92

The party fizzled out slowly.

She couldn’t remember much of the end of the night, after being plied with enough alcohol to sink a ship. Rob filling her glass anytime it emptied, telling her to let go because he was there to take care of her. There had been shots on the bar, a drinking competition and memories of Rob bending her backwards over a table, to a chorus of chants, egging on, and propping a lime in her cleavage that he had happily retrieved with his teeth. She assumed there had been tequila.

Lots and lots of tequila.

Her head ached, and her body was in agony.

Opening a sleepy eye in the semi-dull room around her, she could see Rob’s naked body flat out across the bed on his stomach, a sheet skirting across his ass and only just concealing it. She was in the same state. The bedding was strewn wildly across the floor and only one single sheet half covering them, half sliding to the floor. Even the cushions were about three feet from the bed and spread in a wild mess.

Discarded carelessly.

Their clothes were literally spread across the room, his bow tie hanging on the chandelier, his shirt hooked up on a picture frame on the far wall. The dressing table across from her had been disturbed quite dramatically, the surface items mostly on the floor and the few still on the surface were laid on their sides.

She had a brief memory of being propped nakedly on there at some point, the familiar frenzy of sex on cold shiny surfaces, a hazy memory. Her dress was hanging carelessly from the open bathroom door and she could see Rob’s trousers in a crumpled heap just inside.

What the hell had they done?

It looked as though they had been making a porn film, trying out every surface and corner of the room and throwing their clothes around for effect. There was an empty bottle of champagne and glasses sat by the window. The curtains hanging funnily and she realised the curtain pole had been hauled off the wall at one side. Dangling dubiously and barely holding on.

What the actual hell?

She had practically no memory of many of the events that had taken place in this room or even half the party and she wasn’t sure she wanted to remember, judging by the tenderness of every inch of her skin and battered body. Light marks dusting the surface of her thighs and butt, they looked like finger prints. Rob’s back was marked with red claw marks and something resembling a bite on the back of his shoulder.

Jesus!

He moaned in his sleep and shifted lazily, his breathing changing as he opened his eyes and groaned again. Pulling his hands up to shield his face from the tiny rays of light coming through the heavy curtained windows. Rose was now sitting up slowly, to avoid making her thumping head worse, taking in the absolute chaos of the room around them. Aware that the nearby armchair was laid on its back on the floor and her satin thong was nestling therein quite comfortably.

‘Rob?’ She nudged him absently, still trying to make sense of the room. ‘Rob?’ She nudged again, a little more insistently. ‘We definitely came in here alone, right?’

He moved and lifted his head, looking around before slumping back down and groaning once more.

‘Yes. As far as I can remember, although that’s not much. Why? His voice was hoarse and lazy, he sounded like he had been yelling all night and he was in as much of a state as Rose.

‘It’s just the room looks a little... Crime scene massacre.’ She grimaced as her blurry eyes got a little clearer and she could see just how much of a mess there really was. Rob turned onto his back and looked around slowly, no sign of surprise on his face.

‘That’s what happens when I fill you up with tequila.’ He winked, making a moaning sound as he moved up the bed and tried to find a cushion to prop himself up. ‘You got a bit wild baby.’

Rose looked at him dubiously, not sure if he was joking.

‘You don’t remember do you?’ The smile moving across his face told her he wasn’t.

‘I thought you said you didn’t remember much either?’ She blinked at him, moving her body so very slowly and snuggling closer to him in an attempt to bypass the queasiness and even more pounding in her head.

‘I remember enough to know we were alone and that you were like a crazed nymphomaniac on speed.’ Rob grinned this time, lost in the memory apparently. She tried to feign a smile, feeling strangely mortified instead.

‘Was I that bad?’

‘It depends on what you term ‘Bad’ as?...In my opinion, you were that good!’

Rose sucker punched him softly, turning back beside him, her body reminding her of its fragility almost instantly and making her wince.

‘Stop looking at me like that.’ She could feel his eyes on her face. The grin giving away exactly what he was remembering.

‘Hard not too...If I thought I loved you before, last night only made me even more mad for you!’ He smacked her butt lightly and nudged her suggestively.

‘It’s not funny.’ She laughed, cringing as he stroked her back, her skin and its tenderness obvious.

‘I think we should add tequila to the mix more often, Our honeymoon drink of choice. But I may need a week to recover when we get home.’ Rob slid down the bed again, obviously finding sitting up making his own headache worse too. She looked at him suspiciously over her shoulder.

‘You? Need to recover? I really must have put you through your paces!’ She laughed as he came to spoon her from behind, plumping cushions under his head so he could get as close as humanly possible.

‘And then some.’ He sighed, sliding up a tad to meet the side her face and planting a kiss on her nose from his awkward angle before settling down. ‘I was kind of scared! Especially when you pushed me against the wall, dragged your nails down my chest and bit me midsession. I think I have bite and nail marks in places I can’t even see.

I‘m pretty sure there was borderline domestic abuse in there too.’

‘Shut up.’

‘Don’t worry. I think I was just as bad. Judging by the marks and sexy glow on your skin. I think we were equally matched in fierceness.’ He returned to laying behind her, stroking fingertips down her exposed thigh soothingly, one of the few places her skin didn’t hurt.

‘Promise me we shall never utter a word of this again.’ She pushed back against him, her tone serious with a hint of a smile.

‘I don’t think that’s going to be possible. I want to reminisce at every opportunity, and I think most of the house heard us last night and may have questions. Concerns for your safety... Maybe mine!’

‘Rob?’ She groaned, feeling the heat creep up her neck in shame and wondering how on earth she would ever face anyone in this village again.

‘Yes, baby?’ He breathed against the back of her neck.

‘I need aspirin!... Water!... A week of sleep!’ Rose sighed heavily.

‘Is that all?’

‘And we definitely need sound proofing!’