Starr Fated (46 page)

What was wrong
me with me? It was as if Liam was unleashing some sort of a savage
animal that bit and clawed her mate in the throes of passion to
mark him as hers. Is that what I was unconsciously doing?

~*~

Liam insisted
on making me breakfast of poached eggs on wholemeal toast, as he
remembered that’s what I’d ordered at the hotel in Kinsale, along
with a big mug of steaming Earl Grey tea. But afterwards, I
insisted that I wanted to return to my apartment, by myself. I
needed some time to process everything I’d experienced, and I
struggled to think coherently whenever Liam was in close proximity.
A nice calming yoga session should do the trick to get my head back
into some sort of order.

“Neither of us
is used to being with someone 24/7. It’s going to take some
adjustment for both of us. We both need our own space. And anyway,
I'm sure you’ve probably got stacks of emails and messages to work
through.”

“But I
thought… most women…. they always seem to want me to spend more
time with them, and yet you can’t wait to get out of the door it
seems,” he said with a bemused look on his face.

“Perhaps I'm
not like ‘most women’,” I retorted frostily. “Perhaps I’m not like
all those previous pathetic Barbie clones of yours who can't manage
on their own without your company for a few hours.”

“Whoa! Where
did that come from?” Liam chuckled. “And I would agree, you are
most definitely not like any other woman I've ever known, that’s
for sure. Okay, have it your own way, but how about we meet up
again later? We could go out for a nice brisk walk, have lunch in a
pub, and then come back here? We’ll be going out later, because I
have something planned for this evening.”

Liam had come
up behind to put his arms around me and was now nuzzling my
neck.

“Maybe this
afternoon it’ll be time for some further tutorial sessions. I
wouldn’t want to be accused of being a neglectful mentor, now would
I?” he whispered in my ear, and I couldn’t help shivering
involuntarily, wondering what he had planned for us next.

“But going out
together…isn’t that a bit risky, seeing as we’ve agreed to keep
things between us under wraps? We’ve been lucky up to now, but what
if we bumped into someone?”

“I think the
chances of us seeing someone we know are extremely remote. But I
have no objection to remaining indoors with you,” he murmured, as
he continued to kiss my neck. I knew if I didn't make a move away
from him now, I’d be lost and unable to leave.

“How about I
make us some lunch? Come down to me at around one? We can decide
then exactly what we want to do with the rest of the afternoon.
Don't forget, I also need to talk to you about starting work,” I
reminded him as I stood up.

I was both
excited and apprehensive about starting work at SCV next week, and
I needed to establish a few ground rules with Liam about how this
whole thing was going to work.

“Well, I
wasn’t planning to talk shop with you today, but I'm happy to go
over anything you need to know.”

“I just
thought that seeing as you’ll be with Jamie tomorrow, maybe we
should go over some points this afternoon.”

“Who says I'm
seeing Jamie tomorrow?” Liam queried.

“It’s Sunday
tomorrow. You always see him for Sunday lunch when you aren’t away,
don't you?”

“Not every
week. And I only saw him last week, don't forget.”

“Yes, but he’s
your brother and you should keep in touch with him. Give him a call
this morning, set something up,” I urged him.

“Why is it so
important to you? Are you trying to get me out of the way or
something?” Liam frowned, only half joking I think.

“Jamie’s the
only family you have and you’ve always been very close. I can't
stand the thought that I’ve come between brothers. I like that you
look out for him. Blood is thicker than water and all that.”

“Okay, I’ll
call him a bit later. No point now, it’s far too early on a
Saturday morning to get hold of him,” Liam sighed.

I looked at
the clock and saw that he was right. It was barely ten o’clock;
Jamie would be dead to the world for at least another couple of
hours – or alternatively he’d be busy in bed with this new
girlfriend of his. I didn't really feel jealous, but I did feel
worried about him somehow. Despite everything that had happened
between us, I knew that he was basically a decent guy who just
needed to mature and grow up, and my gut feeling about this Poppy
was that she was a very predatory female. I’d just feel happier
knowing that Liam watching out for his younger brother, seeing as
he was so close to his finals, to try and make sure Jamie didn't
screw up at the last hurdle.

