4
NATE
A part of me would rather be one of the guys taking cover in a bombed-out building, eating crappy MREs, and being truly grateful to wake up in the morning. A bigger part of me is glad I’m not doing that anymore. The fact that I have done it, means I’m better than most at my job as a remote team leader. I can solve problems, move people, and generally get shit done because I know what it’s like to be on that side.
But not today. Not with Aubrey somewhere out of my sight in the building. Not when I’m taking her home tonight where there will be no stalkers, or chaperones, to make sure I don’t give in to temptation. She is too damn young to be tied to an old guy who thinks a great Friday night is chilling with a book, nevermind Netflix. I told her to wait for me in my office when she was done with her manager. I wonder if she’s there now? There’s nothing particularly interesting or personal in my office, at least other than her. I want to know if she’d blush again if I were sitting in my over-sized office chair and pulled her down on my erection. She didn’t try to move away in the elevator… doesn’t make me less of a dirty old man though.
I’m so distracted I almost miss Ned on the telecom promise to call me at home tonight. Shit. He’s a good friend but he’s gossipy as hell. I don’t want anyone intruding on what little time I have alone with Aubrey. And not starting rumors about it either.
When I finally make it back to my office, Aubrey is seated primly at the round table in the corner, tapping away at her laptop. So much for hoping she’d be stretched out on the couch in her underwear. No, I know that wasn’t ever going to happen, but I’m still a little disappointed. My fingers itch to undo some of those tiny buttons marching up her blouse; to find out if her pussy gets soaking wet when she blushes.
“How’d it go?” I ask her trying not to sound like I’m leering at her.
She frowns and looks down at her screen. “My manager says I’m on indefinite administrative leave, something about not being seen as impartial in future audits. It’s total BS but apparently, since I’m still getting my full paycheck there’s not much I can do.” She heaves a sigh. “I was just looking to see if I could find a cheap apartment for a few months but everything is a year lease or really expensive. I’m not sure what to do.”
“You’re already staying with me. Why do you need to go anywhere?”
A genuine smile stretches into her eyes, “You’re very kind but I could tell I’d be invading your space. That doesn’t seem like a nice way to repay your rescue.”
“What if I want you there?”
She gets up and walks over to where I’m standing by the wide window. Her eyes search my face, for what I’m not sure. She frowns a little, “You’re like a statue, I seriously cannot get a read on you.”
She’s pouting a little and suddenly I want to tell her every thought I’ve ever had just to make her smile again. “I’m making enchiladas for dinner.”
She grins and suddenly goes up on her tiptoes, placing a quick peck on my cheek. “Bless you. I promise not to stay for very long.”
I can’t help frowning. I want to see her in my place long enough to get to know her. Relaxed. Safe. Naked.
I grab her suitcase as collateral. “You ready to head out of here?”
“Why not? I don’t have any actual work to do until they decide what to do with me.”
I know what I’d like to do with her and I can feel my resistance draining away. I’ve already seen enough to know that Aubrey is too good for internal audit. An idea is starting to formulate in the back of my brain but I’d better make sure I can live with her first.
AUBREY
The drive back to Nate’s bat cave is less exciting in the car but on the other hand, it gives me a good opportunity to study him when he can’t glare at me. At least not consistently. He manages a few side-eye warnings. When his eyes linger on my lips I start to wonder if maybe he’s more frustrated than mad.
Inside the house he automatically takes my suitcase with him down the stairs so I follow behind, wondering where he’s planning to put me. He hesitates briefly at the foot of the stairs before continuing down a wide hallway and pushing on a halfway open door on the right. It’s a beautiful room, all in shades of deepest forest green. The large picture window frames a view of Douglas firs and the sparkling water of the bay.
Nate puts my suitcase down on the bed and gestures behind him. “The bathroom’s there. There should be fresh towels but let me know if you need anything.”
I’m surprised because I definitely did not get the impression that he entertained very much. “Are you expecting guests soon?”
