Into the Light (Untwisted series Book 3)

by Raine, Alice

  Nathan turned back to me with an expression of pure unadulterated anger on his face. ‘We’re going home right now. There are things I need to say and do that aren’t appropriate for a packed street.’ Unfortunately from his gritty tone and taut body language I could just tell that the ‘things he needed to say’ were not going to be fun-filled, so I sighed and finally succeeded in pulling my crushed fingers free from his grasp.

  Wiggling my fingers to restore the blood flow I tilted my chin up at him defiantly. ‘You know what, Nathan, today started out so well, but it’s steadily turned really fucking shitty. You go home in a mood if you want, but I need a coffee’. Without waiting for an answer I turned and headed for the coffee shop I’d spotted a minute earlier. I’d have a drink, let my nerves calm down, and then maybe head home – to my flat, not Nathan’s – and wait until he was feeling mature enough to discuss this like an adult. Knowing I’d had a similar temper tantrum less than an hour ago made me feel truly hypocritical, a thought that didn’t settle that well in my stomach, so I brushed it off and strode up to the counter in the cafe.

  Glancing around I noticed the café was going for the nostalgia theme – the tables were made up with long checked cloths and the walls were chock-a-block with copper kettles, pans, plates, and teapots but I was so dazed and in need of a coffee that I truly didn’t care where I was, so ignoring the jumbled décor I placed my order. ‘I’ll have a double shot cappuccino please,’ I told the barista, then cocking my head I sighed wearily, sensing Nathan approach behind me when my skin began to tingle with awareness. Shaking my head to try and alleviate my annoyance I resisted the urge to look at him and instead muttered, ‘Do you want a drink or what?’

  ‘I’ll have the same as you,’ he replied petulantly.

  ‘Make that two large cappuccinos please,’ I said as politely as I could given the circumstances. Once the drinks were made – which seemed to take an absolute age of horribly tense silence – we picked up our overfull mugs and headed to the most private booth in the corner.

  Sliding in one side I was surprised when Nathan joined me on the same seat. I had expected him to sit opposite so he could fry me with his killer glare, but he didn’t, instead he placed his cup on the table, took my hand gently in his, and took in a deep breath which he then released through his nose.

  ‘I apologise for my temper,’ he mumbled. What? Well, I had not expected that! ‘I’m new to this, Stella, jealousy is not something I’ve ever felt before you,’ he admitted, gently running the pad of one thumb across the back of my hand, tracing the feint web of veins there. ‘But the idea of Aidan, fuck, any man, touching you …’ Shaking his head he closed his eyes as his nostrils flared again, his unfinished sentence hanging, but the meaning was clear and oh so lovely to me. He might not be able to say he loved me, but he really did care about me.

  ‘I feel the same, Nathan, why do you think I freaked out so much earlier? That feeling in your chest right now when you imagine me with other men, I get that too, and believe me when I say I have far more to be jealous of than you – my sex life before you was practically non-existent.’

  ‘Except for him,’ he added in a cool tone jerking his head towards the window, obviously referring to Aidan. There had been a few others too, but I decided not to add that little detail to the mix right now. Running a hand through his hair Nathan nodded, seemed to loosen his neck off with an audible click and then sat up straighter, ‘OK, OK … point taken, my past is far less salubrious than yours, but it is my past,’ he reassured me with an intense glance.

  ‘As is Aidan,’ I reminded him firmly.

  Taking a sip of his coffee Nathan sat back and seemed to visibly force himself to relax and then looked at me, appearing calmer. Wow, he really was making progress lately. ‘Tell me about him. When we met you said you broke up with your ex because you wanted different things, but that’s all you said.’

  ‘Do we really have to do this?’ I asked, folding and refolding my napkin as a distraction and suddenly feeling awkward. Knowing how hard Nathan was trying to keep himself in check discussing my past sex life was hardly going to help matters.

  Turning watchful eyes on me he blinked several times as he chewed on the inside of his lower lip. ‘Just the basics. You asked questions about Melissa and I answered them truthfully, now I’m asking about Aidan.’ So it was going to be ‘tit-for-tat’ was it? I sighed, well fine, so be it.

