His Secret Desire (9 page)

"Where am I?" She said looking up into the
eyes still gazing down at her.

"It's okay." The voice was so deep, so soft,
so comforting and powerful. "It's okay. I've got you. Everything is
okay. You're safe here. Everything is okay."

She shook her head and looked into those
beautiful eyes again, so dark, so brown, so profound and intense,
and then recoiled. They were piercing eyes, not soft; inquiring,
watching, not caring.

Recognition returned and she looked around at
the immense living room that dwarfed her entire house on the
hill.

"It’s okay." Clayton repeated. "Nothing can
happen to you here. I've got you."

She pushed herself up from the couch he had
laid her on.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I don’t know what
happened just there… it's been a long day."

"it's okay." He said, and brushed a loose
strand of hair out of her eyes. The gesture was intensely caring
and personal, but also so very sensual. A vibration of incredible
attraction ran through her. They had been so close again; he had
lifted her in his arms and for a moment had stared into her eyes
with such concern.

Maybe giving in to him wouldn’t be so bad
after all.

"I need to clean up." She said. "If you don’t
mind. Is there somewhere…"

"Of course there is. I'll bring you to your
bedroom and you can freshen up there. Take all the time you
need."

Your bedroom.
He had said
your
bedroom. As ridiculous as it was she felt a sting of
disappointment. Wasn't she his dream girl? No, that wasn't it. What
had Angel said; ideal fantasy fuck? If that was the case then
wouldn't he just take her to his bed and use her until she screamed
like Angel said he would?

"Thank you." She said. "We have a lot to get
through tonight. I won’t take long."

She watched for a reaction to her words and
if they hadn't been so close together and so alone in that vast
room, it would have been impossible to see.

But she did see it. She was sure of it. He
wanted her in a way the he didn’t even realize yet. No matter how
smart this guy thought he was, she was still on step ahead and she
would use it. Her survival depended upon it.

Clayton swallowed hard and then stood up
quickly. The truth was that her sudden willingness to comply, right
there in his living room, had threatened to give him a hard on like
an Apollo moon rocket and he needed to get moving or make a fool
out of himself. It didn't happen like this. Involuntary erections
were not part of the plan. He needed to be in control while she
broke down and revealed herself to him. Then, and only then, would
the relationship become physical. After that it would be intense
and something neither of them would ever forget.

"Step this way Ms. Maldon." He said and put
his hand out to take hers. Katy didn’t move.

"That's not my real name." She said and
watched him go rigid with anticipation in front of her.

"May I call you by your real name?" He said
softly, his dark eyes revealing little of the excitement he was
feeling.

"Maybe." She said as she took his hand and
stood up, holding his gaze. "Or maybe you need to earn that." She
watched him swallow hard again and then turn quickly to lead her
down the hall.

"I look forward to earning that privilege."
He said.

Katy trailed along like a rag doll in tow to
a bear. It was like nothing she had ever experienced with any other
man before. Again. She had always met men on equal terms, strictly
eye to eye, word for word, deed for deed and dollar for dollar -
but for Clayton Hargrave she was turned on to the core just
thinking about being his rich man's plaything.

When they had met earlier that day she had
been in complete control of her world and he had just been a
prospective client who needed her expertise, but now that she knew
more about his particular tastes and motivations she could see that
she had been as innocent as a lamb playing with a lion's mane. It
had taken him only a matter of hours to strip her down to her
address, her phone number and even her real name for Christ's sake.
Step by step he was taking away all of her protections and
barriers, all of the walls she had set up around her to keep the
world out.

His strong hand around hers felt immensely
controlling but immensely comforting at the same time. if he could
do this to someone like her, make her feel this way, then maybe he
really was capable of protecting her from the ruthless enemies of
her past, from the US government its secret services. Maybe she
wouldn't have to be the strong one all the time, alone in the world
except for an occasional voice at the end of a secure telephone
line.