He looks a little uncomfortable but smiles slightly. “No. I have a housekeeper that comes every other week. I’m not here enough to keep her busy so I ask her to keep these rooms fresh. She won’t take the money if she doesn’t do something for it but she’s not young so I try to think up things that aren’t too intense. She was just here a few days ago so everything should be fine.”
He’s a nice man. But I don’t feel gentle when I’m standing next to him. I feel naughty and slightly wicked. I want to trail my hand down his chest, free that thick bulge in his pants, and take the weight of his cock in my fingers until he either cums in my hand or takes me hard against the wall, spreading me wide and thrusting into me with his nostrils flaring. In other words, I’d like it if he lost a tiny bit of that damn control.
“I’ll go start dinner.”
He turns and leaves before I can decide if I’m ready to flirt with rejection. I sigh and fling myself on the bed, next to my suitcase. I should change. I should do a lot of things but instead, I’m lying here staring up at the ceiling and wondering what I’m going to have to do to seduce Nate Bellamy.
Eventually, I peel myself up from the bed and brush out my hair, refastening it into a loose ponytail. And I change into a cotton skirt and a pretty eyelet top. Casual, pretty, and not too much skin, in case I lose my nerve or I’ve got it all wrong. Before I go back upstairs I take a second to peek into the other rooms. It’s clear the other doors along the hallway are guest rooms, everything has the same pretty but impersonal tone. I find the laundry room and a linen cupboard and finally what I know is Nate’s room as soon as I open the door. It feels wrong to pry, but I linger just inside the doorway, drinking it in. Surprisingly his room doesn’t have the water view but is nestled at the far end of the corridor. One wall is entirely taken up with a massive rock face and I discover that the house is built up against it. Whoever decided to leave it exposed on the interior was a genius. The many shades of grey granite anchor the space against the endless green outside the huge window. His furniture is simple but solid, scaled to fit his large size. The king-size bed has a slate blue duvet that picks up the warm tones in the rock. If the house is Nate’s sanctuary this is the temple. I step back and close the door behind me.
When I get upstairs I easily find Nate in the kitchen. His movements are efficient and sure. I notice his hooded eyes assessing me and he seems to have made a decision. He hands me a glass of red wine, saying, “After dinner, we should talk.”
“About?” I’m not adverse but I damn sure don’t want to start talking about relationships if he’s planning on discussing international trade treaties.
“The fact that you’ve been on my mind constantly for the last forty-eight hours, that I want to be watching when you finally lose control and why the hell I seem to make you so nervous.” He holds my gaze for a long second before diverting his attention to whatever he’s doing on the fancy stove.
“Oh.” Well, that should clear the air! My knees suddenly feel weak and I sink on to a nearby barstool, taking a big gulp of the wine in hopes of steadying my nerves.
I see Nate’s lips twitch slightly as though he knows the effect his words have on me. He pulls something that smells absolutely gorgeous out of the oven and pours the contents of the pan over it. Seconds later he’s carrying two plates towards a door, “Will you grab my wine glass? I thought we’
d eat out on the deck.”
I top off his glass and mine from the bottle, pick them both up and follow him out the giant bi-fold doors that open off one end of the open space and onto a small deck. The remainder of the wall of glass extends down to a sunken living room on the lowest level of the house. I can just make out an elegant patio that leads up to the cliff edge with the sea beyond. I’m so busy looking I almost bump into Nate who’s waiting for me. I hand him his glass and we sit.
Dinner is more relaxed than I expected after his pronouncement. For the first time, I’m with someone that I don’t have to be actively talking with to share the experience. We do talk, but the pauses are long and elegant and I have time to relax and enjoy the pops of flavors hitting my mouth. I tell Nate of my love/hate relationship with North Dakota (love the people, hate the weather) and he tells me about growing up next to the desert in New Mexico.