  Hastily swigging a mouthful of my coffee to give me a brief reprieve from my story I practically burnt my tongue off on its scalding heat. Placing it back on the table with a wince I wondered how I could briefly explain my relationship with Aidan without too many gory details to rile Nathan. Keeping my tone bland I gave my best attempt at short and sweet. ‘I met Aidan though a friend, we were only together about five months, we never lived together, but when he started pushing for marriage I finished things.’

  Spraying his mouthful of coffee across the table Nathan erupted from calm to furious in a split second, ‘You were engaged to that lanky prick?’ I was about to grin at his concise description of Aidan, but he shocked me by slamming a hand onto the table so hard that it spilt a huge amount of his drink and nearly tipped my mug over completely.

  Trying to give Nathan a moment to calm down I watched in silence as the coffee soaked into the table cloth. He was sucking in deep lungfuls of air through his nose as if literally on the verge of a full blown freak out and I could have sworn I heard him counting down under his breath.

  Wow, talk about eruptive anger. ‘No, Nathan, I wasn’t,’ I explained quickly, calmly giving the cafe owner a reassuring smile to indicate things were fine, apart from the ruined tablecloth, which was far from fine, ‘… he was actually really boring, but he started talking about getting engaged and that’s when I told him it was over.’

  ‘So you only stayed with him because you liked the sex with him?’ he questioned, his voice low and quiet now. The blunt answer to that was yes, the only reason I’d lasted five months with Aidan was because he’d excited me a little in the bedroom, but seeing as Nathan was a hair’s breadth away from an explosion there was no way I was explaining that to him. Instead I turned the subject round hoping to stroke his ego.

  ‘Nowhere near as much as I like sex with you, Nathan.’ I saw him flash me a dark glance and realised my words were working. Knowing that dirty talk did it for him I leant in closer so no one could overhear and prepared to put on my most breathy, and hopefully alluring, voice. ‘Remember how I told you I’d barely ever orgasmed with a man before I met you?’ That much was true, and although I’d enjoyed the sex with Aidan even he hadn’t been that great at hitting the right spot for me. ‘But you, Nathan …’ I paused to add drama to my little speech, ‘… you make me come so fucking hard and long that I can barely see straight.’ Jeez, I was even turning myself on.

  A growl rumbled up Nathan’s throat and as he lowered his eyes to meet mine I saw that the only emotion visible now was pure, unadulterated lust. Oh goody, my plan had worked. The hellish encounter with not one, but both of our exes was forgotten. For now anyway. The only small hitch was that we were sat in a public cafe, I was now horny, and Nathan was looking at me like he wanted to devour me on the spot right this very second.

  Leaning forwards he slid a hand into the hair at the nape of my neck and pulled me forwards where he placed a surprisingly chaste kiss on my lips. ‘I aim to please,’ he murmured.

  Giggling at our ridiculously dirty conversation I smiled up at him flirtatiously, ‘Oh you always please … Sir,’ I murmured, adding the title that I probably wouldn’t use as much anymore, but today it had the desired effect and Nathan’s hand slid from my hair down my body to rest upon my thigh.

  With a casual flick of his other arm Nathan brought the tablecloth up so it was covering his hand, then swiftly burrowed under my short skirt and cupped my groin in a no-holds-barred display of his possession. Gasping at his sudden contact through my panties, my eyes flew wide open, but now that his
little tantrum was over Nathan simply looked his usual cool and calm self. The fact that he was cupping my increasingly damp groin seemingly having no effect on him at all. No outward effect anyway, but I was fairly sure that if I lifted the table cloth I’d see his arousal making itself clear in his jeans.

  Using his free hand he lifted his mug and took a casual sip of his coffee before placing it on an unsoiled part of the cloth and looking at me. ‘So, just to clarify, our exes are exes for a reason, yes?’ he whispered huskily. To be honest I doubted Nathan would remember he’d made this statement if we ever bumped into another of my ex-boyfriends, he’d no doubt go bonkers again because he was just so damn territorial, but I didn’t say that, instead I merely nodded and sluttishly lowered myself down the seat to increase the pressure from his hand. Chuckling at my very unsubtle manoeuvre Nathan clicked his tongue in a chastising sound and then removed his hand and raised his eyebrows at me. ‘Now, now, Stella, you know how much I hate it when you nod. I’m going to need your answer out loud, or I stop.’

