Chapter 1

"To the bride and groom" the gathered crowd echoed my words and followed them with a roar of approval.

I found my seat gratefully and watched as the wedding guests began to move around the reception room within the old country house. Since I had been almost attached to the groom since early this morning, I took the opportunity to catch my breath and find a few seconds alone, but once I had dropped down the stone steps outside, the red glow of a cigarette revealed the presence of another in the shadows.

"Great speech," said a feminine voice: I recognised it as one of the bridesmaids but I couldn't see which one yet. "Revealed enough to be interesting and left us wanting more."

"Thanks," I said instinctively, "just like the bridesmaids' dresses..." I trailed off the end of the addition, not sure whether it had sprung from the excessive number of toasts or the supreme confidence of a man whose words had earnt rapturous applause.

There were three bridesmaids: Kirsty was friendly, classically beautiful but - aside from the ceremony itself - apparently inseparable from her nervous boyfriend; Liz was warm, philosophical and conservative; but it was Jade who came into the light to show her reaction to my unexpected words. Her extremely pretty face displayed something between surprise and faint humour - I lost myself in her amazing eyes staring back at me for only a few seconds, until she looked down to where her delicate cream shoe was extinguishing her smoke. As she walked past, she flashed me an impressed grin that did wonderful things to many parts of my body - but I did not attempt any more words, and let her go.

I waited a couple of minutes, trying to work out how those words escaped to find her ears, but soon the cool air persuaded me to head back to the noisy crowd of dearly beloved family and friends. Then I heard barely restrained swearing and out of the darkness I saw Jade's back, her arm bent awkwardly over the shoulder trying to reach something. She heard me coming and flicked her now grimacing head to see who it was.

"Will you help me?" she pleaded softly, "my zip is stuck!"

"Of course," I replied automatically, "up or down... ?"

My unintentional spoken thoughts had a greater effect than before, her frustration instantly replaced by a questioning grin and her big brown eyes burning into mine.

"Which would you prefer... ?" she offered softly, her dilated pupils glistening in the minimal light.

Now I was the one caught by surprise and my response was entirely reactive: my fingers barely made contact with the metal and the zip was closed. She looked a little disappointed and turned to walk back; my unconscious decided to intervene one more time:

"Maybe I can try the other way later."

She paused, her head slightly turned towards me, then continued back into the grand old house.

Dejected at my missed opportunity, I slouched back inside and followed the racket to where most of the guests were dancing to some eighties song I had hoped I'd forgotten. Only Jade's dancing brought a smile back to my face and she sauntered over to me in time with the electro beat. Wrapping an elegant arm around my shoulder she kissed me lightly on the cheek then pulled my ear to her lips.

"Maybe you need to try harder," she said, barely audible over the so-called music, but enough to burn my ears in the same way her lips had touched my face. The front of my morning suit trousers was tented. I shifted uncomfortably, and as if to compound my embarrassment, her eyes dropped to its source and slowly, made their way up my body, widening with her grin. "You are trying harder..." she almost giggled and swung herself back to the dance floor. Though not before her delicate hand had traced brief yet wonderful paths over my erection.

Another arm slapped itself around my neck - I turned to see the smiling groom, a little sweaty from his own exertions on the dance floor - or maybe an early visit to the bridal suite? He said nothing beyond his huge smile, which told me what he wanted to say - and he offered me his glass of something brown before striding out to the dancing guests and a huge cheer. My eyes never left Jade. To hell with being subtle. And shy. And "proper". Her fabulous body swirled around to the beat and her own eyes connected to mine whenever she could, and once I'd downed the burning liquid - a nice whisky actually - I walked purposefully to where she owned the floor, stuck out my arm and offered her my hand, as if for a dance.

"Can I have the pleasure... ?" I started, deliberately trailing off before the expected end of the request. She sparkled again and her mouth opened slightly to allow her tongue to wet her upper lip. I was at least another drink away from kissing her right then, but I think the brightness in my own eyes and shallow breathing quietly shouted that I wanted her.

She carefully took my hand with a clearly impressed smile, and I had to hold myself back from running her off the dance floor - instead we walked slowly, with no questioning as to why I was leading her away from the rest of the party. Out of the main room, we stopped at the bottom of the grand staircase, where the volume of guests was reduced to the odd one or two, thinking about how to leave early or to persuade someone to stay the night - but I gave them a quick lesson in decisiveness. I didn't give Jade a chance to breathe before my lips pushed hard into hers, but her initial surprise relaxed her mouth, which parted enough for her tongue to probe my own; relaxed her eyes for them to almost close, just the bright centres of her pupils burning this memory into my brain forever. One of my hands pulled her head closer to mine - if that were possible - and the other moved meaningfully down the sheer fabric of the back of her dress, to where the delicate curve of her back reversed direction over her wonderful, wonderful rear, which was where my roving hand remained.