Sapphamire (3 page)

“Yes, she has. And I’m more than willing to risk my chances at having her here,” he said strongly.

“If you sign the contract, there is no going back. She will be your responsibility, and yours alone. With that in mind, are you still willing to sign?”

“Yes, the damn contract is already signed!” Blain gave his most irate expression to each and every one of the Council members, silently warning them he would kick every one of their high asses out the door if one more word were to be said negatively about Natasha. They were way out of line, and sooner or later they were going to be put in their place. And he had a gut feeling when that time came about, he would be right there, handing their asses to them. There was no way he was going to forget tonight. He would never forget how they basically treated her as if she were an animal. How they belittled her right in front of him.

“
inline italics="true">Soon

,” his dragon promised. “
Soon we can take her, mate her, and then we will have all rights to protect her!”

For once, he agreed with his dragon completely.

Chapter Two

It was late by the time all the elders had left after dinner. She had even overheard one of the elders telling him to be careful with her not knowing her powers yet, and to be watchful of her possibly turning on him. And she need no comfort surrounding her; he would be safest if he were to keep her locked up in his dungeon at night with guards to watch her and make sure she didn’t try to pull any tricks. It was amazing at the treatment given just by being different. Out of the entire group, she knew there were four that had pretty much hated her for years. They were the ones who had forced her into cruel conditions over the past several years. They were the ones who had screamed the loudest that she couldn’t be trusted, with her part-demon mother, her powers could come upon her at any time. She shook her head. One would have thought that since they weren’t human, they would know not to be prejudiced. They would know that it didn't make you a bad person just because demon blood ran through your veins. In fact, she had met several demons in her life, and she trusted all of them far more than she did the Council.

“Finally,” Blain sighed, leaning against the doors as they closed.

“Thanks again, Mr. Barrymire, for everything you’ve done,” Natasha said, offering him a weary smile. She was emotionally drained from the full day of having her nerves out on a limb.

“No thanks are needed, Natasha,” he replied as he pushed off the door and stepped up to face her.

She tilted her head back so she could see him. “Well, it’s getting rather late,” she mumbled, not sure what to do with the feelings assaulting her body whenever she was in close proximity of him.

“It is. I don’t know about you, but after today, I could use a release.”

“Sir!” she nearly shrieked as she stepped back away from him.

His eyes grew wide when he realized how she had interpreted what he’d just said. “No, no, no—not that type of release. I meant a few drinks,” he quickly offered with a chuckle. Although now that she mentioned it, his dick stood straight up, all in favor of her inadvertent suggestion.

Natasha stood staring at him for a long time.

“I’m royally screwing this up. Let’s try this a different way. Go get changed, we’re going out,” he stated as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

“Out?”

“Yes out, we’re going clubbing.”

“Clubbing?”

“Dancing.”

“Dancing?”

“Natasha, do you by chance hear an echo in here?” He couldn’t help the smile that played at his lips.

“Uh, no, sir,” she answered, blushing deeply.

“Good, now go get changed,” he ordered as he walked past her and up to his own room.

“Your car and driver are ready and waiting for you, sir,” Natasha informed him as he came off the bottom stair and grabbed his coat off the back of a chair.

“Thank you,” he replied, a little disappointed that he could not quite yet see what outfit she had chosen, due to her long leather trench coat.

He placed his hand on the small of her back as he led them to the car, and held her door open for her before sliding in next to her in the back seat. He gave the driver instructions, then silence filled the empty space in the car as he sat back watching her adjust to his environment. Blain knew Natasha wasn’t used to any of this, especially not going out dancing with her boss. Yet, she never questioned him when he had informed her they were going out.

Arriving at his favorite bar, they discarded their coats just inside before heading over to the bar for a drink. His jaw nearly broke off from dropping so hard and fast at seeing Natasha’s outfit. She wore tight-fitting leather pants, a white off-the-shoulders shirt, coupled with knee-high snakeskin heeled boots. She had taken her hair down, and it flowed in thick waves all the way down to the small of her back. She was breathtaking in anything! She could probably be sewn up into a muumuu and still look damn sexy. Though he did catch her eyeing him for a brief moment, in his leather pants that laced up the sides, biker boots, white shirt, and leather vest. He was proud to have her eyes roaming over him, even if it was for too short a time.

“Blain,” the bartender said, nodding his head as they walked up to the bar and took their seats.

“Gerard,” Blain returned.

“What will it be for you and the lady tonight?”

“My normal and…?” he trailed off, looking at Natasha.

“A coke,” she replied to the bartender. The man just looked at her and raised a brow. “Straight, and light on the rocks,” she tacked on.

The other man shook his head and turned to walk away, only to turn back when Blain reached over the bar and touched his forearm, signaling him to wait a minute.

“If you don’t order something with alcohol, then I’m going to have to pick something for you to drink. And it may just be something so strong I will guarantee it will knock you on your ass.”

