The NSC Boxset: Heart of Stone (30 page)

“Please just accept it, Liv. I want to buy it you; I want to buy you the world and everything beyond. It makes me happy.”

Sighing, I held out my hand and grinning, he placed the keys in my hand.

My stomach flipped a little with excitement when I took a look at her; she really was quite beautiful, painted in a bright red with two black bonnet stripes and black trim, the interior was even more impressive. It had every available accessory. “Wow Nate, I don’t know what to say, she’s beautiful. Thank you.”

He grinned and stroked my cheek with the back of fingers. “You are very welcome, baby. Let’s grab a quick coffee and then we’ll take her out.”

I beamed excitedly. “Oh, one more thing,” he said taking the keys from me. He walked to the rear and opened the boot, crooking his finger. I walked over to follow him.

In the boot was a Christian Louboutin shoe box. My mouth fell open and I turned to stare at him. “Oh my God, Nate!”

He gave me a lazy grin and took the lid off. Inside were an exact replica of my poor incinerated red and black ones. “You were lucky because this design is still in their production line otherwise it would have been an entirely different pair.”

I squealed and jumped on him, wrapping my legs round his waist and giving him the best ‘Thank you’ kiss I could. His mouth came round to my ear. “I want you to wear these for me when I fuck the living daylights out of you,” he growled.

My mouth found his again, kissing him in a passion. “You are on” I winked. He walked into the house with me still wrapped around his waist.

* * *

An hour later I was zipping through some countryside in my new Betty. She was a dream to drive and I think Betty would have approved of her replacement. “Nate, she’s wonderful,” I beamed, shifting gear and increasing her speed a little.

We were on a secluded lane somewhere in the middle of nowhere, “Turn left here,” he barked at me. Frowning I rotated the steering wheel sharply to the left. I had no idea where we were but Nate seemed to. “Next right,” he ordered again.

We seemed to be going further into nowhere. “Nate, are you sure? We’re in the middle of nowhere and I’m a bit worried about getting lost, babe. My sat-nav blew up in Betty.” I grimaced and gave him a quick glance.

“Trust me.” He grinned and I narrowed my eyes on him.

“Where are we going?” It was getting dark and I was getting a bit nervous.

“Left,” he instructed and directed us into a lane bordered by trees. I was growing even more anxious. “Right here,” he directed. It turned into a gravelled area with a boundary of trees and undergrowth.

Unclipping my seatbelt I raised my brows at him and cocked my head. “What worries me the most is how you knew this was here,” I said with hesitation.

He frowned at me. “Problem, baby?” I shrugged and looked out of the window. “Liv?” he asked gently and stroked my cheek.

Turning to him I gave him a questioning look. “Nate, I take it you have brought me here for a bit of
fun?
”

He grinned at these words to confirm that was the exact reason we were here. “The thing is . . . if you already knew it was here then you’ve been here before.” I shrugged again, refusing to look at him, not wanting him to see the insecurity I was feeling.

“Baby, I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at.”

I bit my bottom lip and turned to him. “What I’m trying to say is . . . is . . . well I’m not . . . I don’t want to have sex with you here, Nate.”

He frowned at me again and took my hand. “Liv, what’s the problem with a bit of outdoor fun?”

I shook my head. “It’s not the outdoor fun Nate, it’s the fact that you’ve already had sex with somebody here, in this exact spot and I don’t like the image it’s putting in my head.” I was embarrassed to be feeling like this and blushed furiously. I didn’t want him to think I was clingy and jealous.

“I’m sorry, Liv. I didn’t think of it like that. We were just driving and I spotted something familiar and I knew where we were. I just thought it might have been fun but I’m sorry, baby.” He squeezed my hand and gave me a shamefaced look. “Yes, I’ll admit I’ve had sex here but the thing is I don’t have sex with you Liv, we make love and our love making is really, really mind-blowing. It’s like nothing I have ever felt before, only twenty years ago that is.”

I was breathing heavy now because I knew exactly what he was saying because it was exactly how I felt.

I climbed out of the car and walked round to his door, opened it and taking hold of his hand, I pulled him out and pushed him up against the car.

