Chapter 4

The flight from Calgary touched down in Windsor at eleven and I walked out of the small airport just by eleven twenty carrying all my luggage and equipment. Unfortunately, this time I didn't have three lovely ladies waiting for me but instead spotted a chauffeur beside a small Cadillac holding a sign with my name on it.

"Hi, I'm Mike," I greeted the man.

"Hello Mr. Stewart, I'm Gerry," he said, "Miss Ford hired me to get you to Detroit Metro Airport as soon as possible. Let me help you with your bags."

"It's nice to meet you, Gerry," I responded as I handed him my equipment bag.

We quickly put the rest of the bags and sticks into the truck before we got in the car and drove off.

"Help yourself to a drink or snacks from the fridge if you want," he said over his shoulder. "It should only take an hour at the most to get there unless there is a delay at customs. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride."

"Alright," I replied and grabbed a water bottle and a bag of peanuts from the fridge, finally able to relax.

It had been a hectic morning back in Calgary as I got up early to catch the first flight back after a quick meeting with Steve Yzerman, Coach Babcock and Coach Hitchcock. The meeting went well as they told me they were pleasantly surprised on how well I handled myself. They finished with the fact that I was still very much in the hunt for a position on the team and they would be scouting me during the fall and hopefully at the selection camp in November for the under twenty national team. After the meeting was over, I grabbed a taxi and just made the flight back to Windsor.

True to his word, Gerry pulled up in front of the terminal for Delta in just under an hour. We both hopped out of the car and went back to the trunk.

"My instructions were to take your equipment to the rink in Ann Arbor and leave it with the security guys who will make sure it gets to the locker room," Gerry said when he handed me my suitcase and garment bag.

I handed him a fifty and replied, "Thanks Gerry for the great service. I'll make sure to use you again when I need a ride."

"Thanks Mike," he replied before taking off.

I walked over to the Delta booth once inside the terminal and found my ladies standing with their backs to me. Rach, Crystal and an equally beautiful woman I assumed to be Lady Paige Spencer were with them and each of them was wearing a sophisticated dress and looked ready to meet royalty.

"Ladies, you look like you're waiting for someone; perhaps I can be of assistance?" I said in a Spanish accent when I snuck up on them.

"I don't think so," Elizabeth said as she turned around with an annoyed look on her face until she saw who it was. "Mike, you made it!"

She gave me a big hug and kiss as Lady Paige shook her head at the public display of affection. Willow and Asuka just gave me hugs to disguise our relationship out in public. I said hi to Rose and Crystal who grinned back at me.

"Mike, this is Lady Paige Spencer, she's been given the unenviable task of trying to make ladies out of all of us," Elizabeth made the introductions with a grin.

"Lady Spencer, it's a pleasure to meet you," I said, shaking her hand and giving her a head bow. "Thank you for spending time with these hooligans to try and whip them into shape."

"Mr. Stewart, the pleasure is mine," she replied. "After what you've done for us, it's the least I could do for you and your wonderful ladies."

"So what's our schedule?" I asked.

"We need to get into the first class line now so we can get our boarding passes and get to the gate after going through security," Elizabeth explained. "Lady Spencer has our ticket information."

We all got into line and it took ten minutes to check our bags and get our boarding passes. We moved over to the security line and waited another ten minutes to get through that process before we had to practically run though the concourse to get to the correct gate.

We handed in our boarding passes and walked down to the plane and were hurriedly shown to our seats before the attendants started their safety spiel. Elizabeth sat beside me while Asuka and Willow were across the aisle. Rach and Crystal were behind them and Lady Paige had the aisle seat across from them and behind us. Elizabeth wanted to be able to talk to the girls so I graciously took the window seat and buckled my seat belt after putting my computer bag underneath the seat.

"Talk about just making it," I observed as they shut the cabin door.

"I'm glad you did," she said as she grasped my hand. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," I replied and gave her a smile. "Are you ready to have some fun this week?"

"Sure am," she replied with a grin. "After the hellish exam week I had I could really let off some steam."

