Natasha's Awakening (38 page)

She was still very worried about what would happen if she was in fact pregnant, she didn’t really want to think about it because she knew it would change everything. Eric had made it clear he wasn’t interested in becoming a father anytime soon. A pregnancy would be her worst nightmare and her greatest joy all at once. Still, as she hurried after him, she knew it was pointless worrying about it now until she had something to worry about, so she tried to push her concerns to the back of her mind as her and Eric made their way back to the horses.

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When they got back to the stables Natasha helped Eric unsaddle the horses and remove their bridles, following him into the tack room to put the gear away. He brought them some brushes and they spent time grooming the horses down until their coats shone in the late afternoon sun.

Eric mixed both horses small dishes of hard feed and they held their horses on their leads while they ate. Once they were finished, he rugged Bakari and Cleopatra again and both he and Natasha led them back to the paddock letting them go with the other two horses. As they cantered off to join their paddock mates, Eric and Natasha watched them for a little while before beginning the walk back to the house. He had his arm thrown over her shoulders as they walked and she slipped her arm around his waist, feeling his muscles flex and shift under her hand with every step.

Once they got back to the house Eric offered to prepare dinner from one of the numerous ready made meals courtesy of Maggie and Natasha took all their clothes off the line then ran upstairs to have a shower. When she emerged half an hour later dressed in yet another one of Eric’s sweaters but with a surprise on underneath it for him, she sat at one of the stools at the breakfast bar to watch him deftly slicing vegetables for a salad to go with the Tuna Bake that was heating up in the oven.

Eric passed her a Bacardi and Coke he’d already made and bent across to kiss her, inhaling the scent of her shampoo and perfume before returning to his food preparations. As he cut up the food, Natasha occasionally leaned over and pinched a wedge of tomato or a slice of cucumber and popped them in her mouth. “Stop stealing the food baby.” He swatted at her hand but he was smiling as he continued to cut up the vegetables.

He started dicing some cheese to add to the salad and she lunged grabbing some cubes to eat. Eric’s hand closed around her wrist when she started to sit back down and as she tried to snatch her hand back out of his, the sweater she was wearing slipped off one shoulder.

He froze when he spotted the red satin that rose up from under the neck line of the sweater and tied at the back of her neck. He hadn’t seen it earlier because of her hair hanging down covering it up but Natasha could see she more than had Eric’s attention now.

“Please don’t tell me that’s the little red number you showed me earlier.” Eric said, closing his eyes briefly. She sat there silently and he popped one eye open to look at her, a questioning look on his face. “Natasha?” He questioned and she smiled.

“You told me not to tell you, so I’m not.” She smirked at him and Eric swore.

“God dammit baby, how the hell am I supposed to get through dinner knowing that you’re wearing that outfit under my sweater that’s gonna kill me for sure. That’s assuming I don’t cut my fingers off finishing this salad.” He muttered.

Natasha laughed at him and watched as he continued with the salad, mumbling under his breath the whole time. When he’d finished and managed to do it without losing any fingers, he removed the tuna bake from the oven and served some for both of them. Natasha carried their plates and cutlery to the table while Eric brought the salad and they sat down to eat.

Again the food was to die for and she asked Eric when the famous Maggie was due to come over next. “She might come over tomorrow baby, but I can always give her a call if you want to meet her.”

“I’d really love to.” She said.

“I’ll give them a call in the morning then and see if they’d like to drop around.”

After dinner, Natasha cleaned up their dishes and loaded them into the dishwasher. Eric checked his emails and found a few more he had to attend to straight away. While he was doing that Natasha got her kindle out and read some of her book. It was all a very normal domestic scene and she loved it. Time spent like this with Eric made her happy. Just enjoying the simple, normal day to day living that most couples would experience.

She didn’t need the limos or company jets, none of that. She wasn’t interested in Eric for his money, his wealth meant nothing to her. She had money of her own. Nothing like his wealth, but when her Father was killed in a work related accident several years ago, there had been a very healthy life insurance payout. Her mother had put aside a decent amount for Natasha and then a year or so later there had been the inheritance from her Grandparents.

