Discipline (10 page)

‘You might,’ said Lizzie frostily, ‘but I certainly wouldn’t. Perhaps that’s why you’re the one Carlos Rocca wants sitting next to him at the dinner next month. If you’re annoyed with yourself, Chloe, please don’t take it out on me.’

Chloe sighed. ‘Sorry, Lizzie. Think I got out of bed the wrong side this morning. I’ll feel better once I’m busy.’

Soon she was immersed in phone calls, and when she went out into the front office at midday, she’d almost convinced herself that her bizarre early-morning encounter had never happened. The sight of the blond-haired stranger handing over a cheque to a smiling Lizzie soon shattered that delusion.

‘That’s very generous of you,’ said Lizzie, putting the cheque into a black metal box. ‘How did you get to hear about us?’

‘I met that young lady this morning,’ he replied, looking straight at Chloe.

‘Really? I must send her out canvassing for us on a daily basis then.’

The young man smiled. ‘I’m sure she’d do very well. I’ll collect you from here this evening if you like,’ he added to Chloe. ‘What time do you expect to finish?’

‘About nine; we’ve got a committee meeting that starts at seven.’

‘Nine it is then. See you later.’

Lizzie watched him go and then turned to Chloe. ‘Is that the friend you said you were staying with tonight? If so, you seem to make friends very quickly.’

‘Of course I’m not staying with him,’ muttered Chloe. ‘We’re having a drink together, that’s all.’

Lizzie put a hand on Chloe’s arm. ‘Be careful,’ she said softly. ‘This isn’t like you, Chloe. You’re changing, but I
don’t think you understand that behaving like this can be dangerous. You’ve had a very protected life and—’

‘I’ll be fine,’ Chloe assured her, although she wasn’t certain that was true. The one thing she did know was that she’d been over-hasty in thinking that she must leave her lodgings that morning. The truth was, it was already too late for her to leave Carlos. He’d started to awaken the dark side of her sexuality, and she needed him to teach her more before she could hope to be ready to go out into the world and cope with her new-found knowledge on her own.

She’d go back tonight, and he needn’t ever know she’d intended to leave. First, though, she would have one drink with the blond stranger.

‘Sorry I’m late. These committee meetings always go on longer than they’re meant to,’ said Chloe as she got into the dark-blue BMW that was parked on a double yellow line outside the building where she worked.

‘I’m relieved you’re here. I had a feeling you might stand me up at the last minute.’

‘I nearly did,’ she confessed, putting her overnight case on the back seat. ‘You know, I don’t think you ever told me your name.’

‘Let’s leave it that way,’ he said softly. ‘It makes it all the more exciting, don’t you think?’

She nodded, aware that she was already trembling with excitement. ‘Where are we going?’

‘You’ll see. Sit back and enjoy the ride.’

Chloe began to feel nervous. ‘I want to know where we’re going.’

The stranger turned his head to look at her, and smiled his pleasant smile. ‘For a drink, of course. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?’

‘I meant, which pub are we going to?’

‘It’s in Richmond, near the river. You’ll like it.’

‘We haven’t got time to go to Richmond,’ she protested. ‘It’s nine o’clock already.’ He didn’t answer her. Instead he put a classical CD on the player and turned up the volume, drowning out any further attempts at conversation on her part.

As they sped through the streets of London, jumping lights and overtaking on bends, Chloe sat in terrified silence, remembering Lizzie’s words of warning and wishing that she’d heeded them. It was too late now. All she could do was wait until the car stopped and then make a run for it.

The car didn’t stop. It didn’t even slow down until they approached Richmond, and then, to her surprise, she realised that they really were pulling into the car park of a pub by the river. When she threw the passenger door open and stumbled out, she could hear the sound of people chattering and laughing coming from the open windows.

The stranger got out from behind the wheel and stood watching her in silence. ‘You’ve never done anything like this before, have you?’ he asked at last.

Chloe shook her head.

‘How did you feel during the drive?’

