Chapter 10 #4
I’ve been trying to access her hospital records from that time, but medical privacy laws make it nearly impossible.
However, I did have Clarice visit the hospital, and she managed to track down a nurse who was on duty that night.
Unfortunately, the woman isn’t due back in New York for another week.
I fully intend to have a very thorough conversation with her, regardless of how much money I have to spend to ensure her cooperation.
This nurse might possess crucial information that could give me insight into what really happened to Natalie.
I can’t even consider asking Natalie directly about it; my woman has a formidable temper, and it would explode spectacularly if she realized I was investigating her past.
The whole situation bothers me more than it should. Why is she continuing to pay off her mother’s gambling debts when the woman treats her with such obvious cruelty? What role does Lucas play in this twisted family dynamic? And where the hell is he now?
My phone rings, interrupting my heavy thoughts. Seeing the familiar name on the screen, I answer immediately. “Clarice?”
“Mr. Blake stopped by the office again today.”
“Roland?” I frown with growing irritation. “What did he want this time?”
“I honestly don’t know, Sir. He came looking for you, then specifically asked me about Miss Natalie’s whereabouts.
I told him both of you were out of the city on business.
He looked genuinely disturbed by that information and said he’d return later.
Did you have a meeting scheduled with him that I’m not aware of? ”
“Absolutely not. Why was he asking about Natalie specifically?”
“I couldn’t tell you,” Clarice admits with obvious frustration. “ I asked if he needed something from her department. He just turned around and left without explanation.”
“I see,” I say slowly, my mind racing through possibilities. “If he comes around again, tell him to contact me directly on my personal line.”
After ending the call, I stare at the phone with growing suspicion.
Roland has been dropping by unannounced far too frequently lately, and his interest in Natalie is becoming increasingly obvious.
When I first introduced them, his eyes lingered on her in a way that set my teeth on edge.
Does he somehow know her from before? But if that were the case, she would have recognized him immediately.
Or is his interest in her motivated by something else entirely?
My jaw tightens with possessive anger. Roland has never been married, doesn’t date, and has shown no interest in women for as long as I’ve known him.
My father tried repeatedly to set him up with eligible women over the years, but Roland always politely declined.
If he’s suddenly developed a romantic interest in Natalie, we’re going to have a serious problem.
She’s far too young for him, and more importantly, she belongs to me.
I’m definitely going to have a very direct conversation with Natalie after we return to New York.
She needs to stay far away from him, for her own protection.
I never paid attention to what kind of women might catch my father’s friend’s interest, but suddenly I have an urgent need to find out everything about his personal life.
It doesn’t matter how much money he’s invested in my companies—if he even thinks about pursuing Natalie, I’ll destroy him completely.
The very thought of Roland’s hands on Natalie has me in a decidedly grim mood by the time we reach the hotel.
After dropping my things in my room and checking my phone for messages from my sister, I head directly to Natalie’s suite. Before I can even knock, the door swings open, and I come face-to-face with Megan, who has a wide grin on her face and a cocktail glass in her hand.
“Oh no!” She dramatically slaps her hand over her mouth, giggling. “He’s back!”
“Who?” I hear another familiar voice, noticeably slurred, and Natalie appears from behind the door, brandishing a bottle of red wine like a weapon. She gives me a lopsided smile. “Uh-oh. I think we’ve been caught red-handed.”
“You’re drunk.” I look from her to my sister with growing disbelief. “You got her drunk?”
“Correction.” Megan lifts a finger that wavers unsteadily in the air. She frowns, trying to make it stay still. “Your girlfriend got me drunk.”
“Hear that, Ethan?” Natalie ducks under Megan’s arm with surprising grace for someone who’s clearly had too much to drink, giving me a shit-eating grin before leaning up to kiss me squarely on the mouth. “I’m your girlfriend.”
My eyes soften at the genuinely happy look in her bright eyes. She’s completely and utterly out of it, but there’s something endearing about her uninhibited state.
When she stumbles slightly, I wrap my arm around her waist to steady her against my chest. “Why did you get drunk? I was planning to take you out to dinner.”
“Take me out to dinner?” she laughs with musical delight. “But dinner just arrived.”
I glance over the top of her head at the table, which now sports two conspicuously empty wine bottles. “Where is it?”
She stabs a playful finger into my chest with surprising accuracy. “You.”
I blink in confusion. “Excuse me?”
“You can go now, Megan. I need some quality time with your devastatingly handsome brother.”