Liam followed
me as I headed back into his bedroom to collect my overnight bag.
The huge oversized bed with its very masculine dark blue covers
dominated the room. He’d already tidied up, and all the vases of
flowers looked just as beautiful in the daylight as they had by
candlelight last night.

I turned to
him, reached up to put my arms around his neck and kissed him on
the lips.

“Thank you for
such an amazing night, Liam. Thank you for making my first time so
wonderful and romantic,” I whispered. “I’m a very lucky girl. It
was everything and more that I could have wished for.”

“I had a
wonderful time, too, Seraphina. You’re a very special girl, you
know that don't you? I’m the lucky one here, so very lucky that I'm
the one you gave your virginity to.”

He hugged me
so hard that he lifted me off my feet, as he kissed me hard on my
mouth before he put me down again.

“Do you really
have to go? Or shall I throw you on the bed and have my wicked way
with you again?” he murmured enticingly.

Somehow I
managed to resist the Sex God, although as I sat alone back in my
apartment with some of the flowers that Liam insisted I take back
with me, part of me regretted not letting him seduce me all over
again.

I relished my
solitude almost as much as I ached for Liam’s presence, but I knew
leaving had been the right thing to do, because the man dominated
me mentally and physically whenever he was around. I needed to
recharge and reset myself to being the Seraphina who didn't need
anyone else to get on with her life, because I must not become
dependent on Liam. I had to be able to cope when he moved on from
me.

I switched my
mobile phone on, and immediately a text from Abbey popped up.

You ok? How
was it? I'm here if you need to talk. xox

I smiled. She
was such a good friend to be concerned for me. I texted her
back.

Was totally
amazing. xxx

Abbey must
have been waiting for my reply, because I got a text back from her
almost straight away.

Totally
amazing? You lucky girl. I expect to hear all about it v. soon.
xox

I smiled to
myself. Abbey was the one person I'd usually feel able to confide
in, but right now I just wanted to keep it all to myself. Just for
now, all the precious memories of being so deeply intimate with
Liam were not for sharing with anyone else. That way, he was
totally mine, in my memory anyway. No-one could take that from
me.

I wandered
into the spare room study where my Mac was set up, and logged in to
check my emails. There was one from Aoife, wanting to know how
things were going with Liam. By ‘things’, she meant she wanted to
know all the gory details, such as if we’d slept together yet, but
I ignored her and didn't reply as I wasn’t ready to gossip and
share. She said Nana was still convinced that Liam was my one true
love, or some such drivel. Well, I’m afraid Nana was living in
cloud cuckoo land, because Liam didn't believe in that kind of
thing. Making love with someone didn't mean you were
in
love
with them, did it?

I checked the
schedule of classes at the fitness centre, and as I’d thought,
there was a Hatha yoga class between eleven and twelve, which
fitted in perfectly seeing as I'd told Liam to come for lunch at
one. So I quickly got changed into the loose yoga pants and baggy
top that had been amongst the gym gear that Liam had ordered for
me, found my yoga mat, and headed on down.

The class was
excellent, and I felt so much better afterwards, centred and calm,
much more my old self again.

As I made my
way out of the studio, I was just running through in my mind what I
could prepare for lunch, when I literally bumped into Scott
Franklin, the fitness centre manager.

“Hi, it’s
Seraphina, isn’t it? I was hoping I’d run into you again, because
we need to arrange your personal one to one gym induction,” he
smiled, as he remained in very close proximity to me rather than
backing off after our virtual collision. This close up, I couldn’t
help noticing that he had a very hairy back and shoulders, and that
he was also quite sweaty. Something about his whole demeanour made
me feel distinctly uncomfortable, although I wasn’t quite sure
why.

“Oh, I don't
think that’s really necessary. I've no intention of using any of
the more complicated equipment, just the simple running machine.” I
stepped back from him, but he just leaned in towards me as my back
hit the wall.

