Love me if you dare (3 page)

For a moment there was dead silence. 
Jamie cleared his throat and said:  “This next part is very important, so
please pay attention.  All three shareholders must accept the shares as
bequeathed and Samantha must be an active Operational Director side by side
with Nicolas.  Should anyone not accept the shares or should Samantha not be
prepared, to be an active Operational Director, all the shares bequeathed in my
testament, totaling sixty percent will be opened up to the stock market and
sold to the highest bidder. Nicolas Forrester will not be allowed to bid for
any of these shares, nor any of his subsidiary companies.”

Three collective gasps made Samantha
look up at her siblings and Nicolas.  His gaze was livid and accusing when it
met hers.  She frowned.  Now what?

“Samantha, you have not been in the
country so you would not be aware of this.  Jason Wieldman became your fathers’
biggest enemy and opposition and has been trying years to buy him out, which is
why he sold twenty five percent of the shares to Nicolas ten years ago, and
again another fifteen percent six years ago.  If the shares go on the stock
market, he will buy them all.”

She went as white as a sheet.  Jason
Wieldman! The one man who was the cause of her shame and relentless execution
by her own family! And here, now, he is back in her life again. And no one knew
just how much he took from her six years ago, how much he had cost her and how
much she hated him!  And now they expected her to become an opposing business
force to him!  She stood up, her agitation clear in her face.  “No, I can’t.  I
have a life in New York.”

Elaine also jumped up and shouted in
Samantha’s face.  “Yes, go … leave!  We don’t want you here!”  Her eyes were wild
when she turned on Jamie.  “And you!  Why did you not stop him from changing
his will?  You knew he was not the same man since she left!  And when he found
out about… I will contest this testament!  I deserve those shares not her!  I
worked my ass off the past six years studying and working at the company so I
could get shares.  I will not allow her to get her dirty, cheap hands on them,
they are rightfully mine!”

Samantha frowned.  Before she could
speak up Shona jumped up and pulled Elaine back to her chair.  “Stop this
selfish attitude of yours, Elaine!  Your father knew what is best for the
company and he would not leave it to someone incapable…”

“Exactly!  How capable is she?  I am
the one that completed my studies; she didn’t even finish her degree!  The only
thing she is qualified in is seducing men and sleeping her way to the top!  I
knew Daddy would not stand for that then, so why did he all of a sudden change
his mind!  After she left he changed his testament!  All of it was mine! And it
still will be!” 

Samantha sat quietly watching Elaine’s
face contracted with anger and the hardness in her eyes turned her into someone
totally foreign and ugly.  She noticed her mother’s concerned frown as she
tried to calm Elaine down. She watched Nicolas’s expression turn to disgust
when Elaine mentioned her seducing older men, her heart contracted and she wanted
to jump up and run away.

What was the point?  He was the one
person she wanted to see her for what she really was, what she became. Not be
reminded of her one single disastrous mistake she made in her life.  He clearly
still thought of her as a cheap tart and the sharp pain in her chest was
testimony to her feelings for him that the years of abstinence clearly haven’t
diminished.

She took a deep breath and slowly got
up from the chair, drawing all eyes to her. She frowned and some of the things
Elaine said in her tirade triggered questions in her mind. She said she knew
their father wouldn’t stand for her actions then, as if she knew what was going
to happen? And when he found out about what?  She stared into her sister’s pale
blue eyes, still glittering with anger.

A slow smile formed around her lips,
her eyebrows raised and her voice was clear in the silent room.  “Uncle Jamie
said I was out of the country and don’t know what changed here … he was right …
but similarly none of you know anything about me.”  Elaine frowned and tried to
interrupt, but Samantha stilled her with a swipe of her hand.

“I may not have finished my degree
here, but I did at Harvard, with Uncle Jamie’s help.  I also went further and
obtained my Honors and MBA degrees and my Doctor’s thesis eleven months’ ago in
Business Management and Strategy.  In fact, I was the first person for the past
twelve years, to complete all of this within less than five years. My results
were of such that I was placed on the Dean’s list.”  She watched Elaine
struggle to take all of this in, then continued.

“I have been working as an equal
partner in a Consulting Business in New York dealing only with Blue Chip
companies, specializing in Business Development and Strategies, Process
development, mergers and Market Shares.”  She walked up to Elaine until they
stood toe to toe.

