41
With her body well-used and fully satisfied, Rachel collapsed on the bench to ride out the final waves of her orgasm. She felt Nate’s cock jerk deep inside her a moment before he withdrew and smacked her ass lightly. Unable to stand for herself she gladly welcomed his strong arms as they closed around her and lifted her, carrying her away from the bench and bar to the bed.
Nate gently laid her on the bed. He couldn’t believe how tired he was after that first go. Then again Rachel was a wild vixen when she wanted to be, he was finding it as hard to control her as he was trying to quell the feelings she aroused that he couldn’t understand. When she rolled on her back to smile at him through heavy lids he couldn’t help himself. He leaned down and put a wet strand of her hair behind her ear, his eyes flowing his fingers.
“You are a handsome man, Nathaniel Madden.”
His lips quirked as he supported himself on his elbow to look down at her face. “Your opinion of me has changed so suddenly? It’s not even up to a month.”
She laughed sleepily. “You haven’t given me much reason to doubt you. But you won’t tell me who you are either so I base my opinion on what I see. And what I see is, you’re far different than the man I thought you were.”
He waited for her to continue but her eyes fluttered shut and her breathing became even. She was still half awake though.
"I just punished you."
"I signed a contract. It's official. It was inevitable."
"You are not mad?"
"I signed a contract, Nate. Like I said earlier, I see you differently than I initially thought." Her eyes took in his handsome features and she felt sympathy tug at her.
When her eyes fluttered close again Nate cupped her face and stroked her flesh to try to wake her.
“What was I before and what am I now?”
Rachel opened her eyes. She wanted to keep them open but their earlier exertions had made her so tired she just wanted to curl up in his arms and sleep. “It’s secret,” she responded.
Nate continued to touch her face. His eyes caressed her body and came to a stop at the sight of the welts on her bottom. His heart constricted. He had been mad at her when she arrived that evening that all he wanted to do was exert his anger on her. Somehow he managed to calm himself, it wasn't as bad as it had been with Vera, but he still hurt her.
She had mentioned something about redeeming herself. He had seen her countenance when she walked in, there had been a sadness in her eyes that haunted him but in his rage he ignored it. Now he was curious. What was it that made her so sad?
As he rose to adjust her body so she was in a more comfortable position his foot pressed into her handbag at the base of the bed. He finished with getting her settled in bed, listening to her soft even breath before retrieving her clothes and bag. That was when he noticed the file in the bag.
His first instinct was to ignore it but he found himself pulling the file out and when he opened it and read its contents his fingers crushed into the edges of the papers.
Nate couldn’t believe his eyes. The words were bold and clear, Jacob Henderson’s threats were glaring angrily at him through the papers. How had he known about their contract?
Nate glanced at Rachel’s sleeping form. Could she have told him about it?
But as soon as the thought occurred to him he quickly dismissed it. There was no way she would do that, she lack the pretentious, deceitful heart it required to do something like that. Rachel was straightforward and honest and he trusted her.
He paused. Yes, he trusted her. So far she hadn’t given him any reason to doubt her.
The only person he knew that was selfish and deceitful – the total embodiment of a two-faced bitch, was Vera. She knew about his relationship with Rachel, she had had her suspicion during the fashion week. What would prevent her from going to Jacob Henderson with what she knew? Now Jacob was willing to use that information to blackmail the wife he once claimed to love.
He was filled with remorse at his selfish reaction to her lateness and angry at Jacob Henderson for his treatment of Rachel. As he replaced the papers in the folder inside her bag his mind churned with thoughts of what he could do. He knew Rachel, she was an outspoken vixen, and he loved that about her. If she had wanted to, she could have yelled at him to let her speak and told him why she had come late. Yet she obeyed his orders and stayed silent when he asked her to and he knew why.
Because she was planning to give in to her husband to protect him. But he didn’t need her protection, he was capable of protecting himself without her help. He was Nate Madden after all. His mind raced as plans worked feverishly to form coherent thoughts. He should pay Vera a visit and for the first time put the fear of God in her. She seemed to think she had something against him and for years he let her have her hold on him. But damn it to hell he was done with her stupid tricks.
Angry at his own weakness against Vera even after all she did to him he slammed in fist into the bed. Rachel moaned softly but didn’t wake up. Nate turned to look at her, all thoughts of Vera flying out of his head. She was the virus in his vein now and he was finding it hard to get rid of her.
Getting into bed beside her he gathered her to his side and tried to sleep, holding her in his arms.
When Rachel woke up the next morning she found that she was alone on the bed, the warmth she had felt the previous night when Nate pulled her against him was a memory that made her feel warm all over. She had felt his gentle touch when he soothed the faint sting in her butt and even that had lured her deeper to sleep.
Too bad there they could only be together for a week and a half now. But there was nothing to do about it, so far she had proved to be a good student. When the week and a half were over she and Nate would go their separate ways. Besides, there was the issue of Jacob. She had made up her mind yesterday on what to do.
Protect Nate.
That was the only thing to do. She would go back to Jacob, gain the upper hand and serve him the divorce papers on her own terms. She sat up in the bed noting that Nate was indeed not in the room. Some time while she was still sleeping he had gotten up and left for work, maybe.
Rachel threw the covers around her aside as she made her decision. The mistake she made initially was not serving the divorce papers before Jacob. Whatever he thought he had against her, she will use it for her benefit.
She found a sweatshirt at the bottom of the bed with her bag and smiled. For all his broody, moody and manipulative self, Nathaniel could be sweet when he chose to be. She slipped the sweatshirt on, thinking about her plans and how she would call things off with Nate without him wanting to know why. She couldn’t drag him into any more of her mess.
The Room door was open. She slipped out and started to leave when she noticed the open laptop on the study desk. The screen came on as an email notification flashed across the screen. She wanted to leave but the journalist in her was suddenly curious.
Glancing outside to see that Nate’s car wasn’t in the drive and listening carefully to note that the house was indeed empty, she slid into the seat behind the desk and peered at the screen.
