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Hi there! All of my stories are written to provide a slow but satisfying build. If you are looking for hot sex, straight out of the traps, this is probably not for you :-)
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Kimberley and Tom's solemn wedding vows had taken place earlier in the day, amidst a flurry of confetti, white lace, top hats and seemingly never-ending smiles for the photographer. However, once the evening celebrations commenced, their gathering slowly descended into a raucous, but much more enjoyable party. The happy couple sat at the top table, chatting with Trudy, Emma and Daniel, although they found themselves forced to use increasingly raised voices, in an attempt to communicate with each other over the heavy beat of the music and general frivolity.
Emma was happily sipping her orange juice and trying not to gaze too dreamily at Daniel who sat beside her. Weddings always made Emma feel a little melancholy, forcing her to appreciate how exceptionally lucky she was to be married to the only man she had ever desired; how many people could admit to that? Gazing at him now, her stomach turned over with excitement.
In recent weeks, she had noticed a significant change in Daniel. He was so gentle and tender when they made love now, happy to cuddle and stroke her body for hours if she wasn't in the mood for sex and rushing around as though she was an infinitely fragile rose on a windy day. Smiling, Emma supposed that their secret which was steadily growing inside of her could easily have a profound effect on anybody, especially one with such mixed emotions about his own childhood. Instinctively, Emma knew Daniel had no cause for concern. He might well be slightly over-protective at first, but Daniel had all the makings of being a magnificent father and she knew the baby growing inside of her had a thoroughly blessed childhood ahead of it, brimming with toys, cuddles, spoiling and being loved beyond comprehension.
'Thank you again for being my best man,' grinned Tom. 'You did a grand job. Although I still can't believe you told everyone the story about me having to be rescued by the fire brigade when I got stuck up that tree! That has definitely damaged my street cred!'
'You're welcome mate,' laughed Daniel. 'I had to repay the favour anyway. And from memory, the stories you told at our wedding, when you were my best man, were much worse than that! Although admittedly, memories of that evening are a little hazy.'
'Alcohol-immersed you mean? Who'd have thought our lives would turn out this happy,' grinned a rather drunken Tom. 'When we were kids. Would you ever have imagined we'd both marry the girls of our dreams.' Daniel smiled supportively at his friend.
'No, Tom. I'd never have imagined we could be this lucky.'
'Oh please!' groaned Trudy, half-smiling at her big brother. 'Do stop before I vomit!'
'Spoilsport,' slurred Tom. 'Let me enjoy my special day!'
'I still can't believe both Daniel and I thought to give you a horse as a wedding present,' smiled Kimberley, stroking Tom's muscled shoulder. 'Great minds obviously think alike.'
'Great loaded minds,' muttered Trudy to herself, standing up and wandering towards the bar, in search of refuge.
'I've still never heard of a bride giving the groom a present on their wedding day,' complained Tom. Kimberley ruffled his hair lovingly and smiled.
'Well, I like to fly in the face of tradition,' she grinned.
'You could have warned me,' complained Tom. 'I didn't get you a present.'
'If I've got you, then there's nothing else I need,' giggled Kimberley.
'Kimberley!' said a stern, elderly woman positively dripping with diamonds. 'We're going to make a move. It's far too loud for us.'
'Aunt Beatrice, Uncle Harold,' said Kimberley without smiling. 'It was good of you to join us.'
'And congratulations to you, young man,' added Uncle Harold, nodding wryly at Tom. 'You've done very well for yourself, marrying into this family.' Kimberley put her hand on Tom's arm and sat up very straight.
'Meaning?' she asked in an icy tone.
'Well, you're a very rich woman, Kimberley,' explained Aunt Beatrice, as though speaking to a stupid child.
'Hang on!' exclaimed Tom. 'That has nothing to do with me falling in love with Kimberley!'
'I don't expect you to understand,' smiled Kimberley sweetly. 'But it's actually I who have done the best out of this arrangement. You see,' she whispered conspiratorially. 'Tom here is an absolute sensation in the sack.'
'Well I say!' shrieked Aunt Beatrice, storming away from the top table and out of the room, a red-faced Uncle Harold hot on her heels.
'You shouldn't have said that,' grinned Tom, trying to ignore Daniel's uncontrollable laughter beside him.
'Well, it's true!' giggled Kimberley. 'And I can't stand people making assumptions about us. I thought I'd give them something else to think about. Trying to suggest you've married me for my money is a bit old hat now. I'm just going to catch up with Jane,' she added, pointing to her friend on Anadolu Yakası Escort a nearby table and dropping a kiss on Tom's head as she went.
