Wicked Game

by Michelle Betham

  “Will you be leaving Stavanger?”

  “I may have to leave, for a while, that’s why I need you to make sure Bill and Fredrick are kept in the loop.”

  Her expression changes to curious, but she won’t ask any more questions. She knows the score. I tell her what she needs to know, enough for her to be able to deal with things in my absence, and I’ve been absent more than usual lately, having only just returned from a business trip to Bergen. Things are a little crazy right now, that’s all. They’ll settle down soon.

  “That’s all, Hayley. And you can head off home now, there’s nothing needs doing here that can’t wait until tomorrow.”

  She returns my smile and leaves, closing the door behind her.

  I drop my gaze, staring down at the dark grey carpet, reaching into my inside pocket as the phone rings again. Word’s already out, it never does take long. And once that happens, things move fast.

  Smiling to myself, I walk over to the floor-to-ceiling windows, sliding a hand into my pocket as I answer the call. One of many to come, as is always the case.

  “Hey, Carson. I take it you’ll be there on Friday …?”

  Five

  We hadn’t planned on driving all the way to Stavanger. But Astrid – Noah’s sister – she had a photography assignment she desperately needed to finish in time, one her editor had thrust upon her at the last minute, which left her unable to make the trip to Bergen for Noah’s party. So, we’ve come to her, there’s no need for her to make that trip now, the party’s over. Besides, Stavanger is such a beautiful place, I’m glad we’ve had the chance to visit again.

  Astrid and her husband Nils live in an almost picture-perfect white board house on a cobbled street in the old part of Stavanger, with colourful window boxes, hanging baskets and pots of flowers and shrubs outside. I often wonder if it would have been the kind of house we could have had – Noah and I – if we’d opted to stay here in Norway. It’s idyllic, like something out of a fairytale, but that’s why I like coming here. It’s so far away from our life back in England. So far away from everything, and I like that feeling of being disconnected from reality, almost. For a little while.

  “Are you sure you don’t mind Astrid taking me out tonight?” I ask Noah as I pull on high-heeled ankle boots, heels just high enough to make me almost his height.

  “Why would I mind? Me and Nils are going to watch football, drink beer and talk menu ideas.”

  “You’re so rock and roll,” I sigh, rolling my eyes, and he laughs, which makes my stomach flip over a dozen times, I’m so in love with this man; with the life we’ve created for ourselves. “You’re going to miss me, though. Right?”

  “Oh, yeah, I’m gonna miss you.”

  I laugh too as he pulls me into his arms, holds me tight against him. My protector. My beautiful man. We’ve had a wonderful time here in Norway, but there’s still one thing we haven’t talked about, not properly, we’ve barely mentioned it, and yet, it’s probably the one thing that’s been on both our minds the entire trip.

  Looking up into his eyes I touch his face, I smile slightly, and he knows. He can feel it too, the shift in atmosphere. He knows, that we need to broach this subject now, before it’s too late. Before we back out; lose our nerve.

  “I love you, Kari,” he whispers, and I close my eyes as his fingers slide between mine, his breath warm on the side of my neck. “That’s never gonna change.”

  “No matter what?”

  “No matter what.” He rests a hand against my neck, leans in so his forehead touches mine. “It won’t change anything, baby. I promise you, it’ll only make us stronger.”

  He smiles, and I smile too, I believe him. I trust him. I love him, with every beat of my heart, every breath in my body, I love him.

  “Okay.”

  He cups my cheek, looks right into my eyes and I find myself breathing that little bit harder. My heart beating a tiny bit faster. I lay my hand over his, feel our fingers intertwine.

  “There’s a place, not far from here …” He drops his gaze, but I instantly raise his head back up to look at me. “I got talking to someone – this guy, I met him at the party. He’s a big name in business over here, invests a lot of money in start-up technology firms all over Europe and the US. I know of him, through a friend of a friend – Albie. You remember Albie? He has that fish restaurant on the harbour …?”

  “I remember Albie.”

