The Pleasure Quartet Read Online Free PDF Page B

being lit up in his soul.
    His heart stopped.
    He groaned.
    He came.
    His cock shuddering out of his control, spilling his seed across the desk and even the keyboard before he could control its terrible and powerful flow.
    By the time his orgasm had faded, he was exhausted, his mind running around in circles trying to interpret what had happened and why it had proved so strong. There was much similar porn on the internet, he knew, but this had been different. Not the scenario, to be sure, but an unholy combination of elements: the pallor of the woman’s skin, the allied grace of her curves, some hint of the intensity of her submission, the curl of her lips, and in his imagination, the look he knew he would have witnessed in her eyes had the photograph been more informative.
    That red hair, like a stain in the night sky!
    It began to haunt his own nights.
    ‘Is there something wrong?’
    ‘No. Why?’
    ‘You were a bit rough last night, Noah. When we were in bed. It’s just not like you. Are you angry at me?’
    ‘And expressing it physically? Not at all. Surely you know I wouldn’t do that?’
    ‘I didn’t like it. It felt almost as if you wanted to hurt me. Or like you wanted me to be someone else. Maybe that’s even worse.’ She was buttoning her blouse, and paused as she spoke, pinching a button tightly between her fingers as she stared at him.
    ‘You’re imagining things, April.’
    ‘I don’t think so.’ She fastened her top button and turned away from him to straighten her collar in the mirror.
    ‘What does that mean?’
    ‘I’m not sure . . .’
    ‘Maybe things have become a bit routine, and I was subconsciously trying to add a bit of spice. I hadn’t noticed I was doing anything differently. Perhaps it was both of us, trying something new? In bed, together, things come naturally, don’t they?’
    ‘Not when you scare me. I like familiarity, the Noah I first met and wanted.’
    ‘Nothing remains the same forever in life . . .’
    ‘Don’t give me that crap. You’re starting to sound like a self-help book. That’s not you, either.’
    ‘That’s not what I meant. You know my feelings on pseudo psychology.’
    ‘What is it, then? Are you happy with me, Noah? With us?’
    ‘I am.’
    ‘Are you?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘When was the last time you said you love me, and meant it?’
    ‘That’s a trick question.’
    ‘Maybe.’
    ‘Quite unfair.’
    ‘I’m not going to let this drop, Noah. Why don’t we go out later, try that new place in Nolita you mentioned, that the
Village Voice
reviewed last week? We can talk. It’s been ages since we’ve been on a proper date, just the two of us, no music, no movie or anything to do with our jobs.’
    ‘Sure.’ He was relieved to be granted some form of respite from the conversation, albeit temporary.
    She leant up to kiss him.
    Her lips were soft, tremulous, her body vibrating slowly in his embrace. Winter was nearing, and she slipped on her faux fur vintage Balmain coat which she had left draped over the sofa. Noah seized his brown leather jacket and they left the apartment together. The cold winds wrapped themselves around the Manhattan avenues and there was a chill in the air. They parted and April made her way down Broadway to catch the subway near Canal Street. Noah continued straight ahead to the record company’s offices. He watched her walk, her slim calves encased in nude stockings, impractically high-heeled shoes on her feet. She looked deep in thought.
    After the weekly strategy meeting in the glass-panelled boardroom, Jake took Noah to one side and asked him to stay on. Apart from this vast room, the company’s offices were mostly open plan, everyone working around an enormous oak table, designed accordingly, almost thirty metres in length and five metres wide, with desktops and laptops delineating their individual areas. A few soundproofed booths with curtains and doors had been set up at the back of the central room for individual