21. MATT
21
MATT
I ’m at my desk early on Monday morning. I know I’m not going to be effective; I’m too distracted with thoughts of Aries and how the hell I manage whatever this is. I very nearly told her that she’s the only woman I’ve slept with aside from Gemma, but that felt like a risky admission. It might have freaked her out, and I certainly don’t want to do anything that might scare her off.
There’s a knock on the door, and before I can answer, my brother Seb opens it. He stands in the doorway, one hand on the door handle, and stares at me. His lips purse, his eyes narrow. “What?” I ask.
He continues staring for a few seconds more, then says, “Holy shit, you did it.”
“Did what?”
But he doesn’t answer. Instead, he backs out into the corridor and yells, “Nico! Get in here.” When he looks back at me, he’s grinning so wide, his face looks like it’s made of plasticine, and I catch sight of Nico approaching over Seb’s shoulder.
“What’s going on? What happened?” Nico asks, alarm clear on his face.
Seb turns from his position blocking the doorway, so Nico can see me. He slaps a hand on Nico’s shoulder. “Relax. It’s not an emergency.”
Nico frowns. “Why the hell did you shout like that then?”
Seb tilts his head at me. “Matt fucked the nanny.”
Nico’s irritation morphs into intrigue as he slowly turns to me for confirmation. “Did you?”
I push my chair away from the desk, lean back, and steeple my fingers. Might as well try to look calm about this, although my heart is pounding at the mere thought of Aries. And hell, do I want to tell someone how I’ve spent the last two nights.
“He did. Look at his face.” Seb waves his hand. “That is the face of a man who’s been royally fucked all weekend.”
Nico squints at me, like he’s trying to see whatever Seb can see and comes up wanting.
“Where do you get this shit from?” I ask. “You can’t tell anything about my weekend from one glance at my face.”
Seb crosses his arms. “You’re underestimating my powers of perception. Put me out of my misery and admit it. You got laid, didn’t you?”
I shake my head and blink to conceal my eye roll.
Seb laughs. “I’m taking that as confirmation. You fucked the hot nanny.”
“Stop saying that. Her name is Aries,” I snap.
Nico’s eyes widen, and his strong jaw goes slack. “Fuck,” he mutters, looking away from me to stare at Seb. “You’re right. How the hell did you know?”
Seb gives a smug smile and crosses his arms. “I’m a genius.”
Nico shoots me a serious look. “You realise you just shat on your own doorstep? That was seriously dumb.”
“Says the man who slept with a colleague,” I throw back.
“That’s different. I’ve known Kate all my life. It’s different,” he repeats, as though it’s really important to him to make this distinction known. “I want to marry Kate. You’re not going to marry the nanny, are you? You hardly know her.”
I feel a pang in my chest at his accusation. I might not have known Aries long, but I feel more of a connection with her than I have with anyone… probably ever. Certainly more than I felt for Gemma and I ended up married to her for over fifteen years.
I sigh. “Aries. Her name is Aries.”
Seb laughs. “Next he’s going to be telling us he didn’t fuck her. He made love to her.”
Nico stiffens, looking at me. “Are you?”
“I’m not going to tell either of you anything.” I stand and usher them back towards the door. “Get the fuck out of my office and go back to work.”
“Okay, okay,” Seb says. “But when am I going to meet this woman? If I’d known you were going to bring her to Speech Day, I’d have come along.”
I frown, unsure whether I want Seb to meet her at all. She’s still my employee, first and foremost. “Do you just want to ogle her, or do you want to meet her like a woman that’s of interest to me?”
“Jesus,” Nico says, running a hand through his hair. “You need to sort your shit out. This is going to get messy. And Gemma will find out and cut your balls off.”
“Gemma’s not getting near my balls. Ever.” I blow out a breath.
“What is this nanny to you? This” —Nico blinks, looking confused— “Aries, sorry. What is she to you? An employee you’re messing around with, or something more?”
My heart thumps so hard it’s choking my throat. I don’t fucking know. Why is Nico pressing this? Do I need to know the answer to this right now?
I clear my throat. “The boat. I’m taking the kids on holiday. Why don’t you both come?”
“We can’t all take time off like th—” Nico begins.
“Of course we can.” Seb replies. “I haven’t been on the boat in way too long. Email me the details, and I’ll clear our diaries.”
