Bought By The Billionaire - BDSM 18 novel Chapter 54

Suitcases packed in the back of the car, we head for my Master’s beach house.

No one else.

Not even Ross driving.

Just me and my Master. Celebrating our honeymoon.

Alone Time with him. It’s precious.

Steering one-handedly, he glances sidelong, lays a hand on my thigh. “Elizabeth? You’re very quiet.”

“I’m perfect, Master. A few days with you in a beach house. How much better could it be?”

His smile blooms and the thigh gets a squeeze.

I watch the world go by as we skirt the City on the belt. “How long a drive is it?”

“A couple of hours from the City,” he says. “I had it built as my…” He rocks his hand, choosing his words… “… hideaway. For privacy and to escape uninvited guests. I chose a location that would take me far enough away from the City that I can’t be casually called back there…”

“… but close enough you can go straight back there if there's a genuine problem?”

“That’s right.” He nods then shrugs. “In truth, until now, I’ve not had much use out of the property. But it's a nice perk to offer to employees sometimes.”

“You’ve not stayed there yourself?”

“Only for entertainment. Dinner parties and the like.”

“Dinner parties? I thought we were going to a beach house?”

“That's right. My house on the beach.” Another squeeze and a smile. “If you enjoy staying there, I imagine it will see a lot more use now.”

I glow inside.

Alone time with my Master in a beach hideaway…

He continues, “Perhaps you might like to host a dinner party there yourself some time? Something small. Just you and me and a few friends.”

“To get in some practice at playing Lady of the Manor?” I try to inject some humour into my words, but there’s another sidelong look.

“As I say, Elizabeth, just the two of us and a few friends. And for the avoidance of doubt, you’re not playing Lady of the Manor. You are Lady of the Manor.”

Feeling a fraud, I chew that one over. For the sake of a polite reply, I say, “Certainly, I’d like to meet your friends, Master.”

He sighs, releasing my thigh, scrubbing the hand back through his hair. “This is my fault. Rushing you to the altar like that. I should have brought you more fully into my life before we married. But after Adele and Kane, I wanted you close. Safe. Marriage seemed the best way to protect you.”

My cheeks burn…

Bitch…

After everything he’s done…

I switch on my sunniest smile. “I’ve no complaints, Master.”

But he seems unsettled. “You have no friends of your own here.”

“Master, that’s hardly your fault. I was new to the City. Before we met, I was working all the time, either academically or to make ends meet. And since we met…” My words dry up…

Lips quirking, he finishes for me. “All your social time was taken serving my contract…”

“Master, it doesn’t matter. We have all the time in the world. I’m sure I’ll like your friends. I hope they like me. And don’t worry. I’ll muddle through while I figure out how to be a good wife for you.”

He flashes me a real smile. “Of course you will…”

Such a beautiful smile…

The hand returns to my thigh. “… And that is of course, reciprocal. We will both muddle through while we figure how to be the best we can for each other.”

*****

An hour later, we turn off the main highway. The dual carriageway dwindles to a single carriageway, then to a lane, heading for the coast, the sea laid out ahead of us.

The lane narrows then, taking a sharp turn, tapers to a mere track, barely wide enough for the car as we follow the dunes.

My Master drives carefully, the car bumping along over ruts and hollows, crunching over gravel, drifting sand and broken shells. Tough grass pins the dunes, reinforced by low creeping plants, their pink-belled flowers shivering and dancing in the breeze.

Here and there, a break in the dunes gives a clear view of the beach and the sea. A small jetty moors a boat, strung over with nets. The outgoing tide leaves a strand-line of weed and debris.

Craning this way and that, I look for the beach house. “How far to go? It feels like we’ve travelled miles.”

Outside, no longer bound by the walls, hand-in-hand with my Master, I gaze across endless miles of white beach, framed in the distance by the dunes. Above us, gulls wail and wheel, riding a breeze that sets palm trees swaying by the roof, their fronds shivering in the breeze, waving a Hello to the rippled clouds above.

Water like green glass heaves and rolls, tossing its white horses onto the sands to shatter and die. A throng of small birds follow the retreating water like so many clockwork toys, then trot away again as the waves roll in once more. On the horizon, vague with the distance, a container ship sits on the edge of sight, like a city on the world’s edge.

It’s…

… incredible…

“Are we completely isolated?”

He waves off into the distance. “There’s a small beach café a little further along. It’s nothing fancy but we might take a stroll that way if you would like to.”

I tighten my fingers around his. “That sounds very romantic.” Then my eyes are torn away from the sea. “A swimming pool? You have the sea on your doorstep and you installed a swimming pool?”

He shrugs. “Pools can be heated. And you don’t come out covered in sand.” He eyes me speculatively. “Are you planning on swimming?”

“I packed a bikini.”

He cocks a brow. “A bit hopeful, don’t you think? This late in September.”

“You can still have hot days in September.”

He sucks at his teeth and sniffs. “Shall we settle in?”

*****

As my Master unloads suitcases, I race around the house, exploring. Everything is beautiful. Everything is…

Perfect…

Upstairs, a suitcase in either hand, he nods me to a door. “I assume you’ll want to sleep in the Master bedroom.” Something in his tone makes me double-take to his expression. Mischief lurks behind a bland expression. Following his gaze, I open the door for him and step inside.

It’s a gorgeous room, not that I expect anything less now. Thick carpets. Walls in eggshell cream. Matching wardrobes, dressing table and drawers, all in beautiful french-polished timber.

A basket chair hangs from the ceiling, overlooking the panorama outside. I pause in mid-step, eyeing the ceiling hook speculatively before being drawn back to the main feature…

A four-poster bed…

And it's huge.