The Darkness Within Him: The Untwisted series

by Alice Raine

  ‘I tell you what,’ Nicholas said, glancing at his watch, ‘I’ll take an hour out of practice time and run you to the shops to get a new dress, then I’ll drop you at your flat and head back here to prepare. I can pick you up at five for the concert – how does that sound?’

  Almost glowing at the thought of accompanying Nicholas to the concert and meal – in public – I nodded keenly. ‘OK, sounds good.’ Then I leant up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. ‘I love you too, Nicholas … so much,’ I murmured against his skin, causing him to growl contentedly and hold me firmly against him.

  With the limited time we had, Nicholas drove me to a posh out-of-town department store quite close to his house. After consulting the floor plan, we headed straight for the second floor, the dress section. With Nicholas needing to get back to practice there was no time to dawdle like I usually would when shopping.

  ‘How smart do I need to be? Cocktail dress or formal eveningwear?’ I asked absently as I fondled the soft material of a red knee-length dress. There was no way I was big enough up top to carry it off, but it was so beautiful I couldn’t help but touch it.

  Nicholas shrugged, showing a man’s typical lack of interest in such things. ‘I think the women at these things normally get pretty dressed up. Floor-length dresses, I suppose,’ he murmured, heading toward a gorgeous strapless silver dress on a mannequin.

  ‘Try this on; it would look stunning on you,’ he said, holding it out to me. I nearly laughed at his command, but the dress was beautiful and exactly my size, so I merely shook my head at how funny he was and held out a hand to accept it.

  ‘OK.’ I took it, grabbed another, equally striking navy blue dress, and then headed to the changing room sure that one of these gowns would be the one.

  ‘I’ll wait out here; come out and show me when you have them on,’ he said, once again in a tone that was more instruction that request. Control freak. Although I genuinely don’t think he realises just how bossy he is when he talks like that.

  Rolling my eyes, I handed my items to the shop assistant and allowed her to lead me to a changing room. Slipping into the silver dress, I immediately knew it was the one. I might not be what you would call a hugely girly girl but even I could see just how amazing this dress made me look.

  I was suddenly all breasts and curves. Blimey, who knew I had that figure lurking in me?

  Carefully making my way to the entrance of the changing rooms, I couldn’t find the assistant but saw Nicholas casually leaning on a nearby wall, looking amazingly handsome as he fiddled with his phone.

  Was he really my boyfriend, I wondered as I took in his brooding good looks once more, but then he glanced in my direction and completely distracted me because the heat that seemed to emanate from his eyes was simply breath-taking. As he pushed from the wall and stalked toward me, I suddenly felt my mouth go dry. His frown disappeared and his eyes softened but they remained loaded with heat. Gosh, he was so sexy when he looked like this: intense and focused solely on me. There really was no greater turn-on than feeling so completely desired by this man.

  Remaining silent, he circled me, taking in the dress like a hunter surveying his prey. ‘So beautiful,’ I heard him murmur as he stopped in front of me again.

  ‘You like it?’ I asked quietly, flushing at the look in his eyes.

  ‘More than like. The dress is stunning and you make it look even better,’ he said in a gravelly voice that made me feel like he was about to undress me on the spot, regardless of spectators.

  OK, that was a definite seal of approval. ‘Me too. I’ll get this one.’ Smiling shyly, I nodded and headed back to change.

  As I pulled the curtain shut, I reached behind my back to undo the zip and suddenly found my hands being grasped firmly at the wrists and my whole body being pushed forward. About to yelp in surprise, my gaze fell on the mirror and I realised it was Nicholas joining me in the cubicle. What the heck?

  Gently pushing me face first against the mirror, Nicholas split my hands, holding one in each of his and bringing them up next to my shoulders. He pinned me to the mirror with his body before burying his head in my neck and kissing it hotly, his tongue darting out and no doubt making my skin redden with excitement.

  ‘You can’t come in here!’ I hissed breathlessly, my breath steaming on the mirror.

  ‘Baby, I can come wherever I want,’ he murmured salaciously. ‘Quiet now, let me show you.’ Gosh, he was just sooo naughty. ‘This will be quick,’ he told me, then his head dipped again, and as he kissed behind my earlobe, I forgot about my fears and lolled my head back against him.

