She frowned, thoughtfully. "No."
He felt relief.
"Oh, no wait, there is something."
His chest tightened.
She grinned. "I dare myself to do things." Her eyes twinkled.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, when I can't decide whether to go for something, or I need to pull together more confidence, I dare myself. Like when you gave me the card to The Hub, I really wanted to go but I wasn't sure. I wanted to see you again, so I dared myself to go."
"I see. Maybe I should try it myself sometime."
"What daring me to do something or daring yourself?" She chuckled.
He was going to have to dare himself to walk into Robertson's, on Monday. "Maybe both."
She lolled back on the bed, resting on one elbow, nursing her wine glass, her hair spilling onto the quilt like molten lava.
He reached over to stroke it. "Do you always go through with it, when you dare yourself to do something?"
She nodded. "I like to respond to a challenge." She touched his face, smiling. "Deep down I wonder what the ultimate dare would be, one that I really would have a hard time deciding over."
"What, like a double dare?" He flickered his eyebrows at her.
"Why does that sound like you're thinking devious thoughts?"
"Now that I know your trick, I'm wondering how far I can push my luck."
She laughed. "Oh, I imagine I'd do just about anything you dared me to, even if it was a double dare."
He shook his head. "You do trust too readily."
"I told you, I like a challenge." Amusement twinkled in her eyes.
So she thought of him as a challenge. She certainly was, for him. "Apparently I do too."
"In that case I dare you to tell me something about yourself that I don't already know - maybe something you've never told anyone."
"Hmm. Something I haven't told anyone." Strangely enough, his mind didn't automatically leap back to the big secret between them. It went to something else first. A matter of the heart that he thought he'd left behind long ago. As he turned it over in his mind, she prodded him in the chest with one finger.
"You're such a mystery man."
"I am?"
"Yes, but that's why I was so attracted to you in the first place."
Oh, the irony. "In that case maybe I should stay a mystery. Maybe you won't want me any more if you know everything about me." Never a truer word spoken in jest.
"I think it's too late for that," she said, quite seriously. "Remember, it's some sort of an addiction now."
He reached for her, cupping her cheek with his hand. She rested her hand over his, searching for some deep truth in his eyes.
"I think you're going to learn quite a lot about me soon, Abby. But the thing that sprang to mind when you dared me was about another woman."
"Another woman?" Her expression grew pensive. "There's another woman?" She looked as if someone had just told her the world was about to end.
He reached over to kiss her. "Hush," he whispered, "you're the only woman. This was a long time ago."
She flung herself back on the bed, laughing with relief. "And there was me thinking I was the shady secret in our affair."
No that's me, my love. "You're far from that, Abby."
When she rolled back, she propped herself up on her elbow again. "So there was another woman, what is it about her that's something you've never told anyone before now?" She narrowed her eyes and peered at him analytically, as if she could read it on his face. Humor wasn't far from her expression.
"I think she made it hard for me to trust people." Delivering that small statement somehow felt as if a gaping wound had been reopened. "I was a lot younger and I wasn't taking any responsibility in life, I was just out for a good time. The odd thing was it didn't occur to me that I wasn't the only one. Nathan and I hitched up with these two women traveling through Europe on the trail of summer rock festivals. The four of us were together for about two weeks. Then she disappeared—together with my credit cards and my wallet." It wasn't quite as straightforward as that. She'd found out he had money and she'd ripped him off good and proper.
Abby watched him, her intelligent eyes so gently enquiring now that she realized he was serious. "And did she take your heart, too?"
He stroked her hand, smiled and shook his head. "It might have felt like it at the time, but I didn't know what love was, back then."
She stared at him as his words sank in. Eventually, she nodded. "Friends are always telling me I trust too readily, that I don't have the thick hide I need to survive in the world I work in."
"The underlying tenderness is what makes Abigail Douglas special, but I think you probably do trust too easily. I mean...I could have been anybody, but you trusted me." It was as if a cruel tormenting demon had taken up residence in his mind and his every thought was laden with self-ridicule. He'd have to shake it off, or he'd ruin the evening.
"Yes, but that's what I wanted. I liked idea of a sexy, mystery man for a lover." She winked at him.
He rested his fingers in her hair, teasing it out. "I think you are helping me to trust again." He meant the words. It had been hard, but he would trust Abigail Douglas with his life.
Would she ever trust him again though, when she found out who he really was?
Chapter Twelve
Nathan stood outside Camden Tube station, scanning the crowds of people spilling out from the escalators. The evening party people were out in force. He spotted Suzanne's blonde hair just as her arm raised through the crowd to wave at him. His instant reaction on seeing her was satisfaction, like he was whole again. He felt like a teenager, lovesick. He wanted to shout out to everyone around them: "Hey, look everyone, this is my woman, she's with me."
She ran toward him, looking sexier than ever in hipster jeans and a black leather vest with a gauzy black mesh t-shirt underneath. A peep of black bra beneath it made him want to strip her to find out if she was wearing matching undies.
She jumped onto him, locking her arms around his neck and her legs around his thighs, like a happy koala clinging to its tree trunk. The greeting had grown familiar now, third time around. He held her bottom in his hands, squeezing her tight against him as he kissed her.
