Debutante (10 page)

‘Not yet, baby,' she replied. She took a half-step back and waited for his erection to subside before dragging him by the hand to their table. ‘I have news for NAILs!'

Luke jerked his head at Marion and she vacated her chair so Emily could sit beside her man.

‘Brewski? It's on Marion,' piped up Jillian. She giggled when Marion rolled her eyes.

Emily shrugged. ‘Why not?' She took the proffered mug and slugged back a healthy mouthful. ‘Tastes good. Although I have to say, I'm not nuts about the stink it leaves behind – you know, when it's spilled all over everything.' She glared from face to face until each of the NAIL cast and crew members' faces burned bright red.

‘As you know, I've been evicted. I stopped by the place on my way here. For a bunch of drunks, you did a good job cleaning up. Foo is considering giving me some of my damage deposit back.'

‘We got the picture in the can,' piped up Jillian.

‘Yeah, so you said last night.'

Jillian's face told the story – she had no memory of speaking to Emily the previous evening. ‘Um … right.'

Emily caught Paul's eye. The black man rubbed his bald pate. ‘Sleep well?' she asked.

‘Not too bad, actually, until I dreamed I was drowning and woke up to find a couple of hairy toes up my nose.'

‘Did you wiggle your big toe?' Richard asked Luke, quoting The Bride from
Kill Bill
.

At that, the entire table, including Emily, burst into laughter.

Luke exchanged rueful glances with Paul. It was going to take a long time for them to live down the way they'd landed when the combination of exhaustion and beer had knocked them flat out on the same goddam bed. All he could do was shake his head.

Emily said, ‘I got good news, good news and good news.'

She filled everyone in on the meeting between Naked And In Love Productions Limited and Manero Triple X Adult Film Distribution.

They cheered.

Tony said, ‘Emily played poor Uncle Vito like a violin, man.'

‘Like a Stradivarius,' said Emily. ‘He's a real gentleman.'

Luke said, ‘Whatever. The man did not know what hit him.'

Em grinned and nodded her head to scattered applause. ‘We're launched. August first is days away. That's when the rest of the Mob should arrive.'

‘I got some ideas,' said Richard. ‘You know how Tarantino –'

Everybody groaned.

‘No listen, I think you might like this,' he persisted. ‘You know how Tarantino revitalised John Travolta's career with
Pulp Fiction
? And Pam Grier's, with
Jackie Brown
?'

Everyone nodded.

‘I'd like to try doing something like that for some of the younger porn stars who came and went too fast. Track 'em down, you know, and bring them back to a new audience.'

Emily looked at Luke.

He nodded. ‘Why not? There's no budget for it, though. We got squat. Especially now that Em –'

‘I've left Bailey's,' said Emily, smoothly cutting him off. ‘That's my second good news. I'll be working full time on NAIL until school starts. We have to make initial payments on everybody's tuition or this whole thing is a waste of time.'

Luke shook his head. ‘I don't know, baby.'

‘That's because I haven't told you the third part of my good news. After I left my apartment last night I went to Beverly Hills, where my stepmom lives. Or lived.'

‘Lived?' Luke gave her a questioning look.

‘Bobby's gone, Luke. Nothin' there but a stack of bills and a little note that said, “Gone to business meetings. Then home until Christmas.” I'm assuming by “home” she means Brazil.' Emily looked around the table. ‘Nobody's living at the big house in the Hills with the swimming pool and the sauna and all those empty bedrooms just waiting for –'

‘Movies!' crowed Tony.

‘Fuckin' right,' said Emily. She batted her lashes at Luke, probably because he'd told her he got a kick out of hearing her swear. ‘Movies. Production facilities for NAIL and rooms for everyone. Now, there are a few unpaid bills that have to be covered and we'll have to keep on paying them as long as we're living there. And we've got to get our stuff moved in, somehow. But no more big rents for crappy housing, people. In no time, we'll be generating income to pay our dues and produce more movies, and so on, and on, and fuckin' on!'

Luke stared at her. It was true that he'd gotten a kick out of hearing her utter a four-letter word back when it rarely happened. But these days she was as foul-mouthed as everybody else. Now little Emily, the shy one who needed her own space, had just offered her home to six people at the table and whoever returned in August for a blitz of porn shoots before the start of school. A sharp pang almost made him gasp out loud, but he stifled it in time.
Heartache?