“So you see little sister…”

“Stop calling me little sister!  I am
only a year younger than you!”

“Perhaps if you acted as such you
might be treated as such … as I was saying … I am more than capable of running
the business … and maybe it is time that the truth came out …”

Because Samantha was watching for it
and stood so close to her, she was the only one that noticed Elaine’s start and
the panic that flickered in her eyes.  It only cemented the realization that
somehow Elaine played a role in what happened six years ago and that at long
last she might just be able to clear her name and put things right …

Jamie handed personally hand written
letters addressed to Shona, Nicolas and Samantha.  “Alex asked that I gave you
these after the testament was read.  He also implored all of you to read it by
yourselves and honor what he asked of you.”

Everyone left the study but for
Samantha and Nicolas. He approached her where she stood gazing out the window.
Samantha startled when he called her name; she had not realized he had stayed
behind. She slowly turned and brushed along the length of his body, he was
standing so close. His eyes burned into hers.  The tip of her pink tongue
sneaked out and circled her lips.  His gaze followed the movement and stayed on
her lips.

His voice was low and hoarse. “After
all these years I am still livid with you.” His hand lifted and he slowly
traced her bottom lip with his thumb.  Samantha froze.  What was he talking
about?

“I don’t know … why?”  Her breath
froze in her lungs when he slipped his thumb between her lips and gently
stroked her tongue.  Try as she might she could not stop that appendage from
gently caressing the pad of his thumb. His breath caught and their eyes met:
his firing blue flames at her.

She tried to pull her mouth away from
his hand but he growled:  “Oh no you don’t!”

His hand slipped to the back of her
neck and he drew her closer to him in one movement.  His lips covered hers
while his other arm snaked around her waist to yank her flush against him. Heat
… pure unadulterated heat drowned her in an instant.

His lips were warm, soft and hard
simultaneously, engulfing her in a blaze of desire.  He nibbled at her lips,
then stroked at them with his tongue, his fingers caressing her neck all the
time.

Samantha was drowning in a sea of
need.  His tongue urgently stroked at the seam of her lips, but she kept them
pressed together.  She just knew if she let him in she would be totally lost. 
She pushed at his chest and he reluctantly pulled away and growled in her ear.

“I am livid that you gave what should
have been mine to that bastard, years ago!  But now that you are back, know one
thing … you are meant to be mine, and mine you will be!”

He pulled her back against him and
gave her a hard possessive kiss, pushed her away and walked to the door where
he turned and seared her with his gaze.

“ … And soon …”

Nicolas’s
words kept running through her mind.  One part of her was ecstatic that he
wanted her, the other livid.  Did he think because of what happened six years
ago she was available … a cheap slut … as her mother called her all those years
ago?

She started walking across the narrow
stone bridge and realized that she was subconsciously on her way to the one
place where she could really be alone and find peace on this estate.

There was a running stream about 800
meters from the main house, with the bridge that crossed to the other side;
where one path lead to the stables and the other to a very secluded little
island with only a weeping willow tree in the middle.  The willow was so old
and so big it covered the whole island, the curtain of branches drooping low to
gently swing in the water.  The refuge was in the inside of the willow tree
where the drooping branches formed a tight curtain all the way around, once
inside you were not visible to the outside world. Soft moss grass covered the
area below the curtain of branches where Samantha had spent many years lying
flat on her stomach or back day dreaming.

She pushed the branches to the side
and stepped through.  She breathed in the clean smell of grass and leaves, the
tranquility of the running stream immediately soothing her frayed senses.  The
willow had a low thick branch that had grown out vertically for a meter or so,
then only rose to the sky, creating a small bench so to speak.  Samantha
settled on this branch with her back against the main branch with her legs
stretched out before her.

She pulled Alexander’s letter from her
jean pocket and glanced at her name, scrawled in strong, black strokes on the
envelope.  She stared at it for so long that the black letters turned into his
cold, hard brown eyes, staring at her with disgust. The ugly words he flung at
her flashed through her memories and slashed at her heart, ripping it apart
anew. Her hand slowly closed around the letter, crumbling it in her clenched
fist.

Nothing he could say now would make up
for the devastating hurt he hurled at her that day. Not even allowing her to
defend herself, condemned her to a world of pain and loneliness … to deal with
what really happened to her alone and with no support of her once loving and
supportive family.

