Inspired by Night: - a sexy new age romance (15 page)

Olivia Jones:
What do you mean?

Chris Knight:
I can’t prove anything, it’s just a feeling, maybe it’s wishful thinking, I just think there’s an ulterior motive here. Steven’s a good-looking guy, but he’s a nerd and he’s going to attract a particular type of woman – sure beautiful women might want him until he opens his mouth and starts blinding them with geek speak, then they’ll just lose interest thinking ‘such a shame that someone so handsome is so dull’. Melissa is pretty but she’s after something, her ambitions are much bigger than settling down and playing happy families with Steven.

Olivia Jones:
But what else could she be doing?

Chris Knight:
I wish I knew.

I tried to reply but for some reason my keyboard stopped responding. I couldn’t believe it, I was just learning something interesting about this whole mess and I couldn’t respond. I restarted the laptop but when I restarted it I got the black screen warning me that the computer hadn’t been shut down properly and asking me to choose whether to start up as normal or in safe mode. The keyboard wouldn’t respond. Completely dead. I couldn’t believe it. I screamed and slammed the lid shut and threw a cushion at it. That’ll show it!

I picked up my phone and left a status on Facebook, hoping Chris would see it and understand my sudden disappearance.
Laptop just died, guess I’m going laptop shopping tomorrow.

Chris replied instantly.
Get one with a webcam.

Am I finally going to get to see the anonymous Chris Knight?
A fizz of excitement jolted through me, followed immediately by butterflies. 

Chapter Seventeen

By Wednesday, I was miserable in the office. I stood by the kitchenette waiting for the kettle to boil and stared forlornly at his desk. I missed him. Funny to think only a few weeks ago I was plotting ways to get him out of the office so I could have some peace, and now that he had been away for two days, I was missing him. The office seemed empty and quiet without his usual carefree banter.

As I was stirring my tea, I heard the door open and, turning, I saw Dave pop his head around the door frame.

‘Hi, Dave, how are you?’ I asked warmly. I’d not spoken to Dave since Monday when we had left Steven and Melissa to talk.

‘Hey, Olly, I’m good, just wanted to pass your post in,’ he replied handing me a pile of letters and packages. ‘Popular this week.’ He smiled.

‘Yes, job applications. Advert went out last week.’ I explained, nodding.

‘Any word from Steven?’

I shook my head, my sad smile frozen in place.

‘He’ll be back in on Monday.’

‘Well, what will be, will be. Don’t let it get you down.’ He smiled reassuringly and patted my arm before leaving.

I took my post and my cup of tea into my office and settled on the sofa. I had twelve job applications and three invoices. I piled them neatly on the coffee table and turned my attention to the package. It was addressed for my attention and, after the last parcel, I was relieved I was opening the post.

Inside the envelope was a blank DVD case with a sticky note attached saying:

‘The next lesson of your sex education.’

Inside the case was a blank DVD. There was nothing written on the disc to identify it. I was so curious I contemplated inserting the disc into my computer but I had a feeling it would contain material that should only be viewed in private and although I was alone in the office I didn’t want to risk anyone popping in to visit me. I threw the DVD into my bag and returned to my desk.

That evening I followed my new routine; turned the oven on, changed into my exercise clothes and spent twenty minutes working out. Finally, after I’d showered and eaten I opened up my bag and retrieved the disc.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but as it was from Chris, I knew it would be in some way highly embarrassing. And yet I was still surprised when I selected the first story and found myself watching porn.

The scene opened on a blue door, sunlight bouncing off the glossy paint. A tanned fist knocked on the door and a man was revealed, his dark hair brushed back off his face and few tendrils falling across his forehead. He wore dungarees, with no shirt underneath, showing off his muscles. The door opened to reveal a young woman, blonde hair piled on top of her head with curls escaping and falling down the back of her neck. She had a bath towel wrapped around her body, held in place by her hand. She was lean and tanned.

‘Someone call for a plumber?’ The guy asked smiling, revealing a perfect set of pearly white teeth. She stepped aside to let him in as she moved her eyes across the full length of his body. She led him upstairs to the bathroom, and leaned against the door.

