by Nicola Jane
Alivia is chatting with Alex and I clench my free hand into a fist, they are laughing and his hand is resting on her lower back, the bare skin to skin contact pisses me off. As we approach Alex grins at me, “Dude where the hell have you been. You left Liv unattended in a tank full of sharks,” he says.
“Alivia,” I say sternly, “Is quite capable of looking after herself Alex. Haven’t you got anything to be getting on with?”
He moves his hand from her skin and hooks his arm around her shoulders instead, winking at me. I know he’s trying to get a reaction from me. “I’m getting on with Liv,” he says.
“Vass tells me you work in marketing,” says Annalise.
Liv nods and takes a sip of Champagne, “Yes, I actually went for the position at Glamour Cosmetics and somehow ended up at The Luxe.”
“That makes sense,” mutters Annalise looking up at me, “Your meddling mother as usual.”
“You know Jenifer,” I say with a tight smile, “Always trying to make me do things her way.”
“Well I trust you told her we have it in hand.” I don’t miss the way she punctuates the word we, like me and her are a thing.
“So are you spending the night Annalise?” asks Alex and I immediately glare at him, I know where he is going with this line of conversation, “It’s becoming a regular occurrence isn’t it?” he adds with a smirk.
Alivia looks down at her champagne flute and presses her lips together, Alex wants her to think me and Anna are a thing so that he can jump in there. “Why, are you wanting to join us again?” I ask.
Alex laughs out loud, “Touché Mr Frazer.”
“Well when you dogs have finished your pissing contest, I’d like to watch the show,” says Annalise coldly.
“Alex will walk you through and I’ll join you shortly. I just need to speak with Alivia,” I say.
Annalise makes a show of kissing me on the lips again and then saunters off towards the main room. Alex turns Liv’s head towards him and hooks his finger under her chin so that she is looking up to his six-foot frame. “I like you Liv, when this bastard gets bored of you, which he will, come and find me,” he says placing a quick kiss in her cheek and following after Annalise.
Alivia raises her eyebrows and then takes a large gulp of the champagne. It makes her cough and so she places the glass down on the bar and then wipes under her eyes. “What was that about?” she asks, staring after Alex.
“He’s an idiot, ignore him. Shall I show you to your room for the evening?” I ask.
“You want rid of me?” she asks. The question takes me by surprise and my instant answer is no, I definitely don’t want rid of her and in fact if Annalise hadn’t of turned up then maybe we would still be in the main room watching the show and chatting. But now Alex has his radar set on her and I can’t spend the night worrying that he’s going to end up in her bed.
“Of course, not but Alex will pester you all night and I feel it’s my duty to protect you from him,” I say.
“Maybe I don’t need protecting.” She smiles and I’m surprised how much her remark riles me. I take her hand and lead her from the bar. We step into the elevator and I put the key in the lock to open up the top floor. “You may as well spend the night in complete luxury,” I say.
The Platinum suites are on the top floor. There are four in total but one of them is my living residence. The lift opens out onto a private floor and I push in the code for the room next to mine. If she thought the downstairs rooms were nice, she will be amazed by these. I had Italian designers come in especially to give these rooms the romantic feel. Each room has a different theme, this one being Summer which I thought Alivia would appreciate since she loves the girly décor.
I smile as her face lights up at the sight of the four-poster bed in the centre of the room. The sheer white curtains that surround it are lit up with tiny lights hand sewn into the delicate material. “It’s so pretty in here,” she gasps.
“I thought you’d like it,” I say smiling.
“I don’t even want to know what you charge for the hire of this room,” she says running her fingers over the white marble dresser.
“Some people will pay a huge amount for luxury,” I shrug.
“There is a bathroom through there,” I say pointing to a door, “And room service is available. Please make use of it as my guest. I’ll have some nightwear brought up to you,” I add.