'That's what everyone's thinking, isn't it?' sighed Tom quietly. 'That I'm a gold digger, marrying Kimberley for her money.'
'Of course not,' replied Emma. 'Don't be silly. And anyway, anybody who knows you is still reeling from the fact that you marched up to Kimberley's parents to ask their permission to marry their daughter whilst in the same breath insisting on a pre-nuptial agreement.'
'I wanted to try and protect us from these small-minded comments,' said Tom sadly. 'And I wanted them to appreciate how much I love their daughter for who she is, not for what she might give me. I will not be a kept man. I'm going to make my own living, despite having a rich wife.'
'Don't worry about it, mate,' said Daniel, slapping Tom on the back. 'At the end of the day, it's nobody's business but your own. And the people who matter to you know the truth. Everybody else can go screw themselves.'
'Hmph!' grunted Tom. 'I need another drink! Wine?' he offered, picking up an open bottle of red from the table. Both Daniel and Emma shook their heads.
'Don't tell me I'm drinking alone!' grumbled Tom.
'Sorry, mate,' said Daniel. I'm on the wagon until after the Olympics and my supportive wife is joining me. Emma rose from the table and Daniel automatically stood up with her.
'I'm just going to join Trudy on the dance floor,' she explained, concerned that Daniel's behaviour may give their secret away, before they were willing to share it. 'I'll be fine.'
Daniel sat back down and carefully monitored Emma's progress across the dance floor.
'I still can't believe I'm married to the girl of my dreams and I suddenly own two very classy horses,' sighed Tom, raising his champagne glass towards Daniel. 'Cheers mate, but that wedding present was way too generous, even by your standards!'
'Nonsense,' argued Daniel. 'You're my best friend. As close as any brother. God, when I look back at everything you've done for me throughout my life. Plus, Kintana was never going to be an international showjumper, but with you on board, he's got a very good chance of becoming a world-class event horse.'
For some time, their conversation revolved around their horses and the excellent advancement Tom was making with his career, progressing in the world of three-day eventing. After they ran out of steam, a companionable silence fell over them for a short time.
'I heard Trudy's broken up with that numpty, Simon,' murmured Daniel, staring out at the dance floor where Emma and Trudy, in matching pale blue silk bridesmaid dresses, were swaying around the floor giggling.
'Please don't suggest we set her up with anybody else,' replied Tom. 'It was mostly our fault she got together with him in the first place. I'm not making that mistake again.'
'No, I agree. We need to keep out of it,' sighed Daniel. 'But I would so love her to be happy and settled like the rest of us are now. She's been really miserable recently.'
'What's this?' asked Kimberley, re-joining their conversation, sitting down on Tom's knee and kissing him on the nose. 'Hello again beautiful husband,' she added.
'Trudy,' smiled Tom. 'She'd love to settle down and all she manages to meet are tossers.'
'Fear not! I have a cunning plan!' grinned Kimberley, with perhaps one too many glasses of champagne inside her. 'Once we're back from honeymoon, we are going to throw lots of dinner parties and find her a rich man!'
'I don't think she wants a rich one,' smiled Daniel. 'Just a decent one.'
'Well, he'll be that too!' replied Kimberley expansively. 'If it wasn't our wedding day, I'd be setting her up right now. There are plenty of eligible men here in this room!'
'Hey! How about you stop worrying about the eligibility of the men at your own wedding,' smiled Tom, gently tipping Kimberley off his knee and standing. 'And concentrate on dancing with this highly eligible husband you've managed to ensnare.'
'Deal,' giggled Kimberley. Leaving a chuckling Daniel on his own, she led Tom onto the dancefloor.
************
'Look at poor Daniel,' giggled Trudy in Emma's ear. 'He couldn't be giving off much clearer *quot;Leave me alone, I'm really not interested*quot; signals!' Emma glanced across at her husband and smiled. Although he was now a much more open, happy and trusting person than he'd once been, Daniel still shied away from any form of physical contact with women other than herself and their very closest friends. Unfortunately, he was unwittingly rather a target for attractive single women looking for a partner. Daniel had always struggled to deal with the adoration that a combination of his celebrity and incredible looks naturally generated.
'Oh no!' laughed Trudy, pointing at the gorgeous blonde in an extremely low-cut dress who had now sat down next to Daniel and was leaning dangerously close to him. 'I think I recognise her. That one might Anadolu Yakası Escort Bayan be my fault.'
