Read Online The Dark Art of Persuasion by Ashe Barker - Free Book Online

Chapter One
    She’ll be down soon. And she’ll come mincing in here, looking for her breakfast. All smiles and willing to please. If only you knew, darling…
    Nathan Darke scowls at his omelette, prods it grumpily with his fork. He’s aware of the presence of his supremely tactful housekeeper sitting beside him at the breakfast table, serenely sipping her tea and buttering her lightly browned toast as though nothing’s amiss. Well, maybe it isn’t, not as far as Grace Richardson’s concerned, but it soon will be if he can’t get the delightful Miss Byrne tied up and thoroughly fucked before his balls explode.
    Still, not a housekeeping problem. The unflappable Mrs Richardson sips her Earl Grey and smiles sweetly at her employer. Then, “Ah, that sounds like Eva.” She smiles calmly, placing her teacup back in its saucer. “I wonder what she’ll fancy today.”
    Nathan manages not to choke on his omelette as he contemplates what he fancies today, and more specifically what he fancies doing to the delectable Miss Byrne, the first chance he gets.
    He glances up as the object of his wishful thinking, and distinctly dark fantasies, comes swanning into the kitchen, seemingly unaware of the effect she has on Nathan. Miss Byrne waves pleasantly at Grace as the housekeeper starts to rise, telling her to finish her own breakfast, and heads straight for the coffee pot.
    Nathan is intensely aware of Eva Byrne, of every lithe movement and soft footfall, every stretch of that shapeless black T-shirt across those exquisitely contoured breasts as she reaches for the coffee. Eva Byrne—music teacher, violinist, and soon-to-be submissive to his Dom if he has his way. And he does intend to have his way.
    Not pretty exactly, certainly not in any classical way, but yet…she’s incredibly attractive. Utterly fascinating. To him. He can’t recall ever being so—captivated—by any woman previously, and he’s had ample opportunity. There’s something indefinable about the lovely and oh-so-tempting Miss Byrne. Since the moment he first set eyes on her a week ago, a tiny, skinny girl, dripping wet, shivering in his driveway as he contemplated the wreckage of his front bumper which had just experienced a close encounter with her rear end— Christ, the imagery. Need to get a grip!
    The bottom line is—he’s smitten. Totally enthralled. He’s no idea how or why, but she’s managed this so artlessly, so effortlessly, just by drifting into his life one rainy night. And now he intends to shift things along. He needs to shift things along. He needs her to surrender. And soon.
    Nathan watches her under his eyebrows as Eva pours her first coffee of the day and takes a long sip. She licks her lips unconsciously, tucking a wayward lock of shining red hair back behind her ear. She seems to have left her glasses off for now—pity really, she looks so beautifully intelligent and totally fuckable in her glasses. She’s the embodiment of his much loved Librarian Look— his favourite fantasy come to life and now facing him across his kitchen.
    Nathan shifts uncomfortably in his seat as his cock swells to pretty much impossible proportions—a regular occurrence around Eva Byrne he’s finding. Christ, she’s sexy. Not that she seems to have any idea…
    She’s turned now, leaning on the worktop, her coffee cup in her hand. She seems to be gearing up to say something, he can see her throat working as she gulps. The coffee? Or is she gathering her courage?
    The latter, it would seem.
    “I need my car back, please. Do you know when I can collect it?”
    That bloody car! She’s fretting about that bloody car, the rot-box she dumped in his gateway for him to crash into. Over a grand’s worth of damage to his beautiful Porsche whilst that rust-bucket seems to have escaped with nothing more than a bent back bumper. Not that it’s road-worthy even so, nowhere near. The worn out brakes and close to derelict gearbox and engine are not the result