The NSC Boxset: Heart of Stone

by D H Sidebottom

  “Well that went well,” Ollie hooted, slapping Nate on the back.

  I pulled my hand from Nate. “Excuse me,” I muttered, twisting round and walking away.

  “Liv?” Nate scowled. “Where are you going?”

  Huffing loudly, I turned back to him. “Bathroom Nate. Is that okay with you?” I asked, my eyes blazing.

  “Of course, sorry,” he apologised with a defence lift of his hands.

  I entered the plush restroom, checked my appearance in the mirror and settled in a cubicle.

  As I sat on the toilet a group of giggling females flowed in. Trying to wee quietly as not to give away my presence, I listened to the conversation.

  Voice 1: (giggling excitedly) Hey, you see who’s here?

  Voice 2: who?

  Voice 3: who?

  Voice 1: (squealing) Nathan Carter.

  Voice 2: (high-pitched) Oh My God!!!

  Voice 3: (shrieking) God, he’s sooo fucking hot.

  Voice 1: yeah, I know. I’d definitely nail him.

  Murmurs of agreement.

  Voice 3: Marcy’s bedded him you know.

  Voice 2: (shocked) really?

  Really? Who the hell was Marcy?

  Voice 3: Oh yeah, she said he’s an amazing lover. He even has his penis pierced! (Giggle)

  What the fuck! Really?

  Silence

  Voice 1: (surprised) Oooh how raunchy.

  Oooh how raunchy? What the fuck? I’d suddenly landed in Bronte country!

  Voice 2: (gasping) I want him even more now.

  Giggling, door open, door shut, silence.

  Well that was enlightening. Sighing I flushed and exited the cubicle.

  Fixing my make-up I returned to the ballroom. Nate was still laughing and joking with his friends so I meandered over to the buffet table. It was crammed with extravagant delicacies. Everything looking mouth-watering and I nibbled on a wide selection, savouring the exquisite tastes.

  “Goodness me, a beautiful lady who actually eats food instead of staring at it insisting they’re on a diet,” a smooth male voice spoke.

  I fixed my gaze on him. “Are you saying I’m fat, Sir?”

  Looking genuinely shocked, he placed his hand over his heart. “Heavens no,” he defended. “Far from it sweetheart,” he hummed, scanning my body. Extending his hand, he introduced himself. “Harry Manson.”

  Taking his hand to return the introduction, I smiled at him. “Olivia Adams.”

  He smiled back. “And what do you do, Olivia?” he inquired.

  “I’m a secretary at NSC” I told him.

  His smile faded and he narrowed his eyes on a scowl. “You work for Nathan Carter?”

  How strange. “Well not specifically. I’m a PA to the finance director, so I don’t actually report to Mr Carter.” I daren’t tell him I was Nate’s date, anxious of his reaction.

  “Ahh, I see.” He relaxed a little and we chatted for a while. He was thoroughly entertaining and I was enjoying his company tremendously. He asked me lots of questions about myself as we drank lots of champagne and he was openly interested in the conversation.

  “So what do you do Mr Manson?”

  “I’m an investment banker. No rhyming slang please, Miss Adams.” I threw my head back and laughed loudly as he laughed with me.

  His laughter stopped suddenly and he tensed as I felt two arms slide around my waist. “I was wondering where you’d got to, Angel,” Nate breathed, nuzzling into my neck as he eyed Harry. “Manson,” he acknowledged firmly.

  “Carter,” Harry replied, just as frostily.

  It was obvious the pair disliked each other. “Dance with me, Liv,” Nate ordered more than asked.

  “It was lovely to meet you Mr Manson,” I said as Nate dragged me towards the dance floor on my drunken, unstable legs.

  As we reached the dance floor, Nate slid one arm around my waist and the other in my hand and pulled me against him. I was still a little mad at him after the ‘Eleanor’ incident. “What’s wrong, baby?” he asked softly, his mouth resting against my ear.

  Shaking my head I tried to ignore him. “Tell me,” he demanded.

  “I do not appreciate being used as a pawn in your games with your girlfriend, Nate!” I grumbled.

  “She’s not my girlfriend, Liv.”

  “Well she seems to think she is,” I informed him.

  “We just had sex Liv, that’s all.”

