Highly Strung: Prelude Series - Part Three Read online

  Highly Strung

  Prelude Series - Book Three

  Meg Buchanan

  Copyright © 2018 by Meg Buchanan.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  Meg Buchanan /Junction Publishing - United Kingdom - New Zealand

  [email protected]

  www.junction-publishing.com

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the “Special Sales Department” at the email address above.

  Highly Strung/ Meg Buchanan. -- 1st ed.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  About the Author

  Also by Meg Buchanan

  Chapter One

  Noah turned over. Natalia was already awake, her head on the pillow, her long hair tangled and her dark eyes watching him.

  She smiled. “Good morning, dear Sweet Boy. I thought you were never going to wake.”

  “You tired me out last night.”

  “You didn’t seem to mind.” She ran her hand up his leg and along his cock.

  “I didn’t.” He gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear then pushed the sheet back, so he could see her body white and smooth and perfect. She’d felt fragile last night when they were making love. He hadn’t noticed that before.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he said, and could hear the hoarseness in his voice. They hardly saw each other now they were living in different towns. Him in Hamilton, her an hour’s drive away in Paeroa. Skype, emails and phone calls just didn’t cut it. He took her hand, lifted it to his lips, then touched his forehead against hers. “God, Natalia. I’ve been living on fantasies all term. You have no idea.”

  He’d only seen her a few times in the last three months. Just a weekend here, a few days there. But now, during the holidays, they could have three whole weeks together if she’d let him stay.

  Natalia lay her head on his shoulder. “Do your friends know where you are?”

  Noah shook his head then ran his hand up her leg the way she’d done to him and felt her shiver. “I told Mum and Dad that Adam and I would stay in Hamilton for the weekend.” He glanced over at their reflections in the wardrobe mirror. His skin golden and hers white. She looked small beside him now. Going to the gym had worked. His hair looked even redder than usual against the black of hers. He usually tied it back, but last night Natalia had taken the tie out, and this morning it resembled a lion’s mane.

  He sighed. “I told Adam I’d come home to Paeroa early to spend time with Mum and Dad before they went away.” He hated the way he always had to lie to everyone to be here just because of Natalia’s rules. It should be different now. When this started, he was just a boy and much the same size as she was. She had all the power back then. Then he worried about not pleasing her, frightened she’d stop letting him fuck her. But now he was older, an adult, taller than her, and bigger and stronger. He could break her with one hand if he wanted to.

  She stroked the fine golden hair on his chest.

  “Did your parents think Stadium was playing last night?”

  “No, they thought I was clubbing. They know the pub only wants the band during term time.”

  She pulled away from him a little. “You should be clubbing with your friends. You’re young. You’re wasting your youth on me.” She traced his lips with her finger. He could feel the drag of her nails grazing the softness.

  He ran his hand up the inside of her thigh and stroked. “This is where I want to be.” It had been that way ever since his mother had enrolled him for violin lessons with Natalia. Once he met the teacher, he wasn’t reluctant to learn the violin anymore. The way she stood behind him and moved his head or his arm into the right position when he played. The way her fingers would delicately raise his elbow higher, or tilt his chin, or move the bow.

  “Not that way, dear Sweet Boy,” she would say. “This way. Remember, the bow must always be ninety degrees to the bridge.” Her Russian accent, so sensual and cool slid over him. He would shiver when he heard it. And the way she moved when she played the violin made his breath catch.

  Then after three year of lessons it had stopped being all about learning the violin.

  Now she took his hand and lay it on his stomach, then pinched the skin under her arm as if the muscle had shrivelled away overnight. “I’m getting old. Look at this.”

  He kissed her lips and watched as she closed her eyes when he touched her inner thigh again. His fingers slipped higher. “It looks perfect to me.” He’d missed her. He missed seeing her twice a week for violin lessons the way he could when he was still at school. Not so much because he liked playing the violin, but because it meant he could be with her.

  Since he’d started university, they’d had three years being apart most of the time. Then there’d be another two years before he qualified. He moved gently, sliding his hand, tracing and stroking. She purred at his touch. He could feel the heat and the slick flesh.

  He slid his fingers into her. “What would you like?” he asked. All term, whenever he’d rung her and suggested he come home, she’d say, “You have the rest of your life to make love. You are only young once. Study and get your qualifications. Play in the band with your friends. Don’t waste those chances.”

  She trembled then grabbed onto his shoulder. “Just don’t stop.” From what he’d heard, other women didn’t respond to being touched like this. She pushed hard against his hand and lifted her body as if electricity flowed through her.

