Star Crossed (Starlight #3) (11 page)

Chapter 12

As we touch back down in the London airfield, it all feels a little surreal. Like our time away together could have been a dream.

‘
I can’t believe we’ve only been away a few days,’ I say, as we walk towards Adam’s car and waiting driver. ‘It feels like so much longer.’

‘
It does, doesn’t it?’ says Adam. He smiles at me. ‘A lot has happened.’

It’s true. A lot has happened. We’ve raised another level in our relationship.

‘Are we going back to your apartment?’ I ask, excited at the prospect. After being in Finland and Ireland, the prospect of holing up together in Adam’s apartment feels right.

We’re by the car now, with the uniformed driver waiting patiently. I wonder vaguely how long he had to wait for us. And whether he minded.

‘Not my London apartment,’ says Adam, opening the car door so I can go first, and sliding in next to me. ‘I’ve hired another place. For the show. They like us to have big places for the cameras. Ramp up the glamour.’

He gives me a sardonic smile as he says this, as though he appreciates the ridiculousness of it all.

‘So we’re going to some… big grand place?’

‘
That’s about the size of it,’ replies Adam. ‘But first we’re going to the studio to pick up a few things.’

He leans forward and instructs the driver to take us back to London.
To the Sing-Win studios.

‘
We’ll get a few instruments,’ explains Adam. ‘I had some ideas for your song.’

He leans forward and presses a button, and instantly a dark glass panel slides up between
us and the driver.

‘
But first,’ says Adam, in a low dangerous tone, ‘I’m going to make the most of having you alone in a car with me.’

I look anxiously at the dark glass separat
ing us from the chauffeur.

‘
Can’t he hear us?’ I whisper.

Adam shakes his head, a wicked smile playing on his lips.

His hand reaches out and rests gently on my thigh.

It’s the lightest possible contact. But the intention is so clear that instant lust radiates up my thighs.

‘I’m going to make you come,’ Adam whispers.

I stay frozen with his hand on my thigh. The unexpected naughtiness of having the driver less than a foot away is playing havoc with my senses.

‘He can’t see us,’ repeats Adam. ‘But just to be on the safe side, I’d better gag you.’

Gag me?

My eyes widen.

‘
Just to make sure you don’t give us away with those sexy noises you make.’

Adam reaches into his pocket and pulls out a silk tie.

‘I didn’t even know you wore ties,’ I say, my eyes fixed on it.

‘
All the better to gag you with,’ grins Adam, ‘I brought one especially.’

Wait… He planned this?

‘Keep still,’ says Adam, and he reaches forward and wraps the tie around my head, over my mouth.

I’m expecting it to be uncomfortable, but the fabric is soft on my skin. And there’s something undeniably hot about being gagged by Adam. The powerlessness of it makes me shudder with desire.

‘Very nice,’ says Adam darkly, regarding my face. ‘You have so much expression in your eyes. I’m going to enjoy watching you.’

I make to reply, and then realise the gag is holding in my words. I am utterly at his command.

Adam grasps my thighs firmly, and in a sharp movement, pulls them open.

I gasp at the suddenness of it, as I’m exposed to him. It feels so wrong, sitting in the back of a car with my legs open. And the forbidden nature of the situation only adds to the warmth pooling in my groin.

Adam runs his fingers lightly over my panties, and I stifle a cry of pleasure behind the gag. It’s the softest touch, but I feel it in every single part of my body.

‘
Steady Summer,’ whispers Adam. ‘I can feel how wet you are already.’ His eyes meet mine.

‘
I guess you like being gagged,’ he adds thoughtfully. ‘I’ll remember that.’

His fingers continue to slide over the fabric of my panties as he talks, and I moan soundlessly behind the gag.

Then Adam hooks his fingers over the top of my panties and pulls them firmly away. The rush of air tells me I am more exposed than ever. But now I’m begging for his touch.

Having discarded my panties, Adam returns his hand to between my legs. At first he strokes lightly over me, and then he starts massaging my clitoris, in firm expert circles.

It’s too much. I throw my head back, wanting to scream with pleasure. But the gag drives the sounds back inside me.

Adam tilts my head back level so I’m facing him. And then he’s studying my face as his finger works mercilessly on my body.

‘Don’t come,’ he says. ‘I want to get you really wet for what I’m going to do next.’

What he’s going to do next?

The pressure increases, and a moan chokes in my throat.

How can I hold back? He’s going to make me come any second. And he knows it.

Adam’s eyes are tight on mine, knowing. His fingers are bringing me to the edge.

‘
Don’t come,’ he repeats, ‘or there’ll be consequences. A spanking won’t be the half of it.’

