by Rose, taylor
“I guess it is a good idea. She’s a long way from the living area up here, isn‘t she? This is a reasonable sized house……for a weekender” Brandon said with a smile.
“I more think of it as a humpy” this was said as they headed for the door. The other two dogs made themselves at home on the top of the stairs.
“I’d hate to know what your version of a house is then.” He said with a small laugh.
Sophia led Brandon into the library which was just at the bottom of the stairs. “Well, I now know where the British National Library has been relocated.” he said as he looked around the room.
“Yes there is one or two books in here. Would you like a drink?”
“Actually I would love a beer. Do you want one? I’ll go get them if you like.” Brandon offered. Just then there was a soft knock on the opened door. Brandon turned to see who it was but Sophia didn’t turn around just saying “Yes, Harold come in”
“I thought you would like one of these each.” he offered each of the rooms occupants the beers he was carrying as he entered the room.
“Thank you Harold.” was a slightly disbelieving answer from Brandon.
“My Lady, would that be all for the night? “ Harold asked
“Yes, of course, you shouldn’t still be up trying to look after me. Please call it a night and thank you.”
Harold left the room. Brandon turned to Sophia “Is this room bugged?”
She giggled “No, that’s just Harold. He seems to have an amazing ability to just know what I need often moments before I know it myself. I love him dearly, he’s been more like a father than a butler, especially over the last few years.” She took a seat and opened the drink.
Brandon sat down opposite her and also opened his drink. “OK, question time”
“We are not in Parliament you know” Sophia said and she put her socked feet up on an ottoman. “But only if I get to ask you question for question” and as an afterthought she said “and you have to answer me truthfully”. There was a thought that this man while appearing as open seemed to be hiding something. This may be an excellent opportunity to find out some details.
Damn, he thought he had a chance to ask some probing questions but she had managed to tighten that up. He was an honest person so why did he feel reluctant to tell her too much about himself. Was it because this was his third day of feeling free? He could feel himself returning back to being just that, himself? He had enjoyed his time here immensely and couldn’t remember laughing so much as in these past few days.
“Me first then” Brandon jumped in.
“What? No ladies first?” Sophia asked with a smile raising an eyebrow in his direction.
“No. I am much more important, so my question first” this was said with a very cute smile creeping across his face.
“Well nothing like a bit of ego. Go ahead” Sophia said then took a sip of her drink.
“OK what is this hunt about?”
She turned towards him in her chair “I can see you’re not liking the idea.”
“No not really, I am a bit of a tree hugging greeny and I really don’t like the idea of a pack of hounds and people on horseback chasing a little fox around a paddock.” Brandon thought that this could be a dangerous subject matter. He might well look wimpy and soft but it really went against his morals.
“You are passionate about this, aren’t you?” asked Sophia. She realized she was stringing him along but from a man who looked so powerful it was different to see his concern about an unknown fox.
“Alright, I’ll relief you of your misery. There will be a hunt here on Saturday morning as there has been for the last three and a half centuries.” This caused his face to harden. “There will be hounds following a scent and hopefully lots of riders and horses.”
“This is supposed to relief me of my misery?” Brandon cut in. Now he was starting to really show his annoyance.
“Every year on this weekend a hunt has been held from Glen Dorking Estate. I like traditions but that doesn’t mean that you can’t change some of the details. So on Saturday morning when they all take off across the paddocks, hounds out front looking to follow a scent, you will note that there will be a rather tall streak of a male University student dressed in white who is given about 30mins head start. He is our fox.” The relief on Brandon’s face was almost comical. “He has a set out track to follow that only certain members of the organizing committee and the runner know and no matter where he runs. This year the hunt will stop at the top village for a drink stop then the hunt will end up at the appropriately named Fox & Hound Inn in the bottom village, where most if not all the riders usually have too much to drink and then either stay in the area or come back up here. Some camp in their lorries and some stay here in the house. Others stay in the out houses, or other accommodation around the area. It is usually a very good little money spinner for the two villages and for a lot of the community groups it is one of the two biggest fundraiser for the year.”
“How many riders are there?”
“Oh this year with all the fine weather we’ll probably have about three hundred riders in attendance and then there are the spectators as well”
“Hell that sounds like quite a turn out.”