  “Okay, anyway, that’s why this guy – Joe – that’s why he was at the party. I got talking to him, found out he once lived about twenty miles from where I was born, in Cedar Hill, and we kind of just clicked, you know? He seemed like a good guy.”

  I don’t say anything, I’m waiting to see where this is going.

  “He’s just like us, Kari.”

  “Just like us …?”

  “Open-minded. Not afraid to say it how it is … We got talking, and he told me, about a party that’s being held, tomorrow night, just outside of Stavanger …”

  “You talked to a complete stranger, about us?”

  “It wasn’t like that, Kari. He – he understands ...”

  He trails off, but his eyes stay fixed on mine. He’s trying to read my expression, guess my reaction. And my heart, it’s still beating out a heavy rhythm, and I’m not sure whether it’s because I’m nervous or because I’m excited.

  “It’s what he does, Kari. He actually organises these parties. He sets them up, he vets the guest list, they’re the safest possible place for us to be, if we want to do this. And he’s invited us to one, tomorrow night. I think we should go, we should check it out, no pressure. We don’t have to do anything, just take a look, that’s all. See how we feel, and if we don’t feel comfortable …”

  He pulls me closer, his hand sliding down onto my bottom as his mouth rests lightly against mine. “And you still owe me a birthday present, remember?”

  I smile slightly, but I’m still not sure about any of this. “I never made any promises.”

  He kisses me, and I press myself against him, I’m still not sure. Every time we’ve talked about this, which isn’t anywhere near as much as we should’ve done – each time I’ve veered from nervous excitement to a definite no, to a burning need to make it happen, but, like Leo said just a few nights ago, there’s a world of difference between talking about something, and actually doing it. And this man Noah spoke to – who is he? The fact I’m throwing up so many questions is purely because I’m still wary, I know that. It’s almost like I’m trying to talk myself out of doing this when, deep down, the thought of it still intrigues me. It excites me, even though it shouldn’t. And I know that if we don’t at least give it a try; if we don’t go and check this party out, we’ll be forever thinking what if …? Besides, what harm can we come to? Take a look, that’s all we need to do. Anything else is completely up to us.

  “One night, Kari. Remember? One night, that’s all.”

  I look at him, right into his eyes and I smile. “One night.”

  I fall against him as his mouth touches mine, and I know it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be fine. All we’re going to do is take a look, we aren’t committing to anything. But even if we do … it’s going to make us stronger, Noah promised me that, and I believe him.

  I love him.

  I trust him …

  *

  Astrid sets another glass of wine down in front of me and slides back up onto her stool.

  “Dad didn’t get drunk at the party, did he? You know what he’s like, any excuse and he’s grabbing those beers like there’s a world shortage.”

  I look at her and smile slightly. “You’re never going to let Henrik forget your wedding, are you?”

  “He should’ve checked the medication he was on before he started swigging champagne.” She winks and takes a sip of her wine. “Mind you, on the plus side, he remembers nothing about the toothache.”

  I laugh, it’s nice, being here with my sister-in-law. A couple of drinks have helped
me relax, and catching up with Astrid is always fun. She’s not only beautiful, just like her big brother, she’s also funny and smart and she gets me and Noah. She knows who we are, and she doesn’t question that. The entire Ostberg family welcomed me with open arms, accepted me as one of them immediately, before Noah had even asked me to marry him, which he did in front of everyone during our first Christmas together in Norway. An incredibly brave thing to do, thinking back. I could’ve said no, but in reality, I think I’d said yes before he’d even finished getting the words out. I love Noah’s family, and I feel very lucky to be able to call them my family too, now.

  “So, my brother’s doing okay is he? That restaurant of his still drawing in the customers?”

  “Fully booked almost every weekend. The number of repeat customers is growing year on year, but, you know? I’m not sure that’s all to do with the food.”

  “Using his Nordic charm and American wit to draw them in, huh?” She grins, and I laugh again.

  “Something like that, yeah.”