  Swallowing and desperately trying to moisten my dry mouth I nodded again, but this time accompanied it with a breathy response, ‘Yes … yes … exes are in the past.’

  ‘Good,’ Nathan said, nodding his satisfaction, ‘I’m glad we agree on that point, now, where was I …’ he murmured thickly, sliding his hand back under the privacy of the table cloth to cup me again and cause me to let out a pathetic gasped moan.

  This time instead of merely resting his hand there Nathan began to run one finger firmly up and down, causing me to squirm on the seat. Even through the cotton of my underwear it was almost too much to bear. ‘You are mine, Stella. No one else’s,’ he growled next to my ear.

  Good God, I was almost on the verge of orgasm and we were sitting in a crowded coffee shop. ‘Say it, Stella, tell me and I’ll reward you.’ He really did love being in control, didn’t he? But you know what? When he made me feel this good I really didn’t care!

  ‘Yours, Nathan … I’m yours,’ I gasped, and as soon as I had spoken he slipped two fingers around the edge of my knickers and slid them back and forth across my trembling flesh. ‘Christ, Stella, you’re so fucking wet for me,’ Nathan breathed, pushing his fingers inside me and beginning a slow pumping rhythm that immediately had me struggling to breathe.

  As I let my head roll back in ecstasy I noticed a guy on the other side of the coffee shop watching us intently, his gaze was on us, but one of his hands was in a similar position to Nathan’s under the table and his arm was slowly moving up and down. Coming immediately to my senses I sat up and let out a noise of choked embarrassment from my throat. Nathan’s dexterous fingers had remained embedded inside me as I straightened, but he raised an eyebrow at my sudden movement.

  ‘Oh my God, Nathan, that guy over there is watching us and rubbing himself!’ I whispered furiously, trying desperately to dislodge his hand from my groin. To my utter amazement Nathan continued to move his fingers whilst slowly turning his head to survey the cafe. His gaze landed on the man and held for a second before he turned back and examined my face. ‘Do you like the idea of being watched, Stella?’ Nathan murmured, adding his thumb to the pleasure by slowly rubbing my clitoris. ‘Does it make you wetter to know that he’s getting off because of you?’ Christ, what exactly was the correct answer to that question? I was horny as hell and pretty close to coming and to be honest the idea that the man was watching us was giving me a bit of an extra thrill, but only because we were fully dressed and he couldn’t really see anything.

  ‘You’re close,’ Nathan stated, watching me carefully, and I bit my lip to muffle the moan threatening to escape my throat. ‘I’m sorry to do this, baby …’ Nathan said, and I was just about to ask what he was apologising for when he swiftly removed his fingers and stood up. ‘But nobody gets to watch you come except me,’ he said in way of explanation. ‘I’ll make it up to you later, I promise.’ Then he dragged me to my feet, flashed a smug grin at the watching stranger, and supported my wobbly legs as he guided me outside.

  ‘Well, I think we made his day, he certainly saw enough to help him finish off,’ Nathan said darkly as we emerged into the busy street. I was so aroused that all my senses felt amplified; the noise was too loud, my groin too sensitive, my legs too wobbly, and my breathing far too frantic. Clinging to Nathan was literally the only way I was managing to stay upright. ‘Nathan …’ I whispered, hoping he’d slow down before I fell down – it probably sounded like I was begging, which in my current needy state I nearly was.

  Pausing, Nathan glanced down at me before frowning and pulling me against him. ‘I’m sorry, baby, are you struggling?’ I had no idea where the ‘baby’ had suddenly come from, but right now I didn’t care and I simply nodded against his chest, desperately hoping he’d take me to a bench where I could sit down and come down from my rampant arousal. I’d never felt this desperately horny before.

  Instead of taking me to a bench, I found he’d taken me down yet another London alleyway, as he pressed my back against a cold stone wall, pushing his firm, hard body against my front to keep me upright. ‘Let’s see if I can ease the pressure a bit,’ he murmured. Lowering his head Nathan kissed me softly, his tongue parting my lips and stroking across mine, as one hand made the journey down my body and slipped under my skirt again. We were in an alleyway in London where anybody could walk by at any moment, and yet I did nothing to stop him, I was so turned on all I could focus on was my desperate need to climax.

