Chase (17 page)

I hardly know what to call it, being fucked backwards while I’m looped to him with my arms wrenched back, but ‘extreme’ is close enough.

‘OK, I’ll loosen your wrists. Hold your hands at your back.’ He rises to his feet, almost pushing me off-balance and now he thrusts for real, ramming into me hard, while he holds me fast at the hips. I strain to balance with my hands knotted uselessly at the small of my back.

And in a sudden act of mercy he reaches round to search out my pulsing, needy places and with a precise flurry of his fingertips he delivers a belly-wrenching orgasm that rockets through me in waves.

‘
Christ
, Ella, where have you been this past week? Hold position. You’ll be the death of me …’

My muscles are clutching him now, my belly rippling with the aftershocks of my climax. For long minutes he hovers inside me, his head thrown back, his eyes closed, as my spasms work their magic and all at once he comes too, his iron will dissolving in the white heat of my pleasure.

As we fuse together he sinks back down on his chair and pulls me onto his lap. He winds his arms around me, his lips moving on my skin as he murmurs low. ‘Halloween? It’s all in hand. Now let’s eat. I’m starving.’

On Thursday I get another call from Billy. She sounds grumpy. ‘I talked to Aaron.’

My heart skips a beat. ‘And?’

‘He got pretty huffy. Said it was all water under the bridge and whatnot.’

‘Drat. Did he say the papers were destroyed?’

There’s a pause. ‘Not in so many words.’ Her clipped tone hints I’m an idiot.

‘So, there’s nothing else we can do?’

I hear her snort. ‘Well, I guess we could scour all the local papers in fifty states going back about thirty years on the off-chance there’s some rumour about some possible event requiring a heap of paperwork that might relate in some remote way to a successful and respectable CEO who just happened to be over-friendly with the wife of a hotshot big-time lawyer who just happens to be my boss and my boyfriend’s dad.’ She takes a deep breath. ‘But somehow I think the chances of finding anything relevant are pretty slim. Plus I’ll lose the boyfriend and the job. Plus it’ll take about two thousand years. Satisfied?’

Now I do feel an idiot.

‘My advice? Drop it.’ Her tone softens. ‘One thing was odd.’

My pulse quickens. ‘What?’

There’s a pause. ‘Aaron looked really scared. He was sweating.’

On Friday after classes the Formans turn up. As I pack up to leave, Wayne and his mom are standing in the doorway.

Ms Forman smiles. ‘I jes’ came in to tell ya, Mz Dean, that letter I got? I got another today from the same people. It’s all on hold for a while. An’ I got another letter too. Here. I thought you oughta see it.’

I skim through it and then read more closely. It’s printed on heavy triple-bond paper and informs Ms Lola Forman that in respect of any legal matter arising from her recent communication from the Kraik Corporation, Lautner Wolfe will offer assistance pro bono and free of all charges.

I feel a lump in my throat. ‘That’s wonderful news, Ms Forman. They’re a very good firm.’

She smiles proudly. ‘Oh, I know. They’s one of the best. Looks like my boy Luther’s already makin’ waves.’

When they’ve gone I finally go down to the waiting car. Darnley’s already in the back seat. As I join him he winds an arm around me and kisses me. ‘Hey. Good day?’

I kiss him back and all at once the distance between us disappears. Once more life’s a breeze. ‘The best. Lola Forman came to see me.’

His eyes gleam. ‘And?’

I gaze at him, serious now. ‘And she’s had a letter from Lautner Wolfe offering her free representation. Was that anything to do with you?’

I can hardly believe it. Is this what he’s been up to? Moving heaven and earth to get his family’s prestigious firm to stand up for Lola Forman? No wonder he looks ragged. Aaron and Lydia want the whole Kraik thing buried even deeper than Darnley does. He’s wrestled not only the pain of his own past but with his father’s. And goodness knows what it’s cost him. I gaze at his profile as he looks away, apparently unconcerned.

‘Why me? I’m no lawyer.’ His tone is neutral.

‘Because if it was, I was going to say thank you.’ My finger traces the line of his jaw. ‘A very big
thank you. With a costume or two and maybe some equipment –’

‘
Whoa
. You’ll put Bullen off his driving.’ Laughing, Darnley claps a hand to my mouth and then pulls me close. ‘Maybe it was me. Well, just a bit me. Do I still get the costume?’

