Ash
decided he liked holding hands. OK, so their height difference meant his
shoulder ached after about twenty minutes, and he had to go for the alternative
of wrapping his arm around her back so they could show off their couple like
status, but he definitely liked the whole togetherness thing. They explored the
banks of the river Scheldt first, then some of the older parts of the city,
stopping to enjoy a round of Bolleke, an amber beer from the local De Koninck
Brewery—he only knew because he read it off the bottle label—at a congenial
antiquated bruin café full of grizzled locals. The best part of the experience
being that nobody bothered them. Sure, he caught a few glances, he was a good
looking guy and Ginny was an absolute bombshell, but most of those looks were
from ladies his mum’s age, obviously appreciating the signs of young love. Not
a single blessed fan girl came at him with their arms outstretched, and he
wasn’t obliged to sign anything for the whole afternoon other than a debit card
receipt. It was absolute bliss.
All
right, so he wouldn’t want to live like this all of the time. He knew he was an
attention junky, but as an afternoon of normalcy went, it rated pretty well.
‘I
suppose I’m going to have to give you back soon,’ Ginny moaned as she consulted
the tourist information leaflet she’d picked up from a stand inside the
café-bar. That’s a shame, it might have been nice to go and check out Rubens
house. The artist,’ she clarified, in response to his puzzled look. ‘He lived
here. His house looks gorgeous,’ she showed him a picture.
‘We
might not have time for that, but we should have time to do something else
Antwerp is famous for.’
‘What’s
that?’ she asked.
Ash
turned over the leaflet she held. ‘Let’s go shopping.’
‘Shopping?’
She stared at the square box that he tapped his finger against, which show a
single exquisitely cut diamond. ‘Ash, you’re not serious.’
‘What
else would we go shopping for in the diamond capital of the world? Maybe I can
buy you something sparkly to wear in my favourite intimate piercing.’
Her
eyes widened; they caught the sun and glittered like diamonds, or at least two
spectacular pieces of golden jade. ‘I hardly think they sell that type of
jewellery.’
‘Oh,
I don’t know, I bet they do. I can’t be the only man on the planet that
appreciates sparkly things in sparkly places.’
‘I
don’t remember my pussy being covered in fairy dust.’
‘No,
but it makes me feel as if I’m covered in fairy dust when I’m fucking it.’ She
prodded him in the elbow to silence him, but he knew she liked it when he was
crude. It turned her on. Hey, it turned him on too.
It
didn’t take long to find the specialist diamond dealers among the mediaeval
streets. Ginny snatched the sunglasses off Ash’s nose as they peeped in through
the window, and put them on herself.
‘You
remember those aren’t mine,’ Ash reminded her.
‘Yeah,
but I don’t mind you getting the blame for having half inched them, and I think
I might need something to help obliterate the price tags so I don’t faint. You
honestly want to do this?’
‘Yeah.
Now, serious face on, and make like we’re totally in love or something and
we’re shopping for an engagement ring.’
***
If
he actually made her try on engagement rings she was going to have ruddy heart
attack. Not that she wouldn’t be thrilled and flattered, and a whole lot of
other things, but no. Just no. Not yet. It was way too soon. For Christ’s sakes
he wouldn’t even acknowledge their relationship publically, and there were
reasons she’d have to turn him down that she really didn’t want to get into.
Ginny
stayed as close to Ash as she could get as they ventured inside the shop. This
sort of high-end boutique always made her feel like she was a speck of lint on
the floor, so much so that she actually found it difficult to admire the items
for what they were. Ash, bastard that he was, cooed over things with eye
melting price tags and actually made her try things on. Ginny decided he just
liked making the assistants’ hearts flutter. They got a kind of crazed looks in
their eyes whenever he inspected a particularly pretty rock. Hopefully they
were thinking about the commission they’d make and not how much they’d like to
do him.
‘Seen
anything you like?’ he asked.
She
shook her head.
‘What
we’re really after his a J-curved diamond tipped barbell.’
He was
a devil. An absolute stinking fiend. The assistant, bless her, gaped at him
obviously clueless.
‘Case
233,’ remarked the manager, sending the assistant off to fetch it with a flick
of her wrist. She returned a moment or two later, with a small display case
that she unlocked.
‘I
like this one,’ he said, tugging her closer. ‘What about you?’
‘Ash,
don’t. This isn’t necessary.’ She tightened her fingers around his fore-arm.
‘It’s too much for something that tiny that nobody’s ever gonna see.’
‘I’ll
see it.’ He quirked his eyebrows significantly. ‘And what’s the point in having
money if you can’t spend it on making the people you care about smile.’
‘You
bought me beer and cake. I’m happy with that. If you want to spend money, buy
your mum a gift.’
‘I’m
not sure she’d know what to do with this,’ he said, holding the piece aloft.’
He smiled at the shop assistant. ‘It’s exquisite.’
‘Ash,’
Ginny squeaked, but her protest fell on deaf ears. He was already reaching for
his wallet.
He
leaned close to her and moved her hair away from her ear so that he could
whisper into it. ‘Accept it, say thanks, and you can fuck me outside round the
corner if you feel you need to express any more gratitude than that.’
‘We’ll
take it,’ he told the assistant. He left Ginny starring at the glittering
asscher cut diamond while he settled the bill.
Suggested reading order:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Madelynne
Ellis is a New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of erotic romance.
Her novels and short stories have been published by a variety of houses
including HarperCollins, Harlequin and Random House, and have been translated
into several languages. She lives in the UK, not far from the Welsh border with
her partner of 20 + years, their two adorable children, and a crazy cavachon
puppy. Madelynne drinks decaf out of preference, and has a healthy obsession
with a certain Japanese rock star. Her aim is to deliver scorching, character-driven
stories that enchant, torment and don’t shy from darker aspects of life.
0 comments:
Post a Comment