I have a great blog for you today. Alice Raine has dropped by- and we are to be privy to a confidential chat she had with the main character in her latest novella- Christmas With Nathan.
Over to you Alice- and Nathan…
It was by complete chance that I stumbled across Nathaniel Jackson last week whilst out in London, but I know how popular the handsome rogue from my Untwisted series is with you readers, so I thought I’d share a quick recount of what happened …
I was moseying around Soho enjoying some late September sunshine, when my eyes were caught by the sight of a rather fine pair of tan brogues to my right. The smart, manly shoes were attached to an equally fine pair of long legs reclining in a seat outside a cafe, and that was where my interest really caught, because I saw that the legs were encased in tailored pinstriped trousers. I love a man in a good suit, it’s one of my weaknesses (along with coffee, chocolate, and good red wine), so obviously I allowed my curious gaze to wander a little higher, and that was when I realised who I was rather indiscreetly ogling. Nathaniel Jackson, the blond sex god himself, and one of the two Jackson brothers whom I had based my Untwisted novels on.
It had been a while since I’d seen Nathan in the flesh, a little over eight months actually, when I’d interviewed both him, and his girlfriend Stella, to help give me some ideas for my upcoming seasonal novella “Christmas with Nathan.” Needless to say, he looked just as good as always; his blond hair was slicked back from his starkly handsome face with perfection, his suit appeared to be of the highest quality, and rather than covering his figure, the close fitting material merely acted to define the muscular body below it.
By this point my mouth was hanging slightly open in awe, I was most certainly flushed, and this of course, this was the exact moment that Nathan chose to look up and spot me. Marvellous. Seeing a small flicker of amusement twitch at the corner of his lips, I attempted to reel in my tongue and adopt a nonchalant stroll as I casually crossed the distance between us to say hello. I probably failed on all fronts.
‘Alice. It’s been a while.’ Nathan stood to greet me, his six foot something frame towering over me as he held out a hand.
‘Hi, Nathan.’ I was then gifted with one of his exceptionally firm handshakes, and rendered a little bit speechless. At that precise moment, with his warm palm gripping my shaky one, I couldn’t for the life of me think of one remotely useful, funny or casual comment to make. Not one. I had nothing. Which at my age was quite frankly ridiculous, but apparently the reaction that extremely handsome men caused in me, because I was the same every time I met him or his brother.
‘Join me.’ There was no request in those two briskly spoken words, they were a command, pure and simple. And even though I’d had no intention of joining Nathan what-so-ever, the authoritative way he instructed me to, caused my legs to buckle as I practically sank into the seat beside him.
Waiting for me to sit – collapse – Nathan then followed, elegantly folding his tall frame into the chair opposite with the utmost precision. Crossing his legs so that one ankle rested on the opposite knee, he then shook out his perfect suit sleeves to straighten his already perfect shirt cuffs, and revealed a flicker of a Rolex wrapped around his tanned wrist. Taking a moment to smooth down his waistcoat and flawless tie he finally nodded, seemingly satisfied, and then turned his attention to me. I was sat like a gawking idiot, completely enraptured with his preening display. Nathaniel Jackson was, and always had been, utterly fascinating to watch. Everything about him was refined, confident, and oozing with masculine virility.
‘Coffee?’
Swallowing loudly, I nodded. ‘Please. Americano with milk on the side.’
As Nathan caught the attention of a passing server and placed my order I took the opportunity to try and gather my wits. If I’m honest, Nathan had always been the character in my books that most attracted me. His bedroom dominance was more than I would ever wish to partake in, but as far as looks, build, and enigmatic personality went, Nathan had it all down to a tee.
My coffee arrived, served by a waitress who looked just as flustered by Nathan as I currently felt, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and smirk at our pathetic responses to him. Adding milk I stirred my drink and finally dared a glance up at him. As expected, I was the sole focus of Nathan’s attention as he waited patiently for me to faff with my drink. Nathan’s crystal clear blue eyes were set with mine, well, not quite, in true Nathan style his gaze hovered somewhere around my cheek bones – he didn’t do eye contact with me, never had, although interestingly I’d noticed he was now far more comfortable with it when Stella was around.
‘So, how’s the Christmas book coming along? Did you get enough information from Stella and I when we last met?’ Nathan was simultaneously managing to look both relaxed, and fully alert at the same time, with his lithe body relining in the seat, but his spine somehow still rod straight. His right hand had lifted to his chin, the elbow resting on the arm of his chair, and the position pulled his jacket open slightly to reveal the tight fitting waistcoat below. There was something about a man in a waistcoat that really did it for me. To top off this already fine display of masculinity, Nathan then began to slowly rub his index finger across his lower lip. Back and forth. Back and forth. It was a contemplative look that I’d seen before on him, but god was it hot.