He’s a skilled negotiator. By the time we arrive at his place I’ve lost ground on the costume and even thrown in a handcuff or two. We’re down to the precise number of kisses and their exact location and I’m still losing.

I’m in for a busy evening.

Next morning we set off early for New York. We travel by helicopter, conveyed smoothly from one helipad to another with glorious views over the gold, scarlet and orange treescape in between.

I know it’s just a party, but I loved Halloween as a child. Now I feel excited all over again. And why all this mystery about costumes? I’m getting nervous now. I like to know what I’m wearing. These things need planning – make-up, lingerie, shoes all have to tone.

I pump him for information. ‘Pumpkins? Polar bears? Am I close?’

At last he puts a finger to my lips and his eyes gleam a warning. ‘Enough. Or I’ll leave you in the hotel.’

I laugh and give up, glad he’s playful. But as we get airborne I notice once more how hollow his cheeks have become, how grim his jaw. The past few weeks have taken a toll. That thing in my drama class cut him deep.

We’re booked into the Plaza. The lobby’s all flashy marble and tinted mirrors but our suite is way up high, light and airy, with views over the Hudson on one side and the roofs and pinnacles of the city on the other.

As I gaze out over the splendour stretching away at our feet he comes up behind me, winds his arms round my waist and buries his face deep in my neck. ‘What would you like to do while you’re here?’

His body folds around me like a blanket as he draws me close and I feel his breath on my hair. I sense instantly what he really wants as something hard stirs at my back.

Maybe we’ll keep that for later.

I don’t get to see New York all that often so I offer up some feeble alternatives. ‘How about touristy things? A helicopter tour? Some art?’

I tail off as his hand slips under my thin sweater and folds around my breast, kneading softly. His body presses against me, his erection jutting hard against my rear end. A tremor runs through me as something deep down starts to pulse. I close my eyes, leaning back against him and moving sinuously against his shaft, relishing its eager heat.

It’s an effort to speak. ‘What about you? Anything you’d like to see?’

‘Yep. Right here.’ He turns me round to face him and starts to peel away my light cashmere sweater and slim skirt, stripping me down to the basics, stockings, heels and underwear. I wind my arms up round his neck and hold very still as he explores me, his expression solemn, his touch electrifying.

I kiss his cheek. ‘What happened to all the phone calls?’ He’s not made a single call since last night. The difference is startling, like he’s back from space. ‘Crisis over now?’

I’m only playing. I know only about his family, nothing about his business methods or his difficulties.

Instantly he stiffens. ‘
Crisis
?’

Shit.
‘I thought maybe … you’ve been so busy lately.’ I tail off as his jaw softens a little and he pulls me close.

‘I know. I’ll make up for it, I promise.’

All at once he finds my mouth with an urgency that scares me, his tongue sending my drumming arousal into overdrive. When he’s like this I’m helpless in his arms, a leaf in a gale. He pushes me back towards the bed and we land together, our mouths still united, our bodies entwined.

As he rolls over onto his back and hauls me on top of him he releases my mouth and I breathe in deeply. I lean up on my elbows and let my hair brush a silky wave along his shoulder. I drop light, tender kisses on the hollows of his perfect face and weave my hands into his light, springy hair, seeing the tiny gold highlights flash and sparkle in the sunlight streaming through our tall windows.

He watches with a lazy smile as I loosen his shirt and push it open, nuzzle the landscapes of his chest, the light glancing off the bronzed, golden skin stretched tight over the swelling muscles and sloping down to the flat plains below the waistband of his dark jeans, where the rising bulge of his growing erection pushes hard against his flies.

His impatience is growing too. I can sense it in the way his smile darkens to a gleam and his eyelids lower as he coils to spring. And all at once, as I loosen his waistband, he surges up on top of me and now I’m pinned below him, his hungry mouth filling me as he frees his eager manhood, so hard and hot against my belly.

He kneels up beside me on the bed, his shaft only inches from my face. ‘Here, you do the honours.’

I watch the ripple of muscles across his upper chest, breathless at the view as he reaches across to extract a foil packet from the side table where he’s already placed his watch and some coins.

