Enlightened (Untwisted Series Book 4)

by Alice Raine

  He was right, I would no doubt do it in the end, so feeling deservedly chastised I swallowed hard as I felt my submissive side pushing to the surface, ridiculously excited by the prospect of it getting an airing. Reacting to his authoritative tone I lowered my gaze and meekly mumbled a reply of ‘Yes, Sir,’ before turning myself and positioning my body as instructed. I was now knelt on the rear seat holding the headrest and facing out the back window as we trundled through London past busy throngs of unaware commuters. I heard the sound of Nathan opening the compartment again followed by some unidentifiable rustling, before he came to sit next to me and ran a soft finger down my cheek that had me leaning into his touch and closing my eyes in pleasure.

  ‘So perfect in your submission,’ he murmured appreciatively. Reaching up Nathan removed one of my hands from the seat and secured a brown leather cuff around the wrist before deftly reaching across and closing an identical cuff around the other arm. Gasping I looked at my wrists and saw that the leather cuffs were actually a pair of handcuffs. The two ends were attached with a silver chain which was also coincidentally wrapped around the car headrest, effectively holding me in place. ‘Nice, aren’t they?’ Nathan murmured, idly stroking his fingers around the soft leather and occasionally brushing over my fluttering pulse point. ‘They’re softer than the handcuffs I have at home, more sensuous. Do they feel OK? You’re comfortable?’

  Since we’d been making a proper go at a relationship Nathan had reduced the kink factor quite a bit, but our relationship was still fiery in bed and I often called him ‘Sir’ in the bedroom just because it felt right to me, but in general we used toys and accessories a lot less. Looking at my bound wrists I felt a thrill run through me and realised now just how much I’d missed it. Licking my dry lips I tried to answer him, but no words came out. God I was so turned on that I literally couldn’t speak, so instead I nodded.

  At my nod Nathan flicked my skirt up onto my back and landed a hard stinging slap to my bottom which had me yelping loudly and digging my nails into the headrest. ‘You know my rule on nodding, Stella,’ he reminded me firmly. Rubbing my bottom where he’d spanked me I found myself pushing it back into his palm, silently begging for more. I heard a soft contented sigh slip from his lips. ‘You look beautiful like this, Stella, wrapped in leather and begging for my touch, but you know that I’m going to need you to answer me verbally.’

  In my aroused state I’d completely forgotten his dislike of nodding. Clearing my throat I tried again, desperate not to disappoint him. ‘Yes … yes, Sir, I’m green. I’m good.’ Green, wow, I hadn’t used the safe word colours for ages. We’d used them when we’d first got together as Dominant and submissive – green meaning happy and safe, yellow indicating a slight discomfort and need to discuss what was happening, and red meaning stop immediately, but they hadn’t passed my lips for months. Obviously Nathan’s sudden return to his Dominant ways had flicked me right back into my submissive zone and from the feel of the copious dampness between my thighs I was clearly loving every second of it.

  ‘Green?’ Nathan repeated softly, apparently thinking the same as me about how our current situation had temporally reverted us right back to the Dom /sub balance from the start of our relationship. Turning my head I looked him directly in the eyes, the flickering lust there no doubt reflecting my own, ‘Yes, Sir,’ I panted, knowing how much my use of his title would arouse him further .

  Rubbing his hand repeatedly over my heated bottom until I moaned wantonly Nathan then chuckled. ‘Well, Stella, I have to say the afternoon is certainly looking up,’ he murmured before leaning across to tangle one hand in my hair and tug my mouth hard into his lips for a searing kiss. As his lips continued to shake my senses and send my arousal spiralling higher I clung to the head rest and allowed Nathan to do his thing as the hand on my bottom slipped further under my skirt and worked my knickers down until they fell around my knees.

