Chapter Thirteen

 

 

 

Even though I was no longer avoiding Nate, it was still a few days after his office that we saw each other again. I had come back inside from leaving a little food out for the ginger cat that was slowly fattening up when he entered the kitchen, shrugging out of his hoodie.

“Off out?” he asked, taking in my workout clothes.

“Though I’d go for a run then swim.”

“Want some company?”

I smiled. “Sure.”

Nate kissed my cheek. “Give me a minute to change.”

We chatted on the short walk to the leisure center—for once, the atmosphere light. Nate took the running machine next to mine and I stared straight ahead, sure I’d fall if I even glanced at him. He wore loose shorts and a sleeveless workout top, showing those arm muscles that banded around me making me feel protected and hot all at once.

“Do you come here a lot?” Nate asked after we both had worked up a sweat.

I shot him a smile. “Is that a chat-up line?”

He grinned at me. “No. And I didn’t think I needed one.”

“You know you don’t. And yes, I suppose. A few times a week.”

“Maybe I should come more often.”

“Yeah. Because you look like you need it.”

He laughed. “I’m beginning to think building up my stamina is never a bad thing where you’re involved. Has anyone ever told you that you have a stunning appetite?”

I nearly fell off the machine. “Is that an insult?”

His smile was wolfish. “You’ll never hear me complaining.”

My face flushed and I slowed the machine down. “I’m going for a swim. Are you staying up here?”

Nate nodded, and I vanished to the changing room before he could make me burn alive, want to drag him to the nearest secluded area and show him just how starving I was.

 

* * * *

 

My arms and legs felt like lead weights when I pulled myself out of the pool. After stopping at my locker for my clothes, I headed for a changing cubicle. As I went to shut the door, a hand shot out and caught it before it could close. Nate slid inside, locking the door behind him.

He crushed my damp body to him, covering my mouth with his before I could utter a sound. Nate’s tongue ravaged me and he shoved his hand into my bikini bottoms. His probing, expert fingers sank into the wet heat of my cunt. I was ready for him, aching for him and already felt myself coming.

Nate broke the kiss, breathing heavy. He spun me around, and I pulled the bottoms down, needing him in me now. I bent over and grasped the bench in front of me. Nate slammed his dick into me in a single, mind-blowing thrust.

My knuckles turned white from the force of my grip as he fucked me harder than ever before. I dropped my head as I orgasmed and Nate muffled my cries with his arm.

I came hard. Our sex was raw, the culmination of our fight and the length of time since he’d last been inside me. As the orgasm faded, he reached around and teased my clit. Nate increased his pace and he pounded into me, my whole body one giant, exposed nerve ending.

He came ferociously, so much it was enough to prompt a second orgasm. He kept my hips firm against his as the climax overtook my body and every part of me shook.

“I will definitely be coming here more often.” Nate pulled my upper half back into him, grabbing my chin to turn my head and kiss me thoroughly.

“You’ll never hear me complaining,” I whispered into his mouth, still trembling.

 

* * * *

 

When we returned to the house later that afternoon, Tilly was reaping merry hell in the living room while Suze watched gleefully on.

“Is your daughter ever not going to destroy my house?” Nate asked, dropping down onto the couch.

“Maybe. One day. Don’t hold your breath,” Suze said with a grin.

“What do you want, anyway? Jo and I have plans. Upstairs. Or down here. Maybe everywhere.” Nate winked at me, and I shook my head, unable to keep from smiling.

Suze huffed a sigh. “Lovely as that sounds, it’ll have to be put off for a few hours. I’m stealing her.”

“Oh really?” I asked, my eyebrows shooting up into my hairline. “Are you not even going to ask nicely?”

“Nope. Go get changed, dressy but casual. Sexy not slutty.”

“Just what have you got in mind?” Nate asked, rising from the couch.

Suze shrugged with a coy smile. “I won’t keep her out too long. I’m sure you and Tilly will be far too busy to miss us.”

Nate laughed. “So not only are you stealing Jo, you’re leaving me your demon child?”

“Sounds about right,” Suze said before looking at me. “Hurry up, would you? I want to go in half an hour.”

There really isn’t much point in arguing, is there?