“You can't do that,” Nico begins. “We—”
“Fuck, Nico. Chill out,” Seb admonishes. “This place will still exist if you take a break. Get Jack Lansen to cover. You’re always going on about how great he is. He’s more than capable of filling your shoes for a week or two. And God knows, we deserve a break.”
Nico considers this, his head to one side. “I could use some sun. Kate would have to come too, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Seb says, with mock sincerity. “And I’d bring… probably no one. But maybe I’ll find someone at the last minute.”
“No last minute dates on a holiday where my kids are involved,” I warn. “That’s where I draw the line. If you want to come, you come solo.”
Seb looks irritated for the first time since he entered my office. “Fine. Solo it is. You aren’t getting rid of me that easily.” He slaps a hand on Nico’s shoulder. “Let’s leave lover boy to his daydreams.”
“Fuck off,” I bark, watching as the two of them disappear out into the hallway. I close the door and lean against it.
Was asking them to come on the boat really fucking stupid?
The next week passes in a blur of sex and Aries and dark nights and soft sheets. She’s always ready for me, her soft pink pussy so wet… every fucking time I touch it, she’s soaked. And the taste of her. Fuck .
I can hardly work because this obsession is taking over most of my brain space. I got her a new phone, but when she’s with Lucie, I don’t hear from her. It’s a good thing she’s not staring at a screen when caring for my daughter, but it makes the anticipation more acute. I’m always waiting for some word…
My phone buzzes on cue. It’s half seven, so Lucie’s already in bed. I’m working late.
I click open the phone.
Aries: My body misses you.
Before I can reply, a photo comes through.
Fuck me .
It’s a selfie of Aries. Her face is obscured and she’s wearing only underwear. She must have put a bra on just for this. Her full breasts spill out of it, and she’s tugging the cup down on one side, revealing a tight, pink nipple. Fuck me, again. I want to suck it. The curve of her waist is so feminine, so irresistible as it fills out to those hips, that arse… dimpled and soft, and those thighs that fit so perfectly around my neck when I eat her.
Aries: Want more?
Me: Yes. But this is a work phone. That wouldn't be a good idea.
Aries: I thought you were the boss.
Me: All communications are called in if there’s an issue.
Aries: So no sexting?
Me: No.
Aries: Come home then, before I change my mind and decide you’re too old and boring to fuck.
I chuckle before sliding my phone into my pocket and powering down my computer.
When I open the front door, the house is quiet. I pace into the hall in breathless anticipation, my dick already semi-hard at the thought that Aries is inside, waiting for me.
I walk into the drawing room to find a woman on the sofa. But it’s not the one I want to see.
Gemma is sitting in the midst of the designer cushions she chose, her long legs crossed, looking elegant in a trouser suit. Her shoes, with their stiletto heels and toes so pointed she could use them as weapons, poke out beneath. Her tight smile makes bile rise up my throat.
There is no way she should be letting herself into my home like this.
I hold out my hand. “Your key,” I demand. “I’ll have it back.”
She curls her fingers through the air. “My biometrics are still in your system, Matthew.” The way she says my full name makes my hackles rise.
“They won’t be after tonight. You can’t show up unannounced.”
Gemma rolls her eyes. “You think so little of me. I rang the bell. Your nanny let me in. She really is a very pretty girl. Young though. She must be ten years younger than you.”
“Why are you here? I thought you wanted a break from the kids all summer?”
She laughs. “Not the special occasions.” She uncrosses her legs, springing to her feet like a long-limbed gazelle. “Charlie’s coming home soon. And it’s his birthday. I’d like to throw the party at my house.”
“You do yours, I’ll do mine. He can have two separate parties.”
“No. We’ll combine. He’s turning seventeen. That’s a big deal, especially after last year. We barely acknowledged his sixteenth, given the divorce and all that." Fuck, she's right about that . “This year, I want us all to be together, like a family.”
“We aren’t one.”
A sour look crosses her face. “Maybe we should be. For one afternoon.”
We glare at one another, the air awkward and thick.
“Did Barney Wentworth call you?” I ask.
“Charlie’s housemaster? No. He didn’t call me.”
“Email?”
“No. Is something wrong?”
Part of me doesn’t want to elaborate, but Gemma is still the mother of my children. “He’s worried about Charlie.”
