The Job (4 page)

Chapter Six

Nathanial
drank in Alex’s confusion, the sweet scent of aroused woman. It would be so
easy to kiss her senseless, free his aching cock, and shoving her panties out
of the way, impale himself inside her sweet body. She wouldn’t resist him. His
dick fair screamed at him to go through with this plan. Had she been anyone
else, he would already be balls deep inside of her, after which he’d have put
her in a cab. He’d have been on the phone to Johnson to clear the mess his
earlier actions had placed him in. Then again, he wouldn’t have reacted in
quite such an extreme manner had he not been with Alexandra, so this was all a
moot point.

“I’m
not an escort.”

He
pulled back at the whispered reply. When he frowned at her she hurried on to
explain.

“I’m
really not. I was helping out my flatmate. She desperately needs the money, only
she’s come down with a chest infection. I didn’t want to do this, but she said
there was no sex, and well, she’s taken out this loan. If she doesn’t make the
payments then … please believe me, Sir. I’m not lying. I work in a pub to make
ends meet, because there aren’t enough acting parts. I may have embellished the
acting side for my mum, but, well … I want her to be proud of me. She doesn’t
need to worry about me, and… Fuck, you don’t believe me, do you?”

She
ran out of breath and took a big heaving gulp of air, after having got all that
out in one long tumble of words while ringing her hands in her agitation. She
jumped when he put his large hands over hers to still the frantic movements of
those digits.

“Relax,
baby, I believe you.”

Her
shoulders sagged in her seeming relief. He dropped a kiss on her nose, and she
went a little cross eyed at the action. Nathanial breathed a damn side easier
knowing that she was not in fact an escort. It wouldn’t have mattered to him,
not really, but it would matter to other people, especially his father. He had
disappointed the old man enough with his previous choice of wife, so…

His
head came up at his thought processes, and Alex grew agitated again as she
studied him.

“Are
you sure, Sir?” she asked. “You don’t look as though you believe me. If you
can’t accept that I’m telling the truth about this, then you’ll never believe
what really happened with your cousin, and…” She bit her lip, and would have
scrambled off his lap, had he not snared her by the shoulders and pulled her
back down again. She landed awkwardly on his dick, and he winced. Lifting her
off slightly,
he
adjusted his rock hard appendage with
a wry grin at her.

“Trust
me, I’m sure. I wouldn’t be this hard for you if I wasn’t. I can’t abide liars.
I had enough of that from Angela. In fact, just mentioning her name makes my
cock want to hide.” He gave a self-depreciating laugh, as, sure enough his dick
deflated like a limp balloon. Then again, the way Alex had looked when she
mentioned Godfrey’s name had a lot to do with that too. Nathanial knew he
wasn’t going to like what she had to say. It made him uncomfortably aware that
he’d misjudged her back then.

He’d
known that already though, hadn’t he? It didn’t say a lot about him that he
hadn’t sought her out before now to apologize for the way he’d acted all those
years ago. He had been young, in love, and hurt, but that was no excuse for the
way he had behaved toward her.

Nathanial
ignored the little voice in his ear whispering that he was still in love. He’d
never fallen out of love in fact. He could only hope that Alex felt the same
way about him.

Her
reactions so far had given him hope. Her next words made that hope soar high.

“Were
you really married to that bitch? It’s not common knowledge is it? I mean Mum
never said when I asked
af
…
erm
I mean…” She stopped speaking and offered him an
impish smile. The cutest blush stained her cheekbones, which meant he had to
tease her a little.

“Miss
Farrington, have you been keeping tabs on me all these years?”
 
Nat winked at her when her blush deepened, and
she made a big show of shrugging her shoulders.

“You’re
a hard man to avoid. Your face is always plastered over the gossip mags… Oh my
god, mine will be too, tomorrow, right? I need to phone Mum to warn her, and oh
… this is all such a fucking mess.”

Nathanial
caught her flailing hands in his and pulled her in for a hug. After a moment’s
hesitation, she relaxed into his embrace. He buried his face in her silky hair and
inhaled. She smelled of the flowery shampoo she used, which made him smile.

