by Janae Keyes
“A pleasure,” she said cooly. Her eyes studied me, and they landed directly in the center of my chest at my necklace. “Gorgeous necklace.”
“Er--thanks, it was a gift from someone special,” I noted as I ran my fingers over the pendant, my eyes catching Nate’s for only a split second.
“My grandmother had a brooch very similar to that. Whoever gave you the necklace has great taste,” she said in a matter of fact tone. I only smiled in return, unsure of what else to say.
Evangeline turned to her parents along with Nate and Miranda. They began to chat away while I stood awkwardly. Taking my cue, I slipped away from the family and found the bar. I wasn’t sure why Nate had invited me if he was to be with Miranda the entire night. I was an outsider in his life, his true mistress, the other woman.
Sipping on my drink, I watched the couples dance to the live band playing big band music. I’d spotted Nate a few times here and there, but Miranda was always attached to him in each instance.
I saw someone approaching me, someone I hadn’t expected to see that night, but as he rolled in this particular circle, it wasn’t so shocking that he would be there. Greg gave me a grin, his blue eyes shining even in the dim light of the room.
“Hello there, beautiful,” he said as he approached me, his eyes practically eating me up. “I take it you are feeling better?”
“Much,” I answered.
“I hated to be out of the office today. I’ve missed you since the night of the party. Maybe tonight we can end the evening on the note we’d planned to,” Greg suggested. I hated this, he really liked me, and he was a nice guy, but there was another guy, one I loved deeply.
“I’m afraid not,” I said knowing honesty was the best policy. Greg seemed a tad confused at my answer, but I think he caught my drift. “I’m sorry Greg; you’re a great guy, and I thank you for the fantastic dates we had. My ex that I briefly told you about. He and I decided to try and fix things. I love him still, and I feel terrible allowing you to be led on when I’m still hung up on someone else.”
“I suppose I understand, I appreciate you telling me.” Greg sounded disappointed, but I’d promised Nate I’d end things with Greg when I could. I gave Greg a small shrug.
“I’ll see you at the museum.”
“Yes, see you,” Greg said quickly before he walked away, leaving me alone.
Besides the free drinks, I was bored and considered having Chris pick me up until I felt the presence of someone behind me.
“I’m finally free, my darling,” Nate’s voice whispered.
Without any more words, he took me by the hand and pulled me along with him. We exited the ballroom into an empty courtyard. The London night air was filled with a crisp chill, and I shivered.
“Nate, where are we going?” I asked him in a low voice, afraid of someone hearing us.
Nate said nothing to me in response as he continued to pull me toward the back of the courtyard. At once he stopped and pressed my back to a stone wall, I shivered at the cold stone behind me.
“You never said you were wearing this dress, it’s so hard to resist you in this dress,” Nate growled as he pressed his lips to my neck.
“Nate,” I breathlessly whispered.
“I hate not being able to spend time with you openly. I want the world to know you’re mine, to hold your hand in front of everyone,” Nate confessed.
“Why don’t you?”
“You know why.”
I didn’t say anything else. I didn’t want to fight with him. Things were good between us despite our main challenge. I trusted him to end things in due time as he’d told me he would. I was going out on a limb and accepting his honesty and trusting him.
“Nate, I want to be with you, I do, but I don’t know. I feel so out of place, and as long as you’re with Miranda, I can never really be with you,” I confessed to him. Pain filled me from the inside. I glanced away from him, afraid of crying.
“Taylor, listen to me,” Nate’s voice was demanding and strong as he took ahold of my face and pulled my gaze into his. “We’re going to be together. I love you so much, and you’re the only one I can be with.”
“I’m so fucking scared of not being with you,” I admitted, tears streaming down my face.
“Then don’t say it. Don’t say it out loud. We are going to be together, just like this my darling.” Nate wiped my tears away and kissed my forehead softly before his lips met mine. He pulled me as close as possible. “We’re going to be fine, right?”