'What did you do?' admonished Emma playfully.
'I met her in the loos. Sylvia, I think her name was. She was asking me about *quot;the best man*quot;. I told her that I'd heard he was planning to take one of the bridesmaids home with him tonight,' grinned Trudy. 'From the looks of her, she's hell bent on seducing him away from us!'
'I'd better go and rescue him,' sighed Emma, seeing Daniel lean away from the woman as far as he was physically capable of doing, without falling off his chair. 'He looks awfully uncomfortable.'
'Don't you dare tell him I sent her over!' exclaimed Trudy. 'I get more than enough torment from your dear husband as it is!'
'What do you expect? You've become the sister he never had. Plus, you definitely give as good as you get,' laughed Emma as she turned and made her way to the top table.
Alone on the dance floor, Trudy was just about to head for the bar when a tall, elegant man approached her and smiled.
'Hi,' he said. 'I'm Charles.'
'Hi Charles. I'm Trudy.'
'Would you like to dance?' he enquired.
'Sure,' she agreed. Now that she was single again, Trudy realised she could dance with whoever she wished. A flash of sadness passed over her with the realisation that the only person she wanted to be dancing with was Simon. They revolved around the dance floor to the music, occasionally smiling shyly at each other.
At the end of the dance, Charles leant towards her, to enable him to speak over the dull thud of the next track starting. In his hand was a mobile phone which he held up to show her.
'I think there's something wrong with my phone,' said Charles. 'Because it doesn't seem to have your number in it.' Trudy giggled. As chat up lines went, it was pretty cringeworthy, but he was cute enough for her to forgive him that. Reeling off her number, she suddenly felt like she needed to put some distance between them.
'I've just got to go and check on my friend,' explained Trudy.
'Perhaps you would do me the honour of sharing a second dance later?' smiled Charles. Trudy smiled and nodded, a flash of optimism passing through her for the first time since she broke up with Simon. Perhaps the end of their relationship didn't have to signify the end of her entire future happiness after all. Maybe there were decent, honest men out there who were interested in her, not just what they could get.
Returning to the top table, Trudy observed a wedding party in full flow. She smiled to see her brother flinging Kimberley around the dance floor like a maniac; Tom's approach to dancing had always been much more heavily dependent on enthusiasm as opposed to technique. Away from the masses, in one corner, Emma and Daniel were swaying together, occasionally kissing. They looked like a couple so deeply in love, with Daniel's arms protectively holding Emma from the revellers. The sight of them caused Trudy's breath to catch in her throat. Would she ever be loved so completely as her best friend was? Would she ever be loved at all? With tears starting to sting her eyes, Trudy quickly stood up and headed hastily for the French doors and out into the cool night air. This was her beloved brother's wedding and she had to get a grip.
For a short time, Trudy wandered aimlessly around the walled garden of the venue taking deep breaths and trying to control her emotions. She was trying desperately hard not to pity herself but couldn't help but feel at an all-time low. Her boyfriend, make that her ex-boyfriend, had turned out to be a complete wanker and her closest friends and family were all happily paired up and ridiculously in love. Feeling like such a bad person for admitting it, Trudy acknowledged that seeing them all tonight made her feel thoroughly depressed and even more lonely than ever. Just then, a couple's conversation came drifting over from the other side of the wall.
'Actually, I think there must be something wrong with my phone because it doesn't seem to have your number in it.' Trudy went cold as a woman's laughter echoed across the garden.
'That's not very original,' she replied.
'No, it's not very fucking original at all!' snarled Trudy loudly. It was that bastard, Charles. Using exactly the same chat up line again, only minutes after he'd used it on her. In shock, Trudy started to stride away from the party and into the silent shadows at the far end of the property. God, she was so stupid! Why did she always fall for such total tosspots? Finding a dark corner edged with a semi-circle of benches at a distance far enough away that she could be confident of privacy, she slumped down onto a seat. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she quietly started to sob.
************
'Hey,' said a gentle voice a little while later. 'Are you okay?' Shocked that she was no longer alone, Trudy quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and looked up. Without realising it, her sobs had probably been getting increasingly Escort Anadolu Yakası noisy.
'I'm fine, thank you,' she hiccupped. In the weak moonlit shadows, she could just about make out the silhouette of a tall man approaching her, hands thrust into his pockets. His voice sounded kind, deep, confident and very proper. Trudy would have also added trustworthy to that list, but she had zero confidence in her ability to identify that characteristic any longer.
