London: Part II

A/N: Two months without updating? *face wall* I've been writing this since I posted the last chapter. Oh well, can't be helped other than for me to say I posted this one now and that it's the longest. Now onto the story!

"How is your friend, Ziio? You talk about her an awful lot."

I laughed and fixed the phone in my hand. "She's fine. Actually she's in London right now meeting Haytham's parents."

"That sounds serious." There's a pause on the other line, and I don't know whether to hang up or not. "Since you're all alone, why don't you come here for a bit? I could fly you out if you wanted."

I frowned and sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose like Haytham does when he's agitated. "I don't know love," I answered honestly. "I really don't think it'd be a good idea."

Now it was Altair's turn to sigh. "Maria, if it's about this whole Adha thing..."

"It's not just Adha," I explained, moving away some of the pillows on my couch so I could get comfortable. "The others on the board don't approve of our relationship. It's not just because I'm not Middle Eastern, but because I used to work for Abstergo."

"Maria-"

"No, let me finish. In the news and on TV, you lot act as if everything is fine and that there's world peace, but you can't fool the workers. We know you despise each other."

"Maria..." I imagine him running a hand over his head and pacing around his office. "It's hard to explain."

"It doesn't have to be," I snapped. Bloody hell, it seems I've been doing that often. "What's going on between you two? I mean, this seems to go way deeper than trying to outsell the other in electronics and prescribed drugs."

"Listen Maria," Altair's voice was low, almost like he was whispering. "This is something I can't talk about over the phone. This is why I want you to come and spend time with me in Dubai. If you knew the situation, the board won't be so against us being together."

I rubbed the back of my head, highly doubting that whatever he had to tell me would change a group of old men's minds. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to come and see my CEO." Changing the subject, I asked, "How long has it been since I last saw you, my love?"

I could tell he was smiling, and I knew we had dodged a potential fight. "Six weeks. I miss having you by my side."

"What, no other women there to warm your bed?"

"Of course not. I rather have the feisty Maria Thorpe keep me company at night. Besides, the marks you left on my back last time we were together are begging for brothers."

I smirked into the phone. "What can I say? You're just so shaggable, love."

This time he laughed. "How did I end up with someone as special as you?"

"I don't know," my smile still on my face. "I think I should be asking the same question. You could have any girl in the world, yet you chose me."

"Not a girl, Maria. I am not a paedophile." I rolled my eyes. Smart ass. "You are a beautiful woman who lights up any room she walks into with her witty personality and banter. A woman whose laughter fills my heart every time I hear it, who brings me back to planet Earth when I am on my job high...need I say more?"

I was blushing at this point. "You just saying those things is making me feel-"

There was muffled noise on the other side, and I could tell he was talking to someone else. If he was caught talking to me while he was supposed to be working, that wouldn't go too well over with the board. They were always eager to find something wrong with what he does, something that shows he is incapable of running the company. I waited patiently for Altair to return to the phone, and soon found myself actually paying attention to the "Reality TV" in front of me. Apparently one of the women found out that their husband used to date their best friend. Really, who actually believes this garbage?

Finally he picked up the phone, though what he said made my heart frown. "I'm sorry Maria, but I have to go. I'll try to call you after my appointment."

"Of course you will," I said, doubt dripping from my voice. Altair never called after a meeting. He was always being pulled off to press conferences and a million other things that rich CEOs do. I'd sometimes be waiting a week just to hear from him again.

He sighed, but said no more on the subject. "Good night, habibiti."

"Good night love."

If you can't hear what I'm trying to say

If you can't read from the same page

Maybe I'm going deaf, maybe I'm going blind

Maybe I'm out of my mind

Ok now he was close, tried to domesticate you

But you're an animal, baby it's in your nature

Just let me liberate you

(Hey, hey, hey)

You don't need no papers

(Hey, hey, hey)

That man is not your maker

And that's why I'm gon' take a good girl-

I was still pretty much asleep when my fingers fumbled around on the nightstand trying to find my phone and shut off its racket. Damn, who would be calling at this early in the morning?

