CHAPTER NINETEEN
Jack
The icepack was doing its job cooling the swelling on my cheek, but I regretfully placed it on a housekeeping trolley as we passed, sauntering down the hall to view the destroyed suite.
The constant arid thirst that I recalled from my other spiking incident was the same this time.
It was important to drink lots of liquid to flush the drug out.
I was relieved to find that the mini bar was intact.
I opened the small fridge, picked out a couple of mixer cans of coke.
“Hey handsome,” I called as I tossed a can to Nate, who caught it one handed without looking.
Did he secretly possess super powers? We both downed the cokes in seconds.
“Water incoming,” I warned, I then tossed Nate a bottle of chilled still water and took one for myself.
After glugging the bottle of water, I made my way through the destruction, furious to discover that they’d ripped the linings out of both of our suitcases and they were now unusable.
I opened the cabinet that housed the safe.
With small dents to the door, it appeared that they’d hammered at the safe with something in an attempt to open it, but it was sturdy, and survived the barrage.
When I pressed my thumb to the biometric reader, the safe beeped open.
Our cash, passports, and phones were still in there.
I let out a moan of relief as I reached for my smart phone, switched it on, and let the volley of notifications wash over me, music to my ears!
Cradling the phone to my heart, “Oh my dearest love,” I said in Lord Bertie’s cut glass accent, “Forgive me for abandoning you. I shall never let you go again!” It was ridiculous to feel so attached to a piece of technology.
“Goofball,” Nate snickered as he tip-toed through the debris toward me.
I passed Nate’s phone to him and he switched it on.
I glanced at my text messages. The first message told me the date for the first read-through of the Shakespeare script, and other messages were from friends wondering when I’d be around to socialize.
I ignored those and moved to glance at a message from Sassy.
My bestie had flown back to Australia and filming would start on her series in a few days.
Boy, did I have a story to entertain her the next time we had a catch-up video call!
Finally, I scrolled to see a stream of messages from Lucy and from Bo Bellingham from Maritime Studios about the schedule for the arrival of the team from the US.
A pang of guilt pinched in my chest. I should call Lucy and tell her what had happened to us, but, honestly, I dreaded it.
Herr Vogel left us to look around and collect what we could salvage, but he returned a few minutes later giving us both old-school clip boards with a pen on string and the insurance papers attached.
“I will sort out your new accommodation and ensure the security protocols are in place,” he added before making his way out of the detritus covered suite.
Nate stuffed his phone into his pocket, glanced around the room, and grumbled, “This is such a fucking mess…I can’t stand it…gotta get out of here.”
Nate was a neat-freak like me, but he appeared heartsick at seeing his belongings in tatters. “I’ll be in the hall,” he said.
I glanced around the room and it was a depressing sight.
I’d packed a sexy jockstrap to wear specially for our first time as I knew Nate went bug-eyed for my sculpted dancer’s bum.
I’d bought a new butt plug too that was still in its packaging.
I’d planned to use it in a striptease to make my man crazy.
But, the plans were in ruins, literally, all over this hotel room floor.
I took some photographs of the wrecked suite and then I eased open the wardrobe door, hanging on one hinge and found a plastic laundry bag.
I added everything to the bag that was salvageable.
Nate owned a lot of pricy skincare and several of the jars were smashed, as if the bad guys thought the chips were hidden in a jar of La Prarie Caviar Luxe Day Cream worth nine-hundred quid!
But the jars that survived were added to the bag.
I found toiletries, cologne, an unopened bottle of lube and box of condoms, underwear, Ibuprofen, socks, sunglasses, our passports, cash, the new jock strap and plug—both in their packaging, and a couple of tank top vests that escaped the knife.
Drained and exhausted, I stepped out into the corridor and slid down the wall to sit beside Nate, my clipboard on my knees and the pathetic bag of salvage beside me.
I ran my fingers through my hair and in the process, smelled my armpit, and groaned.
Further down the hall the housekeeping staff was busy cleaning and refreshing suites.
“Hey, you okay, babe?” I asked softly.