  ‘Turn,’ he whispered, releasing my hands at last and moving back marginally to allow me some space to manoeuvre in.

  As soon as I was facing him, I grabbed at his jacket and pulled him back to me again, kissing him furiously and thrilling in his heated response to my urgency. Lowering his hands, he began pulling up the thin material of my dress gently, his fingers caressing my thighs as he did so, making me want to whimper with desire. With my dress bunched around my waist, Nicholas briefly fondled my breasts but obviously didn’t want to pull the light material around too much because he only spent a minute or so there before he dropped to his knees in front of me.

  Holding my dress aloft with his hands, Nicholas nudged my legs apart with his shoulder. He slipped the cotton of my knickers to the side and wasted no time in ducking forward and running his tongue down the length of my already slick folds. Holy crap, talk about moving fast! But it felt so unbelievably good that I buried my hands in his hair, encouraging him to continue as my eyes rolled shut with arousal.

  When Nicholas sucked on my clitoris and gently nipped at it with his teeth, I couldn’t help but let out a small moan and I felt his hot breath fan across me as he laughed softly at my keen response. After briefly dipping his probing tongue right into the very core of me, causing me to practically convulse, he stood up again, looking smug and smiling darkly. He gazed down at me with hooded eyes, not breaking the eye contact once as he undid his zip and pushed my legs further apart with his knee.

  ‘No noises, Rebecca,’ he reminded me softly, and as his head nuzzled my neck, he eased himself into me with a groan, gripping my left buttock and bringing my leg up off the floor to deepen our connection before he began to slowly move against me.

  This was so naughty! Sex in a changing room cubicle while other shoppers were innocently trying on clothes, completely unaware of what was going on just feet away from them. I could hear a woman in another cubicle fiddling with a variety of plastic hangers. Thinking about it, what we were doing was probably illegal … which just made it even hotter.

  Somehow managing to keep his movements small but teasing, Nicholas repeatedly ground the base of his erection against my clitoris. Within a minute or so, I was just a rub away from a climax. A small hiss began to escape from my lips as I felt my muscles tighten around him, and Nicholas immediately placed a hand over my mouth to silence me.

  Biting down on one of his fingers, I came hard around his pulsing erection, squeezing my eyes shut with the effort to be quiet and knowing that even Nicholas wouldn’t be brash enough to punish me for breaking eye contact in a changing room. Seconds later, he buried himself inside me to the hilt and stilled as he came, removing his hand from my mouth and placing a gentle kiss there instead.

  After recovering for several seconds, he leant back and grinned at me. ‘Sorry about the hand over your mouth but I thought you were about to shout out loud,’ he whispered against my lips.

  ‘S’kay,’ I managed weakly, trying to say “it’s OK” but not managing to vocalise it in my current post-orgasmic state. When I could finally speak, I would tell him I was grateful for the way he’d trusted me enough to let me bite his finger – they were the tools of his trade, after all.

  Nicholas eased himself out of me and kissed me tenderly on the lips before fishing a handkerchief out of his pocket for me. Flashing me a wink, he departed the changing room as quickly as he�
��d arrived, leaving me leaning against the wall, a quivering mess.

  Wow, he was just amazing, and so was the sex for that matter. I shook my head in disbelief. After using his handkerchief to clean myself up, I began trying to change with trembling fingers and rubbery legs. Just when I had thought things were settling to normality, Nicholas kept surprising me with exciting activities and new locations. How he had never managed to have a proper girlfriend before was beyond me.

  Changing out of the dress, I hung it up carefully while I put my own clothes back on. After smoothing my hair, I tried to walk casually out of the cubicle as if I hadn’t just been shagged silly by the hunk of a man waiting for me just outside. But I had, so obviously my face flamed as soon as I saw the assistant waiting at the entrance to the changing rooms.

  After relieving me of the navy dress, which I hadn’t bothered to try on, she raised an eyebrow at my flushed cheeks – and no doubt post-sex hair. It sent me beetling across the floor to Nicholas where I burst out laughing childishly.

  ‘I told you I could come anywhere I liked,’ he stated softly, pulling me against his side and heading in the direction of the tills with me still giggling from embarrassment. ‘And it appears you can too,’ he added wickedly.

