Skin of the Night: Book One of The Night series

by Claire D. Bennett

  Andy cocked his head from side to side. “Have you considered the implications of that? If he gets angry with her?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. Depending on the outcome, I’ll tell him to back off. I can’t imagine he’d hold a grudge against her if she decides to give me a chance.”

  “And if she doesn’t give you a chance?” Violet probed dubiously.

  “I haven’t decided yet. On the one hand, I’ll be bitter if she doesn’t, and that will ultimately make it tempting to tell him the truth and let her handle it on her own. On the other hand, I sincerely care for her, and she’s already voiced concerns about losing him as a friend, so there’s that to consider. I’m not sure I’ll have the heart to let her suffer like that, but then I also can’t stand keeping Jason in the dark. To clear my conscience, I’ll have to tell him someday, but when I do, I might let him decide for himself what to do about it. In that case, I’ll assure him I’ll have no problem with it if he remains friends with her.”

  “But you’ll definitely have a problem with it,” Andy remarked sceptically. “If they remain friends, she’ll always be around, Will.”

  “Doesn’t mean I’ll have to see her.”

  “But you’ll be curious to hear about her.”

  I frowned, annoyed, and impatience rang from my voice when I retorted, “I’ll worry about that bridge when I cross it, alright?”

  “Sounds fair,” Violet agreed.

  Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Reaching for it, I saw that Jason was calling.

  “Speak of the Devil,” I murmured. “Excuse me for a minute.”

  To escape the music, I headed into the men’s room before answering.

  “Evening, J.”

  “Evening. Are you busy?”

  His clipped tone made me frown. Something was clearly on his mind. “I’m having drinks with my colleagues. Why?”

  “Have you got a minute?”

  “Yeah, sure. What’s the problem?”

  While Jason hesitated to continue, I wondered if Cara was there or whether she was with him. She’d told me she had plans today, and I’d hoped all week that they were plans with Jason or her friend Olivia – not him.

  “I’ve meant to ring you about something. Cara came home from work the other day, saying you’d fucked Francesca in your office and that you had made her work there afterwards. Is this true?”

  To calm my nerves, I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. I had anticipated that she would tell him this, but I hadn’t expected Jason to be the one to confront me about it. For that reason, I required a moment to consider my next steps. The facts were simple. I didn’t want to enlighten her just yet. At the same time, I had to reassure Jason somehow, but how to do it would depend on my overall goal.

  As soon as the solution occurred to me, I opened my eyes and was welcomed by my reflection in the mirror. “No, Jason, that’s not true.”

  “Thank god. I honestly almost believed it for a second.”

  “Did you? Why?”

  “Well, she said you’d opened a window, that Francesca’s hair was down, that your lips were red… Honestly, the list goes on.” The details he included satisfied me immensely. I hadn’t thought of the window till now, but what a happy coincidence that had been. She had noticed even more than I had, and it could only mean one thing – she had cared, and she had cared profusely.

  I watched as a smirk made its way across my mouth. Finally, my method was showing results.

  “Apparently,” Jason continued, “another paralegal – I think her name is Ellie – is under the impression you tend to fuck Francesca in there, too.”

  Even though Elisabeth had unwittingly aided me in deceiving Cara, I grimaced when I heard that. Her tongue was far too loose for my liking. Still, I wondered if her taste for gossip had been exploited by Cara. Had she probed Elisabeth about my love life? That would surprise me. She didn’t strike me as the type to dig into someone’s private affairs, but if she had, I took it as a compliment, because it could only mean she still harboured some remnants of feelings for me.

  “God. Fucking Elisabeth,” I muttered, annoyed.

  “Yeah, you should have a word with her. Sounds like she’s spreading false rumours about you.”

  “Well, in her defence, I’ve fucked Francesca in my office before, but I didn’t on Wednesday. Still, I absolutely need to have a word with her.”

  “Will, what the hell? That’s really unprofessional.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Spare me, Jason.”