I shut my eyes, trying to stave off the crazed lust ricocheting through my body.

Adam knows I won’t be able to resist this. He’s playing with me.

‘
Open your eyes,’ he says sharply. And my eyes flick open instantly at his commanding tone.

Then his fingers slide away from my clitoris. I sigh in frustration.

‘I told you,’ he says, ‘I needed you good and wet. For this.’

As he speaks, Adam slides three fingers full inside me.

I nearly leap off the car seat. It’s like someone has mainlined electricity into my body. His fingers stretch me, almost to the point of pain. Adam draws them out and thrusts them in again, keeping his eyes firmly on mine.

‘
Now,’ he says, ‘let’s try for more.’

More?

My eyes must show my trepidation. Adam smiles.

‘
I won’t hurt you,’ he says. ‘You’re too wet for that. I just want to give you some intense sensations.’

I give him the slightest nod to show I trust him, and he slides another finger inside me.

Whoa. Intense is right.

It’s a darker feeling this time. As though he owns me utterly. The four fingers of his hand begin to thrust.
Gently at first and then harder.

I feel a strangled cry build up inside me. The gag makes this so much
hotter. Knowing that I’m completely at his mercy.

Adam’s thumb slips onto my clitoris.

‘Let’s work your G-spot,’ he whispers, ‘and see what happens to that sexy face of yours.’

I feel his fingers shift inside me, and suddenly they’re plunging into a new area of pleasure. It’s so good, so different. And with his thumb on my clitoris I can feel I’m already building to orgasm.

I want to cry out but the gag is stopping me. Instead I fix on Adam’s eyes.

The orgasm hits in a great wave of pleasure, but the gag stifles my moans. I feel my body implode inwards, as though the lack of ability to make a sound has intensified everything.

My eyes are on Adam’s and only in the last second is it too much. I tip my head back as my body shudders with the final climax.

I breathe out, dazed as Adam slips off the gag.

‘That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,’ he whispers.

‘
It was?’ I’m still coming down from the orgasm.

‘
Yes,’ he says. ‘I could see you liked the gag. That level of control. Having you like that… It was so hot.’

‘
It turned you on?’ I ask.

In reply Adam takes my hand and plants it on his crotch.

Wow.

He is rock hard.

‘Should we do something about that?’ I whisper.

Adam nods.
‘But not here,’ he says with a dangerous smile. ‘You owe me a favour. I plan to take full advantage when we arrive at the house.’

He turns and looks out of the window.

‘Speaking of arriving,’ he adds. ‘We’re here.’

‘
Already?’ I make a grab for my abandoned panties, and quickly put them back on. Adam is watching me with amusement on his rugged features.

‘
I guess an orgasm speeds the journey up,’ he observes.

I feel myself redden.

‘Be quiet,’ I scold. I’m feeling distracted at the idea of having to behave like a professional singer moments after what just happened.

‘
Relax,’ says Adam reaching to lower the window between us and the driver.

‘
You look cute. A little flushed is all.’

Now he’s teasing me.

I glare at him.

‘
Come on gorgeous,’ he says, taking advantage of our final seconds of privacy as the window comes down. ‘The sooner we finish our studio business, the sooner we can go back to my house.’ He pauses fractionally and fixes me with a wicked look.

‘
Then you can pay your debt,’ he concludes.

Chapter 13

Adam takes me to one of the studios, only to discover the instruments he wants aren’t there.

‘
Wait here,’ he sighs. ‘Maybe I got the room wrong. I’ll duck out and see if another studio is better stocked.’

‘
Ok,’ I say, ‘I’ll just wait here and go over the song.’

Adam leaves me humming the tune and making some mental adjustments. But almost as soon as he’s left, Jenny Grogan walks in. Her eyes open in surprise when she sees me.

‘Summer,’ she says. ‘What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at the meeting.’

‘
What?’ in my shock I blurt the word without thinking. ‘I mean,’ I counter, ‘I didn’t know about any meeting.’

‘
We’ve been calling your phone for the last day,’ she says.

‘
I… I was out of the country,’ I say lamely, feeling wrong-footed. Have I committed a huge error by not responding to calls? I assumed that so long as I was with Adam, all the arrangements would run smoothly.

Jenny frowns.

‘Just head there now,’ she advises, ‘room six, down the corridor, turn left.’

She sighs in a put upon kind of way.

‘A little bit of fame doesn’t make a pop star,’ she says, wagging her finger. ‘Don’t start thinking you can behave however you want.’

‘
I… I don’t.’ I promise her. ‘Really. I just didn’t get the calls.’

Jenny fixes me with a frowning stare.

