Nights Like This

Chapter 64

Metty saddled Franco, adjusting the girth. She patted his neck. She was comfortable with bridling and saddling the horse and was ever more comfortable riding the horse. Alexei helped her into the saddle and mounted Bolero. Saddlebags on Bolero held a picnic. They trotted into the woods. The sun would set in an hour and the weather was perfect.

Metty spread a tablecloth on the floor of the gazebo. She set out fried chicken, potato salad, tomatoes, grapes, and chocolate brownies while Alexei tethered the horses so they could graze. He jumped up the steps to the gazebo, and sat down by her. He set a LED candle on the cloth.

"Oh, that's cool," Metty said.

"A candlelight picnic seemed romantic, although the sun is just going down. I'm starving. Let's eat."

The sun had had dipped below the horizon when they finished the cupcakes. Metty held a grape to Alexei's lips and he nibbled it from her fingers.

"That's the last of the food," she said. They packed the remains of picnic back in the saddlebag. Then Alexei sat on the cloth and patted the spot next to him. She curled up next to him and rested against him.

"Should we start back now? Or do we have a little time?"

"I want to tell you my plans for Easter," he said. "I'm going to Almurias for a week. Carlos has agreed to ride with you if you like, so you can come while I'm away." He waited for her answer.

"I'd like to."

Alexei nodded. "Just arrange a time with him before we leave tonight. If you like, he can start teaching you how to jump on horseback."

"Really? Do you think I'm ready for that?"

"Yes. It will be basic at first, but when you learn, we can ride farther and do more."

She nodded, resting comfortably against him. He ran his fingers through her hair. She lifted her face to his and they kissed. Alexei kissed her cheeks, her hair, her ears, her eyelids. They kissed again, deeply, and he put his hand on her breast. After a moment she pulled back, looking at him.

"Are we alone? I mean, do we have time and everything?

"The plantation is closed to visitors. Only the Gazebo Ghost comes here after dark."

She pulled him close.

The stars were shining when Alexei jumped down the steps of the gazebo and went to the horses. Metty folded the tablecloth and put it in the saddlebag. She went down the steps and waited on the grass for him.

He brought Bolero and helped her to mount. "Let's go back. Bart will come looking for us." He shrugged. "Or for his horses." He grinned. They rode down the path. The first frog croaked from the water and a chorus joined in.

*

Marco connected the video call to his flatscreen, and saw Madison, red teddy covering very little, languid against pillows on her bed. He longed to touch her everywhere, with hands and lips and tongue, until she wanted him as he craved her. The camera call was both arousing and frustrating.

She sipped a mimosa. He lifted his mimosa and drank. She put hers down and pillowed her head on her arms. She gazed at him from the screen.

"I want you."

"I want you here."

"Send me a ticket." She laughed. "First class." Or a private jet.

"You know it's not time yet."

"Then this is all of me you get." She grinned at him, mocking his desire.

"It will have to do. I'll see you when we come for the dinner."

"Why can't I come to the dinner?"

"Sebastian would never allow it. He'd send me to sea for years if he knew about this."

"What happens in April?" Madison drank the rest of her mimosa and put the glass down."

"I've arranged a suite for you at the Belair, and an allowance, so you can entertain yourself while I am away. You can show me what you buy."

Madison pouted. "I like to shop. I'm bored without you."

"It will be a generous allowance." She looked satisfied, and Marco relaxed. She would be there for him. "You must be discreet. Popi will turn a blind eye to a secret interlude but not to publicity or scandal."

"Of course. I would not do anything to embarrass you. When we can be together without hiding, loving in shadows and snatching moments in secret, free to love one another without a camera, we will be real. Not this virtual life." She let her eyes moisten but didn't cry.

"I long for that day, mi amor. Until that day comes, my love is yours. One day I will share my life and my throne with you."

Madison's heart beat faster at his declaration. He was hers. Now to set the hook deeper.

"I want to please you. Anything." She whispered, "those things you asked me to do. Before, I couldn't." I've done them, and more, but you don't need to know that. She lowered her eyelids. "When we are alone in the suite."

Marco understood he was hers, as she was his.

She looked up at him. She raised her hand to the bows on the teddy. The red star sapphire glowed on her ring finger. I have to get that ring back. If she finds out, and she will, that a red star is a gift given only to a cortesana, a mistress, she will ruin everything. Everything. I must have her. I will do everything necessary to have her.