“What the hell was that all about?” I ask.
“Nothing.” He winks at me.
“You’re a tease, James Aconi,” I hiss at him. “It’s not funny, getting me all worked up like that and then abandoning me for a bloody glass of plonk!”
I turn away to the sink and start to tidy around quickly. Yes, I think to myself, I really do need a lady who will come in and do this for me. I’m deep in thought when I hear James’s mobile chime. I turn and he glances at the screen.
“Just going through to the living room to take this,” he says, indicating towards the door with his glass.
I hear him as he leaves the kitchen. “Benito, thanks for calling… Yeah, Roberto said he was going to speak to you.” He wanders into the living room where he pushes the door to; it’s not closed but pushed right to the doorframe.
I wonder who Benito is? It’s not a name I’ve heard mentioned before. I can’t help my nosy nature, I want to know what he’s saying. I step towards the kitchen door and out into the hallway where I can just hear James’s side of the conversation, if I listen hard.
“I’m good, thanks, and the boys…? Cool. I’m pleased that Roberto let you know.” There’s a silence. Presumably whoever Benito is, he’s talking, and then I hear the other half of the conversation again. “She’s great, a real treat, nothing like Maggie… Nah, I’m still running the place.” He’s definitely talking about me.
“I need you to run a few checks for me. I’ll text you the details, keep it quiet if you can… Yeah, that’s right… Cool… If you can do it ASAP that would be great. Cheers, Benito, nice one, mate.”
I scurry back to the kitchen and mess with the abandoned cups and plates when James walks back as if nothing had happened.
“Who was that?” I ask.
“Benito,” he says flatly.
Well, he’s not hiding anything from me on that score.
“Who’s Benito?” I ask.
“A friend of the family.” His tone’s unchanged.
“Oh.”
“Yep.” He’s so very vague about this guy.
“What does Benito do?” I ask.
“Oh, you know, a bit of this and a bit of that…”
I’m not going to get anywhere, am I? I may as well quit, he’s clearly not going to tell me.
“What time will the food be here? I’m starving,” he asks, rubbing his stomach.
“Shouldn’t be too long, they said about thirty minutes.”
He moves closer to me. I’m still by the sink, tidying up Anna’s mess. James pulls me away and looks at me and runs his thumb over my bottom lip. He’s so gentle. He moves his hand away and kisses me. He uses his tongue to prise my lips apart and then explores my mouth. I respond, the kiss is so intense, I want more, much more… But alas we are interrupted by the doorbell.
“Shit,” he says. He pulls away. “Shall we eat now?”
I look at him longingly. “That was beautiful, James.”
He gives me that look again, full of lust and hunger. “We’ll finish later,” he says as he wanders towards the front door.
I hear him pay the delivery guy and then the front door closes. By the time he’s back in the kitchen I’ve set two places at the island.
I pull all of the plastic tubs from the brown paper bag.
“God, Alex, how much did you order?”
“You said you were hungry!”
“I know, but there’s only two of us, there’s enough here to feed a small army!” He nods towards the numerous plastic tubs that I’m laying out.
“Well, you have a choice then, don’t you! Look, there’s Prawn Puri, Lamb Tikka Masala, Chicken Biryani, and a Chicken Balti. We also have pilau rice for two, two Peshwari naan, and look!” I toss a paper bag in his direction. “There’s even some poppadoms and pickles, I didn’t order those!”
I fetch some spoons from the cutlery drawer and stick one in each tub.
“Bon appetito,” I say.
“That’s Italian.” He’s being cocky now.
“So what – Bossman!” I snap.
“Do not call me Bossman – blossom.” He looks at me, a stern look. I flick a crisp of poppadum at him.
We eat in quiet. I can’t remember how long it’s been since I had an Indian takeaway, probably years. Lewis never cared for Indian food but I used to love it, occasionally anyway.
“I never asked you where Maggie lived. I know she used to rent this place out, so where did she live?” It’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask and one that hasn’t yet been answered.