I step past Alivia and reach over to open the French doors. There’s a small balcony to stand on which shows off the London skyline but it’s cold and I doubt she’ll want to be out there this evening. She follows me out and rubs her arms. “I bet it’s lovely out here when it’s a warmer night,” she says and I nod. She nudges me with her arm and I look down at her and smile, “I really appreciate you keep helping me out Vass. You’re a really great guy,” she almost whispers. Our eyes lock for a few seconds and she suddenly raises up on her tip toes and kisses me quick on the cheek. “Thankyou,” she adds. I give a stiff nod and step back inside, breaking whatever that was between us.
“I’d better get back downstairs.”
She nods, a sad expression passing over her face, “Have a good night.”
I go to my own room and call Clarisse, she answers on the second ring. “Yes boss?” she jokes.
“Are you about this evening? I need some sexy nightwear bringing to a platinum room.”
“I’ll get some sent up. Size?” she asks.
“Erm, Alivia sized,” I say with a hopeful laugh.
“Okayyy,” she says dragging out the last syllable.
“What does that mean?” I ask, “Why did you say it like that?”
“Nothing,” she says innocently, “Do I send the sort that you like or that I think Alivia will like?” she asks.
“Something she will like,” I say and then add, “Silk, something silk,” and then I clamp my mouth shut because I almost followed that with a ‘she’d look good in silk.’
“I’m on it. You know Annalise is here this evening?” she asks.
“Yes I’m on my way now, where is she?”
“In a private room with Alex and Mr Collingham.” I close my eyes to contain the anger that rises within me. If she carries on she will ruin everything. I cut the call and make my way downstairs, Annalise’s collar tightly gripped in my hand.
I burst in to the private room unannounced and I catch the delight in Annalise’s eyes when she spots me. She wanted a reaction. Clive Collingham is on his knees, his cock in his hands watching Annalise play with herself whilst Alex touches her. They all stop to look at me, Alex grins and moves away from her, holding his hands up to indicate he was just following her instructions.
“Up,” I order her and defiance dances in her eyes. I reach across the bed and grip her by the arm, hauling her to her feet. I hold the collar up in front of her, “Aren’t you forgetting something?” I grit out and she shrugs, another show of defiance. I place the black leather collar around her neck and hold it tight until she coughs. “You think you can come into a playroom without your collar, without permission?” I growl. She gives a nod and I pull harder. “Oh Annalise, you are pushing me too far,” I warn and she arches her brow.
I spin her away from me and bend her over the bed, slapping her bare ass hard and delighting in the red hand mark I leave on her pale skin. “How many?” I growl.
“Ten,” she hisses. I slap her again in the same spot and she jolts forward.
“Have you forgotten yourself this evening Annalise?” I shout.
“TEN SIR!” she yells.
I feel the beast inside me stepping forward and I look to Alex and Clive who are watching everything, “OUT!” I order and they go without question. I hit the button to clear the glass in case they want to watch from the room attached to here.
I stand between Annalise’s legs and use my foot to kick them further apart. I run my finger along her opening and feel that she’s turned on already. I haven’t even begun yet.
CHAPTER
FIVE
Alivia
There’s a knock on the door and I peep through the hole to see the office manager. I frown, why would she be here at this time of night. I open the door and smile, “Clarisse, you’re working late.”
She holds out a package of pink tissue paper tied with a pink ribbon. “Courtesy of The Luxe,” she says with a wink.
I take it admiring the pretty wrapping, “Okay, thanks, what is it?”
“Silk,” she says, “Vass asked me to bring it to you.”
When she doesn’t move I give her an awkward smile, “Do you want to come in?” I ask and she shrugs and then nods. I step to one side so she can enter the room. I lay the parcel on the bed and we stand awkwardly for a second. “Drink?” I ask and she nods again.
“Did Vass give you free reign on the bar and room service?” she asks, “He usually does for guests of his.”
“Yeah but I don’t want to take advantage of him, he’s been so kind,” I say but Clarisse is already opening the mini bar and grabbing bottles.