  He set up a slow rhythm, moved his fingers in and out, used his thumb for extra pressure. Her hips lifted in automatic response.

  He breathed in ragged and harsh. “Sometimes, when I was away, all I could think about was touching you, feeling how hot and wet you get.” He’d missed this so much.

  Luke once said Natalia was the same age as their mothers, but he’d never seen any mother who looked like this. He sometimes wondered if some of the reason she wanted this to be a secret between them, was she felt guilty about having an affair with someone so much younger than she was.

  The hand between her thighs went deeper. His thumb circled her centre. Maybe she still worried about the gossip. Her nails dug into his shoulders now, and the pain become part of the world of sensation. He could feel what she
felt, feel the climax starting to rush through her.

  Her eyes, always dark, were black now. Her flesh pulsed around his hand. The musky scent of her as her body arched then the shudder. The crying out then lying there, eyes closed, going with the waves of feeling. He slowly and gently stroked her, the feather light touches she liked when she came down from a climax.

  When they started making love, he’d asked her how old she was, and Luke was wrong. She was thirty-six then. She’d had a few birthdays since, so she was forty-one now. Seven years younger than his mother and only twenty years older than him.

  Finally, she stilled, opened her eyes, and smiled that lazy smile she saved for him when he’d pleased her.

  “I have missed you too, Sweet Boy. You’re very good at that.”

  He brushed his mouth over hers then moved it lower, licking her throat, tasting her skin. She tasted of salt and sweat and her essence. He touched a nipple with his tongue.

  “You just miss what I can do with my fingers.” He took the whole nipple in his mouth.

  “And your mouth.” She reached between them. “And your cock.”

  “Not my mind?” He changed position.

  “No, it is all about your clever body.” That smile in her voice. He couldn’t bear to wait any longer. He needed to be inside her. Her arms went around his neck as he rolled her onto her back and hovered over her. She guided him between her legs.

  He pushed into the heat and wetness, moving slowly. This was where he wanted to be. This was home. Why were they living in different towns? Crazy she wouldn’t let him live with her. But this was the holidays. His parents would leave for Europe on Monday. Three weeks with her with nobody caring about where he was. Heaven.

  He pulled back all the way until he just touched the edges. She arched up to take him in again. He moved side to side, slowly still, just touching her, tantalising her, torturing himself.

  Then he plunged in again as hard as he could. He’d make her want to live with him. People must want violin lessons in Hamilton too.

  He slowly withdrew and waited until she begged. After an age, she gave in.

  “Please now.”

  Then he plunged again, heard her gasp, slowly pulled out of the tight wet heat, and stayed just on the edge again. He wanted her with him forever.

  She pulled against his shoulders. “Don’t tease, Sweet Boy,” she breathed into his ear.

  Her hands moved to his backside and tried to push him down again.

  He stayed poised, holding himself away from her, arms and legs braced. If she wanted him as much as he wanted her, after these holidays she’d agree to live with him. Her hands moved to his face, her palms cupped his cheekbones, and she looked into his eyes.

  “Stop playing games now,” she ordered and bit his lip hard.

  He gave in and plunged into her again then gained momentum as she moved with him, over and over, getting higher and closer to the edge until they tumbled over. He pulsed and found his release then collapsed on top of her.

  Chapter Two

  After a while she rolled them over, so she lay on top. “Where’s your car?” she asked.

  “At Luke’s dad’s factory.”

  Natalia placed her elbow on the centre of his chest and cupped her chin in her hand. “You walked here last night?

  “Yes, but what does it matter?”

  “Of course, it matters. You may be on holiday, but I have students today, and we don’t want to shock any mothers. In fact, my first student arrives at ten o’clock, and I need to tidy the studio.” She rolled away from him and sat on the edge of the bed. “And you,” she glanced back, “need to have had a shower and be gone. I don’t want you wandering around in a towel when Lachlan arrives You can’t be here again until tonight.”

  “Lachlan?” He didn’t think he wanted any Lachlan lusting over Natalia.

  She nodded, twisted around a little more, and kissed him. “Don’t be jealous, Sweet Boy.” She stood and walked across to the wardrobe. “I don’t think learning to play the violin is what he would prefer to do on a Saturday morning.” She took her dressing gown off the coat hook. “But his mother insists, and she watches the lessons, so you must be gone before they arrive.”

  She always did this if he stayed overnight. It irritated him. He wanted to shout out his love and let everyone know.