Gemma laughs again. “Oh, the weed. Under his bed. Mark told me about it. Hugo found it, apparently. Stashed away with Charlie’s underwear.” She wafts a hand in the air. “So what? A little weed never hurt anyone. Takes the edge off.” She nods at me like an idea has just occurred to her. “You could do with some. You’re so edgy nowadays you’re like a shard of broken glass.” She walks towards me, and I instinctively back away, but her hand rests a moment on my shoulder as she passes. “I’ll send you an invitation, but we’ll host it here. Your place is bigger, after all.”
I rub my thumb and forefinger across my eyes. “Fine.”
“Night, Matthew. Don’t stay up too late. You look awful.”
I don’t escort her to the door, or turn around once she’s left the room. I stand still until she’s gone. The front door slams, and her heels click down the steps outside the house.
“Sorry,” comes a soft voice.
I turn to find Aries standing in the doorway. Her long red hair is tied in a messy bun, strands falling about her face. She’s in a loose-fitting white t-shirt that does nothing to hide her voluptuous, now braless breasts. Pale blue jeans skim her hips, and her feet are bare. She’s breathtaking in her casual perfection.
“I didn’t know what to do when she showed up,” she says. “I wasn’t going to send her away. She said she’d only take a minute of your time.”
“That’s all right. You did the right thing.”
I blow out a breath, letting the irritation Gemma infused into my blood diffuse, enabling me to focus on the only woman I want to see right now. As I stare, the air buzzes with energy swarming between us. It feels a little like my heart might explode.
She must see the appreciative look in my eyes, because a seductive smile breaks across her face. She steps into the room and closes the door with her foot.
We’re alone amongst the luxury furnishing. Her toes sink into the deep pile of the carpet. I suddenly think of Gemma and how she picked out all this fabric with our interior designer; chose these sofas, these fucking cushions. It’s all so perfect and stylish and I fucking hate all of it.
“Bad day?” Aries asks.
“Not really—”
“Let me make it better.”
She crosses the room, my mind ablaze with ideas of what she’s going to do to me. But she halts a pace away, staring above my eye-line. She holds my gaze as she runs a thumb over my brow, like she’s smoothing out my frown. Her thumb lingers over my eyebrow; the strip where there’s no hair. “This scar,” she whispers. “How did you get it?”
“A fight.”
“In a bar?”
“No. At home.”
“Who—”
“Gemma. We argued. She hit me with a wine glass. There was a fuckload of blood. A few stitches.”
Aries inhales sharply. “Did you—”
“I didn’t touch her, if that’s what you’re about to ask. We fought a lot, but I never hurt her. She broke things. Smashed whatever she could lay her hands on.” I cover her hand with my own, where it still hovers over my eyebrow. “But that was the only time she physically hurt me.”
Aries nods. “I’m so sorry.”
I shake my head. “Please, don’t be. It’s over.”
She rises on her tiptoes to kiss me. Her lips are soft, and the kiss is soothing in a way most of our kisses aren’t. But it only takes a moment before it deepens. Her tongue slides against mine in a relentless, ravenous way that has my dick hardening in my suit. I greedily suck her mouth, her lips, driving away the memories of my tormented marriage.
Aries breaks the kiss, her hands going straight to my trousers. She undoes the buttons and unzips the fly. No messing around .
I hold my breath, growing harder by the second as this goddess’ fingers graze against my cock. Sweet anticipation coils through me as she deftly pulls my trousers down. She slides a hand into my boxers, her lips quirking with a delighted little grin as her fingers curl around my girth. She nibbles her bottom lip and raises those green eyes to mine, her gaze swimming with lust that’s impossible to ignore.
“Such a big boy,” she whispers. “I love your cock.”
Her words prickle against my skin as she drags her fisted hand up my shaft, and a shock of arousal blasts through my body from the tip of my dick.
I huff a laugh. “I know you do.”
“And it loves me,” she says, amusement sparkling in her eyes as she eases my boxers down to join the trousers on the floor.
My breathing shallows as Aries drops to her knees, her hands on my bare hips. She runs the flat of her tongue along the underside of my dick, which jerks in response
“Fuck my mouth until you feel better,” she purrs.
“You’re a dream,” I murmur as I thread my fingers into her hair to tug out the band that holds it up and throw it to the floor. Red waves fall around her shoulders as she runs her tongue across the tingling head of my dick, her tongue curling over the bead of pre-cum.
She eases her mouth over the tip, sliding down my shaft, sucking as much of it as she can manage, while her hand fists at the thick base.