She hurled the crumbled letter on the
ground and followed its progress until it landed next to a pair of expensive
Italian sneakers.  Her gaze followed the long, muscled jean clad legs, over the
narrow waist, that expanded into very strong, broad shoulders, her gaze
hesitated for a moment on his strong lips then upwards to be caught by his
blazing eyes.

His eyes always looked like pools of
liquid blue flames, and as usual, spitting fire at her.  His gaze dropped to her
mouth and hesitated for a fraction there, before he bent over and picked up the
crumbled letter by his feet.  Gently smoothing the wrinkles he walked towards
her, capturing her gaze with his.

Nicolas looked into the violet depths
for long moments, trying to understand the emotions flashing there.  The tip of
her tongue peeked out to wet her bottom lip which forced his gaze to drop and
fasten on the shining wet invitation in front of him.

“I want to be alone, Nicolas.”

His gaze caught hers again and he smiled;
looked down at the letter in his hand trying to find the right words.   “If he
wrote in here what I think he did, you should really read it.”

“Why?  Is it along the lines of … I
forgive you … you were young and didn’t know what you were doing … thanks, but
now thanks! It means nothing!  I do not want nor need his forgiveness, not now,
not ever!  I never did … I did no …”

She swallowed the rest of the sentence
and pulled her heated gaze from his, swung her legs down from the branch to get
up, but Nicolas swiftly moved between her legs and kept her suspended on the
branch … his body pressed tightly in the apex of her legs.

She frantically pushed against his
hard chest and hissed, “Get away from me!”

Ignoring her, his hands rose to gently
close around her cheeks and drew her mouth up to his, whispering against her
lips, his eyes fiery.

“You really should stop making love to
me with your eyes every time you look at me … you are inviting this every
time…”

His mouth circled hers, gently at
first, softly stroking his lips across hers trying to coach her to open her
lips to his seeking tongue, but she kept them pressed firmly together.

He growled in frustration, ran his
tongue along the seam of her lips, his one hand circled her neck to keep her in
place while the other stroked sensually down her back.

“Let me in …”

His voice was soft and warm as velvet
in her ears.  Nicolas nibbled softly on her lower lip, his hand on her waist
pulled her hard and swiftly tighter against his hardening arousal.  She gasped
and his tongue immediately surged inside.  His tongue stroked hers, gently
enticing hers to reciprocate, and when she hesitantly complied the passion
erupted between them.  She was drowning and desperately grabbed his shirt at
his sides.  Nicolas devoured her mouth like a starving man, he licked, he
nibbled, he sucked, leaving her no quarter and she could do no other than to
return his kiss with as much vigor and passion.  She was on fire and liquid
heat pooled in her groin.

She loosened her grip on his shirt and
followed the muscled contours of his chest and arms to lock around his neck. He
growled again and pulled her even tighter into his body.  She moaned when she
felt the hard ridge of his arousal press against her soft stomach.

His hand slowly caressed her neck,
down her chest to slowly circle her breast.  Her nipple tightened immediately
and pushed against her clothes.  He brushed his fingers over the rigid tip
eliciting another moan from her.  He pulled his lips from hers to kiss and lick
sensuously down her throat.  Her head fell back in ecstasy, allowing him full
access whilst pressing her breast forward invitingly. 

He groaned and urgently pulled her tee
shirt up, found the front clip of her bra and with slow teasing strokes bared
her one breast.  Her breasts were beautiful, firm but full and round with
pinkish brown nipples, surrounded by large baby soft areolas, now fully
extended and tightened in hard little nubs.  His fingers lightly stroked around
her areola … so soft and inviting then lightly pinched the nipple.

“Stop … Nico …” Her protest died in
her throat, when his warm lips closed around her aching nipple.  He stroked his
tongue over her nipple, softly blew on the tip, causing her breath to freeze in
her lungs. When he pulled the tight nub deep into his mouth and suckled she
cried out in ecstasy.  His passion driving him he drew it deeper in his mouth
and suckled even harder and the heat rushed from where he was suckling, down
her stomach to center in her loins to drench her panties.

Just as he started baring her other
breast, the sound of someone calling his name, penetrated his aroused mind and
he reluctantly pulled away, jarring Samantha out of her passion induced state.

She panicked and pushed hard at his
chest, but he refused to budge.  He forced her gaze up to his with a finger
below her chin and stared at her, memorizing her swollen lips, still bared and
aroused breasts and the obvious desire in her eyes.  She was just as affected
by their passionate encounter as he was and he smiled, pulled her bra to cover
her breasts and snapped the clip closed.  She slapped his hands away and
dragged her t-shirt down to cover her breasts.