He sucked in a breath, his eyes darkening as I cupped his groin, making him hard in a second. I leaned up and covered his mouth with mine, kissing him with a fury, sucking his tongue, showing him my intense arousal and roughly kneading his now solid erection through his jeans.

Grinning I took his hand and led him over to a grassy area littered with trees and backed him up against one as I carried on kissing him. When his back hit the tree I dropped to my knees in front of him, unzipped him and freed his hard length, gasping as I took in its remarkable rigidity; he was absolutely rock-hard.

I kissed the tip and he hissed as I lapped the beads of semen already collected there. Leaning against the tree he watched every single stroke as I licked from his sac right up to the tip and flicked at his bar with my tongue.

He groaned low and grabbed my hair as I sheathed him with my whole mouth and sucked him hard. “
Jesus baby,”
he growled and wrapped his wrist around my hair as I took him down to the root. “
Fuck Liv, Stop!”
But I continued to drive him fast and furiously until I felt him swell. He pulled my head further onto him, nearly deep throating me, as he jerked and pumped his hot salty semen straight to the back of my throat and yelled my name.

I slowed down, draining every last drop as he jolted his final release. “Fuck,” he panted.

I smacked my lips together, winked at him and walked back to the car, swinging my hips as I shouted “Thanks for the car.”

I laughed as he shouted back. “What if I buy you a boat?”

* * *

I pulled up on the driveway and Nate shot out of the car, lifted me into his arms and carried me through the front door, sucking on my neck noisily as he went straight up the stairs, kicked open my bedroom door and flung me on the bed.

I bounced twice and he fell on top of me. “Ouch” I exclaimed as something stuck in my back. I reached behind me to grab whatever it was. I gasped as it pricked my finger and pushed Nate off me as I jumped off the bed.

“What the Fuck?!” he raged.

Sat on the middle of my bed was a single black rose, thorns included.

My chest heaved as I struggled to breathe but not with fear, this time it was rage that controlled me, a pure white blinding rage. “The Bastard has done it again,” I fumed. “How the hell does he keep getting in?”

Nate was pacing the floor, fighting his own rage. “Liv.” He turned to me his face white. “Liv, will you now please come and stay at mine. He’s never gonna stop, baby and I don’t want you here while he keeps doing this.”

I was chewing on my lip, staring at the rose of death. It was a million miles from the beautiful roses Nate had sent me and the fact that James had tarred Nate’s beautiful sentiment with his own sick and twisted games hurt me to the core. From this moment on, every time I saw a rose I would think of this vile and hateful moment in time.

I turned to Nate, slid my thumb across his bottom lip and kissed him tenderly on the cheek. “Yes, I will. I need to enjoy our time together not be constantly looking over my shoulder to see if he’s there. I’ll pack a bag now, okay?”

He nodded and exhaled but his face and lips were still pulled taut, his fists were clenched hard and his eyes were cold, the coldest blue I’d ever seen them. He looked utterly powerful but in the end would he be powerful enough?

* * *

Nate was in his home office as I was getting ready for work Wednesday morning. Putting the finishing touches to my make-up, I went to tell him I was leaving for work.

I knocked gently but he didn’t answer so I knocked again and was still greeted with silence. Frowning I opened the office door slowly not wanting to disturb him if he was on the phone.

He was sat in the large leather chair with his back to me staring out of the window. “Nate?” I said softly but he didn’t hear me. “Nate?” I tried, a little louder. He spun his chair round to look at me.

“Sorry, baby, I was miles away.” He had an intense expression and his eyes were bloodshot.

“You Okay?” I asked ominously as I saw a letter in his hand.

His eyes found mine and he nodded. “Jay’s letter,” he stated and bit his lip.

I walked over to him and cupped his face as I leaned down and gave him a tender kiss. “I’m sorry for disturbing you. I’m just on my way to work and came in to say goodbye.” I smiled softly, knowing whatever Jay’s letter had said had reached inside Nate and pulled at him.

He handed me the letter. “Read it, Liv.”

