The New Rakes (20 page)

Dipping his head down to her lap again, Mike burrowed lower. The tip of his tongue flickered over her anus, strange and new. With his forefinger rubbing and nudging gently inside her, Kara gasped. He moved inside her, slow and firm.

‘How does that feel?’ he asked, lifting his head to watch her.

‘Weird,’ she said. ‘Backwards.’

‘But you like it.’

‘Yes.’

He sank his finger in to the knuckle, taking her by surprise so that she didn’t have a chance to tense up. She was stoppered by him, filled at the base. The dark intensity of the sensation made her hold herself very still.

Mike curled over her to suck one nipple into his mouth, still working at her arsehole. Each tiny measured stroke made her feel dense around his finger. Between the pleasant ache of her nipple in his mouth and the slow finger-fucking, her body wanted to fold over and scrub up against him. Her pussy and
her
mouth were wildly empty and she swore as he kept her pinned there, tormented with feeling and the lack of it.

This is just what he wants, Kara thought. To keep me pinned here, begging. And this time I can’t give him what he wants.

All at once, she went limp. Though it took a vast effort, she stilled herself and breathed deeply. If he wanted to torment her, she could take it. Plugged at one end and sucked at the other, she could lie there calmly and let him try to drag more protests out of her.

He felt it immediately. ‘Kara?’ Her nipple slid from his mouth as he spoke and the cool air shrunk around her wet skin so that it puckered tightly. Mike hung over her. ‘You don’t like it.’

‘Oh, I do. It feels nice,’ Kara said, her voice very calm.

‘Nice?’

‘Mm.’ Kara shrugged. Inside she was burning up, hanging in midair while she waited for more – but she held back. Was this a way of tormenting Mike? Maybe she could even the balance. She curled her hands into fists and squeezed them hard. Knowing he was still watching her, she forced a half-smile to float over her face, sweet and blank.

Mike pulled his hand away, letting her arsehole relax with a mixture of relief and tingling disappointment. With a flicker of excitement and curiosity, Kara wondered what he’d do next, how he’d try to win her back.

She didn’t have to wait long. He grabbed her hips and turned her over; pulling her so roughly it was almost a mauling. When he’d hauled her onto her hands and knees he laid a warning hand on her ass. Kara understood perfectly – be still, he was saying. Wait.

The springs of the couch bounced as he got up and walked away.

She knew it wasn’t over yet. Far from it. While she rested her forehead against the armrest, Kara allowed herself a real
smile.
Was he really that easy to rile? She waited, crouched on all fours, as docile as a horse waiting to be saddled. No wriggling, no squirming, no noise and no heavy breathing, she told herself. It wasn’t going to be easy.

The slap that stung her buttocks took her by surprise and she had to hold her breath to stop herself from crying out. He spanked her slowly, drawing out a longer pause between each strike and giving her space to flinch or speak.

Kara was glad she had her back to him, because it was all she could do to screw her face up and stop from reacting. Gritting her teeth, she braced herself and steadied her resolve. She wouldn’t gasp or moan and she wouldn’t ask him to stop.

When he finished, the cheeks of her arse were hot and sore, buzzing all over and pleasantly tender.

‘I’m going to fuck your arse,’ Mike said.

Kara bit her lip. She held onto his promise as though it were a physical touch, tucked it away inside.

‘Did you hear me?’

‘Sure,’ Kara said, shrugging.

She heard small noises behind her. For a moment she wondered what Mike was doing and then she jumped from the cold wet shock as he dabbed lube on her. He twisted his finger inside, going deeper this time so that the tight feeling in her ass spread up to the base of her spine and throbbed sweetly.

Mike may have been losing patience, but he kept his movements slow. The head of his cock replaced his finger and he held it there, nudging at the mouth of her ass, pushing just a little at a time.

Kara wanted to rock back onto him, to feel him open her in this new place, but she forced herself to hold still. His hairy thighs were tight and warm against the back of her legs. He cradled her hips firmly in his hands. Would he still do it? Did he need to have her playing the part before he fucked her?

It wasn’t easy to think straight while his cock slid over the crack of her buttocks, but Kara persevered. To break the spell, she had to spoil his game. Mike liked to be the one in control, liked to feel he held all the power. All she had to do was diffuse the tension. Flip the balance. She gritted her teeth hard.