‘I just don’t know about you Summer,’ she says. ‘I thought you were one of the professionals. Start checking your messages from now on, ok? This meeting is important.’

I nod, feeling like a naughty schoolgirl.

‘What are you waiting for?’ she says, a little more kindly now. ‘Jump to it. Room six. I’ll be there too, in just a minute.’

I race out of the room, confused and a little upset. I push my voicemail button as I stride through the corrido
r on my way to room six. And just as Jenny told me, there are three messages.

I listen to all of them, my anxiety building with each.
A stern male voice is telling me they need a meeting with me urgently. Something to do with my future on the show. And he doesn’t sound happy. Not one little bit.

My stomach lurches as I finish the final message.

It sounds like I’m in trouble.

All I can think
is they know about Adam. We haven’t exactly been discreet. They could easily have put two and two together, based on our recent trip to Finland. I’m guessing the other mentors didn’t sweep their singers off on an all-expenses-paid romantic break.

By the time I make it to room six I’m seriously nervous. And my anxiety is only worsened as I push open the door.

Waiting on the other side are two men I’ve never seen before. They wear suits and very serious expressions. My stomach squeezes tight again.

Shit. What do they know?

The elder of the two men has snowy-white hair, and is dressed immaculately. His colleague is slightly younger – I’d guess mid-forties – and has the etched-in weariness of an over-worked executive.

‘
Summer,’ says the older man. There’s no warmth in his greeting. ‘Please sit down.’

The men are seated behind a heavy desk
covered in papers, and there’s a chair on the other side. I seat myself. Adrenalin is crashing in my ears. By the looks on their faces, I’m in serious trouble.

‘
What’s this about?’ I ask, a slight tremble in my voice. But before they can answer, the door opens again, and Jenny Grogan walks in holding three coffees.

She deposits the drinks before the two men, and seats herself next to them.
On the other side of the table to me.

The men uncap their coffees, sip them, and consider me. I look to Jenny for a hint at what’s going on, but she looks away.

‘Do you know who we are?’ asks the older man.

I shake my head dumbly.

‘No,’ I say, ‘I’m sorry I don’t.’

‘
It was on one of the many messages I left you,’ snaps the younger man. I start in my chair at the level of his annoyance.

Shit. I was too pressured to pay close attention to the name of the caller.

‘I’m really sorry,’ I say, trying to inject a smile into my face. ‘Please excuse me. I only listened to your messages a few moments ago. I was rushing to make it here on time.’

If my excuse holds any sway with the men, they don’t show it.

The older man coughs.

‘
We’re from the network,’ he says. ‘I’m Peter Vanderbilt, and this is John Eddy.’

He says it like I should know their names, and I turn them desperately in my head
. Probably they’re important men. But I’ve never heard of them.

From the network.
I guess that’s serious.

‘
Jenny, you already know,’ continues Peter. ‘She produces the show,’ he adds, as though this obvious fact needs to be pointed out to me.

The TV network.
What does this mean?

I don’t trust myself to speak, so I stay silent.

There’s a long pause, and I get the impression that Peter is waiting for me to say something. A bout of stubbornness kicks in. I’m not going to incriminate myself. If they have suspicions about Adam and me, they need to be the ones to make the accusation.

‘
We’ve had some disturbing news,’ says John finally. ‘About you.’

I stare back levelly, waiting for them to speak.

John looks at Peter, obviously taking his cue from the older man. Peter nods, and John lifts a document from the pile in front of him.

Slowly he slides it towards me.

‘Perhaps you can tell us,’ he says, ‘what this is.’

Feeling slightly numb I reach for the paper. I cast my eyes down to the text
, expecting to see Adam’s name.

Instead I see my name.
And Dez’s.

My heart skips a beat.

The contract which binds me to Dez.

It’s my old contract.
The one that makes Dez my manager.

How did they get this?

I look up at them in horror. A dim part of my brain registers that maybe I should be trying to disguise my shock.

But I’m acting on pure adrenalin. Even the sight of
Dez’s name is enough to bring me out in a cold sweat.

‘
Who gave you this?’ I ask finally finding my voice.

‘
That’s of no consequence,’ says Peter. ‘What
is
of consequence, is how it affects your future on the show.

A tumult of thoughts race through my brain.
Will they rule that I have to honour the contract? Am I to be dropped from the show?

‘
Legal issues are very important to the network,’ John says. ‘Very important. We have very thorough lawyers who make sure we never take any risks.’

I’ll bet you do.

I have a flash of sudden dislike for both men. They strike me as the kind of people whose whole careers are built on caution and mistrust.

‘
This contract makes you a risk,’ continues John. ‘It states you’re contracted to someone else.’