"Hey, big man."
"Hey, little lady."
She gave a throaty laugh as she ruffled his spiky hair. Her eyes were lined with kohl, her curls secured in a cute topknot.
"Ready for the gig?" He lowered her to the ground.
"Absolutely." She tucked in beneath his arm and they walked towards the venue. Her expression gradually turned serious as they wended their way through the crowded pavements. "Listen, there's something I wanted to ask you about." Her tone was tentative.
He had a sinking feeling. Was she going to call it off?
"I've got a sort of a family event coming up soon, and I was kind of wondering if you'd like to come along with me?"
Relief hit him. Not only that but the sense of satisfaction was back. She wanted her family to meet him, but she'd been worried to ask. She had no idea how pleased he was. He pulled a mock frown. "You have a 'sort of' family event that you were 'kind of' wondering if I'd like to go to with you?"
She punched him in the ribs. "Don't you make fun of me."
"I'd love to go with you."
"You don't want to know what it is first?"
"No. If you want me to go with you, I'm there already."
She wrapped her arms around him, pushing her face into his T-shirt as she gave him a hug. "It's my brother's twenty first."
"You were worried that I wouldn't want to go?"
"Well, he's not a rock fan so the music will be dire." She shook her head, disapprovingly. Her expression was so serious he couldn't help but laugh aloud.
"We could convert him yet."
She smiled. "My family will want to know all about you. It might be a bit like the Spanish Inquisition."
He shrugged. "Now you sound like you're tryin
g to put me off."
"No," she declared. "I'm really pleased that you want to come."
"Good. It's a done deal."
They'd reached the venue. She glanced at the queue then at the sign over the doorway. "The Hub?" She frowned. "Why does that sound familiar to me?"
"The venue's had a lot of press recently, it's only been open a couple of months."
She was staring up at him, a furrow between her eyebrows. "No, it's something else." Her expression changed, her eyes lighting up. "That's it, the other courier, he gave us cards, me and Abby." She looked up at the sign again. "For this place."
Shit. It wouldn't ever have occurred to him. He struggled to find a response. What would Zac say, if it was him standing here? He'd find some clever way to shrug it off, but Nathan didn't feel clever, especially not right then. He felt awkward as hell, and decidedly shifty. That bothered him.
"We don't need to queue." He took her by the hand, bypassing the crowd and giving Steve, the doorman, the nod as he led her inside.
"Wow, this place is great. What is it, an old cinema?" She craned her neck, looking at the decorative coving on the ceiling of the entrance vestibule.
He nodded, relieved that her thoughts had moved on. If only he could forget it. It wasn't going to be that easy. He'd just been thrown from feeling mighty proud that she wanted him to meet her family, to feeling ashamed about the reason why he had befriended her in the first place. Instinctively his annoyance became focused on Zac, who was who-knew-where, having a bloody good time, no doubt.
Nathan had had enough of this. He'd got some serious thinking to do. He headed for the bar, ordering them in a couple of beers.
"What's up?" She peered at him when he handed her a drink.
He smiled. She was genuinely concerned for him. He'd never had that luxury before. What had he done to deserve this? Her caring streak spoilt him in ways he hadn't been spoilt before. "I'm okay. I've got to watch the support people, make sure they're doing their jobs. The band has had some interest from major labels and there will be scouts in the crowd."
"Okay, I understand." She squeezed his hand, snuggling against his arm. "It's fun to be here when they are on the verge of making it."
He finished his beer and nodded at the growing crowd on the floor. "Let's get closer." The place was filling quickly, the crowd growing dense.
She followed his lead and they moved into the crowd, closing on the stage, just as the lights lowered and the band came out. He nestled her in front of him so she was safe from the moshpit, and stroked her shoulders.
The music blasted out, angst-ridden, energy-fuelled stuff, the singer a longhaired, scrawny man with green eyes. He paced the stage and growled out to the audience, his eyes looking directly into the crowd with a challenging stare.
The crowd was moving in unison almost immediately, a good sign. Suzanne spooned in against his hips as she rocked to the sounds. He glanced down whenever the lights passed over her face. She was following the singer's dramatic path back and forth across the stage. He was pacing like a caged animal. Nathan couldn't help identifying with him and gave a wry smile. At the back of his mind, he vowed to make this odd situation right. He wanted to be with Suzanne, like this, but without the burden of guilt that was currently weighing heavy on him.
A whip of guitar sound licked out and locked them into the rhythm. They moved with it, her hips riding from side to side against his. It felt hot. It felt right, too. The music crashed and ground around them, the guitarists arched over in sheer concentration as they spun out the dramatic pace of the tracks. The crowd was rapt with the experience, a mass, at one with the sounds. There was a feeling of climactic release, of escape, in the building of the current song. The singer came to the front of the stage and his voice became solemn and low. As he let the final chords of the song free from his throat, he scoured the audience with his eyes, as if he could read their very souls.
