Cole waved a little awkwardly, since she had no idea what these people had to do with each other, or with Ellery. With the exception of Mikhail, they were all in their fifties at least. John, in his tweedy, elbow-patch-sporting jacket, looked like an academic. And Janet like the subject of that Jenny Joseph poem. Dick peered up from the latest George RR Martin. “Where has Ellery been? We thought she had forgotten us.” “Just been busy,” Ellery replied. “You’ve missed out,” Dick said. “Oh yeah? Highlights?” Flossie reclaimed her seat. “This German couple took Miskha’s spot. But we soon had them put to rights.” Ellery asked, “Musically?” “The Halle, I think. Gave us some smashing Mahler,” Flossie said.Ellery shrugged. “Das Lied?” They nodded. “Eh. Every time she hears that, she's like…hurry up and die already. Don’t hang there in D forever.” John was polishing his glasses on the edge of his sleev
What had started out as the worst queuing experience of her life gradually became one of the best for Cole. Not that, in all honesty, there was that much competition. The evening got a flood of last-minute warmth, like a guilty start from the sun just as it was slipping away. She lay with her head on Ellery’s lap and Ellery fed her the rest of the strawberries—at least the ones she could wrest from Unasked for Queue Lady. Cole couldn’t help but notice that lots of other people were drinking wine but Ellery had gone all ascetic on her and only brought water. Probably it was the right call—she wasn’t sure whether her capacity to appreciate classical music would be improved or diminished if she was wankered. And, besides, she was slightly floaty anyway—on the balmy evening air and the brush of heat across her skin and the strange liberation of having nothing to do but wait. They were briefly interrupted by the click-whir-flash of a camera. And Cole startled out of a not-quite-dayd
Cole was slightly dazed as she followed Ellery out of the Royal Albert Hall and into the lingering warmth of the night. They wandered silently between the pale white mansions and red-brick towers of Kensington, letting the memory of the music linger. The next time Cole paid attention to her surroundings, they were on the Old Brompton Road. This area was the closest Kensington had to a commercial district, though it still exuded a posh atmosphere with its upscale flats, boutique stores selling extravagant items nobody would reasonably desire, high-end restaurants, unnecessarily large Pret A Manger branches, and, somewhere in the midst of it all, the pub where Private Eye was founded. Ellery grabbed Cole’s hand and pulled her into a late-opening gelato parlor that was so small, she would have likely missed it if she had been alone. The sight of the long counter, displaying different flavors of ice cream fluffed up like perfect little clouds and as vibrant as bi
Bellerose’s mouth thinned into a mean little line that didn’t suit him.And Finesilver was still radiating an impenetrable field of trust me, trust me, I’m a nice person. “I believe she feels in some way connected to him.” “Because he follows her around taking candid photos of her?” “Because he has done so since she was fifteen years old. And”—he sighed gently—“on one occasion got her to hospital after an overdose.” Cole wanted nothing more than to wrap Ellery in a tight embrace, although she knew it would be an unwelcome gesture on Ellery’s part. “I suppose,” she muttered, shuffling her feet awkwardly, “he can’t be all bad, then.” Finesilver’s expression shifted slightly, his eyebrow raising in response. “He took photographs first.” Bellerose adjusted the screen, angling it more toward Finesilver and away from Cole. “Let’s focus on the matter at hand.” Finesilver returned his attention to the laptop. “These are the only circulating photographs
“Hello, Cole.” “Good evening, Mr. Crux.” “Did you…I mean. I sent you something. I trust it arrived.” Oh bless, he sounded, well, not nervous exactly. But eager and trying to cover it up. And Cole suddenly felt a whole lot better about the coat. “Yes. Thank you. It’s perfect.” “I’m glad you like it.” “Best thing in my entire wardrobe. I won’t wear anything else ever again.” “Anything else, you say? Now that I’d like to see.” Cole gave this weird bleaty little laugh because she hadn’t been properly prepared for flirting. But she rallied. Made what was probably an ill-advised attempt at sultry. “Come round, then. I’ll give you a private viewing.” “You know I’d love to. But I’m waiting for a call from Tokyo, and I prefer to handle such things from my office.” She sighed. “Soon, then?” “I’ll insist on it.” The growl in his voice sent happy little shivers racing down her spine. But it also made her miss