  Holding the dress so it didn’t drag on the floor, I glanced at the price tag and gasped. I stopped mid-step, wondering if I had time to find something cheaper, but Nicholas saw my look and shrugged.

  ‘Don’t worry about the cost, it’s my treat. Plus, technically it’s used now, so you have to buy it,’ he said, referring to our hasty changing room tryst and making me blush yet again.

  I wasn’t happy with him paying, so I shook my head, about to complain. The look spreading across Nicholas’ face stopped me. His expression was one of pure dominance, as if daring me to object. So, not wanting to spoil our good mood, I gratefully carried the dress to the till and leant up to kiss him on the cheek. ‘Thank you,’ I murmured against his light stubble, and suddenly I was even more excited about attending the concert with him tonight.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Later that afternoon, back at my flat, I was sorting through my disorganised wardrobe – also known as “the black hole” – trying to find a suspender belt that I’d bought but had never really worn. It had to be here somewhere. I’d remembered it when Nicholas was dropping me home, and decided he might quite like discovering me clad in stockings and suspenders underneath my posh dress tonight. I broke out in a smile as I tried to imagine the look he’d have on his face when he undressed me.

  Half an hour of searching later, I still hadn’t found the suspender belt, or the stockings for that matter, but I had found something I’d long forgotten about that I thought he might like for altogether different reasons. Reasons that caused me to blush and get rather hot just thinking about them.

  At 4.45, I heard a knock at my door. Crap, he was early and I wasn’t ready yet; I’d wasted so much time looking for the bloody suspenders. Thankfully, I wasn’t too far behind schedule: I was dressed and my hair was nicely washed and straightened but I still needed to finish my make-up. Oh well, I supposed I could always finish it at the theatre while Nicholas prepared for the concert.

  Dashing to the front door, I yanked it open and sucked in a huge gulp of air when I saw again just how stunning Nicholas looked in his eveningwear. If I were a religious person, I’d be thanking God right now for the steaming hunk of masculinity that, by some miracle, was currently standing on my doorstep. I couldn’t drag my eyes away from him. Tonight he was wearing a black tailcoat and trousers, white shirt, black bow tie, and a deep-navy waistcoat that almost matched his eyes.

  God, he looked utterly breath-taking, and I had to suppress the urge to mount him in the hallway and have my wicked way with him.

  When I finally managed to reconnect my brain and raise my eyes to his, I saw a similar look of admiration and desire reflected in his own eyes as he appraised my appearance.

  ‘You look beautiful,’ he murmured thickly, his tone dark and full of his obvious pleasure, which made me glow internally.

  ‘Thank you, as do you. Wow,’ I breathed. ‘Very handsome,’ I concluded with a nod. And all mine, I thought devilishly. Running a hand down the buttons of his waistcoat, I couldn’t help but sigh contentedly. ‘Come in, I just need five more minutes.’

  Leading him back to my bedroom, I picked up my mascara and quickly continued with my make-up application – then my eye was caught by the item I’d found earlier while searching for my stockings.

  ‘I have a present for you.’ I smiled, handing him the small blue box. ‘Well, it’s not a present as such – I didn’t buy it, I was given it – but I thought you might like to use it some time.’

  Taking the gift from me, Nicholas tilted his head inquisitively. ‘That’s a mischievous look, Rebecca, whatever is in here?’ he asked before opening it and raising an eyebrow at me as a grin split his face. Recognition of the object was evident in his features.

  ‘Apparently, it’s called a love-egg,’ I murmured, far more embarrassed than I should be considering the amount of sex toys Nicholas had owned in his time.

  ‘I thought they were called bullet vibrators, but I like the name love-egg,’ he said with a sly smile as he examined the small silver egg that was about two inches long and slightly thicker than his thumb. ‘Hmm, I didn’t know they made them wireless,’ he commented, picking up the tiny remote control and pressing it so the toy started to vibrate in his palm.

  He grinned wickedly and then frowned, his voice lowering as he dropped the egg back into the box as if it had burnt him. ‘Who gave it to you? A past lover?’ he demanded hotly, turning to face me.