  Detaching his lips from mine with a growl Nathan swiftly moved himself onto the floor of the limousine, freed his erection from his trousers, and after a cursory stroke to ensure I was wet enough he rammed inside me in one hard thrust that threw me forwards into the seat. Greedily I quickly righted myself and pushed back against him to increase our contact by forcing him deeper within me, groaning and gyrating against him, which just seemed to further inflame him as he reached around and found my clit with his fingers. Nathan wasn’t playing soft and gentle today, his movements were hard, fast, and demanding which suited me just fine and for every thrust he gave me, I pressed back into him to ensure it was as deep as he could possibly go. With each stoke Nathan pulled himself out to the tip and then rammed back in to the hilt, hitting my G-spot and flicking my clit with his thumb as he continued to grunt and groan like a wild animal. Before long I felt the bursting pleasure of an orgasm break over me as I cried out sharply in pleasure and bit down on Nathan’s forearm to try and stifle my screams. Briefly my thoughts flew to the driver upfront as I tried to muffle my noises, but then Nathan let out an animalistic roar as he came that was so loud I almost laughed. If the driver hadn’t heard me, there was certainly a large chance he’d heard that. Oh well, hopefully the privacy divider was soundproof – failing that I could only hope the driver was discreet.

  Collapsing his head into my back and panting fiercely, Nathan’s heated breath warmed me through my T-shirt, then after placing a kiss on the back on my neck he carefully allowed his softening cock to slip from me. Using a handkerchief to gently clean me he then undid the handcuffs, turned me in my seat, and took a minute to plug me into the seat belt. ‘Belted in … safety first,’ he murmured with a dirty smirk, dropping a kiss on the side of my mouth before sitting himself beside me and fastening his own seat belt, taking my hand in his.

  Still panting, I leant my head back and closed my eyes contentedly whilst a large, satisfied grin spread across my face. Nathan’s thumb was rubbing soothing circles on the back of my hand and soon the tiredness from my earlier drinks, not to mention the exhausting orgasm, began to overwhelm me and as the car rocked and swayed its way through London I felt my eyes growing heavier and heavier.

  I must have fallen completely asleep because the next time I was aware of anything I realised my head was nuzzled into Nathan’s shoulder at a sharp angle. As I tried to sit up my neck groaned its protest and I grimaced slightly as I straightened the crick out and rubbed at the sore spot. Prying my eyes open I pulled in a deep breath as I tried to wake up properly and felt Nathan’s body shake below me as he chuckled. ‘Morning, sleepyhead. Or should that be afternoon? Wear you out, did I?’ His voice was low and full of male self-satisfaction.

  ‘Mm-hmm …’ I agreed sleepily. Rubbing my hands over my face I blinked my heavy eyes several times until finally I could focus properly on the handsome, smiling face before me. How did Nathan always look so impeccable? It wasn’t so long ago that we’d shagged rampantly in the back of this very car and I no doubt looked creased, flushed, and thoroughly well-fucked while he just looked totally together and radiant.

  Gradually I acknowledged that the car was no longer moving. ‘Are we home?’ I asked hopefully, I had no idea why, but even after that nap I still felt exhausted. A proper snooze in Nathan’s huge double bed would no doubt sort me out though.

  ‘Not yet, sweetheart.’ Leaning across me, Nathan began to unclip my seat belt and then in next to no time he’d dragged me across the small gap between us and settled me on his lap. Humming my appreciation of this new positioning I snuggled even closer and buried my head in Nathan’s chest and his intoxicating spicy scent. ‘We’ve stopped at the deli whilst Ryan grabs us some food for later, then we’ll pop by yours to get your clothes, but we’ll be home in no time.’ Pausing thoughtfully a small smile pulled at the corner of his mouth, ‘I like that you call my place ‘home’,’ he added, ‘Maybe that means you’re finally coming around to the idea of moving in with me.’ God, not that subject again, I thought, with a roll of my eyes, but thankfully it was hidden by his ch
est so Nathan didn’t see.

  As I settled happily into place Nathan’s head lowered and he nuzzled his face into my hair breathing deeply. Curious about what he was doing I didn’t move, or say anything to disturb the moment, and was quite amazed when he simply seemed to take a second or two to inhale me and then cuddle me closer. The simplicity of his romantic gesture very nearly had me saying ‘yes’ to moving in with him there and then, but as he dropped several kisses on my temple and pulled me tighter into his chest, my eyes grew heavy again and I contented myself with surrounding my senses with his reassuring scent and strong muscles as I drifted back to sleep.

