Out of the Darkness (Untwisted #2) (3 page)

Chapter Three – Stella

Oh God, oh God, oh God, about ten seconds ago I had noticed a man approaching me in my peripheral vision, but when he’d stopped right next to me I had been too nervous to bring myself to turn and face him and had stared fixedly at my drink instead. Now I was still sat staring at the slice of lemon in my vodka and probably looked like a complete frigging idiot. Great; good start, Stella. Sucking in a huge breath I readied myself. This was it, I’d come here wanting to enter a relationship as a submissive and now, stood waiting for me to acknowledge him was my potential dom. My ultimate bad boy.

I’d quite literally never felt more anxious in my entire life. Scared shitless doesn’t even come close.

There really was only so long that you could stare at a slice of lemon without being carted off to a loony bin, so finally I shifted in my seat and nervously turned to face the man silently assessing me.

My heart was absolutely pounding in my chest but I’d promised myself that I would use my business head and remain cool, calm, and collected in this meeting. Unfortunately as I took my first cautious glance at the man to my right those promises became a thing of the past.

Blimey.
Without even speaking, he had instantly managed to make me feel intimidated. He was well over six feet tall, but the first thing I noticed about him was that he had the clearest, brightest, most icily intense blue eyes I’d ever seen. They were so cold-looking that my heart stuttered and I actually found myself shivering. To match his impressive height he was classically good-looking, handsome even, and seemed to have a great build to match: broad and athletic, which was made more pronounced by the impeccably tailored suit that clung to him tantalisingly. All this was topped off with a mop of shockingly blond hair swept back with precision from his forehead. My mouth dropped open in astonishment and it took a great deal of mental effort to close it again.

I have to say I’d never really gone for blonds before, but for this man I’d happily change my preference because, quite simply, he was stunning.

All in all he screamed authority, professionalism, and a raw masculine sex appeal that made my poor pounding heart quiver in my chest with apprehension.

Now that I was finally looking at him I found he dropped his eyes to focus them somewhere around my chin before giving me a curt nod and sitting himself on the stool next to me. I frowned and wondered why he had averted his eyes, but the only reason I could come up with was that perhaps he was trying to make me feel more comfortable by not staring at me directly. Perhaps he knew the heart-stopping effect that his piercing blue eyes had and found it easier to converse this way. Whatever the reason it was fast becoming clear to me that I had never before had a reaction to a man like this.

‘You must be Stella, I’m Nathan,’ he said in a deep, rich voice that matched his impressive stature and did nothing to calm my thundering heart.

In response, I nodded and realised that my nervy dry throat had completely removed my ability to speak. This man,
Nathan
, literally radiated presence. One that not many people had or could pull off; a mixture of arrogance, self-confidence, and sheer masculine intensity that sent an involuntary shudder of fear laced lust bursting through my body. My God, I was desperately turned on already and he’d only said six words to me!

Undoubtedly, Nathan must be the kind of man that drew looks of admiration when he entered a room. Women would want to be with him and men would want to be like him. From my admittedly limited experience he was a rarity, some sort of prime specimen of masculinity that up until now I had thought only existed in magazines or cheesy action flicks. I swallowed nervously as I considered him, there was no doubt that he was way out of my league and without even saying one word to him I already sensed that I was probably in over my head with this guy.

‘So, David tells me you might be looking for a new partnership with a dominant,’ Nathan stated calmly, obviously not feeling any of the nerves or embarrassment that were currently coursing through my veins like a freight train.

Quickly sipping my drink to quench my parched throat I finally managed to speak. ‘Um, yes.’ Fiddling with my glass I decided I needed to be completely upfront with this guy from the start. ‘I should warn you I’m not hugely experienced in this type of relationship,’ – major understatement – ‘but I know it’s definitely something I’d like to experiment with.’

‘Yes, David explained some of your history to me on the phone,’ Nathan replied coolly. ‘He said your career is your main focus at the moment, but that after a failed relationship with a different dominant you are now interested in pursuing a purely physical relationship with someone else.’ Tilting his head, he swirled his glass, as if considering the possible reasons that my relationship ‘failed’, a tiny flicker of a smile moving his lips. His very lovely lips, I realised distractedly, as my eyes lingered on them for just a little longer than necessary.