Emily favoured him with a fabulous grin. Clearly, she was proud of the way she'd found a solution to all their problems. Em reached into her pocket and produced the Navajo bracelet. ‘Oh Gods of Film …' she began, holding the bracelet up.

‘Oh Gods of Film …' chanted the others, between snorts and giggles.

‘Smile down upon us …'

Ouch
. There it was again. OK, so he'd had another idea, one that was a lot simpler and involved just the two of them. He'd planned to ask her to come live with him in the house he'd called his home for three years. She could finish her Business degree, get her trust fund and finish film school the following year. Easy. Much, much easier than what was going on now. But it was obviously too late for that.

Everyone but Luke chattered excitedly. Ideas for scripts and predictions of which students would shortly return and which ones wouldn't caused the Movie Mob's table to create the kind of rumble The Muggery had been used to before the tuition hike had stifled their enthusiasm.

Eric, the owner, brought over a free pitcher of beer. ‘What you kids need is a van. I've got one you can have – for a price.'

‘Name it,' challenged Emily.

‘I want an executive producer's credit.'

‘For a van? No fuckin' way, pal,' she replied.

‘You got music?' Eric nodded at the band on stage. ‘A lot of new bands start out right here. I could get them for a song. Got plenty of demo CDs.'

‘Original music would be good,' piped up Marion.

Emily shot her a dirty look. ‘I'm the only E.P., Eric. A producer's credit is possible … if you'll also consider investing in our prod. co.'

‘You drive a hard bargain.'

Emily drained her mug and held it out for a refill.

Luke watched as Emily and Eric locked eyes. It was no surprise to him that Eric was the first to cave.

‘OK, but … maybe I might like to participate as an actor.'

‘I'll let you know if we ever need an ugly middle-aged guy,' responded Emily.

Only Luke noticed the dismay that flashed across Eric's admittedly unusual face before the bar owner chuckled along with the students.

Eric patted the front of his jeans. ‘I got a surprise package for you that just might change your mind.'

The Movie Mob's hilarity reached a fever pitch.

Luke sighed.

‘You OK, baby?' Em touched his arm.

He smiled. ‘Sure. Maybe a little heartburn.' He pushed the stale pretzels away and sipped his ginger ale. ‘It's nothing serious. I'm ready to go, though. As soon as you are.'

Her disappointment showed. ‘Just a little longer? I'm having fun.'

‘Come to my place when you're ready. I'll be waiting for you there.'

‘OK.' Emily gave him a quick, hard kiss and turned her attention back to the Mob, most of who were peppering her with questions.

Luke launched himself into the crowd, making a beeline for the front door. Maybe all he really needed was a little fresh air.

Emily was feeling what Bobby called ‘priddy giddy' by the time she and Marion arrived at the big old house at the edge of campus.

They each grabbed a mug of water and mounted the stairs. Emily stopped on the second-floor landing while Marion continued climbing to her room on the third.

‘G'night, boss,' she said. She took her free hand from the banister in order to clumsily salute Em and spilled half her water on the floor. ‘Oops. I should clean that up.' She continued climbing, her free hand once again firmly gripping the banister. ‘Somebody could slip on that and take a terrible fall.'

Emily quietly opened the door to Luke's room. She'd expected to find the room dark and Luke fast asleep in his bed. But that was not the case. The room was lit for a shoot. A camera on a tripod was aimed at the bed. Luke was naked but he was lying on top of the covers and he was wide awake.

‘Hi, honey, I'm home,' said Em. ‘I thought you'd be fast asleep.'

‘The walk revived me. I set the equipment up before I went to the bar, to surprise you. What do you think?'

Em tried to choose her words carefully but, though she was far from hammered, she was equally as far from sober.

‘I don't know. It's … gosh, it's been a while, huh?'

‘Yeah! Take off your clothes, baby. I want you warm and naked and in my bed. Pronto. Spit spot, as my old nanny used to say.'

‘Your nanny was Mary Poppins?' Em stripped. Before she joined him, she took the scarf hanging from the inside doorknob and tied it around the outside knob.