The money provided her Mother with a comfortable lifestyle and Natasha had been able to buy her own home and car plus she made good money working for Eric so the bulk of the money she had inherited was untouched. With all that she had never been interested in Eric for his great wealth, she was attracted to the man and now after their time together she was in love with the complex man he was, not his money.

She snapped out of her musings realising she’d read the same paragraph of her book more times than she could remember and was still not aware of what she’d read. With a sigh she turned off her kindle and put it down on the coffee table.

Eric was still working on his laptop and she was getting restless. He looked so gorgeous as he sat at the laptop his attention focused on the screen in front of him, his hair messed up from dragging his hand through it numerous times and Natasha’s hands itched to move through those silky strands and try to smooth them out again. Any excuse to touch him and again she mentally reprimanded herself for being so weak when it came to him.

Finally Eric finished and shut down his laptop, stretching his arms above his head before getting up and coming over to Natasha. He bent down to kiss the top of her head and told her he was going to have a shower. She groaned inside and watched as he walked off, disappearing up the stairs. It seemed she was going to have to wait for a little while before she got to model what she was wearing under his sweater.

While he was gone Natasha decided to give her Mother a call since she hadn’t spoken to her since she’d come to Tasmania with Eric. Her Mother answered the phone almost immediately. “Hi Mum,” Natasha said.

“Nat darling, how are you? Are you ok? Are you still in Tasmania?” She fired off question after question not pausing long enough to give Natasha time to answer.

“I’m good Mum. How are you?” She asked.

“I’m fine darling. I’ve been busy with my Craft group. We’re making blankets to donate to the RSPCA for the animals. They always need a supply of bedding for the cats and dogs so our group thought we could help them out a bit.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier just to donate old blankets or buy blankets Mum?” She asked and her Mother snorted.

“Now where would the fun be in that darling?”

Natasha sighed. “Ok Mum, well as long as you’re happy.”

“My life is just wonderful baby girl, but enough of me. Whose this man you’re with and don’t deny it’s a man. I’m your Mother, I know you wouldn’t have taken off on some impulsive trip unless your heart was ruling you.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. Damn her Mother was good. “It’s not someone you’ve met Mum.” She finally said.

“Is it serious darling? When will I get to meet this man?” Her Mother wouldn’t let up.

“He’s no one Mum. It’s not serious ok? Don’t go booking the church just yet please.” Natasha joked. She glanced up and saw Eric standing at the bottom of the stairs watching her an odd expression on his face. “Mum, I have to go.” Natasha said.

“But Nat you haven’t told me anything about this man. Who he is? How much longer are you staying in Tasmania?” She asked.

“I have no idea Mum. A few more days maybe. Look I’ll ring you when I get home ok? I’m fine, I’m having a good time so don’t worry about me.” She said her goodbyes to her Mother and hung up.

Eric walked over to her. He was barefoot, wearing well worn faded jeans and a black t-shirt. He looked as sexy as sin as per usual with his wet hair slicked back from his forehead and Natasha’s eyes moved over him watching the graceful way he walked towards her.

“That was your Mum?” He asked although Natasha suspected he already knew the answer to that.

“Yes. I thought I’d better give her a quick call otherwise she’ll have me lost in the wilderness of Tasmania or something.” She joked but Eric didn’t smile back.

Rather than sitting down with her, he went and poked around, preparing the fire and lit it. Once it was burning well, he added some large logs and shut the door before straightening and stretching, his arms high above his head. Natasha watched him, the flexing of his muscles and the way his t-shirt pulled free of his jeans parting enough to display a strip of skin between his jeans and t-shirt.

“I need a drink, do you want one?” Eric asked her but Natasha shook her head and watched as he walked off to pour himself one. When he came back with it, he dropped down on the lounge alongside of her and stretched his legs out in front of him. Unlike every other time he made no effort to sit close to her or tuck her against his side and Natasha felt her heart sink. Something was obviously wrong but she had no idea what. She panicked wondering if the bubble had burst and he had had enough of his time with her. She was almost afraid to ask, but she had to.

“What’s wrong Eric?” She turned to him where he sat nursing his drink staring into the fire.