  “No, I mean it. You can’t keep doing that. Cara’s been dreading going to work all week because of this incident. What you did made her feel seriously uncomfortable.”

  To hear that she had been dreading going to work ever since Francesca’s visit inspired hope in me that her supposed discomfort was in fact jealousy in disguise. If I played my cards right, perhaps I could trick her into confessing it.

  “Jason, listen. It won’t happen again. Truth is, I ended things with Francesca on Wednesday, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

  “You did?”

  “Yeah, and she took me aback with a kiss. That should explain why my lips were a bit red.”

  “But I thought things were stable between you.”

  “A lot’s happened lately. Anyway, regarding Cara, I ought to be the one to tell her, so I’d appreciate it if you refrained from saying anything. As her boss, I consider it my responsibility. I’m not happy to hear she’s been feeling so uncomfortable about this, so I should be the one to explain things to her. After all, I’m best suited to answer any questions she may have.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. Do it on Monday, though. As I said, she’s been dreading going to work ever since it happened.”

  “Of course,” I said, but now that the conversation had reached its end, I realised that one question remained, and the potential answer made me feel sick. “Is she with you right now?”

  “No, she’s with Livy, a friend of hers.” Relieved, I exhaled a pent-up breath.

  “Probably complaining about me,” I murmured.

  “I’d say that’s a safe bet.”

  “Well, then. Was that all?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why not come over and join us for a drink, Jase?” From his hesitation, I could tell he was on the fence. “Come on,” I urged. “It’ll be fun. Just don’t get hammered again.”

  He chuckled. “Course I won’t. Stephen and Jon won’t be there to make sure of it.”

  “True. So you’ll come, then?”

  “Is Andy there?”

  “He is.”

  “Alright. I don’t see why not? I’ll come for a pint.”

  “Great. I’ll see you soon.”

  “Yeah.”

  After he rang off, I placed my phone back in my pocket and washed my hands. As I did, I gazed at my reflection and smirked.

  In misery, we feel most alive, but also most alone. Fortunately, Cara seemed about to put me out of mine.

  20

  ALL THE BEST ONES ARE

  Cara

  “I’m going to take you now,” he warned, breath spreading across my face and my kiss-swollen lips. “And I assure you, love, you’ll be feeling me for a week.” A lecherous smile emerged on his mouth before he claimed mine. Untamed and powerful, he dominated me completely through a mere kiss.

  I could hardly breathe. My heart threatened to burst with suspense. Finally, I would feel him enter me again, his perfect shaft thrusting in to reach a depth no other man had. I had longed to feel him buried inside me for months now, and for each day that had gone by, my lust for him had grown more extreme.

  He pushed in, his gaze searing while he extracted a long moan of pleasure from my mouth. Clawing into his muscular back, my face contorted at the unmistakable sensation. God, he felt good, and he
stretched me so far. Closing my eyes, I relished how complete I felt.

  Never had I met a man more irritating, challenging, and yet so seductive. Against his allure, I was powerless, and he was finally claiming me as his own for the night. Caged beneath his strong, naked body, I marvelled. How had I ended up here again?

  The same moment I thought it, I realised I was dreaming. Gasping awake, my eyes sprang wide. Glimpsing my alarm in the dark, I saw that it was six in the morning – too early to wake up, but too late to go back to sleep.

  Groaning, I noticed how soaked I was. My juices covered the better part of my inner thighs, deriving from the cleft above which throbbed and tingled from the illusion of his touch. Clearly, they were called ‘wet dreams’ for a reason. However, waking up from one about none other than my boss was not an ideal way to start my day. What made it worse was that it was easily one of the most fantastic sex dreams I’d ever had, and he hadn’t even made me orgasm. Though, last week, he had managed to on several occasions, albeit in my dreams and fantasies of him.

  This was getting out of hand. Not even during sleep did he give me any space. He was driving me insane. Ever since Wednesday last week, his presence in my dreams had escalated in frequency, and I despised it. My subconscious clearly refused to let him go, despite how much I wanted it to.