Nate followed me upstairs, watching me shower and get changed into jeans and a floaty green top. He gave me a look so heated that for a heartbeat I thought he would rip the clothes from my body and pin me to the bed, his willing prisoner. Instead, his face softened and he kissed me. Intimate but gentle. A promise of later.

And as Suze said her goodbyes to her daughter, he whispered in my ear all the ways he was going to make up for lost time.

It was a short walk to the coffee place Suze wanted to go to, and as she pulled open the door, she gave me a wide grin, her face more excited and animated than I’d seen it.

Three seconds later, I knew why. She’d dragged me to a bloody singles night. For the next two-and-a-half hours, I politely but firmly rejected all conversation or invitations…some of which were more blatant than others, and watched as Suze soaked up all the attention.

She spent the most time with a tall blond who had a dentist-perfect smile. Suze touched his arm and leaned into him, holding his eyes and laughing at his jokes.

As we walked back to Nate’s, she told me all about him, waxing poetic about his eyes. Suze begged me to meet her the next afternoon to go shopping for an outfit to wear on her dinner date with Dan, who had the dentist-perfect smile.

 

* * * *

 

If Suze said I liked to bake my feelings, then these cupcakes would be lazy and sated, full and light all at once—dripping with decadence and sensuality. Spending the night with Nate after Suze and Tilly had finally left had my soul lighter than air. Before Nate, I never would have described myself as a sexual person, to the point where my mood reflected whether I was getting it or not. But I felt better when I was with Nate. The feeling followed me into the next day where I could still feel his hands on my body. All bad emotions or tension left me in his company. And I would be a fool not to realize it wasn’t just the sex. Nate was good for me.

Once the cakes were iced to the point they should come with a health warning, I left a few under a glass dome for Nate and boxed the rest up. I was working the back shift when it was more bistro than bar and figured the staff room may welcome the desserts.

I was halfway through the shift when Claire, the owner, marched behind the bar, planting her hands on her hips.

“Right, who left those cupcakes in the staff room?”

Paul and I glanced at each other. What the hell had I put in them? Had I mistaken an ingredient and they were inedible? Shit.

“Me,” I said, my stomach sinking.

“Made or bought?”

“Made.”

“Can you make more for tomorrow? And a tray bake?”

Wait, what? I frowned. “You didn’t hate them?”

Claire smiled. “I loved them! I’ll pay you, of course. They’re a damn sight better than the ones we have delivered from the bakery that cost an arm and a leg. So what do you say, will you be our official baker?”

An excited buzz replaced the dread in my stomach. “I’d love to.”

I hit the supermarket on the way home that night to stock up on ingredients. When Nate returned home late that night, he found me putting the finishing touches on the cakes for the next day.

“I’m going to gain fifty stone if you keep this up,” he said with a smile before greeting me with a kiss.

“Would it make you feel better if I said none were for you?”

His eyes widened. “What, not even one?”

“Maybe just one,” I teased. I picked up a cake. “Will you be my taster?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Thought you’d never ask.”

“Cake taster.”

Nate sighed. “If I must. What kind is it?”

“White chocolate raspberry.”

He took the cake and devoured half in a single bite. “Fuck me.”

“Fuck me good or fuck me bad?”

Nate swallowed and pulled me into him, covering my mouth with his. “Fuck me amazing.” He tasted delicious and I couldn’t help but smile against his lips.

“They’re serving them in the bistro tomorrow. Claire asked me to be the baker.”

“Yeah?” Nate grinned. “Congratulations, Jo. Claire obviously knows a good thing when she sees it.”

I shrugged. “It’s nothing special, just a batch of cupcakes a few times a week.”

“You are something special.”

Truth be told, I felt it too. It had been a very long time since there had been anything I could feel proud of.

 

* * * *

 

A fist hammering on the front door ripped me from sleep. The sound echoed up the stairs and had my heart rate going through the roof. For a terrified moment I lay in bed, sure I’d imagined the sound.

But then it came again and a nauseous feeling crept up my throat. Reaching under my pillow with a shaking hand, I gripped the cool, smooth wood and held on for dear life. There was a lull in the banging and just as I began to breathe easier, it started again.

