Soul Stripper (25 page)

“Was there anyone here who they talked to that they were specifically interested in?”

She stepped back and looked up to the ceiling in thought. “At first it was Max—he was her costar that day. But then they seemed to focus in on Dennis.”

“And Dennis is . . .”

“He’s the director. The guy you were talking to in the hat.”

“Oh, right, of course.”
Scruffy.

“He and Lyla were an item, But he had an alibi, so once they got that from him, they pretty much left. Haven’t been back since.”

“Well—what about Lyla? Was she acting strange that last morning?”

Mary stepped back, her eyes darkening. “Why are you asking so many questions?”

My breath caught, heart hammering against my ribs. “I-I’m just nervous about the audition. To tell you the truth, I’ve never done an adult film before.” Mary’s gaze softened and she leaned forward, painting my lips. “I’m sorry if I was being too nosy. I was just trying to make conversation until I had to perform,” I said, trying to keep my mouth still as I spoke.

She nodded, continuing to line my lips in silence. After another minute, she said, “Lyla
was
acting strange that morning. She was always so put together when she came in. Hardly needed me to do any of her makeup or hair. But that morning”—her voice lowered as if she were about to reveal some sort of dirty secret—“she came in with hardly any makeup. Her eyeliner was smeared down her face from the night before. And she seemed—frazzled. Upset about something.” Mary put down the makeup and started pinning my hair up. She ran her fingers through its length in a surprisingly motherly way. “After we finished the cum shot, she cried and ran off the set.” She twisted chunks of my hair up to my head, securing it with bobby pins as she spoke, using her mouth to hold them like a third hand. “I’ve seen a lot of bloopers and my fair share of mental breakdowns on adult film sets, but nothing like that.”

She finished pinning my hair and rummaged around in a box under the wardrobe rack. She pulled out a dark wig and placed it carefully on my head. After a little bit more brushing, she turned the chair around to face the mirror. “There! All done!” She had her hands out as if presenting my new look. I smiled, hoping I wasn’t grimacing on the outside like I was on the inside. I had glitter painting my eyes all the way up to my brows. Giant hot-pink lips that were lined far outside of my natural lip line. Black eyeliner lining corner to corner like two tiny footballs. And cheeks swept up to my temples. I looked like . . . well, like a porn star. The only small comfort I took away from the look was that no one, and I mean
no one,
would recognize me.

“So”—Mary walked over to a rack of clothes (if you can even call them that) on the other side of the bathroom—“here are your costume choices. Choose whatever suits your ‘character’ for the day. I’ll be right outside. Call for me when you’re dressed.”

“I think you mean ‘undressed.’ ” My teeth gnashed together.

Mary chuckled at that, and she and Julian quietly shut the door, leaving just me, my slutty reflection, and a pile of clothes that even Adrienne wouldn’t be caught dead in.

I chose a simple black lacy push-up bra and a little black skirt with a thong underneath. I called Mary back in, and Julian followed close behind her. He met my eyes, his body stiffening as though refusing to look anywhere below my neckline.

“Oh, very nice,” Mary said. “Turn around, let me have a look.”

I gave her a 360-degree twirl. “Good, good.” She shuffled around, finding some high-heeled platform shoes. “Just put these on and . . .” She put a finger to her lips, assessing my whole look. “And I’ll just need you to take off your necklaces. Then you’ll be ready.”

She walked over to the back of me. “Here, let me help you.”

I lifted the wig hair up off my neck so that she could undo the clasps. She swung the necklaces off me and inhaled a sharp gasp, which she quickly covered for by clearing her throat. I looked over at Julian, who shrugged.

“What’s wrong?” I turned to face her.

“Oh, nothing, nothing.” She held up a hand as if shooing my concern away. When I didn’t move, her shoulders relaxed and she held up my necklace—the stone from Erik. “It’s just—it’s so odd. Lyla had a necklace just like this. The stone, at least. I had never seen anything like it before. I even asked her about it, and when I did, she went totally Gollum on me and freaked out that I had touched it.” Mary held up the necklace, examining it closer in the light. “She refused to take it off—insisted on wearing it in the last couple of shoots, she loved it so much.”

My eyes darted to Julian’s. His demeanor was still calm, stoic. “Here,” Julian said, holding a hand out. “Why don’t I hold on to those for you?”