“It is”
Silence took over for a moment. Sophia could see the information sinking in. She was trying to work out what question she would like to ask him. Suddenly Brandon stood. He took her free hand and pulled her to her feet. Before she could offer an objection he was kissing her. Again she was taken through such a range of emotions. Surprise was the first that she recognized. He was holding onto her tightly and she realized that her response to him was immediate. She was giving this kiss all of her attention. His tongue was playing havoc inside her mouth. She always thought that it would be an intrusion to have this happen but it was causing certain sections of her body to react. She felt her nipples tightening underneath her shirt and a very strange feeling was running across her lower abdomen, her legs were struggling to hold her up. It was overwhelming her. She put her hand on his chest and could feel his heart which seemed to match her own. This did nothing to help, only compounding the sensations running through her. When he pulled her into him she could feel his maleness. The whole thing was somewhat terrifying. She didn’t know what to do with him but it felt so natural. It was as if they had kissed thousands of times before yet was still so new. It was very confusing. He was a man who obviously had a lot of experience at this but she was adrift in a sea of unknown. His lips and mouth were soft and tender, almost loving. He seemed to be in complete control of what was going on. A moment of great recklessness took over Sophia’s whole body. She pushed in towards him and tried to show Brandon that she could give as good as he was giving. She couldn’t believe the reaction her body was experiencing. Her nipples were straining against her shirt and unexpectedly tender. Her breasts were suddenly heavy and she could feel a level of moisture between her legs that was alarming. Sophia found that her hands were holding Brandon’s head and pulling him down to her. Drawing all that she could out of this kiss. Her legs very nearly let her down. A very soft groan escaped for her lips at exactly the same time as a groan left Brandon’s throat. At this, Sophia’s legs gave way.
Brandon had thought that he had experienced every sort of kiss going in the last decade or so. Let’s face it kissing is kissing and there really isn’t that much you can do to vary it. How wrong can you be, you idiot!!! He was holding his own until Sophia entwined her hands in his hair and drew him down then knocked it up a gear. He thought he was going to explode out of his shorts. At exactly the same instance they both groaned. Thank goodness they were holding onto each other so tightly because Sophia’s legs gave way. Brandon managed to keep his feet, just.
Sophia has never been so embarrassed in her entire life. Never. She was acting like a hungry teenager. Good God, what was she thinking? She had pushed herself onto this man and then nearly pulled him over onto herself as her legs collaps
ed.
She instantly broke the contact of their lips and couldn’t bring herself to look him in the face. She could feel the color rising on her face. How could she embarrass herself like this? He was charming and downright beautiful and probably very used to having women falling at his feet and now she had just added her name to this list of eager women. Oh, No was her silent cry. Her whole body was burning and if she was honest it wasn’t just from embarrassment. Every cell of her being was screaming for her to go back to touching him. Her heart was beating out of her chest but she was still overwhelmingly embarrassed.
He could see that a wall had gone up around Sophia. She couldn’t look at him, there was a beautiful flush on her face and it made her look stunningly vulnerable. But something had happened and Brandon wasn’t too sure what it all meant. Sophia’s hand was still on his chest surely she could feel what she had just done to him. He felt like he had run up and down the drive several times. His heart was racing and it was hard to breath. Brandon put one of his hands over her hand on his chest and said in an unsteady voice. “Please, don’t pull away from me”
This made Sophia look up instantly. A very bad idea as she was now looking into those brown eyes. She realized that he looked as confused and a little frightened. Just as she felt and for the life of her she had no idea why he would look so concerned. Surely she was just another woman. Sophia was aware that her title as Lady was an attraction to some men, but she was also aware that she was not really anything special. At 34 she was a single mother, with not only the huge responsibility of rearing a little girl on her own but a large group of people she had become fond of over the years. How could she possibly think that this man who seemed to not have a care in the world would be remotely interested in her? No, Sophia thought, this was probably nothing more than a holiday fling to him. It was important to recognize this fact.
“I should go” Brandon said aloud but finished the sentence silently, before I take you upstairs and show you what you are doing to me.
Sophia couldn’t find her voice so she just nodded in agreement. As the front door closed, silent tears ran down her face. He had just confirmed in her mind that he really was not that interested in her. With a shrug of her shoulders Sophia resigned herself to her life which was clearly not ever going to have a true love or even a passionate love affair. This made her even sadder as the information settled into her mind. With this Sophia had a shower and cried herself to sleep.
On the walk down the driveway Brandon found himself experiencing something he never thought was possible. I think I am falling in love with this woman, he thought. The idea hit him like a lightning strike. Followed by an equally strong surprise……that thought didn’t terrify him. It should have, shouldn’t it? He had spent his entire life avoiding getting too involved with any woman in order to avoid this feeling. Yet here he was, feeling a foreign emotion for a woman he barely knew. Somehow knowing that it was completely natural to feel this way about Lady Sophia. This posed another problem. What the hell was he going to do about it?