  “I can’t see why.” Watching Natalia slide her arms into the satin folds of the sleeves of her gown then drape the satin around her naked body was a sensual experience.

  “I have to live in this town. What would happen to me if people knew I slept with my students?”

  “It had better be just one student.” If she lived with him, he could watch her do this every morning. The moment to suggest she moved to Hamilton to be with him was now. To point out in a bigger town no one would notice, or care. But she’d just laugh at him and say everyone would think he lived with his mother. “And I’m not your student anymore. I haven’t been your student for three years.”

  She came back to the bed and stroked his cheek. “Dear Sweet Boy, people would still disapprove. I am still twenty years older than you. I am still old enough to be your mother. I would get no more pupils, and then how would I live?”

  Always so bloody sensible. Of course, they wouldn’t be able to live on his student loan.

  He reached over, slid his hand in amongst the satin folds of the gown and between her thighs. He pulled her closer. “When I’m an engineer and we’re married, you won’t have to worry about it.”

  She just laughed and pushed herself away. “If you are still interested in an old woman by then.” Always the same thing. Even though things felt easier between them now he was older, she always went back to the age difference.

  At the breakfast table, he sliced open the croissant she’d heated then spread jam on it. Natalia had made coffee and brought it over to the table. She nearly tripped over his violin and the guitar he’d stashed in the dining room last night. He’d had to bring them here. He couldn’t leave them in the flat for three weeks. Luke wanted to practice. He couldn’t drop them off at home. He wasn’t meant to be here. And no way was he leaving them in the car outside Luke’s dad’s factory overnight.

  She leaned over him to pour the coffee into his cup. The satin of her gown caressed his cheek. “What will you do today, Sweet Boy?”

  “I need to go home for a while. Mum and Dad are leaving this afternoon, and they are going to be away a couple of months. I’ll say goodbye to them, then I’m meeting up with the others at Isaac’s. He’s written something new. We’re going to try it out.”

  He didn’t say anything about her coming to live with him. Decisions made when making love to Natalia didn’t seem to survive the cold light of breakfast. He’d had a shower and got dressed like she’d told him to. She’d found him a clean shirt, jeans and underwear. He had left them here the last time he stayed. She always kept the clothes he arrived in and washed and ironed them for him. He couldn’t bring an overnight bag when he came, so he needed something to change into. Wearing what he’d worn the day before would have been disgusting.

  “Is Isaac writing again?” she asked.

  “Sounds like it.”

  She sighed. “I am pleased for him,” she said quietly. “It’s good he is feeling better. Isaac is very talented.” Natalia’s response sounded very subdued for her.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  She sighed again. “There is something I need to talk to you about.”

  “Fire away.” He went to pull her closer, so she’d sit on his lap, but she wrapped the dressing gown closer around her body, moved and sat on the other side of the table from him.

  She took a deep breath and folded her arms on the table top. “Noah.” Oh, a serious talk. She’d used his name. “You know I have a daughter, Eva?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” He’d always known about her daughter. The picture of a little girl who looked like Natalia had sat on the top of the piano since he’d started com
ing here. “She lives in New York, you told me.”

  Natalia nodded. “She’s coming to visit me. She will arrive in a few days’ time and will stay until September.”

  “So, I’ll get to meet her.” He should start meeting Natalia’s family. They needed to get used to him being around.

  She leaned across the table and took his hands. “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “When she is here you will not be.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” He did the calculation. “She’ll be here for six months.” He might complain about her wanting him to stay in Hamilton during term time, but he only ever stayed away from her for six weeks at the most. And he’d been coming here for years before that, and they’d never gone six months without making love.

  Natalia nodded. “Yes, she will. So, you won’t be.”

  “You’re kicking me out? For six months?”

  She nodded again. “She mustn’t suspect what we are to each other. And if you don’t do as I ask, this is the end.”

  Her words hit him like a bombshell.

  “You wouldn’t do that to me.”

  “Yes, I would.”

  “No.” He felt like stamping his foot and yelling at her. He’d only just got here. They’d only had a few hours together. He deserved to spend the whole three weeks of the holidays with her. With his family away, it was going to be easy. No lies needed. No excuses. Just three weeks of bliss.

  She released his hands and stroked his face.

  “Sweet Boy don’t be angry. This is the way it has to be.”

  “No, it doesn’t.” He shook his head furiously. “This is just the way you chose it to be. You could introduce me to Eva. She’d accept me.”