My plate is almost polished clean when his phone rings. Nate glances at it and groans. “I have to take this, if I don’t he’ll keep calling.” He gets up from the small table and goes into the house. I don’t mind, I’m soaking in the view and savoring the last few bites.
When I’m done, I gather the dishes and take them back into the kitchen. Then I go in search of Nate. I find him in the small office on the opposite side of the main entrance. His back is to me but his voice is clear. He’s telling whoever is on the phone, “…stop imagining things, Ned. She’s just a coworker in a spot of trouble. Nothing more. She’s far too young to be in a relationship with me.” There’s a long pause followed by, “You know how those auditors are, after a few days I’ll probably never see her again.” Nate doesn’t exactly sound upset at this prospect.
He must have sensed my presence because I see him start to turn towards me just as I turn to leave, my hand pressed over my mouth to keep any sound from escaping. How could I think he wanted to talk about a future together? I don’t even have transportation so the farthest I can run is out on to the balcony. I head there to try to regain control, put on enough of a polite face not to embarrass either of us more than necessary. One night and then I can come up with someplace else to stay. I can get through one night.
5
AUBREY
I retreat out the open bi-fold doors to the deck beyond, hoping that the wind will whip the tears from my face and I won’t have to do that tell-tale wipe under the eyes. I can’t let on to Nate that my feelings are so much stronger than his or how much his words hurt me. He’s been nothing but kindness. Heaping guilt on him because he doesn’t view me the way I see him seems like a trashy way to repay him for everything he’s done for me.
For a large man, he moves remarkably softly so I don’t hear him come up behind me until he’s reaching around me. He braces his arms on either side of mine on the deck railing. “Hey,” he says softly.
“Hey.” I manage, a little proud of how even my voice is.
“However much of that you heard, I promise you misunderstood it.”
I can’t help snorting a little at that one. “How does that work?”
“Ned is an old buddy. If I told him I had a beautiful young woman staying with me he’d be here yesterday and we’d never get rid of him. He’d either try to steal you or tell you every embarrassing story he could make up about me. Possibly both.”
“So you’re saying I’m only a coworker you’ll never see again was…?”
“A blatant lie. One meant for Ned, not you.”
“Nate…you don’t seem very comfortable with the idea of being in a relationship with me. Maybe we should just keep it to being coworkers.” I can feel the tears welling again so I blink fast, grateful that Nate’s behind me and can’t see.
He sighs heavily into my hair. “Aubrey, it’s too late. You’ve worked your way into my heart and I don’t think it’s reversible.”
I grip the railing tighter while shaking my head in denial. He hardly sounds happy. “I’m not a contagious disease, Nate. If you don’t want to be with me, you don’t have to.”
“Oh, but I do. You’re like the ships out there in the channel. They’ll inevitably slip over the horizon. Just like there’s no way to avoid falling in love with you.”
“Then why don’t you sound happy about it?”
He pauses for a long minute and I try to turn around to face him, to see the emotions swimming in his dark eyes but he won’t let me. His hips are holding me pinned against the railing even though his arms are loose. “I’m not unhappy, it’s more a delicious sort of agony. I’ve been alone a long time; you’re making me aware of what I was missing.”
I still don’t understand and I’m afraid to hope. “What exactly are you trying to say, Nate? I’m not trying to pressure you into anything you’re not ready for.”
I feel his rumbling groan before I hear it. “I think I’m going to have to show you.”
“Show me what?” I’m starting to get frustrated, it’s like we’re speaking two completely unrelated languages.
Nate takes his hands off the railing and wraps his arms around my waist pulling me back, pressing me against him. His cock is hard and pushing against my back but I’m trying not to read anything into that. It’s not like we haven’t been here before.
“Do you see that cargo ship off to the left? The one with the blue hull?”
“Yes…”
His voice is a low, sexy rumble when he says, “When that ship finally disappears over the horizon, you’re going to be cuming on my hand harder than you ever have and you’ll be as much pissed as happy about it.”