I nodded, my mouth dry like I had swallowed a ball of yarn.

I handed him the necklace from Lucien first, with the panic button, and then dropped the blue stone into his palm. He winced and sucked in a breath as though in pain, almost dropping the necklace to the floor. He grabbed it by the leather strap, catching it just before it hit the ground.

Mary stared at him, her gaze so wide that I could see veins in the whites of her eyes. “Wow,” she said, out of breath, “how’d you do that? I barely saw you move.”

He slowly straightened, standing back at full height and cleared his throat. His eyes shifted over to me.
Monica, I need you to lie for me.

“He, uh, is really good at magic tricks.”

He rolled his eyes.
Well, I could have said that
.

“And,” I continued, “um, he competes in triathlons. He’s superfast.”

He nodded and looked back at Mary with a small smile.

Shrugging, she turned back to me, ready to finish up her job. She gave me the once-over, allowing her gaze to travel up and down my body. Her eyes shifted from left to right as if she were reading me like a book—taking in every little detail to ensure she hadn’t overlooked something. She seemed quite good at her job; it made me wonder why she was stuck in a porn career. “Well, it looks like you’re all ready to go!” she finally said. “Follow me.” With a sweeping gesture, she held a hand out, palm up, toward the door.

I slipped into a silk robe before exiting, trying to stay even the slightest bit modest. I turned to give myself a last look in the mirror and used a little of my remaining power to shift the neck bruises entirely away and to make my features look slightly different. Not enough for the cast and crew to notice a change, but enough that my friends would only think it was someone who looked an awful lot like me. Drew once told me he didn’t watch porn, but the second the words left his mouth, his aura changed to a dark purple—clearly indicative of guilt. It was sort of sweet that he felt the need to lie to me.

I followed Mary into the bedroom. The crew only consisted of Scruffy—that is, Dennis—and two other men. One was the sound guy, and the other seemed to be an assistant of sorts. He was young with oily skin. I hoped he was old enough to legally be here. Sitting in a chair next to the bed was a decent-looking, fit man. He was in jeans and no shirt. His chest was shaved, and his body glistened as though he had just rubbed baby oil all over himself. Wait . . . he
had
just rubbed baby oil on himself. Gross. Thank Hell I didn’t have to touch the guy.

Please tell me I don’t have to sit here and watch this.
I heard Julian’s voice in my head.

Hey,
I retorted,
this was your bright idea. Besides, it’s your job to stay by my side today.
I smirked at that.

You are evil.
His gaze darkened, but there was a twinkle of humor in his eyes.

“Are we ready?” Scruffy asked impatiently. “We’re losing daylight here.”

“It’s two o’clock in the afternoon,” I said. “We’ve got plenty of sunlight left.”

He shrugged and sat down in one of those directors chairs that they sold at Spencer’s. “It’s just a saying,” he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest like a sullen teenager.

I slipped out of my robe and sat down on the bed.

“So.” Scruffy clapped his hands together, putting his authoritative voice back on and looking in my direction. Though he was talking to me, he refused to make eye contact with anything other than my breasts. “I’m going to say action, and you’re going to start masturbating. Joel will join in soon after. Don’t worry about the cameras. We’re going to move around you both to get various shots. Don’t stop until I say cut.”

“Um, right. I think I got it.”

“Okay, everyone ready?”

“Oh yeah,” Joel said, smoothing his gelled blond hair back with the palm of his hand.

I glared at him. “Mmph.”

“Okay, quiet on the set!” Scruffy yelled it out despite the fact no one else was talking. “Action!”

I sat on the edge of the bed with my legs spread wide. I touched myself through my panties and ran a finger over the strap of my bra, down to the middle of my cleavage. Joel undid the button of his jeans and slid his pants down to the floor. He had on no underwear, but in its place were tan lines in the shape of bikini briefs. Dude needed to lay off the tanning bed. I thought of Adrienne and considered for a moment that the two could be perfect for each other.

“Oh, baby.” My voice was dry and flat. As soon as the words left my mouth, I cringed.

“Cut!” Scruffy yelled. “Could you at least attempt to make that sound believable? Let’s try again. Action!”