"We'll have to make sure you do then," I responded. "There is a lot to do there."

"I know, Lady Paige told us all about it," she said.

The plane started taxiing away from the terminal and out to the runways. A few minutes later we were racing down the runway and the 747 lifted off the ground and quickly rose into the air. We banked to the east and climbed up into the clouds.

Over the next seven hours the women chatted about whatever women chat about while I continued to work on my program. I wanted to have it done for when we got back so I could present it to Mitsy to see if her company wanted to market it. From time to time the ladies switched seats to either talk to me or someone else. Lady Paige slipped in beside me just before dinner was served.

"I just wanted to prepare you for what is going to happen this weekend at the palace," she said when I looked over at her.

I saved my work and replied, "Ok, lay it on me."

She quietly said, "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth has had extensive discussions with her family and other advisors on how best to reward you. They have come up with a few ideas that she wants to present to you. There will be a meeting to introduce your ladies to her on Saturday morning. It will be at that meeting that her Majesty will discuss with you all of the ideas and get your approval before proceeding. After that, we'll have lunch and then take your group on a tour of the city. Sunday afternoon will be the formal presentation ceremony. That evening we'll move you and the girls to other accommodations in the city for your photo shoot that starts on Monday morning. That's the main agenda from the Queen's perspective. Of course you and Asuka are welcome to train at the barracks for the week as you did on your last visit. We have three rooms set aside for your group in the palace."

"It seems it's going to be a very busy weekend," I responded. "I hope her Majesty won't be too disappointed when there isn't any point to having a formal presentation ceremony."

"Why do you say that?" she asked, clearly puzzled.

"I don't plan on accepting anything that needs a ceremony to present it to me," I told her.

"You accepted a valuable sword from the Japanese grandfather," Lady Paige noted, "Why not from the Queen? She's a grandmother as well."

"Because she's not presenting me anything as a grandmother but as the Queen of the United Kingdom," I replied. "I'm not interested in titles, honours, medals or such things. I didn't do what I did for any of that."

"You're a most peculiar fellow, I must say," she responded.

"Maybe you need to hang out with some regular folk and see who really is peculiar," I told her with a chuckle. "I'm just a normal guy who happens to get caught up in things normally best left to professionals."

She rolled her eyes at that and even I had to grin.

"You know she's not going to settle for not giving you anything," Lady Paige stated. "You might get away without a title, but you're going to have to accept some of her gifts or she's going to be highly insulted. You really don't want her upset; let me rephrase that, we don't want her upset. I'll have a quick talk with her before tomorrow's meeting to prepare her so she can modify her proposal as she sees fit."

I nodded and looked out the window and the ocean far below.

"So what's it like having three women so into you?" she asked.

"I'm a very lucky man," I said, turning back to her. "They all bring something different to the group and seem to be getting along. I really don't deserve any of them but it's working out great so far."

"Hmmm," was all she said as she looked at me.

"I know; nothing that special to look at, right?" I asked with a grin. "Not even sure why Calvin Klein wants me as a model, are you?"

"Oh, I've seen the pictures and you're in very good shape," she replied. "One tends not to be too critical of your looks when looking at your body."

"Luckily those three aren't just after me for my looks then," I noted.

"No, they seem to think you're pretty smart on top of being a really great guy," she said. "I'd like to see the climbing game that you're working on sometime."

"Sure, you can look at it now if you like," I responded and powered up my laptop.

I explained the game's details and then did a short demo for her. She was intrigued and I let her play with it for a while. I must have dozed off because I was woken up by her quiet cursing.

"Why can't I get past this part of the bloody cliff?" she asked in frustration. "It's damn well infuriating!"

"Um, because you're probably going the wrong way," I said. "Use the help function to show you how the expert, who actually physically climbed the cliff, tackled that section."

"You just know all the answers, don't you?" she replied, still annoyed.

"About that game, yes," I answered before closing my eyes again. "The rest of life is a real mystery for me."

