by Raine, Alice
They quickly tied the balloons to the leg of a table then approached the bed.
‘Actually, this is Holly,’ Nicholas announced proudly.
‘And this is Benjamin, but I think we’ll shorten it to Ben,’ I added as Stella bent down to give me a hug.
‘Holly and Ben! Such perfect names. Hello, Ben!’ Stella cooed, leaning closer and looking decidedly close to tears as she smiled at my little boy. We’d kept the names secret, but Nathan and Stella had known about the sexes of the babies since we’d found out.
‘Congratulations, you two. Or should I say you four?’ Nathan murmured dryly, not looking entirely comfortable with the little people in the room, but apparently doing his best to stay calm.
‘Thanks, Nathan, your advice did me proud.’ Nicholas said, supporting Holly in one hand and shaking Nathan’s hand with the other.
‘Would you like a cuddle?’ I asked, laughing as Stella held her hands out in delight and gently took Ben from me.
‘They’re so small,’ Stella crooned, looking towards Nathan with a grin. ‘I’d almost forgotten that William was ever this tiny!’
‘Stella will be wanting more if you’re not careful, Nathan,’ Nicholas joked. Nathan paled at his words, looking distinctly panicked for a second until Stella moved to his side and leaned up to place a kiss on his cheek.
‘Actually, I don’t. We’re more than happy as we are.’ Lifting onto her tiptoes she then whispered something by his ear, or perhaps just kissed him there, but whatever she did or said it seemed to soothe Nathan, as he stared down at her intently, nodded once and visibly relaxed.
‘No more babies on the horizon, but I will hold one,’ he said, relenting and moving to Nicholas’s side. ‘If you trust me to,’ he added, actually looking unsure, which was quite a novelty where Nathanial Jackson was concerned. Usually he was cool, calm, and in control of everything.
In response, Nicholas laughed and held Holly carefully towards Nathan. ‘I trust you with my life, brother, and theirs,’ he stated, meaning every word. Nathan might be quite shuttered, but after getting to know him I knew without doubt that Nicholas’s sentiments were true. Nathan would do anything for his brother, and I was fairly sure that bond would extend to me and our twins, too.
As the brothers shared a meaningful glance I looked at Stella and found her also watching them with an affectionate smile on her face. Then she looked back to Ben in her arms and grinned.
When I’d first met Nicholas and he’d told me he wanted to “fuck me over his grand piano” I’d never for the life of me thought that one day I’d be married to him and have his babies.
But we were, and we did, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
Life certainly worked in mysterious ways, that was for sure.
Chapter Thirty Five – Stella
Nathan slid back into the car and looked across at me as if considering something. ‘While we’re in London, I thought it might be a good opportunity to pop to Club Twist and finalise a few details for this weekend. Sound OK?’
This weekend.
Our collaring.
Nerves settled in my belly as they always did when I thought about it, but then I touched the necklace around my throat and felt my flutters settle. There was nothing to be nervous about; it was simply going to be a special day where Nathan and I formalised our bond.
In front of a full club of people. But still, as long as I could push that part to the back of my mind I could convince myself that it wouldn’t be much different from our usual trips to Club Twist.
‘Stella?’ As Nathan spoke I realised I hadn’t answered his question and smiled at him.
‘Sorry, yes, that sounds fine.’
‘You looked miles away, everything OK?’
Giving his thigh a reassuring rub, I nodded. ‘ Yeah, I was just imagining how full the club will be on Saturday and … Well, I get a bit nervous if I let myself dwell on it.’
‘Try not to worry, sweetheart. The only people who matter are you and me; that’s what it’s all about.’
It was basically what I’d told myself, too; still, it was very nice to hear Nathan reflect my sentiments.
It was still relatively early when we got to the Club, so although it was technically open, there weren’t many customers around yet, just a few people at the bar, some staff I recognised, and us.
It reminded me of the very first time I’d come here. I’d arrived at opening time that night, too, and the club had been completely empty apart from David Halton behind the bar, who, coincidentally, was also serving tonight. About an hour after entering I’d been introduced to Nathan as a potential no-strings Dom for me, and I’d been utterly terrified of him, thinking that it would never work between us.