"Lovely tone," Haytham remarked as he turned over on his side of the bed and covered his head with a pillow.

"Fuck off," I muttered, turning onto my stomach.

"It's a bit too early for that, but if you insist..."

My leg kicked him from under the covers, emitting an "Ouch!" from him. My hands still attempted to search for my cellular device without leaving the comforts of bed. Soon it found my phone and I picked it up, not looking at the Caller ID before pressing the answer button and putting it on speaker.

"Good morning, love!" Chirped a rather happy voice. That happiness made me want to strangle its owner.

I heard Haytham groan as he lifted his head up and said, "Of course it would only be you to call this early in the morning, Maria." He turned over and reached for the phone, taking it out of my hand. I didn't protest since I was still half asleep.

"Is there an urgency for this call, or has Altair finally realised how mental you are and kicked you to the curb?"

"Ouch Haytham, that actually hurt."

"Good, now let us sleep, woman!"

I didn't get to hear the rest of their conversation as my eyes became heavy and started to close. Let them bicker all they wanted as long I wasn't bothered.

It was around nine in the morning when I finally decided to wake up. My hand felt along the other side of the bed, but was met by fabric instead. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, attempting to get the sleep out of them when the door to the bathroom opened and out came Haytham in nothing but a towel, his hair and skin still wet from his shower. He was patting the beads of water off his face with another towel as he made his way to the closet with his back turned to me, where he took out a crisp, white dress shirt and navy blue vest. His matching slacks were on a separate hanger.

I sat up a bit straighter as he unwrapped the towel around his waist and let it drop. Mhm...Mrs Kenway was right, he does have a nice backside. He slid on his briefs and then his shirt with a certain grace that I couldn't help but admire. He was doing the opposite of stripping, and I found it...arousing. Throwing the covers back and moving silently across the room, I approached him from behind and wrapped my arms around his middle.

"Good morning," I murmured into his back.

He stilled for a moment, and I was afraid he was going to push me off of him until he turned around in my embrace. "I'm sorry if I woke you. I have to attend a meeting in a while and won't be back until late in the evening."

"I see." I forgot that he was on a business trip while I was here for luxury. Though the thought of being here alone wasn't very welcoming. "I guess you should get going," I said, buttoning up his shirt. "The sooner you get there, the sooner you can leave and I get you to myself."

"Ziio I-"

I held up my hand. "It's alright. You're a busy man. Your work is before everything else." When was it not? He was always away on business trips that had me staying behind and missing him.

There was an embarrassed sort of expression on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck. "You won't be here alone. I made sure of that."

"Really?"

"Yes," he answered, grabbing his slacks off the hanger and putting them on. "My mother would like to take you around the shops in London, if that's okay with you."

I didn't hesitate to saying yes. I thoroughly enjoyed Mrs Kenway's company. She was pleasant, funny, and extremely entertaining. I couldn't understand why Haytham wasn't more relaxed like his parents.

"Excellent," Haytham said with a smile on his face. "I'll phone her before I go and tell her to have the car come pick you up." He kissed me briefly, his lips lingering above mine. "Now let me finish getting ready," he said, pulling away and reaching for his belt.

A devilish smile crept to my lips as an idea came to my head. Taking the belt out of his hands, I threw it across the room and onto the bed. "Not yet, Mr Kenway. I'm not done with you."

Haytham raised an eyebrow. I could tell he knew what I had in mind. "Really now?" There was a bit of amusement in his voice. I was going to love hearing it leave in the next second and replaced by something much more...stimulating.

"Mhm..." My hand travelled down his front, feeling the muscles he gained through whatever workout sessions he took. When my fingers met the waistband of his trousers, I undid the button blocking me from his zipper, and pulled the tab down slowly, all the while my eyes never leaving his. I heard him take a deep breath when my hand made contact with his member between his briefs. Oh my, he was ready for this. Still not taking my eyes off of his, I lowered myself on my knees and slid fabric down exposing him to me.

"Ziio..." His eyes were on me, but his lips were parted in anticipation, waiting for my next move.