  In an attempt to exorcise him from my mind, I’d even gone so far as to masturbate to the thought of him a few times, but it hadn’t helped at all. Time had shown that all it had done was reinforce my lust for him instead. Sleeping with Aaron on Saturday hadn’t helped either. I’d been distracted under his touch, comparing it to my memory of William’s, which had ultimately led Aaron’s to lose its impact. I hadn’t even been able to reach orgasm – I’d had to fake it – which was surely a first for me. In the three years I’d slept with Aaron, I had never been unable to climax – until now.

  It infuriated me. William had clearly moved on, so why couldn’t I? Why had my body latched onto the memory of him like this?

  A few tearless sobs escaped me while I rubbed my face. Pushing my duvet aside, I stepped out of bed to prepare for another intense day under his smouldering glare. Trapped in the consequent daze of my erotic dream, I showered for longer than usual, as if the hot stream of water would cleanse my mind, too, and wash away my lust for William.

  When I eventually finished, I walked dispiritedly out of the glass cage to wipe a line of condensation off the bathroom mirror. Leaning towards my reflection, I saw how discouraged I looked. My freckles were fainter than they tended to be, and purple bags had gathered under my eyes.

  I watched as a frown surfaced. “Stop thinking of him, Cara. He’s your goddamned boss,” I scolded and opened my second drawer to fetch my makeup kit.

  I started by moisturising my face, hoping it would treat the symptoms of my exhaustion. Then, I grabbed my corrector to apply it under my eyes before I covered the deep pinkish tint with my concealer. Soon enough, I’d managed to hide away any sign of sleep deprivation. Since I preferred a natural look, I didn’t apply anything else to my skin. As I got started on my eyes, on a whim I decided to add a very faint smoky eye to the mixture. I would look fiercer like this. Ready to attack the day. Ready to fend off any daydreams about my tantalising boss.

  § § §

  As intended, I arrived before him. Since he had wanted me to work from his office all of last week, I headed straight into it at ten to eight to clear his desk and organise the files on it for him. While he would likely assume that I had done it as a favour to him, I was in fact determined to do it solely because I couldn’t stand untidiness. Mum had always said, ‘order around you, order within you’, and that statement of hers had stayed with me. Unlike Dad, she and I had always shared a passion for cleaning, and I was about to put it to good use.

  At two minutes to eight, my gaze dashed to the door and I saw the handle turn. In stepped William, and the grin he presented nearly made me sob. The fact that he looked even better in reality than in my dreams was hardly fair. Looking him in the eye now, especially after I’d just had a vivid and erotic dream about him, was not something I desired. To keep from blushing was impossible, and I was certain he noticed the new colour of my face because his grin suddenly broadened.

  “Morning, Cara. Blushing merely at the sight of me, are you? I’m flattered.”

  “Don’t point it out,” I muttered and looked back to the files. “And don’t flatter yourself. I’m blushing only because you caught me tidying up your mess, and I don’t want you thinking it’s to suck up to you.”

  He shut the door and approached. “Someone woke on the wrong side of the bed.”

  My heart plummeted when he placed a Starbucks cup in front of me. He had to stop doing this. I couldn’t stand his kindness. All it did was remind me of how irresistible he was. If he kept this up, I might as well wave my sanity goodbye.

  “Perhaps this will help,” he said.

  I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. “You need to stop bringing me coffees, Will.”

  “Er, why? I swear I’m not poisoning them.”

  Though I hated it, his joke managed to leave a brief, faint smile on my mouth. Keeping my eyes on his desk, I tried to hide it. “Because it’s unnecessary. I’ve got a machine at home.”

  “So? I thought it could be a nice custom. Besides, you can’t make flat whites at home, can you?”

  I let out a loud breath. “I don’t need flat whites.”

  “Well, I’ve got to stop by the shop anyway. Might as well—”

  “Fine.”

  My hostile attitude made him pause. “Are you alright?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. Sorry.”

