Chase

Through the open doorway on this floor I can hear a piercingly sweet aria by Mozart so I know he’s here somewhere. But the sight of the woman down there chills my blood.

It’s that blonde.

I stand very still as Darnley appears at the door to his sitting room. He looks casual, lithe, gorgeous, like he’s been freshly poured into the soft fabric of his costly tailoring. He could have stepped straight out of a commercial for fabulous, wealthy men. For men like him women wait in line, blondes especially.

At the sight of me he stops short. The blonde is looking up at me, her face furrowed with an unappealing frown. She looks less than pleased I’m here.

The feeling is mutual.

‘You again?’ With a flare of her nostrils she turns on one wet heel and disappears into some room on the left.

I descend the stairs. One look at Darnley’s beautiful, classical face and I firmly resolve not to allow my eyes to stray downwards over his muscular chest, his powerful thighs and further down.

I fail spectacularly.

He does just the opposite, feasting on me with his gaze, his look melting my will.

‘What’s happening?’ I glare at him, suppressing the urge to beat his chest with my fists. ‘You’re planning a threesome?’

‘With you in that?’ His eyes flicker. ‘No way.’

‘So who is she?’ I keep my voice low in case my outrage derails things before I can prise an explanation out of him.

His lip curls. ‘What, you want me to introduce you? I thought you two knew each other.’ His sardonic tone is a shock. So is the slight flare to his nostrils, proof it’s real.

Does he have any idea how close he is to sudden death? I take a step closer and raise my chin, keeping my voice low. ‘And why, precisely, should I know that?’

He frowns, like something’s not quite adding up. ‘She was in your class.’ His tone hints both that it’s my fault and that this explains everything. ‘Consuela’s over here for a while. She’s under my personal protection.’ He breathes out slowly, summoning patience.

‘I thought I was under your personal protection.’ All at once my voice sounds husky. It’s a minor miracle I have a voice at all.

I’m at a serious disadvantage here. She’s not only lissom and beautiful, she’s freshly showered and elegant in sexy satin. I’ve been working hard all day; I’m hot and tired and the hasty dab-wash I managed in the staff toilets did nothing to cool me down. I’ve no satin or scent to help me out, just kooky pigtails and too-tight, day-weary pedal-pushers.

I’m defenceless – alone and unarmed.

And as I stare at him, still not making any sense of all this, an awful possibility washes over me. Is this it? Is this how it’s done? Is this how he dumps me? Is this what happens when his mysterious love life ricochets from one dazzling beauty to another: skipping over the shy, awkward teacher-cum-poet he somehow got stuck with somewhere in between?

Famously crap at relationships: Ryan’s description. My ex should know. He was famously crap at them himself.

Darnley’s expression is unreadable. I want to scream and shout, tell him to get that woman the hell out of here. But something in his manner stops me.

He’s unnaturally still, his look unnaturally intense. ‘You are,’ he says at last.

I see a flicker in his eyes. There’s something under the surface here, something he’s not telling me.

And he’s pissed about it. Correction. He’s pissed at me.

‘No towels in here.’ The silvery voice slices between us as the woman reappears. She glances up at me. ‘Call me Cola, by the way. And you’re Ella?’

He rolls his eyes. ‘I said try the en-suite. Better still, go ask my housekeeper.’

She sighs heavily and pads off in the other direction.

Now Darnley frowns at me, his expression faintly exasperated. ‘She’s here with the South American trade delegation. Cola’s over here looking for an internship. She’s being stalked. I’m looking after her for now.’

He steps up close, touches my cheek with one finger, his expression thoughtful as he lowers his voice. ‘It’s a family thing, Ella. It can’t be helped. You really don’t know who she is? I find that hard to believe. But here goes. She knew how to find your class today. She even knew your name. So it looks to me like you two already met. But if we’re still play-acting, then here goes. She’s a friend of the family. She’s with my mother. They’re on a visit from Washington.’

I hardly have time to draw in a deep breath of joy and relief before he pulls me into his arms and fastens his mouth on mine. We kiss for an age – or no time at all. I lose track. He tastes wonderful – heaven and spice in one heady mix.

As he pulls away his expression hardens. ‘Hey, never mind her, it’s Friday night. We’re now on Wolfe Time. And we have things to discuss. Starting with these.’

