Chapter twelve
I woke the next morningand rolled over in bed to look at Nathan. He was lying on top of the sheets, still dressed in his clothes from the night before. I hadn’t even heard him come in.
“Morning sunshine,” I remarked cheerfully as Nathan slowly opened his eyes to look at me. I could tell straight away that he was very hungover. “Big night, hey?”
Nathan groaned. “I got talking to a bunch of American businessmen here on a conference. They say Aussie men can drink, these guys were crazy. I’ve got no idea how much we drank or what time I got back. I haven’t drunk like that since university.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as I got out of bed. I walked over to the curtains and threw them back, filling the room with sunlight.
“Ah, Rose... No.” Nathan protested, putting his pillow over his head.
“Come on, Nathan, we’ve got a tour to do.” I tried to look innocent, but I was enjoying myself. Nathan sat up in bed and groaned again, holding his head in his hands. “Go and have a shower and I’ll order you some breakfast.”
When Nathan came out of the bathroom twenty minutes later, I was already sitting at the table eating my breakfast. Nathan had washed and changed his clothes, but he hadn’t shaved, leaving a dark morning stubble to go with the dark rings around his eyes. My body instantly reacted to the handsome and dangerous looking Nathan. I stared at him from under my eyelashes as he walked towards me, hoping he couldn’t see just how much I wanted him. I was still a little embarrassed about how I had acted the day before after we had sex. I felt needy and clingy and I didn’t like feeling like that one bit. He was confusing all of my emotions.
“I ordered you some strong coffee and bacon and eggs. It’s a good hangover remedy.” I gestured to the food set out in front of me.
Nathan sat down beside me and took a large mouthful of his coffee. “That’s great, thank you.”
After we finished our breakfast, we went down to the lobby where a private limousine was waiting to take us on a tour of the island of Oahu.
***
NATHAN AND I ACTEDlike complete tourists the whole day. His hangover didn’t last long and he quickly began to enjoy himself. We took photos of everything and hung on to every word our tour guide had to say, absorbing all the information we could about the beautiful island.
I knew that Nathan had never been into holiday tours, he preferred to explore the places he travelled to on his own, but he surprised me by how much he was enjoying the day. Nathan was completely relaxed and hadn’t talked about work all day. We laughed, we joked. We had fun. There was no public displays of affection, because that wasn’t Nathan’s style, but there were moments where I thought he might. The argument he and I had the night before was a distant memory.
When we returned back to the hotel later that afternoon, we went down to the pool for a swim. I stood by the edge and dove softly into the water, swimming right over to Nathan, who was already sitting on a ledge in the pool watching my every move. I could see other women around the pool area watching him, admiring his good-looks, and I wanted to leave no questions as to who he was with. It may have been a purely sexual relationship but they didn’t know that. I was going to make sure that he was all mine.
Nathan surprised me by reaching out and pulling me close to him, and I let him without any complaint. He leaned down and kissed me softly with his beautiful, warm lips.
“I thought you weren’t big on public displays of affection,” I teased, enjoying every minute of it.
Nathan smiled. “I’m not, but you’re hard to resist, especially in that bikini.”
I looked into Nathan’s eyes. He was the one that was hard to resist. I’d realised over the course of the day that I was attracted to him and it wasn’t just about being with someone. I wanted him, I wanted more than sex, no doubt about it. But I began to wonder if I’d done the right thing yesterday. I knew it would have happened eventually, after all, that was the reason I was with him, I was supposed to be his mistress. But I wondered if I should have waited until I could convince him to want me for more than the sex.
Although, my real concern now was whether I was going to be able to shut off the feelings I had for Nathan and just be the carefree, non-commitment woman he wanted. Maybe I should just take whatever I could get from him now and hope that I could change his mind in the future?
I smiled slightly to myself, that’s exactly what I would do. I would become everything Nathan wanted in a woman and if I did it right, he would never be able to live without me. I decided it was going to be my mission over the next five days to break the man with the heart of steel and convince him that he did want commitment and love, with me.