She had to chuckle before going back to the game and pressing the help key. I peeked over to see her follow the right path before shutting down the game when she finished.

"That's addicting," she told me as she handed over the laptop.

"I'm hoping it is," I responded with a smirk.

After a surprisingly tasty in-flight dinner, we all tried to get some sleep as England was five hours ahead of us. We didn't have a lot of time to get switched around before having to meet the Queen. By the time we landed, checked through security at the airport and drove to the palace, it was nine pm Eastern time or two A.M. London time.

We were quickly passed through palace security and given our security badges. Lady Paige showed us to our rooms where we were paired up like we were on the plane. I kissed Willow and Asuka goodnight before quickly getting changed and settling into bed with Elizabeth.

"I can't believe we're sleeping together at the Buckingham palace and we're going to meet the Queen in the morning," Elizabeth said as she spooned with me.

She was wearing a short gown while I was just in my underwear so I rubbed her legs with mine as I held her close to me. My hand wandered from her stomach to her hip while we talked.

"I hope you have fun here, it has lots of great rooms and interesting things to look at," I said as I kissed her neck.

"I'm looking forward to doing a tour," she responded as she wiggled even tighter to me. "Are you trying to seduce me right in the Buckingham Palace?"

"I'd try to seduce you if we were in a dumpy motel room, let alone a fancy room like this," I told her. "Wouldn't you like to tell your grandkids that you made love in the Buckingham Palace?"

"Maybe not my grandkids but I wouldn't mind bragging about it to some of my friends and family," she replied as she pulled my hand up to her breast. "Now hush and take care of your woman."

"Yes Ma'am," I replied and slipped my hand inside her gown to caress her breast.

It didn't take long for her to start moaning and she lifted her leg up on top of mine to give me access to her charms. I moved my hand down and found her tiny panties soaked. I rubbed her through them for a minute and then slipped them aside so I could slide a finger through her juices. She gasped when it hit her clit and she pushed her ass back onto my stiffening erection. She reached behind her to grasp it and quickly had it out of my underwear. Elizabeth guided it to her hot opening and I helped by pushing forward with my hips. I slide in deep as she groaned and pushed back until I was all the way in.

"Now fuck me, Michael," she commanded.

"Your command is my wish," I said into her ear as I grabbed her hip and pulled out of her before thrusting back in.

She moaned and said, "That's it Michael. It's been too long."

It didn't take either of us long to get ready to explode as we had been apart for almost a week. I kept her just below her peak for a few minutes until she started begging.

"Michael, I'm so close," she stated. "Fuck me harder now, please!"

I thrust into her a bit harder but slowed down.

"Michael!" she exclaimed in frustration. "Harder and faster, damn it!"

"You know you're awfully bossy tonight," I said into her ear. "Maybe I should go visit the other two instead."

"Michael, don't you dare!" she replied. "Please make me cum, Michael, I'm so close. I promise to be so good to you afterwards."

"You should be good to me afterwards as a matter of course," I whispered into her ear as I thrust in a few times hard and fast. "Tell me something new."

"Oh God, that feels so good," she said with a groan. "Please don't stop. I'm yours to do whatever you want to."

"I thought you were already mine?" I asked as I reached up to tweak her nipple.

"Oh yeah," she moaned and started thrusting back at me. "Michael, don't tease me anymore, it's not very nice. I'm begging you to make love to me."

"Fine," I said and sped up.

"That's more like it," she replied. "That feels so good."

It took only a few minutes to take her over the top and I came soon after her pussy clamped down on me while she was orgasming. She screamed into a pillow as I thrust into her a few more times until we both finally came to rest.

"That was fantastic," she said with a sigh. "You were such a brute for drawing it out so long."

"You loved it," I replied with a chuckle.

She turned her head and kissed me hard on the mouth before saying, "I like being taken hard by my man. You are such a great lover."

"And you're so passionate and wanton," I replied, kissing her possessively. "I love it when you let loose and tell me what you want."

"You like to hear me beg," she said with a smirk.

"I like to make you so hot that you beg," I corrected her.