Her stockinged feet made no noise on the plush carpets as Cole approached the office. Her nerves were fluttery but holding steady. She felt reasonably impressed with herself as she pushed open Aiden’s door and entered. However, her confidence quickly faltered. Or rather, she fell. She didn’t even know what she tripped over—perhaps her own misplaced optimism—but one moment she was sliding into Aiden’s office, exuding sultriness in her sex coat, and the next she was yelping and ending up in a heap on the ground. “Cole?” If anything romantic had occurred—Aiden’s face lighting up with joy at the sight of her, for example—she was in no position to witness it. His tone sounded surprised rather than horrified, which gave her a glimmer of hope. “Are you all right?” She nodded, rubbing her nose against the carpet. “I meant to do this.” “You did?” “Absolutely. I was just, you know, sitting at home, thinking about you w
It turned out, that was straightforward. Cole wasn’t sure how successfully she would have been able to hold back if she had tried. He fucked her mercilessly, with a precision and power that left her an incoherent trembling mess on his desk, her whole body rocking with the thrusts she held herself open for. Being fucked that way, and helpless to do anything but take it and feel it, was insanely intense. Her hands were slippery, her legs ached, and her arse stung a little bit from his thrusts, but somehow, that just made everything even better. Best of all, though, she got to watch. She got to see him pushing into her, framed by the V of her legs, the tender skin of her thighs looking paler than usual in contrast to the dark nylon of the stockings. She got to watch her cock bouncing between them, hard and flushed and shiny with precome, her balls drawn up tight beneath. And she got to watch him. Gorgeously unraveled with his tie askew and his hair mussed
“Write what?” “Anything you like. How about Aiden + Aiden 4 Eva in a big heart?” That earned her an exasperated look. She prodded him with her foot. “Please? It doesn’t even have to be romantic.” “I’m not literary like you.” “You mean you’ve never stumbled across some words arranged into an order you quite liked? Ever?” “It’s not that.” He picked the pen back up and absently fiddled with it, twisting its lid round and round between his fingers. “I’m afraid I find it rather exposing.” “Aiden, I came to your office practically naked.” “Yes, but you chose to do that.” Oh fuck. He had a point. She was being super pushy—and one person’s risky titillation was another person’s excruciating nightmare. “I’m sorry. Ignore me. You don’t have to.” He leaned down—smooshing their too-hot bodies together in a way that was only okay because they’d just had the best sex ever—and kissed her. “No, I
“Hey now,” Cole protested. “He offered me money and the apartment.” “Like you were going to take it. How long was he with you? Did he know you at all?” “We were kind of in the middle of an argument at the time.” “Right. But it’s been over a week.” It had. And Cole had told herself she wasn’t hoping for anything. Except she must have been. Because now she felt silly.Ellery kicked the tree moodily. “Stop feeling sorry for him. I expect he’s feeling sorry enough for himself. Or Lancaster’s found him a new whipping girl.” “Don’t.” “Sorry.” “Did you really come all the way to Kinlochbervie to say ‘I told you so’?” “No.” She pulled her hood up and disappeared into its shadows. “I came to ask if you want to live with me.”Cole nearly fell off the swing. “Live with you?”“Yeah. Thought I should move out. Do some shit with my life or something.” “What sort of shit did you have in mind?”She kicked the tree again. And then, apparently finding
Everything hurt. The hours seemed like wild horses. Dawn broke around Cole. She spent most of the day on the sofa, crying herself out of tears, watching the sky turn tauntingly through shades of silver and gold. She tried to be brave, to be strong, to be less pathetically embarrassing. But her inner Scarlett O’Hara was AWOL—tomorrow being another day seemed like scant consolation. And while she sometimes tormented herself with idle fantasies of Aiden coming back, of sweeping her into his arms, full of sorrow and declarations of eternal devotion, she knew it wasn’t going to happen. She wasn’t sure she could ever bear pain like this again. Later… later… later… Her phone bleeped. And, like a fool, she scrabbled for it, wrecked with hope and fear and hope. It was Harper: “I MOVED MY FOOT!!!!!” **** She slept and didn’t sleep, and the hours sped and sluggished by. And finally, she rang home. Hazel picked up. “What’s wrong?” she said before Cole even had a chance to speak.
