Taming Eric

by J. a Melville

  With his limbs trembling from the strength of his release Eric pulled out of Natasha’s body. He hated to leave her wet warmth but he couldn’t leave her bent over potentially uncomfortable when she was so heavily pregnant. “Hop on the bed baby. You rest.” He told her and she straightened enough to pull her dress over her head before crawling onto the bed and lying down.

  He followed her onto the bed and lay down behind her, tucking himself up against her back and put his arm around her, savouring the feel of having her in his arms as they both came down from their powerful orgasms. “I love you baby.” He whispered into her ear.

  She smiled, turning her head towards him. “I love you too.”

  He kissed her cheek before she turned back away from him and settled on her pillow. Eric pulled her against him and closed his eyes, feeling suddenly quite fatigued. His body relaxed behind hers, the sweat from their love making drying on his skin and with the scent of sex strong in the air slowly he slipped into a deep sleep.

  * * *

  The following morning they packed their bags ready to return home. They were both quiet on the drive in the limo although Eric did make a couple of calls. One to arrange to meet a private investigator with the man agreeing to come over to the house in a few hours and the other call being to Alice. He needed to warn her they were coming back a day early, to inform her of what was happening with Vivian and he was anxious to find out how progress on the nursery was going although he suspected he wouldn’t be able to surprise his wife with it now with them going back a day earlier. Hi ex was certainly affecting everything and everyone now and was possibly ruining the surprise he’d anticipated showing Natasha.

  The surprise was on him when Alice told him that the work was already completed on the nursery although she warned him it wasn’t long finished so the room still had a very strong smell of paint coming from it but otherwise it was done and looked ‘beautiful’ apparently. He breathed a sigh of relief. Not all was lost then and his surprise for Natasha was still on track to be a surprise. For all that they had to worry about right now because of Vivian at least he still had this for her and he just hoped that the nursery was going to be everything she had wanted and dreamed it to be.

  With his wife sitting in the car alongside of him, he had to be quite cryptic with his questions and conversation with Alice and when his eyes met Natasha’s, she was staring at him curiously. He suspected she knew something was going on by his strange conversation but there was no way she’d know what it was. He had no intention of telling her, he wanted to show her and he hoped like hell that she loved his surprise for her.

  Eric could feel the tension mounting in his body when the limo finally turned into the sweeping, circular driveway of their home. He was suddenly nervous about how Natasha would react to the nursery. Would she be pissed off with him for having it done behind her back without her input at all? He hoped not. She might not have had a hand in the work that had taken place, but he’d been very careful to make sure everything she’d talked about wanting for the nursery had been purchased so he hoped like hell that she would be happy with it.

  Alice came out to greet them as they stepped from the limo and she rushed forward to help carry some of their smaller bags, while Henry took the larger ones into the house.

  “Lunch will be ready in half an hour Mr Rothman.” Alice informed them. “That should give you time to see to things upstairs.” She gave him a look which he returned but when he looked over at Natasha, she was staring between the two of them, a look of curiosity on her face.

  “Thank you Alice. I have a private investigator coming here in a couple of hours so I’ll take Natasha upstairs now before lunch. Come with me baby. I have something for you.” He took her hand and led her to the lift so they could go upstairs.

  “What is it Eric?” She glanced at him questioningly.

  “Patience baby. All will be revealed in a minute.” He grinned at her when she groaned with frustration. His gorgeous wife just had no patience at all.

  When they stepped off the lift Eric felt the nerves tightening in his stomach. He so badly wanted to surprise Natasha with the nursery and getting it done for her had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that he was faced with the reality of it all and being unsure how she would react, he suddenly felt terrified that she would hate it.

  He led her over to the door to the blue room and took a deep breath before looking down at her. He watched her face as she noticed the name plates on the door and he felt himself relax a fraction when he saw the excitement in her eyes. He grinned, tilting his head towards the closed door, giving her the signal to go inside and when she did, he heard her gasp. Was that a good gasp or a ‘what the hell’ gasp? He had no idea as he followed her into the room.

  The first thing that hit him was the smell of new paint but as he looked around since he was seeing the nursery for the first time himself, he had to concede that the contractors had done a damned good job. He thought it looked great from its moss green paint on the lower half of the walls and the sponged paint up the top half in various shades of yellow and some of the moss.

  The timberwork was all painted white including the length of ornate timber that ran around the room where the top and bottom paint colours came together. There was a white blind on the window with a lace curtain and drapes in yellow and green but what drew his eye the most was the two wooden cradles that sat in the centre of the room. One was filled with pink bedding and the other with blue.

  There were mobiles hanging above each cradle. Butterflies over Erica’s and spaceships and planes over Nathaniel’s.

  There were matching change tables at either side of the room, both already stocked with nappies and everything Natasha could possibly need for the twins. There were baby monitors attached to each cradle and night lights hanging from them too.

  In one corner was a rocking chair, but a big comfortable looking one covered in dark green fabric which was her chair to sit on while feeding their babies. Also at each end of the room were white cupboards and Eric watched Natasha open the doors to see rows of clothing already hanging and stacked on shelves ready for their babies.

