I’m sure you get it, spending most of your time peering into your microscopes.”

“Well now you’ve said it I hurt,” Edward said with a smile. “Tell you what, they do late night spa treatments here. I’m sore, you’re sore, why don’t we both get a massage together?”

“Are you sure?” Suzanne asked. She smirked at him a little, reaching across to take his hand in hers, “We could always just massage each other back in the room.”

“Well that is a very tempting offer,” Edward said slowly, turning his hand in hers to run his fingers across her palm. “But I think this might need a professional. The idea was to get us both to relax after all.”

“Oh…” Suzanne said.

She couldn’t ignore the slight twinge of disappointment that twisted in her stomach, a small knot of hurt that threatened to bring tears to her eyes. The two bottles of wine they’d drunk probably didn’t help.

“We can get them together though, side by side,” Edward said brightly. “They do couples massages and then we can sit in the hot tub or something.”

“I didn’t bring a bathing suit,” Suzanne said, “I won’t be able to go in the hot tub.”

“Oh bathing suits are optional,” Edward said with a smirk. “We can go in totally nude.”

“Oh…” Suzanne said. She slowly smiled at him. “Well what are we waiting for?”

“Oh god!” Suzanne moaned, “Oh god that feels so good.”

“I’m supposed to be the one making you moan,” Edward muttered. “Although right now I feel too good to care.”

They were sat side by side in the hot tub, sipping glasses of champagne. They’d had their massage together, the masseuses working out every kink and knot that they had to a lot of moaning and groaning. Now they had chosen to take one of the private hot tubs, settling into the warm water and letting it ease away the last of their aches and pains.

Suzanne hadn’t been able to resist peeking at Edward’s body as he’d sunk into the water. Desire had filled her as she saw the strong muscles under tanned skin, the way that they flexed with every movement. She found herself wanting, longing to trace them all with her mouth and tongue, to taste his skin and feel it pressed against her. She wiggled a bit closer to Edward’s side and rested her chin on his shoulder.

“So where’d you get the sunburst?” She asked, tapping his pectoral with a finger and tracing the tattoo gently.

Edward shivered and looked at her slowly. His eyes were dark and hooded, his mouth slightly open as he took a shaking breath. Suzanne blew across his nipple, giggling to herself as it hardened into a stiff nub.

“It was a drunken night in Vegas,” Edward eventually said. “One of my friends thought it would be fun if we all got tattoos and this was the one my dart landed on.”

“You picked tattoos with darts?” Suzanne said, placing her champagne on the edge of the hot tub, “And you actually went through with it?”

“Well I gave my word,” Edward said. He put his own glass down and wrapped his arm around Suzanne’s waist. “When I give my word I stick to it as best I can.”

“So no other hidden meaning then?” She asked eventually, splashing water against the dark ink, “Just a drunken promise.”

“Well it did come to mean more than that to me,” Edward eventually admitted. “Amy was furious when I came home with it, she thought I’d done it just to spite her. She hates tattoos, always has and she hasn’t hidden that fact. When I came home and she saw it for the first time she threw a fit. She started to accuse me of cheating on her and getting the tattoo just to spite her. It was all bollocks of course. Looking back though, that was when everything started to go downhill. After that things just weren’t the same.”

“I’m sorry,” Suzanne said gently, kissing his shoulder and nuzzling against him, “I didn’t mean to bring back bad memories.”

“Oh you didn’t, don’t worry,” Edward said, reaching up to squeeze her hand in his. “If I didn’t want to talk about it I’d say. Besides I promised to try and be more open about things. And it’s good to finally get these thoughts off my chest, even to someone who might be a little biased in my favour.”

“Oh I’m barely biased at all,” Suzanne said loftily. She giggled before sobering quickly, “Thank you though, for telling me this. I know it can’t be easy.”

“Strangely it’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” Edward said, twisting to look at her. “I don’t feel weak admitting to things that hurt me or telling you my not so great adventures. I like it, painful as the memories are. At the end of the day Amy used the tattoo as an excuse, a reason to pull away. If someone’s going to be that petty I doubt they’re actually any use at all and that’s not the sort of person I want in my life.”

“I know exactly what you’re talking about,” Suzanne said quietly. “My sister’s a little the same way. I think she learnt it from my grandmother.

Anyway, because of how they’ve behaved in the past I don’t really want anything to do with them now. And they’re saying that because I’m divorced they don’t want anything to do with me.”

“That’s harsh,” Edward said, frowning. “They’re family, they should love you no matter what.”

“Maybe...but I’d rather have family I actually care about and who care about me,” Suzanne said firmly. “That sort of family is better than staying in a miserable marriage just to make two people who are always judging you happy.”

“So it’s just those two in your family that had a problem with the divorce?” Edward asked. He reached over and gently lifted Suzanne on to his naked lap, holding her close and rubbing her back. “I know there were different levels of support and anger when I told my family that Amy and I were separating, surely yours must be a little similar.”

“Oh there was anger all right,” Suzanne said, resting her head under his chin. “Mostly from my mum and dad when they found out he’d been cheating on me. My brother was furious and wanted to get his rugby team to tackle him in a pub or something.

My other gran was really hurt, she thought the world of Mark and to find out he had cheated on me with his secretary… she was heartbroken. My dad just wanted to take a cricket bat to him and my mum was right behind with a welding torch.”

“A welding torch?” Edward asked, his voice a little squeaky, “Any particular reason for the welding torch?”