‘Uhh…’ I was being so incredibly unprofessional right now that I could barely believe it, so I quickly gave myself a mental shake, and made the effort to switch it up a gear and focus. ‘It’s going really well, thank you. It’s recently finished in editing and is set to be released on the 12th of November.’ Suddenly I remembered that I had a few spare paper copies in my laptop bag, so I bent to retrieve one and then slid it across the table to him. ‘This is a paper draft, but feel free to keep it.’
‘Thank you. With all your descriptions of my sordid sex life you’ve made me out to be quite the bad guy, Alice. I’m sure your readers were horrified by me.’ I nearly snorted out a laugh at his comment. Nathan clearly underestimated the appeal of his dominant nature to the opposite sex, because my readers had been anything but horrified by him. “Fascinated” and “attracted to” would probably be more apt descriptions.
‘Hardly. You have a very wide appeal and you know it.’ One of his perfect blond eyebrows rose high in his brow as he continued to stare across the table toward me, his finger still rubbing his lip distractingly.
Finally he gave a small, dismissive shrug. ‘I suppose there’s no accounting for taste.’ He murmured dryly, but I didn’t believe his excess modesty for a second, Nathaniel Jackson was a very handsome, incredibly attractive man, and he was very well aware of it. I was convinced that the reason he always regarded me with a look of barely concealed amusement was because he knew how much he affected me. He probably saw the same slightly overwhelmed expression on the faces of every woman he met.
Lowering his hand from his lip he drummed his fingers lightly on the closed cover of the manuscript. ‘Christmas with Nathan? That’s the title you chose?’ he gave a small snort and then rolled his eyes. ‘It’s not very inventive, is it?’
Feeling immediately defensive of my latest book – one of my favourites that I’d written to date – I drew in a breath and raised my chin stubbornly. ‘Actually, I think it’s rather perfect. The title lets the reader know exactly what they are going to get; a tale of you, and your many festive escapades.’
‘Escapades?’ Nathan made a small humming noise in the back of his throat as he considered my word choice, his lips still twitching in that marginally derisive way of his. ‘I suppose that’s as good a word as any to describe what I get up to in the bedroom. And out of the bedroom.’ He added, his words making me shift uncomfortably in my seat.
You might think that as an author of erotica I would be used to open discussions of sex, but I wasn’t, I still found it embarrassing. Nathan however, had no such difficulties, and had always been more than happy to gift me with full-on, rather graphic descriptions of exactly what got him off. Which I had discovered during our various interviews was quite a variety of things. In fact, the list was practically endless, not to mention decidedly deviant.
‘And did you include all of the festive escapades that we told you about, Alice?’ He enquired silkily, his eyes narrowing and smile growing darker by the second. ‘Even the ones that made you blush and squirm in your seat?’
God, he was such an utter bastard. Both the Jackson brothers, Nicholas and Nathan, were absolute terrors for winding me up. Ever since we’d agreed that I could interview them as inspiration for the Untwisted series they’d taken every opportunity to make suggestive, rude or smutty comments, just to embarrass me. And much to my shame, it worked every single time.
Unwilling to rise to his bait this time, however, I straightened my back and made my face as blank as possible. ‘Of course.’
Nathan’s blond brows shot up for a second, as his face registered genuine surprise, but he quickly reeled in his uncharacteristic show of emotion and instead nodded his head in apparent respect. ‘Even the night with the riding crop?’
As much as I’d wanted to stay calm and in control, his mention of the crop sent heat rushing to my cheeks as I recalled the interview back in January with himself and Stella. They had been giving me a recount of their Christmas festivities when they had shared the details of one particular scene to me. A night of passion that had involved no shortage of toys, cuffs and other kinky paraphernalia that Nathan favoured in the bedroom. By the time they’d finished their story the sexual tension between the two of them had been so thick that I’d felt very uncomfortable, and distinctly like a spare part. Needless to say, I had swiftly finished my notes and made a very hasty departure.
A loud swallow squeezed it’s way down my throat as I blinked back from the memory. ‘Uh … yes.’ My cheeks were now the colour of beetroot, but Nathan still looked decidedly unfazed. The bastard. ‘That scene is in the book. I … uh … I think the readers will like it.’
