The Final Act (#4 Bestselling Spotlight Series) (22 page)

I nod into the bed, feeling his hands return to the beads.

His fingers push hard, forcing the final bead up against my ass.

“
Just one more,” says James. “You’re tight baby. Relax.”

I squeeze my eyes
shut as pain sparks through me. Then I breathe out hard into the bed.

James’s
thumb twists expertly, and the bead slides into me.

Arrgh!

“Very good,” he says approvingly. I’m stretched out prone on my front, with the beads deep inside my ass.

Laid out like this,
I feel so intensely vulnerable. It comes in great, frightening waves.

James’s face is at my side, and his fingers move a strand of hair out of my face.

“You did so well, Issy,” he whispers. “I love that you’re doing this for me.”

His
face is shining with adoration, and his voice is tight with lust.

“Now,” he says. “I’m going to make sure you’re ready for me.”

“How?” I ask. My mind goes to the beads. James is so large.

“I’m going to spank you,” he says, “with the beads in your ass.”

He sees my eyes widen.

“Just lightly,” he reassures me. “It will help,” he adds. “You have to trust me.”

I do trust him. But spanking my ass. Now? That doesn’t sound like a good precursor.

“Issy,” adds James, “we can stop at any time. If you don’t want to do this.”

I shake my head firmly.

“I want this,” I say. “I want you to fuck my ass.”

I hear his breath hitch, and then he’s back behind me.

“This isn’t going to hurt you,” he whispers. “You’ll see.”

I don’t reply, pushing my face further into the bed.

And then his hand slaps lightly against my ass.

“Aaaaah!” The sound comes out as a long moan. Because he’s right. It doesn’t hurt. The beads in my ass feel strange. But the sensation of his hand on my rear makes them shudder inside me. It sends a jolt of pleasure through my ass, as his palm connects.

His hand comes again.

“Oh!” I feel my rear pointing up a little. Begging for more.

This doesn’t feel like I thought it would at all.

It feels good.

“Again?” he asks.

“Yes.”

His hand slaps down, and I convulse with desire. This is so wrong, so deep, so… everything. More than anything, right n
ow, I want him. Taking me there.

“Issy,” he says. “I’m going to take the beads out. Slowly.”

How will my body cope with that?

“This time,” he whispers, “I want you to tense a little. Pull against me. Do you understand?”

I nod.

He pulls gently at the beads, and I feel the pressure against my ass.

James places a hand at the small of my back, pinning me down onto the bed. Then I feel the largest bead begin to press against my ass. This time, from the inside.

“That’s right baby,” whispers James, “work a little tension against it.”

My body is so taut with desire, that I’m not sure I could do anything else if I wanted to. As I feel myself tighten against the beads, I realise that James is right. Right now, tensing feels so good. My entire ass is alive with delicious pleasure as the bead is pulled out.

I gasp.

“Do you like it?” he whispers.

“It feels so different,” I manage, “to how it felt before.”

“That’s exactly why we’re using the beads,” says James. I can hear the smile in his voice. “I want you to feel how much more open you are now.”

Without warning, h
e tugs again, hard, pulling the smooth string of beads as one. I moan aloud in the rush of white-hot pleasure.

When he first started with the beads
, it felt so unfamiliar to have contact around my ass. But I now it feels good. Really good.

More than anything, I want him now. I want him to pu
sh inside where the beads were and take my fully. My whole ass is throbbing for him.

“Please,” I groan, “fuck my ass.”

I feel a sudden pressure against my body as James positions himself over the top of me. And then his hardness is rested exactly where I want it.

But he’s playing with me. Not entering me yet. Letting me feel how hard he is. What force he could move with.

“Please,” I whisper. “Fuck me.”

James reaches out a hand, and picks up the bottle of lube.

“I want to be sure you’ll enjoy this,” he whispers. “I need to use enough lubrication to enter you easily.”

I hear him work lube over himself, and then his thumb rounds into my ass, adding lube there and working it in.

I gasp at the contact, willing him to enter me.

James gr
abs a pillow, and lifts my hips.

He pushes it under me, like a prop
, so my ass is higher in the air.

“I can feel how much you want this,” he says.
And then I feel his hardness pressed up against the centre of my ass.

“I’m going to
push into you,” he says. “But not fully at first.”

And with a thrust of his hips, he pushes himself, just a little way into my ass.

“Ahhh!” I moan aloud.

He’s stretching me so much further than the beads, and it is so much more intense than I realised it would be.

“I’m not going to go any deeper Issy,” he whispers, “until you’re ready for more.”

My fingers curl into a fist, letting the powerful sensations sweep through me. My ass is alive. Ready for him. But he is so large. It’s difficult to match the feelings.

I breathe out, and the wave of intensity drops away a little as I become accustomed to him there. It feels good now. I nod, letting him know I’m ready for him to go deeper.

