“That was five minutes ago. What is wrong with you today?”
“Sorry,” Natasha said again. “It’s that phone call I had. It’s been bothering me.”
If she was expecting understanding from Fox, she was going to be disappointed. She was there to learn. Fox wasn’t a hard taskmaster, but he did expect his students to pay attention to his lessons.
“That is why phones and communicators are banned from the schoolroom. They are too much of a distraction.” He intentionally kept his tone harsh. “Now pull yourself together and concentrate. We are here for your benefit, not mine.”
He was hoping for a reaction from Natasha, but not the one he received.
“You know what, screw you. I’m done. You can stick your lessons where the sun don’t shine.”
Fox was shocked. “What do you mean ‘done’?”
“The lessons are over. I quit. I’m going home and I’m not coming back.”
Fox stared at her in disbelief as she opened her bag and literally threw her things into it. She stood up and strode toward the door.
Fox halted her progress by calling out her name. “Natasha. If you leave this room, you will regret it.”
She ignored him and started to walk once more. Surprisingly, she didn’t slam the door as she left.
“Shit,” Fox said under his breath and raced after her. He caught up with her in the corridor, grabbed her arm and swung her round. “You asked me to teach you,” he snarled at her. “I get to decide when your lessons are over, not you.”
Tears formed in Natasha’s eyes as he forced her to look at him. “Don’t do this Fox, please.”
They were standing close to the wall and in order to vent his anger, he slammed his palm against it, hard, close to Natasha’s head, making her jump in fright. “I will give you to the count of three. Either you get back into the schoolroom or I will drag you there.”
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Komi approaching. Without taking his eyes off Natasha, he took his hand off the wall and pointed at him. “Stay out of this.” He sensed rather than saw Komi stop walking.
Tears were now streaming down Natasha’s face and her bottom lip was trembling. Fox began counting. “One. Two. Three.”
Natasha didn’t move. “Have it your way,” he said, grabbed hold of her and threw her over his shoulder. She was too shocked to react.
Her bag slipped from her grip and fell to the floor, but he didn’t stop to retrieve it. She began to wiggle. “Put me down, Fox,” she sobbed.
“Stop moving or I will drop you,” he said, making his words sound like a threat. He could hear Komi coming after them, but made it into the schoolroom before he got close enough to interfere. He shoved the door shut. Nobody could disturb them and he was not planning on letting Natasha out of the room until he found out what was going on.
He gently placed her on the floor, then moved away from her. He needed some distance between them. “What’s going on Nat?”
She didn’t look at him as she replied. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Anger took hold of him. “I don’t give a damn what you want. I am the teacher, you are the student. You will do as I say.”
She lifted her head. “Not anymore.”
“I get to decide that, not you. Now tell me what is going on. Why do you want to stop your lessons? What has Komi done?”
“It’s not Komi, it’s me. I just don’t want to be here anymore.”
“Why?”
When she didn’t answer he moved closer and raised his voice. “I asked you a question. Now answer me.” Again she said nothing. “Damn it Nat, don’t make me do something we will both regret. Why don’t you want me to teach you anymore?”
She shook her head, backing away as she did so.
“I’m not going to ask you again.”
“Stop if Fox.” She looked scared. He knew he could never hurt her and so should she, so why did she look frightened?
“I need an answer Nat.”
“Leave me alone.”
“Not until you talk to me.”
She backed into the wall. She had nowhere left to go. Fox took another step toward her. “You can’t make me.” Her voice was beginning to rise in volume, almost matching his.
“Yes I damn well can,” he shouted. “Now tell me why.”
“Because I’m falling in love with you,” she shouted back.
He froze. Those words were the last thing he had been expecting to hear. He had no idea what they had to do with her stopping lessons but he was too shocked to even think about it. He wasn’t aware that he had moved, but one minute he was standing a little apart from Natasha, the next she was in his arms and he was kissing her in a way that he hadn’t kissed a girl in a long time. And she was kissing him back.
He could feel a desperate hunger in her, a hunger he intended to feed. They didn’t speak as he pulled her t-shirt over her head and dropped it on the ground. His soon joined it. Her hands were all over his smooth chest as he slipped his arms around her, reaching behind to undo her bra.
When that, too, was on the floor, he stepped back so she could have easy access to his belt. He let her remove his trousers, then his underwear, but moved her hands away before she could touch his manhood. He was more than ready for her and was afraid everything would be over too soon if he let her touch him.
He spun her around and she made no protest as he finished stripping her, his mouth and tongue caressing her neck, then down her spine as his hands undid the button on her jeans, then the zip, before lowering them to the ground, along with her panties. When she turned around once more, his mouth found hers.
The sex was fast and frantic and over way too soon. It wasn’t enough for him. He wanted her again so he gently laid her on the floor and began to stroke her skin, getting her turned on enough that she was almost begging him to make love to her again.