"This is your room Ms Maldon. Take all the
time you need. I'll check back on you in thirty minutes. You can
leave your old clothes in the laundry basket. All the clothing
you'll need for the next twenty four hours will be in the closets
in your bedroom."

"I hope you got my measurements right. I
don’t like things too tight or too loose."

Clayton smiled.

"Don’t worry." He said. "They'll fit
perfectly. Any complaints, just let me know."

Of course he would already have her
measurements. Why wouldn't he? He had found out everything else
about her.

He left her to her own devices and she
instinctively locked the door behind him as he left. Not that it
would matter. She presumed he would be able to get inside if he
wanted to but at least she would hear him enter. The room was warm
and inviting, just like the rest of the house and completely at
odds with the obsessive sexual goals that dominated Clayton
Hargrave's personal life.

She was dying to get out of her old sweats
and headed straight to the bathroom. To say it was of five star
hotel quality didn’t do it justice and obviously staff had been
told to light candles, dim the lighting and make everything as
comfortable as possible.

The king sized tub looked amazingly tempting
but a shower would be quicker so she shed her clothes carelessly
and headed straight inside. The powerful jet of water against her
skin was immensely refreshing and for just a few moments, all of
her worries disappeared, melting away with the grime and sweat of
the most stressful, bizarre and weirdly exhilarating days of her
life.

She finished her shower, dried off and then a
thick, remarkably soft white bathrobe to wear while she explored
the wardrobe that had been provided for her. Now that she felt
clean and refreshed she was curious to see what kind of clothes a
hardware engineer turned tycoon would have chosen for her. She
pulled open the doors to reveal that it was a full walk in closet.
She smiled. It was no surprise really; what else would a
billionaire have? She found the light switch and walked inside but
it seemed quite bare. In fact there was nothing there at all. She
took a quick look around to make sure she wasn't missing something
and then returned to the bedroom to look in the dressers and
drawers but there was nothing there either.

"Great." She muttered. "What am I supposed to
wear now?"

There was a light knock at the door.

"Is everything alright in there?" It was
Clayton.

"Everything's just fine except for one thing.
The closet's empty. There are no clothes in here for me to
wear."

"Oh that." He said. "Can I come in?"

"Sure, why not. It's your house."

"The door is locked."

"Of course. Sorry."

She unlocked the door and it opened slowly,
Clayton stepped cautiously inside and then stopped to look at
her.

"Getting a good view?" She said.

"It's a perfect view."

"I thought you said all the clothes I would
need were in the closets?"

"They are."

"There's nothing there. I don't… oh I get it.
This is all I'll need for the next twenty-four hours, is that
it?"

"I just want you to be as close to your true
self as you can be for the next twenty-four hours." He pulled up a
chair and sat down. "Is being yourself really such a bad thing?" He
said.

Katy moved away from him and sat down on the
king-sized, four poster bed.

"If by 'being yourself' you mean being
deprived of clothing in a stranger's house, then no, it's not a
good thing. I mean, how would you like it if the shoe were on the
other foot?"

Clayton smiled.

"I wouldn't have a problem." He said. "On the
other hand, I can’t quite imagine getting into that situation.
Look, Ms. Maldon, there's nothing sinister here, clothes are on the
way, it's a rare oversight on the part of my staff, after all, you
are rather an unexpected guest, so I'd be grateful if you could cut
then a little slack just this once."

"I guess I don’t really have any choice." She
said. "So look, are we going to eat any time soon or do we talk
business first?"

"We'll do both very shortly, but I have the
feeling that if you're like me then you could use some strong
coffee before either of those things. Would I be right?"

As if on cue the smell of excellent coffee
wafted into the room.

"That smells so, so damn good." Katy said
slowly, suddenly realizing just how caffeine deprived she had been
since she had left the Cool Bean café earlier that day. She looked
at Clayton and smiled.

"Okay Hargrave, at least you know enough
about me to serve the coffee first. Bring it on and let's do
it."

