Arielle Riley's Story

Raven glanced up from her hand for a moment just long enough for her eyes to land on her new husband - and he was looking straight back at her. A surge of panic shot straight up her back and she could feel her cheeks becoming hotter and, she imagined, much redder. Her lips curved up into a small, shy smile and she nodded her head towards him slightly - as apposed to an all-out curtsy, which she somehow felt was appropriate.
She felt she should despise him - having men grab her from the street, shove her into the back of a pitch-black van with a group of other terrified girls, having to undergo his inspection, allowing all of those other girls to be rounded up and shot just because they didn't quite reach his standard...But honestly, looking at this man, really looking at him for the first time, she couldn't imagine him being responsible for all of this...With his angelic good looks, his blonde curls that fell around that handsome face, those kind eyes and that dimple in his cheek when he smiled...But then again, looks could be deceiving. She felt a sudden flutter low down in her stomach. Though, whether that was the effects of attraction or nausea, she wasn't sure.

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Arielle stood in the centre of the commotion in the garden of her new home, holding onto a glass of champagne and taking a sip now and then as she answered the questions of the excited guests that approached her with a sweet, charming smile, nodding along with their attempts at conversation and feigning humility when they complimented her. She knew she was the most gorgeous thing in this place, she just liked to hear it repeated. She occasionally lifted her eyes to scan the crowd for her husband, then returned to whatever conversation she was having. She sometimes lifted her hand to her face to half-cover a demure smile. Anyone talking to her would take this as a sign of modesty or refreshing shyness, but in reality she was flaunting her wedding ring: allowing everyone to see that she was now Arielle Strenson, the Governor's wife. Living in the lap of luxury.
She was dressed in a red dress which stopped mid-thigh and hugged her curvaceous figure tightly. It had a corset top, covered in floral-patterned black lace, which accentuated her chest and pulled in her already tiny waist. Her makeup - done to match - was a thick line of black eyeliner on each of her top lids which came out at a flick and deep red lipstick, the same red as her dress and hair - which, after being tightly curled and styled for the wedding, was now set to flow free and wild - just the way she preferred it. She looked like a gorgeous nightmare. The she-devil personified. She already loved her Domestic for giving her this look.

There was a smile on Alex's face. It exuded brilliance, intelligence, but most of all happiness. Everything had gone perfectly, there was no crying no shouts of outrage. Just a beautiful ceremony. But right now he was searching for his brides. Something he as a person of such a high caliber should never have to do and his smile was slowly turning a neutral look. His mouth becoming a thin line as he pressed his lips together.

Right now Alex was walking around the garden of his mansion, searching for his brides. A wedding photographer had set up and was waiting for them. He passed by a waitress and grabbed her stiffly by the arm.

"If you find my wives before I do, please tell them to meet me at the fountain. The photographer is there waiting for us." Alex said, his calm tone contrasting his stiff body language.

He then continued to walk through the garden passing by people he'd never met before. Usually he would stop and great them with his trade mark smile, but right now he had other things to do. He quickened his pace, his mind racing through all the things he still needed to do today. He rounded a corner of his mansion and for the first time since he had been wed, saw one of his brides. It was in fact Bailey. Her head down as she moved quickly through the garden. Luckily for Alex, she was heading straight for him. He quickened his pace even more, bringing him to a slow jog and allowing him to quickly close the distance between him and Bailey. With an outstretched arm he wrapped his right arm around her waist as the two passed. Picking her up and settling her down on his left side, facing the same direction he was heading.

"Ah, Bailey my dear so glad you could join us. Come, we still have to find the rest of my brides." Alex said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he began to walk at a reasonable speed.

A moment later a Alex spotted a large crowd surrounding something, or someone. Quickly he turned to Bailey, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Stay here, I'll only be a moment."