I jumped out of bed and shoved my feet into the ballet flats, bat in hand. The front door wasn’t an escape option. I was too afraid to even go near it, let alone walk right past it to the back door. Rushing to the window, I weighed my options.

Just as I was considering making a leap of faith, footsteps thundered past my door.

Nate.

And suddenly it wasn’t just about me anymore.

“Nate!” I shouted. Was that really my voice? Foreign and terrified. “Nate, stop!”

I ran out of my room and halfway down the stairs, grabbing him and nearly sending both of us sprawling to the bottom.

“Fuck, Jo.” His voice thick with sleep. “It’s okay.”

I tried to pull him back up the stairs but he shook me off. “No, don’t!”

Nate opened the door, and I nearly fainted with fear. I cowered in the dark, pressing into the wall as though it could absorb me. Any second now he would see me and drag me from Nate’s safe and warm haven.

Hands gripped my forearms and I screamed, clawing at them to release me.

“Jo, Jo!” Nate gave me a little shake and it was enough to register that it was him. “It was just some pisshead. They’re gone now.”

I rested my head on my knees and grabbed at my hair.

“What the fuck,” Nate whispered, pulling me to my feet. “Jo, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

A sob rose in my throat and he crushed me to him. Nate carried me into my room and lay with me on the bed. He tucked me into him, and I scrambled to get closer. He shushed me and wiped away the tears that refused to stop.

 

* * * *

 

It was light when I woke again. I lay in my warm bed and for a tiny moment I convinced myself I’d dreamt what had happened last night. Then I realized the warmth was coming from Nate and his arms were still locked around me.

My cheeks burned. Not only was I mortally embarrassed, but how on earth would I explain my behavior?

Nate stirred and his brown eyes focused on me. “Morning.”

I managed a shaky smile.

He rolled me onto my back, nuzzling my throat. “There’s something to be said about falling asleep with you.” Nate stroked my leg and I hitched it over his hip. The tip of his erection met my wet folds and I arched my hips up to meet him.

Slowly, as though he was savoring the moment, he slid his thick erection inside until my cunt was filled with him, from root to tip. For a moment he didn’t move. My body stretched to accommodate him and I whimpered at the sensation. Nate kissed me, his tongue gliding over mine. When he did begin to move inside me, Nate held my eyes through every second of it. He held me captive and by the time he was through with me every last smidge of darkness from the night before had been banished.

Whether it was because he knew I couldn’t, or wouldn’t, talk about what happened, or because he didn’t want to know, Nate used the one thing he knew would comfort me. The only comfort I would tolerate.

 

* * * *

 

September had slipped into October and no one had warned me how quick the weather would change. Where once it had been stiflingly hot, now it was dull, overcast, wet and cold. Suze assured me autumn was nothing compared to full-blown winter and I would know what cold really was when it hit. At work I now wore long sleeves and even the crush of bodies on a Saturday night didn’t warm the place like it used to.

One particular Saturday night, Suze bopped up and down at the bar. She waved when I spotted her and pushed her way in front of me, ignoring the irate looks she was thrown.

“Hey,” she shouted over the music.

I smiled. “All right? Who are you out with?”

“Dan! We had dinner and I felt like coming to see you!” Suze had really hit it off with singles’ night Dan—they had been seeing each other for the last few weeks.

Her excitement was infectious, and my smile spread. “Having a good time then?”

“Yeah, it’s been brilliant. And Tilly’s with my parents all weekend, so I get to have some morning sex!”

The guy beside her was suddenly very interested in the conversation.

“So where is he then?” I asked.

“Keeping our table. God, it’s busy tonight, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “I’m shattered. Can’t wait to get home.”

Her eyes glinted. “Is Nate waiting up for you?”

“Have I told you before just how creepy it is how interested you are in our sex life?”

Suze rolled her eyes. “All you two have is a sex life.”

I leaned on the bar, my smile wide, and not caring my forearms would be sticky with beer. “And it’s fucking amazing, Suze, seriously. He does this thing—”

“All right, all right!” she shouted, clamping her hands over her ears.

A long time ago I learned the only way to beat Suze was to smother her in details. Shooting her a triumphant smile, I mixed her usual drink. When I slid it across the bar to her, she was staring hard at something. I snapped my fingers in front of her nose. Suze jumped and looked at me.