I shook my head. “No Nate, it’s yours and Jay’s letter not mine, Jay never showed me the letters he wrote you, they were his private thing to you.”

He shook his head at me. “I think you ought to read this one, Liv,” he argued quietly, locking eyes with me. Hesitantly I took the letter from his hand and sat down.

Dear Dad,

Well, here it is . . . the final letter. I have waited 19 long years to write this one and my hands are shaking but there is a huge smile on my face, lightness in my chest and a feeling of contentment so considerable that it all seems surreal.

This will be the last letter to you, as now we can start building our own memories, life and relationship together, as a family. Please don’t blame Mum for what she did all those years ago. I don’t resent her for it, in fact I’m damn proud of what she did. She is the most selfless person I will ever know. She always made sure you were a constant in my life even though you weren’t there in person; always telling me about you, how much you loved me and how much you loved her. She made sure I knew exactly who my Father was and what he was.

What she did, she did for you Dad, and all the love she had for you was the reason she chose not to tell you; she chose to put your ambitions, happiness and dreams before her own and to see the person you are now I can see why she did that.

I have taken your role in her life as importantly as she took yours in mine. I have supported, cared for and loved her as I know you would have done.

I have embraced her, encouraged her and pulled her through her darkest days, while I stepped into your place; the heart crushing days of lifting her up and pushing her onwards after James, holding her hand through courts and hospital operations to keep her from going insane.

My only regret is the one time in her life when she desperately needed you; I wasn’t there for her, as I lay unconscious in a hospital bed by my own stupidity of joy-riding. The one and only time I couldn’t stand listening to her cry for you.

She never knew I could hear her, and it was heart breaking listening to her sob and tell you she needed you Dad, the one time she ever regretted not telling you about me. The memory of her telling you that she was sorry, so sorry for you never knowing me will haunt me forever.

I have tried my best to take care of her for you but now I step back and hand the reins to you, and I trust you with all my soul to do all that I did and more.

But I mostly want to thank you for the love and devotion you gave her before James. It was those memories and recollections of her life and love with you that dragged her through the most terrifying days of her life, when she couldn’t see an end in sight; those were the days I would catch her smiling to herself as she remembered you, and that life can be good and people could love her more than life itself. You helped her through even though you weren’t with her physically . . . Thank You!

My final words are that I always loved you Dad, you were always in my heart and thoughts and now I continue to love you as a figure in mine and Mums life, the way it should be.

Yours Always,

Jay

Folding the letter carefully I handed it to Nate, my vision blurred and my throat constricted. I stood and walked round to him, curled onto his lap and cried with him.

We wept for lost days, anger at what could have been and most importantly what life had thrown at us both.

“Thank you,” Nate whispered as he stroked the tears away from my face. I tilted my head and regarded him.

“For what?”

He smiled gently and touched one of my tears to his lips. “For Jay, for what he is, for how you brought him up with my memory, and for you. You are the one thing in my life that makes me a better person. Yours and Jay’s love are the most precious things I have ever owned and I will not chance that but Jay’s right, it’s my turn to look after you now, Liv. It’s my turn to be what you need me to be. My turn to show you how good life can be and my turn to love you with everything I possess. You have done that for me for over twenty years Liv, now it’s time I returned that.”

I stroked his cheek and gave him a soft smile. “I know you love me Nate, I know you always loved me just like I did you. Jay was right when he said you helped me through the darkness because it was our memories that I would focus on. The happy times, the love-making, even our bloody arguments helped me through because they were my happiest days, and I knew that deep down I would see you again. I kept myself alive just for that one day when I would see your beautiful face again, Nate.” I rested my head on his shoulder as he rested his chin on my head. We sat there for a long time, both lost in our own thoughts.

“I better go,” I murmured eventually, still tucked under his chin. Nate patted my backside as I climbed off his lap and picked up my bag.

“There’s someone you need to meet first,” he said rather sheepishly. I frowned at him as he led me from the office and out of the front door.

In front of the doors was a huge dark-skinned man in a crisp suit stood beside a Jag XJ the same as Nate’s. He nodded to me as we approached. “Miss Adams.” He smiled, at least I think it was a smile.