  The next time I woke up my nose informed me that I was still in Nathan’s lap, because my first conscious breath was filled with his spicy deliciousness. Taking vague stock of my position I noticed my legs were curled up to my tummy, my head rested on his chest, and one of his arms was circled protectively around my back. Given that I was now horizontal it was probably a fair bet to say we were no longer in the car. Opening my heavy eyes I blinked in confusion as I blearily took in my surroundings. I was right, we weren’t in the car anymore, but as my blurry vision marginally cleared I realised we weren’t at Nathan’s apartment as planned either. We were in my flat, on my bed, and he was holding me with one hand whilst also simultaneously checking his emails on my laptop.

  It crossed my mind how funny he looked sat on my messy bed still dressed in his expensive suit, but then seeing me rouse myself from sleep Nathan glanced down and smiled, ‘Hey, sweetheart.’ Closing the laptop he pushed it away, shifted himself to the side of me, and placed a thumb under my chin to tilt my face upwards and meet his gaze. Looking into my eyes I saw concern reflected in his blue depths. ‘How are you feeling?’ Frowning at his odd comment and worried tone I tried to sit up only to discover that my entire body felt like it was stuck to him with a thick layer of sweat on my skin. Ugh, my T-shirt was soaked through. As I shifted myself again my head chose that moment to spin like a merry-go-round and then a heavy thumping settled in my temples as it became clear that I also had aching limbs and a sore throat. Ugh. Talk about a symptom overload.

  ‘Ugh … I feel awful, what …’ The pain in my throat quickly stopped me from speaking any more as I clutched my neck with a clammy palm and swallowed with a wince. God that hurt. I felt like I’d eaten glass shards for breakfast.

  Feeling Nathan nod against the top of my head he gently shifted my leaden body across onto the cooler sheets on the other side of the bed and leant over, placing a hand on my forehead to check my temperature. My head was swimming and my vision wasn’t exactly great, but I kept my eyes open so I could watch my man fuss over me.

  ‘I thought you were just tired in the car so I left you to sleep, but by the time we got back to your flat I saw you had broken out in a fever. I carried you inside and you’ve barely stirred from your sleep for the last three hours.’

  Three hours? I blinked sticky eyelids as I wondered where the heck this had come from. It felt like just minutes ago that I’d been enjoying the sunshine of Covent Garden and having risky liaisons in the back of a car. I really was becoming rather shameless. My self-analysis was brought to an abrupt halt as a painful shudder ran up my entire body, causing me to groan and roll up into a ball as yet more sweat popped out on my already burning face.

  ‘Try and lay still, I think you’re coming down with something, baby,’ Nathan murmured as he pulled the sheets further up to cover me.

  If I didn’t feel half delirious I’d probably have been thrilled by the attention I was getting, but I could barely even focus now; Nathan’s gorgeous but troubled face began to blur and spin in front of my eyes and I suddenly felt like the bed was on fire. ‘Too hot,’ I gurgled, desperately trying to dislodge the sheet he’d just tucked around me so I could pull off my soaked T-shirt, but Nathan stopped me by gently pushing me back onto the bed. ‘I’ll get a cool flannel and a change of clothes, hang on, Stella, I’ll be right back.’ But before Nathan had even had the chance to leave my side I felt my weary eyelids pulling closed as a fitful sleep once again claimed me.

  Five –Nathan

  Fucking stupid cupboards. How the hell could Stella need so many different storage units in one small bathroom? According to her I was a clean freak, and even I didn’t have this many cabinets. For fuck’s sake, if she lived with me this would all have been so much easier; it had taken me an age to find anything remotely resembling a flannel to help cool her down, and then a further two minutes to get the sodding water cold enough. Returning from the bathroom as fast as I could my eyes went immediately to the bed and I saw that Stella had fallen asleep again. Sighing my relief I rolled my shoulders as I approached her sleeping form. It was a good thing really, as much as I selfishly wanted her awake to reassure me she was alright, thrashing around deliriously wasn’t going to do her any good at all. Using the flannel I’d eventually found I dipped it into the cool water and wiped at her face, only to see sweat beads instantly pop up to replace the ones I’d wiped away.