"You do it so well," she admitted. "I'm lucky you're such a nice guy or I would be scared about how much you could control me if you wanted."

"Oh, I'm not that nice a guy," I said with an evil laugh. "One of these times I'm going to bring you over to the dark side and you'll never be the same."

"You're such a nerd," she replied with a laugh. "Now we better get cleaned up and get some sleep. As it is we're only going to get a few hours of sleep."

We got up and had a quick shower before settling back into bed. Elizabeth snuggled to my side and was asleep in a few minutes. I took a bit longer as I thought about well my life was going. I just hoped that something didn't come along and screw it up. I finally fell asleep and had a less than great sleep.

Saturday morning I was up earlier than the ladies but late for London time. It was already eight thirty and our meeting with the Queen was scheduled for ten AM. I had a quick shower and nudged Elizabeth awake after I had dressed.

"Don't wanna get up," she mumbled.

"It's almost nine and we're meeting the Queen in an hour," I reminded her.

"Damn," she said, sitting up. "Why didn't you wake me earlier?"

"I just got up fifteen minutes ago," I told her. "I'm going to make sure the others are up while you take your shower."

She waved me off absentmindedly as she headed to the bathroom. I walked down the hall and tapped on Willow's and Asuka's room. Asuka opened the door fully dressed and grinned up at me.

"Don't worry, we're up," she told me. "Willow just got into the shower and is a bit grumpy but once we get some coffee she should perk up."

"Same with Elizabeth," I responded. "I better make sure the other two are up."

"I did that already," Asuka told me. "Those two are much worse than Willow."

"I'll go try and find come coffee for everyone," I informed her.

"I'll come with you, I'm already ready," she said.

I looked down at her tee shirt and tights and raised an eyebrow.

"I just have to put on the stupid dress and shoes," she said with a frown. "It will only take a few minutes."

I grinned at her and led the way down the stairs to the kitchen I had discovered on my first trip.

"Hello, I was wondering if I could get four coffees and a green tea for my travelling companions." I asked the staff.

"Certainly Mr. Stewart," the head chef replied. "Shall I have one of the staff bring them up on a tray with cream and sugar?"

"No need to bother your staff, I can carry it up if you can provide the tray," I responded.

"Mr. Stewart, it wouldn't look good to have VIPs carrying a tray up the stairs," he protested.

"Fine, I'll leave you to it then," I said, giving in.

I checked out Asuka's fine derriere in her tights on the way back up the stairs and she caught me as I joined her on the second floor.

"Were you checking out my butt?" she asked, crossing her arms under her firm breasts.

"Of course I was, it's an incredible butt," I replied with a grin. "I'll always check you out whenever I get a chance."

She put her nose up a bit and marched down the hall, saying, "I would expect that a gentleman wouldn't stare at a lady's derriere in the palace."

"I never admitted to being a gentleman," I said with a laugh as I followed her.

The waitress brought the tray up a few minutes later and I took it from her at the door to my room. I left Elizabeth's on the bathroom countertop and then delivered the other four to the ladies, getting thanks from the three band members and a tongue stuck out at me by Asuka. Eventually the ladies all got dressed into one of their new dresses and Lady Paige came to collect the six of us.

"Good morning everyone, you all look very nice this morning," she said cheerfully. "I hope you all had a pleasant sleep."

"It was a bit short but Michael delivered coffee to us to help with the waking up process," Willow replied.

"I see you have him trained properly already," Lady Paige noted with a grin.

"Only for some things," Asuka stated. "He's still a work in progress."

The other ladies nodded as they smirked at me.

"Well, we mustn't keep the Queen waiting while we idly stand around chitchatting," I said loftily. "Shall we mosey right along?"

"I just have to mention a couple of things first," Lady Paige spoke up. "One, the Queen may wish to talk to Michael in private so at that point I will take the ladies on a tour of the Palace. Secondly, while you may talk about your visit with you family, the Queen requests that any sensitive information not be shared with them or anyone else. There are many young ladies who owe Michael their freedom and would be further traumatized if the media got wind of the circumstances surrounding their ordeal. Could I please have your promises as ladies that you keep anything sensitive to yourselves before we go?"