I nodded in response. We were going to be fine. Nate was going to do the right thing, and I’d be the woman on his arm. He loved me, I knew it. I loved him so hard that nothing seemed right without him, I couldn’t imagine a future where he wasn’t there with me.
Nate’s lips moved from my mouth, down my neck. My body hummed with excitement and wanting. We were on fire when together, an all-consuming flame that couldn’t be extinguished.
“Fuck, I need you so bad,” he hummed, his lips on my skin, kissing and sucking. His hand slipped through the slit in the dress and quickly finding my opening.
Nate’s fingers caressed my clit, causing me to shake under his touch. There we were again, at a party and not being the best party guests. He pressed his body to mine. I felt his arousal, rock hard against me.
My hands traveled to his pants, loosening his belt and bringing down the zipper of his slacks. Reaching under the band of his boxers, I’d arrived at my destination. Taking his hard length into my hands, I rubbed him slowly at first but upped my speed, a growl erupting from his throat.
“I need you,” I whispered, Nate’s green eyes flashing to mine, a wicked grin taking place on his face.
“You’ll have me, my darling,” he murmured to me as he moved to kick his pants off.
Nate’s hands took me by the hips and pulled me up, my legs snacking around him as his grip and the wall behind me held me up. He slipped me down enough to where his arousal was aligned with my opening. I hummed in lust as he began to fill me.
Rocking against the wall, Nate pounded into me. I bit down on my lip to keep myself from making any noise. It was too good for me. We were fused together as one. Nate pressed his mouth to my collarbone, nipping at my skin, inching me toward oblivion.
My nails dug into the back of his scalp as a sweet burning began in my core and spread through me. I couldn’t help myself as I began to moan and cry out in the depths of the darkened courtyard.
“Don’t stop,” I hummed.
“Fuck, fuck, Taylor,” Nate grunted, his length swelling inside me and giving me that final moment as we released together. He rode out his orgasm, his seed shooting deep inside me. It’d never felt so good between us. Bliss took over every sense.
My feet back on the ground, our mixed fluids dripping down my legs, I leaned against the cold wall. I allowed my eyes to close as I worked to control my breathing. Nate kissed my forehead, making me smile as he held me close.
“Don’t ever doubt my love for you,” he whispered. I nodded in response knowing I could never doubt his love. I knew he loved me. I saw it in his eyes. I wanted to spend my life with him, and I knew he felt the same. “Let’s get back to the party.”
“Yeah, I need to find a ladies’ room to clean up.”
Nate finished zipping his pants before taking my hand into his. We strolled through the courtyard hand in hand until we drew near the party. Nate dropped my hand, my heart ached at his action. I understood why, but no matter how much I could grasp his reasons, it still hurt.
We strolled together until the door. Nate walked in first and moments later I followed. I made it my mission to find the ladies room as quickly as I could to get myself cleaned up.
Finding the door to the ladies’ lounge. I didn’t take the time to observe the space as I knew my thighs and inside of my legs were dripping with sexual fluids that I needed to take care of if I was to return to the party.
Slipping into a stall, I was pleased to find that each was equipped with its o
wn sink and towels. I hiked up my dress and stood at the sink with a wet towel. Wiping away the combined sap of both Nate and myself, I disposed the towel and glanced up into the mirror.
The smile on my face was genuine. I was happy. Though there were obstacles to my complete happiness, I was willing to put up the fight for the man that I loved. My parents always told me that love was hard work. I believed their every word.
I refreshed my dark crimson lipstick and closed my clutch purse before washing my hands and exiting the stall feeling refreshed.
When I entered the lounge area, I was able to take in the opulence. The ivory chaise chairs and golden shades walls, along with a grand chandelier made this space the ultimate classy escape.
The door opened and in walked the woman who was keeping me from completely being with Nate, Miranda. Behind her was his sister Evangeline, both of them were in a conversation before they stopped and glared at me.
“Taylor, hello,” Miranda said sweetly.
“Hello,” I nervously responded, eager to exit the small room.
