Fire & Ice ~ The Drake Legacy: Book One (13 page)

As I walked along the tunnel and stepped out into the crowded Arrivals hall, I scanned the sea of unfamiliar faces for his, my heart in my throat, but instead I was met only by the blank, dead stares of strangers.
 

And then I saw something familiar; my name written in capitals on a large cardboard sign: CASSIE LAWRENCE.
 

The guy holding it looked young and bored, chewing his gum with an open mouth, his eyes a little glassy, but when I approached him and told him my name, he stood straight up to attention, as if I’d been the Queen of England greeting him. He was wearing a dark blue suit and I guessed that he could only have been about twenty, if that.
 

"Good evening, Madam," he said in a perfect, crisp English accent, his adam's apple bobbing wildly in his neck as he spoke. "This way, Madam. Let me take your bag for you, Madam."
 

His whole performance was so over the top and comical — like something from a comedy movie — that I almost wanted to reply with 'Very well, Jeeves'. But instead, I just let him take my small, wheeled carry-on case and followed him out to the busy, smoky parking lot, where he led us towards a large silver Audi.
 

He opened the read door for me and I got in, feeling a little like how I imagined a celebrity might feel.
 

§

The young chauffeur drew up outside a posh-looking, exclusive restaurant in Notting Hill. He got out of the car and stepped round to the back, opening my door for me.
 

I couldn't resist myself.
 

"Thanks, Jeeves," I said, registering the held-back smirk on his face with a cheeky wink.
 

My stomach was fluttering with butterflies as I headed into the reception area.
 

"I'm here to meet Mr Drake," I said.
 

"He's in the far room, follow me …" the waitress began.
 

"Wait!" I blurted, my heart hammering. "I need to use the bathroom first."

"Down those stairs," she said, nodding to the door behind her.
 

§

In the bathroom, I fixed my hair, gave myself another light spray of perfume and tried to fix my features in a way that made it look like I
hadn't
just stepped of an eight-hour flight, if that was even possible.
 

At least I didn't feel tired. My pulse was racing in my veins and I felt wired and electric, like I’d just downed two double espressos.

I headed back up the stairs and the girl at the reception desk smiled and led me through to a back room, where, sat all alone at a small circular table, was Xander.
 

His face lit up when he saw me and he quickly stood up in his chair and held out his arms towards me.
 

“You came!” he said, his eyes wide and a huge smile spreading across his face.
 

It was infectious. I couldn’t help grinning right back at him.
 

"I'd kind of convinced myself you weren't going to come …"

"Well," I said, "here’s your answer.”

"I'm
so
glad, Cassie," he said, sincerely. The warmth and intensity in his voice were absolutely overwhelming. I believed him. I really and truly believed he was sorry.
 

We both sat down.
 

"I hope you don't mind, but I've already ordered for us both.”
 

"That's fine," I said, wondering what in the world he'd chosen.
 

Just then, a waiter came with an ice bucket and a bottle of champagne. He popped the cork and poured us both full glasses.
 

"To London," Xander said, picking up his glass by the stem, "and to saying sorry."

We clinked our flutes and both took big sips.
 

The wine was icy cold and delicious.
 

I was about to speak when
another
waiter arrived, carrying our plates. He placed them down in front of us, lifted their silver covering lids, and I couldn't help but laugh when I saw what Xander had chosen for us. Two perfectly cheeseburgers and fries!

As we began to eat, I realized just how ravenous I was. I’d been far too nervous to think about food on the plane, but now that it felt like there was some real human warmth between us again, my nerves had melted away.
 

It was only once we’d finished our meal that Xander grew quiet and serious.
 

“I am truly, gravely sorry for the way I behaved towards you, Cassie …” he began. “Will you please let me explain why I reacted the way I did?”

I nodded and at that he began to speak …

Chapter Twenty-One

§

Xander's Story

I watched my father beat my mother to death. I was only five years old at the time. It's one of my first memories. I was supposed to be asleep at the time, but I always woke up whenever daddy and mom had arguments. He'd come in again, drunk as usual, and that night she accused him of having an affair. Which was when things got out of hand. I watched it all, from the top of the stairs, clutching onto the bannister out of fear. No one saw me, and I've never told anyone before now. But I know it happened. I know what I saw. I mean, people suspected it he’d killed her, but he covered it up. Smashed up the house a little, too. Told the police a burglar had broken in. And anyway, daddy was so rich, he had the whole police force in his back pocket.
 

Want to know the sickest part?
 

Turns out my mom was right - daddy was having an affair. And the girl he'd been sleeping with on the side was pregnant.
 

So that's when Caleb came along.
 

I never knew my own mom too well, but from what I remember of her, she was the kindest person I ever knew growing up.
 

My new step-mom never liked me. Not from day one. She was always picking favorites. When it was just us kids around - which was most of the time, what with daddy always working until late - she would always spoil Caleb with this and that, and she would give me nothing.
 

When we were old enough, we were sent off to private schools.
 

I did pretty good, but it was only Caleb who ever got praised - even though his grades were usually worse than mine.
 

And when daddy finally passed on, he left almost everything to Leana (that was my step-mom’s name).
 
I was given one-hundred grand; which was only a hundredth of the full inheritance.
 
I know a hundred thousand sounds like a lot, but that was my whole inheritance, and in business terms it’s absolutely nothing.
 

I had to build Glacis Inc up from scratch, Cassie.
 