‘A kid can dream,' he replied. ‘Switch the camera on before you get in, OK?'

‘Sure.' Em did as he asked and climbed into bed.

Luke cuddled her close. He smelled like mint toothpaste and guy soap and Luke.

‘You're so clean!' She giggled.

‘Yeah but I wanna get dirrrrrty,' he sang.

‘You want to do the “Time Warp” again?'

‘Oh baby, you bet. See –' he started dropping warm kisses all over her body, interspersed with words ‘– while I was cleaning up the disaster
your people
made of your apartment, I started wondering, How did we get into this mess in the first place?' Kisses, quick and soft as whispers, landed on her cheeks, lips, eyelids and neck. ‘And I remembered it all started right here. Me, recording us, making love.' Kisses crisscrossed her breasts until his lips found her nipples and his tongue joined the fun. ‘But ever since NAIL began, our private movie shoots stopped. Ironic, don't you think?'

Emily nodded. She stroked his thick black hair. ‘You're so gorgeous,' she said. ‘You oughta be in movies.'

‘Mmm.' He teased her nipples, still kissing, still licking, but sucking, too. ‘Maybe,' he said, ‘but I ain't gonna be.' His teeth nibbled her blushing nipples to hard nubs.

‘No?' Emily arched her back as sparks of pleasure shot from each flushed tip to deep inside her belly, sending short messages, like tweets, to her clit. ‘Mmm. Feels so good.'
Probably looks good, too …

‘No.' He lifted his head to look at her. His blue eyes were dark with desire. ‘Except, of course, for our personal viewing.'

‘Pity,' said Em. She grasped his semi-erect cock. ‘Because there's a lot, right here, that would drive the ladies wild.'

‘Too bad for the ladies,' he replied. He licked a line from her cleavage to her pussy. ‘This is the only pussy I want,' he said. ‘And I want it wet – oh, how about that? My first wish has already come true.'

He reached for the jar of Kama Sutra oil and pulled the cork with his teeth.

‘Do we need it?' Emily's voice was husky. She couldn't remember the last time they'd made love, never mind the last time they'd recorded it.

‘It's not for you, it's for me,' he said. He handed her the bottle. ‘Lube my cock.'

Emily poured a generous amount of the exotic, spicy oil into her hand. She began to stroke him with long, slow, firm strokes, the way he liked it best.

‘Sixty-nine?' she asked hopefully.

He shook his head. ‘Roll over, baby,' he whispered. There was a definite edge to his quiet voice.

Emily obeyed. ‘Careful?' She liked it doggy-style but in this position his cock travelled deep inside her and if it hit her cervix hard enough the strange sensation freaked her out.

Luke took his time arranging his pillows so she was well supported as she knelt up on the bed. He tucked a pillow under her face. ‘Comfy?'

‘Yes,' she said.

‘Face the camera, Em. I don't think we caught your reply.'

There was most definitely an edge to his voice. Emily turned her face on the pillow and spoke clearly, staring straight into the lens. ‘Yes, Luke, I'm comfy. I'm also really fucking close –'

‘Good.'

Luke knelt behind Emily. He spread her knees wide and began tonguing her pussy in slow, shallow strokes, starting at her clit and sliding, just between her labia, to the bottom of her opening. ‘You're practically gushing,' he said. ‘We may make a squirter out of you yet.'

‘Uh-huh,' she said. ‘Fuck, Luke, I'm so close …'

He sat up suddenly. ‘I want you to stop swearing all the time, Emily. You say “fuck” when we're fucking, OK? Not in every second sentence that comes out of your lovely mouth. Understand?'

Emily looked over her shoulder. ‘Are you?'

‘Yes.' Luke replied. ‘You?'

‘Uh-huh.'

He sat back on his heels, idly sliding one finger the length of her cunt, dipping in a little deeper when he got to her hole but not. Quite. In.

‘It's just … that's how they talk in The Business. You know?' she said.

Luke removed his hand.

Goddam him!
Although … the way he was controlling her was messing with her head and making her cunt actually ache with need.

‘Please, baby … please, um, put your big cock in my cunt and …'
She'd been writing this stuff for months and it was still hard for her to talk dirty in bed. Fuck!