  ‘Given our location and your horniness we’ll make this quick,’ Nathan told me softly as he dipped two fingers inside me and took up the same rhythm as before. Curling them he managed to reach my G-spot and as soon as his thumb joined in and rubbed against my slick clitoris that was it, I was a goner. Burying my head in his shoulder I let out a muffled cry and clung to his jacket as wave after wave of pleasure swept through my body. After an orgasm that seemed to last an absolute eternity, Nathan removed his fingers and used a handkerchief to clean between my legs before wiping off his own fingers and grinning down at me.

  ‘I’d ask you to return the favour,’ he mumbled eyeing the obvious evidence of his erection pressing against the front of his jeans, ‘but I think perhaps here is not the place. Let’s head home, shall we?’ This time as I mutely nodded my agreement Nathan didn’t chastise me for it, he merely guided me to a nearby bench so I could recover, our brunch plans forgotten in the wake of our overwhelming horniness.

  A few minutes later, when my wobbly legs had recovered, I took in a deep breath and looked up at Nathan with a coy smile. ‘I’m OK now, I can walk,’ I said with an embarrassed chuckle. Instead of teasing me how I thought he might, Nathan merely smiled down at me indulgently and then leaned in to place a small, sweet kiss on my temple. ‘Good, lets head to the car, I have plans for you at home.’

  Chapter Sixteen - Nathan

  Stella’s mood was just as buoyant as mine as we drove through relatively quiet London streets to Nicholas’s house for dinner later that day. My hand rested on her thigh most of the way there, but we didn’t say much – to be honest we didn’t need to speak to know that we were both feeling pretty damn content at the moment. After this morning’s craziness with Melissa and then Aiden we’d headed back to my apartment and indulged in several hours of rather spectacular sex, if I do say so myself. It was amazing what a bit of rivalry can do to you. Even though it was unnecessary, I had spent the entire time focused on making sure that Stella would never ever think about going to bed with anyone other than me.

  Reaching Nicholas’s road I saw it was free of cars so I pulled the Audi up and managed to bag a space just down from his house.

  Jumping out of the car I walked around and opened Stella’s door for her like a true gentleman would, smiling down at her and once again thanking my lucky stars for meeting her. ‘Nicholas said that Rebecca’s looking forward to meeting you again,’ I told Stella as she stepped from the car, but any further conversation froze in my throat as I glanced
down the road at an odd figure standing by Nicholas’s gatepost.

  It took me a second to comprehend what I was seeing as I blinked and stared at the tall, broad-chested man before me. ‘Dad?’ I croaked, not quite believing that my father was really standing there larger than life. Fuck, I hadn’t seen him since the night he went to prison. I felt like my body had been pumped full of lead, my limbs went heavy, too heavy for my body almost, and suddenly it became a struggle just to stand upright.

  ‘Hello, son.’

  Stella

  My heart was thundering in my chest as my eyes flicked rapidly between Nathan and his father. Bloody hell, this could not be good. A thick tension descended around us so abruptly that I thought I might throw up from the sudden inability to breathe, or swallow, or perform any basic bodily function. When Nathan had told me about his history I was sure he’d said his parents had been put in prison for child abuse, but seeing as his dad was stood in front of us as large as life I guess he’d either broken out, or his sentence had finished.

  He was tall, athletic-looking, and handsome just like Nathan, although his build was larger and more domineering than his son’s. I’d been wrong when I’d said I couldn’t think of an more imposing figure on the rugby field than Nathan – Mr Jackson had his son trumped on that front; he had the type of frame that would crush you in seconds, and one that you wouldn’t want to face off against given a choice. His hair was similar to Nathan’s; blond but shorter, and at his temples there were flecks of grey. His eyes flicked to mine briefly and I felt any remaining air leave my lungs. Nathan had an intimidating stare when he wanted to use it, but by God, his father’s was ten times worse.

  He had only said two words, but already I hated this man with a vengeance for the things he’d put his sons through and I felt my body tensing as if preparing for a standoff. There was no way I could ever beat him in a physical fight, but if he tried to touch Nathan then I wouldn’t hesitate in trying.