Chapter Three
“Excuse me, Mr Davenport?”
I turned towards the interruption and saw one of Nathan’s hired goons standing in the doorway to the bedroom. A moment of relief flooded through me.
“Out on the balcony, Sam,” called Nathan. He stepped away from me and turned his attention to the huge man standing awkwardly, looking anywhere but at Nathan and I.
“Mr Davenport, Mr Winton is on the phone for you. He said you were expecting his call,” Sam said in a deep, gravelly voice.
“I’ll take it in my office. You stay here and keep Miss Sommers company,” Nathan said as he walked back inside. He was out of the bedroom without a backwards glance.
I sat back down in my chair, my legs feeling like jelly after my close encounter with Nathan. I turned and looked towards Sam standing in the doorway like he’d rather be anywhere else.
“So Sam, you’re one of Nathan’s thugs? How do you get a job like that? Did he advertise?” I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm. Sam seemed to be the quieter, calmer one of the two men. And it was just his luck that I was in no mood for his baby-sitting.
Sam surprised me by smiling. “No, Miss Sommers. We just met one day, I was unemployed and Nathan offered me a job.”
“He ever make you ‘take someone out?’” I couldn’t help but ask, even though I didn’t really want to know the answer.
“Nathan is not part of the Mafia, Miss Sommers. We do not take people out.” The smile widened on his big face and I felt a little foolish for asking.
“So you wouldn’t have broken every bone in my brother’s body?”
“Well, yes, we would have done that.”
“Oh, I see...” I had the feeling that maybe he wasn’t serious, but the thought of him hurting Liam made me feel sick to my stomach anyway.
“But I never meant to hurt you. You’re a lot smaller than I first thought,” he said, referring to when he pushed me to the ground.
“Gee, thanks.”
Sam nodded. I guess he didn’t seem like such a bad guy for a thug. Not that I’d met many. He seemed to have nice manners and his apology sounded sincere.
Nathan returned to the bedroom and made his way out onto the balcony. It felt crowded with the two large men both standing on it.
“Thank you, Sam. You can go. Rose and I will have an early night,” Nathan said in a brisk, business-like tone. I’d already noticed that Nathan didn’t seem to have any sort of personal relationship with his staff.
“Alright, Mr Davenport. Goodnight.” He turned to me. “Goodnight, Miss Sommers.” Sam walked out, closing the bedroom door behind him.
Nathan wasted no time walking back over to me and he pulled me back onto my feet, pushing me against the wall. “Now, where were we?” he asked, his voice husky.
“I think you were just about to let me go home and forget all about tonight,” I suggested, shrugging my shoulders as I tried not to let my fear show.
Nathan laughed. “I don’t think so, Rose.” He looked into my eyes and I could see something there that scared me. “That wouldn’t be much fun, now, would it?”
I swallowed, my throat feeling dry. There were nervous butterflies flapping heavily in my stomach, threatening to bring up what little of my dinner I ate. “I’m too tired for fun. I think we should go to bed early.”
“We’ll go to bed early alright,” Nathan smiled devilishly. “But not to sleep.” In one quick movement he picked me up and carried me into the bedroom before I even realised what he was doing.
“N-Nathan, what are you doing?” I stuttered as he lay down beside me on the soft, king size bed. The thick white quilt felt luxurious against my back.
“You’re a mistress, darling. You do know what that is all about, don’t you?” he whispered in my ear.
My breath was coming so fast I could hardly get each one out. Nathan was leaning up on one elbow, facing me. He put his other hand on my waist. I could feel the warmth through my thin shirt. My blood began pumping loud in my ears.
“What’s wrong, Rose? You know this is what you’re here for. You agreed to this,” he whispered as he slowly ran his hand down to my leg.
I opened my mouth to speak, but no words would come out. Was I just nervous? Or was I surprised at how much of an affect Nathan’s wandering hand was having on the rest of my body? It had been a long time since a man had been close enough to hold my hand, let alone rub my thigh in the slow, soft way that Nathan was.
Nathan’s hand worked its way up to touch me lightly on the skin under my shirt. My body responded in an instant, surprising me. I jumped up off the bed and moved far away from Nathan, pushing my back to the wall.
“I can’t do this,” I said, my heart beating out of my chest as a heat went straight to my core.
“We made a deal.” Nathan sat up and looked at me with a frown.
“I know, but do we have to do this today? Right now? I don’t think I can.”
My head began to ache and spin. I didn’t think I could take much more of this. It was too much. Too fast.