I knew it. Arousal fizzes through me, scorching all my pent-up feelings into hot, hard lust. I bite my lip and look up through my lashes. ‘There’s a problem?’

His eyes narrow. ‘Damn right there’s a problem. You’re wearing it. And we’re going to deal with it right now.’ He pats my backside none too gently and hustles me into his room.

CHAPTER FOUR

At that moment there’s a commotion outside. I follow Darnley’s glance and see a large black sedan, flanked by an outrider on a motorcycle. They both have diplomatic number plates and small foreign pennants fluttering at the front.

‘Ah, Cola’s escort. Let’s hope she’s decent.’ He turns to me, the gleam in his eyes hinting that I am anything but. ‘I’d better see her off. You stay here.’ He steps up close and brushes his lips to my face. ‘And no touching.’ He runs a finger along my cheek, his lip curling at the corner, and then lowers his voice. ‘I’ll know.’

I wait by the window, breathless, while the fresh-washed spoilt brat is herded into the vast car, doors are slammed and she’s driven smoothly away. I draw in a long breath and let it out slowly as relief floods over me.

My relief lasts just forty seconds, the time it takes him to get back upstairs. The minute Darnley’s door closes behind him I know I’m in trouble. He folds his arms, his jaw stern. He looks lean and mean. I feel shaky.

I sense a wave of power emanate from him. Or maybe mine just ebbed away.

His eyes narrow as he steps closer. ‘Freaky Friday, indeed. Now you can tell me just what the hell you think you’re playing at dressed up like that.’ His eyes fill with heat.

I shiver, part playful, part scared, as he slowly lifts one of my pigtails and runs it through his fingers, letting the tight braid glide over his hand. His eyes stay locked on mine.

‘I was at work. Seriously, Darnley, I’d no idea I’d see you today.’

‘And that makes it OK, does it?’ He arches an eyebrow but his voice lowers a notch, making me shiver.

I lower my eyelids, thrilled at where we’re going but determined to hold my ground. Down below my belly contorts in an agony of arousal. At this rate I’ll come where I stand. ‘It’s for work. We all do it. Anyway, I’m not exactly slutty schoolgirl …’ I tail off at the sudden gleam in his eyes.

‘That’s for me to say. How many people saw you today?’

I stare at him, confused. ‘Hardly anybody. It’s just for work, Darnley. I’d no idea you were going to walk in and play Die Hard in my drama class.’

He flicks my pigtail with one finger and then seizes the other and pulls me towards him. ‘I know a bad girl when I see one. And I also know when she’s digging a hole for herself. How many, Ella?’

He’s grinning now but watchful, poised for some kill. I shiver as he draws me into his arms and his hand runs down my side to my tense, tightly clad backside. I haven’t worn pedal-pushers in a while … He squeezes gently as he presses against me and now I know instantly from the hard, jutting column of power that burns up against my belly that he’s suffered as much as I have while we’ve been apart, maybe even more.

And I sure as hell know what he needs now.

Now I know where we’re going I hardly care how we get there. What’s more, I can take all the time I like over my journey. I smile up at him through my lashes and go for broke. ‘No idea. Let’s say … about a hundred?’

If I’d said a thousand he couldn’t look more pleased. He masks it quickly, stern now as he looks me over, assessing all the possibilities of my silly, kooky outfit and the fake innocence in my eyes, growing wider now in real alarm.

He doesn’t play at this. And as he senses my hesitation his eyes gleam with a new awareness.

Playtime just got serious.

I try for a quick distraction. ‘So it’s really bad, this stalker thing?’

His eyes flicker. ‘Her family think so. Her father’s got business rivals here – and something of a reputation. She’s OK in Washington but coming to Boston stretched her team a bit. And anyway, you’re stalling.’ His expression hardens. ‘Don’t think I hadn’t noticed. Come here.’

I flow into his arms like wilful honey. For a long minute we fuse together, our mouths fully engaged, our hearts beating as one, barely millimetres of flesh between them as our bodies re-acquaint.

Mine, pulsing steadily, already glowing lower down, maps his hard, jutting landscape with a deep, belly-warming thrill. His, stronger, leaner, more powerful, tests my softness and my warmth with hot, probing flexes of muscle and sinew, his hands easing over the curves of my lower back and along my sides, lingering on my hills, easing deep into my valleys while his swelling erection thickens between us – our connection and our divider.