“Have you seen who’s here?” Suze asked.

“No, who?”

“Kate. I bet she’s still bloody well stalking me on Twitter under a fake account.” Suze shook her head. “She’s always appearing where I am now, the weirdo. I think she’s losing it.”

I frowned. “Is she trying to use you to get at Nate?”

He hadn’t mentioned Kate in a long time, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t heard from her.

“Yeah, probably. She should realize I’m the very last person to try that with. Does she seriously think she can win me over after what she did?”

I shrugged and saw Kate pushing her way through the crowd to us.

“Suze! Fancy meeting you here.” Kate tried to pull Suze into a hug but would have more luck hugging Edinburgh Castle.

“Yeah, imagine that,” she murmured.

Kate turned to me. “I’ll have a dry white wine.”

“I’m busy. You can ask one of the others.”

She laughed. “Excuse me? Who do you think you are, talking me like that? I could have your job for that.”

I shrugged. “Do I look like I give a shit?”

Kate looked at Suze. “Nice place this has turned into, isn’t it?”

Suze rolled her eyes. “You’re only acting like that because of who it is.”

Kate looked me over. “And who is this?”

Suze laughed. “You know exactly who this is. Now piss off before I lose my temper.”

Rob appeared at my side and took Kate’s order. Suze gave me a little wave and disappeared back into the crowd. I thought I had seen the last of Kate for the night but like a bad smell, she lingered for too long.

“You know you won’t ever be anything more to him than an easy shag, don’t you?” Kate’s voice drifted across the bar to me.

I gave her a look. “Kate, let me put this very plainly—I really couldn’t care less about anything you have to say. Now fuck off away from my bar before I have you chucked out.”

She smiled. “Feeling threatened? You should. I see him all the time, you know. Drop in at his office, go out for dinner…make love in his bed.”

A laugh bubbled in my throat.

“You can laugh, but it’s true. All those long, lonely nights when you’re here and he’s at home…but not alone.”

“Go spread your poison somewhere else.”

“I’ll get him back. It’s only a matter of time.”

“Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart.”

Kate gave me a smug smile that made me want to punch her in the face then left the bar.

 

* * * *

 

It was just after six when I gave up on sleep. My thoughts were swirling and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t put Kate’s words out of my head. If Nate was sleeping with her, it was really none of my business. But I couldn’t ignore the cold, stab of jealousy I felt when I imagined them together…here…in the same bed I spent so much of my time.

Taking some ham from the fridge, I crept outside to leave it for the ginger cat. More often than not, it was lurking somewhere in the garden, growing bolder every time I saw it. But this morning it darted between my legs and ran straight into the kitchen.

“Shit,” I whispered, chasing after it. Nate would flip out. He was forever warning me this sort of thing would happen. There was no sign of the cat in the kitchen, or in the sitting room. I crouched down the edge of the couch, peering into the darkness behind. “Here, psss psss.”

“What are you doing?”

Nate’s voice made me jump up. He stood in the doorway, watching me with a smile. “Oh, um, nothing. Just looking for something.”

“What?”

Just then I spotted the ginger cat as it rubbed against Nate’s bare legs. He looked down then back at me with an ‘I told you so’ look. “What the fuck is that thing doing in here?”

I let out a breath. “I didn’t mean to let it in! Bloody thing shot past me when I—”

“Went out to feed it?”

I cringed and tried to give him a cute, innocent smile. “Sort of.”

“Fuck sake,” Nate sighed. “You’ll never get rid of it now.”

“Sorry.”

“Take it to a vet, make sure it’s not diseased or anything.” Nate tried to nudge the cat away but it only purred louder and wound around and around his legs.

I frowned. “You want to keep it?”

Nate laughed. “No, Jo. I don’t want to keep it. But it doesn’t look as though it’s leaving, does it?”

I looked at the cat, cleaning its paws by Nate’s feet, no doubt satisfied it wasn’t getting the boot. “No, I suppose not.”

“Anyway,” Nate said, coming closer to me. “I like the idea of you being all happy and grateful.”

“I bet you do,” I said with a laugh.