'You don't sound it,' he said and Trudy could identify a smile in his voice. Sitting down on the bench across from her, he stretched his legs out in front of him and sighed. 'Do you need to talk? I'm a good listener.'
'Really, I'm okay. I'm just feeling a bit sorry for myself, that's all.'
'I'm Eddie,' he said, by way of an introduction. 'And you are...?'
'Trudy,' she sniffed, trying to bring her tears under control. 'Trudy Williams.'
'It's lovely to meet you Trudy Williams,' he murmured, pulling a clean, ironed handkerchief out from his suit and handing it across to her. 'Now, come on. Spill.'
'I'm just cross with myself,' she sighed, dabbing her face with the soft linen. 'I've pretty much decided I should take a vow of celibacy and steer clear of men altogether!'
'That's a co-incidence. Me too,' grinned Eddie. 'What's happened?' Trudy didn't respond immediately, but rather just tried to stem her tears and control her gulping breath. At length, she spoke.
'I've recently left my long-term boyfriend because I found out he was cheating on me,' she said quietly. Admitting the truth out loud actually caused a physical pain in her chest and she paused momentarily whilst it passed, before continuing. 'Then earlier today, I got chatted up by a bloke on the dance floor, who I thought was cute. Just a few minutes later, I heard him with another girl out in the garden, using the exact same line. Verbatim.'
'I'm sorry,' replied Eddie soberly.
'I guess I just shouldn't trust my instincts,' said Trudy sadly. 'They haven't done me many favours in my life. The only good things I have are my friends and family but they're all happily paired up and in love now. I just feel awfully lonely.'
'Well, it sounds as though your instincts have served you well in the past, by helping you select wonderful friends,' said Eddie seriously. 'Perhaps you should stop worrying about finding 'the one' and concentrate on building friendships first. Maybe that's where your strengths lie?'
'You might have something there,' snuffled Trudy. 'Thank you.'
'My pleasure. So,' continued Eddie. 'Bride or Groom?'
'Groom,' replied Trudy with a weak smile. 'He's my brother.'
'Ah, fantastic, congratulations,' smiled Eddie. 'Tom seems like a great bloke.'
'Yeah, he's the best,' nodded Trudy. 'How about you?'
'I'm a friend of the Bride's. Or more accurately, the Bride's parents, although Kimberley and I have met at a few functions.'
'A function is just a posh word for a party, isn't it?' smiled Trudy.
'Pretty much,' chucked Eddie. 'Although usually a lot less fun than a party. Forgive me for asking,' he said after a slight pause. 'But what was the chat-up line that the loser used?'
'It was a classic,' smiled Trudy sadly.
'Ah good, I was hoping it would be because I'm producing a little collection of them and am planning to self-publish a book in due course. If you share it with me, I can add this one in.'
'I insist on being mentioned in the acknowledgements,' joked Trudy.
'Of course. That goes without saying,' he replied smoothly.
'In that case,' said Trudy, 'he said there must be something wrong with his phone because it didn't have my number in it.'
'That is fairly awful!' groaned Eddie, and through the shadows, Trudy could see him shaking his head.
'Yes, it is,' giggled Trudy. 'Although, pathetically, it didn't seem so bad at the time. So, come on. If you're writing a book, you must have a whole host of better ones?'
'Absolutely,' laughed Eddie. 'How about *quot;Hi I'm Mr Right. Somebody said you were looking for me?*quot;'
Trudy tittered loudly.
'Alternatively, *quot;Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again*quot;'
'My best friend Emma once had a bloke say to her 'Are you going to kiss me or do I have to lie to my diary?'
'Brilliant!' laughed Eddie. 'That one is definitely going in.'
'She also had somebody say 'Well, here I am. What about your other two wishes?'
'Poor girl!' chuckled Eddie. 'It doesn't sound like she's had very much luck with the men she's met.'
'Don't feel too sorry for her,' said Trudy wryly. 'She's more than made up for it recently.'
'Well, perhaps you could tell her to look out for what has to be my all-time favourite chat up line.'
'Which is?' asked Trudy.
'Excuse me, but does this smell like chloroform to you?'
Both Eddie and Trudy burst out laughing and once they started, they each found they couldn't stop. Tears began to run from Trudy's eyes and she was forced to tightly grasp her stomach muscles which ached desperately. The more she tried to stop laughing, the funnier the situation became. At length, they both managed to control their hilarity and simply sat in companionable silence, until Trudy's intrigue finally got the better of her.