‘I’ve missed you so much.’ My soft whisper fills the space between our lips when he finally eases away, the glimmer in his eyes warning our separation will be brief.

‘Me too. You think this weekend thing will work? It drives me crazy thinking of you out there in the city without me. All week.’

He steps away, his hands still gripping my shoulders, his thumbs moving gently on my skin. ‘And now look.’ He shakes his head slowly, his mouth twitching faintly at the corners. ‘See what you get up to when I’m not around? You just can’t be trusted, can you?’

I grin, alarm and lust blending into a flare of excitement. ‘Trusted? To do what?’

He’s pulling me towards the bed now, his grip suddenly painful, his fingers closed on my wrist like a vice. ‘Not to dress like a tramp. Slutty schoolgirl? Without my express permission? Disgraceful.’

He sits down suddenly, his grip still like iron, and pushes me away to arm’s length, still holding me fast. ‘You’re going to undo the top button of your pedal-pushers and the first inch or so of your zip and then you’re going to put that eager, wicked little hand right in there and you’re going to feel yourself. Now.’

In a panic I scrabble with my left hand and edge my zip down a little way, keeping my eyes on his as I force my fingers down into the skin-tight split cutting into my groin where these damn pedal-pushers have been causing me grief all day as they pressed hard on my private places, making me ache every time my thoughts strayed anywhere near Darnley.

He watches in silence, his eyes locked on mine, waiting for the tell-tale flicker in my face that tells him his command is being rigorously obeyed.

‘Keep feeling. I want to see that wicked little fingertip working that greedy, needy clit. And if you dare to come –’ his voice lowers to a predatory growl ‘– the spanking you’re about to get will become even longer and a lot harder.’

‘Like something else I could mention?’ I arch my neck as he lowers my zip a fraction further, his fingers lingering on my navel as he does it, skimming the edge of my slim, straining wrist where my hand is wedged into my crotch and my gently working finger is already edging me ever closer to my doom.

All at once his fingers skim my wrist and clamp around my slim bones, his grip so fierce I look down at him in alarm.

‘Don’t stop.’ He sounds husky, and now I see his eyes are fixed on my wristbone and the places where it disappears easily into his circling, vice-like thumb-to-finger circlet.

What now? What tiny facet of my flexing, delicate wrist has caught his attention? It’s like he’s transfixed, his chest barely moving. Has he forgotten to breathe?

I ruffle his hair with one hand and stoop to kiss it, my lips barely touching its mass of springy, fresh-washed chestnut, gilt-tipped now in the low sunlight slanting in from the dying sunset that bathes the vista outside his vast windows in a wash of gold.

‘Darnley?’

He looks up slowly, his eyes dark with purpose and the prospect of hidden, complex pleasures. ‘Nearly there?’

I shudder as his sudden question sparks a violent jolt of arousal from my swollen, fiery bud, thudding with building excitement as my finger obediently torments it towards climax.

‘Good,’ he says, softly. ‘Now take your hand away and get over my knee, you naughty girl. Dressing like a tramp and feeling yourself? You think that kind of behaviour goes unpunished for long round here?’

I stare at him as flames flicker through me, well aware that in seconds he’s going to find I’m shamefully aroused. I may even show.

His eyes flash. ‘Well?’

Startled, I forget my moistening shame for a second and jerk back into play. ‘Yes, sir,’ I jabber. ‘Er, no, sir.’

He arches an eyebrow, his query cynical. ‘Well? Which? It goes unpunished or not?’

My breathing’s faster now, my cheeks filling with colour as my excitement builds. ‘It goes unpunished. I mean it goes punished. Dammit, Darnley, just do it already.’

I collapse over his knee, laughing now, but confused. Everywhere down inside my pedal-pushers glows in a lake of flame as my tormented bud presses into the tight fabric. I curve low, the lacy line of my thong an extra torment and painfully tight as I bend over. At the same moment he forces my thighs apart and chuckles softly as he discovers my shame.

‘And what’s this? You’re close? And we’ve barely started? Wicked girl. This earns extra strokes. Open your legs. Keep them nice and straight. Put your hands behind your back and keep them there. I’ll make a couple of tiny adjustments to improve the view.’