“More?” he whispers, as though he hardly dares believe it.

“Yes.”

“Issy,” says James. “
I’m going to take your ass now.”

And then he
thrusts his hips, driving himself deeper.

“Arrrgh!” I cry out, and my fist slams against the bed.

It feels as though he’s opening me up, right to my soul.

“
Do you like that I’m taking you there?” He’s paused, holding off from entering me fully.

I nod, hardly able to speak. If I don’t speak, I can handle this. But everything is so much. I am so open to him. Just the slightest wrong move from
him and the pleasure would twist instantly to pain.

It takes every ounce of me to surrender to him like this. To trust in him.

“I won’t hurt you,” he says, sensing my fear.

“Do it,” I gasp,
suddenly eager to feel all of him. “Fuck me.”

James gives a groan
of animal desire, and then he adjusts his angle and drives in.

Ooooooo…

He’s deep inside me, pressed full inside my ass. And the overwhelming feeling of it has me reeling.

Rolling waves of pleasure
-pain are pulsing through me.

Then James reac
hes for something near my side.

I lay immobile beneath him, pinned down to the bed by his position in my ass.

“I think this is too much sensation for you to come from my fingers,” he says. His voice comes tight and breathy. “I’m going to use a toy.”

I feel him reach between the gap that the pillow under my hips has created. And then a pulsing electric vibration hits square across my clitoris.

Oh. My. God.

It’s as much as I can do not to hit the ceiling. The powerful vibrations, combined with the feeling of him in my ass are too much.

“You’re going to come any second,” whispers James. As he speaks, he pushes forward, thrusting in and out of my ass with firm, sure movements.

The surge of his hips is so forceful, yet so assured. He thrusts smoothly, holding
the sides of my ass with his hands, and directing my body as he takes me.

“
James!” I’m losing it totally. His hardness in my ass. The sensation on my clitoris. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. And for a moment, I feel as though I can’t possibly reach orgasm. The peak drops away from me. It’s all too strange.

T
hen, just as the disappointment becomes a certainty, my body erupts. Like a golden explosion, rippling through every part of me.

“Let go
, Issy,” I hear James whisper. And he thrusts with three quick strokes, moving deeper into me.

Ahhhhhh!

As my body climaxes, I can feel I’m taking James with me. My shuddering orgasm is pushing him over the edge, and his hands grip me tightly.

“Issy,” he groans. His
movements come harder now as I explode around him. And then I feel him shudder, and he’s calling my name as he reaches orgasm.

“Issy,” he says my name reverently, kissing my face and neck, and then he’s sliding gently out of me.

I’m still lying prone on the bed, barely able to move in the riot of sensations still echoing through me.

James turns me gently and takes me in his arms.

“I love you,” he says.

I blink at him, drugged with pleasure. “I love you too,” I say. I consider for a moment. “I love that we… did that,” I admit.

James smiles. ”You do?”

I nod. “It makes me feel…
closer to you. Like I’ve completely surrendered to you.”

“That’s what I was hoping you would feel,” says James. “I feel that way too
, Issy. That you’re completely mine. Body and soul.”

I smile at him.

“Now, we’re going to have to spend at least ten hours making love,” he adds with a mischievous grin on his face. “Otherwise, the memory of fucking your ass will be too much for me. I’ll spend all tomorrow trying to hide my erection.”

Chapter 32

The night of the premier comes all too quickly. And although we don’t admit it, everyone is on edge following the stalker’s threat.

James has done everything in his power to ensure the stalker stays locked up tight. But we still don’t know the identity of his mysterious benefactor.

Without that knowledge, we haven’t been able to track the police officer who is helping the stalker.

My new information has been fed to James’s staff, and they’re looking into it. But so far, I don’t know if it’s helped.

Then, with hours before the party, James seeks me out.

“Well Cinderella,” he says. “It looks like you shall be going to the ball.”

What?

“You mean, you’ve found out who is helping the stalker?” I say, hardly daring to believe it. “I’m safe?”

He nods.

“Thanks to the information you gave us,” says James, “we were able to find out who was funding the stalker.
That address,” he adds, “Argyll Close. It’s a small road with mostly domestic addresses. And one law firm.”

Oh.

“You mean you found the stalker’s law firm?”

He nods.

“And that helped?” I ask, remembering that the Lipstick Stalker is entitled to legal protection for his defence.

“We were able to look into their accounts,”
James says.

“Is that… legal?”

“No,” says James with a glint in his eye. “Not legal at all. But two can play at the bribery game. And it finally enabled us to put a stop on the stalker’s funding.”

The glint vanishes, and h
e suddenly looks so utterly devastated that I move my hand on his arm.

“James?
” I say. “What is it?”

His mouth is set in a hard line.

“The person giving money,” he says. “It was…” James pauses, and gathers himself. “It was my father,” he says.

No! James’s father was helping the stalker?

