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.”