With that he turned and walked into the large crowd, gently pushing some of the less important people out the way, while smiling at those who were more renowned. There in the center of the crowd sat Alyssa a flustered look on her face. He stepped forward towards her, his hand held out to her. The crowd that had gathered had now slowly began to disperse not wanting to meddle in the conversations of the newly weds.

"Come my dear, we have things to do." Alex said as he shook his hand at her to signal his eagerness.

Two wives down, one to go. That waitress better find here before I do. Alex thought as he led Alyssa by her hand towards Bailey.

"Alright, thank you for so graciously helping me to find you both. We've got a photographer waiting for us by the fountain and I will not have my name made a fool of by making him wait." Alex scolded the two brides with dripping sarcasm. His friendly demeanor now slowly morphing into a more serious and angry tone. Alex sighed, anger was not a great way to start of a marriage. But these wives needed to behave them selfs and not be so extremely hard to find.

"The two of you look phenomenal by the way" Alex said with sincerity. The two looked gorgeous and there was no denying it. Quickly and firmly Alex began to lead the two around the last corner of the garden, hoping to find his last wife. As Alex rounded the last corner he was no longer needing to search. The last wife seemed to be the most excited of all. See was easily spotted among a group of on lookers. Each one seemed utterly enticed by her. She was defiantly the show woman and Alex liked it, but there was no time for pleasantries.

"Wait here... Please." Alex said curtly, before adding a polite gesture, he might as well. These were the woman who were going to bare his children.

Quickly Alex made his way over to Arielle.

"My dear, sorry to interrupt but I need you to come along with me. Alex said, cutting off the conversation his wife was having. His hand outstretched to his she-devil of a wife

"Good God you look beautiful." He blurted out, forgetting the anger he had harbored for her being the hardest to find, as he lead her to his other wives.

Bailey glanced down at her dress when Alex complimented her, using this movement to hide the slight roll of her eyes at his words.
"You know what else looks phenomenal? The garden. You know...the one I was just in. So...thanks for your enthusiasm and all, but...I'm not going to take you up on this offer. I'm just not photogenic, and I don't wish to put myself through the embarrassment. Although it would be LOVELY to take a wedding photo with you, Alyssa and Arielle...something I would truly treasure for the rest of my miserable existence." She replied, giving Alex a bitter sweet smile and taking a small step back towards the doors. "Come find me when all of this mess is over and I can have time to myself in peace, would you? Now, that...is something I would be interested in."
She was going to test his patience. She was going to make him suffer, for all the suffering he'd already made her endure by bringing her here. And she wasn't going to show mercy.

Arielle lifted her eyes once more to search the crowd for her husband and froze mid-conversation with an elderly first generation couple when she saw him there, stood with his two other brides - she refused to call them sister wives, they were nothing but competition for their husband's affection - and she felt her charming mask drop. The fury sparked up in her eyes, truly completing her she-devil image. How was she not the first one he noticed? Those other girls were merely children playing dress up…They were nothing compared to her. She swallowed her rage and returned her gaze to the couple, giving them another forced but believable smile and excusing herself. Then with a tight-set jaw, she began to make her way through the crowd towards her husband.

Arielle smiled at her husband and gracefully took his hand, her face relaxing and the fury disappearing from her eyes when she heard his compliment.
"Well thank you..." she practically purred and followed him to join his other two brides. As she looked at the both of them, she couldn't help but wonder if Alex had complimented them with the same sense of admiration. She guessed not, noticing the red mark on the blonde one's cheek. Her eyes suddenly lit up with a slight gleam of satisfaction - if she had already given herself cause for punishment, it was a slim chance she would be chosen for Alex's First Wife...and the little brunette didn't appear to be much of a threat, so the position was already as good as hers.