  I look around me, at the crowded bar filled with couples and groups, a wide, eclectic mix of people. These are the circles Astrid mixes in, and I love that she brings me to her favourite places whenever we visit.

  Astrid’s phone suddenly lights up and starts ringing, and she pulls a face as she looks at the screen. “That man just won’t leave me alone … Kari, I’m sorry, it’s Ollie. My boss. I really need to take this.”

  “It’s fine. Go on, take the call.”

  “I won’t be long. I swear, this assignment has been a pain in the ass from start to finish …”

  She slides down from her stool and heads off to look for somewhere quieter to take the call. I rest my chin in my hand, my eyes scanning the bar again. I find myself looking at other men differently all of a sudden, and that unsettles me just a little bit. I never did that before, never needed to, never wanted to. And I don’t think it’s a conscious thing, I think it’s happening because of what we’re about to do; where we’re about to go. Noah didn’t give me a whole lot of information about this party we’re going to tomorrow night, but I did a little bit of online research while I waited for Astrid to finish getting ready, and these parties, they can take on several forms. Several guises. From the anyone’s welcome to the invite only, they’re more common than I thought. Fantasies are quite obviously big business, people need that outlet, a place they can go to, somewhere to indulge their darkest desires in safe surroundings, and that’s fine. That’s great, I shouldn’t be surprised that these places exist, I guess I wasn’t as open-minded as I first thought. But I can’t ignore that small flicker of excitement burning away in the pit of my belly, I’m curious now. Nervous, yes, but curious.

  I find my eyes darting back and forth around the bar, I can’t seem to focus, my mind’s too busy hopping from one distraction to another, and then I see him; a tall – very tall – well-dressed man standing near the back of the bar. But his height, and his quite startling presence, mean he’s easily noticeable. His short dark hair is both neat and a little untidy, pushed back off his incredibly handsome face, a face that seems to draw attention. He’s certainly caught mine. And his eyes – even from way back here I can see how striking they are; commanding, almost, as they lock with mine, which takes me by surprise, I wasn’t looking for eye contact. I wasn’t asking for it. And I quickly shift my gaze to his mouth, to his strong jaw line covered by a neat dark beard. But the second he’s joined by a pretty brunette dressed in a bright green chiffon dress I pull my eyes away, he isn’t the first to break the stare. I am. And I’m shocked at how unsettled that brief and unexpected encounter has made me.

  I take a long sip of wine, and I can’t stop myself from glancing quickly over my shoulder, to see if he’s still there. He is, leaning into his companion, a slight smile on his face as he talks to her, his hand resting lightly on her hip. I turn away, but almost immediately my head darts back around, and this time he’s looking right at me, despite the fact he’s still talking to the woman he’s with. But she has her back to me, and I don’t know whether the slow smile that’s on his face now is for me or her, I don’t wait to find out. I look away, take a deep breath, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

  “You okay?” Astrid frowns as she slides back up onto her stool. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Mind you, the lighting in here isn’t always the most flattering.”

  I watch as she picks up her glass and takes a sip of wine. I watch her, to stop myself from glancing back at him. “I’m fine … Everything all right at work?”

  “Oh, yeah, just Ollie panicking because he couldn’t find the document I sent him via email this afternoon. It somehow found its way into his spam folder, but we got there eventually. You ready to eat now? I’ve booked a table at that restaurant you like, the one just around the corner from here. Magnus told me to order their venison special, he wants to know if he needs to up his game over at his place. Which also means dinner’s on him. If he wants us to spy on his fellow chefs then we’re claiming expenses.”

  She winks at me, and smiles, and I quickly down the last of my wine, grabbing my bag from the countertop. And as I slip my jacket back on, I quickly look behind me, but he’s gone now. Whoever he was. I’m almost relieved, although, I’m not sure what I thought was going on there exactly. He was with someone. I’m a married woman. A married woman who’s thinking about having sex with another man while her husband watches.

