The Birth Of Eve (7 page)

Eve woke up to a gloriously naked Nathan pressed tightly
against her. Eve peeked at him through her lashes; she had a sudden thought for
her appearance. She had been crying before he ravaged her; God only knows what
state her makeup was in. Hating the idea of him seeing her looking at her worst
she slid out of the bed and tiptoed to the large bathroom. There were bathrobes
provided so she decided to take a shower. She looked at herself in the mirror
horrified at the streaky black face and wild tangled hair. Blimey no wonder the
movies don’t show the after effects of a sex romp, it would put you off for
life.

Eve felt wonderful this morning, sex with Rory had always
been rough and very one sided. Nathan had made her come at least as often as he
did; he was attentive, gentle and very talented. Eve’s body clenched at the
memory and she suddenly wanted to speed her shower up to get back to her lover.
Rinsing her hair she reached for the towel to wipe her eyes, as she dried them
she noticed a naked Nathan leaning against the tiles watching her
surreptitiously. Eve was enjoying his appraisal not feeling the slightest bit
self-conscious after their marathon of love making.

Watching his every move she shuffled over as he joined her
in the large shower cubicle, Eve decided to help him get clean and dropped to
her knees in front of him. Nathan murmured his appreciations as he returned the
favour and the pair inevitably ended up back in the bed locked together once more.
Sometime later the phone trilled loudly and woke them both up, Eve couldn’t
believe she had nodded off again.

“Shit its eleven we need to check out and I am in the wrong
room.” Eve slipped on her dress from last night whilst Nathan explained to
Sally she was on her way down now. Eve scampered unnoticed back to her room
after a long lingering kiss, Nathan promised to follow her back to Cheshire now
his theatre stint was over.

Sally was waiting for her outside her room, hands on hips;
Eve blushed when she caught the glint in her eye.

“Eve Purnell I am so shocked; now quickly pack your bag we
have a train to catch” Giggling like a school girl she shoved her few things
into her bag after slipping back into the jeans and blouse she had travelled
in. Sally was filling her in on the morning gossip columns;

“The papers are saying wonderful things about you, we need
to sit on the train and read through them, nothing negative so far apart from
your taste in men.” They laughed, as they checked out the receptionist handed
her an envelope. Apparently it had been left for her this morning. In the back
of the cab Eve opened it whilst Sally was loading her bag in the boot; she slid
out the contents and immediately stuffed them back into the envelope heart
thumping in her chest. Rory had sent her some old photos and a letter; she
would deal with it at home not here not now.

Sat in a first class carriage Sally and Eve had devoured
every snippet of media attention; online and in print, all from last night’s
premiere. The majority were positive and Eve was quite overcome by some of the
descriptions laid upon her appearance. The words stunning; world class beauty
and flawless were not usually ones Eve equated with herself. Some people did
criticise her choice in men but most were calling them Hollywood’s new golden
couple. The future was heading towards Eve at a rate that took her breath away;
she was really glad to reach her front door. There were a couple of cars parked
at the nursery car park next door with Lenses poking out, so her life would now
be scrutinised. She had better warn Tara and Michael as soon as possible; the
door opened for her and Michael pulled her into a bear hug.

“Eve I missed you; we are so glad to have you home where you
belong” Eve was a little perturbed, it had only been forty eight hours hardly a
separation. She decided now was the time to tell him she would be heading off
to LA in two weeks.

“Michael, hi how are you? Where is Tara did she let you in?”
He let go of her frowning

“She has been out all day I haven’t seen her, sorry but I
wanted to see you straight away so I used the spare key off the hook. I told
Tara I was borrowing it” Eve wasn’t totally comfortable with him having his own
key but would leave it for now.

“Nathan will be here in an hour or so, he is staying for a
while; we are heading off to LA to read through a script in two weeks so I will
be gone for a few days then.” Michael was agitated and Eve couldn’t work out
whether it was because of Nathan or the trip to LA.

“Well that is lovely for you Eve; perhaps you shouldn’t rush
things with Nathan though he has rather an unsavoury reputation you know. What
about this girl he supposedly got pregnant and then deserted?” Eve didn’t
appreciate relationship advice from a man who had only just met her, she also
realised he must have been snooping into Nathan’s past.

“The press get the wrong idea about certain things, it is a private
matter. Nathan has been totally open with me about his past and if I can accept
it then you should be able to as well.” He looked like he wanted to disagree
but a knock at the door interrupted them, he sat down on the sofa sulking. Eve
let Nathan in and kissed him chastely before leading him into the lounge. Nathan’s
face dropped when he spotted her father, she was going to have to bang both
their heads together at this rate.

Tara arrived home as she was putting the kettle on, Eve
could hear her saying hello to Nathan and she came straight in to hug Eve.