  His moods changed so quickly it was unbelievable. ‘No!’ I exclaimed. Jeez, as if I’d give him something I’d used with a past boyfriend. Did he really think I was that stupid? ‘Have you ever heard of Secret Santa?’ I said, smiling broadly into the mirror as I swiped the mascara wand across my lashes.

  ‘No,’ he said, still with a querying expression. ‘You’re telling me Santa delivers sex toys to good girls now?’ His words caused me to giggle and very nearly coat a line of mascara down my entire cheek.

  ‘Not quite; Secret Santa is a way of giving small Christmas gifts to your friends or work colleagues without having to buy for everyone. You all put your name in a hat, pick one out, and that’s who you buy for, but it’s secret so the presents are anonymous. We did it every year at university with all the girls I lived with. One year we decided to see who would receive the most embarrassing present and this is what I was given.’

  Nicholas was smiling his wicked, sexy smile now, all traces of his anger completely gone. ‘Your housemates sound fun,’ he commented lightly, causing me to frown with unnecessary jealousy. He immediately picked up on my reaction and grinned even more broadly, pulling me into his arms and dragging us both so we were sitting on the bed. ‘But not as fun as you Rebecca,’ he assured me firmly. ‘Was this the most embarrassing present given?’

  ‘We never really decided on a winner,’ I said, remembering back to that drunken night. ‘Naomi was given edible underwear but she was quite a prude so the look of shock on her face was really funny. Jen got a large packet of penis-shaped jellies that squirted cream out in your mouth when you bit them. Debs got edible body paint.’ I paused, trying to remember the other gifts. ‘Oh yeah! Laura was given an inflatable man and Samantha got a Rampant Rabbit vibrator. I think she was secretly quite pleased.’ I grinned, knowing the vibrator Nicholas had used on me was similar to the Rabbit one Sam had received.

  ‘Have you ever used it?’ Nicholas asked, fingering the small vibrating egg again.

  Blushing bright red, I looked down at my hands. ‘Once,’ I mumbled.

  Suddenly, I found my chin being gripped tightly between his forefinger and thumb as Nicholas jerked my head up toward his. I saw his brow had darkened again. ‘Who with?’ He demanded. God, he was really demonstrating tonight just how his temper could flare from
nothing to volatile in the blink of an eye. It was like he had a switch inside him somewhere that had a faulty wire.

  ‘Just by myself. I was curious about it,’ I said shyly, telling the truth.

  His eyebrows rose significantly and an excited glint twinkled in his dark eyes, erasing all traces of anger – switch flicked to “off” again. ‘Really?’ His grip on my chin relaxed and he brushed my cheek gently with the back of his knuckles. ‘Tell me what you did.’

  ‘What? No, it’s embarrassing!’ I blushed again. At this rate I wouldn’t need to finish applying my make-up because I’d be pink enough already!

  ‘Don’t be shy, the idea of you touching yourself turns me on,’ Nicholas confided as he pulled one of my hands to his hardening groin to illustrate his point. ‘Tell me,’ he urged again.

  The thought that my words alone could excite him this much was a real power trip so I tried to push my embarrassment down and explain. ‘I just pushed it in and turned it on,’ I mumbled awkwardly. I wouldn’t win any prizes for erotic description that was for sure. ‘Actually, I was a bit worried it might get lost inside me so I mostly rubbed it around the outside.’ I wondered if I sounded as stupid as I felt.

  ‘Did you climax?’ Nicholas murmured, his groin tightening even more under my hand as he shifted on the bed to make himself more comfortable.

  Pursing my lips, I shook my head at how kinky he was and gave his groin a gentle squeeze. ‘Yes,’ I conceded.

  My response made Nicholas moan in appreciation and he lowered his mouth to mine, kissing me fervently. His hands began to roam across my body freely, gliding over the thin material of the dress and searing my skin with his heat.

  ‘God, Rebecca, I’m so aroused right now,’ he murmured against my lips, although considering my hand was on his very evident excitement it was kind of an unnecessary statement. I was fully expecting him to initiate some brief sexual release before we had to leave, but instead I was surprised when he sat back and took several deep breaths instead. Perhaps he was like an athlete and didn’t allow himself any sex just before a concert in case it affected his performance.