  “Well I think she wants to have more ‘just sex’ with you Nate.”

  “Jealous baby?” He grinned slyly and pursed his lips.

  “And I have had to put up with your moodiness. Plus I have had to listen to a bunch of giggling women, while having a bloody piss, declaring how ‘hot you are in the sack’ and how your ‘pierced penis’ is amazing.” He raised his eyes and grinned at this announcement. “Along with being insulted by your fucking girlfriend,” I finished with a huff.

  “She’s not my girlfriend Liv,” he snarled.

  Ignoring him and shaking my head, I concentrated on the dance trying to stay upright in my intoxicated state. We swayed to the music, each of us deep in our own thoughts. Nate’s hand slid down and cupped my bottom as he pulled me closer. I could feel his erection straining against my stomach. He hissed through his teeth as I gasped. My breathing accelerated as the throb between my thighs intensified. “Do you know how fuckin’ hot you look in that dress, baby?” Nate whispered seductively in my ear.

  Rumbling a low moan I tilted my mouth onto his, claiming him in a passionate kiss. My own hand slid down and grasped his tight arse, another soft moan escaping as I felt it’s hardness in my hand. God he had a remarkable backside. The contours in his defined muscles were incredible, an arse from the heavens.

  He squeezed my cheeks in confirmation that he liked the feel of my caress and pressed his hard on further into me. “Stop! Nate!” I gasped pulling away.

  Looking around to see if we had attracted any attention, I found Eleanor’s appalled expression, her lip curled in disgust. “I think it’s time to go.”

  “Sure baby,” he said, giving me his sexy smile. I realised he thought I wanted to go to carry our intimate dance into the bedroom. Shit.

  We said our goodbyes to Ollie and Nate’s other friends and made our way through the desperate paparazzi again.

  Slumping in the back seat of the car I let out a large breath. “That bad?” he laughed.

  “I’m a little pissed, Nate.” I giggled.

  “I noticed,” he chuckled. “I like you when you’re drunk.” His lips twitched. “I particularly like your shoes.”

  “Nice, aren’t they,” I agreed, swinging my foot out for him to inspect.

  He grabbed it and placed it in his lap, twisting my whole body round towards him. “Perfect,” he whispered. His fingers traced the outline of the shoe, around my foot, delicately stroking my stocking clad foot. Removing my shoe and dropping it onto the floor, he lifted my foot to his mouth, lightly kissing each toe through the sheer black material while he massaged my ankle. I couldn’t take my eyes off his worship of my foot, it was mesmerising.

  My arousal spiked and my breathing rushed out in slow pants. His fingers slowly glided up my leg, leisurely trailing up the inside of my thigh until he reached my stocking top. Groaning loudly, he traced around the top whilst still idolising my foot with his mouth, sucking on each toe.

  His fingers travelled higher until he reached my knickers and his finger slid over my wetness. A growl left his throat. “You’re so fuckin’ wet, Liv.” He leaned over and pressed his mouth against my ear. “I want you so much baby,” he rasped as his finger continued to stroke up and down my pussy.

  He licked down from my ear to the base of my throat. “Fuck!” I moaned as he sucked in the flesh on my neck.

  The car pulled to a stop and there was a tap on the screen. I sat up sharply, gasping for a breath. “I’m home,” I stammered.

  Nate turned to me wiggling his eyebrows. “You gonna invite me in for a drink?
” he pleaded hopefully.

  “I can’t, Erin’s home.”

  “And?” Nate glowered.

  “No Nate, not while the kids are in the house.”

  He ran his thumb across my lip and grasped my chin. “You keep managing to escape baby, but just so you know, I’m going to make love to you soon, just accept it. I’ve waited twenty years for you Angel . . . nobody came close, nobody felt like you, smelt like you and no one ever fucking tasted like you . . . and I’m not prepared to wait any fucking longer.” His sultry gaze dropped to my mouth and his tongue swept across his bottom lip. He leaned into me. “We were so good together, you know that. I can blow your mind, Angel.”

  I was panting now, so desperate to drag him in the house, strip him naked and worship his magnificent body. “Did your husband make you come hard like I used to, Liv?” he breathed into my ear.

  Well that definitely killed the moment.

