‘There’s plenty,’ Noella assured him. ‘I hardly touched mine. I’m afraid it’s one English delicacy I can do without.’
‘Be nice to her, Lewis,’ said Harriet as he left the room.
‘How nice do you want him to be?’ enquired Noella.
‘Polite will be sufficient,’ laughed Harriet. ‘I’m afraid Lewis isn’t that keen on having her here at all, although I really can’t imagine why.’
At that moment, having opened the front door and found himself face to face with Ella Walker, Lewis couldn’t imagine why he hadn’t wanted her to come either. She was shorter than Harriet and slim with fair shoulder-length hair and amazing deep blue eyes that seemed to hold a vast amount of knowledge in their depths. When she raised her eyes to smile at him, he felt a flicker of desire and realised that this was a young woman who knew the power of her own sexuality and how to use it to good purpose. He didn’t mind that, in fact he admired it, but he was surprised. Somehow he’d pictured Ella as a far more passive girl.
She held out a slim hand and he took it in his large tanned one. ‘Hi, you must be Ella. I’m Lewis James, Harriet’s new husband.’
‘I recognised you from pictures in film magazines,’ said Ella. ‘It’s really nice of you to ask me down. I mean, not many men would want intruders on their honeymoon.’
He smiled and stepped back to let her in, taking one of her suitcases from her as he did so. ‘It’s not just a honeymoon; I’m afraid I’m having to do some work as well, which means that Harriet’s glad to have other people around. Some mutual friends are here too.’
‘Just the same it’s really nice of you,’ Ella repeated, thinking that his photos, good as they were, hadn’t done him justice. He was incredibly handsome and his charisma was palpable even in the few minutes they’d been speaking. Lucky Harriet, she thought to herself.
‘Haven’t I met you before?’ asked Lewis as they approached the dining room.
‘I think I’d remember if we had,’ laughed Ella.
Lewis frowned. ‘I know I recognise your face. Let me think a minute. I’ve got it – you were in Mike Kitt’s fringe production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream weren’t you? Playing Titania?’
Ella nodded. ‘Yes, but I didn’t think many people would have seen it.’
‘I didn’t see it, I saw pictures from it and a friend of mine who went said that you were incredible. The sexiest fairy queen ever according to him!’
‘I had a sexy Oberon playing opposite me, that helped,’ she said with a smile.
‘Now we’ve met I wish I had seen it,’ said Lewis softly, and Ella’s stomach felt as though she’d just driven over a bump in the road as it lurched violently. She was still reeling from the impact Lewis had made on her as she walked into the dining room and was greeted by a delighted Harriet, who then introduced her to Edmund and Noella.
Later, helping Ella unpack in the tiny attic room at the top of the house, Harriet told her some more about the pair, explaining why it was that they were there.
‘She’s attractive in a rather brash way, isn’t she?’ mused Ella.
‘Yes, I guess she is,’ said Harriet. ‘What did you think of Edmund?’
‘Not a lot. He isn’t particularly friendly is he? But your husband, Harriet, is simply gorgeous! You must be the luckiest woman in the world.’
‘I suppose so,’ said Harriet.
Ella stared at her. ‘You suppose so? Believe me, most women would kill for a husband like that.’
‘I know, but he’s so wrapped up in his work. It’s more important to him than anything else, including our relationship.’
Ella frowned. ‘Come on, Harriet, you’re not complaining because he doesn’t do a nine-to-five job in the local building society are you? What did you expect from one of the world’s leading film directors? Anyway, when you last wrote to me you were the happiest woman alive.’
Harriet sighed. ‘It’s just that he seems willing to risk—’
‘Risk what?’
‘Nothing, I’m being stupid. You’re right of course. And besides, I want a different kind of life, that’s why I went to work for him in the first place.’
‘Yes, and don’t you forget it. Talking of that, I hear he’s working on a sequel to Dark Secret.’
‘Yes, he is. In fact, he’s working on it while we’re here.’
‘Who’s going to play Helena this time?’
‘He doesn’t know yet. It’s giving him quite a few headaches.’
‘What’s the story about?’ asked Ella eagerly.