‘Good. I certainly enjoyed acting it out.’ God. The low tone of his voice was almost dripping with sexuality now, but clearly from the distant, slightly flushed expression on his face Nathan wasn’t thinking about anything but Stella right now. Given how detached and domineering he’s been when I’d first met him, he really had come a long way. Don’t get me wrong, he was still domineering, I think he always would be, but the genuine connection and love he felt for Stella was obvious, and incredibly touching. ‘Stella loved it too.’ He added, thoughtfully.
‘I loved what?’ hearing a sweet feminine voice behind my shoulder I turned to see Stella arriving by our table. She looked just as I remembered, fresh faced, sparkling eyes and with long blonde hair that reached the waist of her lithe figure. ‘Alice! I thought it was you!’ Stella greeted me enthusiastically, stopping me from standing up by leaning down and placing a kiss on each of my cheeks.
‘Hi, Stella. How are you?’ Being alone with Nathan was never an easy task, but with Stella’s arrival I immediately felt the tension leave my body.
‘Better now that I’ve finished all my errands for the day and get to spend the rest of it with my man. He’s taking me out to lunch.’ She announced, the smile on her face sweetly infectious. She was clearly just as besotted with Nathan as he was with her, and it was a rather lovely union to witness.
‘Sweetheart.’ Nathan’s greeting was practically a growl, and as I glanced across at him I could see that any discussions we had been having were over now that Stella had arrived. His eyes were burning as he stared at her, a look so intense I tried to absorb it so I’d be able to describe it in a future book. Unfortunately though, I think Nathan’s level of smouldering was so extreme that it might be indescribable in words.
Taking my cue to leave I rose to my feet and offered my seat to Stella. ‘No! Stay and have a drink with us, I can drag over another chair.’ She exclaimed, but I could see, and feel, that Nathan was getting impatient now, so I shook my head and smiled at her. ‘Actually I have to get going, but let’s meet for lunch soon, text me.’
‘Definitely. It’s been too long. Mind you, everything I say to you seems to end up in a book!’ she joked lightly, making me grin.
After saying a quick goodbye to them both I stepped away, but discreetly watched as Stella’s polite public demeanour slipped away as her eyes locked with Nathan’s and a small, secret smile slid to her lips. Her posture somehow opened to him, as if she were submitting to him right here on the crowded street, and the effect of her body language was immediately apparent on Nathan. He stood from his seat taking on a wide legged, cock sure stance, his figure unfurling to his full height as a possessive, love drenched grin spread across his lips. His face was now lit up properly for the first time since I’d sat down with him today. I then watched as he raised a hand and took a proprietary hold on the nape of Stella’s neck before pulling her into his embrace for a blistering kiss.
Watching as they melted into a heated moment together I smiled to myself, they really did make quite a spectacular couple; both so independent, and yet equally as dependant on each other to fulfil their individual needs. Feeling my cheeks heat as their kiss deepened further I turned away with a soft smile and set out on my journey home. Nicholas and Nathan might have caused me a few stresses during the writing process, but considering their troubled childhood both men had made such leaps in recent years, and I would forever be glad that I had chosen them to be the central characters in my first series.
Alice x
*This blog post is entirely fictional, as are the events and characters in it. It is written purely for entertainment purposes for fans of the Untwisted series*
Short teaser from Christmas with Nathan
Nathan
“Think very, very carefully, Stella, before you continue to scream at me,’ he warned, his tone low and deceptively soft, instantly sending a trail of goose pimples running up my arms. ‘Do you really think I would do the things you are accusing me of?’ he murmured ominously, his stance suddenly becoming far more imposing as he spread his legs and crossed his arms over his broad chest.
Gosh, he looked absolutely gigantic. I think I’d grown used to his muscular build – a result of his strict personal training – but tonight his arms looked thicker somehow, and his chest broader … could it be a trick of the shadows, the flicker of the Christmas tree lights? Or perhaps it was my heightened senses from our angry words that were making me really see him in all his glory. And he really was glorious. Even when he looked as irate and dissatisfied as he did, there was no hiding Nathan’s classically handsome features or impressive stature.
As stupid as it was, even though we were in the middle of an argument, this glimpse of his dominant side immediately flicked my switches and had me aroused within seconds. Gosh, the way his trousers hugged his thighs and groin when he stood like that was really quite spectacular and completely distracted me … why had I been yelling?…
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Christmas with Nathan is available from the 12th of November, 2015. Purchasing links can be found here:
Connect with Alice:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AliceRaineAuthor
Twitter: @AliceRaine1
Website: www.aliceraineauthor.com
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Many thanks for sharing such a great extract Alice,
Happy reading everyone,
Kay xx