  Frowning, I chewed nervously on the inside of my lower lip as I noticed a strange strangling feeling tightening around my chest, one I’d only ever felt for my brother until Stella had come along – overpowering possessive concern. It was different from the overwhelmingly hot sensation I got in my chest when I looked at her on a day to day basis; that feeling was pleasant. This was almost sickening. I hated seeing Stella sick like this, hated it. I knew it was most likely just a flu bug, but it scared the shit out of me to see her so ill. Gritting my teeth I did a countdown to help calm myself and felt a half smile curve my mouth as I thought about her worry in the car earlier – bless her for thinking she was the cause of all my countdowns. She knew me better than anyone, but if Stella thought she was the sole reason for them then she clearly didn’t know the full extent of my fucked-up-ness.

  Nothing else mattered to me at this moment; not work, not eating, not the state of my crumpled clothing, nothing. All I could think about was taking care of her, protecting her, and keeping her safe. Blinking, I wondered exactly when I’d gone from considering women as mere playthings to how I felt now – it was a total juxtaposition to my life a little over a year ago. I wasn’t a selfish arsehole anymore, in fact I’d go as far as to say that I’d willingly change positions with Stella and take her suffering myself if it meant that she was alright. I took a second to briefly marvel at how much I’d changed since meeting Stella and shook my head in astonishment. The words I’d said to her in the car were God’s honest truth – she really had brought a shining light into my once dark life.

  Stella bought my pondering to a halt as she began thrashing around in bed, gurgling noises coming from her throat and her arms flailing until I was so stressed with worry that I had to gently hold her down so she didn’t injure herself. As I leant over her and she calmed I noticed just how rampant my heartbeat was and I shook my head ruefully – this girl could get me worked up even when she was unconscious, that was for sure.

  Just then my phone began to ring on the bedside table and I frowned at the inconvenient timing, grabbing it on a curse and almost slamming it into the side of my head as I answered. ‘What?’ My voice was practically a growl, but with Stella sick and in need of a change of clothes I wasn’t exactly in the mood for small talk.

  ‘Um … hello? Nathan, is that you? Is Stella there please?’ My frown deepened when I heard a female voice on the line and I yanked the phone away to look at it in confusion. Seeing the pink phone cover I immediately realised that I’d answered Stella’s phone by mistake and then glanced at the screen to see Rebecca’s name flashing.

  Wincing slightly at how abrupt I’d been I put the phone back to my ear and no doubt sounded just as sheepish as I felt. ‘Oh … Rebecca, hi. Yes, it’s me. Stella’s sleeping at the moment, she’s come down with something,’ I explained. I didn’t bother to apologise for my earlier rudeness, there was no point; Rebecca knew me well enough by now to know that I was usually pretty blunt with everyone
. Everyone except Stella, that was.

  ‘Oh no! What is it?’ she asked, concern obvious in her voice. I was keen to get off the phone so I could continue with my task of caring for Stella, but Rebecca sounded so genuinely worried that I forced a deep breath into my lungs and tried to lower my aggravation level.

  Placing my palm on her damp forehead again I frowned at the heat. ‘Some sort of flu I think, she’s got a bad fever and the last time she was awake it sounded like she had a pretty sore throat too.’ A sudden sharp pain erupted in my mouth and I raised my hand to touch at my lower lip before pulling it away and seeing a smear of blood on the pad of thumb. Fuck. I’d been nervously chewing on it so hard that I’d obviously broken through the skin. Licking the blood away I tried to focus on ending the call so I could do something proactive rather than just standing here staring helplessly at Stella.

  ‘I need to go, Rebecca, but when Stella’s feeling better I’ll tell her you called,’ I said in my nicest, politest tone hoping it might make her disengage quicker.

  ‘It’s OK, I was only phoning to tell her about the hotel Nicholas has booked for the wedding. I can catch up with her another time. Do you need anything? Should we come over?’

  Sitting back down on the bed I ran my fingertips over Stella’s sleeping face. She was clearly out of it at the moment, but even with her fever and sickness her head lolled sideways into my touch and I felt an affectionate smile tug my lips at the tiny gesture. The only thing I needed at the moment was for Stella to get better, but apart from that there was little that Rebecca or Nicholas to do – it was just a case of Stella sweating it out. As stupid as it was, even though I was on the phone I found my head shaking with my reply as I decided now was the time to end the call so I could care for her. ‘No, we’re fine, I’ll look after her. Thank you for the offer though, Rebecca. I’ll keep you updated.’