‘I was taking a shower and the water just went cold.’ She explained, her hand still holding the towel fastened at her chest but her fingers idly stroking her breast as she spoke. The plumber glanced at the filled bath.

‘The bath water is hot?’ He asked surprised.

‘No, I boiled some pans of water.’ She moved towards the bath and dropped her towel, ‘You don’t mind if I take a bath while you work do you? I have to get ready.’

He shook his head as she stepped into the bath, moaning as the warm water covered her.

She lathered some soap in her hand and proceeded to wash her breasts. He stopped to watch her for a while, his hand moving to stroke his penis through his clothes. She noticed him watching her and stopped.

‘Why don’t you join me?’ She asked, her voice heavy with longing.

He unclipped his braces, letting his dungarees fall to the floor, and stepped out of them and over to the bath. He sat on the edge, his legs in the water. She turned onto her knees to face him, running her hands up his thighs and her tongue up the length of his considerable erection. She sucked him into her mouth, her lips moving right down to the base and slowly back to the tip, teasing him with her tongue and sucking him back in to the back of her throat. On and on this continued, his hands weaving into her hair, directing the rhythm of her movement.

He pulled out of her mouth, stood up, and lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the bathroom.

The scene changed, she lay on a large bed with black satin sheets, her feet dangling over the edge as he kneeled between her knees, his tongue running slowly up and down her clitoris, she was moaning seductively as he inserted fingers inside her. Fingers – plural!

I couldn’t even imagine that much attention being paid to me down there. I watched fascinated as he flipped her over onto her knees pulling her backside towards him and plunging himself inside her, thrusting deeper and deeper as the volume of her moans increased.

I became aware of a sensation building in my lower belly and a tingling in my crotch. I squirmed in my seat, tensing my thigh muscles and gently rotating my pelvis. My hand moved instinctively inside the waistband of my jeans and I felt a flush creep over my face as I realised what I was doing. But I didn’t care. I was masturbating to porn and it was hot.

On the screen the blonde girl was on her knees looking up at his huge erection as he moved his hand quickly up and down until his orgasm burst forth across her face. She opened her mouth, catching the drops and licking the juice from the tip of his penis as it gushed out.

My own orgasm shuddered through me as I watched, my hand slowing its pace as I squeezed every last bit of sensation out of my body.

I stared at the menu screen on the television, contemplating whether to watch more. I shook my head, bringing me back to my senses.

I couldn’t believe what was happening to me. I’d never been so easily aroused in my life, never so interested in sex, and yet lately it was all I could think about.

Chapter Eighteen

Five p.m. on Friday was welcomed with open arms. I was missing Steven and was worried about him, wondering what he was thinking, how he was feeling, and what he would do. I desperately wanted him to go against his instinct and tell Melissa she was on her own, but part of me wanted to know he was the type of man who did the right thing. I was already convinced he was lost to me, even though a small part of me was still hopeful. One thing I knew for certain was that if by some miracle he was still free when he returned next week I wouldn’t waste any more time wondering what I should do about my feelings for him. If he still wanted me, I was his. But sadly, I knew it was unlikely.

I changed into my shorts and vest and made a start on my exercises. Chris had suggested I buy a skipping rope after a conversation we’d had about games we’d played at school. He said skipping was really good exercise. It had been years since I’d skipped but I had been really into it when I was younger, learning different rope swings and tricks. I had a big open space in the hallway with high ceilings which was perfect for skipping so I had started doing it to warm up for twenty minutes before moving onto my strength exercises. I’d even bought some dumbbells to work on my bingo wings!

I had hoped that skipping would distract me from constantly thinking about Steven, but it just gave me more freedom to think. I needed to do something otherwise I’d spend the whole weekend driving myself insane, reproaching myself for my missed opportunity and then feeling guilty for only thinking of myself and not considering the awful situation Steven found himself in.

