Trace of Innocence (No Control Book 3)

Chapter 28

(No Control - 28. Magic)

When I open my eyes I am confused for a second. I am in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room.

I lift my head from the pillow and then it all comes flooding back. I am in Jess's bed.

Alone.

Hmmm.

I sit up and rub my eyes, and then lean over the edge of the bed to grab my phone out of my jeans pocket. I check the time. 6.55am.

I have a couple of unread texts from Niall, Grimmy and my friend Jeff Azoff, and I quickly reply to each one (I just send a winky face to Niall) before pushing myself out of bed and pulling on my boxers.

I need to brush my teeth before I go anywhere near Jess. She seems to think I'm hot so far - I don't want to ruin the illusion with my morning breath.

I open the door to her bedroom and see her sitting at the kitchen table in a little top and shorts, tapping away on her laptop. She looks up and stares at me with her mouth open. I'm not sure why.

"Morning," I say.

"Hi," she says, almost shyly.

I need a piss, and a toothbrush, asap.

"Nature calls," I mutter, and quickly duck into the bathroom and shut the door.

I check my reflection in the mirror.

What the fuck is my hair doing?

I run my fingers through it, trying to make it look tousled rather than tangled, and then splash water on my face. I borrow Jess's toothbrush (hopefully she won't mind), take a piss and wash my hands before opening the bathroom door again. She's still staring at her laptop, so I lean casually in the doorway, crossing my arms over my chest and feeling a bit self-conscious.

"How are you getting on?" I ask.

"Nearly done," she replies without looking up. Her fingers are moving over the keyboard at the speed of light, and her eyes are darting from a piece of paper in front of her to the screen, and back again.

"You're speedy," I say, and she glances up at me, sending a nervous jolt to my stomach.

"I'm in the zone," she responds. "Would you like some tea?"

I notice there's a clean mug sitting next to the kettle, and one next to her laptop on the table.

"I'll do it," I offer, and I walk over to make it. I lean over and pick up her mug off the kitchen table. "Where are your teabags?" I ask awkwardly.

"Cupboard to your right," she replies.

I open the cupboard door and pull out a box of Yorkshire Tea, and out of the corner of my eye I see her gaze shift to my back, and then down to my bum.

What the fuck - is she checking me out?! Hell yeah!

I'm suddenly giddy. "Are you checking out my buns of steel?" I tease her.

I love it when we flirt like this. I can actually see the colour rising in her cheeks.

"No!" she exclaims, and then mutters, "Buns of steel, yeah right."

"Ahh, it's like that is it?" I say, half to myself and half to Jess. "I see."

I'm going to have her for that slay.

I walk over to her and put her fresh cup of tea next to her laptop, and then walk behind her to look at her screen. I briefly wonder if this is the same computer that has the picture of me as the background.

"You're very well trained," she says cheekily, and tilts her head back to look at me. I can't help but grin at her attitude.

I need to regain the upper hand. I'm going to have some fun here.

"So what are you doing?" I ask her.

"Just entering details into our system for these customers," she says, turning her head back to her work.

On her screen are a load of numbers in rows and columns. It looks complicated.

"What do they all mean?" I point vaguely at them, feeling stupid.

"That's just company accounts. Anyone can access these if you know where to look."

"What do you mean?"

I feel even more stupid.

"Well, if you wanted to, you could look at any filed accounts for any company you wanted to see," she explains. "So you could see what they're worth, how much cash they have, etc etc."

"For any company?" I wonder.

Like, even One Direction's official companies? So anyone can see how much we're worth?

I bend down and look at her screen, and as I do I catch the scent of her shampoo or whatever it is - that tropical smell - and it sends a tingle to my stomach.

"Yeah - look," she's saying, and she's busy typing way on her keyboard, but I'm staring at her bare shoulder and wondering what she'll do if I kiss it. "OK, so these guys are worth nothing, and are probably about to go bust any minute," she says, pointing at the screen.

I'm going to kiss it, just to see how she reacts.

"Interesting," I say absently, as I reach up and gently grab her hair into one hand, and sweep it over her left shoulder, exposing the back of her neck.

"Well, I think so, but I'm a nerd."

I lightly run my fingers over her right shoulder, and my heart begins to pound as I lean forward and kiss her neck, just as she's typing something.

She gives a weird intake of breath and giggles nervously. "Oops," she says, and I watch her delete a load of random letters from the screen.

I kiss her shoulder, and feel smug when I watch her skin break out in goosebumps. I move my lips back to her neck again and I smile to myself as her head drops to the left to give me better access.

I'm turning her on, I know I am.

I'm rock hard.

"OK you're going to have to stop doing that," she says breathlessly, with no conviction.

There is no way I'm stopping. There's no way she wants me to stop.

"Why?" I whisper, and plant another kiss on her neck, and then make my way along her jawline, smiling at the goosebumps appearing as I go.

She slides around in her chair, gets to her feet and tilts her head up towards me.

Ah, she wants me to kiss her. Well, alright then.

I pull her against me and press my mouth onto hers, and I know she's felt my boner when she murmurs, "Was twice last night not enough for you?"

I resist the urge to remind her that she was the one who made a move on me last night.

I suppose it's only fair I make the move this time.

"You do something to me," I say huskily, and I pull her little top up over her head, exposing her bare chest. I put my arms around her and lift her, and she jumps up and wraps her legs around my waist.

"I'll be late for work," she protests halfheartedly.

"I'll drive you," I offer, and I walk back to her bedroom with her in my arms and toss her lightly onto the bed.

She doesn't argue, and instead pulls me on top of her and lets me sink myself into her. When she cries out in pleasure underneath me half an hour later I collapse, panting and trembling, and bury my face into her neck.