He laughed again, sending tingles down her spine. ‘You’re right, I don’t wear any.’ He tilted his glass clinked it against hers. ‘One-nil to you. Cheers.’
She took a sip of her drink, letting the bubbles pop at the back of her throat as her pulse sped up, knowing that he was sitting opposite with nothing but skin under his jeans.
‘I didn’t realise we were keeping score but it’s good to know I’m in the lead.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s fighting talk. Reckon you can keep it up?’
‘Oh, I think so.’ Claire put the glass to her lips and looked straight at him. ‘I’m good at keeping things up.’
He grinned and the air between them crackled. If sexual energy could be seen, she was sure it’d be pulsing throughout around them. It would have followed them from the elevator, through the plush bar and out of the glass doors. The twinkle in his blue eyes and the wicked grin on his lips was an intoxicating mix.
‘So what else do I need to know about you, Claire?’ He asked and goose bumps pricked at her skin at the way he said her name.
Claire shrugged. ‘I’m a fairly open book. Ask away.’
‘Okay, but there a two rules: You have to be honest and you can’t ask me the same questions.’
He leaned back in his stool with his legs splayed open and he stroked a hand across his chin before tapping his finger against his lips.
‘Let’s go straight in with the heavy stuff.’ He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, his eyes boring into hers. ‘Bourbons or custard creams?’
Claire laughed and shook her head. ‘Wow, you certainly don’t waste any time, do you? Bourbons, of course. Much better for dunking with.’
‘Nice answer.’
‘Okay, my turn. What’s your guilty pleasure?’
‘That’s easy. A pile of buttered toast and a tea in bed, watching re-runs of Friends on a Sunday morning.’ Danny smiled. ‘It’s my only day off so I like a lazy start.’
Claire smiled back. She was guilty of doing the same thing on occasion and she didn’t brush away the image of them doing it together from her head.
‘What next?’ He frowned for a second. ‘If you could be anyone from history, who would you be?’
‘Anne Boleyn.’
‘As in, Henry the Eighth’s wife?’
Claire nodded. ‘I know history paints her as this scarlet woman but I think she was misunderstood. I think she was just someone who knew what she wanted, and how to get it.’
‘Sure, I reckon you’re pretty much the same.’ Danny grinned and clinked his glass against hers.
‘I’d say I like to try but that’d be lying. When I play, I play to win but unlike her, I rarely lose.’ She playfully raised an eyebrow and took another sip of her Prosecco. Slowly, she uncrossed her legs and, as predicted, Danny watched appreciatively.
‘I bet you do.’
Claire grinned and looked around the terrace. ‘This is some place. It’s got a great view.’
‘It has. It’s the reason I picked this place.’
Claire didn’t react to his admission that the bar was his. It hadn’t taken a rocket scientist to figure it out when he’d slipped behind the bar, and she’d seen the way he’d studied her, trying to gauge her reaction to the place.
‘Why don’t you go take a proper look?’ He nodded towards the rail and she hopped down from the stool.
She stood, looking out at the London skyline. It was breathtaking at the best of times but from here, it was even more so. Ahead of her, the city spread itself out and she looked at the blue lights on the London Eye, the white beams illuminating St Paul’s Cathedral, and the distinctive green of The Gherkin over in the Square Mile.
‘Well, would you look at that.’
Claire shivered at the heat of his breath on her neck. She hadn’t even heard him move but he couldn’t have been standing more than a few inches behind her. He pointed and she followed the length of his arm with her eyes.
‘It’s snowing.’
She looked again and saw a few, scattered snowflakes falling haphazardly through the air.
‘If it had done this yesterday it would have officially been a white Christmas,’ she said.
‘Christmas is overrated. The best things come on Boxing Day.’
Seven
Danny’s finger trailed down the back of her neck and she turned around with her heart ramming against her ribcage. He was so close she could smell him but it wasn’t aftershave she detected. It was something else. Something much more primal and intoxicating. She breathed in, letting it go to her head like a drug. His eyes danced around her face and he leaned even closer, his hands resting either side of her body on the rail behind her.
‘I’ve another question. How the fuck is someone like you single?’
Claire’s breathing quickened. His lips were centimetres from hers and she was fighting with everything she had not to close the gap, to hold onto the anticipation for just a moment longer.
‘Because that’s the way I like it. I can do what I want, when I want. And it’s less complicated.’ She’d been asked the question many times in the past but, for the first time, her answer sounded hollow. ‘I’m going to break the rules here by asking you the same question. Why are you single?’
‘Breaking the rules is always more fun anyway,’ he replied and a shot of desire ran through Claire’s body. The way he was looking at her, she’d let him break whatever rules he wanted. ‘I’m single because that’s the way it’s had to be.’
A frown momentarily flickered across Claire’s face. The only other rule of their game was honesty and she knew there was more to his answer than he was letting on, but with his heat radiating onto her, she brushed it aside. She was too worked up to care.
Danny tilted his head. ‘What if I said that it was really two-nil to you?’
‘I’d ask where the other point came from.’
He slowly lifted a hand to brush her hair away from the side of her face. ‘You’re the first girl who’s got my attention enough for me to want to meet.’
The unexpected compliment made Claire’s stomach flutter. When she’d looked through Danny’s profile, she’d assumed he’d probably racked up dozens of Tinder-related bedpost notches but, as she looked back at him, something in his eyes told her he wasn’t lying. She didn’t even know him. They’d only just met, but she was already drawn in by him, addicted to his presence, and they hadn’t even kissed. Almost unconsciously, she hooked her finger into the top of his jeans and pulled him closer. It was a move she was well practiced in. She nearly always took the lead, but as she pressed her lips onto his, Danny’s hands curled around her waist and the tingles shooting up and down her spine made her breath hitch in a way that had never happened before. She slowly broke away and opened her eyes, feeling drunk from the delectable feeling of his lips being on hers.