I strain to hold position while he wrenches my top down below my hanging breasts, scooping their weight out of my fancy bra-cups so they bulge out over the ridge of fabric. In the mirror opposite I look like a porno ad. He looks – as always – like some classical god.

So unfair.

I watch him, entranced, as he gazes down at me, his perfect profile motionless, rapt now as he peels my straining pedal-pushers down a little way over my hips to the place just below the tops of my thighs where they start to split apart. He pauses a moment, dips his head and drops a kiss on both sides of my now exposed and, I assume, deliciously quivering rump, thrust high up under his face in two pink, shivering mounds.

Breathless, I watch him in the mirror as he does it. Is he always this reverent when he looks at me down here? He’s very still, like he’s found some precious treasure and wants to savour the moment of discovery. It’s a kind of worship.

It brings tears to my eyes. For a few precious seconds I feel his hot breath on my skin and the whisper-soft touch of his lips on first one and then the other cheek of my backside.

The next moment he brings even more tears to my eyes as his hand rises high in the air and comes down hard. I yell in shock and surprise, even though I knew perfectly well what to expect. It’s always a shock, that first shattering blow. I screw my eyes tight, not wanting to look any more.

He leans down close to my ear, his breath hot again.

‘Quiet. Or I’ll gag you.’

‘I’ll try, sir.’ I grit my teeth. All at once this whole spanking thing gets even hotter as blows fall. I clench my teeth to stop crying out, twisting my fingers into a knot at my back to avoid fending him off. And sure enough, just like always, something about this sends flames flaring through me, every jolt of my mound on his hard, muscular leg a bolt of electricity straight to my thudding centre.

When he pauses to fondle me his touch ripens the dark burn of his punishing blows with a wave of tenderness so arousing I feel giddy with desire. I’ve already fingered myself to frenzy. Now he’s soothing me to another as my secret places burn and scorch, pooling with need, flexing with hunger, endlessly denied the bliss of release.

At last he pushes me off his knee, his breathing ragged. He takes firm hold of my pigtails and pulls me to him with a dark, meaningful grin, scoops both pigtails into one hand and frees himself with the other. His erection springs before me, hot, hard and bulging. Now it’s my turn to worship as he guides my head, pulling my hair painfully tight as he twists my pigtails round his fist and torments my breasts with the other, a painful tweak on my nipple making me open my mouth.

His eyes dance. ‘Take it in your mouth. And keep your eyes on my face. Get it nice and wet.’

I lunge forward, letting his grip on my hair signal how far, and start to lick eagerly. I push forward along his shaft a little way, then draw back at his tug.

‘Now you can finger yourself till you come. But keep your eyes on mine. I want to watch.’

This is the hardest part. I’m shy under his amused, steady gaze. My climax erupts almost at once as my teasing finger lands on my hot, throbbing little place but the rush of pleasure that follows lowers my eyelids in rapture and jolts through my mouth in a spasm of pleasure. It’s an effort not to graze him with my teeth. He pushes in a little further, filling my mouth to stifle my moans. As my orgasm ripples away he grins, pulls away from my lips and rises to his feet. He hauls me upright, his fist still knotted in my pigtails. I wince, tears of pain and pleasure smarting now.

‘You’re still a bad girl. Bend over.’

He pushes me down onto the bed and I clutch the cover as he forces my legs up to the edge of the mattress and separates my legs with his knee. ‘A hundred, I think you said. You’ve already had thirty or so. So we’ll make it a round –’ he delivers a sudden hard slap to one side of my glowing backside ‘– forty.’

He slaps again and this time follows through with a few more while I gnaw at the cover and lose count as my excitement builds again.

‘So we’ll have sixty left for later. But for now, we’ll finish with this.’

I barely hear the rip of foil or his low snarl of satisfaction as he finally plunges inside. All I hear is the roar of the blood pounding in my ears, the whimper of pleasure from my parted lips and the grunt of content that growls from his as he thrusts again and again, filling me up, ramming into me with the heat of a furnace and the power of a lion.

My belly takes over, hauling him in. All the muscles that craved his entry are now blissfully at work while my head thuds into the mattress and his tight grip on my hair fixes me in place. And when he stills and starts to pump, his warm gush glows in my belly like sunrise.

We lie together on the bed, our lips saying ‘Hi’ with tiny kisses but our eyes doing all the talking. His are fond, fading to thoughtful. Mine are … how do I know? Foolish? Adoring? Still smarting from my spanking and a-glitter with tears?