‘I really don’t know, Ella. He doesn’t discuss it with me,’ said Harriet. She had intended to confide more in her friend, but there was something about Ella’s enthusiasm for Lewis that made her cautious. Besides, she could hardly discuss the way the film was being written with a professional actress, or the news would soon be all over London which would certainly not please Lewis.
‘I’m so tired,’ said Ella suddenly, lying down on her bed and closing her eyes. ‘The traffic was ghastly and the car got so hot I thought I’d boil alive.’
‘You have an early night,’ suggested Harriet. ‘The bathroom next door is just for you. Get up when you like in the morning; we see to our own breakfast. Mrs Webster’s here, but Lewis prefers her to keep out of our way until he’s fully conscious! She’ll leave a tray of tea outside your door about eight but if you don’t want to get out of bed just leave it.’
‘What bliss,’ sighed Ella. ‘You don’t know how lucky you are, Harriet.’
‘Perhaps I don’t,’ agreed Harriet, quietly walking out of the room.
‘You didn’t tell me how attractive she was,’ said Lewis when Harriet rejoined the others.
‘You knew she was an actress.’
‘Sure, but there are lots of actresses who aren’t as attractive as Ella.’
‘I didn’t think she was particularly striking,’ said Edmund. ‘Rather too pale for my liking.’
‘She was Titania in Mike Kitt’s fringe Dream,’ said Lewis.
‘I heard that Oberon was a better fairy queen!’ laughed Noella.
‘According to a friend of mine Ella was excellent,’ responded Lewis.
Harriet looked at him in surprise. ‘My goodness, she has made a good impression on you! Well, it’s mutual; she seems to imagine you’re some kind of god.’
Lewis grinned. ‘Good taste as well, what more can a man desire?’
‘I warned you about your own desires,’ Harriet whispered in his ear.
Lewis turned his head and looked thoughtfully at her. ‘So you did. I’d quite forgotten that. Right, I’m off to the pub.’
‘To meet Mark?’ asked Harriet.
‘No, just for a drink with the locals. It helps me get the atmosphere of the place. Anyone else want to join me?’
‘I wouldn’t mind,’ said Noella. ‘I’ve never spent a night drinking in an English pub. I hope it’s a better custom than the shepherds’ pie!’
‘What about you, Edmund?’ asked Lewis.
Edmund shook his head. ‘There’s no novelty for me in an English pub. Nor for Harriet either, I imagine. Shall we stay here, Harriet? We can always have a round of pitch-and-putt in the falling dusk.’
Harriet’s mouth went dry and her heart started to race. ‘Sure, that sounds like a good idea. I find pubs too smoky anyway.’
‘As you like,’ said Lewis easily. ‘We’ll be an hour or so I expect. Be good both of you!’
As the sound of the car engine died away, Harriet and Edmund looked at each other and then Edmund held out his hand. ‘Come along, Harriet,’ he said gently. ‘It’s time we got to know each other a little better.’
‘What about Ella?’ asked Harriet, suddenly anxious to delay the moment.
‘She looked ready to sleep for hours. What’s the matter? Have you changed your mind?’
‘No, of course not.’
He sighed with satisfaction. ‘I spent a lot of time this morning arranging things in case we had an op
portunity like this. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed, Harriet.’
‘Was that before or after you watched me in the pool?’ she asked.
‘Before, but it doesn’t make any difference. I’m good at adapting things to meet new requirements.’ Silently she took his outstretched hand and went with him.
Once inside the bedroom, Edmund sat on the side of the bed and looked up at Harriet. ‘Tell me, Harriet, what is it you want of me?’ he asked softly.
‘I’d have thought that was obvious,’ replied Harriet, her fingers moving to the front of her dress.
‘Don’t undo anything yet,’ he said quickly. ‘I want to know exactly what it is you expect of me.’
‘I don’t expect anything.’
‘You’re in love with Lewis, aren’t you?’ he continued as though she hadn’t spoken.
‘Yes, of course.’
‘Then why are you here with me?’