  He watched her face closely trying to work out if she was happy with the nursery or not. He thought it looked great, but he could imagine the Mother’s perspective might be very different from the Father’s. Did she love it or hate it? He couldn’t tell looking at her expression and he was suddenly plagued with doubts again.

  “Do you like it baby?” He asked softly, a trace of tension in his voice but she only nodded at him. That made him nervous. She couldn’t even speak to him. She hated it that much?

  While he mentally berated himself on whether he’d made a huge fucking mistake trying to surprise his wife with the nursery, she suddenly threw herself into his arms and he realised from her sniffing, that she was crying. She clung to him tightly and he could do nothing more than wrap his arms around her and hold her while she struggled to get her tears under control.

  When she finally looked up at him, her stunning eyes awash with tears, she was smiling. “I love it Eric. It’s perfect. How did you manage to get all this done so quickly?”

  He felt a wave of relief flood his body. She loved it, she was happy. Her tears were happy tears. He could breathe easy now.

  “The minute we left here baby for the hotel, the crew came in to start. Bloody Vivian nearly fucked it all up though with us having to come back a day earlier. I wasn’t sure they’d be done in time but fortunately they were.”

  “They’ve done an amazing job Eric. It’s just so beautiful. We’re all ready for our babies to be born now.” She wrapped her arms around him again. “I love you so much. I can’t believe you did this for me and you got all the things I liked too.”

  Eric tightened his grip on her, savouring the feeling of having the woman he loved more than any other human being tucked safely in his arms. Sometimes h
is feelings for her threatened to overwhelm him and other times his fears of possibly losing her made him break out in a cold sweat.

  “I love you too baby. I just want you to be happy.” He smiled down at her and he saw the answering smile on her face and the love in her eyes before her expression suddenly clouded over and he knew what was wrong. “We’ll get her baby. She’s not going to hurt you. Come on, we’d better get back downstairs. Alice should have lunch ready for us now and in a couple of hours the private investigator will be here.”

  He dropped his head and closed his lips over hers, nibbling his way along her full bottom lip before pulling away and taking her hand to lead her back to the lift so they could go downstairs for their lunch.

  They ate in the kitchen at the breakfast bar so they could chat with Alice about their time away and Eric chuckled quietly over the two women gushing and getting all excited as they discussed the nursery. He was just so relieved that Natasha loved it so much.

  The talk eventually turned to Vivian and Eric tried to reassure them that he was hiring the private investigator to look more into what his crazy ex was up to and he told them he wouldn’t allow anything to happen to either one of them as he was bringing in more security and having the house watched.

  He could still see the worry in his wife’s eyes though and it pissed him off that Vivian was creating so many issues for them and upsetting Natasha so much. “I love you baby. I don’t want you to concentrate on anything other than that. I will keep you safe.”

  She smiled at him but he could tell by the concern still showing in her eyes that she wasn’t as convinced as he was. All he knew was he would do whatever it took to keep his wife and their babies safe. Vivian was not going to be a problem for them he would make sure of that.

  CHAPTER 27

  Two weeks later Eric stood in the bathroom shaving while Natasha was alongside of him brushing her teeth. As he shaved he slyly studied his wife. She was looking extremely pregnant now and he was getting more and more anxious about leaving her to go to work because the doctor had told them she could go into labour at any moment.

  He had three more days of work and then he would be home with her until the babies were born and for a while after their birth. He had been working hard to have his company in a position where he could leave it for his staff to take care of while he was home taking care of his wife.

  As he shaved Natasha finished brushing her teeth and picked up her hair brush to start brushing out her long curls. As he watched her he noticed a tiny smile curve her lips and he wondered what had made her smile like that. Whatever it was, she was looking quite smug about it.

  “What are you smiling about looking very much like the cat who got the cream I might add.” His eyes met her startled ones in the mirror.

  When she blushed, she really roused his curiosity. “Nothing, I… I was… just thinking about how you don’t have much longer at work before you’re off until after the twins are born.” She stammered.

  Eric studied her for a moment, not believing a word she just said. He snagged her around the waist, pulling her back against him. “Bull shit baby. What were you really thinking about?”

  She blushed again as he held her. “Damn you Eric, can’t a girl have secrets with you?” He nipped her on the neck and she squealed. “Ok, I was thinking about us, when we made love earlier. Happy now?” She raised her eyes to his in the mirror.

  He chuckled at her expression. Now he knew why she was smiling to herself, he could understand why. The sex between them was always hot and intensely satisfying. “Fuck yes baby, I was more than happy, I was very satisfied. You were amazing. I love you sweetheart.” He pressed his lips against her ear, kissing her softly.

  He turned her in his arms until she faced him and dropped a hard kiss on her lips. “Damn I don’t want to leave you baby but I’m almost done with work. Things should be at the point where I can leave everyone else in charge soon and just enjoy the time at home with my gorgeous wife before these two decide to make their appearance.” He said before reluctantly releasing her.