Or maybe he’s thinking about something else …

‘So, tell me about your visitor.’ I’ve no idea why I say this. Maybe it seems a quiet, neutral time to talk family.

Instantly his expression veils. ‘I was hoping you’d tell me about her.’

I smile at him, bleary with orgasm. ‘Ask me? What could I possibly know about her?’

He’s unnaturally still, his gaze like steel. ‘That’s what I wondered. Since the stalker thing started she’s been using a special phone. It has a security device to block outside calls. Today we had to upgrade her security to twenty-four-seven personal protection because she made an unmonitored call. It gave away her location to anybody who might be listening in. Now it’s possible her stalker knows precisely where she is.’

This is far too technical for me. I’m only half listening as I run a finger along his perfect jawline and touch his finely sculpted lower lip. I grin as he catches my finger in his teeth. ‘So? What’s that got to do with me?’

He releases my finger, his gaze steady. ‘The call came from your phone.’

CHAPTER FIVE

I stare up at him, numb with shock. It must show in my face because he watches me closely for a moment and then kisses first one nipple then the other and looks up with a smile. ‘So? Any ideas?’

My mouth’s gone dry. ‘Anybody could have used my phone but nobody would. The students all have their own, far newer than mine. Anyway, I trust them.’

I think fast. Like all the staff I leave my valuables in my locker. But today …? ‘I left it on a chair at the back of the hall to signal the rehearsal segments for Eldon’s filming. I had trouble slipping it in and out of my pocket because …’ I tail off.

He’s watching me steadily. ‘Go on. Because what?’

I swallow. ‘Because my pedal-pushers were so tight …’ I falter again at the glimmer of heat in his eyes. His slow smile and a twitch from his nether regions warn me today’s rash choice of costume may still have a sting in its tail.

‘You don’t say?’ His velvet tone hints at scary possibilities. ‘We’ll explore this later. For now I’m guessing you need a shower. My treat.’

My shower is carefully stage-managed and deeply disturbing. He has a new toy – a battery-operated cone with suction pads that he’s fixed to the tiles.

When he tells me what it’s for and what it does I gaze at him open-mouthed. ‘You’re not serious?’

He’s serious all right – seriously laughing. The glee in his eyes melts my soul. His outrageous suggestion is irresistible.

He makes me lean against it, forcing me onto it so my most private and personal place is splayed open and then I must control my squeals as he navigates the buttons and the speeds, making me shudder with arousal in all the right places while the thing vibrates in all the wrong ones.

At the same time he hoses me off with the spray and, as I’m bent almost double to accommodate the thing, I’m encouraged to pay detailed attention to his glistening manhood. This is so exciting that shower time takes a while. We finish breathless with laughter, me tingling and stretched, both of us far wetter than necessary.

Towelling me off takes a while too as he fingers my newly loosened opening, grinning like it’s a perfectly normal place to loosen. ‘One day we might have some fun in here. We’ll see.’

The cone was way more fun than I like to admit; luckily the spray sluiced off most of my tell-tale excitement. I can only hope he’s teasing. Finally he drops a kiss on my shoulder and with it another bombshell.

‘Now put on something pretty. We’ll have a sexy night out.’

I fling my arms around his neck. ‘Must we? What happened to our sexy night in? I was looking forward to it.’

He smiles slowly, his expression dark. ‘Me too. You can’t believe how much. But I feel like showing you off on a dance floor. Plus it’s my cook’s night off. Anyway, you deserve it. Tomorrow we’re invited to a civic reception to welcome the South American delegation to Boston.’

I laugh and nuzzle his neck. ‘What, this is your revenge on me for causing you all this hassle in the first place?’

His face grows stern. ‘Nope. This is both a family and a professional duty.’ He kisses me gently, his look hooded. ‘My revenge on you comes later.’

We agree that first I have to call in at Billy’s tiny apartment to pick up some things for the next two days, since I arrived earlier than planned at his residence and was unaware we’d spend most of it black-tie. My trip across town is swift. I dive into the apartment and snatch up my bag, ready-packed for a wicked weekend but lacking any significant evening wear. I grab my cocktail dress and my newest long gown, drape both over my arm and make for the door. As I glance out of the window I pause a moment.