“He must have been blackmailed,” says James, his voice thick with shame.

“You haven’t asked him?” I blurt out in shock. James’s face has taken on a guarded quality.

“I’ve only just found out, so I’ve yet to speak to him.” But something in his voice leaves me unconvinced that’s the reason.

I’m studying James’s face, trying to work out how he’s feeling. James’s relationship with his father is strained at the best of times. How will they weather this?

“My father…” James stops, choosing his words. “I know our relationship might seem strange to you, Issy. My father and I are not close. But I know him. He would have been paying the money, believing he was protecting me.”

“Tell me
exactly what happened,” I say. “How did you find out your father was paying the stalker?”

I’m still reeling in shock, hardly able to take it all in.

James’s father. Lord Berkeley was paying money to the Lipstick Stalker. I can’t believe it.

By the look on James’s face, he feels the same way.

“The law firm on Argyll Close. They’d been cashing cheques under the name of Berkeley.”

James’s face darkens. “
My father must have…” He stops for a minute, his voice tightening. “I think the stalker is somehow linked to Samantha’s family.”

My eyes widen, realising what James is saying.

“Your ex-girlfriend?” I murmur. “You think someone from her family…”

“I’m not clear on the link yet,” says James. “But
after my release from prison, my father paid off Samantha’s family. He gave them money not to press charges.”

He shakes his head. “Samantha had several protective brothers. I think one of them must have decided the first payment wasn’t enough.
”

“You think one of Samantha’s brothers
went back to your father and demanded more money be paid,” I say, turning over the facts. “But how does that relate to the stalker?”

Could one of the brothers actually be the stalker?
Or an ex-boyfriend? The police did find evidence that the Lipstick Stalker had been profiling James.

“I don’t know yet,” says James. “My team are finding that out. All I know…” he stops, his hand to his forehead. “
My past is still… it’s still hurting people. What I did.”

He stops talking and covers his eyes with his hand.

I pull him into my arms and kiss his face.

“Shhh,” I say. “Even if Samantha’s family are involved. Even if your father is being blackmailed. You’re a good man
, James. And we’re going to fix this.”

He breathes out, as though he’s calming himself. And a tiny weak smile plays on his face.

“I love you,” he says simply.

“I love you too.” I tighten my arms around him. “This means we’re free
, James. You’ve almost solved the mystery. We’re safe from the stalker.  And you and I can attend this premiere as a couple.”

He manages a stronger smile at this.

“I feel terrible,” he says, “for my father.”

“Your father has some amends to make himself,” I say with certainty. “You’ll work it out between you.”

He looks uncertain, and I force a smile on my face.

“This is
good
news,” I decide. “Can we find out which prison guard is being bribed now?”

“Yes,” says James. “We can match the payment dates, and it shouldn’t take us long. The important thing is that
, in the meantime, no more payments can be made. The stalker is locked up, and he can’t bribe his way out.”

“But someone might have already been paid off in advance,” I say uncertainly.

James shakes his head. “Payments were made just before you received the text message and the letter. No money has been paid since.”

“So the stalker is powerless now?” I ask, turning this unfamiliar concept in my head.

James nods. “With no money coming in, the stalker is just another prison inmate.”

I put my hand on his arm.

“You need to talk to your father. At the very least to find out the link with Samantha. It will help the police to find out who the stalker really is.”

James’s face slips into an anguished expression.

“Issy. I can’t. Not right now.” He rubs his forehead. “I’ll speak to my father after the premiere. For the time being, we can cut off the source of the stalker’s funds. That’s enough.”

“But it isn’t,” I insist. “You of all people should know that. You
can’t bury this because you’re ashamed of speaking with your father.”

“I’ve put him through so much,” says James, his expression dark. “I can’t… I can’t bear to face him with another repercussion of my old life.”

“He’s put you through a lot too,” I insist. “And whatever the reason your father paid that money, he believed he was protecting you. Because he loves you.”

James looks away. “I’ll think about it,” he says. I can tell instantly he doesn’t plan on talking to his father anytime soon.

I sigh.

Welcome to t
he Berkeley family. One messed up bunch.

“In any case,” adds James, his eyes suddenly shining, “there are far more important things to worry about.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“Like…” James pulls me close. “A certain beautiful young actress can now attend her premiere, without her overprotective boyfriend having a coronary.”

“Really?” I can’t keep the excitement from my voice.

James nods. “Yep. Really.”

I grin at him. “Thank you. You’re sure?”

James nods. “I’ll still put a lot of extra security on the premiere, you understand. Otherwise I’ll only worry.”

I beam at him, images of us holding hands on the red carpet flashing through my mind.

“I can’t wait,” I say, “to see your face when everyone comes out from watching your movie. I am going to be the proudest girl on the planet.”

James smiles back. “And I can’t wait,” he says, “to see you in the dress I’ve picked out and show the world you’re mine.”