“She split her time between Tuscany and here. When she was here she used to stay in the hotel, but it was only ever for a couple of months at the most and then she was back to Tuscany,” he tells me as he piles yet more Tikka Masala onto his plate.
“So how come she wasn’t aware of your salary issue if she was at the hotel every few months? She must have noticed at some point that she was paying you a pittance. Surely you must have said something?” I quiz him.
“I know you didn’t know Maggie well, but if you had you would have understood. Most of us didn’t work for Reid’s, we worked for Maggie. She was delightful, a real treasure. I’d have worked for minimum wage for her if I had to. She looked after us in other ways as well, you know, slipped us cash from time to time, paid for holidays.” He talks fondly of my aunt – my mother – as he recounts how she treated the staff.
“Oh, I see. But still, surely you need regular income and salary for your rental or mortgage, whatever you do?” I ask.
“I’ve always managed, yes. I’ve never had excessive free income but I managed. I’ve got some savings, like I said to you the other day. I’ve got some money, nowhere near as much as you, but I sold my Dad’s house when he died and the money was put into the bank. I’ve never touched it, it’s from my Dad’s house and it’ll stay there until I…” He stops as he munches his way through another plateful of curry.
“You’re going to stink tomorrow!” I curl my nose up at him.
“You don’t mind, do you, blossom?”
I pull a face at him and flick more cast-off poppadums. He laughs, picks the piece of poppadum up and flicks it back at me. We’re laughing, our behaviour is quite childish but what the hell. I break off more poppadum and fling it at him; we continue to toss the large crumbs around until he picks up the little tub of raita.
“Come here, Alex,” he say. “Come to James.”
“No way, you’re not flicking that at me!” I scowl at him and then the polystyrene tub.
“Who said anything about flicking? I’ve got something far more interesting in mind… Umm, what can I do with this yoghurt and mint sauce? Ooh, just think, where can I put this?”
“Jamie,” I gasp, “you’re being naughty and very rude, and look at the mess.” I look around the island; it’s littered with half-filled plastic tubs of various curries and rice, not to mention the crumbs of poppadum and naan bread, it looks like we’ve been entertaining toddlers!
His face turns serious. “Please don’t call me Jamie!” His face stays hard for a moment before flashing that amazing smile. “Sod the mess, blossom, come here and give James a cuddle or I may just have to go to work with the raita,” he says, waving the little polystyrene tub around.
I take a slug of wine and sidle around the island to him. He’s sitting on a stool with a tub of raita in one hand. He grabs me around the waist with his free hand and pulls me between his legs. Bending towards me, his lips brush mine so gently. I moan. I feel so turned on and so very wet, ready. He puts the pot of raita down as he holds me in both arms; he moves his hands down so that he’s holding onto my arse. He squeezes my buttocks and moves his palms around my hips. His tongue pushes between my lips, we’re locked in an embrace that I hope will never end when my mobile starts to chime. I pull away.
“Oh blossom!” he whinges.
“I need to check it. I need to call Anna as well, before she goes out.” I root through my bag and find my phone.
“Withheld number.” I flash the screen to James before accepting the call.
“Hello.”
“Mrs Drake?” the caller asks.
“Yes, who is this, please?”
“Police. I’m just calling to let you know that Mr Drake has been released from custody. He’s been told to return home to Staffordshire and not to have any contact whatsoever with you. We’ve told him that if he needs to contact or speak to you he needs to do this via his solicitor – you’re divorcing, I understand?” the officer says.
“Oh,” I say quietly, totally horrified that they let him out.
“Well, if he tries to contact you in any way we’d appreciate it if you’d let us know. A bit of a wild one is Mr Drake.” the officer tells me.
“Umm, I know. Thank you for letting me know anyway.”
“It’s our pleasure, and please do let us know if he tries to contact you,” he reiterates.
I hang up. “Lewis is out!” I blurt at James.
“What!” He raises his voice.
“He’s been told to go back home and to have no contact with me at all, I’ve to call them if he tries to contact me.” I recount the conversation.