“What did you mean when you told your Mother I was no one?” He finally asked. Natasha exhaled noisily, relief flooding her body. He was being a typical male whose ego was feeling a bit dented.

She reached out, taking his hand in hers. “Oh for crying out loud Eric, I told my Mother that to stop her asking a whole string of questions. You’re the one who wanted this time away to be a secret. If I told her who I was with, that I was with my boss, she’d be planning our wedding. You have no idea how much she wants to see me married off. Her greatest fear is to have her only child left on the shelf.”

“Have you thought about when you want to go home?” He asked and Natasha’s heart leapt.

“No I haven’t. Why do you want to get back?” She braced herself for his answer.

“Well, it’s something we’re going to have to think about soon, but no I’m not ready to go back yet. If you’re still happy enough to be here then so am I.” He told her and Natasha inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Of course things could change horribly if she was pregnant and that spectre was lurking. Within the next couple of days they would have an answer one way or another.

Eric went back to sipping his drink and Natasha tried to work out how she was going to seduce him. She had her daring outfit on under his sweater and she needed to remove it but she wasn’t sure about just tearing it off as she sat beside him, she was hoping to make a bit of an entrance. She had to laugh at herself. She had the daring outfit but she wasn’t daring enough to pull off some big seduction number for Eric’s benefit. Still, she had to try something.

She got up off the lounge and headed towards the downstairs bathroom. “I’m going to the bathroom.” She said and Eric looked up at her, his gaze moving down her body. With those intense blue eyes following her movements, Natasha disappeared into the bathroom. She pulled his sweater over her head leaving it on the vanity unit and checked out her appearance in the mirror. She had to admit it was quite an outfit and she hoped Eric was about to be blown away when he saw her.

She flipped her head back to give her hair a wind blown look and after one last glance at herself, she stepped out of the bathroom and began to walk back to Eric, swinging her hips to try and look sexy, as she rounded the kitchen bench and approached the lounge. When she got up to the lounge, she put on her most seductive smile and flipped her hair to one side, hands on her hips and looked down for Eric’s reaction. It wasn’t quite the reaction she’d hoped for. It certainly wasn’t good, as he had fallen asleep.

                                                                         Chapter 18.

Natasha looked down at Eric’s sleeping form and couldn’t believe her luck. Here she was all dressed up and for what? He wasn’t going to see it now. She turned and walked over to the fire, staring at the flames for a moment. With frustration evident in her movements she ran her hands through her hair, pulling it back from her face. As soon as she released it, it tumbled back down around her shoulders, several strands hanging over her eyes and she blew the offending hair away impatiently.

She heard a low chuckle behind her and turned to see Eric watching her. Passion burned in his intense eyes, mixed in with a trace of humour as he quite openly laughed at her not quite as sexy attempts to get her hair off her face.

“I thought you had gone to sleep,” She said, her tone accusing and Eric laughed even harder.

“Seriously baby, when I knew you had that on under my sweater? How could I possibly sleep until I saw you in it?”

“Well you’re not exactly acting like a man overcome with passion.” She grumbled and Eric stopped laughing, his eyes darkening. He stood up and moved towards her, his eyes raking up and down her and when he was standing before her, he grabbed her hand so her palm pressed against the fly of his jeans.

“Does this feel like a man who is not overcome with passion?” He whispered. Natasha’s insides melted when she felt his erection pressing hard against his jeans. He stepped back from her for a moment, his eyes travelling up and down her. “God you’re so beautiful.” He said huskily. “That.” He pointed to what she wore. “That is going to be my undoing. Do you have any idea just how much I want to rip that thing aside and bury myself in you right now? No foreplay, just fucking pound into you until you scream?” He said, closing his eyes briefly as he tried to get himself under control. At his words Natasha felt excitement chorus through her body. Her nipples hardened and moisture pooled between her legs, soaking the narrow strip of silky material. Eric’s eyes opened and he groaned when he saw her hard peaks pushing against the material that barely covered her breasts. “Fuck it Natasha, you’re not helping.” He ground out. “Dammit, I have to do this right. Get down on the rug.” He said pointing to the thick, plush pile rug that was spread out in front of the fire. He grabbed a couple of cushions off the lounge and dropped them onto the mat for her.