What a difference some time can make! Just look at us now. Bringing up a child together, happy, strong, and about to make our relationship official to all the members of the club. I was grinning from ear to ear by the time we reached the bar. Nathan gave me a quizzical look and I shrugged and explained. ‘I was just thinking about the night we first met here.’
Nathan’s eyes darkened, and he slid a hand around my waist, pulling me tight against his body. ‘I knew instantly that you were special,’ he murmured, which, given his difficulty with expressing emotions, was actually a pretty big statement for him. ‘I was too emotionally withdrawn to realise why, but I was so drawn to you, beyond just physically, I mean, that I could sense meeting you was going to change my life somehow.’
Wow. His first emotion-laden statement just got totally trumped by that second one. Holy crap, Nathan’s on fire tonight.
I didn’t try to compete with his lovely declarations. Instead, I rolled up onto my tiptoes and laid a kiss on his lips. Usually when we were in the club I would adopt my submissive role and wouldn’t dream of doing something as forward as this, but the place was practically empty, and he’d just made me so happy with his words that I couldn’t hold back.
It seemed Nathan couldn’t, either, because as soon as my lips brushed his, the hold he had on me increased and his mouth crushed down on mine as his tongue joined in the fun.
I slid my hands around his waist, gripping at his belt for support as my legs started to feel wobbly, but just as things were starting to get really interesting we were interrupted by an amused voice to our left.
‘Don’t let me interrupt you, but if you plan on carrying on, feel free to take it to the stage. I’m sure everyone would love to get a good look.’
I broke apart from Nathan and turned to see David behind the bar with his tattooed arms folded and a broad grin on his face. My face flushed, and an embarrassed giggle rose up my throat.
‘Fuck off, David,’ Nathan growled in warning to him, causing David to back off while laughing heartily. I liked David a lot. He was a funny guy and had always been lovely to me whenever I’d been in the club, but Nathan didn’t seem to tolerate his touchy-feely behaviour very well. Glancing down at me, Nathan softened his expression, then took a step back, looking reluctant. He raised a hand to smooth his hair and tug his shirt sleeves down, then let out a slow breath as if trying to get control of himself again.
‘So, I just want to go and confirm a few details with David. You’ll be OK here?’
‘Of course. I’ll get a glass of wine and check my emails on my phone.’
As if by magic, David had a glass of red poured and set before me within seconds. After flashing me a wink, he led Nathan out of the bar towards the office.
I took a sip of my wine and hummed my approval, then pulled out my phone to start checking my work emails. I’d had a peaceful few minutes and got through a decent handful of emails when a deep voice at my shoulder made me jump in my seat.
‘You can still change your mind, you know.’
Spinning on my stool so quickly that I very nearly fell off the bloody thing, I came face to face with Dominic, another of the owners of Club Twist, and a guy who seriously gave me the creeps. I say I came “face to face”, but seeing as
he was gargantuan and standing, and I was on a stool it was more like “face to chest”, really.
‘I could, but I don’t want to.’ I attempted my most disinterested expression, which was difficult when I felt as uncomfortable as I did now.
‘Hmm.’ Dominic stood a little straighter, fixing me with a stare that was almost as penetrating as Nathan’s. He pursed his lips. ‘Shame.’
Letting out a sigh that hopefully sounded bored, I was about to slip from the stool and move away from him, when he reached out a hand and placed it on my forearm.
‘I could show you such a good time,’ he murmured, but instead of appealing to me his words revolted me.
‘Get off me,’ I grated as I tried to shake him away, but he held on. Looking down at his hand, I drew in an irritated breath at his cheek and reached down to prise his fingers off me.
My hand was just grappling with his when I heard a crash behind me.
‘What the fuck is going on here?’ The hairs on the back of my neck stood up at the furious tone in my man’s voice, because of course Nathan would pick that exact bloody moment to reappear, wouldn’t he? Rolling my eyes at the unlucky timing, I continued my mission, finally manging to free myself from Dominic’s unwanted touch and then sliding from the stool to create some distance between us.