Harriet took a deep breath and tried to be as honest as she could without giving away the fact that she, Edmund and his wife were part of Lewis’s new film. ‘I find you fascinating,’ she admitted. There’s something about you that makes me feel strange – as though through you I can learn more about myself.’
‘More than Lewis can teach you?’
‘Yes, because Lewis is in love with me and you’re not.’
He nodded. ‘That makes sense, although it’s always possible that you’re wrong about me.’
‘In what way?’
‘Never mind in what way. So, you want to learn more about yourself through me, despite the fact that in doing so you’re putting your marriage at risk?’
‘Lewis won’t find out. How could he? Neither you nor I will tell him.’
‘That’s probably true as well. All right, Harriet, I accept your explanation. What I want to know now, before we carry on any further, is how far you’re prepared to go?’
As soon as he’d spoken, Harriet realised that these were the words she’d hoped to hear from him, the words that she’d imagined him saying the first time they were together. He was giving her the chance to accept him totally or turn away now, and she had no doubt at all about what course of action she’d take. And that course was because of her own desires, and had nothing at all to do with Lewis’s film.
‘All the way,’ she said clearly.
Edmund’s light brown eyes lit up and a look of approval crossed his face. ‘You know, Harriet, I have the feeling that you and I are going to get along very well together. Take off the dress now, we mustn’t waste any more time.’
‘There’s just one thing,’ said Harriet.
‘Yes?’
‘If at any time I want to stop – call the whole thing off – I can, can’t I?’
‘Naturally,’ he said smoothly.
Harriet wasn’t sure she believed him, but that sense of uncertainty, of danger, coupled with the fact that at last she was giving way to her most secret desires, made her ignore her disquiet. ‘That’s all right then.’ She smiled as she started to unbutton her dress.
Once they were both naked, Edmund took a large jar of lubricating gel from his dressing table and dipped the fingers of his right hand in it. ‘I’m going to cover your whole body with this,’ he murmured. ‘Don’t ask why, it will all become clear later.’
Fascinated, Harriet stood still and let his hands move over her body. He worked in a detached fashion, carefully smoothing the cool gel over her upper torso, beneath her armpits, and down over her stomach. Then he turned her and did the same down her back, stopping only when he reached the cleft at the top of her buttocks.
‘Bend down and touch your toes,’ he said. As she bent forward his fingers smoothed the gel between the taut globes of her buttocks as well as over the gently rounded curves themselves.
Harriet began to tremble with excitement but Edmund remained very calm; and it was only when he’d spread the lubricant down the backs of her legs and turned her to face him again that she saw by his erection how aroused he was.
He then knelt in front of her and spread the lotion up the front of her legs and over her thighs. Harriet’s whole body started to quiver as he smoothed it into the creases at the tops of her legs, but to her disappointment he didn’t touch her between them. Finally he stepped back and studied her thoughtfully. ‘That seems fine. Next the blindfold. You don’t object, do you?’
Remembering the previous time, Harriet certainly didn’t object and she smiled as she shook her head. Edmund didn’t smile back, but by now she was accustomed to his serious approach and wasn’t disappointed. In fact, if anything, his aloof disciplined approach increased her desire.
Once her eyes were covered she waited for him to ease her back on the bed, but instead she heard a door open and then there was the sound of someone else entering the room, and the mattress creaked as the newcomer lay down on it.
‘Who’s that?’ she asked nervously.
‘Relax, it isn’t Lewis,’ said Edmund, stroking her softly across her breasts until her nipples began to swell. ‘You can lie back now,’ he added, and before she could protest or even work out what was happening he was laying her down on the bed. Within seconds she was spread-eagled on another man’s body, her back to his chest, and Edmund was fastening their wrists and ankles together with soft cords.
‘I wish you could see yourself, Harriet,’ he whispered as she squirmed against the unknown man and felt his erection starting to nudge between her well-lubricated buttocks. ‘You look incredible. Part her legs for me,’ he continued, but in a far harsher tone of voice, and to Harriet’s surprise she felt the man’s legs move beneath her, and as they spread out so did hers, leaving her totally exposed.