Feeling a little defensive of myself, I straightened my back. ‘We just wanted different things,’ I clarified haughtily.

‘Quite frankly, if you had a contractual agreement I have no idea how your “differences” didn’t come up as an issue at the start of your relationship,’ Nathan said with a shake of his head.

‘It wasn’t really a contractual thing, we met through a friend and he only admitted he was into the dominant stuff later on,’ I observed. Picking up on the minute shake of Nathan’s head, I assumed it was because he thought me stupid for not having had some sort of contract with Aidan.

 Nathan’s condescending remark made me feel decidedly prickly about my naivety, and I sat up straighter on my stool to defend myself. ‘You need to understand I’ve never had a relationship before that required a contract,’ I reminded him, wanting to sound clear and confident and brisk, but unfortunately my words came out weakly as I once again realised how ridiculously out of my depth I was. Talk about throwing yourself in the deep end! Maybe I should just leave now. For one thing, I’d never really been in a submissive relationship before, but on top of that I’d never so much as kissed a man as startlingly attractive and commanding as the one currently sat in front of me and that thought completely frigging terrified me.

‘Of course,’ Nathan conceded finally, ‘I appreciate it’s a different approach from the norm. I, however, would expect a contract to be drawn up between us, it would ensure we both achieved satisfaction from the agreement while also staying within both of our boundaries,’ he stated clearly.

‘I’ll be upfront with you, I’m concerned that as a relative novice to this world my tastes may be a little extreme for you,’ he said with a frown, still avoiding eye contact with me by focusing his attention on straightening his shirt cuffs.

Extreme?
My blush paled from my cheeks as my mind flashed to some of the more disturbing images I’d seen when looking up Club Twist on the internet, it might make me uncomfortable to ask him, but this was something I needed to broach right away. ‘Um … OK … what exactly is it you like to do?’ I asked nervously.

With an unembarrassed shrug, Nathan began to explain, ‘I have to lead, I demand complete control and submission, often using bondage. I can be rough –’ he added, glancing briefly at me ‘– and I will administer punishments if my wishes are not followed. I will push you to your limits, Stella, but never against your will.’ I swallowed hard and put my glass down before my trembling hand dropped it. Blimey, was it suddenly warmer in here?

Rough wouldn’t be a problem, truth be told. Aidan was the only partner I’d had who liked it rough and after being with him I’d realised that I did too, but pushing me to my limits? What the hell did he mean by that? But before I could ask, Nathan met my gaze briefly with his hard blue eyes and continued, ‘I’m not looking for a girlfriend or romance, this would simply be a mutually beneficial agreement between two adults who are looking for some sexual release.’

I blushed wildly at his brisk assessment of our situation – “adults needing sexual release”
 –
but at least he was being honest and upfront with me. ‘That sounds … fine.’ Actually, it was pretty much what I’d assumed most dominants did, and exactly what I was looking for. My career was my priority at the moment.

‘So what I’m suggesting sounds suitable for your tastes?’ Nathan sounded dubious which for some reason I found quite amusing and a small smile slipped to my lips.

‘Yes, like you mentioned earlier, I currently have a job with quite a lot of responsibility so I don’t have time for a standard relationship either. I’m not embarrassed to admit that I like sex though,’ Pushing back my shoulders I straightened my spine hoping I didn’t look as out of my depth as I felt, ‘Seeing as I’m looking for an outlet for my stress, a distraction if you like, I thought that handing over control sexually could be a good solution. That way I get to enjoy myself physically but won’t have to think about decisions until I go back to work the following week.’

Once again Nathan’s eyes briefly flicked to mine and I watched as his eyebrows rose at my honest response, but after his initial shock, his lips twitched. Apparently he was pleased with my words. ‘And the bondage? You don’t mind being tied up? Controlled? Punished even?’ he asked, running his finger around the rim of his glass, which I suspected was a further way to avoid looking me in the eye. He certainly avoided eye contact a lot, there seemed to be an issue there. Perhaps when I felt braver with him I’d ask him about it.