  I pushed him away and grabbed my shoe and bag from the floor. As I grabbed the door handle he clasped my arm, “Baby I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” he apologized as I tried to scramble from the car.

  “It doesn’t matter Nate,” I uttered to him as I removed my arm from his hold.

  “Well it obviously does matter if it got this reaction from you. I wasn’t belittling your husband Liv. It’s obvious you still care for him and I’m sorry.”

  Throwing my head back with a bitter laugh, I turned back to him. “You have no fucking idea, Nate! Now please, leave it. It’s fine.”

  Narrowing his eyes on me he studied my face. “What did he do, Liv?” he asked as his eyes bored into me.

  Furrowing my brow and biting my lip, I softly shook my head at him as I cupped his cheek and pleaded with him silently. “Believe me Nate, you don’t want to know.”

  “Liv?” he persisted.

  Lowering my eyes to the floor, I sucked in my bottom lip. Swallowing hard I answered him. “If you want me to open up to you Nate, then you’re gonna have to be patient, give me time. Please.”

  Taking my hand, he spoke gently. “Baby, I’m here. But you’re gonna have to trust me. I will never do anything to hurt you, okay?”

  I reached up to his face and kissed him tenderly, the hard shell around my heart cracking slightly. I smiled softly as I pulled away. “I’ll see you Monday.” I climbed from the car and shut the door.

  Walking through the front door, I closed it quietly behind me and leaned my back against it. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I slowly slid down to the floor, now sobbing. I slammed my fist on the door behind me. “Damn you James,” I cried to myself, wrapping my arms around my bent legs.

  I was still there, sobbing uncontrollably an hour later when Erin came down the stairs and enveloped me in her arms. “Come on Mum,” she said compassionately. “Let’s get you to bed.”

  Chapter Eight

  THE NEXT WEEK rushed passed and before I knew it Friday had arrived again. I hadn’t seen much of Nate; he had a huge contract to finalise and was extremely busy all week. We’d managed a quick sandwich and chat at the local coffee bar on Tuesday but nothing else since, even though we texted each other frequently.

  I was sat behind my desk, working when my mobile phone rang. Frowning at the unknown number, I answered it.

  Silence.

  “Hello?” I prompted.

  Rolling my eyes when the call ended I continued working. Ten minutes later the unknown person rang again. “Hello?” I encouraged.

  Silence.

  “Hellooo?” I grated down the phone, getting impatient. Silence. “Okay, I’m really busy here. If you’ve got something to say, say it!” I urged, annoyed. Silence.

  Ending the call, I flung my phone across my desk, only to glare at it sceptically when it trilled its text message alert.

  Picking it up suspiciously I glanced at the screen, seeing to my relief it was a text from Nate.

  NATE:

  Lunch in my office? I’m going stir crazy up here.

  Please! I will supply you with wine ;-)

  Xxxx

  Laughing and replying that I would be up at 12:30, the unknown caller rang again. Presuming it was somebody struggling with a new phone I answered again.

  Silence.

  “For fucks sake,” I cursed down the phone. Silence. And then “Tsk!”

  Gasping I tried again, “Hello, is someone there?” Silence. Listening intently I could make out someone breathing. “Are you going to talk to me?” I appealed. Silence. “Oh screw you!” I shouted and terminated the call briskly.

  “You okay over there sweetie?” Grace queried, her head popping up from behind her monitor to look at me.

  “Yeah, stupid bogus caller,” I told her, shrugging.

  “Probably just a wrong number, darling.”

  “Yeah probably,” I agreed, trying to shake my anxiety.

  I arrived on the 50th floor a little after 12:30, waving my ‘hello’ to the male receptionist, Jonathon. I walked down the corridor to Nate’s office. His PA, Rachel, regarded me. “I’ll let him know you are here Miss Adams.” Her abhorrence of me was plainly etched on her face as usual.

  “Thank you Rachel,” I answered stiffly.

  Before she could buzz me through, Nate’s door opened and his gaze searched the reception area. Spotting me, his face lifted into a huge grin. “Liv, thank god!” He sighed with relief .“I was contemplating suicide in here. Come on, the wine has been opened for ten minutes; I’m surprised you didn’t sprint up. You can sniff out an open bottle of wine ten miles wide.” He winked at me as I feigned offence then turned to his assistant. “Please make sure we’re not disturbed, Rachel.”