As the next number began to take form, Nathan glanced over at the mixing desk, which was set on one side of the stage, and noticed that the soundman looked stressed. He hadn't noticed too many glitches—nothing out of the ordinary—but he'd promised he'd watch over it. Zac had wanted to do the best they could for the band.
Leaning down, he spoke against her ear. "I've got to go check on the sound, do you want to stay here?"
She nodded up at him, pulling him down for sudden kiss as she did so.
He made his way backstage and onto the sound station, glancing over the shoulder of the man at the controls. The guy gave a thumbs-up, but Nathan watched him through another track to be sure.
When he was satisfied, he straightened up and looked out at the audience, following the path of the moving spotlight that passed over them. His gaze found Suzanne immediately and she looked at him across the heaving crowd. She smiled in recognition, some message that didn't need to be voiced passing between them. They were becoming a couple he realized in that moment.
He stepped away from the stage and into the corridor that ran behind it, switched on his phone and scrolled to Zac's number. The voice at the other end told him the phone was switched off. He tried not to get irritated. He was already annoyed with himself because he'd lost his sense of humor about this. He knew Zac was busy in Paris, he just had to make a gesture towards sorting this or he'd go mad.
"Zac, it's Nathan. I need to talk to you. I need some advice. I know you're not going to be back in London until late on Sunday, but can we speak Monday, if not before? Cheers."
He pushed the phone into his pocket and moved back to the edge of the stage. Craning his neck, he tried to catch sight of Suzanne. He couldn't see her. Uncertainty gripped him, then discomfort. What if she'd gone?
He felt a tug on his t-shirt.
Turning around he found her standing behind him, and his sense of humor was back, and he was laughing at himself this time.
"Hey. I missed you." She smiled up at him. "Am I allowed up here?"
"Yes, of course." He gathered her against him, and found them a place to watch from the side of the stage.
"This feels like they're right in our home playing for us," she shouted over her shoulder, laughing.
The floor was vibrating beneath their feet. He snuck his hands down to rest beneath her breasts, enjoying the sexy feeling of her movement in his arms.
After a few minutes she turned around in his arms, pressed against him, looking up at him with mischief, she gestured him down so she could speak in his ear. "It's good here. I can feel the music pounding right through me."
"Right through you?"
She nodded, slow, her lips slightly parted, heat visible in her cheeks. "My pussy is on fire."
He wanted to feel that too. He led her from view and drew her along the dividing wall behind the spot were the band were playing, where the wall itself thudded with the sound. He backed her against it.
"Oh yeah." Her head rolled and her eyes were almost closing, narrowed into slits.
He put his mouth over hers, wanting to eat her up. She gurgled with pleasure, kissing him hungrily, her body rubbing up and down against his.
His cock was rock hard.
She panted, she was crazy for it. "Oh Nathan, I think I'm going to come, right here."
"Must bring you to gigs more often," he said, chuckling softly.
He groped inside her hipsters, desperate for the feeling of her moist hotspot. She was so soft and damp inside her panties, all peach-flesh and cream. He wanted to eat her. He pulled his hand out, licking her silky fluid from his fingers, enjoying the rich scent and taste of woman. He grinned at her when she groaned at his actions and shoved his hand in for more, fingers inside her folds, applying pressure to her hot little clit, pushing her on.
"The guitar," she whispered, hands flat against the wall, shaking her head, denying it.
She was going to come.
He reached his hand down—forcing her zipper all the way—and thrust his finger into the mouth of her delicious cunt, just as it tightened a
nd spilled.
* * * *
Abby walked over to the dressing table and sat down. She could see Zac's reflection in the mirror. He seemed to like her forest green velvet dress. She'd brought it because she could scrunch it into a ball and it rolled over her body like a stocking, from bust to thigh, small shoulder straps covered in tight velvet buds the only decoration. She began to brush her hair and after a moment he got up and walked over to her.
Leaning over, he took the brush from her hand and began to brush her hair. He moved on it expertly, lifting it from underneath and drawing it up with the brush, his fingers tracing the texture of it in the wake of the brush.
She moved her head to follow the path he chose through the tresses, arching her neck.
"You look so good," he said quietly. She looked up and their eyes met in the mirror.
She took the brush from him and put it down, leaning back against him. He sank his hands down her throat and over her shoulders. She reached up against him.
He leaned over to kiss her mouth from above and his hands curved over her velvet-covered breasts. "You should wear velvet more often."
He kissed her forehead, her eyelids. His touch was so light, so gentle, yet so arresting. His mouth was the only thing stopping her from floating away. Then he reached across the dressing table and picked up the mottled box she'd noticed when she arrived. Opening it, he offered it to her. "It's for you."
She took the box and as she looked into it, he knelt down beside her to watch her face. The box held a heavy silver filigree chain that grew into a thicker setting at the front. It seemed to represent the irregular patterns of nature's growth, but on closer examination she saw that there were two serpents entwined at the center. Resting between their coiled bodies was a piece of amber, as if they were protecting it with their bodies or fighting over it. It was strange and beautiful and it rendered her speechless.
"It's Lalique," he said and lifted it from the box. "I saw it and it made me think of you. I thought you might like it." He unlatched the chain in readiness to put it on her.
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