‘We’d need to discuss some limits, but like I said, I’m looking for a distraction from my stress. I think what you’re suggesting could be quite distracting,’ I added feeling ridiculously shy, once again my eyes averted in embarrassment and I felt my cheeks blush for what felt like the thousandth time today. Thank God I’d opted for minimal make-up and wasn’t wearing blusher too.

‘I think there is potential for a mutually beneficial agreement here, Stella,’ Nathan concluded firmly, and my heart accelerated in my chest forcefully. ‘I would, however, need your assurance that this would stay discreetly between us. You may not recognise me but I’m fairly well known in the business sector of London so it is imperative to me that my lifestyle choices remain private.’

Thank goodness. ‘Indeed, privacy goes without saying,’ I agreed quickly. ‘I also want complete privacy in this agreement. I will only be telling my best friend, and I’d rather that no one outside of your most trusted friends know what I do in my free time.’ God, I couldn’t even begin to imagine the chaos that would erupt in my office if my employees found out, let alone my family. A shiver ran through me at the image of my father screaming bloody murder and my mother in a full dramatic faint on the floor, gosh, just thinking about it made me cringe.

‘Good. In that case, can we swap full names now? I’m Nathaniel Jackson, but I prefer Nathan,’ he said holding out a hand out to me.

My heart practically stopped in my chest at his words and I couldn’t help the widening of my eyes.
Nathaniel Jackson?
Had I heard him correctly? ‘As in NJA? Nathaniel Jackson Architecture?’ I asked in a shocked whisper, causing him to break his apparent ‘no eye contact’ rule and meet my gaze with a narrowed glance that conveyed obvious concern.

‘Clearly you are familiar with my company,’ he stated in an icy tone as he dropped his extended hand firmly back on his thigh. Oops, perhaps he hadn’t liked my reaction.

Blinking in surprise at this unexpected turn of events I almost laughed out loud from nerves. ‘Y-yes, I’m an interior designer for Markis Interiors, we do out most of the interiors of the buildings that NJA design and build.’ My tone was questioning, would someone as important as the CEO actually know the names of his lowly contractors?

To his credit, Nathan looked as shocked as I had been. ‘Markis? Of course, they’re our main contractor. What a small world.’ Pausing, he tilted his head considering me with narrowed eyes. ‘Will this be an issue?’ The tone of his words was almost threatening but I tried to ignore them, after all I was hardly going to blab in the office about him being a sexual dominant was I? That would merely bring up questions as to how I knew about his sex life and imply that I knew him intimately … a topic I certainly wasn’t planning on discussing in the next team meeting.

‘I don’t see why it should be, it’s not like we’ve ever met through work before,’ I decided with a shrug that I hoped looked casual. In fact, thinking about it, I didn’t think that Nathan had ever graced the Markis offices with a personal visit, normally the lead designers were simply summoned to his offices when a contract was won. I would certainly remember meeting a man as stunning as Nathan; that was for sure. Suddenly it hit me how crazy this all was … I was sat in a bar making plans to be a sexual submissive for the boss of the company that kept me in work!

‘Agreed,’ he said, clearly not feeling the nerves I was. ‘Your full name, then?’ he prompted again, apparently not liking the imbalance of personal details we had shared till now.

‘Stella Marsden,’ I mumbled softly. It was done now: he knew who I was and where I worked and there was no taking it back. Then again, I knew who he was too, and that was clearly someone who was much more important and well known than me.

God, he was the owner and managing director of the most famed architectural consultants in London, for goodness sake. Even though he was still young, just 31, he was renowned for slashing prices by providing a full design and build service, effectively cutting out the builder costs and so dropping the overall price of jobs. NJA literally accounted for eighty per cent of the business my office dealt with. And I was planning on sleeping with him. Rolling my eyes I shook my head at how crazy this was. How did I always manage to get myself into trouble like this?

Marginally adjusting what appeared to be an already perfect tie Nathan finished his drink and then changed the topic entirely. ‘Would you consent to having some tests done? ’ he asked bluntly without any further explanation.

Tests? Obviously seeing my frown, Nathan expanded on his point. ‘I would like to ensure there is no risk of sexually transmitted diseases being passed between us; taking some simple STD tests is standard for me with a new partner. Also, if we do decide to proceed and you were to agree to use a form of contraception like the pill we could forego condoms if you were happy to.’