‘I was just offering her an alternative, that’s all. I was only playing, Nathan, chill out.’ Dominic seemed to be totally relaxed about the encounter, but as I turned to Nathan I saw the complete opposite; his eyes were budging, his nostrils flared, and a vein in his neck throbbed like it was about to explode.
I was fairly sure that Dominic hadn’t been “just playing”, but with Nathan looking homicidal I decided not to point that out and stayed silent.
Nathan covered the gap between us in three huge strides before he leaned right up into Dominic’s face, his entire frame bristling with anger. ‘Don’t ever lay your hands on her again, understand?’
‘She touched me, too. Practically held my hand,’ Dominic replied cockily, and I could no longer stay silent.
‘No, I bloody well didn’t! I was peeling your hand off my arm because you wouldn’t move it.’
At this point, the tension in the air was thick with impending violence, both Nathan and Dominic refusing to back down from their face-off. Somebody was going to snap, and I had a feeling it would be Nathan, because I was a very sensitive subject for my possessive man. David had obviously picked up on the possibility of a fight, too, because he stepped in between Nathan and Dominic and placed his hands on their chests.
It was just as well that David clearly worked out, because I wouldn’t fancy the chances of many guys standing between Nathan and Dominic. Using his substantial muscles to push them apart, David glared at them both in turn. ‘Enough, the pair of you. Dominic, no one likes your stupid games. Fuck off, would you?’
Dominic finally stepped back and brushed down the front of his shirt before fixing Nathan with a smug smile. ‘See you Saturday,’ he drawled as he sauntered away.
A breath of relief flew from my lungs, but Nathan didn’t calm down quite as quickly as I did. ‘I do not want that fucker here on Saturday,’ he ground in David’s direction, before stepping to my side and taking a tight hold of my hand.
David brushed his wild hair back and tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans. ‘Nathan, you know he’s one of the only ones senior enough to oversee certain parts of the collaring ceremony. He was just being a dick like usual tonight. You know how he likes to wind people up. I’ll speak to him, OK?’
Nathan dragged in a harsh breath, then cursed. ‘ Fuck. He’d better be on his best behaviour, David, because I swear to God if he touches Stella again I won’t hold back my punches.’
David calmly crossed his arms and nodded. ‘Understood.’ Giving us another glance, he went back behind the bar and busied himself down the other end, cleaning some glasses. It made quite an incongruous image; a big, tattooed guy in a leather waistcoat polishing delicate wineglasses.
I quickly turned back to Nathan and placed a hand on his arm, hoping to soothe him. ‘Nathan, I know that looked bad, but he was just being stupid. And for the record, I really was pulling his hand away, OK?’
My statement was met with silence, Nathan simply stood watching me with a brooding expression on his face before he extended a hand to me. ‘Let’s go.’
Glancing at my full glass of wine, I frowned, and looked back to him. ‘Where are we going?’ I’d thought that now Dominic had gone we might stay to finish the drink before leaving.
‘Home. I want you in my bedroom.’
My eyes widened slightly at his words, because there was only one room in our new house that Nathan ever referred to as his bedroom, and that was the playroom, the room where he was master and commander.
As much as I liked our scenes in that room, I wasn’t entirely sure that it was such a great idea right now, because he was so obviously wound up. Mind you, it would be at least a half an hour’s drive home, so that would give him plenty of time to cool off. Maybe we could talk in the car.
When I didn’t reply, he nodded his head once and gave a pointed look at his still outstretched hand. I trusted him implicitly, and I knew Nathan would never hurt me, no matter how highly strung he was feeling, so I took his hand and allowed him to pull me from the club.
Once we hit the fresh air outside, Nathan strode towards his car before opening the door for me and then pausing and cupping my cheek. ‘This isn’t about punishment, Stella, if that’s what you’re thinking. I trust you completely. I know you didn’t touch him out of choice.’
