The New Rakes (13 page)

Kara didn’t answer. Instead, she lowered her head to his lap and tucked the head of his cock in her mouth. As she sucked, she could feel the humming of the car’s engine, the way Mike tensed his thighs, his hand falling on the back of her neck, rubbing, massaging, circling. His cock grew larger, filling her mouth and butting against the inside of her cheek. She closed her eyes and rocked back and forth in his lap, tasting the salt and the slight earthiness of his skin.

The car curved round a corner and centrifugal force pushed Kara aside. She fell back, breathing hard, leaned against the door and looked at Mike. At least now he was smiling. He sat with his flies undone and his semi-stiff cock sticking upright, her saliva still gleaming on his dark satin flesh.

‘Patience, Kara,’ he said, flicking on the indicator and bringing them down a ramp into the sandstone terraces of the West End. ‘I know right now you want to fuck yourself to a standstill. But if you can keep your hands out of your pants for an hour or so, maybe we can share something more substantial.’

As he talked, he tucked himself back in and zipped up his fly, leaving a little hump in the fabric of his trousers that Kara eyed wistfully. She’d spent the whole day holding herself back
and
now the man she’d thought would put her out of her misery was making things even worse. Obviously, he was going to tease her. That was his bag, wasn’t it? Never ceding an inch of control, never giving her what she wanted until she was ready to beg for it. She tucked her hands under her legs and dug her nails into the soft flesh of her thigh. How long could she hold off, she wondered, getting wound up and let down and played with, before she snapped?

They were slowing now, driving the wide quiet streets where the houses sat behind large gardens and tall gateposts. Kara was curious. She’d never seen where Mike lived. Had imagined him, perhaps, in some sleek new-build penthouse, or in a warehouse like the one where she’d spent the afternoon. She looked at the square villa in front of them as they drew to a halt. Her gaze fell almost instantly though from the tall windows and the carved stone lintel.

A girl sat on the steps. She rested her chin on her hand and looked altogether neat and tidy, from her glossy black plaits down to the pretty red court shoes that peeked from a mid-length skirt. She looked like a filing clerk and if it hadn’t been for the girl’s large dark eyes and well-toned legs Kara wouldn’t have been jealous at all.

‘Who is that?’ she asked.

‘A student,’ Mike said, turning the ignition off and letting the silence swell between them.

‘You still teach?’

‘Only if the student is exceptionally promising.’

‘And you have a lesson booked.’

‘No, not booked. Judy drops by occasionally. It’s not exactly a formal relationship.’

Instantly, every fibre of Kara’s body stiffened.
Other things to do?
Was this what Mike had planned for his evening? Kara screwed her head round to check his face, but she couldn’t read
his
expression. Winter’s early night had nearly fallen and in the murky shadows he could have been looking at the woman on his doorstep with hunger or irritation – there was no way of telling.

Mike got out of the car and walked swiftly towards the house. Kara wondered for a moment if she could stay where she was; sit rigid in the cosy warmth with her eyes shut and just wait for this girl, Judy, to disappear. But Mike was talking to Judy as he put his key in the door and pushed it open. The two of them disappeared into Mike’s house and Kara found herself alone outside in the gathering dark.

What the hell was going on? Kara ground her teeth. There was only one way to find out. She counted to five and followed them inside.

She pushed open the door, walked down a narrow hallway hung with large abstract prints and into a sitting room where she could hear voices.

‘… to see you, tonight.’ Judy broke off when she caught sight of Kara. ‘Hi.’

In the softly lit room, Kara got a better look at Mike’s ‘exceptionally promising’ student. She was around thirty, at a guess, and pretty in a tanned, bland, clerkish kind of way. Without her coat, she was dressed in a white shirt that cinched at the waist. Not seduction gear, Kara thought, although she noticed the faint outline of a red bra through the cotton. She watched as Judy dropped her handbag on the floor casually, and leaned against the wall. A slit in the back of her mid-length clerk’s skirt showed a sliver of those well-toned thighs Kara had noticed earlier.

‘Is this a bad time?’ Judy asked, giving Mike a lipgloss-and-twinkle smile.

Kara’s gaze switched back and forth – she wanted to watch this exchange, but she pretended to be absorbed in looking around Mike’s house.

The room around her wasn’t what she was expecting – it was smaller and a little shabby round the edges. A window was crammed hard up against the back wall and a collection of mismatched furniture huddled in the centre of a worn charcoal carpet. An upright piano stood against one wall. Mike stood by the window looking into the black square of glass and the reflection of the room within it.

‘How about we have a glass of wine, anyway,’ Judy said, moving smoothly out of the room and leaving a prickly silence behind her. Kara watched Mike’s back, trying to gauge by the set of his shoulders what mood he was wrapped up in.

‘I wish I’d been allowed to drink wine at my lessons,’ Kara said, her voice tinged with acid. ‘Seems your standards are relaxing.’

