Closer to the Heart (The Heart Trilogy Book 3) Read online

  Outside the club I was surprised to see Zach standing on the door. He saw Charlotte and crossed the pavement to meet her and Julia. In doing so he noticed me in the car and leaned down to the open window

  “Aren't you coming in” he asked.

  “I'm far too old for New Year Club celebrations” I replied “Just look after my daughter”

  “Guaranteed” he replied “Happy New Year Stephanie”

  I drove away and in the rear view mirror saw him saunter towards the doors.

  The vibe of excitement was evident in the atmosphere of the club. Charlie and Julia pushed through the crowds to the bar and ordered a drink. They had barely walked halfway round when Simon tapped Julia on the shoulder.

  “Hey gorgeous” he said, planting his lips firmly on hers. They only broke apart when Charlie coughed loudly.

  “Hey Charlie” Simon said, grabbing her in a bear hug before letting her go.

  “Is Mitchell with you” they both said at almost the same time.

  “No” Simon answered.

  “Oh” Charlie managed, her face fell and her lips trembled with the effort of keeping a smile in place.

  “He told me he was coming home to you” Simon said, steering them over to a quiet corner.

  “When was that” she asked.

  “Christmas Eve morning”

  “He texted me the same thing that evening but then never turned up. His Dad rang Felicity's place and she said he was staying there”

  “Well he hasn't been in touch with me since” Simon replied, worry in his voice.

  “Me neither, but the police can't do anything because of his age” Charlotte's voice cracked over the final words, she was struggling to keep it together.

  Julia grabbed her arm and gave their drinks to Simon.

  “Let's dance” she said, dragging Charlotte onto the floor. The beat of the music helped for a while as each dance track merged into the next before the Ne-Yo song started. It was too much for Charlotte as she pushed past the dancing throngs surrounding her and into the open, cooler air of the lobby. Zach discovered her sat there, head in her hands.

  “Hey, your Mum told me to look after you” he said, sitting down.

  “That's because she doesn't know what you're really like”

  Zach grinned at her comment.

  “And what am I really like then? I'm curious”

  “You're suave, sexy and a charming predator” Charlotte paused for a second, the couple of drinks making her bold

  “If my Mum knew this she would be telling me to keep away from you”

  Charlotte looked up into his dark, brown eyes. He matched her gaze with his and watched with amusement when she coloured and looked away.

  “Why don't we have a little drink in my office, since your friend appears to be busy” he glanced across to the main doorway back into the club. Charlie followed it to see Julia leaning against the wall, Simon's body moulded into her curves.

  Charlotte shrugged and allowed Zach to take her hand and lead her through a small, hidden door next to the cloakroom. They ascended the staircase and entered a smaller room that led into his main office. A large corner sofa filled two walls and a flat screen TV dominated the other. Charlie noticed it was showing views from the various cameras in the club. Zach walked through to his drinks cabinet whilst Charlotte sat on the sofa, half bold, half scared.

  He handed her a tumbler filled with vodka and lemonade, he held his usual glass of Jack Daniels and took a seat next to her. He admired the long line of her lower leg and then crept higher to her thighs, half hidden beneath her short pink dress. She sipped at her drink and savoured the hint of lime in it, the vodka almost unnoticeable.

  “So you get to watch everyone in the club from up here” she said.

  “Oh, yes. It’s great for that”

  “All the cameras”

  “Yes, all the cameras, it can be titillating and tantalising at the same time”

  He smirked and took a swallow of his drink and watched as Charlotte took a longer sip of hers. This in turn made her relax back into the luxurious cushions.

  “So you're a voyeur then?” She quipped, the alcohol activating her sarcastic side.

  “Yes, some things are worth looking at, but others need to be experienced” his mesmerising stare did not waver.

  “So I guess you watched Shelley and me in your changing room?”

  “I couldn't help it, you girls put on a good show on that sofa, but I could have been down there in a couple of minutes”

  “Oh, it was more than a show, dancing makes you feel like that. The intensity of the music builds and when it’s over you're left wanting.....”

  “Wanting what?”

  “Wanting release, I guess” Charlie mumbled, blushing like mad at his direct questioning.

  “But you wouldn't understand as you don't dance”

  “Try me” Zach said, flicking a switch so that music started to flood the small room. He stood up and then reached for her hand to pull her up and against his body. Charlotte didn't recognise the melody but the slow beat started its ascent through the souls of her feet.

  “Can you feel it” she asked.

  “I can feel you” he breathed. She let her hand find his chest, firm beneath the luxurious fabric of his shirt.

  Closing her eyes she thought about the scene from Dirty Dancing when Johnny first tries to explain the feel of dancing to Baby. With her fingers she started to tap his chest to the beat and tried to ignore the very fast fluttering in her own. He reached up and took her hand in his, transferring it and his to her bare skin at the top of her breast.

  “So now we start to move to the music” Charlie breathed, moving slightly so that she was on the ball of her feet.

  “Like this” he said, slowly starting to sway.

  With each song blending effortlessly into the next they remained joined until Zach's phone rang and the mood was interrupted.