For a few minutes, she sucks, licks, and laps at my dick like it’s the tastiest thing in the whole damn world. It’s blissful, erotic, un-fucking-believable , and I want to sink into the warmth of her mouth over and over again, but I hold back until she releases my dick with a soft pop, her fingers digging into my hip.
“Didn’t you hear me?” she queries.
The question throws me into confusion. I’m so turned on I can barely think. “Hear what?”
“Fuck my mouth, Matt.”
Does she mean what I think she does? “You sure?”
She nods and opens her mouth to take me again when I grab her head to hold her back.
“Take your clothes off. I want to see your tits while I fuck your mouth.”
A slow, knowing smile spreads over her face, and her eyes are full of a heat that scorches my skin, filling me with anticipation. She could tip me over to orgasm so easily, and we’ve barely started.
She pulls off her t-shirt, and her full, glorious breasts fall out, each mound crested with a pert pink nipple. No bra. I knew it.
I want to sink my teeth into that pale skin, but I don’t trust myself not to bite her, drawing deep red blood across her skin. I want her that damn much.
She stands, undoes her jeans and slides them down her thighs along with her panties. My cock throbs, a hard beast rising to my navel, the head seeping pre-ejaculate.
Entirely naked, Aries sinks onto the floor and takes me in her mouth again. She sucks once, twice, rolling her tongue around my tip, and then she stops. She doesn’t suck again… she receives , and it’s bloody exquisite.
I fist my hands tighter into her hair, and slide my cock in further, expecting her to gag, but she doesn’t. Encouraged, I withdraw and thrust again, using my hands in her hair to move her exactly the way I want.
Fuck . This woman is ready to take as much of me as I need, allowing me to drag my pleasure from her body. It’s a fucking turn on and I tug harder on her hair, using the strands like reins to control her.
My thick dick passes in and out of her full lips, again and again, her breasts bouncing with each of my thrusts.
A moan vibrates along my cock, and I pump harder, faster, until I’m fucking her mouth relentlessly, hitting the back of her throat. Her eyes are watering, her moans growing more desperate. Each choked gurgle has my arousal crescendoing to new heights.
Sweet Jesus, this is something else. I watch my dick disappearing into her mouth, bucking my hips to meet it until my balls hit her chin. The slapping sound, flesh-to-face, combined with Aries’ garbled noises and my own grunts of angry desire, is a sensual mix that has tingles spreading from my dick and up my spine. Pleasure coils at the base, like a tightly wound spring.
“Fuck, Aries. That’s so fucking good,” I say, as tension builds in my torso and my neck as I maintain my thrusts. “Take every inch. Every”— thrust —“fucking”— thrust —“inch.”
She moans, and one of her hands moves from my hip to between her thighs.
“Don’t touch yourself,” I command, with one more powerful thrust. “That pussy belongs to me.”
Her hand falls just as my orgasm breaks, and I pull her head towards me again, my dick vanishing between her lips.
“Oh fuck, fuuuuuuck.” I groan, letting a hot spurt of cum spray into the back of her throat. There’s so much of it, it feels like I’m ejaculating forever, but Aries takes it all.
My legs feel shaky as I let the last of my orgasm fade away. Aries swallows and eases back on my dick, swirling her tongue up the length and around the tip, licking up every last drop of cum, making me jerk as though each agonising swipe of her tongue is electric.
Then she sits back on her knees, her hands on her naked thighs. She looks like a vision from a Rubens’ painting, all that red hair flowing loose over her shoulders, and her soft curves.
“If you hadn’t drained me, I’d come all over those tits,” I say.
She laughs and wipes her mouth on the back of her hand before she brushes away the tears from her eyes with her fingertips.
“You all right?” I ask. Her throat must have taken a pounding. I feel a flash of guilt mingle with the post-orgasmic bliss that’s coursing through my body.
“I am.”
“Your lips are swollen…”
She sucks her bottom lip inward, biting down on it. “Worth it,” she whispers.
I take her in, waiting naked on the carpet. “You give head like a pro.”
“Like a pro, eh?”
I nod, pulling up my boxers and trousers.
She eyes me. “I can’t work out if that’s an insult or not.”
I sink to my knees and press my lips to hers, tasting the remnants of me on her mouth. “Compliment. The word you’re looking for is compliment. Now lie back.”