Painted Faces (38 page)

He drinks some more water, his grin has died down to a smirk. “You really want to know?”

“
Yes, tell me,” I say, slamming my palms down on the upholstered arms of the chair I'm sitting on.

He scratches the back of his neck. “Okay, but promise not to go crazy at me.”

“
I promise. Spill.”

“
I've never had an assistant before.”

“
What!?”

“
It was something of a ruse,” he grins again, this time like he's a super villain with the world's greatest plot. When he sees the expression on my face he goes on, “Now, now Fred, you promised not to go crazy.”

“
I'm perfectly sane, you're the one who's crazy. Why would you lie about having assistants?”

He shrugs and walks across the room to stand in front of the window beside my chair. “As I said, it was a ruse.”

“
A ruse?” I question, my brow furrowed.

“
I wanted to spend more time with you, so I pretended I needed an assistant.”

Oh my God, the scheming little...I don't know whether to be angry or flattered.

I stand up and push him lightly on the chest with the palms of my hands. He falters back a bit, laughing at my indignation.

“
That's devious Viv, terrible. I never even suspected.”

“
I needed to get to know you. It was the perfect way, don't you think?”

I raise an eyebrow. “Hmm, I don't know about that. You could have just made friends with me and gotten to know me the normal way. It's not like you were never going to see me. I live right next door.”

“
I know that, but I kind of wanted you to be around me when I was working. That way I'd know if you liked both sides of me, the Nicholas side and the Vivica side.”

“
Okay, I'm sort of getting where you're coming from now,” I say, and go to sit back down.

We don't speak for a minute or two. I'm still reeling with this news that he conned me into being his assistant under the false pretence that he simply couldn't get by without one. Then I feel delighted that he went through all the trouble to have me around. Then I feel wary that he can maintain a lie so easily. Then I feel grateful that he lied since I got to experience a world I never would have experienced otherwise.

It's after another minute or two goes by that I come to my final conclusion about his little secret. “I have to say Viv, you are just too fucking cute.”

“
I'm not cute, I'm dark and sexy,” he protests with humour.

“
That too.”

He gives me a comical little growl and then tells me to hurry up with my tea because we need to leave for the venue pronto.

“
I had a dream about you once,” I say to Nicholas as I'm brushing some blusher across his cheeks in the dressing room before his gig.

He's sitting down and I'm standing up, which leaves him in a good position to squeeze my bottom, which is what he's doing right now.

“
Oh really? Tell me more.” He gives me a devilish grin.

“
It was a while ago, before we ever, you know kissed or anything. You had make-up on and you were wearing a bra and boxer shorts. It was weird because in my dream I found it really sexy.”

He lets out a deep chuckle. “Are you hinting that this is something you'd like to try?”

“
No!” I exclaim loudly in embarrassment. “I was just telling you about my dream. Get your mind out of the gutter.”

“
You're the one who said you found it sexy; what am I supposed to take from that?”

I shake my head. “That's not why I told you. I told because of what you said at the hotel about needing to know that I like the Nicholas side of you
and
the Vivica side. I think the dream was kind of symbolic that I do like both sides of you.”

“
Stop Fred, you're making me blush,” he pinches my bottom and I let out a yelp before slapping his hand away.

“
In that case I might as well forget about this then,” I say, moving to put the blusher brush away.

“
Don't be cheeky,” he says, pulling me back and raising my wrist to his face. He uses my hand holding the brush to put it on his own cheekbones, while staring at me adoringly.

I pull the brush away and toss it into the make-up case. “There you go Viv, you're all beautified. Now go give them a show to remember.”

He whispers his lips across my jaw and gives me a smouldering look, which works just as well in his Vivica outfit as it would in his normal clothes to make me melt. It doesn't matter what he's wearing. I like the him that's underneath the clothes and the painted face. I'd like him no matter what he wore.

When he's gone I look back at myself in the mirror, and there's a little streak of red lipstick across my jaw from when he'd put his lips there. I smile and wipe it away.