“How was your weekend? I am guessing it went very well as
you have brought him home with you.” Eve shut the kitchen door and gave Tara a
brief rundown of the Sasha and Rory incidents; she was very reassuring about Nathan’s
predicament. Eve was relieved she hadn’t judged him the way she herself had.
She then told her about Rory turning up on the red carpet, Tara was horrified

“Rory has sent me a couple of photos and a letter; I haven’t
even looked at them yet. I imagine he is going to squeeze me for cash but I
can’t let Nathan see he will go nuts.” Tara offered to read it alone up stairs
for her, just to put her mind at ease. Eve thought it was a good idea and
between them they cleverly engineered Tara’s sudden need for a shower, giving
her time to check the envelopes contents. Eve was nervously waiting when Tara
finally reappeared; she also looked quite tense. Michael excused himself as he
had a potential bride and groom to chat with; so the three of them were alone.
Tara grabbed the chance to tell Eve what was in the letter while Nathan took a
phone call outside.

“He wants to meet you alone Eve, he is threatening to
publish images of you smoking weed and one of you giving him a blow job” Eve’s
face paled considerably at the memory, he had promised that he had deleted that
image.

“Eve you can’t meet him alone it’s too dangerous, he will
hurt you or blackmail you. You know what he is like he will be in this for the
long haul; he will bleed you dry. He has written down his number for you so you
can meet. How about I tag along discreetly to make sure he doesn’t get
violent.” Eve paused as she looked at her lovely friend, no way would she allow
her to get involved in this.

“No way Tara, he hit you once before for interfering I will
not have the two of you anywhere near each other and that is final.” Tara was
about to argue when Nathan walked back in.

“Sorry girls did I interrupt something, I am starving let me
treat you ladies to my cooking abilities” looking in the fridge he grabbed some
leftover chicken, a piece of chorizo sausage and began chopping an onion. Eve
was stunned but the two girls were most impressed when they were eating his
jambalaya. Tara spoke with her mouthful;

“Oh my God Nathan; a talented chef too, what more could a
girl ask for.” After they were full up Tara made her excuses and went to her
room. Nathan sat watching the news while Eve popped upstairs to get Rory’s
number from Tara

“Eve promise me you will meet somewhere public and you will
keep me in the loop. I need to be on the end of a phone in case you need help.
Bring him up here; maybe to a hotel or something, he won’t care where as long
as he gets you alone.” Eve knew she was right; he would go wherever she told him;
a plan was forming in her mind.

Eve walked back into the lounge where Nathan was relaxing,
she bent down to kiss him and he dragged her on to his lap.

“Not now lover boy; we will go up when Tara is settled for
the night, we can have our fun then.” Eve could feel the stirrings of his groin
so gently got off his knee, Freud jumped up to take her place.

“I am just nipping out to put the bins out and check on the
garage, Tony has been here all weekend so I want to see how he is doing.” Nathan
nodded and she slipped outside, the bins were already in place so she rattled
them around a bit and then went into the garage. The atmosphere in there was
now light and fresh, the walls had been covered in a screed and Tony had made a
start on levelling the floor. He was going to build some cupboards for her
father’s tools. That reminded her she must ask Detective Newton about the
hammer, whether or not it was a match. Pulling out her mobile she typed in
Rory’s contact number and waited whilst it rang.

“Hello Rory Cartwright speaking” Eve could feel bile rising
in her throat at the sound of his voice.

“Rory its Eve you wanted me so here I am” She could hear him
shuffling on the other end, it sounded like he had company so was getting some
privacy.

“I knew you wouldn’t let me down wild child,” shuddering at
his pet name for her, it brought back all her old insecurities.

“What do you want Rory? If its money then you are wasting
your time I have spent it on my house. I have a job starting in a few months
but I won’t see any money for a while” she waited for his reply

“I don’t want cash I want to reacquaint myself with you. You
are all grown up now so I won’t be breaking any laws; plus you are beautiful.
Every guy wants a piece of your ass, the difference is you will have to give it
to me.” Eve was flabbergasted, he seriously wanted sex? She was not prepared
for that. She decided to arrange a meeting but then take some cash with her
anyway, drain the last of Ian’s savings. Rory may still be bought, she hoped so
anyway. Eve wanted to get it over with so arranged the meeting for Tuesday
evening at a local hotel. There was a pub on the grounds so she agreed to meet
him at the bar. Rory was trying to persuade her to meet in his room but she was
having none of it. A drink to loosen them up before his room was how she
convinced him.

As Eve exited the garage she spotted a female standing
across the road watching her house; she was wearing a baseball cap. Eve thought
it was the same woman who found Freud so she shouted to her but she darted
away. It dawned on Eve she was probably a reporter, she wondered how many would
be outside if they knew Nathan was staying here, she had to try and keep him
incognito. Thinking of Nathan made her body tremble; as she entered the kitchen
Tara grabbed her.