I batted my eyelashes and sent him a heated gaze through them before I pressed my lips to the tip of his hardness, taking him in. A moan escaped his lips as I took in more of him, my tongue moving slowly over his length. This was the first time I had ever done something like this. Maria was more than comfortable giving me pointers on how to do it properly, even though I said I refused to listen. I guess it was a good thing I did; I wanted Haytham to go to that meeting knowing what he was missing. And I guess it was payback for what he did to get me to come to England.

"Ziio, please...you don't need to do this." At this point, he was taking short breaths, attempting to keep his hands at his sides. "I need to go-o!"

Haytham's last syllable was clipped as my left hand grabbed him around his base, allowing me to take in more of him. Why couldn't he leave well enough alone? I wanted to do this for him; see him become undone by me and my actions alone. See him close his eyes and her my name on his lips. At the rate things were going, it would be soon. My teeth lightly grazed his member, making him visibly grit his teeth and entangle his fingers through my hair. That only encouraged me more.

"Ziio, I'm begging you to please stop. You won't like the outcome of this." His voice was strained; as if debating on whether to just shut up or say something.

I halted my actions, but didn't take him out of my mouth. His gaze was still on mine, silently pleading with me to stop. I knew it wasn't because I was bad, but because he was a gentleman. Seeing a woman he highly respected on her knees and doing something that he believed degraded women wasn't anything he was used to. "You talk too much, Mr Kenway."

My answer to his pleas was to look him straight in the eye and bat my lashes slowly once more. Hopefully that would shut him up until I was done.

I continued, sucking and licking him from the base of his member to the tip, my tongue swirling around him. He was tensing up, which meant he was close to his climax. He tried to pull me away from him, but I swatted his hands away and continued taking him in, him fully in my mouth.

Haytham threw his head back and let out a hiss as he reached his release, spilling himself into me. His wetness coat the back of my throat and felt some sort of pride at how well it went. Not wanting to make a mess of my favourite sleeping clothes, I made sure to swallow everything, not wasting a single drop. It was when I was sure that I had gotten everything did I pull away, a satisfied smile on my lips. He looked exhausted as if he ran a marathon without water. His eyes were closed as he panted, probably trying to regain his scattered thoughts. I couldn't help but applaud myself at making the great CEO of Abstergo come undone like this.

"Bloody hell..." Haytham muttered. "Where did you learn how to do that?"

I gave him a cheeky grin before slipping his boxers back up and doing the same to his slacks. "I don't kiss and tell," I replied, getting off my knees and standing up straight. "Just know you're too first to experience it from me."

He smirked at me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling my close to him. "I can see that," he whispered against my lips before kissing me. When he pulled away, his hands caressed my back and started to travel lower and lower. "I'm afraid I have to leave...but first I need another shower." He let go of me, only to take my hand and guide me to the bathroom. "And you're coming with me."

Haytham left for the day, saying he would "return the kindness" when he got back from his meeting that night. In the meantime, I was going to spend the rest of the day with Mrs Kenway, shopping up and down and all around London.

"Please, call me Tessa," she insisted when we had decided to stop by a cafe for something to drink after we dropped our bags off in the town car.

Tessa...I liked the name. "Alright Tessa," I said. "Where are we off to next?"

"Well," she started. "I was wondering if you didn't mind that we stop by Jenny's house."

"Jenny?" I didn't recognize the name very well, although I was sure that Haytham mentioned it to me at some point.

"Yes, darling. Haytham's older half-sister," she said, sipping from her glass of water.

That's why the name sounded familiar. "That's right, Haytham told me he had a sibling."

"Yes, she lives on Roupell Street near Waterloo. A fine area, that is."

"Is she married?"

Tessa was hesitant to answer this question, but she did nonetheless. "No, but she does have a daughter. A sweet girl named Madeline." A single parent then? Maybe engaged and about to be married? I didn't know. "She's quite the catch...I think you two will get along smashingly." I hoped so, too.