“I’m afraid
the rules of the gym state that an induction covering every piece
of equipment is obligatory - it’s to do with the insurance. And it
has to be me who undertakes your induction, as I'm the only
suitably qualified instructor. So why don't you step into my office
for us to book some dates in for you?” Scott’s eyes were fixed on
my chest rather than on my face. He was literally making my flesh
crawl. Friend of Liam’s or not, I wanted nothing to do with
him.

“Don't you
have a female trainer? Only my boyfriend might have a problem
otherwise.”

I was
clutching at straws by falling back on the jealous boyfriend
excuse, although I knew it was most likely true that Liam probably
wouldn’t be happy if I trained with another man. But I kept it
pretty general as I wasn’t sure if he knew about Liam and me,
seeing as we weren’t broadcasting our relationship. Scott knew that
Liam had brought me down to the gym last week, but I had no idea
what Liam had said to him about me. He might have just said I was a
work colleague.

“No, under the
terms of our liability insurance, I’m the only fully qualified
instructor. But I promise you I'm very good, so I’ll make sure
you’re fully satisfied with
every
aspect of your training,”
he smiled. “So, this boyfriend of yours - does he treat you well?
Only I'd have thought a gorgeous young girl like you would prefer
not to be tied down. I’d have thought you’d rather be free to have
fun and experiment, rather than be someone’s obedient little
pet.”

“He treats me
very well, and I am not anyone’s pet,” I said through gritted
teeth. “Now if you’ll just excuse me, I need to get on.”

“Here’s my
card,” Scott placed it in the little pocket on the front of my T
shirt, letting his hand linger for just a few seconds longer than
necessary. “You seem such a sweet, trusting girl, Seraphina, but I
happen to know this boyfriend of yours pretty well, so let me just
warn you. Don't be sucked in by all the trappings of his wealthy
lifestyle, because maybe he isn’t the nice, dependable guy he seems
at first. I'd hate to see you get hurt by becoming too reliant on
him. I’ve seen the same thing happen so many times before.”

“What do you
mean? What are you talking about? I don't think my boyfriend would
be happy about what you seem to be inferring.” I retorted
angrily.

“Okay, forget
I said anything, I was only trying to help.” Scott put his hands in
the air as he finally backed off. “Now don't forget, to comply with
the terms of your club membership, you’ll have to have an approved
induction with me.”

I pushed
passed him and made my way up to my apartment, where I threw his
card down on the kitchen worktop in disgust. I'd have to ask Liam
if Scott was right about having to have an induction with him, or
if there was any way of getting round it. And what exactly did he
mean about Liam, what was he hinting at? I already knew that Liam
had had many sexual partners before me, but Scott seemed to be
implying that he’d made them promises and then let them down,
contrary to what Liam had told me about it always being a purely no
strings kind of arrangement with all these other women. Was he just
trying to make trouble and stir things up for some reason? Or was
he doing me a favour by warning me not to believe that I was
different from all the others. Either way, Liam would deny the
accusations, so I didn't think it was worth while telling him what
Scott had hinted at. My gut instinct told me that Scott was wrong,
but maybe that was only because I didn't want it to be true. Either
way, I hoped Liam would understand that I didn't feel at all
comfortable with this friend of his and not think I was just being
an irrational female.

I tried to put
it all out of my mind as I quickly got showered and changed, then
concentrated on getting the lunch ready before Liam turned up.

It seemed that
every time I thought I was a step
closer to getting Seraphina prepared to work at a relationship with
me, she took a step backwards, and distanced herself. She clearly
felt upset, intimidated even, by the number of previous women I’d
been with, but there wasn’t anything I could do about that.

Maybe it was
her lack of experience that meant she failed to appreciate just how
truly great the sex between us was, because she had nothing to
compare it to. Well I did, and sex with Seraphina was like nothing
I'd experienced before, because it was in a whole new league of its
own.

Not just
because she’d been a virgin, although I loved that I’d been the one
to claim her because it made her uniquely mine. Not just because
she had the sweetest, tightest, silkiest pussy I had ever
experienced, and we seemed to fit together so perfectly, almost as
if we were designed for each other.