Bailey lightly rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand, glaring over at Alex as she did so. How dare he bring any form of bodily harm to her...
She hated him even more now.
Forcing herself to look away and focus her attention on something or someone else, Bailey looked over at Arielle, giving her a quick look up and down, then turned her nose up slightly and looked away again. She wasn't going to attempt to converse with someone who looked as if they'd like to hit her as hard as Alex did...to be honest, they were probably suited for eachother. And with that, she began to look around the room, sighing quietly as she tried to keep her mind off what was going on.

There was something about the way that Arielle almost purred as she thanked Alex for the compliment that made him want to not only whisper sweet nothings into her ear, but also made him lust for her. More so than with any of his other wives. But all that was for later.

"Right, now that you're all here. We have a photographer waiting for us at the fountain. He is extremely professional so please, behave your self around him." Alex said as he shot Bailey a look.

"So, follow me. Oh before I forget. Alyssa I want you on my right side, your hand on my shoulder. Bailey, on my left. Same thing as Alyssa."

Alex paused for a moment as turned to look at Arielle. A smile on his face as he thought of the best position for her and then chuckled to him self as his mind drifted off to that of the bedroom.

"Arielle, I want you on my lap. You're arm around my neck." Alex then checked his watch. His smile now changing to frown.

"Come, we can't make the photographer wait any longer." With that he presented his arms for two of his wives, before moving on towards the fountain.

Arielle's smile brightened ever so slightly when given her instructions. Yes, she was well on her way to the prestigious role of Alex Strenson's First and favourite wife. First there was the admiration in his voice when he complimented her, then the lustful way he looked at her, and now she had been awarded the most intimate position in this photograph...Things were falling into place for her so soon, and she found it hard to repress the joy and flutters of excitement she felt in her chest of things to come in this new life as she threaded her arm through her husband's.

Glancing at Alex and Arielle as they spoke, and then into the rest of the garden and all that was around her, thoughts raced through Bailey's mind. And at that moment, she struck gold.
She had a plan.
Quickly picking up her posture and striding after them, she smoothly and gracefully slipped her arm through Alex's other, flashing him the most dazzling smile she could manage and playfully fluttering her eyelashes as she looked up at him.
"...Just to keep up the good image...we wouldn't want people to think that I wasn't happy..." She remarked as she did so, lifting her dress with her other hand so it wouldn't trail along the ground. "I'd suggest we forget things ever happened and start over, but...there'll be time for that later on tonight, won't there?"
She smiled seductively, gently twisting a lock of her hair around in her fingers and looking Alex up and down slightly.

It was a rough start for Alex, at least in his world, but finally things were now falling into place. Alex smiled as Arielle gently took his arm, he could feel how she was warm, excited and most of all ready for her future with him. But with Bailey it cold, harsh but strangely something else was there that Alex couldn't quite put his finger on.

He turned to Bailey, looking her dead in the eye.

"I may be the man of the house, but I'm not daft. You may try your luck with the domestics and see how far you can get with them. But you will not test my patience and you will not rebel against my authority."

Alex said, his eyes unblinking while he spoke, the venom is his speech extremely prudent. Alex liked Arielle's warm touch, her obedience, but there was something in Bailey he just could not take his mind off of and then as an after thought he added;

"and yes there will be time."

Alex turned to face Arielle, a warm smile on his face

"more than enough."

Soon they were at the fountain with the photographer fussing about them.

Standing in her place ready to take the wedding photographs, Bailey was not entirely pleased. But still she smiled and posed the way she had been taught to do by her mother when she was a young child if such a day arrived, before she had moved out and left her father. She flashed a smile and a wave at numerous groups of people who had decided to come over and watch the photographs being taken, simply to make up for the lack of time she'd spent talking to any of them since she had arrived. And to prove that she wasn't entirely made of stone, like they would have previously thought.
In the back of her mind, she knew there was something there - something that, despite all of Arielle's attempts to draw the attention towards her - something that Bailey had that Alex had noticed. And she would do whatever she could to bring that out more. She was seemingly a challenge for him, constantly hot and cold, and she knew that made her interesting. And with any hope, she would get that little bit of freedom she so longed for. She wasn't happy with her current situation, but...maybe, just maybe...things would start to get better. She was counting on that.

