pushes me down onto the bed and I clutch the cover as he forces my legs up to the edge of the mattress and separates my legs with his knee. ‘A hundred, I think you said. You’ve already had thirty or so. So we’ll make it a round –’ he delivers a sudden hard slap to one side of my glowing backside ‘– forty.’
He slaps again and this time follows through with a few more while I gnaw at the cover and lose count as my excitement builds again.
‘So we’ll have sixty left for later. But for now, we’ll finish with this.’
I barely hear the rip of foil or his low snarl of satisfaction as he finally plunges inside. All I hear is the roar of the blood pounding in my ears, the whimper of pleasure from my parted lips and the grunt of content that growls from his as he thrusts again and again, filling me up, ramming into me with the heat of a furnace and the power of a lion.
My belly takes over, hauling him in. All the muscles that craved his entry are now blissfully at work while my head thuds into the mattress and his tight grip on my hair fixes me in place. And when he stills and starts to pump, his warm gush glows in my belly like sunrise.
We lie together on the bed, our lips saying ‘Hi’ with tiny kisses but our eyes doing all the talking. His are fond, fading to thoughtful. Mine are … how do I know? Foolish? Adoring? Still smarting from my spanking and a-glitter with tears?
Or maybe he’s thinking about something else …
‘So, tell me about your visitor.’ I’ve no idea why I say this. Maybe it seems a quiet, neutral time to talk family.
Instantly his expression veils. ‘I was hoping you’d tell me about her.’
I smile at him, bleary with orgasm. ‘Ask me? What could I possibly know about her?’
He’s unnaturally still, his gaze like steel. ‘That’s what I wondered. Since the stalker thing started she’s been using a special phone. It has a security device to block outside calls. Today we had to upgrade her security to twenty-four-seven personal protection because she made an unmonitored call. It gave away her location to anybody who might be listening in. Now it’s possible her stalker knows precisely where she is.’
This is far too technical for me. I’m only half listening as I run a finger along his perfect jawline and touch his finely sculpted lower lip. I grin as he catches my finger in his teeth. ‘So? What’s that got to do with me?’
He releases my finger, his gaze steady. ‘The call came from your phone.’
I stare up at him, numb with shock. It must show in my face because he watches me closely for a moment and then kisses first one nipple then the other and looks up with a smile. ‘So? Any ideas?’
My mouth’s gone dry. ‘Anybody could have used my phone but nobody would. The students all have their own, far newer than mine. Anyway, I trust them.’
I think fast. Like all the staff I leave my valuables in my locker. But today …? ‘I left it on a chair at the back of the hall to signal the rehearsal segments for Eldon’s filming. I had trouble slipping it in and out of my pocket because …’ I tail off.
He’s watching me steadily. ‘Go on. Because what?’
I swallow. ‘Because my pedal-pushers were so tight …’ I falter again at the glimmer of heat in his eyes. His slow smile and a twitch from his nether regions warn me today’s rash choice of costume may still have a sting in its tail.
‘You don’t say?’ His velvet tone hints at scary possibilities. ‘We’ll explore this later. For now I’m guessing you need a shower. My treat.’
My shower is carefully stage-managed and deeply disturbing. He has a new toy – a battery-operated cone with suction pads that he’s fixed to the tiles.
When he tells me what it’s for and what it does I gaze at him open-mouthed. ‘You’re not serious?’
He’s serious all right – seriously laughing. The glee in his eyes melts my soul. His outrageous suggestion is irresistible.
He makes me lean against it, forcing me onto it so my most private and personal place is splayed open and then I must control my squeals as he navigates the buttons and the speeds, making me shudder with arousal in all the right places while the thing vibrates in all the wrong ones.
At the same time he hoses me off with the spray and, as I’m bent almost double to accommodate the thing, I’m encouraged to pay detailed attention to his glistening manhood. This is so exciting that shower time takes a while. We finish breathless with laughter, me tingling and stretched, both of us far wetter than necessary.
Towelling me off takes a while too as he fingers my newly loosened opening, grinning like it’s a perfectly normal place to loosen. ‘One day we might have some fun in here. We’ll see.’
The cone was way more fun than I like to admit; luckily the spray sluiced off most of my tell-tale excitement. I can only hope he’s teasing. Finally he drops a kiss on my shoulder and with it another bombshell.
‘Now put on something pretty. We’ll have a sexy night out.’
I fling my arms around his neck. ‘Must we? What happened to our sexy night in? I was looking forward to it.’
He smiles slowly, his expression dark. ‘Me too. You can’t believe how much. But I feel like showing you off on a dance floor. Plus it’s my cook’s night off. Anyway, you deserve it. Tomorrow we’re invited to a civic reception to welcome the South American delegation to Boston.’
I laugh and nuzzle his neck. ‘What, this is your revenge on me for causing you all this hassle in the first place?’
His face grows stern. ‘Nope. This is both a family and a professional duty.’ He kisses me gently, his look hooded. ‘My revenge on you comes later.’
We agree that first I have to call in at Billy’s tiny apartment to pick up some things for the next two days, since I arrived earlier than planned at his residence and was unaware we’d spend most of it black-tie. My trip across town is swift. I dive into the apartment and snatch up my bag, ready-packed for a wicked weekend but lacking any significant evening wear. I grab my cocktail dress and my newest long gown, drape both over my arm and make for the door. As I glance out of the window I pause a moment.
There’s a woman standing across the street.
People wait across streets from places all the time. Nothing special about that.
I must be getting jumpy. Darnley’s obsession with security rarely gets to me but the thought that our weekend could be derailed this easily makes me nervous. Also, something about this woman is oddly familiar. I’ve seen her outside the Academy. And more than once, now I come to think of it. She seems to be staring right at my window. A chill runs through me.
I slam the door impatiently and head for the stairs. I’m getting as paranoid as Darnley. Then I run back and double-check the lock, race back down to Bullen and try to forget about it.
Getting ready takes a while because Darley insists on supervising every stage of my dressing and make-up, leaning casually on the dresser in my room and tweaking my nipples to hard pebbles to show under the modest neckline of my semi-respectable, tight-fitting cocktail dress and then scooping it down a little to spoil the effect, modesty-wise, so it ends up showing far more of me than I usually allow.
I lift my chin, hoping to look unconcerned, until he runs a finger along my lowered neckline and grins, ruining that effect too.
At last we climb into the car. Tonight the security detail comes with us. Two men sit silently in front, two in another car behind. I gather we’re on the lookout for Cola.