“Forget that, do you know how much the guy is worth?” she says.
“Not really,” I mutter, “It makes no difference.”
“He’s my best friend, he’s used to me spending his money,” she shrugs laying the miniatures on the bed. She settles on Vodka and opens two bottles, pouring them into tumblers and topping them with coke. She hands me one and I take a sip and wince, it’s really strong.
“That’s the polish in me, I like Vodka super strong,” she grins as I splutter. “Go on then, ask me, your dying to,” she says sitting back on the bed and crossing her legs. When I stare at her blankly she rolls her eyes, “Am I fucking him, are we in a secret relationship, do I love him?”
“It’s none of my business,” I say without admitting that I do want to ask all of the above but just out of curiosity.
“No I don’t fuck him,” she starts, “Not anymore,” she adds with a wink. “Yes I love him a huge amount because he is kind and funny and amazing but only as a friend, I am not IN love with him and our only relationship is as friends. We went out together when we were young and stupid, we have the same taste in women now which effectively means that we occasionally share a threesome but he doesn’t come near me, that would be weird,” and she shudders at the thought.
“But seeing him naked and sharing women isn’t weird?” I ask sceptically.
“No, we both love sex and he hooks up with women that want a threesome. It’s a win-win situation. No one bats an eyelid when he shares a woman with Alex or Curtis,” she huffs.
“There’s an awful lot of sharing going on between you all,” I mutter.
“I suppose it would seem weird to someone like you,” she says.
“Like me?” I repeat trying not to be offended.
“Well you know, plain,” she shrugs.
“Wow, do you actually win girls over with your way with words?” I say and she laughs.
“Sorry I didn’t mean it like that. You’re not the type of person that Vass would normally hire.”
“That’s because his mum hired me on the promise of a career in her company if I helped out here first. What I don’t understand is that Vass and The Luxe are doing extremely well. Why would she think he needs help with marketing?”
Clarisse falls quiet and chews on her finger nail. It makes me even more suspicious than I already am. I checked the memberships and he has a lot of people on the books. He doesn’t need help pulling clients in. “I guess I’ll find out eventually,” I mutter taking a drink.
“Vass is complicated, he has all kinds of pressures from family. It makes him do stupid things like hook up with bitches like Annalise. I think you’ve been sent here to save him,” says Clarisse. I wait for her to laugh but when she doesn’t I begin to smile.
“You’re kidding right?”
“No, I believe in fait Liv and you’re here to help him.”
“Well so far he’s helped me. I haven’t helped him at all.”
“That isn’t strictly true, where was he all evening?” she asks with a cocky grin.
“He wanted to go to the gym,” I shrug.
“But he was supposed to be at dinner with Annalise, see, you’re already working your magic.”
I throw a small cushion at her and she catches it, “You are crazy.” Her comments have sent a small buzz of hope to my heart though. I can’t deny that Vass is making a dent in the heartache I felt over Daniel cheating on me.
Clarisse leaves over an hour later. I like her, she’s honest and to the point, I could do with someone like that in my life. I open the package she brought me and hold up a light pink chemise with matching shorts. I’ve never worn anything as nice as this to bed. I hold it against me and smile, it’s really pretty. My thoughts turn to Vass seeing me in this and I sigh, he isn’t going to of course but a girl can dream.
I sit up confused, I was having an amazing dream involving a Viking chasing me and something disturbed me. I look around the room and smile when I remember where I am. There’s a loud banging on the door and I jump out of bed, my heart hammering in my chest.
Looking through the peephole I see Vass glaring at the door. I open it and poke my head out, quite aware that my hair is probably a mess and I’m wearing silk.
“Are you planning on working today?” he asks. I let go of the door and race to the bedside table grabbing my phone, it’s almost ten o clock.
“Oh shit, I’m so sorry Vass,” I gasp. When I turn he’s in the room staring at me with a dark expression. I fidget and fold my arms trying to hide my nipples that are desperate to get his attention. “The bed is so comfy; I must have slept through my alarm.”