The women all promised to keep things secret and Lady Paige smiled and had us follow her downstairs. She led us to the North wing and we passed though security before entering the Queen's private suite of rooms. Soon we were all ushered into a larger sitting room with three sofas arranged in a square with the fourth side a smaller one presumably for the queen. There was a cart with a tea service on top and a young woman standing nearby ready to serve. Lady Paige had us stand in front of the three sofas as we were partnered on the plane and in the bedrooms.

"Her Majesty will be here shortly," she said as she went to stand near the fourth one. "Please sit down until she gets here."

We sat down on the fancy furniture and tried to sit up straight. Everyone was a bit nervous but Lady Paige kept the conversation going until the Queen arrived.

"Good morning everyone," the Queen said cheerfully as she entered with Lady Amy right behind her.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," we all replied as we stood up and the girls curtsied while I gave her a head bow.

"Now that we have that out of the way, please just call me Ma'am," she said as she moved to stand beside Lady Paige. "You all look very charming this morning. Welcome to Buckingham Palace everyone. Michael, it's nice to see you again. Thank you for actually showing up and I trust you won't run out on me this time?"

"It's nice to see you again, Ma'am," I replied with a smile. "I reserve the right to run out if you try and surprise me again."

"Fair enough," the Queen replied with a chuckle. "This time you'll know exactly what I have planned for you beforehand. Would you care to introduce all these lovely ladies that have accompanied you?"

"Certainly, Ma'am," I said before looking at Elizabeth. "This beautiful lady is Elizabeth Ford. She's currently a University student studying automotive engineering at Michigan State."

"Welcome to England, Miss Ford," the Queen said to her. "Of course I'm well aware of your family's history and current involvement in this country and others of the Commonwealth. Lady Paige has explained your situation with your family due to your dating Michael. I will see what I can do to help get that back on track. A young lady should have the support of her family and your family should know how high we regard Michael."

"Thank you for allowing us to be here with Michael, Ma'am," Elizabeth replied. "I appreciate anything you can do to help our situation with my family. I'm glad to hear that you think as highly of Michael as we do."

The Queen smiled at her and then looked back at me to continue.

"The equally beautiful blonde across the way is Willow Rose, part of the band Willow," I said.

"Miss Rose, welcome and I hope we can convince you and your group to play for us this weekend," the Queen said.

"It would be an honour to play for you, Ma'am," Willow replied.

"I'm glad, I watched you perform at the Canada Day festivities and was very impressed," the Queen added.

"Thank you, Ma'am," Willow responded.

"Standing beside Willow is the gorgeous Asuka Osaka, an expert in martial arts and the reason I'm still alive," I continued with the introductions.

"Welcome, Miss Osaka, your work with Michael is a credit to you especially as you're so young yourself," the Queen responded. "I thank you for your efforts as it directly contributed to the rescue of many young ladies. I hope you and Michael will visit the barracks and help instruct some of men and women there while you're here."

"Thank you for having us here," Asuka replied. "Michael already has suggested we visit the barracks starting tomorrow morning."

The Queen nodded and looked to the last two ladies.

"Last but not least, I have the honour of introducing the beautiful Rachel O'Rourke and Crystal Tillman, the other two members of Willow," I stated. "The band is going to be doing a photo shoot this week for Calvin Klein before they start a tour to promote their first CD that should come out next week."

"Congratulations on your new CD and upcoming tour, ladies," the Queen said to them. "I look forward to listening to you play for us and would love to get one of your CDs as soon as it comes out."

"Thank you Ma'am, we brought a few with us in case you and your family would like them," Rach replied.

"That is so kind of you; thank you for your thoughtfulness," the Queen responded. "Now why don't we sit down and have some tea."

We waited until she sat down and then followed suit. The server handed the Queen a small cup on a saucer and then served Lady Paige before continuing on with the other ladies while I declined.