He grinned and sat on the couch, patting the cushion beside him. Taking a seat beside him, he grabbed my feet and pulled them onto his lap. “Good night at work?”

I shrugged. “It was work.”

Nate pulled my socks off and massaged my feet. “Same old, same old?”

“More or less.” I sank deeper into the cushions. “Oh, Suze was in with the new bloke.”

He frowned. “I still haven’t met him. What’s he like?”

“Dunno, I only saw her. He was keeping the table or something.” I picked at the lettering on my top. “Kate was in tonight.”

Nate snorted a laugh. “And how is Kate?”

I flashed him a smile. “Very well, according to her and all the sex you’re having.”

His hold on my feet tightened painfully. “Sorry. What the fuck was she saying?”

“You might be home when I’m at work, but not alone, or some shit like that,” I said, unable to help smiling when I saw how annoyed he looked.

“She’s mad, honestly. I’ve not clapped eyes on her since that night at the bar.”

My mouth stretched into a yawn. “She tried to pretend she didn’t know who I was.”

Nate laughed. “Like anyone could forget you or your performance that night.”

I smiled and rubbed my feet in his lap. He hissed when I ran my foot up the length of his erection, barely contained in his boxer briefs.

“Aren’t you exhausted? You look like you should go back to bed for a bit,” Nate asked, eyes wide with innocence and moving to settle between my legs with the grace and stealth of a hunter.

I reached between us to free his cock. Nate swallowed. He kicked off his underwear fully and the veins in his neck corded as I trailed a fingertip over the moistened head of his cock. “Only if you come with me.”

He smiled and pumped his hips into my hand. “You’re like a kid with a bedtime story, only you want my dick instead.”

Curling my hand around his thickening erection, I gave him one long, firm stroke. Nate grunted and I moved my hand back up, reaching with my free one to massage his heavy balls. “Oh please, can’t you fuck me one more time before bed?”

“And what if I want fucked before bed?” Nate asked, grinding his teeth as I picked up my speed. “Can’t have you getting greedy.”

I gave a short, tight squeeze at his root and released his hard-on.

Nate gasped from the loss of contact.

Sitting up, I forced him onto his back. “Well, heaven forbid you call me greedy.”

His eyes widened as I stood up and hooked my fingers into the waistband of the bikini briefs I’d slept in, gliding them to the floor.

There was a coy smile at play on my lips as I straddled his lap. Nate’s hands gripped my hips as I settled with his erection nestled flat between my slick folds. Nate hissed and pushed his hips up.

I moaned at the pressure and rocked forward. Nate groaned and tried to move me off him so he could push inside me but I held fast where I was. I splayed my hands over his firm chest. “But then again, maybe I want to be greedy.” I moved slowly back and forth, closing my eyes as my clit ground against the hardness of his shaft.

“Christ, Jo, you’re going to fucking kill me,” Nate growled through his clenched teeth.

I pressed down harder and rocked with a new frenzy, creating dizzying friction and getting myself off with his dick.

He roared. “Fuck it. Do it, babe, make yourself come.”

“I’m coming,” I panted, throwing my head back. The sound of my racing breath rang in my ears and my heart pounded. “Nate, I’m coming.”

Nate’s fingers bit into my hips as he barked out a moan. He held me more firmly on his length and the increased pressure on my clit brought my orgasm rushing through my body.

Wrapping his arm around my waist, Nate pulled me under him. He pinned both my wrists above my hand with one strong grip. Nate plunged his cock inside me and I screamed, already so ripened and sensitive. Nate yanked my camisole down to expose one breast and he pulled the nipple into his mouth, grazing the sensitive flesh with his teeth.

Underneath him I bucked and his thrusts became frenzied. I trembled as another orgasm built.

“Come with me, Nate,” I moaned in his ear, biting down on the soft curve of his earlobe.

He grunted and pumped twice more before giving one final, earth-shattering thrust, spilling his seed inside me. Nate watched as I rode out my own release, panting for breath and seeing stars. Nate gave me a lazy, satisfied smile before dropping his head on my chest.

“Fuck me,” he mumbled into my breasts. “Let me know if you feel greedy again.”

A laugh rumbled in my throat and I wrapped my arms around him, pinning him even firmer to me. “Done.”