“Shit, the fucking bastard. Good job I’m here, blossom!” he says. “Now where were we?”
“Can I just ring Anna first? I’ll be two minutes, tops.”
“I’m timing you.” He laughs.
I dial Anna’s number, she picks up straight away.
“Mum, we’re having a fab time!” she shouts above the music.
I raise my eyebrows at James and mouth “loud music”. “Good, have you eaten this evening?”
“Yes, we had the most delicious steak. They’re treating us like royalty,” she giggles.
“Good. Now, remember what I said, don’t leave your drinks unattended and please, be careful. You haven’t got your cards with you, have you?”
“We’re fine, Mum, it’s great.” She laughs, and I can hear Katie giggling in the background too.
“Have a super time and call if you need anything, anything at all! And say hello to Katie for me.”
“Will do, love you, Mum.”
She rings off.
“Well done, blossom, that was super quick. Now, where were we?”
He pulls me close again. “Come on, let’s go upstairs, I want you upstairs!”
I smile and follow him. He holds my hand and guides me up the wide staircase, we walk around the gallery landing to my room and I follow him in. He leans towards me and kisses my ear, I press my lips against his neck, we’re a tangle of arms, of necks and of mouths.
“Wait here,” he orders and disappears into my en-suite. I hear him turn on the taps of my large bath tub. He drops something and I hear him curse, then he’s back with me. He reaches for the zipper of my dress and pulls it down at the front, then he eases it off my shoulders. I am wearing my new underwear, black silk trimmed with lace.
“You’re a vision,” he says as my dress drops to the floor. He moves me slightly and I step away. He stands back and looks at me, I think it’s the first time he’s seen me in matching underwear. “Truly beautiful,” he mumbles.
He runs his hands down my sides and squeezes my bum again, just like he did downstairs. His thumbs slip into the elastic of my knickers and he eases them down, bending at the knees as he pushes them down my legs, and I step out of them. His eyes are level with the tangled triangle of hair. He kisses my stomach – tender, gentle little kisses – and then he runs his thumbs over my labia, pulling my lips apart gently. “Fucking hell, Alex.” He feels my wetness. I moan and throw my head back at his touch. “This needs to come off,” he says as he runs his fingers through my pubic hair. He stands and kisses me again.
“Lie down.” He points towards the bed. “I won’t be a second.”
He disappears into my bathroom. I hear him swill the water and mutter something to himself and then he returns with a razor, mug of water, towel and a can of lady shaving cream.
“Bend your knees over the edge of the bed,” he says, “and move your legs apart slightly.”
He sprinkles a tiny amount of water over the triangle of curls and then squirts shaving foam onto his fingers. He gently smoothes this over my hair. The sensation is electric and I moan out loud again. “Keep very still!” Using the razor, he slowly shaves away the hair that he has decided needs to go. “Relax this leg a bit.” He moves my left leg so that he can catch every hair. “And this one.” He moves my right leg. “Now for the tricky part, keep very still.” I can see his concentration as he kneels by the bed; he focuses on my so private area, his tongue sticking out slightly, held between his teeth.
He rinses the razor in the mug of water and uses more shaving cream underneath me. The feeling is so sensual, I’m becoming wetter by the minute. I want to move, to writhe about. “Keep fucking still!” he says firmly. “I really don’t want to nick you, one little bit left.”
Using the towel he brought with him, he wipes the residual shaving cream away. “That’s looking good, blossom.”
He holds my hand and pulls me up. He guides me to my bathroom and once we’re inside he strips, his jeans, t-shirt and black boxers cast into a pile. He pulls me close, we’re both naked, wrapped around each other. He moves away and swirls the water, turning the taps off. “Climb in, blossom,” he growls into my ear.
I place one hand on the tiled wall for balance and climb into the bath as elegantly as I can manage. “Wow, you look so fucking fuckable,” he rumbles as he holds my other hand and trails light little kisses up my arm and towards my shoulder. “Sit,” he commands as I splosh down into the deep water.