“I guess that means today is not the
day …”

Samantha huffed and pushed at him
again, desperate to escape from his burning heat.  How could she have allowed
this to happen!

“No it’s not … nor would there ever be
a ‘the day’!  Let me go!”

He took her face in his hands again,
ignoring the sound of his name being called getting closer, forced her mouth up
to his, covered her lips in a hard, calculating kiss, staking his claim.

“Make no mistake, Samantha … there
will be a ‘the day’!”

He held out the crumbled letter to her
but she slapped his hand away.  Unperturbed, he pushed the letter in his back
pocket, stepped back and turned away.

“When you are ready to read this, you
know where to find me.”

The minute he disappeared through the
curtain of leaves she sank down the tree trunk, pulled her knees up against her
chest and pushed her face between her knees.  She took deep, gulping breaths to
calm down and get her emotions under control.

She heard Elaine’s excited call when
Nicolas met up with her.  “Where have you been, I’ve looked everywhere for
you.”

“Just went for a walk down to the
stables.  Let’s go grab a soda. I desperately need something to cool me down.” 
Samantha blushed at the double entre directed for her ears. The voices moved
farther away and she slowly started to relax.  Just thinking of what she just
shared with Nicolas, heat bubbled to life inside her again.  She cursed.  She
was such an idiot! 

Samantha’s mind wandered back to the
night of her twenty first birthday, a night that started so happy, full of fun
and laughter.  Her mother agreed to a big party and all her varsity friends and
family were there.  She danced the night away, full of energy and sparkle.  She
felt young and pretty even with her hair dyed blond with purple stripes and cut
in a short spiky style and dark make-up.  She caught Nicolas’s brooding gaze on
her numerous times which excited her to no end.  When she ended up on the side
patio alone with him, her insides shivered in anticipation.

He walked right up to her, wished her
a happy birthday and gave her a lovers’ kiss, one that took her breath away and
curled her toes.  All the kisses she’s had up to that point had been from
varsity guys, which clearly was no match for Nicolas’s experience and passion.
A passion she now realized he held in check at that time.  Had he kissed her
then as he kissed her now, she would have been frightened out of her mind!

She gave a wry grin.  Yes, she would
have. Contrary to how she dressed and behaved she was still very young and very
innocent.

Innocent in love, passion, lust and
how it drove deceit and aggression in men!

She walked back to the party floating
on a cloud. Nicolas kissed her and she knew he wanted her, but coming back to
the party he danced and flirted with all the other beautiful girls, barely
glancing in her direction again.

She was angry enough at his rebuff to
flirt outrageously with her father’s business associates, Jason Wieldman, much
older, but still very attractive, distinguished and charming.  The way he held
her close when they danced, the desire glittering in his eyes when he looked at
her, made her reckless.  Two could play the game!

Then Nicolas noticed her, singed her
with his eyes as she continued to flirt with Jason, who was nearly thirty years
older than her … the one thing that made her think it was safe with him … oh
what an utter fool she was!

Up to that point she was having the
time of her life …up to that point … after that … her whole life was ripped
apart …

And no one even knew to what extend
her life had been pulled apart, no one but her … and Jason Wieldman.

All her pent-up emotions suddenly came
crashing down and raw, hard sobs wracked through her body.  For the first time
in six years, she totally broke down. Tears streamed down her face and she
wrapped her arms tight around her waist trying to control the deep, hurtful
sobs that shook her body.  She fell to the soft moss bed, still sobbing and
eventually fell asleep curled in a tight circle, a lost sob still shook her
body every now and then.

Nicolas came looking for her nearly
two hours later, worried when she did not pitch for lunch. He found her still
curled up with her arms wrapped around her waist.  He crouched down beside her
and noticed her tear streaked face.  He frowned and slowly reached out to
soothe her hair from her face.

She woke up with a start.  The moment
she recognized him, she scrambled to her feet and smoothed her hair back. They
stared at each other; Nicolas still crouched on his haunches. 

He rose slowly, but when he started
walking towards her, she swung around, dashed through the curtain of leaves and
ran towards the bridge.

Nicolas followed slowly and stood
staring after her darting figure with a pensive look in his eyes.