Cole swayed exhaustedly where she knelt. “Well, I'm not. And I don't How many times is you going to ignore me telling you that I love you? Because I do. I really do. And you can think all these awful things about yourself if you must. But nothing—nothing, do you hear me—will make me believe them.” “You can’t love me. You don’t know me.” “You mean, because I didn’t know about this? That’s only because you lied to me about it.” He paced restlessly, up and down that pristine room. This lost creature in Aiden Crux's skin. “I didn’t lie.” “I asked you outright. In Kinlochbervie.” “No. You asked if someone had hurt me. And they haven’t.” “Oh fucking hell.” She rubbed her hands against her burning eyes. “I could have hurt you. Don’t you realize how completely fucked it feels looking back at all the times I’ve pushed you on sex stuff with no clue about what happened to you?” “Well,” he drawled, “I did warn you that I’m a cruel
Cole glanced up. “I'm not. I mean, it wasn’t fun. But I trusts you. With the worst of me, as well as the best, and all the squishy ambiguous bits in between.” “Thank you,” he said, unexpectedly grave. “I hope to always honor that trust.” “As I will for you.” He didn’t respond. “So, y’know”—Cole nudged him gently—“your turn.” It took a long time, but he did eventually speak. The words coming slowly and painfully, like razor blades from his lips. “If I tell you, you’ll know what Eleanor said about me is right. That I’m sick and twisted and I ruin everything that’s good.” “She only said that because she was angry.” He shook his head. “No, she said it because it’s true. You see, she learned who she was when she was fourteen years old.” “What happened when—wait. When your father died?” “After that. When she seduced his business partner. His best friend.” Cole genuinely had no idea what to say. To
Cole pulled off a truly Ellery-worthy eye roll. “One cigarette a month is hardly going to kill him,” she said. “Is that what he told you? And you believed him?” Natasha asked. Now that she thought about it… he did tend to reach for his cigarettes once they’d sexed. And he’d smoked after dinner. And during Star Wars. And just now in the gCole. Oh fuck. Fuuuuuck.Natasha shook her head at her. “You poor, sweet girl. You don’t know him at all, do you?” “I… I’m in love with him,” she said, her voice barely audible. “I can see why you’d believe that. Aiden can be quite dazzling when he chooses. But you don’t understand anything about who he is. Or the damage you’re doing to him.” She tried to reply, to protest, to defend herself. Defend him. Defend them. But she had nothing. Aiden had de-clawed her with his secrets. Left her powerless and alone. “You deserve better,” Natasha went on softly. “He’s using you like his cigarettes. You
“I love it when you hurt me. I love everything you do. And everything you are,” Cole said. And that was when Aiden turned and drew her into his mouth. It was the teeniest bit awkward—he even nicked her slightly with the edge of his teeth, suggesting maybe he didn’t do this all that often. He certainly hadn’t with her before. Not that she’d minded. He made her come just fine. But…wow. He could have been actively terrible and she wouldn’t have cared: Aiden Crux was sucking her pussy. No teasing. Only his tongue sliding tight round her, his mouth soft and hot and perfect.Ohfuckohfuckohfuck. She was…Aiden was… Cole turned her head into her shoulder in an effort to muffle her noises. Which were at least as loud as when he’d been torturing her nipples, and probably even less dignified. Pain was one thing. She could take pain. But she was pleasure’s bitch. Hone
His fingers closed around her through her dress and squeezed until she bucked and moaned. Some of the anguish faded from her face, the tight lines of her brow and mouth yielding to desire, and something tender she might have called hope. “Don’t move,” he whispered, as he stepped away. “Okay.” Her heart thumped as eagerly as a puppy’s tail. She loved the anticipation that came with his commands. And she loved pleasing him. Of course, her nose started itching almost immediately. But she was determined and ignored it and held still as he had told her to. Aiden circled the pillar, leaving her standing there like Andromeda. Well, Andromeda if she had a massive erection. Then he drew her hands behind her and she felt the cool brush of silk against her skin.It encircled her wrists. Pulled taut. Oh my God. His bowtie. He was bondaging her with his own bowtie. She made a noise of surprise and exciteme
He didn’t quite flinch but he got that look: the closed down, I am a million miles away from you look I knew all too well. “I’ll leave you to enjoy it.” And, with that, he…went away. Again. Cole bit down on a gasp of frustration. She wanted to kick him in the shins. He couldn’t just fix what was probably years of hurt and misunderstanding with a single, and very small, gesture. Also, the fucker had barely spent five minutes with her. But she pushed all that aside and turned her very best and sparkliest smile on Ellery. “So what happens next? Do we all die of the plague?” Ellery sneered at the room. “Mm, here’s hoping.” “Wow, that’s the last time I RSVP to an invitation from you.” “I don’t mean it.” She sighed and with the air of a small child being forced to eat Brussels sprouts added, “Thank you for coming.” “I didn’t know you played the violin.” Ellery shrugged. “I’m brilliant. When I’m not rusty.” “
“What do you look for?” Cole asked. “The thing nobody else sees,” He replied, propping his hip casually against a piece of furniture she didn’t have a name for—something ornate and impressive, probably a credenza or vitrine or whatever. “Society photography comes down to one very simple principle. Anyone can take pictures of Kate Middleton and Lady Gaga. The trick is getting a picture of Kate Middleton with Lady Gaga.” “And have you?” “Not yet. But she’s a long way from dead, and hopefully so are they.” Cole laughed. In a strange way, the woman reminded her a little bit of Aiden. The same conviction, the same merciless drive, although focused and expressed very differently. She guessed it was becoming pretty apparent she had a type.But mainly Cole was grateful. Now, when she looked across the room, she met smiles. Flashes of recognition in other people’s eyes. She knew faces and names. She could have joined some of the conversations. Instead of drifting around pathetically. Stil