  After checking his appearance one more time as he stood in his navy blue suit, white shirt and red, white and blue striped tie, brushing his hair and gathering up his laptop, phone and wallet, he dropped a kiss on Natasha’s lips and walked out the door.

  He greeted Henry as he settled into the limo for the drive to Rothman Enterprises. As per usual for Sydney peak hour time, traffic was heavy and it was a bumper to bumper crawling drive to work. Eric made a few calls while stuck in the limo before settling in to take care of emails on his laptop since it was obvious it was going to be a slow journey to the office.

  Once he finally arrived at work, he rode up to the top floor where his offices were and greeted Alex who had made it in ahead of him today.

  He settled in to work but his mind was on his wife and the impending birth of their twins. At least the worry over Vivian appeared to have lifted. A package had arrived, delivered to the office from her which contained the disc she’d taken from work and a letter of apology. She had admitted that she’d been quite stressed with work and so much travelling and not enough sleep and that losing him had been hard on her but she had accepted that it was over finally and wished them the best. Her letter seemed surprisingly sincere but Eric wasn’t prepared to dispense with Roman, the private investigator until he was sure that what she was saying could be backed up with evidence that she was telling the truth.

  He kept Roman working for him for a few more days while he gathered evidence and from that they learned that Vivian really did have a new boyfriend, a very wealthy one at that and younger than him. Natasha had teased him that he’d been thrown over in favour of one younger and wealthier but he told her he didn’t give a fuck. Roman snapped photos of Vivian out and about with the new man once she got back to Australia from her last modelling trip overseas.

  Since there really wasn’t anything suspicious about her behaviour Eric finished up with Roman and things settled back down to normal in their lives.

  He dragged his mind back to work and he and Alex settled in and spent time going over spread sheets for part of the morning. He dictated emails for him to send and they spent time in the video conference room discussing companies purchased in London and New York with the CEO’s and the plans for those companies. All that consumed their entire morning and Eric was finally relieved that he could concentrate and not have his mind constantly on his wife.

  Once they wrapped up the discussions with London and New York, Alex left to get lunch for them both which they sat eating while discussing what would need to be taken care of while he was off work so his PA would cope alright alone.

  Eric felt the vibration of his mobile phone ringing and pulled it out, smiling when he saw it was his wife. “Natasha, my baby, what a wonderful surprise.” He said but when he heard laboured breathing coming down the line, his heart skipped a beat before beginning to thump heavily in his chest. Tentacles of fear curled through his body and his stomach clenched hard as tension filled him. Something was wrong. “What’s wrong sweetheart. You don’t ring me at work unless there’s a problem. Talk to me.” She wasn’t saying anything and he was starting to worry, wondering if she was in labour.

  He heard more of the tortured sounding breathing and she finally gasped. “Eric. I… I… Alice… Vivian.” Her words made no sense but at the mention of that one name Vivian, Eric felt his blood turn to ice in his veins and fear unlike anything he’d ever experienced clawed at him.

  With his heart beating so hard in his chest he could see it through his shirt he yelled. “Natasha, Natasha, what, what’s wrong baby? ANSWER ME.” She’d mentioned Alice. What was wrong with Alice? “What about Alice? Vivian? What’s happened?”

  “Eric… please… come.” Her voice was little more than a faint moan and Eric panicked. He leapt up, throwing his jacket over one arm, the phone still up to his ear but Nat
asha had gone quiet. “Baby, baby, Natasha answer me, please my darling, answer me.” His voice got louder with every plea but there was nothing. Either she was no longer on the line or something had happened to her and as he yelled at Alex that he had to go and hastily called Henry to get the fucking limo to him now, he prayed desperately, although he wasn’t a religious man, that his wife would be ok because the thought of anything happening to her was the most painful thing he could imagine. To lose her would be more than he could bear. Just the thought of not having her in his life anymore scared the hell out of him. He knew he’d have no reason to live if he didn’t have her. She’d been his saviour but without her, there’d be nothing left to save as he’d be little more than an empty shell of a man.

  When he burst out of the doors to Rothman Enterprises the limo was waiting for him and he hopped in, barking orders at Henry to get to the house as quickly as possible.

  While they headed for his harbour side home, he tried calling Natasha again, but there was no response. He rang Alice but her phone went to voice mail. Why the hell wasn’t she answering her phone? Natasha had mentioned Alice and Vivian but what did she mean? Had Vivian showed up at the house? Had she rung them? He had no idea. All he knew was he just wished the limo would hurry up and get him home.

  When it finally turned into the driveway he barely waited for it to pull up by the front door before he leapt out and took the stairs two at a time. He burst through the front door and immediately skidded in something and nearly went down. His eyes dropped and he saw blood. Shit so much fucking blood.

  His eyes took in the scene before him, his housekeeper lying so still on the floor with blood pooling all around her and although he was looking at the horror of it, his mind was having trouble fathoming what he was seeing.