“Did you call?” Eve told her the arrangements; Tara was
happy with her decision to meet in public, neither of them knew what the
outcome would be but at least they didn’t have to wait too long to find out.
Tara needed to pop out for a bit so Eve grabbed the moment and walked into the
lounge. The moment she walked into the lounge she faced Nathan, blocking his
view from the television. Trying to be seductive she began unbuttoning her
blouse then gave him her best sultry pout and walked up the stairs, she felt a
little silly but it had done the trick. Nathan was racing up behind her, he
turned her towards him at the top and their mouths locked together. Walking
backwards into her room Nathan pushed her down on to the bed.

Eve is naked lying beneath Nathan, his hands stroking her
inner thigh then brushing gently across the scar that skimmed her midriff. Bending
forwards he kissed her there; Eve drew in a trembling breath and the muscles of
her sex clenched with anticipation. Her breasts felt so heavy they were almost
painful. His hand cupped her sex at the same time as his teeth grazed her
nipple, his thumb teased her opening never quite entering her but teasing her
into frenzy.

Her back arched and her hips ground instinctively, desperate
for him to bring her to a climax. Opening her eyes she watched him as he smiled
and he entered her so swiftly she cried out in surprise. They moved together in
perfect harmony, their movements slow and gentle. They made love until she felt
him shudder above her bringing her own orgasm in a rush that took her breath
away. She closed her eyes smiling at the satisfaction of knowing her body gave
him such pleasure. They slept until the sun broke through the curtains.

Tuesday arrived as did Eve’s nerves, Nathan sensed something
was wrong but she kept busy pruning trees in the garden so avoiding his
interrogations. She had told him that she was meeting with the solicitor
tonight so her alibi was set; strangely her father was not to be seen that day.
It was the first day he had stayed away since they had met. She wondered if he
found Nathan’s presence a deterrent. Dressed down in jeans boots and cap Eve
headed out, she noticed the female reporter hanging around outside again.

The pub was quiet and Eve ordered a glass of wine for
courage and waited for her nemesis to turn up. An hour later he had still not
arrived, he must want her to sweat, she tried his phone but it went straight to
answer machine. There was a lot of commotion going on outside she had heard
sirens arrive in the car park about twenty minutes previously. Eve decided to
walk out; there was no way she was hanging around for that creep. As she
ventured into the car park she noticed a crowd of people all congregated
outside the hotel.

“Excuse me” she said to an older lady near the back “What is
all the commotion about?” The lady explained that all the guests had been
evacuated, they had no idea why. Eve made her way to the car when she saw Detective
Newton, and he spotted her and wandered over.

“Miss Purnell what a surprise to see you here. I meant to
call you today, the hammer was a match for your mum’s wound, we only found your
two prints on it but I think we can assume it was your father. Two murders in
less than a month, we have never been so busy.” Eve felt ice trickle down her
spine

“There has been a murder here?” he nodded,

“We have a body, no ID or mobile phone; we have no clue who he
is? The receptionist who found him remembers checking him in so we should have
something to go on. Anyway it looks like I am needed so I will see you again
soon take care Eve” As he walked away Eve was rooted to the spot, too much of a
coincidence; a murder and Rory not showing up. Stumbling to her car she drove
home desperate to speak to Tara. When she parked up she took a moment to
compose herself, after all she had no proof the body had anything to do with
Rory at all.

Nathan was cooking when she got back and Tara took the
opportunity to drag Eve upstairs to find out what had gone on.

“He never showed Tara, I sat there in a state for over an
hour, in the end I left. There had been a murder at the hotel and the car park
was full of cops, I saw Detective Newton and he told me a man had been dumped
behind the bins.” Eve paused as she saw the colour drain from Tara’s face,

“What is it? You think it was Rory too don’t you? I knew as
soon as I heard, it is too much of a coincidence. But who would kill him? And
who knew he was even there? Maybe he was robbed and it was just bad luck. Detective
Newton did say his mobile phone had been stolen. Perhaps he was just in the
wrong place at the wrong time.” Tara sat on Eve’s bed in shock; they tried to
work out what was going on. Nathan shouted up the stairs to them

“Eve you have visitors, the police are here they must have
some news about your mum” Tara threw an anxious glance at Eve who had begun to
tremble.

“Nathan is going to kill me, oh Tara why was I so stupid?” They
trailed downstairs and Eve opened the door to Detective Newton

“I am sorry to call in so late but I need to talk to you
about the incident at the hotel tonight. May I come in?” Eve led the two men
into the lounge where Nathan and Tara were already seated.  Nathan was staring
expectantly at the Detective; Eve gritted her teeth knowing what was coming.