Arielle returned Alex's warm smile, trying to ignore the little blonde thing that had attached itself to her husband's other arm. She was irrelevant. She would not get in the way of her plans, and if she dared try, Arielle would crush her like an insect. She would be the one with all of the attention, she would be the one with all the affection, she would be there on Alex's arm at every party and ceremony, riding through the city in limousines, being praised and admired by other governors and their wives. She would be the one Alex comes to every night. That is what her life will be, and she'd never let anyone take that from her.
After these thoughts passed through her mind, she realized she needed to improve her ability to ignore...Because at that moment, all she could think about was Alex's other bride and her obvious attempts to steal Arielle's rightful title away from her.
She snapped out of those thoughts as soon as they arrived at the fountain, though, as soon as she laid eyes on that camera.

((sorry for my lack of posting im helping family and im so mad this will be my last short post))

Alyssa watches as the whole thing went down,staying quiet not wanting to get hurt.She watched as the other wive...the older one was getting more attention..Alyssa didn't care but,she was getting ticked off."So, follow me. Oh before I forget. Alyssa I want you on my right side, your hand on my shoulder. Bailey, on my left. Same thing as Alyssa."
Alyssa eyed bolth Alex and the other wives and nodded."Arielle, I want you on my lap. You're arm around my neck." She rolled her eyes and watches as Alex put two arms out for the other two wives.Greatshe thought,I'm just gonna try along like a little lost puppy now arn't I.Alyssa followed them to the fountain and put her arm on Alex's shoulder faking a smile.

*Flash* *Flash* *Flash*

For a moment Alex was blinded by the bright light of the camera flashes, but quickly the world returned to normal.

"Alright, now for the singles. Just a photo with just you and me." Alex said, his voice taking a more demanding tone than that of asking.

"Alyssa, you'll be first." Alex looked at the timid girl. He thoughts beginning to wonder if she would be any good as a mother to his heirs.

"Come now, shoo you two." A smile making its way across Alex's face as he jokingly shooed his wives away.

"So... Tell me about your-self Alyssa." Alex began as the photographer began to take photos of the couple in different positions.

"Who you are, what you do and where it is they found you." Alex's voice now catching a slight edge as he spoke. He knew how it is that he came to get his wives and he loved it.

Alex smile fell off his face in the last photo as he heard Alyssa's answer, his face showing nothing but a blank expression. Alex was surprised with Alyssa's answer. In truth he was shocked. The fact that Alyssa was a prostitute before entering his home disgusted him. But there was merit in her honesty and at least she knew her way around the bed room.

"Did he feel sorry for you before or after he ruined your beautiful body?" Alex asked rhetorically as he signaled that he wished for Alyssa to be off his lap.

"Thank you Alyssa, can you call Bailey for me?" Alex asked, the shock from Alyssa's answer causing him to become move civil with his wife.

While he waited for Bailey he recovered, falling back into his usual demeanor. As Bailey approached Alex posed the same question. A subtle hint of doubt as to if the answer might be pleasant or not.

"So... Tell me about your-self Bailey. Who you are, what you do and where it is they found you."

The smile faded as Alyssa walked away from Alex,passing Bailey.She was smart,she knew her husband was
ticked off with her about being a protitute.Well fuck him,he is going to have to deal with it. she thought,sitting down by Alex's other wife and starred daggers at Alex but,quickly stopped.Alyssa then eyed Arielle up and down.She then turned her head and scoffed.Yea she was older but,she wasen't scared of her...just Alex.She saw how Alex was 'favoring'her earlier.She seemed like like first wife material wich made Alyssa giggle.let her have first wife Alyssa thought.She will get more attention than me so....I want really have to talk or see him much. That thought made a half smile return to Alyssa's face as she starred out into the garden.