Natasha looked over to the bartender for help and the man just shrugged his shoulders at her.

“Fine,” she said, turning her gaze back to Blain. “Just add a splash of rum to that coke, please.”

“Gerard, add two shots of Satan’s Piss to the order, if you will.”

She waited until the other man moved away to speak again. “You are quite persistent, Mr. Barrymire.”

“Yes, well, while we are on this subject, we’re going to establish some ground rules for tonight,” Blain stated.

“Okay, I’m listening.”

“First, there will be no more
sir
or
Mr. Barrymire
here tonight; we are here as friends, not boss and assistant. And second, I am going to make sure you have fun here tonight whether you like it or not. If you have any problems with any of that, keep it to yourself.” He narrowed his eyes at her for just a few seconds, long enough that he was fairly certain she wouldn’t argue, just as their drinks arrived.

She waited until the bartender had walked away again. “Okay,
Blain
, under one condition: everything goes back to its rightful order first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Cheers,” he said, holding his glass up as he handed hers to her.

She rolled her eyes and tapped her glass with his before taking a sip of her own drink.

“Now, shall we dance?” Blain asked, offering her his hand as he smiled like the devil.

Natasha’s eyes went wide. “No!”

“Yes.”

“I can’t! I don’t know how to dance.”
What is it that keeps throwing her off balance whenever she is near this man?

“Then I guess I’ll have to teach you.” He shrugged his shoulders as if it were no big deal, grabbing her hand and all but pulling her out to the dance floor.

These days, dancing was like having sex with clothes on, surrounded by blaring music. But in truth, Natasha had the time of her life spending the night with Blain teaching her how to dance. And though she could never admit it out loud, it felt like pure heaven to have his body rubbing and grinding up against hers, though she tried not to think too much about the erection that had been there too. He had drunk way too much, even for a shifter, so she contributed his horniness to his drunkenness. But the fun was now over, and she was ready to hit her bed, not accustomed to staying up until the wee morning hours. But first, she had to get a drunken Blain up the stairs to his room, cleaned up, and in bed himself.
Oh joy, joy.

“Stay with me tonight, Natasha,” he half whispered, half slurred into her ear as she slid his vest off. She had lost count tonight as to how many shots he had downed.

“I am staying with you tonight; it’s my first night staying here at the castle,” she replied lightly, knowing full well what he was asking, but putting it down to his drunken state. Besides, sleeping with the boss? Um…no. She couldn’t afford to have something bad happen with this job. There was simply too much riding on this. She gave him a bit of a shove that sent him sitting back on the bed. Leaning down, she picked up one leg and started removing his shoes.

“No, stay
with
me,” he pleaded, gazing longingly down at her.

“I’ll just be the next room over,” she said, a bit too curtly, gesturing to the door that adjoined their rooms. Trying to soften her last comment, she added, “As your right-hand, I am never going to be very far away from you.” He looked up at her as if he were trying to figure out a puzzle. Maybe he was. Maybe he was so accustomed to women falling at his feet and having anyone he wanted to sleep with… She reached down and quickly pulled his shirt over his head.

“You’re already undressing me,” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows at her as he leaned back onto his elbows.

Natasha burst out laughing before quickly covering her mouth. She had always been instructed
never
to laugh at someone. It could get you hurt or even killed where she had come from.

“You should do that more often.”

“What? Undress you?” she snorted.

“Laugh,” he stated simply, all slurring gone as he stood, looking down to her. “Please, stay,” he begged in a whisper.

She smiled up at him. She kind of liked him like this. All loose and worry-free. Tonight, he hadn’t been the ruthless businessman she had heard about. He hadn’t been a very rich and powerful owner of a castle,
a castle for crying out loud
! No, tonight he had just been Blain—carefree and laid back. She liked this side of him. Even if he were inebriated. Stretching up on tiptoe—even in three inch heels—she tenderly kissed his cheek. He turned his head, trying to capture her lips with his, but he lacked speed in the condition he was in. She quickly stepped back out of his reach, and handed him a pair of clean night pants to change into.

“Goodnight, Blain,” she stated softly, turning and leaving the room. Blain stood still for a long moment, surprised she had walked away from him. Surely she had felt the raging hard-on he’d been sporting all evening long.

His dragon grumbled about Blain being an idiot and why the hell couldn’t Blain just take what they knew was theirs?

Natasha sighed as she leaned her head against her door. This job was not starting off like she thought it would. Never did she dream she would be out dancing and partying the night away the first day of arriving. But that was exactly what she had done. And now she wondered what tomorrow would bring.
Would Blain be the cold, calculating businessman he portrayed himself to be yesterday when she’d arrived? Would he even remember the details of their night dancing together? Or would he be detached come morning, choosing to forget everything that had happened?
Well, if he did, so would she. She would start tomorrow off quietly until she could get a feel for how he was going to act. Then, she would just take her cues from him.