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My girl is a stubborn, independent, wild, pain in my arse.
Why is it so unreasonable to want to spend a few quid on her behalf? You’d think I was trying to take advantage or something.
I’m still peeved as I pour oil under the hot water and into the bathtub at Escape. After getting caught in the rain, I need to warm her up.
I only want to take care of her. I want to...be allowed to take care of her. Why won’t she let me in?
This worked pretty well for me last time, so I’m running us a hot bath for a steamy, sensual experience that will make her talk to me. I want to know. Why? Why shouldn’t I take care of her?
“Baby? You coming?” I call out, shutting off the running water.
“In a minute! I’m on the phone.”
How? I have her...fuck, it’s in my other jeans! The ones I changed out of when we got back. I charge through the door, my eyes on hers, which are dancing with wicked delight.
“So, as I was saying. He’s here, physically, but you can’t talk to him right now.”
Holy. Fuck. She’s on my mobile.
“Eva, give me the phone.” The panic alarm is sounding in my head. She angles her body, and the device, away from me.
“Because he’s about to grovel and no one wants to delay that.”
“Grovel?” I choke. Who the fuck is she talking to!
“Aha. See, he’s been a real pain in the arse today, and I have a feeling he thinks he’s got away with it. He’s very, very wrong. I’m also thinking he’s going to have to beg...” She squeals when I swipe the phone from her hand.
Jack’s name is highlighted in a green strip at the top of the screen. I raise the phone to my ear, Jack’s bellowing laughter almost deafening me.
“I’ll call you back,” I tell him and cut the call. “Come here,” I command Eva.
“No!” Eva giggles, skipping backwards, out of reach.
“You want me to chase you, Wild Thing? I will catch you,” I warn her when her eyebrows jump up and her mouth curves into a grin.
“You could try, old man.”
You cheeky mare! “Old. Man?”
“Aha.” She’s thrown down the gauntlet. And I’m more than willing to pick it up. I lunge for her, but she squeals and the end of her shirt (my shirt) slips through my fingers as she runs to the front door and yanks it wide.
“Eva! Fucking hell! Wait!” But she’s gone. And now I’m going to catch her.
***
When I lead Eva back to our suite, having caught and conquered her, we’re both shivering. As exciting as thunder storm sex was, the aftermath is fucking freezing.
“Come.” I hold open the front door and she walks through, her teeth chattering. “The bath’s in. I’ll heat it up.”
“N-No,” she stammers. “I-It’ll be better if it’s not too hot yet, or it’ll feel like l-lava.”
I follow her through to the bathroom, and she peels my soaked shirt from her body. She steps into the lukewarm water and I start pulling off my sopping wet clothes. We could probably get in with them on and be no worse off.
I climb in behind her and my feet feel like they’re on fire. I could have just stepped into a volcano. “You were right,” I tell her as I talk myself into sitting in the water.
It’s not hot. You’re cold.
“I’ve done this before,” she says, leaning back against my chest. My lungs hit a wall. “Not...I don’t mean...that...I mean getting soaked through and freezing cold.”
Oh! Thank. Fuck! “You don’t mean what?”
“That.” She smiles a little, her eyes closed.
“That, as in...?”
“As in incredible sex in a thunder storm. That that.” I grin from ear to ear.
“Incredible, eh?” The fingers of one hand trail over her knee and up her thigh, ready for round two of incredible.
“Astounding.” She laughs a little as my hand travels higher and crosses her ankles. Huh.
I glide my other hand from her waist to her breast and lower my mouth to her neck.
“The water’s cold now,” she says and pushes herself up, her hands on my thighs, to pull the plug and fill the tub with hot water.
Huh.
When it’s warm enough, she shuts off the tap and turns on her knees to face me. She crawls up my legs, slowly, prowling like a tiger, and sits, straddling me, just below my growing cock. She looks into my eyes and glides her hands up my arms to my shoulders. One keeps moving over my neck to my hair, and she presses her chest to mine as she kisses me deeply, stroking my tongue into a frenzy with hers.
My hands go to her hips, lifting her. Positioning her.
She pushes up on her knees, pressing me backwards into the end of the bath with her chest, my hips squeezed between her knees.
“Baby.” I’m straining to get inside her. I put gentle pressure on her hips, encouraging her to where I want her. She moves ever... so... slightly. Her body touches mine and she lifts up again.
“Eva...”
“Hmm?” She hums and drops her kisses to my neck. My throat. Along my collarbone.
“Baby...”
“Yes?” I push down on her hips again. The very tip of my cock connects with its target, before she shifts out of range and trails kisses over my heaving chest.
“Eva!”
“What do you want, Will?” she says in a breathy whisper.
“I want to fuck you!” I yell in frustration. I feel her smile against my skin.
“Say please.”
“Eva!” I’m fucking desperate already, but when she licks my nipples and shifts her weight backwards, her body cradling my aching balls, I could bloody cry.
“Please! Please! Baby, I can’t...” She sinks down onto my length at last and I groan as though it’s been years.
“Like this?” she asks as she rises up again. I grip her hips tight, unwilling to let her stop now.
“Yes. Like that.” I swallow hard as I surrender to her rhythm, our eyes glued together. She smiles and her eyebrow twitches playfully as she shifts her weight, brushing over my balls again.
My jaw tightens and the tendons of my neck are straining to their snaping point. “Are you sure?” she purrs.
“Stop. Stop it or I’ll come.” She smiles that siren smile as she rocks against me, again and again. Circling. Back and forth. And she sends me shooting to the stars.