With one long movement, she sank back and pushed herself onto him, letting the tightness of her asshole close around Mike’s cock, taking as much as she could. At last, she allowed herself a long exhalation, a sigh that made her whole body melt. He was in her firmly, unbelievably big, his prick bearing down on her with a breathtaking force.

‘Yes,’ she hissed, drawing herself forwards and taking him again.

Mike made a noise in the back of his throat – a strangled grunt that Kara recognised as his last attempt to control himself. She impaled herself again, taking pleasure in the strangeness of the sensation and the sound of Mike struggling to hold his orgasm back. It was thick, overwhelming pleasure to have him plugged into her reluctant arsehole and Kara opened her mouth wide as she inched back and forth on his prick.

Every movement was so intense she knew he couldn’t last long. His orgasm was hovering right beside them. When he came it sounded almost as though he was in pain, his body shaking as though he was sobbing, his cock quivering inside her. He clutched at her hips and dug in his fingernails, bent over her back and laid his cheek on her spine. Kara heard him whispering curses into her skin, swearing bitterly as his orgasm finally robbed him of every last drop of power. She smiled.

‘Make me come,’ she said, grabbing his hand and placing it between her legs. Though he was shrinking inside her and his legs shook with post-orgasm weakness, Mike rallied. He frigged her with skilful finesse, his fingertips drumming against her clit and rubbing her towards climax.

‘Good,’ Kara said, her voice thick with pleasure. She placed her hand over his. ‘Keep going.’

It was then, as she pressed his hand over her pussy and ground against it, that Kara felt the power start to fall away from Mike.

Crouched over her and sweating from his own exertions, his body sliding and sticking to her, she realised the balance had tipped. The orgasm was glowing at her centre, spreading across her body and overtaking her mind. But just before it hit, she held Mike’s busy fingers still and opened her mouth to laugh, knowing that she’d finally found a way to break free.

At the studio the next day, Mike was subdued and fractious. Kara ignored the session guys he’d brought in – they may as well have programmed a drum machine and used a tape loop for all the attention she paid them.

‘Diva,’ she heard the guitarist mutter when they stopped for a coffee break and she turned to blast him with a hundred-watt smile.

‘Fuck you,’ she said sweetly, and slipped her headphones back on. She sang with her eyes closed, giving the songs a new edge – a flash of steel under the velvet slide of her voice. After she’d recorded the vocals for ‘Turn on Me’ in one take, flawlessly, she looked up at the control booth and nodded.

Mike sat with his hands steepled in front of him, his eyes dark and troubled. He broke eye contact when Kara looked at him and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. She blew him a kiss. Maybe she could play the game and win, she thought. If she was strong enough to make her own rules.

17

LINA FLEW IN
and out of the studio all afternoon, leaving papers with Mike and throwing critical, curious looks at Kara. It didn’t matter. While Kara was singing and feeling this strange, bitter and bright new hardness to her heart, she was unshakeable. Nothing could faze her – not Lina’s cautionary glares or the strawberry-red love bite on Judy’s neck.

She’d lost Tam already, and it really didn’t make much difference who he was fucking. So long as Lina didn’t make good on her threat and get her claws into him. If he was with Judy, he was safe, Kara thought. What really mattered, right then, was the music. So she clamped her headphones tight to her head and sang as hard as she could.

The only thing that threw her off her stride came late in the session. The blond lank-haired keyboardist with the faded, check shirt and the ‘diva’ opinion was unable to pick up Jon’s tightly scored melodies, playing them over and over but losing the tune every time.

‘Shit,’ he said as he fumbled the notes yet again.

‘I thought you said you were hiring professionals?’ Kara directed her question at Mike.

‘Oh, give me a break,’ the guy said, throwing his hands in the air and turning to Kara. ‘I didn’t write this shit and I haven’t seen it before this morning.’

‘That’s not my problem.’

Mike’s voice cut in on the headphones. ‘Can we skip the squabble, please? Let’s take that again, from the top.’

‘Are you sure?’ Kara asked, resting her hand on her hip. ‘You don’t want to come in here and take over? I know how you love to be in control, Mike. Why not sack this guy too and come and show us what you’ve got?’