I was distracted from my thoughts by a ringing noise shrilling loudly from the living room. I stopped skipping, sweat running down my neck and my arms shining with moisture from my exertion. I hadn’t even noticed how tired I was. The ringing confused me. It wasn’t my telephone or my mobile; it was a noise I’d not heard before. I followed the sound into the living room towards my new laptop. On the screen was a black window with a message ‘Chris Knight wants to Face Time with you’ and two buttons – green to accept and red to reject.

I remembered his comment on Facebook telling me to get a laptop with webcam and felt a jolt of emotion, a mix of excitement and panic. Was I about to see the anonymous Chris Knight for the first time? I was a little nervous. I liked to imagine he was attractive and sexy but what if he wasn’t? An image of an old scruffy man wearing a tea-stained vest crossed my mind and I felt nauseous at the thought of him making sexual comments to me. I shuddered and decide it was time to find out the truth. I clicked accept.

Nothing appeared on the screen except for a small square in the bottom corner of the window which was showing me. I was surprised at first when I saw it and realised that it was the webcam filming me. I guessed that was what Chris could see on his screen. I still had no image though, just a black screen. I waited until eventually I heard a voice.

‘Well hello, Liv, nice to finally see you. You look hot.’

His voice surprised me, it was soft but firm and American. I hadn’t thought about where Chris might be from but I definitely wasn’t expecting that accent. I blushed at his words.

‘Thank you.’

‘Haha, no I mean you look hot, you have sweat rolling down your face,’ he said, amusement in his voice.

I flushed again wiping the back of my hand across my forehead.

‘I’m in the middle of my exercises, I was skipping.’ I heard him chuckle, I still couldn’t see him though, ‘Why can’t I see you?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I can’t see you; I just have a blank square on my screen.’

‘Really? OK, hang on.’ I heard noises, keys tapping, wires moving, him swearing under his breath, ‘what about now?’

‘Nope nothing.’ I sighed, disappointed, ‘you didn’t think to test it out beforehand?’ I teased.

‘How can I test it out? I can see myself on my screen, I assumed it worked.’

‘You could’ve called your phone.’

‘Ah, I did not think of that,’ he chuckled quietly, ‘I’m really not a nerd, huh?’

‘You’re really not.’

‘OK so I guess I need to go buy a webcam. You can hear me OK though, right?’

‘Perfectly.’

‘So, please continue with your exercises, I can check you’re doing them right.’

‘No!’ I exclaimed.

I didn’t want him to see me exercising in case I was doing it wrong; I hated being corrected about anything.

‘Liv, if you’re not doing them right they’re not doing you any good. You said last week you weren’t sure if you were doing them right. Show me.’ His voice had a soft tone of amusement but he spoke firmly, with a commanding authority. I sighed loudly and moved aside to check where the camera was picking up and crawled away from the laptop to the space where I was sure he would see me.

Facing the camera, I got into the position for push-ups.

‘I can see straight down your top,’ he teased.

I sat back on my heels and glared at the screen. He laughed loudly.

‘Sorry. OK Liv, turn sideways, let me check your shape.’ I obliged and he continued barking instructions; hands further forwards, knees slightly back, back flat and straight.

‘That’s good, OK face away.’ I turned around and struck the same pose.

‘What are you checking for now?’ I asked confused

‘I’m just checking out your ass in those shorts. Very nice. Definitely easily fuckable.’

I spun round on my knees and stared at the screen, mouth opened wide in shock. Words I’d seen him write many times, they sounded so strange spoken out loud and yet at the same time they sounded so hot. I became increasingly aware that I wanted this man to find me attractive and sexy. He was chuckling again. I crawled over to the laptop and grinned.

‘Well hope you made the most of it, I’m going to take a shower!’ I said smiling, then I closed the laptop.

Chapter Nineteen

‘What’s happened?’ Ruth asked, seeing right through my wide grin and over-enthusiastic greeting. I had just arrived at All Bar One and joined her at the bar. My face fell and I sighed.

‘Melissa.’

My face hardened and I scowled as I said her name. Ruth raised her eyebrows.

‘The girl from the toilets?’ She asked. I nodded in confirmation, ‘what’s she done to him now?’