He towers over me as I shuffle up into a kneeling position and bend over before him. As I take out the condom I lunge forward and salute his erection with a reverent touch of my lips. I lick for a while before taking it fully into my mouth and riding down his length a few times to moisten him fully.

As I do it I feel that special twitch of excitement flare deep down. Over my head he’s breathing faster. His thighs tower at either side of my face, solid statements of power. Now they flex and grow rigid as he yields to my eager mouth, my teasing tongue swirling and dabbing his shaft into a tense, stone-rigid colossus. At the same time I stroke the muscular columns of his legs, thrillingly close to my face, and reach round to fondle him as his erection leaps and surges in my mouth.

‘You’re good. Too good.’ His low murmur thrills through me but holds a note of warning – too much, too soon may spoil things.

Keen to make him know how much I want to please him and how sorry I am that in seconds his delicious skin has to be sheathed in synthetic skin, I ease back and lick along his length a few times to get him thoroughly wet and then work my way right to his root and tease around the base with eager little darts of my tongue. When he’s good and wet I glance up but I’m startled at his expression. His eyes are glowing with love, his angular face tense with concentration.

It’s almost like he’s committing me to memory.

‘Darnley? You OK?’

He blinks, like I’ve derailed some private train of thought. ‘Sure. Why?’

‘Nothing.’ Now I’m worried, but with delicate, feathery movements of my fingers I roll the condom over him, smoothing it into place with light, teasing touches. As I kneel up he finds my mouth, plunging into me with hungry force and pushing me back onto the bed until we’re stretched out full length.

‘Legs up. Higher.’ With a sudden lunge he seizes my ankles and hauls them over his shoulders and kneels up again, his thighs hard against my backside. With a grunt he slides in effortlessly. At this angle he thrusts deep, filling my belly again and again as my feet arch above his shoulders. At last he pulls slowly away and now he grabs my wrists, stretches my arms out to the sides and pins them down.

Eyes gleaming, he rides forward over and over, his hard, flat belly and its mat of springy hair rasping hard against my sex, building my climax to a peak with his weight and his power. As pleasure steals closer I arch my neck and close my eyes to prepare for bliss.

Infuriatingly, he guesses and holds off. ‘Look at me, Ella.’

I’d sooner savour my pleasure in private but from the swell of heat in my belly as his shaft grinds into me I sense he’s close now. I know this turns him on, watching me dissolve in his arms.

So I fix my eyes on his and hope all my love and all my gratitude will shine in the tears of emotion that well up as I come violently under his steady gaze. He slows to watch, leaning down to brush my face with light, delicate touches of his lips, their softness a sharp contrast to the vigour and the hard, grinding muscle of his loins. In seconds I feel another climax start to build, softer this time but unmistakable, higher and higher, until I’m about to convulse again.

This time he’s close too and as I spasm around his plunging girth I see a flicker in his eyes and the tendons on his neck stiffen. With a loud cry and a few rapid thrusts that pound my head back into the pillows he comes at the same instant I do, and we fuse together for long seconds, united in bliss.

We pull apart laughing, like we’ve shared some secret, special triumph, and we lie together, my legs lower now but still wrapped tightly round his waist.

I remind him we’re tourists. ‘How about Staten Island ferry? And then a walk in Central Park?’

He grins. ‘Wow, you’re a cheap date. Can we make out in the bushes?’

I beam up at him, thrilled that he’s back from the dark places he’s been this last couple of weeks. I’m high on orgasm, wildly, irrationally happy and deeply in love. I’ll do anything. ‘If you like. But be warned. I’ll charge extra.’

The Staten Island ferry is fun. I want to watch the water speeding past so we find a place by the rail in the lee of the wind. He plants his hands on the rail at either side of me, trapping me in, laughing when the breeze blows my hair back into his face.

Children race around in scary masks, excited it’s Halloween. Their parents look on, carriers laden with shopping and treats for later.

We catch a snack lunch on the island and then ferry back. On the way back to the hotel we take a bus to Central Park and walk round the lake.

Here the trees are dressed for Halloween too, their leaves turning russet and gold, their reflections painting the lake in a blaze of warm colour after the chilly vistas of glass and cement that line the streets of Manhattan.

We hold hands and steal kisses like lovers, more private here among the crowds of this busy city than in the sheltered squares near his home.