When Tessa had said "sweet girl" I thought she meant a little thing no older than six or seven- not the fifteen year old that sat across from me on the couch while her mother and Tessa were in the kitchen preparing tea.

She was very pretty (a trait established by the Kenways), with dark brown hair, hazel eyes and full lips; Madeline looked almost completely like her mother.

"Are you surprised by me?"

I was shaken out of my thoughts by her question. My, wasn't she straightforward. "What? No, not at all," I answered truthfully. "Why do you ask?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and sat back against the sofa. "Everyone is surprised when they see me and my mother together. We look alike in features, but-"

I didn't even see Jenny in the walkway to the kitchen when I heard her say, "Madeline, would you please help your grandmother preparing tea?" Her tone wasn't one that asked a question, but more commanded it.

Madeline looked her mother in the eye, and I sensed the tension in the air electrify. Jenny regarded her with a passive look, but the stern eye she gave her daughter made me advert my own and look at anything other than those two. Then Madeline stood up from her seat and walked past her mother into the kitchen. As I saw her brush her arm against Jenny's I couldn't help but notice the striking contrast in skin colour.

"I'm terribly sorry about that," Jenny said, taking her daughter's place across from me. "She's not usually so...confrontational, honest. She's just been going through a couple of rough patches."

"I completely understand. Everyone has their own troubles to deal with, and most happen to deal with them alone. It can be stressful for a teen."

"Quite." There was a lull in the conversation, and I was debating on whether or not to use the restroom. Jenny seemed nice enough, the way she acted was a bit distant. As if she was uncomfortable. "So how did you meet my brother?"

Ah, good; a simple question to start off. "There was party, a very big ball between Solstice and Abstergo in Dubai about four months ago. I was there because my friend Maria was seeing the CEO of Solstice and paid for me to go."

Jenny smiled at the mention of the name. "You mean Maria Thorpe?"

I returned her smile, nodding my head. "Yes, that's her. She knew Haytham from when they were kids, so she introduced us. He kept pronouncing my name wrong, and from there we just talked the night away. He gave me his number, and the rest is history."

She shook her head, her smile still evident. "And you would want to be with an old man like him?"

A laugh escaped my lips. "I don't think of him as old, but...matured."

"Honestly, why him? He's older than you, almost in his thirties. At this point in his life, he's looking for a woman to marry and spend his life with. I'm sure you're completely in love with him, but it seems as though you rather enjoy your time as twenty something and free."

I was taken back the second time in less than ten minutes. It seemed like she was asking me if I sure I wanted to continue my relationship with Haytham. It really wasn't any of her business, but I could see her worry. It's her younger brother after all. I would do the same for my sisters.

"I appreciate the concern," I started. "But I think that I'll be fine. Haytham and I have talked about this topic before. He understands that I'm not ready for that kind of commitment."

"But what about his commitment," she asked. "I know for a fact that he would want kids, and soon. What happens then if you're not ready? Maybe tying in with a wealthy man wasn't the wisest decision."

My eyes narrowed. So that's what this was about. "I believe that's none of your concern." I stood up from my spot and excused myself to the kitchen where Tessa and Madeline were sitting at the table, waiting for the water in the kettle over the stove to finish boiling. I hurriedly made my way to her side and whispered in her ear, "Tessa, I'm not feeling all that well. Do you mind if we leave?"

Tessa craned her neck to look at me. "Of course, dear. What's the matter?"

I placed a hand to my forehead. "I'm starting to feel a bit lightheaded. Is it alright that you take me back to the hotel?"

She was on her feet in the next second. "Yes, anything you need, dear. Do you need me to get you anything for the head?"

"No," I answered. "I have pills in my suitcase. I think I should just lie down for a bit."

"Of course, dear. Just let me get my things..." As Tessa got up from the table and collected her stuff, Jenny appeared in the walkway.

"I hope you feel better, Ziio," she said, a smirk on her face. Her head was cocked to the side, as if regarding the situation with amusement. "And we will finish our discussion. I feel we were really starting to know one another."

I gave her a fake smile of my own. "I believe so, too. And as for our conversation, we'll see."