“She likes to do metal work in her spare time,” Suzanne said with a shrug. “She’s actually really good. She makes sculptures out of scrap and stuff.”

“Really?” Edward said, “I love random sculptures, the weirder the better. You have to show me her work sometime. I’ve been looking for a few more pieces for my garden for ages.”

“My dad weaves too,” Suzanne said. “He makes fabrics and turns them into soft furnishings and clothing.”

“Your family is odd.” Edward said, “They make mine look normal. I mean sure, my brother’s obsessed with Japanese anime and has a massive collection and yes my mum collects Stief teddies but that’s nothing compared to a welding mum and a weaving dad.”

“Your mother collects teddies…” Suzanne said, “now that’s weird...”

“Oh shush!” Edward scolded.

He reached down and began to tickle Suzanne’s sides, holding her against him as she wiggled and giggled and cried out for him to stop. Water splashed everywhere, kicked around and splashed in each other’s faces. Suzanne couldn’t remember the last time that she felt so free and happy, and that realisation saddened her a little. She didn’t remain sad for long though as Edward continued to tickle her and she writhed, trying to get away from his swift fingers. She cried with laughter and saw that Edward was cackling merrily at the torment that he was inflicting on her.

Eventually she managed to manoeuvre herself to straddle his knees and she grabbed his wrists. Using all of her strength she managed to get his hands behind his head and pressed her chest against his.

“Do you give?” She asked, their faces almost touching, “Do you surrender?”

“Never,” Edward said defiantly, “I will never surrender.”

“That’s too bad,” Suzanne said sadly, “I had something nice planned for you if you had surrendered. Now I guess that I’ll just have to take the torture route.”

“Torture?” Edward mocked, scoffing, “I laugh in the face of torture. There is nothing in the world that will make me surrender.”

“You watch far too much TV you know that?” Suzanne said, “I mean seriously.”

“Look who’s talking!” Edward cried out.

He moved to take his wrists back but Suzanne’s grip was too strong and the angle too awkward for him to be able to get much force behind his pulls.

“Fine,” Edward said with a sigh, leaning his head back on the edge of the tub. “Get on with your ‘torture’ then,”

“You’re going to regret those words,” Suzanne said, smiling dangerously.

She leaned forward and traced the muscles of his upturned neck with her mouth. She placed gentle sucking kisses on the skin, biting tendons and muscles here and there. She could feel Edward’s blood pulsing beneath his skin, the beats strong and steady but getting faster the more that she explored. She licked his neck, tracing the paths of the veins up to one ear which she teased with her teeth.

“Do you surrender yet?” She whispered in to his ear.

“This isn’t torture,” Edward hissed through clenched teeth, “I’ve had more arousing dentist appointments.”

“Well you really must give me the number of your dentist,” Suzanne said, leaning her head down to nip at his pectorals. “And besides, I know you’re lying to me.”

Edward didn’t reply, he just grinned and flexed his hips against her. She could feel the hard throbbing line of his erection, pressing firmly against her backside. She spread her legs a little more and pressed back against it. She slowly rolled her hips back and forth, pressing against and releasing his hard cock in turn. Edward didn’t raise his head from where it had fallen against the edge of the tub.

She knew that she was getting to him, could feel it in the way that he was lifting his hips to meet her, the way that he kept swallowing with every other thrust, the sounds of his heavy breathing and the sudden red flush that had begun to cover his chest and cheeks.

“Do you give in yet?” She whispered to him again, pressing every inch of their fronts together.

“Never,” Edward hissed.

“Fine,” Suzanne said with a shrug. “I’ll just go and entertain myself then.”

With those words she quickly rose to her feet and left the hot tub, leaving Edward panting and looking around in surprised shock.

She smiled at him and winked as she pulled on her fluffy white bathrobe, courtesy of the hotel, and padded from the room with her champagne glass. As she walked down the corridor she could hear the splashing of water as Edward raced after her.

“That was mean and cruel,” Edward said.

She was sprawled out on the bed, the TV already turned on. Edward stomped into their room, the bath robe hastily thrown on and tied loosely around his waist.

“I told you I’d torture you,” Suzanne said, smiling at him from her seat against the pillows. “And just like you I keep my promises.”

“You are a cruel, cruel woman,” Edward said, crawling across the bed to kiss her gently on the lips. “And yet I find myself strangely drawn to you.”

He lay beside her, wrapping one arm around her waist and playing with the tail end of her bath robe’s tie. He placed his head on her shoulder and turned towards the TV.

“Oh brilliant!” He cried out, “Star Wars! Empire Strikes Back! I love this one.”

“Isn’t this the one with the ewoks?” Suzanne asked.

“No!” Edward cried, “That’s the next one. Good god woman, I must educate you!”

Suzanne giggled and lay back to continue watching the film which was already part way through. She couldn’t help but ask questions about what was going on and listened intently as Edward answered them to the best of his abilities. She was a little taken aback by how intensely he cared about teaching her but found the passion in his words adorable.

“You know,” she said after a while, “I’ve never heard you be this passionate about something besides your work.”

“Really?” Edward asked, “I thought I was passionate about a lot of things.”

“Maybe,” Suzanne explained, “but not as passionate as you are now.”

“Oh well I suppose… no it’s silly,” Edward said.

“No, tell me,” Suzanne said. Edward remained silent so she sat up and began to shake him gently, “Tell me, tell me, tell me.”