“Oh,
baby,
” I said a second time. It was an improvement, but still obviously not quite believable. I heard Julian’s laugh in my brain. I did my best to ignore it.

I unlatched the bra from the front clasp and let my breasts fall out of it. I squeezed one breast with my hand while my other hand pushed my thong aside to fully reach my most sensitive areas. I was dryer than Red Rock desert down there and licked two fingers in an attempt to get some moisture. Joel came over closer to the bed with one hand stroking his—admittedly large—erection. He reached the other hand out to touch my nipple.

No!
Julian’s voice boomed in my head just as I slapped his hand away. My slap was hard, and the sound of skin on skin contact echoed through the room.

Joel pulled his hand away and his boner went a little soft. He looked frantically over to the director, who I saw out of my periphery make some sort of “keep going” hand gesture.

I lay back on the bed and raised a foot to his upper thigh. I propped my sharp heel on his body and dug it in just a touch too much. Joel winced, and I smirked at his pain. I didn’t need to read auras to know this guy had it coming. I raised my lower body into the air, slid the thong panties down to my ankles, and kicked them up into his face. He inhaled the scent deeply before tossing them over his shoulder and going back to work on his hand pumping. I rested my foot, a bit more gently this time, back on his thigh. There might as well have been sandpaper between my legs. Regardless of how many times I licked my fingers or imagined Drew, nothing was solving my problem. Joel wasn’t exactly repulsive, but he just wasn’t wetting my whistle. I turned instead to the camera to give it a sultry look. There, standing behind, was Julian. Tall and looming, his eyes fixed on me. My mouth went dry—all the fluid drained immediately to my sex. My finger slid in easily this time.

I held Jules’s eyes for a few moments, letting them read me, and bore into my body. I inserted a second finger while my thumb tickled my clit. I closed my eyes and imagined Julian’s touch on my body. Those soft, heavenly fingers massaging my sensitive skin. I moaned, and it was the first moan that wasn’t manufactured for the camera. Joel grunted and threw out a few of his own
Yeah, baby
s as well—which I ignored. I looked back at Julian and rushed my eyes over his body. He was dressed casually—a fitted heather gray T-shirt and jeans. His Adonis muscles were sculpted, fitting of a fairy tale prince. His jeans were tight around a bulging erection. When I returned my eyes to his, he smiled. A sexy half smile that tugged up toward his eyes. His chest rose and fell with each breath, and he licked his lips.

I sat up quickly, changing my position so I could better hold his eye contact. I ripped the skirt from my body and positioned myself on my hands and knees, peering at him from the side. His hands were now on his hips, clenching, the white knuckles barely keeping him composed. I could feel my body getting close. The tension building.

I stole a secret glance at the clock on the wall—it had been close to fifteen minutes. I wasn’t sure how much footage this guy needed. I pumped three fingers in and out of me. Then, pulling out, I put a hand on either side of my ass, spreading my cheeks apart offering Julian a view that he would likely never see again. I could feel wetness dripping from my lips. I ran a fingernail around my slick folds, gathering the juices, and brought them to my mouth, licking them clean. Julian’s head fell against the wall he was leaning on.

Joel grunted from my other side. A whisper came to my left, and I looked over to find Scruffy mouthing the words “cum shot” and pointing to my costar. I flipped onto my back with my head hanging over the edge of the bed—making sure I could still watch Jules. His jaw was clenched. I could hear his breathing from the other end of the room. I was spread wide to give the camera the best view.

With Julian’s eyes still on mine, I came hard and screamed out in ecstasy. I bit my lip to keep from yelling out Jules’s name. Within a second, a grunt came from in front of me, and warm fluid landed on my stomach and tits. I sucked in a breath as his life force entered me—not a very strong fix, but it was more than I had had in days, and it felt glorious. The pins and needles rushed into my bloodstream. I moaned as his death flashed into my brain—he was going to die soon. Very soon—as in within a few weeks from now of an overdose. This fact made me feel quite a bit better about relishing in his soul. It was like glorious tendrils coiling around inside my body—like drinking a warm mug of hot buttered rum on a cold day. Though he wasn’t the most moral man and his soul wasn’t overly strong or good, it had been so long since I’d had any magic pumping through my blood that it could have been Saetan’s life force and it still would have felt heavenly.