“I think that necklace of yours is absolutely stunning, it looks so much like the brooch my grandmother had. Just beautiful,” Evangeline commented.
“Oh dear, Taylor, your hair is a little fluffed in the back,” Miranda commented.
“Oh shit,” I muttered as I rushed to the nearest mirror. That was something I hadn’t fixed after my romp with Nate. From my head being against the stone wall, my hair was a bit tangled and ruffled in the back.
I stood in the mirror fixing my hair while the two women chatted like teenage girls. It was very reminiscent of using the bathroom in high school and the girls always running there to gossip.
“Evangeline, I don’t think I told you. I suppose I’ve finally cracked the code with your brother,” Miranda said, making my ears perk up and listen in.
“Is that so?” Evangeline questioned, her voice filled with intrigue.
“It wasn’t terribly difficult, a blow job can fix anything,” Miranda confessed with a girlish giggle. My hands froze in my hair, had she actually done it. The pounding of my heart was so strong. I wondered if the other two woman could hear it. “The night of your party, he was being himself and brushing me off. I took charge and showed him who’s boss in the backseat of the car.”
“You didn’t?” Evangeline said.
“I did, it wasn’t too hard. No man can resist getting his cock sucked,” Miranda proclaimed.
I felt the tears burning in the brim of my eyes. I’d asked Nate if he’d been with her and he’d told me he hadn’t. He’d lied to my face when he’d promised me his honesty in return for my trust. Once again, he was breaking the trust I’d placed in him. My heart burned through.
I turned from the mirror, giving the women a polite smile before rushing from the lounge. I had to find a safe place to cry. My heart was squeezing in tight as I thought of what else Nate had lied to me about. If he couldn’t be honest with me when it counted, how could I trust him?
Rushing through the hotel, I’d reached the front door. I hoped Chris wasn’t too far and could pick me up. My dam had broken, and tears were flowing down my face at a rapid pace.
“Taylor.” I heard Nate’s voice, and it forced my heart to break a little more.
“Stay away from me,” I hissed.
“Taylor, what happened?”
“Fuck you!” I growled before stepping away from him.
“Taylor, stop, what is wrong?”
I sharply turned to face him, the confusion of the moment written all over his face. Nate looked as innocent as ever when he’d been a lying son of a bitch the entire time. I’d let my heart be open to him and us again. Why was I so stupid when it came to my love for him?
“What’s wrong is you. You fucking lied to me. When I asked you if you’d been sleeping with Miranda, you told me no. I just overheard her telling your sister about her giving you a blowjob. Tell me she’s lying?” My anger and pain were boiling over, and Nate only kept silent for a moment.
“We can’t discuss this here,” he growled. “Come with me.”
Nate took me by the hand. I didn’t object or fight as he pulled me along toward a black Mercedes. He opened the door of the backseat and allowed me to slip inside before he followed.
“Taylor, Nathaniel?” questioned the driver who made me smile through my tears, it was Langston.
“Langston, can Taylor and I have a moment?” Nate asked. Langston gave him a nod before he exited the car.
I glanced out the window. I didn’t want to look at Nate. He could make all the promises in the world, but in the end, he still wouldn’t be honest with me when I needed it the most.
“I trusted you, to be honest with me,” I said.
“I know.”
“Why can’t you be? Why do I always have to find out your lies?”
“Taylor, my darling, please look at me,” Nate demanded, his hand on my arm. I shook his touch away but gave in to his demand.
His pleading eyes met mine right away. I hated that look, it always softened me and drew me in, but I fought to hold my own. Nate had lied, and I was going to give him a chance to explain himself.
“Why can’t you be honest with me?”
“I’m trying, but I couldn’t tell you about that. It was a mistake on my part to allow her to do it. I love you, and I didn’t want to hurt you.” I knew he loved me, but the more secrets he kept, the more hurt I was going to be.
“I guess knowing what’s right and doing what’s right are completely separate ideas,” I noted nonchalantly with a shrug.