Chapter Ten
Thursday
As Brandon ran up the driveway the next morning he was still pondering his dilemma. How was he going to handle this new found revelation? The concept that there was something he was unsure about was in its own way greatly satisfying. True he felt as though he was floundering in uncharted waters, which scared him half to death but by the same token this was so new to him. He was in love. He confirmed it when he woke up this morning. The thought was firmly concreted in both his head and his heart. Brandon had not been this excited in his life. As he stopped in his usual spot trying to catch his breath he couldn’t wait for Sophia to come out the door. As the minutes past Brandon started to think that there was something wrong. He was just about to move towards the back door when it opened and the dogs launched themselves off the steps followed closely by Lilly who ran up and gave him a quick hug and today he received a lovely little girl kiss on the check before she ran off in hot pursuit of the rampaging canines, giggling uncontrollably. It all seemed normal enough, until his eyes locked onto Sophia. Her eyes were red and Brandon knew she had not slept well last night. This was not good and combined with the fact that she would not look at him. Brandon’s heart sank. A distressing thought came to him, maybe this was a one way street.
Sophia watched him running up the drive with mixed emotions. If she was honest a large part of her was thrilled to watch the man move. How could anyone be so sexy? But then the realization that he probably wasn’t really that interested in her hit home. She had already experienced a loveless relationship and was not going there again, no matter what she felt when she saw Brandon. She knew that her eyes were still showing signs of the crying she did last night and compounded with the lack of sleep, she looked exhausted and drawn and not at all her best.
Sophia knew that she couldn’t hide inside the kitchen forever. Trying to put on a brave face she opened the door, went outside and tried to look like she didn’t have a care in the world and knew she failed dismally.
It was a beautiful sunny day and the gardens were really starting to take shape. So much work and planning had gone into them that Sophia knew she should be extremely happy with the handiwork but today she felt despondent and miserable. And the main cause of those feelings was working alongside of her playing the strong, silent type. He had not said too much today but she caught him looking at her from time to time with an unreadable look on his face. This day needed to end soon and Sophia needed to get some sleep if she was to get through the weekend playing the part of Hostess for the Hunters.
Sophia had the excuse to go back to the Manor house to check that all was being prepared for the Saturday Hunt. There was so much to do. The stables needed to be prepared. The parts of the house that were being used needed to be dusted and beds made. Luckily, any number of people were there to help out and Harold was in complete control, as usual. So truth be told, Sophia was feeling a little useless and unwanted. So she went back up to the gardens.
At the end of the day, Brandon tentatively grabbed her hand before she walked inside. She turned towards him and before she could speak Brandon said “I am not coming inside. Don’t read too much into that…..I just have someone I have made arrangements to meet tonight. I know that everyone is getting ready for the arrivals tomorrow and not working on the garden but I will be here at the usual time to help you out tomorrow. I‘m enjoying playing lackey”
Sophia was about to tell him that she didn’t need him here tomorrow but he put his finger on her lips and she felt as though she was going to melt against his hand. All he said was “Shih, please don’t tell me not to come.” With that he started to jog down the drive.
Inside the kitchen, Agnes turned from the stove and raised an enquiring eyebrow. “Is Brandon, joining you for dinner, I’ve cooked enough for him?”
Sophia tried to sound natural, bright and breezy but she knew her voice sounded flat as she said “No, he had something else to do.”
“Oh,” Agnes turned back towards the stove. Sophia was wondering who he was meeting. Was it another woman? Who was she? Sophia was starting to feel really anxious. At that moment Lilly came bursting through the door and the evening was taken up with books, baths, dinner and bed.
Sheer exhaustion forced Sophia to get a good night’s sleep but it didn’t stop her from wondering why Brandon didn’t come in for dinner and where he was at that moment, and if he was alone tonight. The only logical conclusion she came up with was that he was trying to politely extract himself from a nightly ritual that he was now not interested in and was trying to do this with as much grace, on her behalf, as possible.
Chapter Eleven
FRIDAY
Friday morning was busy, not with gardening but Brandon still found himself on the end of a gardening tool just the same. He was given the job of preparing the horse stalls with straw for the impending equine arrivals to take up residence. He was fast coming to the conclusion that horses were hard
work. The thought that, at least, he was putting clean straw in and not cleaning it, and other material, out of the stable, gave him some cause for amusement. The whole property was abuzz with activity today. It would appear that this was going to be a big event. He had heard that the upper crust would have drinks and dinner here tonight and that it was quite formal. Only the English would continue such stringent formal procedures, he thought. Perhaps he was thinking these thoughts purely because he had not been invited. Not that he needed to mix with this crowd, he had some very influential friends but it still made him feel left out. His rather irregular mood was not being helped by the fact that he had not seen Sophia all day; she was busy inside the house. It was nearly lunch time and he was feeling……what exactly? He couldn’t tell……desperate, lonely, and needy. This could not be happening, not to him.
Harold was overseeing all the arrangements for tonight and he was in his element. This was his one event of the year to really shine and he was taking full advantage of it. Sophia knew that she could have walked out the door and left Harold with it. She was tempted to do just that. She knew where Brandon was. He was just outside, not that far away…….No stop that thought.