“It
is a mess, but nothing that my lawyer can’t sort out. Besides it has done me a
favor in a way. Angela broke the terms of the divorce settlement. That means I’m
finally free of her. She won’t see a fuckin’ penny of my money in the future. That’s
all she ever wanted me for anyway.”

He
smiled when Alex hugged him back in answer.

“I’m
sorry, she sounds awful.”

“She
is. For the life of me I don’t know why I fell for her limited charms in the
first place. In my defense we met just after my mother passed away. I guess she
was a shoulder.” He shrugged and straightened up, putting a little distance
between them.

An
odd smile crossed Alexandra’s face, as she picked up his injured hand. His
breathing sped up when she brought it up to her lips, kissing the bruised
knuckles one by one.

“A
shoulder, huh? From what I’ve seen you’d get your eyes poked out by that
shoulder. Somehow I don’t think there was much leaning on her
shoulders
going on, Sir.”

She
smiled as she said that. Taking his thumb in her mouth, she sucked hard. His
cock jerked in response. Nat groaned when she released his thumb and grazed her
teeth along its length.

“Careful,
pet, if you keep doing that, I’ll put that mouth of yours to better use.”

Alex’s
smile in answer didn’t reach her eyes, as she straightened back up again. He
was glad to notice she didn’t relinquish her hold on his hand though and he
squeezed her digits.

“Yes,
in the interests of being truthful, I was more interested in what was between
her legs.” Alex flinched at his words. He cupped her face with his free hand and
ran his thumb over her lips.

“Sex
is easy. It’s emotions that are the real killer. As long as I was fucking her I
didn’t have to look too closely at everything I lost, what a fucking
disappointment I was to my parents.” When Alex looked as though she was going
to say something, he shook his head at her.

“No,
let me get this off my chest. I was a disappointment. Oh not business wise, that
was and is thriving, but my personal life was a shambles. Ever since I let my
cousin’s lies stop me from going after who I really wanted.”

Alex
gasped and he smiled grimly.

“I
owe you an apology for that, for the things I said to you, about you. Lord knows
Mum gave me a dressing down, but by that time, you’d already left for college.
I convinced myself it was better that way. You were only sixteen after all,
barely legal apart from other things.” He winked at her and frowned when her
face screwed up. All the color drained from her cheeks.

“I’m
sorry, this is bringing up bad memories for you, isn’t it? Suffice to say, I
cleaned up my act after the whole Angela debacle. I’m not even sure how she got
me to Vegas, but I tell you I never sobered up as fast as I did waking up in
that hotel room, married to her. Of course she wouldn’t go quietly, so Johnson
made a deal with her. For her silence she’d get monthly payments. As she
spouted her big gob about our marriage after I dealt with that scumbag of my
cousin, that agreement is now null and void. I’m finally rid of her. No doubt
she will do some sort of sordid expose in the papers, but that will soon blow
over…”

Nathanial
thanked his fast reflexes, because he managed to catch Alex seconds before she
would have face-planted on the floor as she swayed sideways. Nat swore out
loud. After depositing her unconscious self on the bed, he frowned at her pallor
and uneven breathing, as he picked up the phone to reception.

“Nathanial
Longton, here, send me up a range of what’s available on your late night menu, and
some strong coffee ASAP, will you.”

He
didn’t bother to listen to the affirmation at the other end, before he ended
the call and picked up his mobile.

Johnson
answered on the fourth ring, with a resigned yawn.

“What
trouble have you gotten yourself in now, Nat?”

****

Alexandra
came back round to the deep, annoyed rumble of Nathanial’s voice. Even in her
befuddled state that sound alone made the fine hair on her arms stand to
attention. She shifted to ease the resulting ache between her legs. The strong
smell of coffee assaulted her nostrils seconds later. She groaned, struggling
to sit up, and open her eyes, just in time to see Nat end his phone call. He
smiled at her.

