Discipline (4 page)

Chloe looked steadily at him. ‘That sounds like blackmail.’

He nodded. ‘It is blackmail.’

His honesty took her by surprise. ‘That’s disgusting!’

‘It’s the way the world goes round. Your time in Rio de Janeiro must have taught you that.’

‘But this is London,’ she protested. ‘It’s different here.’

‘People are the same the world over. Here, in England, such things are hidden below the surface. In Brazil it’s an accepted way of life. For myself, I prefer the Brazilian way. I dislike hypocrites. Now, will you come out to dinner with me or not?’

Chloe hesitated. She didn’t have anything else to do. All her evenings were spent alone in her bedsit, with only the pigeons on the small balcony for company. Despite this, her instincts told her that she should refuse, even if it meant the charity losing a donation. This man was dangerous, and she wasn’t naïve enough to think that he wanted only to talk to her.

She opened her mouth to refuse, then, abruptly tiring of playing safe, changed her mind. ‘If you really want to take me out for a meal, it would be selfish of me to refuse,’ she replied.

Carlos smiled. ‘How altruistic of you to put the charity before your own feelings! I’ll pick you up at eight o’clock tomorrow night. You must give me your address before you leave. I’m certain we’ll have a very interesting evening.’

As she began to drink her tea, Chloe couldn’t help wondering exactly what Carlos Rocca meant by interesting.

CHAPTER

5

‘W
here does the little nun live?’ shouted Livia, as Carlos showered before going to pick up Chloe.

‘On the other side of the river. A very poor address, which is to our advantage.’

Livia didn’t reply. She wasn’t completely happy with what Carlos had planned. Although the prospect of initiating a sexual novice into their world of disciplined eroticism was exciting, it carried a risk. It was the same risk that all his games carried when they involved another woman: he might prefer her to Livia.

Glancing at the bed, she saw that he’d laid out one of his best suits and his favourite Italian silk tie. Fear touched her, making her stomach tighten. He was a man who was easily bored, who moved in a world where all the women were sophisticated and highly sexed. An ex-nun, novice or otherwise, was certain to hold his interest for a time.

Quickly she slid open the glass doors of the shower cubicle, slipped off her dress and walked inside to join Carlos. He was standing with his back to her, but turned his head as she slid her arms round his waist, her fingers caressing his damp skin.

‘I’m in a hurry,’ he murmured.

‘We’ve got time,’ she responded, moving her mouth down his spine and kissing every vertebra.

For a second it seemed as though he wasn’t going to respond, but then he turned to face her, his eyes bright with excitement. Grabbing hold of her, he twisted her round until she was standing with her back against the wall opposite the shower head. Now he caught hold of her hands, and pushed them up above her head, pinning them against the tiled surface as he bent his head and nipped lightly at each of her nipples in turn.

Livia began to squirm with excitement, and he quickly thrust a knee between her legs, pushing it upwards so that she could stimulate herself against it. ‘Make yourself come like that,’ he said hoarsely, and then his mouth was moving over her sensitive breasts again.

Livia’s hips jerked as she rubbed her vulva against his leg, and she started to grow heavy and damp between her thighs. She could feel his tongue moving roughly over the soft underside of each of the swollen globes in turn. His breathing was quickening all the time, and as she felt herself tightening deep inside her belly, he lowered his leg and pushed his straining erection against her aroused entrance.

‘Come now!’ he commanded, pushing himself inside her, but she wasn’t quite ready. He was demanding her obedience too soon, and she nearly cried out with frustration because she desperately wanted things to go well.

Aware that she wasn’t ready, Carlos started to rotate his hips in tiny circles, trying to touch her G-spot, and at the same time he fastened his mouth over her left breast, sucked at it for a few seconds and then closed his teeth hard over the aching tip of the nipple.

As a delicious shard of red-hot pain lanced through her, Livia’s body shuddered with delight and she climaxed at
the same moment as her lover. When the last tremors had died away, Carlos gently pushed the damp hair back off her face and kissed her deeply on the mouth.