“Miss Purnell could you tell me why you were at the Crown
Hotel this evening” Eve swallowed and risked an apologetic glance at Nathan.

“I had arranged to meet an old acquaintance, Rory Henderson,
he was attempting to blackmail me. As it happens he never showed up, I sat in
the bar for over an hour. I had given up when I saw all the commotion outside
and bumped in to you. The body was his wasn’t it?” Nathan was hissing through
his teeth, she could tell he was desperate to admonish her.

“Yes Miss Purnell, we found his checking in details and
after doing a search we noticed he had been living in the same care home as you.
It was too much of coincidence that he travelled all the way from London to be
in the same hotel as you. It wasn’t a huge leap to connect the dots; he has a colourful
history; I am sure there won’t be many tears shed over his demise. However I
need to treat him like any other victim, now do you have any proof of this
alleged blackmail?”

Tara dived off the sofa and ran upstairs to retrieve the
envelope Eve had entrusted her with. Nathan stared hard at Eve who resolutely
avoided his eyes. The detective read through the contents and passed it to the
other officer.

“We will need to keep hold of this, tell me how you arranged
this meeting tonight and what time you arrived” Eve spoke with as much clarity
as she could;

“I used the phone number he had given, rang him Sunday
afternoon, he told me he didn’t want money he wanted me. He threatened to
publish a few photos as you saw and so I arranged to meet him. I was not going
to offer myself to him before you jump to the wrong conclusions; I had a cheque
for him. Rory is a lot of things but he loves money most; I thought I could
persuade him to accept the cash and leave me alone. I arrived at seven and left
at eight fifteen, the bar man can confirm that as I was sat in a booth directly
opposite.” Nathan could not contain his fury any longer and stood to his feet

“How foolish are you Eve, you can’t handle pieces of shit
like him on your own. You should have come to me; we would have handled it
through solicitors. You are not alone in a kids home now, you can’t just brave
things out anymore you have to depend on other people.” His words stung Eve and
she knew he was right but the detective hadn’t finished his questions.

“Who else knew about your meeting tonight?” Tara whitened
and looked extremely uncomfortable

“I told nobody but Tara, and before you jump to ridiculous
conclusions she was here with Nathan all night so you can forget that line of
enquiry.” Tara and Nathan both confirmed they were together and that satisfied
the Detective.

“Miss Purnell since you have arrived in my town we have two
bodies. Now I appreciate the first was nothing to do with you; but it seems you
have a guardian angel as regards Mr Henderson, he was going to cause you a lot
of problems and someone removed him. It was most likely bad luck but I can’t
rule out this connection either, someone may have done you a huge favour but I
need to find out who that is. I will be in touch again, once I have checked out
your alibi, I am sorry you are being dragged into this I will see myself out.”

Nathan stood to his feet as his phone vibrated he frowned
when he saw the caller ID

“I have to take this don’t think that I have finished with
you yet either.” Eve watched as he went outside to take the call. Tara was
still shaking, standing up she walked over and hugged Eve

“It will be okay, you will see; I am going to bed, you two
need to talk. Don’t let this come between you, at the end of the day Rory being
gone is a good thing despite the way it occurred. Detective Newton is right you
must have a guardian angel up there.” With that she left Eve alone with her
thoughts, she stood up and looked out of the window. The woman with the cap was
stood across the road staring in at her, Eve pulled the curtains across. At
least the press wouldn’t be surprised at the police visiting; the discovery of
a body in her garage had already made the news. Hopefully they would assume the
visit was linked to that, and not dig about for more dirt.

Nathan walked back in looking tense; he grabbed Eve by the
shoulders

“Something has come up I have to go back to London, I am
sorry to leave you with all this going on but it looks like you don’t need my
help anyway.” He headed upstairs to pack his few things into a holdall. Eve sat
down stairs wondering if she had completely blown it with him; her independent
streak may have just ruined the best thing she ever had. Nathan came down
stairs putting his bag on the floor he pulled her to her feet.

“I am angry Eve, only because I care, that man wanted sex
and he could have taken it without permission. You put yourself in harm’s way
unnecessarily, I understand why you did it but I don’t like it. While I am away
think about this Eve; can you really open yourself up and allow me in? If you
can’t then it won’t work between us. I want to take care of you and I want to
be allowed to love you but only if you let me in.” He kissed a very stunned Eve
and then walked out of her house. Nathan had said he wanted to love her; love
was a huge deal for Eve. Could she open herself up to a whole world of
expectations? Remove the walls around her heart and leave it vulnerable? Eve
had no idea if she could be that strong but one thing she did know; was that when
Nathan closed the door she felt empty and hollow. Nathan had filled a gap
inside her and she liked it, happy was a word she would use to describe her
last few weeks and she would like to hold onto that feeling. Eve had a lot to
think about and some alone time was probably a very good idea.