Clayton got up, opened the door and wheeled
in a cart laid out with ornate coffee pots, glass coffee cups and a
mouth watering selection of fresh fruit.

"It's Peaberry Blue Mountain." He said. "The
one you so cruelly threw into the bushes earlier on this
evening."

"You don’t miss a thing, do you Mr.
Goldfinger."

Clayton smiled and gave her a disapproving
look.

"Is that how I appear to you - an evil genius
manipulating your actions?"

"At least Goldfinger didn't want to strip
James Bond naked and take him to bed."

Clayton shook with laughter now.

"You're making it hard for me to stay serious
Ms. Maldon. Here, have some of this Peaberry, I think you're
delirious with fatigue."

Katy took the delicate cup with great
pleasure. She was famished and exhausted but coffee was always,
absolutely always her first port of call for sustenance and she had
missed out on her all important afternoon cup. The smell of this
one was excruciatingly delicious but nevertheless she knew to savor
the moment.

Closing her eyes she drank in the aroma.

"Oh sweet Jesus." She murmured. "That is the
hottest smelling cup of Joe in history."

Clayton nodded. "Too damn right it is. And
you flung a whole bag of it into a bush! Did you know I hand
wrapped that package?"

"You mean you didn't have a servant do it? My
God, your poor hands must be chaffed from using scotch tape and
scissors."

He pursed his lips and looked at her darkly
from under his hooded eyes.

"You can be one snotty little bitch when you
want to be Ms. Maldon." He paused. "I think I'm liking you more and
more. Go on, taste it already. I love slow pleasure as much as
anyone, but you're taking so long with this it's beginning to annoy
even me."

She smiled and lingered a little longer,
holding her nose just above the cup to draw in the perfectly
balanced and delicately nuanced aroma.

"I have no other vices Mr. Goldfinger, coffee
is my thing and I've never had occasion to cup a Peaberry." She
said, using the official terminology for professional coffee
tasting. "Let me enjoy myself a little."

"Cup a Peaberry? Are you serious now or are
you just teasing me? Are you a coffee nerd as well as a technology
geek?"

She ignored the insinuation, but took note;
it was true what Angel had told her - he had a thing for nerdy
girls.

"How was the coffee made?" She asked.

"Six ounces of hot water to two tablespoons
of fresh grounds, sitting for," he checked his watch, "just over
three minutes." He sighed. "You've already lost the moment Ms.
Maldon."

"Let's not be too uptight about this Hargrave
- it's just coffee after all." She brought the cup closer but
Clayton put his hand to her forearm and the skin to skin contact
was thrilling again this time as it had been every other time they
had come together.

"It's not just coffee Ms. Maldon, it's
handpicked and freshly ground Peaberry, brewed in the Jura Impressa
J9--"

"Stop right there. You brewed this in a
machine?"

"Not just any machine, the Jura is the Rolex
of coffee machines producing the perfect cup every time."

"How much did this thing set you back?"

"Just under three thousand dollars."

Katy let out a loud, very unladylike guffaw.
When she had finished laughing and looked at Clayton it was the
first time since she had met him that he looked anything less than
perfectly in control or the closest thing to a Greek sex God, but
the look of disconcertion only made him more fuckable than
ever.

Caution was slowly giving away to the
powerful winds of temptation. She could just spin him some crap
about her life as Nadia Komerov, have an almighty one night stand
to end all casual encounters and then chalk it up to thrilling,
unforgettable life experience.

"And just what, exactly, is so damn funny?"
He said.

"
You
Hargrave - wasting that much
dough on a machine to put hot water on coffee grounds. The French
press you smashed at my place today cost fifteen dollars ninety
nine and would have made a better cup than your Rolex coffee
machine."

"I'll happily replace your French press. In
fact, if you had looked in that package I sent you then you would
have seen that I already have. Also, you haven’t tasted this coffee
yet, so why don't you shut that smart, delicious mouth of yours and
'cup' this damn coffee already."