‘Delectable!’ he said with satisfaction. ‘I wish our ex-nun had been watching.’

‘She’d have been very shocked!’ laughed Livia, running her fingers over her bruised nipple.

‘Of course. I want to see her shocked,’ he replied. Then he squeezed her sore nipple sharply between the finger and thumb of his right hand before leaving Livia alone in the shower.

Shivering at the wonderful, hot, dark pain that he’d deliberately caused, Livia felt desire rising in her again. That was the problem with Carlos. It was impossible to get enough of him.

‘I think I’ve had enough to drink already,’ said Chloe, as Carlos began to refill her glass.

‘Nonsense, you’ve hardly had anything.’

‘Well, just a little then.’ Chloe wasn’t used to drinking, but it seemed rude to refuse, and anyway the wine was delicious.

‘So tell me the truth. Do you still regret deciding that you weren’t cut out to be a nun’

Chloe couldn’t remember when she’d last felt so relaxed, and she was sure that Carlos would understand what she was talking about if she was honest with him. ‘I wasn’t ever certain that I was cut out to be a nun,’ she confessed. ‘In a way I think I wanted to prove to myself that I could cope with the discipline it involved. My parents were always on the move. They let me grow up without any real boundaries or guidelines. Their only attempt at setting any kind of standard for me to follow was when they sent me to a convent school. It was one of
the nuns who suggested that I should consider entering a religious order.’

She was aware that he was watching her closely. ‘Was this because you were naturally very good?’ he asked softly.

Chloe tried to suppress a giggle. ‘Certainly not! Quite the opposite really, but according to Sister Clare, it’s never the girls who think they want to be nuns who are really being called. I admit I found their interest quite flattering, which shows a rather vain and shallow nature!’

His next words were spoken so quietly that she had to lean over the table to hear him. ‘Do you find it hard obeying rules?’

‘Oh yes,’ she said cheerfully, aware that she’d definitely drunk too much. She wasn’t usually this open. ‘When someone tells me what to do, my natural instinct is to do the opposite. Of course, I soon conquered that once I entered the convent.’

‘Of course.’

‘I still think I’d have made a good nun,’ she continued. ‘I was doing really well, but when I discovered what was happening to all the money we were collecting in Rio, I started to question everything. I mean, how could they justify paying out bribes to thugs and crooked policemen when small children were—’

‘It was a question of survival. You know, I think I did you a favour. You definitely weren’t cut out to be a nun.’

She felt a little giddy, and hoped he’d hurry up and order some coffee. ‘Maybe not,’ she agreed. ‘I like my work at the charity.’

‘Surely you don’t like where you’re living?’ asked Carlos.

Chloe shook her head, and the room spun. ‘No, of course not. It’s horrid, but it’s all I can afford.’

To her relief she saw Carlos turn and catch the waiter’s eye. ‘Two coffees, please. You know, Chloe, I might have
the solution to your problem. There are three spare bedrooms in my London house. Why don’t you use one of those?’

‘I couldn’t,’ she said hastily. ‘It wouldn’t look right. I hardly know you, and—’

‘I don’t live there alone. Livia, my Brazilian girlfriend, has flown over with me. Drink your coffee and I’ll show you round the house before I drive you home.’

‘I don’t understand why you want to help me,’ muttered Chloe, wishing she could just curl up and go to sleep.

‘Because I feel responsible for you. After all, if it hadn’t been for me, you’d still be living in Rio de Janeiro with all your illusions intact.’

She was sure there was more to it than that, but the truth was she wanted to see the rest of his luxurious house, and she also wanted to be with him for a little longer. ‘All right,’ she agreed, ‘as long as Livia’s in tonight.’

‘Oh yes,’ Carlos assured her with a smile. ‘Livia will be in, and she’ll be very interested to meet you.’