  What he did next nearly made me smile again. Very slowly, he proceeded to push the coffee towards me, as though I were a wild animal that would chew off his hand if he did anything too abrupt.

  To get this moment out of the way, I grabbed it with a sigh and raised it to read the black ink. True grit, it said, and my heart skipped a beat.

  I swallowed. Was it a reference to our conversation the night we’d met? What else could it mean? Was it merely a coincidence? Or was he implying perseverance? Then, regarding what? Me? Was this his way of telling me that he wasn’t giving up? Or was he trying to tell me not to give up – on him?

  No, he wouldn’t do that. He couldn’t possibly be trying to flirt with me – not when he had Francesca.

  None the wiser, I turned my attention to him. “What’s this supposed to mean?”

  He shrugged. “Just some innocent inspirational words for our new trainee. You’ve done an excellent job so far, and I wanted to motivate you to continue with it.”

  My eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Hm. ‘True grit’ sounds familiar, though.”

  I was certain the same memory I was thinking of flared through his eyes then. “Does it?”

  “Never mind,” I mumbled, because I didn’t feel like giving him the satisfaction of knowing my thoughts. Pretending I didn’t remember anything from our first encounter at all was much more tempting. “Thanks.”

  “I’ll help you out,” he said after he’d rounded his desk to leave his bag on the floor, and his immediate proximity made me freeze. Delicious electricity seemed to charge between our bodies when his beautiful hands reached out to organise a stack of paper, and mercy was nowhere to be found when I caught his seductive scent.

  “I can do it,” I said, because his closeness was clouding my thoughts.

  “I know you can, but four hands will get the job done quicker.”

  I grew quiet.

  “That’s a lovely perfume you’re wearing,” he murmured after a while, and my blush intensified. Could he stop being so goddamned charming? I had to move on, but he was making it impossible. “What’s it called?”

  “It’s called none of your business,” I replied impassively.

  He chuckled. “
Christ. It was only a compliment. What’s got your knickers in such a twist?”

  You.

  “Sorry. Time of the month,” I lied.

  “Ah. I’ll tread gently.”

  “Do you ever?” I had said it under my breath, but when his hands froze, it was apparent he’d heard me.

  After a brief pause, he leaned forwards to lock eyes with me, and his glowed with a strictness that I found oddly arousing. “I do not appreciate your passive-aggressive behaviour right now. If there’s something you’d like to say, be direct about it.”

  Ripping my gaze from his, I glared away and wondered for a moment whether to tell him that I hadn’t remotely appreciated his conduct last week with regards to Francesca’s visit. At the same time, I was reluctant to enlighten him, as it could inspire him to think that I was only jealous, which I wasn’t. If he got that impression, I feared it could make things awkward between us.

  “Sorry,” I eventually mumbled. “You’re right. You didn’t deserve that. I’ll remedy my mood pronto.”

  “Thanks.”

  A period of silence elapsed, and I spent it dreading the rest of my day here. I hoped Francesca or another lover wouldn’t make an appearance, but if it were to happen, I hoped he’d retain the decency not to ask me to work in his office straight afterwards, like he had on Wednesday.

  We spent another five minutes on the task before we got started on actual work, and we hardly exchanged a word until lunch. Even so, I caught him stealing glances at me so often that my irritation with him continued to increase. I hated being placed under his microscope, so I didn’t want to work in here. I wanted to work next to Elisabeth. His presence was bothering me immensely – his whole existence was.

  He was my boss, and I was madly attracted to him. Watching him sit there in his light grey suit with that olive green tie around his neck – a neck which I had ravished with kisses some months ago – was beyond frustrating. Though I’d never been religious, I could relate to Eve’s time in Eden. Though, in my case, Eden was my job – my personal paradise. The serpent was my lust for William, always whispering in the back of my mind, trying to tempt me into tasting the forbidden fruit that was my boss – William fucking Night. Truly, the more we interacted, the harder it was to resist him, and it pissed me off.