Nate turned and gave me a stony look, his brow raised in consternation. No, it appeared that Nate was not okay.
“My brain still feels…fuzzy. I fuckin’ hate it. I can’t even recall what I packed, let alone list it and price it. We’d need a goddamn forensics team to piece it all together!” he grumbled. “But, it’s not as if I can’t afford to replace everything!”
“I hoped we wouldn’t be getting out of bed for three days, so I didn’t bring many clothes.
” That saucy revelation pulled a twitch of a smile from my man!
I swiftly penned my details and a list of clothes that probably cost less than the arm of one of Nate’s shirts, and then I shuffled closer.
I pulled Nate in for a side hug and kissed him on the cheek.
He sagged into me, surrendering in a way that brought my protective feelings to the fore.
We were supposed to be having fun, enjoying one another’s bodies, and forgetting about the rest of the world, but some random bastards decided to turn our lives upside down.
They’d made Nate a target, made us both feel unsafe, and I wouldn’t bloody stand for it. Fuck them and their agenda!
“How’s about, when this is done, we go to the new suite and take a cool shower together and remember that we’ve a promise to deliver on.”
Nate let out a sigh, and then to my surprise he moved his head lower, pushing his nose into my armpit. “I love the way you smell. Your scent goes straight to my balls, y’know...”
My god, that was so hot! “What do I smell like?”
“Mine,” he said and that single word stopped me in my tracks. I never believed I could feel this connected to him. Nate continued snuffling my armpit like a dog “I want to lick you here,” he groaned. My lethargy was forgotten.
“Damn, you filthy fucking tease,” I said roughly as I fisted Nate’s hair and pulled his head up so I could see the lust in his eyes.
Oh yeah, I was so gone for this man. I leaned in, gave him a thorough, devouring kiss, and then pushed him away, pleased to see how dazed he looked.
“The quicker the paperwork’s done the better! Y’get me?”
“Uh, yeah…I guess,” he said dreamily.
I moved away a little to keep temptation out of reach and we both continued to fill in the forms. I scanned the images on my phone to remind me of belongings that were destroyed.
Then I swiped back through the photos of our day in Tiergarten.
Yesterday had been an almost perfect first date—almost!
I was taken by how happy we were, our eyes bright with carefree joy as we posed together with our bikes, then beside statues we’d discovered among the trees, and then atop the tower.
A sudden realization hit me. “Fuck!” I exhaled.
“What, what is it?” Nate asked.
“They’re in so many photos?”
“Who?”
“Hugh-fucking-Jorgen, and two other men…here, look!” I tilted the screen so Nate could see that the photos I’d taken while we were cycling. I zoomed in to show Jorgen was on a bike around ten meters behind us, and behind him two Chinese men.
“Looks like Jorgen was trailing us and they were stalking him,” I suggested. But before we could talk further about why the Swede had been following us around the park, a soft feminine voice said,
“Guten morgen Herr Vogel.” I looked up from my phone to see the manager striding down the hall past the housekeeper.
“Gentlemen,” he said when he arrived at suite 265. Both Nate and I stood and exchanged the clipboards for new keycards. “You are in the Royal penthouse suite for two nights. It is the finest suite in the hotel. The accommodation comes with a butler, if you require.”
“What? Oh, no, no that won’t be necessary,” I said quickly. I didn’t want anyone listening to all of the debauched things I was planning on doing to Nate Linden’s body!
“By the time you take the elevator up to the penthouse a breakfast trolley will be waiting for you. Pyjamas, robes, and slippers have been supplied. Contact the concierge and tell them your measurements. They will deliver a selection of clothes to tide you over.” He leaned closer before adding in a whisper, “In the Royal Suite, the safe is located behind the painting of the vase with the blue flowers.” Then Herr Vogel tapped his nose and winked.
I stifled a laugh; reminded of a British wartime comedy show I watched when I was a kid.
I tapped my nose and winked in response, then picked up the laundry bag of our meagre belongings, thanked the manager, and we trudged down the hallway toward the elevator.
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