‘Scared,’ she admitted.

‘Excited too?’

‘A little.’

He took a step towards her. ‘And are you still excited?’

She stared at him, seeing the desire in his eyes and knowing that he wanted her. ‘Yes.’

Reaching out, he pushed her hair back behind her ears and stroked the side of her neck. ‘Carlos was right, you’re lovely.’

Chloe was stunned. ‘What do you mean? Do you know Carlos?’

‘I work for him. I’m sorry, Chloe. I’d love to spend the evening with you, but Carlos is waiting to take you back to London. Perhaps one day we’ll have a chance to do this properly.’ As he spoke, he slid a tiny card into her left hand, and she quickly put it into her shoulder bag, just before Carlos and Livia came out of the pub together.

‘I told you she’d like Mike,’ laughed Livia, kissing the blond man on both cheeks.

‘It seems you were right,’ said Carlos, staring intently at Chloe as she stood awkwardly by the car. ‘I feel a little insulted that you were leaving me in order to pick up strange men, Chloe. Clearly I need to offer you more variety in your life. I had no idea quite how quickly you’d progressed.’

‘I wasn’t leaving you!’ she protested. ‘I’m a free agent. Why can’t I make a date with a man if I want to?’

‘You were leaving me. You have an overnight case in the car, and you had no intention of returning. Please remember, you are not a free agent. Behaviour like this is completely undisciplined. At the moment, your sexuality is being defined within the framework of my rules, and under my roof. I told you before that once you’d begun, there was no turning back. It seems you didn’t believe me.’

‘I was confused this morning. I needed time to think,’ she protested

Carlos laughed. ‘You didn’t waste much time on thinking. I phoned Mike the moment you left the house with that little case of yours, and half an hour later you’d agreed to go out with a perfect stranger tonight. I admire your spirit of adventure. It’s just a pity that in this particular instance you will have to be punished for it.’

‘And punished now,’ added Livia, satisfaction evident in her voice.

Chloe looked nervously at Carlos. ‘What does she mean, now?’

‘As you were so adventurous this morning, when Mike here tried to pick you up, we thought it would be a good idea if you went into this pub, became friendly with one of the men and then brought him outside and had sex with him.’

‘I couldn’t!’ she protested.

‘You don’t have any choice,’ said Carlos firmly. ‘Hurry, it’s nearly closing time.’

Chloe looked at Mike, and saw that he was watching her with interest. She realised that he was excited by what Carlos was proposing, and his excitement aroused her too. Without another word, she walked away from the three of them and into the crowded pub.

At the bar she ordered herself a glass of red wine, and as she sipped at it she glanced around the room, looking for likely men. After only a few minutes she made eye contact with a young man of about her own age sitting on the opposite side of the room with a group of friends.

He had dark-brown curly hair, and green eyes which brightened with interest when she looked his way. When he got to his feet and walked over to the bar, Chloe felt a buzz of excitement.

‘On your own?’ he asked casually, ordering himself a pint of beer.

‘Yes. I finished work late and wanted to unwind before I went home.’

He glanced at her left hand. ‘No husband, I take it?’

Chloe laughed. ‘No attachments at all. I’m a free spirit.’ She was amazed at how much she was beginning to enjoy herself.

‘That’s the kind of girl I like. My name’s Jamie, what’s yours?’

‘Jemma,’ she lied. It suddenly seemed important that Jamie never knew the real her.

‘Hi, Jemma. Let me get you another glass of wine.’

‘What about your friends?’ she asked, seeing them watching what was happening.

‘They’re just leaving. I’m a free spirit too. There’s no one waiting at home for me.’

Chloe looked straight into his eyes and smiled provocatively. ‘That’s lucky.’

He smiled back at her. ‘My thoughts exactly.’

For the next five minutes they chatted idly about inconsequential things, and all the time Chloe was flirting with him. She touched him lightly on the arm to emphasise a point, tucked her hair behind her ears as she listened to him talking, and the sexual tension between them grew until she thought it must be obvious to everyone nearby.