“How about we go up to our room and you can show me exactly how irresistible I am,” I flirted, surprising myself with my boldness. I tried to run a finger down Nathan’s arm in what I hoped was a seductive gesture.
Nathan frowned slightly. “Are you sure? I’m not going through that whole commitment thing again.”
“Commitment free, I promise,” I whispered in his ear and then I trailed kisses lightly all the way down his neck.
“You’re not too sore from yesterday?”
I shook my head and my hand touched him briefly over his shorts. Nathan groaned quietly and practically dragged me out of the pool and back up to our suite. He couldn’t keep his hands off me in the lift, or his lips. We were just lucky that no one joined us on the ride up. I couldn’t remember ever wanting to be with someone like I wanted to be with him right now, my whole body was aching to be pressed against his hard, muscular chest.
When the bedroom door closed behind us, I instantly felt my nerves return. I had no idea what to do next. I tried to think back to some of the conversations I’d had with my co-workers about their weekend lovers, but my mind went blank.
“Relax, my darling,” whispered Nathan as he trailed kisses down my neck. “I’ll take it from here.”
I needn’t have worried about my inexperience because Nathan was clearly a man who took control on every occasion and I was more than happy to let him take control over this.
He picked me up and gently lay me down on the soft king-size bed, then he slowly removed all my clothes, taking his time, causing me to moan in delight. I could see he was enjoying every moment of our slow, leisurely foreplay. It was so different from our first time together, which had been frantic and intense, now it was slow and soft, both of us making each moment last as long as possible.
I felt myself calm as I relaxed into the soft bed and I enjoyed every kiss, touch, and movement. I refused to think about commitment and love, instead just concentrating on what was happening between us at that very moment and the pleasures running through my body.
Nathan’s warm skin pressed tightly against mine was enough to make me shudder in anticipation of what was going to happen next. I wanted him more than anything in the world. His hands and mouth were everywhere, not a part of me went untouched, un-kissed. I was shaking with need.
“Are you ready, angel?” Nathan whispered softly in my ear. “Because you feel ready. So, so wet.”
I could only nod my head, too caught up in my desire to speak. I pulled Nathan closer to me as he eased himself into my more than ready body. I cried out in pleasure, knowing we were as close as we could possibly be to one another. I needed to feel his skin on me, his weight on me.
Our movements started slow, moving as one, our skin slick with sweat, then our rhythm increased in momentum. It was like we had no control, our slow foreplay ignited into fast, unstoppable sex. The sounds of our bodies slamming against each other filled the room until both of us called out in ecstasy at the exact same moment.
Nathan lay still on top of me for a minute, trying to catch his breath as I enjoyed the delicious feelings running all the way through my body. He lifted himself off my sweat slicked skin and moved beside me, rising up on one elbow so he could look down at my face. Nathan reached his other arm up and ran his hands over my shoulders and down my arms, lingering when his fingers grazed my breast.
“You would never know that was only your second time,” Nathan’s voice was thick and husky. “I haven’t felt this physically attracted to someone in so long.”
I involuntarily stiffened. The words ‘physically attracted’ rang in my ears. I didn’t want to hear that now, it took a shine off the amazing buzz that was running through every one of my nerve endings.
Nathan stopped stroking my arm. “What? Why did you stiffen like that?”
“Nothing, I didn’t realise I did.” I relaxed my body and rolled over onto my side to look at him.
Nathan dark eyes stared into mine and he frowned. “You’re lying to me, Rose. Was it because I said it was only your second time?”
“No, of course not. I said it was nothing.” I went to roll away and get out of bed, but Nathan grabbed me firmly on the arm, stopping me from moving away from him.
“Is it because I said I was only physically attracted to you?” he scowled.
“No. You’ve told me that before.” I tried to keep my voice light and carefree so Nathan didn’t know that I was lying. “Don’t make a big deal out of nothing.”
“I can’t give you what you want, Rose. I want a sexual relationship with you and nothing more.”
“I know that. You want a mistress, that’s what I’m here for.”