“I guess the alcohol helped,” he mutters nodding to the empty glass bottles on the marble dresser.
“Well that was Clarisse’s fault, she turned up here and then we got talking and…” I trail off.
“I should have known she’d be involved,” he sighs, rubbing his forehead. “Go shower and dress,” he adds heading to the French doors and opening them. He takes a seat on the balcony.
“You don’t have to wait,” I say.
“Go,” he repeats.
I shower in the luxurious walk in wet room. I could get used to living like this, I feel like a queen. I wrap myself in the fluffy white robe that hangs on the back of the door and make my way back to the room. Laid out on the bed is a fitted black dress with a square cut neck. To the side of that is a matching set of lace underwear. Vass steps from the balcony into the room, “I took the liberty of having clothes brought from a special boutique I know of,” he says, “I thought you might want a fresh set of clothes.”
“You think of everything,” I say, “You really didn’t have to though.”
“We have a meeting, we need to leave.” I gather the clothes and go back into the bathroom to change. I find a new hair brush in the welcome basket and run it through my hair. Luckily, I have makeup in my handbag and so I quickly apply a minimal amount.
Vass is speaking in to the phone when I go back in to the room. He indicates for me to follow him and continues to speak as we head down in the elevator. As we pass the reception desk Clarisse hands me a set of keys and smiles.
“Have a great day,” she says and I look at the keys she’s passed me, “Vass knows all about them,” she says as way of explanation.
Vass disconnects the call as we step out of The Luxe. “You can drive me for a change,” he says pointing to an Audi parked at the foot of the steps. “I believe my mother promised a company car.”
I look back to the Audi in shock, the black paint work gleaming in the sunshine. “That’s my company car? It’s a new plate,” I say rushing down the steps.
“Well usually the company cars are Mini’s but I think an Audi suits you better,” he says with a wink.
“I love it Vass, thank you,” I say. I am genuinely lost for words, the car is pristine compared to the BMW I shared with Daniel, which he mainly used.
“Let’s go,
I’ll give you directions,” he says getting in the passenger side.
We arrive at a warehouse. There’s a man in a suit waiting outside. He makes his way over with a huge smile on his face. When Vass steps out of the car they embrace and pat each other on the back in greeting. I step out and straighten my dress. The man holds his hand out for me to shake which I do. “This your new driver Vass?” He laughs.
“This is Alivia, my Marketing manager. Alivia this is Mark, he’s in sales.”
Mark takes us through the warehouse. We go into a small office and Mark closes the door. Before us, laid out on the desk are boxes upon boxes of sex toys. I feel my face flush immediately and I avoid looking at the desk as the men begin to pick up boxes and examine them in detail. Mark tells Vass about various toys and shows newer versions with an in depth explanation about what each one does for certain body parts. I stand rooted to the spot wishing I could disappear. It’s not that I’m a prude, I’ve used a vibrator but I’m not used to discussing them and what they do. Vass holds up an angry looking red vibrator and grins at me, “What do you think Liv?”
“It’s your area of expertise not mine Vass,” I mutter.
“You have to get used to this sort of stuff if you’re going to be around The Luxe. It’s part of everyday life.”
“My experience lies in the office side of things,” I point out. Vass signs an order form for over five thousand pounds worth of toys. “Why did you bring me here,” I hiss as we get back in to my car.
“Because you need to know what sort of things The Luxe offers, toys and all,” he smirks, “And because I love the way your face turns red every time you’re uncomfortable.”
“You aren’t funny Vass, I was mortified,” I groan.
“We have a brunch meeting now, no toys allowed,” he says.
Vass directs me to a grand hotel just five minutes up the road. It’s the type of place that country club members would use with a golf course leading from the back and a health suite boasting various spa treatments. Once inside Vass gets the attention of a cute blond receptionist so I take a walk around the lobby looking at the beautiful art work that hangs expertly on the walls.