That quote encompassed both of us and the wrongs we were doing to one another and with one another. I was the other woman, I knew it was wrong, but I still allowed myself to be a mistress. Nate continued to lie to me, and he knew it was wrong, but yet he didn’t stop. We’d caught ourselves in a cycle that showed no sign of ending as I couldn’t force myself not to love him and his lies would continue to stack up.
FOURTEEN
Nate
THE WEEK THAT passed was filled with a raw turbulence. It seemed as though Taylor had become content in her role as my mistress and I hated it. I wanted her to be my one and only and it killed my heart that her love for me still allowed her to cower to a place lower than where she should be. Taylor was a queen, and she deserved to be the queen of my life.
We knew how to love one another hard but fight just as hard. That night she’d dropped it, and we’d returned to my home together, though I felt the animosity she held. Later we’d fought, screams filling the halls of my home, yet later screams of passion filled the same halls. We were a yo-yo of human emotions.
I’d instructed Chris to take Miranda back to her hotel that night. She’d been angry with me for leaving her at another party, but I honestly didn’t give a fuck. Taylor is the only person whose opinion mattered, and when she wasn’t fully alive and sat in this strange place of forced contentment, I didn’t like it.
Sitting at the dining room table, I sipped my coffee and read the newspaper. Luckily, my parents were able to score my sister Penelope, a suite at the hotel. She’d gotten incredibly drunk at her party and the work to sneak her out of the back door was going to be too much of a task. Penelope had fallen drunk out of many parties and found herself plastered in the gossip columns.
Luckily, my parents had been too concerned with saving face when it came to Penelope that I’d been able to get away with ditching my fiancée at the party. My fiancée who’d been seen around town in meetings with top designers as she planned to have her wedding dress custom made. There’d been meetings with Sarah Burton, who designed Kate Middleton’s dress, other meetings with Vera Wang, and Valentino.
I’d spent many days and nights imagining not my wedding with Miranda, but a wedding with Taylor. I wondered about the beautiful gown she would don and the smile on my face the moment I saw her for the first time. I didn’t want a huge affair, rather something small and intimate, possibly at my vineyard in France
. I only desired the people we knew loved and cared for us the most to be in attendance. I wanted to spend my life with Taylor and nobody else, but to make that happen was going to be the challenge of my life.
“Nate, Earth to Nate,” called the voice of my sweet one, Taylor.
Shaking myself from my trance, I spotted her standing next to me, a vision as always. She was wearing much too many clothes for my liking, but the turn in the weather made her outfit with a dark blue turtleneck appropriate. I wanted to be her jeans, though, tight jeans, hugging her perfect ass just right.
“Sorry, my mind is busy,” I confessed to her as she bent over me, her lips only millimeters from mine.
“I can see that,” she whispered before pressing her mouth to mine. I yanked her close in a hungry kiss. Though we’d somehow moved past my indiscretion, I still could feel the tension between us.
Achingly, Taylor pulled away. She presented me with a soft smile, but her eyes still were filled with uncertainty. I watched her take her seat and pick up her morning usual of a croissant. I observed the way she put pieces of the buttery pastry into her delicious mouth, the mouth that had sucked me dry the night before.
“Darling,” I started, Taylor’s eyes meeting mine. “Do you have any plans for today?”
“No, none today,” she answered me.
“Good, I want to get out of the city, would you like the accompany me?” I asked, hoping her answer would be yes. I wanted to escape and spend a day out with my angel.
“A little quiet sounds nice,” Taylor mentioned, giving me her smile that took my heart every single time.
“Good, we’ll leave in about an hour.”
I had a phone call to make, but our afternoon was going to be exactly what we needed. London was too noisy and busy for us at the moment. Taylor and I needed the peace and quiet of the country. We’d be able to finally move freely with one another, outside of the confines of the house. It would be absolutely perfect.
BEING OUTSIDE THE city was exactly what I needed. The moment we left London behind for the English countryside, I already felt the stress leaving my body. Taylor next to me, glancing out the window and taking in the sights around us while I drove.