Snickering like a teenager, Megan takes the wine bottle from her and begins walking toward the door with exaggerated dignity.
“Wait.” I reach into my pocket and hand her my room card. “Go rest in my room. Don’t you dare go wandering around the hotel drunk like this.”
She lifts the card in front of her face as if examining a precious artifact. “Oh. Can I order room service?”
“Go absolutely crazy,” I suggest before I’m pulled into the room by my tie, and Natalie closes the door with a decisive click.
Her eyes are sparkling with mischief and something darker, more intense. “So where have you been hiding all afternoon?”
Her hands are pressed against my chest, and she has me pinned against the door with surprising strength for someone her size.
“Natalie, let me get you some coffee and food.”
“No.” Her forehead scrunches adorably. “I want you.”
Her hands reach boldly for my pants, and before I can fully process what’s happening, she’s unzipping them. I reach out to stop her, but she bats my hands away with surprising authority. “Shoo. I’m busy here.”
“Natalie. This is not a good idea. You’re drunk.” It’s remarkably difficult to sound reasonable when her hand is fishing in my pants for my cock, which is already hardening at the very sight of her acting so aggressively seductive. “How much did you actually drink?”
“Enough,” she hums with satisfaction before gracefully dropping to her knees.
“Nat—”
She’s successfully extracted my cock, and when her pink tongue darts out to lick the tip with kitten-like precision, I close my eyes and groan. “Fuck.”
Her hot, wet mouth envelops my cock completely, her tongue flattening as she takes in more and more .
Leaning my head back against the door, I’m helpless against her sensual assault. Little vixen knows exactly what she’s doing to me. She’s deliberately teasing me.
My hands wind into her silky hair, and I pull off her hair clip, watching the lustrous curls tumble down around her shoulders like a waterfall. Grabbing generous fistfuls, I slowly guide her head with gentle pressure.
She’s positioned on her hands and knees, and I can see her perfectly curved backside swaying slightly.
This is exquisite torture, and she’s driving me completely insane with want.
“You’re trying to punish me, aren’t you?” I groan with barely restrained need.
When she hums in response with my cock still buried in her mouth, it takes every ounce of self-control not to come immediately.
She’s not particularly experienced—I was her first, after all. But everything I taught her that passionate night and this morning, she’s using against me with devastating effectiveness.
Fuck. I’m done for.
“Natalie, let’s take this to the bedroom,” I coax her with strained patience, but she just takes my cock even deeper into her mouth. My hands tighten possessively in her hair. I can’t afford to lose control. If I start?—
She makes a sucking motion that nearly destroys my resolve, and I snarl, finally snapping.
Grabbing her head firmly, I begin moving my hips with increasing urgency.
She doesn’t protest or pull away—instead, her eyes look up at me challengingly, her mouth stretched around me.
I can see the defiant challenge burning in her gaze.
“Do you think this is some kind of game? Do you think you’re actually in control here?” I growl at her with barely contained dominance.
I thrust my cock deep into her mouth, and she takes it all without complaint.
She doesn’t push me away or show any sign of distress.
She simply takes everything I give her, and it drives me absolutely fucking insane.
I control the pace and depth of my thrusts as I claim her mouth, making sure she doesn’t choke while giving her exactly the roughness she seems to crave.
I can hear the soft sounds of appreciation she’s making. If she doesn’t stop this exquisite torture soon, I’m not going to be able to hold myself back any longer.
Not in her mouth, though.
Not yet.
Just as I’m teetering on the very edge of release, I drag her off my cock and lift her onto the dining room table before pushing her down and yanking off her shorts.
Lifting her hips, I wrap her long legs around my waist and slam into her.
My pace is hard and punishing, and she’s completely drenched for me.
I’ve never encountered a more uninhibited woman in bed.
It’s as if her entire personality transforms and all her careful inhibitions simply vanish into thin air.
A wine bottle crashes to the ground and shatters loudly, but I don’t care about anything except the woman writhing beneath me.
Slamming in and out of her with increasing intensity, I watch her generous chest bounce enticingly under her thin shirt.
I pull off the T-shirt roughly, leaving it entangled around her arms like silken bonds.
Reaching for her perfect breasts, I lavish them with attention all the while fucking her.
She screams out my name as her body tightens around my cock like a velvet vice. At that exact moment, I feel my own release building, and I kiss her harshly, tasting myself in her mouth.
When her body finally goes completely limp with satisfaction, I gather her into my arms. “We’re taking this to the bedroom.”
Because I’m nowhere near finished with her yet.