"So, the reports out of Calgary say that you acquitted yourself well at the Olympic camp, Michael," the Queen stated once the server had left the room.

"I didn't overwhelm anyone but I felt like I competed well at that level," I responded. "I won't know until the end of the year if they will choose me for the team."

"For you to hold your own against professionals despite your amateur status is still remarkable," she noted. "I have the utmost confidence that you will be picked for the team."

"Thank you Ma'am," I responded. "Will you be attending the games next February?"

"Probably not," she replied. "Most likely Prince William and Prince Harry will attend in my stead. I look forward to the next summer Olympics to be held right here in London."

"That should be a wonderful time for the city and the country," I noted.

"Yes, it will provide lots of construction jobs and all of the people that will attend will certainly give the city and country a much needed financial boost," the Queen agreed.

The Queen directed specific questions at each of the ladies to draw them into the conversation and get them talking. Everyone was much more relaxed at the end of the half hour meeting when the Queen nodded to Lady Paige after a lull in the conversation.

"Ladies, why don't we go for a tour of the Palace while Her Majesty and Michael have a private conversation?" Lady Paige asked as she stood up. "We'll rejoin them and others for lunch."

"Certainly," Elizabeth replied and stood up after patting my hand. "Michael, you better not run out on us or we'll send Asuka to find you."

"I'll see you at lunch," I replied with a grin. "You don't think I would miss a meal do you?"

They all laughed and followed Lady Paige's example in curtsying to the Queen before leaving the room.

"You have made some charming friends in those ladies, Michael," the Queen observed when the door was closed. "They are very talented and beautiful."

"Yes they are," I agreed.

"I was disappointed to hear that you and Emma weren't talking and that Princess Beatrice had abandoned you as well," the Queen noted. "I was surprised it went so wrong so quickly after you had rescued those girls in New York and Chicago."

"They never forgave me for running out on them and having so many girls wanting to thank me," I told her. "Emma got busy with her movie and wanted to concentrate on that for the rest of the spring and summer while I pushed too hard for us to be something more when I came over to visit in May. She is as hard headed as I am and we weren't talking to each other when she dropped me off at the airport. I haven't heard from her since and only once from Princess Beatrice when she warned me about the Ford's investigation of me. It took a couple months to get over Emma but I'm happy now with my new ladies."

"I'm glad to hear that you're happy now," she relented. "I've voiced my displeasure to Beatrice over her continued silence to you. The three of you should still be friends if nothing else after all that you've done for them. Hopefully you can reconcile with them while you're here."

"I would be happy to talk to either of them this week if they wish," I told her.

"Good, now let's get down to the business that brought you here," the Queen said, taking a list from Lady Amy. "I better have my glasses as well Amy."

"Here they are Ma'am," Lady Amy replied, having them at the ready.

"Thank you dear," the Queen said as she put them on. "Right, since you accepted the sword and dagger set from Kim's grandfather, I felt it only fair to also provide some gifts for what you've done for my grandchild and the others. So my family and I have put a list of things together to run by you so you're not surprised when we present them to you in front of a few guests."

"Your Majesty, there is no need for a list of things," I protested. "If you really feel the need to give me something, just pick one thing to match his gift so that you're even. It's not necessary to put so much effort into this. I didn't do any of it to receive things from you. I'm just happy that it turned out as well as it did."

"Your modesty and reluctance is a credit to you Michael, but so many people want to express their gratitude to you that you're going to have to accept a few things or they will be very disappointed," the Queen responded. "So, for their sakes, please accept what they are offering."

I sighed and replied, "I'll listen to what you have in mind."

"Good," she said. "Now, from Prince Phillip and I as grandparents, we're going to present you with a sword that one of my ancestors wore into battle many years ago. It's purely ornamental now but should go nicely with your new collection."

"I'm honoured, Your Majesty and I'll treasure it always," I replied.

"You're most welcome," she responded. "My daughter, Princess Anne; has a pocket watch and a wrist watch from another ancestor that she and the girls wish to present to you."