She realised that the man must somewhere near her own height, which meant that it certainly wasn’t Lewis, but that didn’t stop her from feeling horribly vulnerable tied to one man while another stood over her, free to use her as he wished.
‘Arch your back and push her breasts up,’ said Edmund, and she felt the well-muscled chest beneath her heave off the bed and her breasts lifted up.
Edmund’s fingers swirled around the nipples and areolae, and the soft caress made Harriet sigh despite her tension. As soon as she sighed his fingers caught hold of her left nipple and pinched it, keeping it imprisoned until the ache of desire started to turn into something darker and less pleasant. Just at the moment when it started to hurt he released it, and the sense of loss startled her.
‘I think you liked that more than you thought,’ murmured Edmund, studying her blue veined breasts and watching them continue to swell. ‘Let’s try it on the other one. Push her up again, please.’
Once more the body beneath her arched and again the process was repeated, only this time the nipple was kept imprisoned for a few seconds longer so that she actually felt a flash of strange discomfort that was still pleasure – but only just – lance through her.
Sitting beside her, Edmund began to suck on each of the red and pointed nipples in turn, drawing them out to their fullest extent between his teeth before releasing them. He played with them until the excitement began to rise further down her body and she moved her hips restlessly against the unknown man.
Immediately she felt his erection increase in size until it was caught between the greased cheeks of her bottom, and when she clenched her buttocks she felt the soft velvet glans between the very top of them and he gasped at the unexpected stimulation.
‘You’re not expected to have a climax,’ said Edmund coldly and Harriet wondered who the man was and how he could possibly control himself. ‘Where would you like to be touched next, Harriet?’ mused Edmund. ‘Don’t respond vocally, show me with your body movements.’
Harriet tried to bend her knees and part her thighs but she’d forgotten that the man she was lying on was far stronger than she was and he opposed her, so that in the end she could move nothing until he once more arched his back and pushed her breasts upwards.
‘Still the breasts?’ queried Edmund. ‘Ve
ry well then, the breasts it is.’
‘No!’ said Harriet, ‘I didn’t move them. He did.’
‘I’m afraid speaking doesn’t count,’ laughed Edmund and he picked up a tiny vibrator and began to run it round the circumference of each of Harriet’s breasts before letting it play over her painfully hard nipples.
The fact that she was unable to see what was happening, was tied to another man and could feel his hardness at her back, combined with the delicious sensations her breasts were experiencing, was enough to give Harriet her first orgasm. Edmund watched as a tiny tremor ran right through her, causing the trapped man on the bed to groan as he struggled to control his excitement.
‘Delicious!’ exclaimed Edmund. ‘However, I think it’s time to move on. Where now?’
This time the man beneath Harriet allowed her to push upward with her belly as she forced the lower half of her torso towards Edmund. ‘Support her like that,’ Edmund murmured, and picking up a wide-toothed comb he drew it sideways across her abdomen, travelling from hip to hip across the lubricated flesh.
Harriet squirmed at the rippling sensations that began to fill her, and when Edmund changed direction and drew the comb down from her belly-button to the top of her pubic hair she thought that she’d go mad with excitement, her shaking body increasing the other man’s pleasure as well.
‘That’s lovely,’ cried Harriet, unable to keep silent a moment longer. ‘It feels incredible, please don’t stop.’ Edmund didn’t reply, but instead began to swirl the comb in tiny circles, lowering it down over the bottom half of her stomach until he was on the delicate area above the pubic bone.
By pressing her body down onto the solid flesh beneath her, Harriet found that she was able to intensify the sensations and she ground herself mercilessly against the stranger, her buttocks pressing against his abdomen. She heard him groan with muffled anguish as his climax threatened but she couldn’t stop because Edmund wouldn’t stop, and her body was lost in the wonderful feelings that were spreading through every part of her.
All at once, just as she started to feel the heat of her orgasm, Edmund lifted the comb off her body and put it to one side. Harriet cried out with disappointment but he simply put a finger to her mouth and traced the outline of her soft, supple lips. ‘All in good time,’ he promised her. Harriet drew the fingers into her mouth and sucked hungrily on it, like a child at the breast.
Forbidden Desires Page 10