Once I’m in, he kneels by the side of the bath. “Lie back,” he says as his hand swirls the water around me before pushing my legs apart with his big hand. Slowly he moves his fingers towards my sex, using his fingers he parts my lips and tenderly rubs my little nub. He bends forward, his mouth descending onto mine. His tongue pushes my lips apart, no-one has ever done this to me before, treated me like this, the sensation is exquisite. He kisses me deeply whilst his thumb and fingers make quick work of bringing me to the edge of my climax, and I think he knows this.
“I think I’m going to come,” I whimper.
“No, not yet,” he says as he moves away. I lie back in the warm water, watching my lover, his erect cock pointing directly at me. He climbs into the bath facing me, then he lifts me slightly and slides my legs around his waist. “Did you ever bathe with Lewis?” he whispers.
“No, never,” I gasp.
He lifts me again slightly and I feel that hard, engorged thing at the entrance of my core. “Lower yourself,” he says, and I let myself go down. I feel the fullness as I’m impaled upon him. Nature takes over and I pull myself up and down on him, the water sloshing around us both. He holds me around the waist, helping me move. “That’s it. Jesus, Alex!”
I work myself into a frenzy, throwing my head back. “James!” I shout. “Oh God!”
I let go. I shudder around him. Falling forward, I throw my arms around his neck and hold on tightly. He pulls me close and we stay wrapped around each other until the water starts to cool, no words spoken.
Removing myself from him and the bath, not as elegantly as I got in, I wrap myself in a towel and dry off. James follows shortly after.
We’re both very quiet and I walk through to my bedroom, pull the duvet back and climb into my huge bed. I hear James pull the plug in the bath. He joins me a moment or two later, cuddling up beside me.
“What was sex like with you and Lewis?” he asks.
He takes me off guard slightly. I never expected to have to talk about my sex life.
“Non-existent!” I snap.
“So, you weren’t joking when you said you hadn’t had a relationship with him in that way, for years?”
“No, not joking,” I mutter, not really wanting to discuss it.
“So you never went down on him, then?” he questions.
I have no idea what
he’s talking about. “What do you mean?”
“Go down, give head, blow job?”
“Oh! No, never.” Urgh! I don’t even know if I like the idea.
“Want to try?” It’s the husky voice again.
“I don’t know. What if I don’t like it? What do I do?” I really am very inexperienced.
“Put your mouth over my dick, then, well… lavish it. Move your lips backwards and forwards, up and down my length,” he growls.
The very description of what he wants me to do turns me on. I shuffle around the bed and kneel towards him. I hold his cock and tentatively take the head into my mouth; it tastes salty. Oh God, I don’t know if I like this. Slowly I move my head, backwards and forwards.
“Oh baby, that’s so good,” he groans. “Oh Alex, oh yes, you’ve got it. Hold my balls, squeeze them.”
I oblige, taking his heavy sack in my palm. He fills my hand, they’re big and heavy. I continue to slide my mouth up and down his manhood, closing my eyes. He places his hand on my back gently. Oh, this is so good.
“Stop!” he commands. I pull away, looking at him.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
He smiles. “Nothing, just don’t want to come, not yet.”
He shifts himself and eases me onto my back. Moving between my legs, leaning over me, supporting his weight on his elbows, he leans forward and kisses me deeply. With his tongue caressing mine, I feel the head of his cock nudging towards my entrance and in one thrust he pounds into me. I cry out. “James!”
He finds his rhythm, driving deeper and deeper. He’s quiet, I look at the concentration on his face, his eyes focussing on nothing but me. “Oh baby,” he says.
“I’m coming, James. I…” I gasp.
“No, not yet, you’re not coming yet.” He pulls away from me. “Turn over.”
I look at him, confused.
“Turn over, on your stomach.”
“I don’t want to do anything like that…” I whimper. The thought of that makes me cringe.
“Like what?” His voice is husky.
Freeing Alex (The Alexandra Drake Series) Page 17