When they had fully satisfied each other, they lay on the floor in each other’s arms. “I love you,” Fox said. “I’ve wanted you for so long, it has been almost painful to spend time with you and not be able to touch you.”
“Why did you never tell me?”
“I thought you were going to end up with Komi.”
Fox rolled over so he was on top of her once more and kissed her. She ran her hands down his back. The scars made his skin rough, a complete contrast to his chest.
“Do your scars still hurt?” she asked, barely managing to utter the words as he kissed her neck.
“No,” he said. “Only the emotional ones.” He laid his forehead on her chest and closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her hands on his back. “Why did you want to stop your lessons?” he asked after a while.
“To be honest, I think I was a little scared. I thought running away was less of a risk than declaring how I felt. What if you didn’t feel the same? What if you did, but things didn’t work out?”
He opened his eyes and looked into hers. “We will take this slow. Nobody needs to know anything until we are ready. The last thing we need is my family interfering.”
“Agreed,” Natasha said. She removed her hands from Fox’s back and gave him a gentle shove. He rolled off her and she sat up. “Why were you so angry? I was beginning to wonder if you would hit me.”
He stroked her cheek. “You have to trust me. I will never do that. Never. And I wasn’t angry, at least not at first. I was scared that I was never going to see you again and I couldn’t bear the thought of that. I would rather see you with Komi than not see you at all. Then you started to defy me and I couldn’t control myself. I had to know what was going on.”
He kissed her. “Promise me something,” he said. “Promise me you will never walk out on me again.”
“I promise. Now we should really put some clothes on.”
They got dressed, then Natasha looked around the room. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to concentrate on lessons in here anymore.”
Fox grinned at her. He had been thinking the same thing. The s
mile fell from his face when she walked over to the door. “You’re walking out on me again already?”
“I’m going home. I’m kind of hoping you will meet me there.”
“Try and keep me away.”
He watched her leave. He wouldn’t follow her. He would leave later so as not to cause anyone in the hotel to be suspicious.
Natasha retrieved her bag from where she had dropped it and almost walked into Komi, who had come running when he heard the door opening.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” How she kept the joy she was feeling out of her voice, she had no idea, but she must have managed it as Komi looked at her with concern.
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“But it’s Friday. You always stay on a Friday.” Natasha said nothing. “Are you coming back?”
“I don’t know.” She could feel him watching her as she walked away. Then she heard him turn around and head to the schoolroom to confront Fox. She had no idea what he was going to say and didn’t stop to find out.
She could not stop smiling the entire journey home. Fox had made her feel things she hadn’t felt in a long time and she hoped he didn’t wait too long before coming after her.
She expected Lucy to be home when she arrived and was not surprised when she saw a car in the driveway. She recognised it, but could not place where she had seen it. Assuming it belonged to one of Lucy’s friends, it never occurred to her that she should call out a warning that she was home as she walked into the house.
She opened the lounge door and found Lucy and Trey lying together on the sofa, both only partially dressed. They had not heard her come in and the way they were touching each other made her blush.
“This explains a lot,” she said, startling them.
Lucy grabbed her blouse from the floor and held it against her before turning around. “What are you doing here?”
“I live here.”
“But it’s Friday.”
“I am well aware of that. How long has this been going on?” Natasha had been overjoyed when Lucy had announced that she had dumped her boyfriend, but had never suspected that Trey was the cause.
“A while,” Trey said. “Look, maybe I should explain.”
Natasha held up her hand to stop him. “No explanation necessary. But please put your clothes on, you’re a little off-putting right now. I’m going to put the kettle on. Do either of you want anything?”
A short while later, Trey and Lucy were both fully dressed and Natasha had joined them in the lounge. Trey started to tell Natasha about his feelings for her niece, but she stopped him. She trusted he wasn’t using her just for sex and was genuinely happy for them both. She liked Trey, a lot, and believed he would treat Lucy well.
“You are taking this remarkably well,” he said.
Lucy had been watching her aunt closely since she arrived home, looking for any sign that would indicate how her evening went. “I have a feeling that she has a reason to take things well. I take it you told him how you feel.”
Natasha blushed as she thought back to Fox’s reaction to her telling him she was falling for him and she could not look at Lucy as she nodded. “He’s coming over later. We don’t want anyone to know yet. We need time to work out where we are going so I would appreciate it if you would both keep this to yourselves.”
Trey looked confused. “You and Komi have finally got together?”
“Not Komi, Fox.”
Trey burst out laughing. “Komi is going to be so mad when he finds out. Please let me be there when you tell him.”
Lies
Fox didn’t turn around when Komi asked permission to enter the schoolroom; he had been expecting him.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “I just saw Nat leave and she might not be coming back.”
Fox had no intention of telling him the truth; at least not yet. “I have no idea. Something has her upset, but she won’t tell me what.”
Komi grabbed hold of Fox’s arm. “What did you do to her?”
That was one question he definitely wasn’t going to answer truthfully. Somehow he kept the smile from his face. “Nothing. I didn’t hurt her if that’s what you are accusing me of. I tried to get her to stay. She refused to tell me what the problem was so I had to let her go.”