Leaning into his touch, I sighed happily. I knew he trusted me, but I was still incredibly glad to hear those words. When I looked at his face, I could still see a faint red tinge in his cheeks from his earlier anger.
‘This is about me.’ Clearing his throat, he averted his eyes and swallowed hard. ‘Sometimes when things like that happen I … I just need to reassure myself that you’re really mine.’
How someone could be so dominant and yet so vulnerable at the same time was still a mystery to me, but my heart just about melted at his softly whispered confession. My strong, dominant man could reduce me to an emotional puddle with just a few words, and once again, he had. My throat clogged up with emotion and rendered me speechless, so I tightened my arms around him in reassurance and clung to him for dear life, trying to express how much he meant to me.
When I finally felt able to speak, I leaned back and placed a brief, chaste kiss on his lips. ‘Nathan, you don’t need to question that. Ever. I’m yours. Always.’
He swept his eyes across my face. He must have seen the utter conviction behind my words, as his body gradually began to relax below my hands. Letting out a long breath, he lifted one hand and gently traced the edge of my lips with the tip of his index finger, causing a delicious shudder to run through my body.
‘Mine.’
Knowing he’d want me to acknowledge his statement, I smiled and nodded my agreement, then felt the stirring of his groin against my stomach as he pulled me against him and began to harden. A chuckle was about to rise in my throat at how mercurial he could be, flipping from irritation inside the club to lust just a few seconds later, but the darkening of his expression dried the laughter.
‘Did you just nod at me, Stella?’ Nathan murmured in a low, warning tone that seemed to vibrate right through my body. I knew him well enough by now to know he was faking his incredulity, but his growled words still caused my senses to ignite as I watched his eyes clear of their earlier uncertainty and fill with his more common determination and dominance.
The Dominic disaster of a few minutes ago seemed like distant history now, as things seemed to be taking a much more promising turn. Deciding to up the stakes a little, I further pushed his buttons by repeating my nod then biting down on my lower lip as I waited nervously for his response. His eyes briefly widened in surprise at my deliberate taunt, but they narrowed to slivers of gleamin
g blue as a wicked half-smile curved his lips.
‘Get in the car, baby, I need to get you home. Right now.’ He lowered his head towards mine and placed an open-mouthed kiss on my lips, then sucked my bottom lip out from between my teeth before nipping at it and running the tip of his nose along my jawline to my ear. He guided me into my seat, then jogged around the front of the car and quickly slid into his seat.
‘I may have said this wasn’t about punishment, Stella, but you know that deliberate provocation like lip-biting will always have consequences, yes?’
That was what I’d been hoping for. My throat was so dry from lust that I struggled to speak, but finally, after several swallows, I managed to squeeze out two simple words. ‘Yes, Sir.’
Inhaling sharply at my choice of title, he made a low, growling noise at the back of his throat and started the ignition.
He leaned across the car to grip my thigh and kissed my jaw. ‘Tell me again,’ he demanded breathily against the lobe of my ear, and I immediately knew what he was referring to. ‘I’m yours, Nathan.’
Pulling in a calm breath, he seemed to take a few seconds to absorb my words. Then he opened his eyes, winked at me and began to pull out of the carpark. ‘Think of the drive home as a method of delayed gratification.’
Oh God. With the lust-drenched look he had just thrown at me I had a feeling that the next forty minutes were going to be hell.
Nathan
Desire was now burning around my system, but every time I allowed my mind to flick back to visions of Dominic touching Stella, my fiery lust bubbled into a completely different type of heat. Sizzling anger. Dominic was a dick towards practically everyone, but I’d always had a particularly tense relationship with him, which I could only assume was a testosterone battle that neither of us was willing to lose. Club Twist had a few other senior Doms as members, and none had a good relationship with Dominic, a fact that further supported my speculation.
Once we arrived home, we both went to check on William and Marion. Thankfully, she had agreed to resume working with us, and even though we were now further from her house in North London, a pay rise and a private bedroom in our new property had easily persuaded her to remain our nanny.