  Charlie found her glass and drained it, the alcohol fuelling her reckless mood. Finding the music system she flicked through his iPod and found what she was looking for, a fantastic track by Jason Derulo called The Other Side

  “Tonight we'll just get drunk, disturb the peace

  Find your hands all over me“

  Zach finished his call and turned to see Charlie with her finger on the pause button, grinning sexily at him. She pressed play and started to dance in front of him. The alcohol flooded her system, her body feeling the very depth of the lyrics. After all she reasoned, she had nothing to lose playing the seduction game? Mitchell had not come back to her so perhaps Zach could be his substitute for the night? She saw his arms reaching for her and quickly spun away out of reach

  “You'll have to try harder than that” she teased.

  “Will I” he arched his eyebrows and downed the last of his drink.

  He watched her for a while, the undulations of her sleek frame hypnotising him. Not for long though as his desire forced the blood around his body. His eyes focused more intently and with his glass on the side he moved towards her. She dodged him again as she changed direction in a slide just beyond his grip. She swung round, sashaying past but this time closer so that his hand caught hers and he reeled her into his body.

  “Got you”

  “Have you” she giggled, sliding down his body and crawling beneath his legs. Zach let out a deep, throaty laugh as he turned around and reached down to grab her foot. With a quick wiggle her shoe came away in his hand as Charlie turned from her crawl to see his face. She was breathless as she stood up. Her shoe dangled from his fingers.

  “Does this make me Cinderella?”

  “Well, if you think I'm Prince Charming then you don't know me well enough”

  Charlie giggled and held up her glass.

  “Any chance of a refill, I'm thirsty”

  “Certainly” Zach replied, taking it from her grasp and at the same time letting his fingertips touch hers. He poured generous measures for them both and turned
to find she had kicked off her other shoe and was now curled up on his sofa. Sitting down beside her he held the glass out. She reached for it but he pulled it out of reach

  “If you want it you'll have to take it”

  “You mean like this” as she reached across his body.

  Chapter 7

  In a swift move he placed the glass on the side table and her hand found his instead. Off balance now Charlie fell across his lap and tried to twist out of his grip but he held her tight and let his other hand glance across her rear. The one touch had a profound effect as he withdrew it and then replaced it with a light slap of his palm. Charlie drew in her breath and let out a yelp.

  “This is for trying to play me” his voice echoed, soft and low, bestowing another on the untouched mound. How he wanted to feel her bare flesh that the fabric protected.

  She wriggled in his grip so he released her and she turned over, but instead of moving her legs she left them on his lap. The hem of her dress, wrinkled up to the top of her thighs. All she could do was stare at him in surprise, her arse still smarting for his touch, but spreading its warmth to other places. Innocently she licked her lips, the tip of her tongue cherry red against the pale frosted lipstick. That one movement was all it took to fell him. With both hands he clasped her cheeks and pushed his lips against hers.

  Charlie opened her mouth to his probing tongue, she too utterly powerless to resist their attraction. Zach eased her back onto the sofa cushions, his body weight displaced the air in her lungs. When his lips and tongue started their journey down her throat she gasped to refill them. Her heart felt like it had moved to prevent further long breaths as she panted under his grazing stubble. Each short hair seemed to ignite the nerves just below the smooth surface of her skin.

  The straps of her dress gave no resistance to his relentless assault and were quickly followed by those of her bra. He freed her breasts and sank his hot, mouth to each nipple in turn.

  “Fuuuuuuuuck” she cried, as his teeth nipped, once more pleasure and pain colliding. Her fingers fumbled with the tiny buttons on his shirt, until he grew impatient.

  “Just rip them off”

  She grabbed the centre seams and yanked them apart, the buttons scattered over the wooden floor. His chest was broad and well defined beneath the dark mass of hair that covered it. It was such a distinct contrast to Mitchell's smoothness.

  Her eyes slipped down to the waistband of his trousers, where the hair petered out into a thin line.

  “Do you want to see where it leads”

  “What do you think?” She quipped.

  He eased off her and stood up, kicking off his shoes and then undoing the belt and letting them fall.

  “Your turn, unless you'd let me do the honours”

  Lifting her hips towards him, she blushed and allowed his hands to pull the dress free.

  The sounds from the club beneath them had moved up a level as they both paused for the briefest of minutes, drinking each other in. Desire widened the pupils in his eyes, turning them dark and dangerous. Zach dropped to his knees and crawled to her, his fingers ran up the muscles and traced the sinews of her lower leg. Above her knee the change in temperature of her skin was easy to feel. The scrap of lace that covered her pussy offered no protection against his probing, he yanked it aside and it ripped off. The rest of his body pushed between her legs, spreading them wide.

  Charlotte half wanted to scramble away at his fierce pursuit of the goal, but her body was undulating to a different tune. His index finger dipped into her and then pulled back out, he added a second to it and then a third on the push. Charlie bit down on her lip to stop from screaming as he pummelled her, the juice soon running down his fingers and slipping past and onto her thighs. He looked up to see her face, a mixture of pleasure and pain etched in her smooth skin. When her eyelids closed he swapped his fingers for the smoother texture of his tongue and lips.