  A shiver runs up my spine, and I briefly close my eyes as I let the enormity of what Noah and I are about to do sink in. My head’s in a bit of a mess, that’s all, but I’m still strangely excited. And I know that’s exactly how I felt when that stranger locked eyes with me. I was excited, that another man looked at me that way? I don’t know. Maybe.

  “You ready to go?”

  Astrid’s voice drags me back from those thoughts and I look at her; I throw her a smile, I’m fine. I’m good, I’m okay.

  “I’m ready.”

  She returns my smile and links her arm through mine. “Good. Let’s go eat, I’m starving.”

  My stomach feels too knotted up to eat, but I can’t let these nerves take over. Can’t let these feelings I’m suddenly experiencing confuse me. But I’m beginning to wonder now, if Noah and I really have thought this through. Are we ready, to share something so intimate with a complete stranger?

  Am I ready …?

  Six

  I grip Noah’s hand tight as we walk inside the huge, ultra-modern cabin, and I’m slightly taken aback by the brightness. I guess I was expecting it all to be a little darker. More seedy? Maybe. More sinister? Possibly. I’ve never been anywhere like this before, how could I have known anything? It all feels very safe, though. Very organised. Very exclusive, an invite only party and, as promised, this man – whoever he is – had left our names at the door of this beautiful, secluded house on the edge of a fjord. We were granted entrance with a friendly smile from a smartly dressed couple who spoke perfect English, and guided inside by a tall, stunningly beautiful dark-haired woman in a figure-hugging black sheath dress and impossibly high heels, who explained a few things that I can’t remember, my head’s a little all over the place right now, but I do remember her saying something about private rooms upstairs. Private spaces. Maybe Noah heard more, I don’t know, I don’t even want to let go of his hand just yet, I’m still taking it all in.

  “Hey … you all right?” Noah whispers, and I look at him. I smile. I’m fine, I think. I’m just a little overwhelmed.

  “I could do with a drink.”

  He squeezes my hand and smiles back. “Yeah, me too. And I’m guessing there’s a bar through there. Come on.”

  We head towards an archway that leads off from the foyer we’re standing in, into a large, much darker room – both in lighting and atmosphere. And there are no windows in this room, which leads me to think it must be situated in the centre of the house, surrounded by other rooms, maybe, the layout of this place wasn’t something
I took a great deal of notice of when I walked in. Has it been purpose built? Specifically designed by its owner, whoever they are?

  As we walk further into the room, I look around me. It’s full of people milling about, chatting, drinking, dancing. It has the feel of an upmarket night club, with everyone smartly-dressed, albeit, for some of them, undressed would be a more accurate description. But it’s all very tasteful, not tacky. Not sordid. And I don’t feel uncomfortable, not in the slightest, because I know that everyone in this room – we’re all here for the same reason. Aren’t we?

  “I won’t be a second.” Noah lets go of my hand and heads to the circular bar in the centre of the room. I stay where I am, I don’t move. I stay rooted to the spot as I take another look around me. There’s music pumping out from hidden speakers; deep beats and dark rhythms, dirty music, that’s how I’d describe it. Sexy. I don’t think I’ve heard anything like it before, and as I listen I turn a full three-sixty degrees and scan the room properly. There are tables, chairs and a number of couches dotted around the space, again, not unlike any other ordinary night club. But this isn’t any ordinary night club. Some of those couches are more secluded than others, partially hidden away in dimly-lit alcoves, set back slightly, but not completely out of view. And whilst some people are simply sitting on those couches, chatting and drinking, others are occupied by people enjoying more than just a drink, and I find myself staring at a couple quite obviously having sex right there, in front of everyone, not caring who’s watching. They haven’t even opted for one of the more secluded couches, but what they’re doing, it’s nothing gratuitous, they’re being discreet, although whether consciously so, I don’t know, but there’s no mistaking what they’re doing. And it doesn’t shock me, the fact I’m watching two people carrying out such an intimate act. It’s probably the most erotic thing I’ve ever seen, it’s beautiful.