It took me seven long years to get to where I am today. It took a great deal of skill and shrewd investments and an awful lot of blood, sweat and tears.
 

You know what Caleb did with his share of the inheritance? He blew it all on coke and hookers. He lived in a constant state of partying until Kelly eventually got her claws in him. Kelly’s his wife. She’s just as slippery a fish as he is. They’re made for each other in that respect. Almost every time she sees me, she tries to make a pass at me; she’d drop him in a heartbeat if a better offer came along.
 

And I’m so scared, Cassie, that Caleb wants you too. You see, he’s never grown up that way. He always wants what he can’t have. He always wants what’s mine. And when I saw that business card, it just brought up such a mixture of feelings and bad blood back to me - things that I’d kept buried under the surface for years.
 

I know it sounds so stupid, considering nothing much has even happened between us yet, and I have absolutely no right or ownership over you, Cassie, but when I saw that card fall from your breast, it was like I was seeing Caleb taking control of you, like he was throwing it right in my face - making you into an innocent pawn in the stupid game that we’ve been playing all our lives.
 

I know how awful I must sound.
 

But please, Cassie. Give me one more chance.
 

You’re the most important thing in my life right now. I realized that the moment I gave you up.
 

I want you … Cassie.
 

I want to be with you.
 

I want to be able to call you my girlfriend, my lover, and even perhaps, one day … my wife …
 

Chapter Twenty-Two

§

A New Kind of Heat

By the time Xander had finished speaking, there were tears burning in the corners of my eyes.
 

"I'm so sorry," I said. “You poor man. I didn't know."

"How could you?" he said. "I didn't tell you anything. I just flew off the handle at you … Well, what do you say, Cassie? Can we start again, from this moment forth?”
 

“There’s something I need to tell you too,” I started.
 

But Xander held up his hand.
 

“Enough,” he said. “Enough of the past. Let’s just both start again. We’ve got histories. So what. What matters to me now is this moment right here. Just that and the future. Deal?”

“Deal,” I said, swallowing the lump that had built up in my throat.
 

I wanted this more than ever.
 

But knowing the whole story, I also knew just how hurt Xander might be if he ever found out just how far I’d gone with Caleb.
 

Could it really be true?
 

Could we really start again, free of the past?

I thought for a moment about myself - about my own life, about the decisions I’d made, about how they’d all led me up to this point, about how I had a right to my own happiness, and decided that I too should be able to start again, from this moment forward.
 

“I would like that more than anything in the world,” I said truthfully, reaching out across the table and gripping Xander’s warm hand in mine.
 

“So what
do
you want to do now?” he asked, a new boyish excitement in his voice. “Now that we’re staring again. We could do anything … We have the whole week …”

“But what about your business meetings?” I asked, confused. “Don’t you have work to do?”
 

“I cancelled them,” he grinned. “I cancelled everything. I’m sick of going to new cities and never seeing anything. This time, I want to see what London has to offer. And I want you to give me the guided tour.”

“But what if I hadn’t turned up?” I asked, smiling. “What would you have done then?”
 

“I’d probably have moped around on my own, feeling sorry for myself,” he said.
 

I laughed, almost spilling my champagne.
 

“So?” he continued. “Where to? The whole of this fantastic city is our oyster … Where in the whole of London do you want to take me?”
 

“Seriously?” I asked.
 

“Seriously,” he replied.
 

“Your hotel room.”

§

We were hardly through the door before we were all over each other, kissing madly, tearing at each other's clothes, our hot breath mingling together as we panted and sighed and groaned and kissed.
 

Tenderly yet forcefully, Xander pushed me up against the wall of the room, kissing my neck as he moved his hand firmly between my legs, cupping my sex with his hot fingers, the silky material of my thong now the only flimsy barrier between his hand and my hot wet slit.
 

Very slowly he tugged my panties aside, his fingers running tenderly up and down the swollen opening to my pussy, exploring me, then he shifting his attention to the tender, throbbing hood of my clit.
 

“God, Cassie, you’re so wet,” he murmured before kissing my neck again and I closed my eyes and gasped as he toyed with my swelling clit button, masturbating it in urgent little circles, just the way I liked it, using my own pussy juices as a lube.
 

Very slowly and sensuously, I began to grind myself hard against his hand. As the eager fingers of his right hand continued to toy with my sex, his left hand began running up my legs and then cupping my buttocks.
 

I began really grinding myself against him now, and then, all of a sudden, he dropped to his knees on the plush, white carpet so that he had brought his face level with my pussy.
 

"Turn around," he said.
 

The urgency in his voice was electric and I did exactly as I was told, turning to face the blank white wall of the hotel room, my ass only inches from his face.
 

His hands grabbed my hips and brought me
 
towards him, and I felt his eager hot tongue disappear into my wet throbbing sex.
 

“Oh
shit!
” I squealed, as he began to fuck my pussy with his mouth, and I leant forwards, grabbing my own ankles for support, feeling him nuzzling greedily at my tender hole.
 

Then I had an idea.
 

“I want you too …
at the same time
,” I whispered, and he seemed to know exactly what I meant.
 

This position, the 69, was something I’d never done with anyone before, and the idea of doing it for the first time with
him
made me especially horny.
 

We quickly shifted onto the plush, cream-carpeted floor, with Xander laying on his back, pulling me urgently over him. I threw my knees over his shoulders, so that my pussy and ass were right there in his face. And again I felt him sliding up my dress, tugging my thong to one side, then pulling my pussy down towards his eager mouth.