“Yes, I wanted a mistress. But this isn’t about the deal we made. You know it’s more between us now. It’s more than what happened with your brother. I told you I had no intention of making you stay with me and I didn’t think you’d last as long as you have,” he growled. Nathan sighed and some of the darkness left his eyes. “I know now that you want to be here just as much as I want you here. You proved that yesterday when you gave me your virginity.”
“Do you want me to declare my love to you, Nathan?” I asked, mocking him. He’d asked me the very same question yesterday.
“No. I just don’t want you to make this out to be anything more than what it is. I’m not forcing you to be my mistress, Rose. You know we’ve moved on from that. I enjoy being with you and I’m absolutely attracted to you, but I don’t want to be in a relationship with you.”
“We’ve been through this before, Nathan, and I told you I was fine with it. Don’t flatter yourself, not every woman wants to be in a relationship with you,” I sighed. I was beginning to realise that there was no way that my plan to make Nathan unable to live without me was going to work. His heart didn’t have room for love.
I pulled my arm free of Nathan’s and got out of bed. Without giving him a glance, I got dressed and made my way out onto the balcony to try and clear my mind away from his intense brown eyes.
As my body and mind calmed, I took in the fun and happiness happening on the beach below, my thoughts soon drifted to Liam, Charlotte, and baby Erin. I wondered how they were doing and if the baby had come home yet. I couldn’t get the thoughts of baby Erin from my mind. I got up and walked back into the bedroom. Nathan was still lying in bed, but his eyes were closed, the night before clearly catching up with him.
“Nathan,” I whispered, gently touching him on the arm.
Nathan’s eyes opened and he sighed. “I don’t want to fight anymore, Rose.”
“I don’t either. That’s why you’re going to let me borrow your phone to ring my brother, so I can see how the baby is doing, and you’re not going to give me a hard time about it,” I added lightly.
“You want to see how Liam is,” Nathan growled.
“Come on Nathan, don’t make this out to be a bigger deal than it is. I’m close to my family. I’ve never gone this long without talking to them.”
“I thought this trip was about getting away from everything, from Liam, family, and work. It hasn’t even been two days.”
Nathan got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, putting an end to our conversation. I heard him turn on the water and step into the shower. I got up and followed him, frustrated he wouldn’t listen to me.
“Nathan, don’t walk away from me. Why can’t you discuss anything? Why is it always your way or no way?”
“Because it is,” he answered and he shut the shower door. I flung it open and Nathan groaned. “Didn’t we just agree not to argue?”
“Well stop giving me a reason too. I just want some respect from you. You said yourself that we’re past all this stuff with my brother. I’m here, by choice, giving you what you want. I gave up my life for this. It wouldn’t hurt for you to do something for me. It won’t mean that you have feelings for me, trust me,” I bit out.
Nathan shook his head in frustration. “I do respect you. I’ve cancelled the deal and I didn’t touch you until you were ready. And I have done plenty of things for you.” He smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t hear you complaining half-an-hour ago.”
I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help but laugh at him. Damn him and that cheeky smile. “That’s not what I mean.”
“I know,” he sighed. “If you insist, my phone is by the bed. Go ring your brother. But I don’t want to see any tears or hear anything about how much you’re missing them or how much they need you around.”
I smiled, a little surprised that he gave in to me. “Thank you. See how easy things can be when you just give me what I want?”
Nathan shook his head again and pulled shut the shower door.
I grabbed Nathan’s phone and took it out onto the balcony. I dialled the number and waited for Liam to pick up. I was excited to hear his voice, I really did miss him. Liam updated me on all the latest news regarding Charlotte and the baby and told me they would both be going home the next day. I briefly told him everything I had seen on the island and then hung up feeling relaxed and happy, knowing everything back home was well.
I walked back into the suite and found Nathan sitting on the lounge typing on his laptop.
“Are you working?” I asked as I handed him back his phone.
“I’m only sending a few emails. I figure you broke the rules, so I could too,” Nathan shrugged one big shoulder. “Do you want to go out for dinner tonight?”
I smiled seductively, surprising myself. “I thought we could spend a carefree, commitment-free evening in our room tonight. With room service, of course.”
Nathan put his laptop down and reached up to pull me onto his lap. “Well, as long as it’s commitment free...”