He didn’t answer.

‘I’m sorry,’ Kara continued, her voice growing louder as she felt more reckless. ‘I forgot you don’t play any more. Can’t cut it. Don’t have the balls –’ She broke off as Mike rose from his seat and left the control room, slamming the door behind him. Around her, the musicians coughed and shuffled their feet.

For the first time that day, Kara felt anxiety swarm over her, prickling at her scalp and making her heart race. Had she pushed it too far? Mike wasn’t the kind of person to put up with musicians insulting him in public. She wanted to stop him from falling in love with her, sure, but she didn’t want him to cancel everything, junk the deal and trash her career. He might be out there right now shredding her contract. She tapped her foot nervously, felt the swimming feeling in her stomach.

When he opened the door and came into the live room, it was all she could do not to start stammering an apology. He had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and he walked fast, cutting across the room like the slice of a knife.

‘Get out,’ he said mildly to the blond keyboardist. ‘I’ll pay you the full day’s wages. But you can leave now.’

By the time the guy had sworn, scowled, shaken his head and left, Mike had slid onto the stool and rested his hands on the keyboard. He tipped his chin at Kara. ‘Let’s go,’ he said.

Under his hands, the melody started to spill from the piano. Mike barely glanced at the score and instead kept his eyes fixed on Kara. It was as though he’d already learned the song by heart.

She had to admit he played expertly. All Jon’s ragged, looping
melodies
turned into something different in Mike’s hands; they became smoother, subtler … sexier.

Kara found herself singing in a husky drawl, as though Mike was dragging new elements out of her voice with his playing. Eyes closed, she swayed in time with the background rhythm, letting Mike’s counterpoint twist her deeper into the songs.

When he broke off halfway through and left her hanging in the sudden silence, Kara was bewildered. She looked round to see Mike sitting with his arms folded.

‘I don’t think it’s the piano that’s the problem,’ he said. ‘It’s you.’

‘Me?’

‘You’re singing flat. And a little too … abrasive.’

Kara swallowed. ‘No way,’ she said. ‘This is my voice, this is how I sing.’

‘Hm.’ Mike looked her over. ‘Maybe your posture. Stand straight.’

Kara shook her head. She felt awkward all of a sudden, like she didn’t know where to put her arms. The hired guitarist and drummer looked her up and down as though the criticism had stuck to her skin. When Mike stood and approached, she felt herself shrink away.

He placed his hand on her stomach, slid it down under the waistband of her skirt and rested it on the dip between her belly and her pubis. Aware that there was a room full of strangers watching, Kara tried to pull away, but Mike had his other hand on the small of her back and he held her in place.

‘Take it easy,’ he said softly, working his fingers down further until they were brushing the fringe of her pubic hair. ‘Trust me. Now. Breathe into my hand.’

Kara glared at him. If she made a big deal she’d look ridiculous. And he’d had his hand down her skirt plenty of times before. Why should she get shy now? Keeping her eyes on his,
she
breathed deeply and felt his hand tighten against the swell of her body.

‘Good. Keep going.’ His hand slid upwards and rested on her chest, in between her breasts. His touch made her heart skitter about behind her ribs and Kara was keenly aware that everybody in the room was watching closely. She tried to slow her inhalations, but the more she struggled, the faster she breathed.

‘Your bra,’ Mike said. ‘Take it off.’

You could have heard a pin drop. The drummer’s eyes had widened like saucers and a lewd grin spread across the guitarist’s face.

Kara tried to laugh.

‘It’s constricting you,’ Mike said, reaching up to pluck at her bra strap. ‘Take it off.’ He nodded at the door, indicating the bathroom across the hall. ‘Give your voice a chance to breathe.’

He was trying to make a point, Kara thought. Trying to embarrass her. She glared at him through her fringe, silently willing him to back down, but Mike merely raised an eyebrow.

‘Don’t get precious, Kara. Your body is an instrument. If you want to succeed, you’ll have to treat it as such.’ He was talking loud enough that everyone could hear, but now he leaned in close and murmured in Kara’s ear. ‘I thought you liked showing off. Now go to the bathroom like I’ve told you, and when you come back I want to see your titties jiggling about nice and loose under that top, OK?’ He gave Kara a light pat on the bottom and his professional smile.