Chase by Flora Dain Page B

need you here. And know what? I need you now.’
    He hauls the cover off me and kneels between my thighs, his expression purposeful as he caresses my thighs, pushes them apart with deliberate twitches of his fingers. Ignoring my laughing protests he lowers his tousled head and fastens on my most private place, where my throbbing, lively little bud is still aglow with orgasm.
    At the first touch of his tongue I jolt, at the second I laugh out loud, but as he keeps on, his tongue urgent and compelling, I sink into the easy sea of pleasure swelling around me as another climax starts to build. Soon I buck and thrash in his jaws like a ravished doe as he triggers another earth-shattering orgasm. It ripples slowly away, leaving me glowing like molten gold.
    He surges up over me and pulls me into his arms, laughing and triumphant. ‘See? That’s what you need. You need me.’
    Later we lounge in bed with a breakfast tray and coffee brought in by a scuttling maid. Has she seen women here before? I’d sooner not know. As I sip he’s already pacing the room, checking his phone, issuing orders.
    All at once he glances my way. ‘Tonight we’re due at the State House around eight. That suit?’
    ‘We are?’ I scan his face and swallow. ‘Are you sure you want me to come?’
    His look instantly clouds. ‘Shit, Ella, don’t back down now. I thought you’d be pleased. Anyway, my mother wants to meet you.’
    I sit up in alarm. ‘What? How does she know about me?’
    For a full second he looks so surprised I wonder what I’ve said. Next second he’s swooped down to place his arms at either side of me on the bed, his face close to mine. ‘One, I told her. You’re the first girl I’ve mentioned to her, so she’s interested. Plus, she already heard of you. She likes your poetry.’
    ‘You’re kidding.’ I giggle as he sits next to me and slips his hand in my robe, fondling my breast. I arch my neck with excitement. ‘Is she a poet too?’
    His face is deep in my neck now. I can feel his breath on my skin. ‘Not really, but she knows a lot of people, including your old professor. Chances are –’ his hand slips over to the other breast and now my arms are wound round his waist, pulling him closer ‘– he’ll be there too. Hey. Move over.’
    I’d hoped for a long, lazy day, lunch al fresco followed by a long, lazy, poolside afternoon in the last of the sunshine before the weather turns cold. But as the afternoon wears on Darnley spends more and more time on calls. From his irritated tone I guess it’s about Cola again.
    As we get ready to go out he prowls my room, looking carelessly perfect, occasionally adjusting his cuffs but more often glancing darkly at me. I grow uneasy as I adjust my tiny diamond earrings and put the finishing touches to my hair.
    As he draws close my eyes widen.
He’s brought the bracelets.
    From the box the diamonds flash and dazzle. Their brilliance does little to calm my nerves. Now I’m on high alert. He raises my hand to his lips, drops a soft kiss on the inside edge of my palm and snaps on the first bracelet.
    ‘You’ll wear them all evening. Maybe longer.’
    His low murmur and his dark, steady look send excitement pounding through me as heat flares deep down. At the same moment I feel a shimmer of fear.
    I raise my other hand and he fixes the other bracelet in place, his gaze solemn. Our ritual has already begun, the air between us ablaze with bling and crackling with tension.
    I’m still in my underwear, a porno-effect paper doll in heels, stockings and skimpy lingerie. His sweeping clinical look makes me burn.
    ‘Lose these.’ He fingers the lacy trim at the edge of my panties and wrenches it a little way down my leg. Hurriedly I step out of them, kicking away the wisp of designer lace that cost more than my last month’s food bill.
    He slips a finger deep into my little valley. ‘Open your legs.’
    Slowly he runs his fingers along one side of my swollen folds and then the