––––––––
I emerge from the bathroom a very happy man. I’m even happier to see Eva lying in my bed. She watches me approach and I slip under the duvet beside her.
“Who was that on the phone?” she asks innocently. My mouth twists.
“Jack. My mate.”
“When can I meet him?” She snuggles up against my chest, and I feel a spike of sharp doubt hit me square in the back. She wants to meet Jack? Eva looks up at me curiously.
“He’s at my hotel in Mexico at the moment, so—”
“You have a hotel in Mexico?”
“I do.”
“Huh.” She settles her head against my chest.
“You want to see it?”
“Sure.” She yawns and I roll her over, moving her arms above her head, and pin her hands.
“Yes? Yes, I’m allowed to take you to Mexico? With no complaints?”
“Oh! Err...” She gives me an apologetic shrug. “I thought you meant the website or something.” I feel my face drop and she breathes out a laugh. “Or in person, if you prefer.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes.” She smiles and I move fast down her naked body, ready to show my appreciation.
“Y’know, I have others as well.”
***
I wake the following morning to my phone ringing. Constantly. I glance over at Eva’s pillow, but she’s already up.
My groan is the sound of a man who should have spent more time sleeping and less time orgasming last night. But it was completely worth it. I’ll sleep when I’m dead.
I rub my eyes hard with my fists and roll out of bed. My phone is still on the dresser, where I left it last night before chasing Eva out into the rain.
An image fills my brain. An image of her standing there, soaked to the skin, a translucent shirt the only barrier between me and her body. Her hair dark and dripping wet. Smiling up at the sky, her head tilted back and her arms wide, welcoming the downpour like a long-anticipated friend.
I’m still remembering when I connect the call.
“Hunter,” a deep, familiar voice growls. De Luca. I’ve been waiting for you. “You and I need to get some things straight. Meet me at the Euston Station. Under the arrivals board in one hour.”
He hangs up before I can respond. He knows as well as I do I’ll be there. In rush hour too.
––––––––
I’m showered, dressed and in the car heading to the station. I’ll get a train straight there. It’ll be easier than driving. London and her traffic have a difficult relationship.
I glance at the car’s central console when it rings. Davey. I can’t risk it. I can’t risk De Luca running or not turning up, so I ignore the call and press the accelerator lower.
When I’m parked up, I stop at the machine and buy a ticket to Euston, my phone buzzing unheeded in my back pocket. I glance at the time. The train will already be at the platform.
I make my way over to platform two and jog down the stairs. The train is standing idle so I step through an open door, take the first available seat and pull out my phone to message Davey.
Talk later. Busy morning.
––––––––
And then I turn it off.
The reasonable part of my brain has a lot to say on the subject. You think going to meet a mafia man—alone—without telling anyone where you’re going is a good idea? You must be fucking mad!
Shut the fuck up. I know what I’m doing.
––––––––
I arrive at Euston with ten minutes to spare, so I pick up a bottle of orange juice, just for something to do, and start towards the row of arrivals and departures boards hanging overhead in the central mall. All of my senses are increased. I can hear every rushed word. See every fleeting expression. I can smell the rain outside when the doors open and the various breakfast foods being consumed on the run.
My brain orders my body to relax. My lungs expand to their fullest capacity and release like a slow puncture. I feel my heart rate decelerate. My thoughts quiet. And I wait.
The allotted time comes and goes. The station all but clears and I’m still waiting under the arrivals board. He’s not coming. It was a test.
I pull out my phone and turn it on. It rings in my hand. “There’s something you should know. About my wife.”
“What’s that?”
“She’s lying.”
“About?”
“Gary. And I can prove it.”
“Yeah? I’ve heard that one already.”
“I’ll show you the evidence. Tomorrow.”
“No. I can’t do tomorrow. I can do right now.”
“Ah. Yes. Your daughter’s birthday.” My chest tightens and my hands clench. What the fuck does he know about my daughter? “My daughter’s is in June, so I’m told. Summer solstice. I’m looking forward to buying her a birthday present this year. Having a party. Cutting the cake...”
“I’m at Euston. Waiting for you. So, if you—”
“I know. I’m surprised you came alone. And a little bit impressed. You’re either brave or stupid.”
“Or in love.” His huge, shaky inhale wooshes through my ear like a runaway train...
“I’ll be in touch,” he spits and hangs up.
I wait until I’m on the train home to text Gary, asking him to meet me.
––––––––
When I make it back to Escape a few hours later, Gary is already waiting in the coffee bar. He turns as I approach and raises an eyebrow. “Good morning?”
“Yeah. Great. Can we talk?”
Gary’s face sets hard but he nods and follows me to my office.
“Just tell me. Straight up. Did you ever...I mean ever...even one drunken fumble...?”
“No,” he says, his expression grim. “Not ever. Not even a drunken fumble.”
“Good.” I breathe out my relief. “So, in that case...I’m nearly there with De Luca. He asked me to meet him this morning but didn’t turn up. He called instead. But I am going to meet with him... and he said he’s going to give me evidence of you and Eva.”
“Oh? “Gary’s mouth twitches. “I can’t wait to see it.”
“And I will put the divorce papers directly into his hands.” Gary blows out a big gust of air.
“You do like living dangerously.” His eyes narrow. “Why are you so keen on putting those papers in his hand?”
“I...want her to be free.” Gary raises an eyebrow. “To marry me,” I admit. “Then Davey can have him. As soon as De Luca has signed them.” Gary looks at me hard, his brow furrowed.
“Come with me,” he says after a pause, and then pulls open the office door and waits for me to follow him.
“Where are we going?”
“Down the rabbit hole.”