I don’t know what to say. I desperately want Nate to touch me like that but why would I be mad about it? And if he’s reluctant, then how is being intimate helpful?
Nate seems to take my silence as acceptance. “Your job is to keep your eyes locked on that ship. Don’t look away, not even for a second, do you understand?”
“Um, sure?” He isn’t seriously going to start fingering my pussy out here on the deck, is he? I watch the ship in question. It’s barely moving. You have to keep a fixed object in focus to tell it’s not parked.
Nate leans over and presses soft kisses to the nape of my neck. My breath hisses as I inhale sharply. He pulls my earlobe gently into his mouth, scraping his teeth against it before tugging on it lightly. My knees start to weaken. He holds me firmly in place with one large hand spread against my hip. The other comes up and slowly traces light rings around my right breast. He’s moving almost as slow as that damn boat. “It’s so leisurely, isn’t it, Aubrey? Almost not moving at all.” He moves his hand to my other breast barely touching me with his fingers but leaving a trail of heat as he goes. “Not a care in the world.”
Gently, casually his hand dips down under my skirt. He’s still not going fast but my pussy gets excited. My hips jerk against his. “Keep looking at the ship, Aubrey. Do you see how it’s about to go behind the island?”
“Yes. And?”
“It’s slipping into a long, narrow passage. Just like my finger.” His thick digit has slipped under the elastic of my panties and is poised at the entrance of my pussy. He’s not moving. I watch the ship. As the bow disappears slightly behind the landmass, Nate’s finger enters me, maybe a millimeter. Another millimeter.
“You’re as wet as the ocean aren’t you, Aubrey?”
Another fraction of an inch.
“The only question is, do you taste salty or sweet?” He murmurs next to my ear.
I can’t stand this— I try to shift my hips, to draw him in. I want him deep inside me now. But he keeps on with his sloth-like speed. Until the ship is no longer visible, and I discover Nate’s one finger is buried deep inside me. But he’s not fucking me with it, not really. He angles his hand so his palm presses heavily on my clit which is throbbing with an ache I’ve never felt before. “Nate!”
“Watch the ship, Aubrey.” His voice is firm and calm. How can he be so in control?
“It’s not there,” I whine, needing him to move his hand, his cock, somethin
g.
“It will be. Keep watching.”
I stare out at the open landscape and sure enough, the ship begins emerging from the other side of the island. As it does, Nate withdraws his finger, as slowly as he entered me.
I’m practically sobbing with need and the ache that’s created by his absence. The ship is now almost perpendicular to our vantage point and beginning to fade as it continues to move away. He cups my pussy with his palm and flicks my clit until suddenly I’m spasming against him. My whole body releases the coiled energy I didn’t even know it was holding. I sag against him, his cock now rock hard against my back. He finally turns me around and leans down into a deep, slow kiss. “I love you, Aubrey. And it’s the very sweetest agony.”
“Fuck.”
He grins, his eyes lit with a fire that lightens the heavy emotions swirling around us. “I plan to. Are we good?”
I take a shuddering breath in. “I love you, too. But I need you inside me. Now.”
A rumbling grunt seems to signal his agreement. Before I can push home the point he’s lifting me with an arm placed under my butt, his fingers kneading my ass. I swing my legs around his hips and hang on as he takes us inside. My face is pressed into his neck and I finally get the chance to inhale his scent. It’s warm and musky with a hint of cypress, enticing me and making me feel… safe. I know I’m safe with Nate and that makes me brave. “What are you planning to do with me?” I ask teasing but also trying to encourage a few more words out of him.
He pauses briefly at the base of the stairs, leaning back slightly to meet my gaze, “I’m going to spread you wide and lick every damn inch of you.”
“Oh.”
Nate cradles me possessively, “and then I’m going to sheath myself so deep in you you’ll be feeling me for days.”
Nate Page 3