‘So, you think Christmas is overrated?’ she asked, trying to control the overwhelming need to kiss him again.
He nodded, his hands moving down the curves of her hips and waist. ‘I do. The presents part is fun, though. Thanks for mine. I do love cake.’
Claire shivered as a gust of wind penetrated the wall of heat around them and her skin bloomed with goose bumps. ‘You’re welcome.’
He slid his hands down over her shoulders and bare arms leaving a blazing trail of heat behind his touch. ‘I think it’s time for yours.’
Her heart sped, knocking in her chest as he kissed her again, moving in closer until she was backed up against the rail. She lifted his sweatshirt and slid her hands underneath. He flinched under her touch as her fingers stroked the taut abs she’d fully expected to find and she couldn’t stop the moan escaping her lips as she found the trail of hair leading down into his jeans. Her entire body throbbed as he pressed into her, his hands in her hair as hers spanned his broad back under his sweater.
The air of sex he carried around with him, the rough, yet tender way he kissed her, the way her body was r
eacting to him – it was dangerous. As they hungrily kissed on the terrace, the cold air nipped at her skin, delicious against the heat his touch seemed to generate. Everything about the way she was clutching onto him and pulling him closer should have been a clear sign to leave, but with each kiss he trailed along the side of her neck, she reminded herself that this was her choice. She didn’t want this night to be the only time they’d meet. She wanted more - more of this. Despite the short time she’d known him, she already knew he’d be impossible to follow up. She’d known it the moment she’d looked into his eyes after he’d given her that surprise point.
She groaned as he pulled away, frustrated at their sudden lack of contact, until he kneeled down and lifted the hem of her skirt. His fingers trailed the length of her thighs as he hitched her skirt up around her waist and she tipped her head back, trying to catch her breath. The freezing wind blew around them but Claire’s body was on fire as he lifted her leg to hook it over his shoulder. Her body shuddered as he softly kissed her through the black cotton of her knickers, teasing her. She gripped the rail behind her with both hands. Going by her ragged breath, he should’ve put in his profile that he came with a health warning.
She arched her back as he slid her knickers to one side, his fingers delicately brushing against her. Claire looked up at the snow speckled sky. Danny had been right. All the best things came on Boxing Day.
THE END
Connect with Natalie K. Martin
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Wanderlust - Coming Summer 2015
Wanderlust
When Selina gets dumped in a viral YouTube video, there's only one thing she can do: withdraw her savings, quit her temping job and leave. Vowing never to fall for guys like her ex again, she swaps London for Ibiza and finds herself volunteering in Colinas Verde. With its alternative, relaxed lifestyle, sunny skies and deep blue sea, it's the perfect place to start her backpacking adventure and forget the humiliation she left behind. If only it weren't for Alex.
Berlin born Alex is travelling solo, and with good reason. In the wake of a promising rock climbing career cut short due to injury, he's left a trail of disappointment and broken hearts behind him. Determined not to make the same mistakes again, he opted to volunteer in sleepy Colinas Verde over hedonistic Southern Ibiza and with only one week left, it was a choice that paid off, until Selina showed up.
New housemates Selina and Alex are both determined to change, but in a place where people come and go and relationships are intense, old habits die hard.
Two backpackers. One week. What happens in Ibiza…
Release date: Summer 2015
Acknowledgements
After writing Together Apart, it became clear to me that I needed to revisit Claire – the sassier, sexier version of Sarah. The Pull series was born out of a conversation with friends, when one admitted she’d never felt butterflies about a man. The idea for a series of short, magazine style stories examining the modern world of dating was an inevitable conclusion and I have to say thank you to my Cauldron Ladies. You know who you are.
As usual, a big thanks goes to my writing buddies, Caroline Batten, Janny Peacock and also Kitty/Kat French. Huge thanks also to my fabulous Wattpad followers who have encouraged and lovingly pestered me for updates. Thank you also to my army of proofers who pulled in at short notice: Tracey, Sinead, Kelly, Krisson, Trisha, Tammy, Arnaud and Shirley.
Lastly, but by no means least, the readers. The reception to Together Apart has been overwhelming and without it, Claire would never have come into being. Thank you for all your support, tweets and Facebook messages. I love you all.
Cover design: Najla Qamber Designs.
About Natalie K. Martin
In January 2014, Sheffield born Natalie Martin decided to leave her corporate job in London and experience the world - heading off on travels that would take her as far as Cambodia, North India, Goa, and Thailand, changing her outlook on life for good. Whilst travelling in India, her debut novel Together Apart, became a No.1 bestseller on Amazon charts. Love You Better is her second full length novel and is due for release on 1st October 2015.
Natalie's base is now London, but she is very much a modern day nomad, never quite knowing where she'll end up next. A trained Yoga instructor and lover of all things French, Natalie is still traveling and indulging in her three loves: writing, yoga and surfing.
Natalie is represented by Jon Elek at United Agents.
Copyright Notice
PULL
Book One of the Pull series
By Natalie K Martin
Distributed by Smashwords. Copyright 2014 Natalie K Martin
All rights reserved. No part of this e-book may be reproduced in any form other than that in which it was purchased and without the written permission of the author. This e-book is licensed for your personal entertainment only and may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
http://www.nataliekmartin.com
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