His
amber gaze lit up in barely disguised male appreciation. Belatedly, she
realized that she was wearing only her underwear. Her dress lay in a crumpled
heap at the bottom of the bed, next to his jacket and tie. While her fingers
itched to yank the covers up to her chin, the expression on his face stopped
her. Besides, he had clearly been the one to peel her out of the dress, so it
would have been akin to bolting the stable door after the horse had already
fled. A somewhat hysterical bubble of laughter escaped her tight throat at her
convoluted thought processes. She sobered when Nathanial sat down next to her,
offering her a steaming mug of coffee.

When
she made a grab for it, he raised an eyebrow.

“Slow
sips now, to help you get some color back in those cheeks. Then I want to see
you eat something.”

His
voice brooked no argument, so Alex murmured her agreement while she wrapped her
hands around the coffee cup. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply.

Several
cautious sips of the live-giving elixir later, she felt more like her usual
self. Opening her eyes, she found Nathanial watching her with the most curious
expression on his face.

Her
heart beat faster from that look, making her all too aware of the way her
nipples firmed and pushed against the lace cups of her bra, like come-notice-me
beacons. She should have been embarrassed really, especially when Nat’s gaze
dropped down to her chest snaring on her boobs. She could have sworn her
breasts grew heavier. Alex barely suppressed a whimper, when he raised his hand
and skimmed his knuckles over one needy bud. It made the neglected nipple on
the other side ache even more, causing her to almost spill her coffee as her
hand shook in need.

Abandoning
her breasts, he took the mug out of her hand. With a sinful grin, he handed her
a plate full of sandwiches.

“Now
eat. Then we’ll talk.”

Alex
pulled a face. She pointedly looked at his groin where his cock was testing the
strength of his tailored trousers and promptly jumped when Nat swatted her leg.

“Ouch,”
she said, glaring at him.

“I
said eat. I don’t want you passing out on me again. We need to talk, not fuck.”

Alex
dutifully bit into the cheese and pickle sandwich. She couldn’t quite suppress
her moan of delight as the flavors exploded on her tongue.

“Glad
to see that’s still your favorite. The choices were limited this late at night.
I figured you’d want something simple, filling, and familiar. Tell me, when was
the last time you ate something?”

He
smiled, when Alex grunted in response and chewed her mouthful, before she
answered.

“Breakfast,
I think.”

Nat
shook his head and scowled at her.

“No
wonder you keep fainting. You need to take better care of yourself. What were
you thinking?”

The
censure stung, but with her tummy rumbling her approval at the food, she
ignored that question in favor of eating. Nathanial joined her with his own
plate of food. By the time they were done, she was pleasantly full.

“Better?”
He took the plate off her, handed her a glass of water and smiled.

Alex
nodded. “Yes, Sir, thank you.”

His
eyes flashed in some deep emotion that made her heartrate kick up into
dangerous territory. She hastily gulped the water down for a distraction.

“Glad
you’re remembering protocol, because I owe you a punishment, I seem to recall.”
His grin deepened when she choked on the last mouthful of water. Taking the
glass of her, he patted her on the back until the coughing stopped. Alex looked
at him through watery eyes and shook her head.

“Oh
yes.” Wrapping his hand in her hair, he tilted her head sideways, and pulled
her toward him. He licked up her neck, right over the sensitive spot where her
heartbeat was going crazy. Alex moaned when he took the fleshy part of her
earlobe between his teeth, and bit down slightly.

“We
should talk limits and such like, but as I don’t intend to go too hard on you
for our first time, I think we can skip that, unless there is something I need
to know now?”

Alex
closed her eyes and squeezed her thighs together to relieve the throbbing pulse
between her legs. She suspected she could come from that deep cadence of his
voice alone. Like molten chocolate it dripped into her conscience with its
sensual promise of wicked delights, making it impossible to think straight.

“I
thought we were going to talk?” How she managed to get those words out she
would never know. She sighed when Nat changed direction, nibbling his way along
her jaw, until he found her mouth and claimed her in a kiss. She opened to the
gentle strokes of his tongue. He grunted his approval when she kissed him back.
Just like the last time they kissed it quickly turned passionate as Nat fucked
her mouth in such a way that left her in no doubt how much he wanted her. His
erection was a hard ridge against her thigh. Alex frantically pulled at the
buttons of his shirt to get to his skin.