He descended the stairs, taking the cup of coffee the servant offered and handing her the note."Please see that delivered to Expedia headquarters, NOW!" he said in his more authoritative voice. The servant nodded quickly and left.
He turned and climbed the stairs again to see his wife. He slept again until 6:30 but absolutely couldn't fall asleep again after that. So he watched as Ceidre slept soundly.
He'd finished the cup of coffee an hour ago, when Ceidre rustled slightly. He glanced at her pocketwatch, 8 am. He studied the watch too. It was a platinum finish that had vines intertwined on the front with the family crest. The watch was from her real father. It was simply engraved. It read "Dear Ceidre, my love is yours forever. -Derack Mallorie ". The watch on the back had her name in it. Ceidre Mallorie. This was before she was married and hell, this was before her parents died and she'd adopted her mother's maiden name, Logau.
Eric smiled and set it back on the night table. Ceidre stirred again. This time she opened her eyes. She lay flat on her back and wonder grew in her as she realized Eric was still there. "What are you doing here?'" she said softly.
"Well…feeling under the weather?" he said in a way that she could tell he wasn't in the slightest.
"Eric! You're bad." She said as a smirk crossed her lips.
"I know and you love me for it," he said in an arrogant manner. She just laughed. He pulled her close giving her a light kiss.
"What are you planning we do all day?" she said as she lay against his shoulder. He then spoke two words that had changed more than one person's life before.
Simply he spoke "Midnight Beach," She looked again curiously at him. He stood and took her hand, pulling her out as well. "It's nothing bad" he said as he hugged her close. She smiled and left his warm embrace to go to her closet. She pulled on a sundress that just covered her shoulders but was sleeveless. It had been almost impossible to find a seamstress who thought this was at least deamable for a ladies wardrobe. She added a pair of sandals and headed to brush her auburn hair. At the same time, Eric got ready quicker and went downstairs to gather his cloak. Eric stood downstairs for 5 solid minutes waiting for his wife. She came downstairs gracefully and he smiled. She took his offered arm and headed out the front door, dropping the key in his cloak pocket. He lifted her up and her on the sidesaddle. He jumped up to his own and took not only his reins but her in his hands. He led the horses in a soft trot.
He stopped at the beginning of the dunes, signifying the beach beyond. He tied the horses under a shelter and led her to the beach. They walked along the shoreline for a bit and then Eric stopped. He pulled her close and entrapped her in a kiss. How she longed to move sweetly into his mouth or to have his tongue invade hers. It was as if he was reading her mind when he forced his tongue between her lips and rushed like a schoolchild to her sweetness. He started to walk backwards, deeper into the water. He managed to strip himself of his cloak and throw it to the same. She barely noticed they were moving more into the water at all until the water started soaking her dress, through and through. She broke the kiss quickly, almost…scared of the water. She backed up a bit and looked at him in wonder. He crooked a finger at her, beckoning her closer.
She carefully walked closer to him. The water was up to his hips. At Ceidre's height it came past her thin waist. She put her arms around his neck as he lifted her to his eye-level so she wasn't so drenched in water. "Oh damn, just let me go. You're eventually going to drench me anyway," Ceidre said in a voice that almost sounded annoyed. He shrugged releasing his hold on her. She let herself fall under the water. She came up brushing the hair out of her face. He laughed at her.
They played in the water like two immature children in grade school. He swung her up onto his shoulders and carried her out of the water. She laughed as he set her down on the sand. His shirt was saturated. It clung to him. Normally it was neatly tucked into his breeches but the water's constant pounding had left it in disarray. His breeches also clung to him. Ceidre looked back up to him, as she blushed. She hated staring.
But then again he was doing it to her now. She looked down and realized her sundress was also soaked. It clung to her thin figure. The roundness of her breasts, the delicate curves of her figure, all perfectly outlined. She blushed again, this time at herself. "Come..." Eric's soft voice commanded. He took her small hand in his and he started walking toward the dunes that were further down the beach. He sat down loungily. She sat too, but she lay down under the beating sun, stretching out so to dry quickly. She's just shut her eyes when she felt the shade on her face.
Curiosity grabbed her and she squinted her eyes. Eric, holding his own weight from the way he straddled her, was looking down upon her. As he leaned toward her tempting lips he whispered "I wasn't going to, but you're so tempting." She couldn't pass up a smile as his mouth crushed and savored hers. She took his kiss eagerly. Maybe it was a bit hungry too, for they both absorbed it fully, hoping to be closer.
Despite his normal lack of control when it came to physical love, it was Eric who broke the kiss first. And despite Ceidre's almost irrestable pout, begging him to continue, he stood. He hooked his arm around her waist, and pulled her up too. He walked to the water's edge. He splashed handfuls of the cool water onto her back. She tried to back away, but he wouldn't let her. Whether she knew it or not, he was trying to get all the sand off her. When finished he picked his cloak up off the sand and let it wave in the wind for a moment to get all the sand out. He then wrapped it over her shoulders. She smiled and he leaned toward it, pulling a dagger from its place and placing it in the back of his breeches.
Ceidre rolled her eyes, hating the sight of the daggers, which was so often. Her hand kept hitting the key in the pocket and she decided to move it, but upon putting her hand in the pocket, she grasped not only the key, but also a soft material. She pulled out a pale purple ribbon. She recognized it. She'd worn it weeks ago when they'd last gone out.
"Did you know this was in here?" Ceidre questioned, holding the ribbon. Eric simply nodded. "Why didn't you give it to me?"
"Did you ever think I like having it, that's why I still have it?" Eric said with a smile. Ceidre laughed. She brushed her hair back with her hand, tying it gently with the pale purple ribbon.
They walked that day, all afternoon and even watched the sun set over the dark midnight blue horizon of water. As they got onto the horses to head home, Ceidre sighed. It was the perfect life, too good to be true.
"Anything that's truer than life, will hold its value. As the sun meets the horizon, one can wonder, has life began, or has it ended." Ceidre looked up from the book. She dipped the pen in the inkwell again. Although she couldn't think of a word more to write. She supposed it was because she had an odd feeling that last night, was an ending. She shook her head, like it was a stupid thought. Her life was just beginning with Eric, not ending. Ceidre thought the writing was perhaps getting to her. She put the paper aside and went to her bedroom. She changed into breeches and a button down shirt so she could go riding. Whenever possible, she used the breeches as her riding habit. Slipping on a pair of riding boots, she headed downstairs. She walked quickly out the back door of the Great room and straight to the stables. She saddled her horse with the normal saddle and mounted the house. She pulled the ribbon our of her hair letting it fall loose around her shoulders.
She started the mare on a light gallop, just to hold the feel of it and gradually increased. When she turned the mare, Silver Moonlight, around, she couldn't even see the large house anymore. She trotted Silver Moonlight around for a little while then quickly raced back to the house. She'd just dismounted and tied her hair back as she heard a noise in the stables. She led Silver Moonlight to her stall and took the saddle off. She set it over the post and headed back to investigate silently. Eric's stallion was in an uproar for some reason. She figured Eric wouldn't be home, but it was great if her was. She opened the door to the stall and took a step in.
With Ceidre's ability of soft soothing words and a gentle touch, the stallion was quickly calm. She smiled and hugged the horse gently. She walked backwards toward the exit, afraid if she turned her back, the stallion may change his attitude. Silently, she pushed open the door and stepped back. An arm came around her slim waist and a hand clamped over her mouth, stopping her scream. A second later, everything blacked out and Ceidre fell limp in the man's arms as his laugh taunted her dreams.