You Don't Mess with Them

"In a way I feel sorry for Brendan." I said, bringing shocked looks from Roger and Jane. "He didn't really have a chance, did he? Malcolm would have made it abundantly clear when he started work that he would be expected to use his position for his father's personal gain, regardless of the fact that he would be breaking the law in the process. He didn't have the guts to stand up to his father, just as he didn't have the guts to face me without his thugs behind him. This was the only life that he knew."

"You're being too easy on him. I doubt if you would have gone down that path, you look strong enough to stand up to your father if you thought that he was asking you to do something wrong."

"You're right about that, but my mother, now that's another story entirely, now there's a strong woman who always gets what she wants. Having said that, her demands are entirely reasonable, I've never heard her demand anything that wasn't within our power to achieve."

I regaled them with stories of my family, (don't worry, I won't bore you with them) and the things that we did, of my father and his work as an Agronomist, my sister, now a successful Lawyer, and my mother who gave up a successful career on the stage to stage manage our family.

"Darling," Jane was snuggled against me in her comfortable bed, "You know that I love you very much?"

"Yes." I was wondering where this was heading.

"And that I would live anywhere with you?"

"You would?"

"Yes. Well . . . I was wondering . . . ."

"What were you wondering?"

"I know little about Australia other than what we see on TV. What's it really like?"

"It's a great place, full of variety. We have lots of beaches but they come with a downside. They can be dangerous to swim in with strong rips that can carry you way out to sea if you're not careful, currents that collapse sand-bars without warning, and swimming in the sea are some pretty deadly creatures, and I don't just mean Great White sharks. There's box jellyfish that are extremely deadly, and salt water crocodiles that are in plague proportions up north."

"Remind me never to go swimming then."

"You're okay as long as you take precautions. The countryside is one of extremes, we have everything from deserts to tropical rainforests, mountain ranges to seemingly endless plains, and we have cute and cuddly creatures like koalas as well as creepy crawlies that will kill you. We have the most venomous land based snakes in the world, the deadliest spider in the world in the male Sydney Funnel Web, although there haven't been any fatalities since an antivenin was discovered. We have the only monotremes in the world, and a couple of the largest flightless birds. We don't have any active volcanos and very few earthquakes. The climate ranges from monsoonal in the north to cool temperate in the south, we have areas that have a Mediterranean climate where some of the world's best wines come from, to maritime climates with hot humid summers. It is a country of extremes, and it takes some getting used to."

"Do you think that I'll get used to it?" I was beginning to think that she might be having second thoughts about living anywhere as long as it was with me.

"Who says that you'll have to? I was going to ask you the same thing, will I ever get used to the cold weather, even in your supposed summer, why, you have people dropping dead in the streets from heat stroke on what's nothing more than a pleasant warm day back home. I don't enjoy the cold, but then I can always snuggle up to you to keep warm." To prove the point I took her in my arms and kissed her, my body pressed against hers, my cock making its presence felt against her. She grabbed him and fed him into her moist pussy, rolling on top of me and pushing down on him. After we'd both reached our climax she went to roll off me, but I held her to me. "Now isn't this better than dodging all of those nasties in Australia? Don't you feel safe here?"

"I'm not afraid of any nasties as you put it, because I have my hero to protect me." She kissed me with renewed passion. "I'll never stop loving you, you realise that don't you?"

"I should hope not. Now, what are we going to do, discuss where we're going to live, or cuddle each other until we go to sleep?"

"Cuddle each other sounds good to me." She rolled off me and turned away from me so that I could spoon her. "But we're going to have to discuss this sometime soon, you do know that, don't you?"

"Shut-up and let me cuddle you."

"Hmm, that feels nice . . ." She was asleep.

A new day and a new mixed bag of news. We had just finished breakfast when we got a phone call from the police requesting that we come down to London and make formal statements. We arranged to be there just after lunch, planning to spend the night in town so that I could check out of the hotel and drag my gear back to Jane's parents' place. She rang her work and arranged to call in to speak with her boss after we'd finished with the police.

Then came the big news. "Mark, a word if you will."

"This sounds ominous."

"This includes you Jane. Nerida and I have been having a long talk about our future. We would like to experience things before we shuffle off, things like going on cruises to the tropics, visiting South America and even Australia. The world is out there for us to explore and enjoy before our dotage sets in. What we are proposing is that you, both of you, should take over the management of this property while we do those things so that when the time comes for Jane to inherit, you'll have the experience to be able to properly manage it. Well, what do you think?"

"Sir, I think that it's a wonderful idea, but I do have one stipulation." I could see Jane's quizzical expression. "I like the idea of you and Nerida going off to see the world, but I think that there will be times when you tire of being tourists. When that happens you should come back and run the place while Jane and I take time to visit my family." Jane stopped looking quizzical and hugged me and kissed me.

"That sounds fair and reasonable. What do you think my Dear?" He asked Nerida.

"I think that's a very good idea, I'm sure that I will tire of living in hotels after a while. Now, when are we going to have the wedding?"

"I'll need to speak with my parents and arrange for them to come over for it, I know Jane will want it here so that we can use the Bridal Suite." Jane and Nerida both smiled at that, Roger started out with a shocked expression on his face but it soon disappeared.

"I've already spoken to your mother, she wouldn't miss it for the world." Nerida said.

It was my turn for a shocked expression. "You don't waste any time do you?" I asked them, "And you're very sure of yourself aren't you?"

"Never been surer." Jane said as she came into my arms. "Never been surer."

"Well, we'd better get our finger out if we're going to organise a wedding, hadn't we?"

"What's your rush? I thought that we'd wait for your mother to get her so that she can help out. When I spoke to her she told me that she wanted to help. By the way, your parents will be here next week." Nerida said.

Have you ever had the feeling that you've been railroaded into something? Not that I'm complaining mind you, it's just that I'm only just getting used to having a woman in my life, a woman that I actually want to spend the rest of my life with, and here she is, conniving, colluding even, with my own mother in organising my future for me. On second thoughts, why shouldn't these women in my life have the fun of organising the wedding, I'm not sexist, but I wouldn't know where to begin.

"I don't know about you Roger, but I think that we should just sit back and let them arrange this, don't you?"

Jane beat him to a reply. "Don't think that either of you are going to just sit there while we do all of the hard work, there'll be plenty to keep you occupied."

That was when I came to realise it; when it comes to women and their plans for your life, you just don't mess with them.