He sighed. “Alright, I’ll be fair. I will give you a few days to settle in, but then...” He didn’t need to finish the sentence, I knew exactly what he was going to say. I nodded and felt my breath start to return to normal. “Now go and have a bath, it will help you relax.”
It was an order, not a suggestion, but I decided not to protest. I didn’t want him to change his mind about giving me a few days to settle in. Instead, I nodded and followed him into the bathroom. A bath did sound wonderful.
Nathan moved over to the bath and turned the water on, then he walked over to the sink and searched in the cupboard until he found a bottle filled with purple liquid. He tipped some into the bath and it started foaming up with white scented bubbles.
“My mother brought me this. She said it might help me calm down a bit. It’s lavender.” He held up the expensive bubble bath bottle so I could see the label.
“I take it that you’ve never used it?” I asked dryly.
Nathan laughed. “No, I haven’t.”
The bath started to fill and I turned to Nathan, waiting for him to leave so I could bathe in privacy. He just stood there watching me, his dark eyes never leaving me for a second.
“Are you going to watch me?”
“Yes,” he said matter-of-factly. “At least give me that, Rose. I’m going to have to have cold showers for the next few days.”
I couldn’t help a slight smile forming on my lips. It was probably at the thought of him suffering.
“Alright. Can you go and get me something to wear for when I get out? I have no clean clothes.” I asked innocently. Nathan nodded and walked out of the bathroom. I wasted no time undressing and I stepped into the bath, arranging the bubbles to completely cover my modesty.
Nathan walked back into the bathroom and a frown formed on his face. “That was sneaky.” He hung a light blue tee-shirt over a towel rack. “Very sneaky. Maybe I should rethink giving you a few days to settle in?”
“What?” I asked, widening my blue eyes. “I was getting cold standing there.”
“Well, so am I.” Nathan started to take off his white business shirt, exposing a tanned, muscled chest. He threw his shirt on the floor and started to undo his pants.
“No wait,” I panicked. “I won’t be able to relax if you get in with me.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Really? Do I excite you?”
“No,” I said, but I was lying. I knew I was attracted to him, at least physically. I mean, who wouldn’t be? I had never had such an instant physical attraction to a man like this before. “It’s just, I thought you said I could have a few days to settle in?”
“Fine then, but I will get what I want soon enough.” He turned, grabbed my dirty clothes, and then walked out, closing the door behind him.
I reclined back in the water and could feel my muscles start to relax some. It had been quite a night. Who would have thought that just a few hours ago I was at home working through some paperwork and now I was lying in the bath of one of the richest and most powerful men in Australia?
***
“ROSE, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? You’ve been in there for half an hour.” I heard Nathan call out. Without waiting for an answer, he opened the door and walked straight in.
Most of the bubbles had disappeared, leaving large portions of my body exposed. Nathan’s eyes slowly followed their way from my toes all the way up to the milky whiteness of my chest. I knew he could see the soft curve of my breasts just above the bubbles, which were only just covering my most private parts. I was more than relieved that he still couldn’t get a decent look.
Painfully slow, his eyes travelled upwards to look into my eyes. “I just wanted to see if you were still here.”
I laughed a dry laugh. “I’m not going anywhere, Nathan. I won’t back out of a deal. I have no doubt that you would find me anyway, no matter where I went.”
“I would find you, Rose, no doubt.”
I sighed. “I want to get out. Can you at least turn around?”
I think since it was my first night, he did turn around and give me the privacy to towel off and slip his tee-shirt over my head. His shirt fit me like a nightie, coming to just above my knees. I refused to think about the fact that I had no underwear on.
“Alright, you can turn back around now.”
Nathan turned back to face me and I felt my pulse quicken. Boy, he looked amazing. Nathan must have had a shower in another part of the house, because he was standing there wearing a soft, white terry towel robe, his dark hair wet and slicked back from his face.
“I’m tired. I’m ready to go to sleep,” I said as I walked out of the bathroom and over to the bed. I couldn’t look him in the eyes. I busied myself pulling back the covers and I climbed in, a nervous flutter in my stomach.
Nathan walked over and turned the light off, leaving us in darkness. As he came back, he took off his robe and got into bed. After a few minutes my hand stretched out and accidentally touched him. I could tell by where I’d touched him that he was completely naked. I let out a shocked gasp.
“I can’t sleep with clothes on,” Nathan whispered, his voice husky. I could feel his breath on my face.
“But...” I tried to protest.
“But nothing, Rose. Goodnight.”
Within minutes I could hear his breath slow down and regulate to that of somebody in a comfortable and deep sleep. I only wished I could fall asleep that easily. It had been a big night and I was exhausted, but my body wouldn’t relax.