Komi did not release his grip on Fox’s arm. “If I find out you have hurt her−”
“You’ll what?” Fox asked, pulling away from him.
“I’ll make you pay,” Komi said. Fox wasn’t sure if it was meant to be a threat, but he took it as one.
“I’d like to see you try. You may get to actually use the weapons I make, but I’m better with them and we both know it.” He then softened his tone. “If you really believe I could hurt Nat in any way, you don’t know me at all.”
He shoved Komi out of his way and walked out of the room. He wanted to give Natasha some time alone, so he showered and changed clothes. He met Bolene as he was going down the stairs.
“Going somewhere?” she asked, noticing how he was dressed.
“Out,” he said.
“Out where?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’m thinking about getting very drunk so I probably won’t make it home.” He didn’t see Bolene looking at him in concern as he left the house.
Fox waited until he was out of the driveway before putting music on. He chose one of his favourite tracks and began to sing. He felt happier than he had in a long while. He kept glancing in his rear view mirror, checking he was not being followed, and took a circuitous route to Natasha’s house. Just in case Komi decided to spy on her, he parked around the corner where his car could not be seen from her driveway.
He walked up to the house, spotted Trey’s car and swore. He took his communicator out of his pocket and contacted Natasha. “What’s Trey doing here?” he asked as soon as she answered.
“It’s okay. He knows the truth. Come on in.”
The front door opened as he reached it and he could not resist taking Natasha into his arms and kissing her. She quickly explained about Trey and Lucy, then took his hand and led him into the lounge. He didn’t like the way Trey grinned at him.
“Looks like we are both good at keeping secrets,” Trey said.
“And this had better remain one or you will find yourself homeless.” Technically Fox owned the house so he was within his rights to kick Trey out if he wanted to, but both men knew it was an idle threat.
“Don’t worry,” Natasha said, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Lucy has promised to say nothing to anyone and has threatened to remove parts of Trey’s anatomy if he breathes a word.”
“So why are you two keeping your relationship a secret?” Fox asked the two young lovebirds, who were cuddled up together on the sofa.
“We weren’t sure how anyone would react,” Lucy said. “Nat is cool with it, but we are not so sure about Bo, Komi or Lukine. We thought it best to keep it secret until we are sure where this is going.”
“I know how that feels,” Fox said.
Lucy looked at her watch. It was still too early to go to bed. “So what happens now?” she asked.
“You do whatever it was you were planning on doing,” Natasha told her. “Fox and I have some things to talk about.”
She led him to her bedroom and closed the door. They didn’t do much talking and by the time morning arrived they were both still tired.
“We should have got more sleep,” Natasha said between yawns.
“Sleep’s over-rated,” Fox said and pulled her closer to him. He was in the middle of kissing her when he was interrupted by a knock on the door. He rolled away and made sure he was covered by the blanket before he nodded at Natasha.
She called, “Come in,” and Lucy walked in looking way too awake for that time of the morning. She was carrying two steaming mugs of coffee and placed them on the bedside table.
“Trey and I are going out for breakfast so y
ou have the house to yourselves for a few hours. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
She ran out of the room, closely followed by Natasha’s pillow.
————————————-∞————————————-
It was mid-morning before Natasha and Fox finally made it out of bed. Reluctantly, Fox kissed her goodbye. He needed to go home before he started to get concerned calls on his communicator from Bolene. Natasha promised to go over later.
On the drive home, Fox decided exactly what lies he was going to tell. He didn’t like lying to the people he classed as his family so he would keep to the truth as much as he could. He was whistling when he walked into the hotel.
“Someone sounds happy,” Bolene said, coming out of her suite to see what all the noise was about.
“I am. I met a wonderful woman last night.”
“Is that why you didn’t come home? And there was I picturing you drunk in a ditch somewhere. Nobody has heard from Natasha yet, in case you are interested.”
“I’m not.”
Bolene looked at him closely. “Did you get any sleep last night?”
“Let’s just say sleep wasn’t on the agenda.”
“So are you planning on seeing her again or was this just one night of passion?”
“I’m seeing her again tonight, but right now I am going to bed. See you in a few hours.” He kissed Bolene on the cheek then ran up the stairs.
————————————-∞————————————-
Everyone was in the suite’s dining room, having a late lunch, when Natasha arrived. She considered ringing the bell, but decided to let herself in. She was nervous and hoped that Komi was not going to be the first person she saw.
“You came back,” Komi said the moment he saw her. “Are you alright?”
Natasha nodded. “Yes. I just had a personal issue I needed to sort out.” She noticed that Fox was deliberately not looking at her.
“And did you get it sorted?” Lukine asked.
“Yes,” she said, doing her best to keep the smile off her face. “Definitely. I’m here now to apologise to Fox and ask him if we can finish the lesson we started yesterday.”
Fox Among the Demons Page 16