  Her eyes narrowed on me as she huffed. Nate inspected her, “Problem Rachel?”

  “No, Mr Carter.” She smiled sweetly to him.

  After giving her a glare Nate ushered me into his office. As he shut the door I turned to him. “I think someone wants to get in your pants Darling,” I mocked, holding my hand over my heart and fluttering my eyelashes at him.

  He looked at me under his hooded eyes. “There’s only one person I’m eager to let into my pants Darling, and we both know who that is.”

  Laughing at his audacity I shook my head and ventured over to the couch. “Keep trying Nate,” I smirked.

  “Oh I intend to, Liv.”

  He walked over to me, poured me a glass of the expensive wine and sat beside me. “This bloody contract has got me in a frenzy.” He sighed deeply, rolling his neck on his shoulders. “I need a distraction baby.” He pouted, picked up a strawberry and placed it on my lip, encouraging me to open up.

  They were succulent and sweet and the juice dribbled down my chin as I bit it. Nate leant forward and swiped his tongue over the seeping sticky liquid. “Mmm, even better when they taste of you too.”

  Picking up his glass, he took a large mouthful of wine then positioning his mouth over mine, he transferred the cool, crisp liquid into my mouth. Now it was my turn to moan in appreciation, the wine satisfying my hot, dry tongue.

  Kissing me lightly on the lips after I’d swallowed, he reached over and took another strawberry, this time dipping it into gooey, thick chocolate syrup and popped it in my mouth, a scorching look in his eyes when I sucked the remaining chocolate off his finger.

  Growling, he closed in for a kiss. Just as lips collided with mine my phone rang, making me flinch with unease. Nate sensing my tension, frowned and reached into my bag to retrieve my phone. Looking at the display, he narrowed his eyes and passed it me. “Jay,” he stated firmly, his eyes narrowed and dark.

  Taking it from him, my hands shaking I walked over to the giant window and answered it. “Hey, Sweetheart,” I spoke quietly.

  “Hi,” the happy voice came over. “You busy?”

  “No, I’m just having lunch with a friend.” Nate scoffed bitterly behind me making me wince a little.

  “Well I’m just ringing to see if it’s okay if I come and see you next week?” he asked. “I have something I want t
o talk to you about.”

  Gulping, I knew Erin had notified him of my break down last weekend. “Sure Jay, I’d like that,” I answered back, smiling down the phone at the thought of seeing him.

  “What day is best for you?”

  “Thursday would be good,” I replied.

  “Okay, see you then. You can treat me to lunch. Love you.”

  “You too,” I reciprocated, trying to lower my voice.

  Ending the call, I sauntered back to the couch and sat hesitantly on the edge, Nate’s taut features, making me swallow hard. I smiled uneasily at him and picked up my glass, downing the rest of my wine.

  I nibbled on the sandwiches while Nate smouldered silently beside me, never taking his intense focus away from me. I shifted uncomfortably as he asked the dreaded question. “Who’s Jay?”

  “Nobody important.” I squirmed, inspecting my fingernails.

  Tapping his foot rapidly, he ran his forefinger across his lips. “Why are you lying to me Liv?” he asked flatly, his head slightly tipped to the side as his eyes scrutinized me.

  My phone started ringing again, saving me from his questioning. Glancing at it, I saw it was the unknown caller again. Grimacing, I declined the call and placed my phone in my bag.

  “Now you’re declining calls in my presence and you say you’re not hiding anything,” he bristled, anger pouring off him in waves.

  “I think I’d better go,” I attempted, picking up my bag and walking to the door.

  Nate grabbed my arm and swung me round. His breathing was hard, his anger displayed openly on his face. “WILL YOU FUCKING TALK TO ME LIV?” he thundered.

  Writhing in his firm grasp I hissed. “Let go of me Nate!” My own rage surfaced. How dare he treat me like this?

  “No! Not until you tell me what’s going on,” he fumed, dangerously calm.

  “Nate Let. Me. Fucking. Go!” I stormed, attempting to prise off his strong hold on me.

  “Are you playing games with me, Liv?” he asked, his rage now so strong I could see a vein pulsing in his temple.

  “What?” I spluttered, shock turning into fury.