I don't go out and watch Nicholas' performance tonight, because I'm way too hung over and sore to be dealing with the noise of the crowd. After my little stunt in the shopping trolley last night I'm sporting my fair share of bruises and aching muscles.

I stay in the dressing room, flicking through some magazines and drinking herbal tea in the hopes that it will somehow cure my thumping head. When Nicholas emerges through the doorway after his show he stands there with a heated expression on his face.

I'm wearing jeans and a loose t-shirt, so I don't really get why he's looking at me the way he is, like I'm lying naked across the dressing table or something. He prowls toward me, slipping off his heels as he does so.

I back up in my chair. “Hey now Viv, don't be getting any ideas about my circumstance,” I say to him jokingly.

“
Too late, I have way too many ideas about your circumstance to be deemed healthy,” he says, just before he lifts me up out of my chair and places my bottom down on the surface of the dressing table.

He pulls my legs apart and holds them on either side of his hips. Then he leans forward to kiss me fiercely and I'm done for. I reach up and pull the black wig off his head and then fumble with the zipper on the back of his dress. When I have it open I push down the shoulder straps and pull him closer to suck on his collarbone.

He shimmies out of the dress and kicks it halfway across the room.

He unbuttons the top of my jeans and shoves his hand down my pants. I gasp loudly while his other hand pulls my t-shirt off over my head and unsnaps my bra in a matter of milliseconds. He bends down and takes my nipple into his mouth. I look down at him, his face smeared with make-up and his mouth on me, and I don't think I've ever seen a more erotic sight.

He stands back and begins pulling down my jeans as I do the same to the tights he's wearing. I hear the sound of material ripping just before I realise that he's torn my knickers off me in his hunger to get me naked. I'm too turned on to be irritated by that and a second later his cock is pushing hard inside of me and I'm gripping onto his shoulders, practically clawing at his skin with my fingernails.

My eyes are focused on his strong neck when I hear him say, “Look at me Fred.”

I look at him, losing myself in his bright blue eyes. His body moves and I try to maintain my balance on the dressing table. He lifts me up and slams me into the nearby wall, still pounding into me as I cry out. The music out in the club is loud; loud enough so that nobody can hear me screaming.

He keeps a firm hold of me and I lock my legs around his waist. He fucks me up against the wall like he can't control himself, but I don't think I want him to control himself right now. One look at his hot stare when he'd come into the dressing room before and I was immediately wet.

He lowers his hand and presses his thumb against my clit, making circles. The combination of his cock inside me and his thumb moving is almost enough to undo me completely. I clench my thighs harder around him and he groans, still looking at me, always looking at me.

“
Need you,” he pants, “need you so much, like this, just like this.”

“
Nicholas,” I breathe his name and it's more air than sound.

“
Say my name again; I need that too.”

“
Nicholas...” I trail off, losing myself in the sensations that are pulsing through me, building to something I'm dying to feel.

“
Come on, Freda, come for me,” he says, eyes scorching me now.

I feel my body quicken, and he keeps going with the pounding and the circles and it just about becomes too much as my body explodes. I shake against him as an orgasm shatters through me and I feel him come at the exact same time.

He pulls out and carries me over to the chair, where he sits down and cradles me in his lap, repeatedly stroking his hand down my hair.

“
So, I take it you were pleased to see me,” I joke, curled up naked in Nicholas' lap.

“
I'm always pleased to see you honey,” he answers seriously.

When I catch sight of myself in the mirror I can see that my mouth is smeared with Nicholas' red lipstick.

He moves his hand from my hair to my breast, where he cups it in his warm palm.

I rest my head against his shoulder and niggling questions consume me. What is this that we're doing here exactly? Will Nicholas still want me tomorrow as much as he wants me today?

“
What are we doing?” I ask, unable to help myself, my voice quiet.

“
We're enjoying each other Fred, making each other feel good.”

“
Oh.”

“
Isn't that what you wanted to hear?” he asks softly.

“
I don't know. I'm not sure what I wanted to hear.”