By the time Carlos drew up outside his home, Chloe was asleep in the passenger seat. He glanced at her, her face illuminated by the light from a nearby street lamp. She looked unbelievably innocent, and his mouth was dry with excitement.

This was the difficult part, getting her to agree to live under the same roof as him. If he could accomplish that, then he was confident that the rest would be easy. He knew women, and could tell from the way Chloe moved, dressed, ate and drank that she was deeply sensual. All she needed was someone to show her the truth about herself. It might be a shock, but she’d get over it. In the end she’d be grateful to him, just as he was grateful to her now for bringing excitement back into his jaded life.

He stroked the side of her face, and her eyelids flew open. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘Nothing. You fell asleep. This is where I live.’

‘I’m sorry, it must have been the wine.’

He nodded. ‘Very probably. Let’s go in.’

Before they’d reached the front door, Livia opened it. She stood framed in the doorway, looking magnificent and sexy in a tight-fitting dark-red dress, with her blond hair falling to her shoulders. ‘I’ve brought Chloe back to look over the house,’ said Carlos. ‘She’s living in a horrible flat in Tooting at the moment. I thought she could use one of our spare bedrooms, since she works so near.’

‘I didn’t know we were taking in lodgers,’ muttered Livia, as Carlos brushed past her with Chloe just behind him.

‘It’s for a good cause,’ said Carlos, struggling not to sound as annoyed as he felt at Livia’s interruption. ‘Chloe works for a charity that’s trying to help Brazilian street children, which, as you know, is a cause very close to my heart.’

Chloe stood blinking in the hall. ‘I’d forgotten how lovely it is,’ she said sleepily.

‘I’d imagine it’s quite a change to your present flat.’

‘Sorry, I’m really tired and confused. Why do you want me to stay here?’

‘Because you deserve a nicer place to live, nearer where you work, and I’m partly to blame for what’s happened to you. Come on, follow me.’

He was counting on the fact that if he spoke with enough authority she’d obey him, and when she did he felt a buzz of excitement. Clearly her first instinct was still to follow instructions, just as she had as a nun. Now, as long as she accepted the offer of a room, her initiation into his world could begin.

Opening the door into the largest spare bedroom, he
stepped back to let her look in. The colour scheme was all soft browns and cream. The bed, dressing table and wardrobes were natural pine, and cut-glass vases full of green-and-white floral decorations were dotted around the room.

‘It’s beautiful,’ whispered Chloe, ‘and so restful. I could lie down and go to sleep here right now.’

Carlos glanced at Livia, who quickly took the younger girl by the arm. ‘Why don’t you?’ she suggested with a smile. ‘You’re very tired. We can talk more in the morning.’

‘I don’t think I should. I …’

Livia steered Chloe towards the bed, and within seconds she was lying on her side on top of the covers, her head resting on her hands and her eyes closed.

Carlos studied her deep breathing and nodded with satisfaction. ‘Out for the count!’ he said to Livia, as they closed the door on her. ‘This is all going exactly to plan. Now, here’s what I want to happen in the morning …’ As he continued to talk, Livia listened carefully, and by the time they went to bed, she was almost as excited as her lover.

When Chloe first opened her eyes, she couldn’t think where she was. There was a little daylight coming through a crack between the curtains covering a window to the right of her bed, but nothing looked familiar. Then, slowly, she began to remember the night before.

Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was six o’clock. She was used to waking early, but this morning she had a feeling that a noise had woken her. Quietly she lay in her bed, listening.

After a few moments she knew that she was right. It sounded as though someone was sobbing or groaning somewhere in the house. The sound would continue for a minute or longer, and then there would be a long pause
before it began again. She felt her pulse quicken, and slipping out of bed opened her bedroom door and stepped out on to the landing.

The noise was much louder there. It was a strange, keening kind of cry and she walked slowly along, trying to pinpoint exactly where it was coming from. Suddenly the noise grew much louder, and as she turned her head towards it, she found herself looking through an open bedroom door.