‘Let’s go,’ he said impatiently, the moment she’d finished her wine. ‘My car’s outside. I’ll run you home.’

‘Fine,’ she agreed, sliding off the bar stool. As they walked out of the pub, he put an arm round her waist and slid his hand upwards until his fingers were brushing against her breast through the thin cotton of her dress.

The car park was only dimly lit, but Chloe was very aware that Carlos, Livia and Mike were sitting somewhere in the darkness, watching from their cars. If anything, their presence increased her excitement, and when Jamie bent his head to kiss her, she wound her arms round his neck and pulled him close to her.

‘Let’s do it now,’ she whispered urgently.

‘Now?’ He drew his head back and looked at her in surprise. ‘We can’t. I only live five minutes away. Come back to my flat.’

She looked into his green eyes and knew, from the expression in them, that she was going to be able to get him to do what she wanted. ‘I don’t want to wait five minutes,’ she whispered. ‘Come on, let’s go over here. No one will see us in those bushes.’

‘What about the lights from the car park?’ he asked huskily, letting her pull him along.

‘They don’t reach this far. Here, this will do. Quickly. I want you now.’ Her hands were fumbling at his belt, unfastening his zip and releasing his erection, which sprang free with impressive urgency.

They were both breathing heavily, and Jamie guided her until her back was against a tree, then lifted her skirt up round her hips and pushed a hand between her thighs. He started to rub her through her panties, and within seconds she was soaking wet, moaning as the first sparks of pleasure flared behind her swollen clitoris.

Impatiently he tugged her panties down to her ankles. When she’d stepped out of them he lifted her legs up until they were round his waist and then thrust straight into her, his hands cupped beneath her buttocks to help her keep her balance.

Gasping with excitement, Chloe managed to undo the buttons at the top of her dress, and Jamie immediately bent his head and began to suck on her rigid nipples. Uttering tiny moans, she jerked her hips upwards, enabling him to penetrate her even more deeply.

Jamie movements were rough, and as she approached her climax he closed his mouth around her right nipple and bit it hard. Her whole body went rigid for a moment, and then her orgasm crashed down on her and her body twisted in paroxysms of pleasure.

She was vaguely aware that she was sobbing with delight, and that the sounds must be audible to everyone in the car park, but she didn’t care. To have such power over a man she’d only just met was an intoxicating experience, and she wanted it to go on for ever.

Jamie lasted a long time, controlling himself until she managed a second orgasm, and then he too moaned
loudly, his hips jerked in a frantic spasm and finally it was over.

As he helped her put her feet to the ground, their bodies were abruptly illuminated by a pair of car headlights being switched on. Both of them froze, their clothing in complete disarray, and Jamie moved quickly in front of Chloe.

A ripple of applause came from the direction of the car park, and then Carlos spoke, his voice carrying to them all too clearly. ‘There’s no need to protect her modesty, young man. She’s won her bet now. You can go.’

Jamie looked at Chloe. ‘Who is that? And what does he mean?’

All at once she felt completely wretched. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered, and with that she ran over the grass to where Carlos was waiting with the car.

‘Well done! Most impressive. Get in the back now, it’s time we returned to London.’

‘He was nice,’ added Livia. ‘What was his name?’

‘I didn’t ask,’ lied Chloe. ‘Just a man I met at the bar.’ Then she closed her eyes and pretended to go to sleep. She didn’t want to discuss what had happened, or how it had made her feel, with anyone.

CHAPTER

10

T
o Chloe’s surprise, nothing more was said about the evening once they arrived back home. Carlos simply said good night to her, then he and Livia went upstairs to bed.

It was difficult for her to settle after all that had happened. She kept replaying the scene with Jamie over and over in her mind, and the more she thought about it, the more aroused she became. When she heard Livia moaning and crying out with pleasure it was the last straw, and once again, she had to masturbate herself to orgasm before she could sleep.