Choosing Her Lover

Part Three Of‘Choosing Her Lover’

The Gathering of Storm Clouds

Michael charges up the stairs, two at a time. From upstairs comes the sound of uproar: the shriek of a woman’s voice, a male roar of rage, banging and thumping, a crashing noise…. perhaps furniture being overturned?

I hesitate, then follow Michael upstairs. Perhaps I can help to calm down the irate Ben.

Michael bursts through the door at the top of the stairs, sounds of chaos beyond as it swings open. After a hesitation, I follow him.

Charlotte is standing in the far corner of the room, a sheet wrapped around her but obviously naked underneath. Red-haired and demon-green-eyed, her face is livid with rage. She shrieks at Ben who is in his turn, screaming incoherently at James.

James, wrath writ across his features, is naked, his erection still at full mast. Clearly Ben caught the two very much ‘in the moment’. Not that I haven’t seen James in this condition before, at the Club, but right now I feel very inappropriate.

What do I say? James and Charlotte weren’t doing anything they shouldn’t. The three of them have got it arranged between them….

I’ve come into the room behind Michael, but now…. what on earth am I doing here? I retreat into a corner, trying not to be noticed.

Michael, striding up behind his brother, grabs him by the shoulders. “What the fuck do you think you’re playing at, Ben?”

Ben swings back to him, his expression amazed. “What am I doing? What about them? I’ve caught your wife and your so-called best mate in the act, and you ask what I’m doing?”

Michael is clearly trying to keep a lid on his fury, but his voice is strained. “As my brother,” he says, “you have many privileges, but bursting into the bedroom on my wife is not one of them.”

Ben’s jaw drops. “You can see what they were doing!” he shouts, waving a hand at James and Charlotte, “And yet it’s me you’re angry at?”

“If you believed there was a problem, perhaps you might have talked with me first? Let me handle it?” asks Michael, his words icy. “This is your answer? To barge in, interfering in my family life?”

Ben gapes at him. “Michael, your wife and…. and …. him, have been fucking behind your back. Why are you angry with me?”

stands, stares at the ceiling, swipes a hand through his hair…. His indecision clear. He doesn’t know how to explain this to his narrow-minded,

not everyone lives the same

Is this wise?

to me, murder in his eyes. “What? What the fuck’s it to do with you, Kirstie? It’s

my advice and wishes. You made it my business. So, you

it. James is pulling on his pants, watching me in slit-eyed silence. Charlotte simply stands, wide-eyed, enveloped in her sheet, lips

the same way you do, or

you talking about?” Ben is red-faced and sweating, the whites of his eyes showing all around

haven’t you noticed the

rings? What are you talking

She’s wearing two sets of rings; one set like Michael’s and the other like

at Charlotte, who holds up her left hand, with its collection of intricate red, yellow and white gold spirals; then at James, who also holds up his left hand, displaying a ring in intertwined red and yellow gold.

though it is writ across his forehead, I see Ben dismiss the evidence of what he is seeing. He stalks towards me, his face no longer red. I’ve heard the phrase ‘white with rage’. This

brother would ignore it

think you see, might not be the

could it be? One man making out

the hell do I

the emotional equipment to

lays a hand on his arm. “Ben…” Ben brushes him away, still moving

eyes fixed on me. His voice is low; threat

have stayed out

could I?

away from Ben, but I’m already against the wall. Flustered, I look away. “I don’t know what to

and then just pretend you didn’t.

getting tight. “I mean, you wear someone’s ring because it…. it…. it binds you to that person. Look at them,

stares at me with sheer loathing. “That’s disgusting. How dare you talk about my family like

tries to interrupt again,