  Her clitoris was easy to find, standing erect to his first flick as he sucked it into his mouth. Charlie found her fingers digging into his broad shoulders, her orgasm building like a tower of bricks. Zach felt this and knew he wanted to feel this when he was fully inside her. He pulled back for a second before slowly inching his cock inside her, each small stroke a strain for him and another step closer to her submission. Then as each thrust got faster and stronger he could hear the shouts of the countdown to midnight begin.

  Charlotte just heard the first chime of midnight before her tower shattered, like a wrecking ball hitting its target. She gasped, swore then screamed at him

  “Harder” she cried, in a voice that she hardly recognised as her own. The skin of her hips felt bruised against his body, his hands had hers pinned above her head. For a final time their mouths collided as he throbbed inside her, letting his spunk fill her and stifle her muscle spasms around his length. He groaned and collapsed onto her with the twelfth chime leading into joyful cheers and shouts below.

  They lay sated on the sofa for a few minutes, before Zach stood up, reached and drained his glass

  “You'd better get dressed, it was your Mum on the phone she's going to be picking you up” he paused and glanced at his Rolex watch “She said twelve thirty, apparently something important has come up”

  “What?” Charlie asked, her stomach doing a flip, flop manoeuvre as she grabbed her dress.

  “I'll go and find your friend. There's a small bathroom through there” he motioned to the door opposite the one they had entered through.

  Charlotte watched him casually pull on his trousers and slid into his jumper that was on the opposite end of the sofa. She clung to her dress, suddenly shy and desperately insecure about what had happened. She had only ever found kisses, hugs and words of endearment after making love with Mitchell. Zach had done none of that in the aftermath. With his fingers on the door handle he turned to look at her.

  “My naughty, sexy new year girl Charlotte, I hope to see all of you again real soon”

  In the small bathroom Charlie had a quick wash down and then peeped into the bathroom cabinet and found some deodorant and a small bottle of perfume, along with other women's toiletries. Who did they belong too? How many girls had Zach slept with? Was she no different to them just another notch on his bedpost another conquest in his black book? Her mind shifted to the present as she pulled her dress back on and felt her stomach somersault again. The room was slowly spinning as she rushed to the basin and threw up.

  She rinsed her mouth and then found her shoes and slipped them back on before heading for the door and stairs to the lobby area. Snuggling into her new velvet coat she waited for Zach to appear with Julia but in the end it was only her friend that arrived.

  “What's up? And where were you at midnight?”

  “Uh, I was with Zach when Mum phoned to say she needed to pick us up”

  Julia watched the colour drain completely from her friends face.

  “Oh god, you don't think something awful has happened to James or even Mitchell” Julia said, her voice trailing off at Charlotte's distress.

  Before Charlie could reply they saw her Mum's car pull up outside the club. Charlotte did one final glance around to see if she could see Zach but the beat was thumping in the club and crowds made it impossible to make out anyone specific. Fuck him, she thought and then let a small smile play onto her lips, in that respect she had. Zach was back in his office, watching the camera in the foyer. Charlie still looked utterly delectable despite her wild hair and pale complexion. He picked up the scrap of lace that had once been her panties. His heart did a double thump in his chest as he held it up and breathed in the scent of her that still lingered there.

  Despite her only leaving his arms less than half an hour ago he craved her touch once more. What would it be like to find her on her knees sucking him off, did she swallow or not? All these questions battered his mind, which felt alien to him as normally once he'd fucked someone he moved on to the next object of his desire. Leaning over his desk he tapped the ke
yboard and found the recording he wanted, the one from his inner office. Lounging back on the sofa he watched her light up the screen whilst he slipped his hand beneath his waistband.

  Chapter 8

  My phone rang at around eleven thirty on New Year's Eve and I picked it up hoping that it was one of two people, Sarah or James. It was neither.

  “Is that Stephanie Eden?”

  “Yes”

  “It’s Station commander Eric Last, Its James”

  His words started to fade with the increased thump of my heartbeat. My free hand reached to rub my scar as I slipped into free fall.

  “Are you able to come over to the station as quickly as possible and if there is anyone who can accompany you that would be best” I heard him say.

  “Yes” I stammered, the shock still coursing through my body.

  Pam and Peter were out at a friend’s house, Jack was at the Dusk till Dawn party and all that left was Charlie. That was my only option depending on what the emergency was? A chill travelled down my spine as I found my handbag and pulled out the business card that Zach had given me. With trembling hand I dialled the number and waited for him to pick up.

  “Evening, Dusk till Dawn, Zachary King speaking, how can I help?” He answered smoothly.

  “Mr King, I need your help, it's Charlotte's Mum” I paused for breath and to stop the tremor in my voice.

  “Do you need to talk to her, as I would need to put an announcement out and then wait for her to respond” Zach replied.

  “Just give her a message that I need to pick her and her Julia up at around twelve thirty. It’s a family matter”

  “Ok, I'll do that”