Darkest by Ashe Barker Read Free Book Online Page A

clean kitchen table. Nathan’s hands on me, and my powerlessness to resist. My first orgasm, so intense, so utterly wonderful. And so terrifying. And the fierce twist of desperation and need, and the bone-deep fear that nothing so beautiful would ever happen to me again, that drove me to agree to his crazy demands.
    “Did you know what he was going to do? To me?”
    “I had a good idea he’d try to persuade you to go with him. I knew he wanted you to go, to spend some time with him in his apartment in Leeds. And I had a good idea why. And you did go. And you stayed. So I’m guessing you were fine with it all. I was a little bit worried about you, though. You seem a lot more…inexperienced than some of those other women I made toast for in a morning. But like I say, Mr Darke is a nice man. He’s kind and generous. And gentle. I knew you’d be safe.” The sharp stare under quizzically raised eyebrows seeks my reassurance that I am, indeed ‘fine with it all’.
    I relent, put my hackles down and put her out of her misery. “He—persuaded me. He can be very persuasive. Forceful, even. But yes, I’m fine.”
    “I’m glad. And relieved. I hope he didn’t scare you too much. Still, it’s turned out all right. And he brought you back with him. And he spent the night in your bed before he left this last time…”
    “How did you know?”
    “Like I said, I’m a good housekeeper. I know which beds are slept in and which aren’t.”
    I nod. Seems that just leaves Rosie then.
    Meanwhile, we still need to put an end to this nonsense about nursing homes. I pull my phone from my pocket and press Nathan’s number on speed dial, ruthlessly squeezing my inner muscles tight as I recall our most recent telephone conversation.
    “Who are you ringing? I don’t think you should be using that in here, love…” whispers Grace. “What about the heart monitors and scanners? What about the premature babies?”
    “If any show up they can get their own phones,” I mutter whilst listening to the dialling tone. Nathan picks up on the fourth ring.
    “Hi, gorgeous. Did you sleep well?” I’ve been phoning him every night, last thing, and his low-toned reference to last night’s erotic adventures has the desired effect and, despite my efforts, I feel my pussy clench in a way that is all too familiar these days. I turn in my seat, avoiding Grace’s interested gaze. Despite our frank conversation there’s no way I’m reminiscing about mind-blowing phone sex with her in earshot.
    “Ah, yes, very well, thank you.” I rush on, before he can say anything else to make me disgrace myself further. “Nathan, I’m at the hospital, with Grace, and I need your help with something.”
    “Oh? Is she okay?” His tone is suddenly sharp, all business.
    “Yes, absolutely fine. More than fine, in fact. She can come out of hospital any day now.”
    The relief in his voice is evident—I hear his breath exhale and realise he’s been holding it. So much for ‘just an employer’.
    “So soon? That’s fantastic. We’ll need to hire a nurse.”
    Yes! I knew it!
    “Yes. It is fantastic. And I reckon we will be wanting that nurse. But you need to have a word with her first. She’s on about booking herself into some rest home somewhere instead of coming home, so’s not to be a nuisance to us. I’ve tried to talk to her but I can’t get her to see sense. So you’ll have to…pull rank or something. She’s here.”
    I hear his muffled, “Pull rank? Yeah, right,” as I hand the phone to Grace and sit back, my arms folded mutinously while I let Nathan get on with it. I listen to the one-sided conversation, although to be fair Grace’s contribution is pretty minimal.
    “I can’t… Well, that’s kind of you but… Now, there’s no need to go to all that trouble… Maybe we should… I… Well, I suppose I’ll have to do as you say, then. And, thank you.”
    She hands the phone back, her eyes a little glassy from tears she’s trying