John leans forward and tugs the contract out of my unresisting fingers. He places it down on the table and taps it.

‘Why didn’t you tell us,’ John asks sternly, ‘that you were already under contract?’

‘
I…’ my throat is dry. I feel like I’m being interrogated. I glance up at Jenny. There’s sympathy in her expression. But her whole demeanour is saying: ‘sorry Summer, I can’t help you out of this one.’

I swallow hard.

‘The thing is,’ I begin, searching for the right words.

But
I’m suddenly interrupted by a door banging behind me.

I twist around to see Adam charging into the room.

I have never been more relieved to see him in my life.

‘
What the hell is going on?’ he demands.

I turn back to the network men to see they no longer look so sure of themselves.

Adam catches my eye and instantly everything is all right again. He gives me the smallest smile, and I can sense what he’s telling me.

Don’t worry kid. I got this.

I feel some of the adrenalin slide away, and turn back to the network men. They look horrified.

Adam strides forward. There’s a chair next to me, but he doesn’t take it. Instead he towers over the two men looking furious.

‘Anyone brave enough to tell me why Summer is here all by herself?’ he demands. ‘With no-one to represent her?’

‘
Adam,’ says Jenny, sounding relieved herself. ‘There’s been a legal complaint. Over Summer’s contract. It appears she’s already contracted to someone else.’

Jenny is looking hopefully at Adam. Like she’s praying this is all a big
misunderstanding.

I feel fear slide into my stomach again.

It’s not a misunderstanding. I do have a contract with Dez.

I’m not sure how Adam might go about explaining it to the network men. He can hardly say that he
threatened Dez, and made him give up my contract.

But Adam doesn’t seem bent on explaining. In fact, he’s acting more like an interrogator himself.

‘Where did you get this?’ he demands, picking up the contract. ‘Who gave this document to you?’

My thoughts turn again to how these men got a copy of it. I thought only Adam knew about my contract with
Dez.

The men look at each other but stay silent.

‘That’s what I thought,’ says Adam in disgust. ‘Neither of you have the guts to tell me. I’ll work it out,’ he adds. ‘You can be sure of that.’

Adam’s eyes sweep their faces.

‘However you came by this,’ he continues, ‘you had no right to get Summer in here alone. What did you think? You could bully her into some sort of confession? Create a bit of drama?’

The shamed look on the men’s faces suggests that’s exactly what they were thinking.

‘This is my show now,’ continues Adam. ‘If you want to talk to one of my contestants, you come through me.’

He’s glaring at Jenny Grogan now, and she reddens.

‘I thought you would know better Jenny,’ he adds. ‘These men might think themselves powerful but Sing-Win is their biggest show. They’re not going to drop it.’

Jenny looks at the desk in front of her.

‘Mr Morgan,’ says the elder man, rallying. ‘You might think that Sing-Win gains us a lot of viewers…’

‘
I know it does,’ interrupts Adam. ‘Three million more than your current biggest show. Isn’t that right?’

‘
Yes,’ concedes Peter, sounding reluctant to admit it. ‘But shows come and go. The network have ultimate power. If we want to pull the show, we can.’

‘
You won’t,’ says Adam. His voice issues a challenge, like he’s calling their bluff. ‘You’re money men, and the show makes you a fortune.’

I glance at
Adam’s steely blue eyes, and then back at the network men. Jenny’s expression is incredulous. I guess she’s thinking the same thing as me.

N
ot many people stand up to these men. How will they react?

The network men are obviously aware of it too. Peter has turned slightly purple. John’s eyes are darting back and forth as if not sure what to make of it all.

There’s a long pause, and I wonder if the elder man will do something to pull rank.

What if they cancel the show to punish Adam?

My stomach twists at the thought. I’d feel so guilty if that happened.

Instead, Peter shuffles his papers and coughs.

‘No matter how we came by this contract, there is still an issue to address. One of your contestants has a pre-existing contract.’

‘
According to whom?’ demands Adam. ‘Whatever gutter journalist, or vindictive contestant gave you that document?’

‘
It is Summer’s signature,’ says John smoothly. ‘We checked it out. And the source is legitimate.’

I glance at Adam.

How can he answer that?

‘
Gentleman,’ says Adam. ‘You haven’t shown this document to any lawyers, have you?’ He says it like he knows the answer already.

The network men pause. Then John answers.

‘No,’ he says. ‘Not yet. We were hoping to resolve this with Summer. Without legal interference.

Adam gives a little disparaging laugh.

‘You mean, you wanted to get Summer alone and bully her,’ he says.

Peter makes to answer, but Adam continues talking.

‘The reason I know you haven’t seen a lawyer,’ he says, ‘is that this contract isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.’