‘Apparently you put on quite a show this afternoon,’ Mike said. ‘I’m sorry I missed it.’

He was avoiding the subject. Kara played along.

‘How do you know?’ Kara asked.

‘Lina called.’

Of course she did
.

‘I was just playing to the camera,’ Kara said, flicking her gaze over the cluttered surfaces strewn with newspapers, scrawled notes and empty wine glasses. Mike seemed to have the whole bachelor’s functional-monochrome thing going on, with unfinished patches of bare plaster on the walls and nothing to indicate anyone ever took any pleasure in spending time here. The only things that stood out were a space-age box mounted on one wall, glass and chrome and polished wood concealing what Kara guessed was a state-of-the-art stereo, and an ornate brass clock fixed opposite it, rasping as it ticked off the seconds.

The overall effect gave her a strange falling-away feeling. His home was so different from the bold, elegantly designed
spaces
of the studio that her ideas of Mike were shifting in front of her.

‘Send her away,’ Kara said.

He turned and Kara thought she saw some remnant of his old self glowing in his eyes – some glimmer of challenge.

Had she wandered into dangerous territory? When Mike licked his lips, jutted his chin at her and eyed her boldly, was he contemplating fucking her or throwing her out? Was he intending to fuck his prize student tonight, before she’d called him? Kara felt the ground see-saw beneath her as Mike gave her that look that could have been lust or hate.

Whatever his gaze meant, it had an instant effect on Kara. That electric field that sprung up between them was pulsing again, compelling her to tug at her clothes as though they itched, fiddle with her hair, chew at her bottom lip.

If Judy wasn’t in the next room playing hostess, she thought, they might have already been naked or screwing on the low coffee table among a mess of papers and the agitating tick of the clock, which seemed to be running faster somehow. A surge of anger pulsed through Kara’s veins and she dropped herself onto the couch, kicked her feet up onto the table and stretched her legs out fully, crossing one over the other so that Mike’s view up her skirt was unobstructed.

If he wanted to play games, Kara would just have to up the ante. She could manipulate a situation just as surely as Lina, especially when that situation included fuckable men.

‘Send her away,’ she whispered loudly to Mike, sliding down further in the seat so that her skirt rode up even higher. As Judy returned, carrying a bottle and three glasses, Kara stared fixedly at Mike, trying to will him to do her bidding.

‘Lovely,’ he said to Judy, accepting a glass and holding it out to be filled. ‘Kara and I were just saying how we should all spend the evening together. Couple of music lovers like you
two;
you’re bound to get on. Care to join us for dinner?’ he asked Judy, ignoring Kara’s scowl and the fact that she pointedly refused to take the glass that was offered to her.

‘Sounds peachy,’ Judy said, sinking into the couch opposite Kara and smiling over the rim of her glass. ‘As long as that’s OK with you?’

‘I didn’t come here for a dinner party,’ Kara said.

Judy narrowed her eyes. ‘Neither did I, sweetie. But let’s make the most of it, shall we? Besides –’ she reached out to squeeze Mike’s kneecap ‘– Mike’s an excellent cook.’

At that moment, all the fight went out of Kara. She laid her head back against the couch and closed her eyes. Still sticky from the afternoon, still smelling faintly from the plastic of the dress, still so horny it was almost painful, she felt like she didn’t even know any more what or who it was she needed.

‘Could I have a shower?’ she asked Mike. ‘Please?’

She tripped down the stairs, wrapped in a scratchy white towel, swearing through her chattering teeth. Voices spilled out from the kitchen, mixed with the hissing of steam and the sizzle of oil in a hot pan. Kara barged straight in, dripping onto the tiled floor.

‘The water’s gone cold,’ she said.

‘It does that,’ Mike answered. ‘Good for the circulation. Makes you tingle all over, doesn’t it?’ He was bent over the hob, with Judy leaning close into him.

‘You’re giving cooking lessons now?’ Kara said, moving from foot to foot and trying to keep herself from shivering.

‘Judy,’ Mike said, ‘would you light the fire next door. See if you can get Kara warmed up. The risotto’ll be done in five minutes.’

Judy dipped her head in acquiescence and brushed past Kara on her way to the living room. Kara opened her mouth to argue
with
Mike, inhaled the smells of garlic and herbs and realised that she was, in fact, starving. Her mouth watered and she felt the hunger tighten in her stomach.

‘There’s a robe on the back of the bathroom door,’ Mike said, without turning round. ‘Go and put it on, sit by the fire and wait.’

Kara gritted her teeth. ‘You’re not ordering me around.’

‘No. I’m not. I’d only do that with your explicit permission.’

‘Like your suck-up little Judy in there?’

Very precisely, Mike laid his spatula on the counter. He faced Kara, wiping his hands on a cloth. When he spoke, his words were carefully measured, each one bitten off sharply. ‘You come to my house, Kara, demanding I satisfy every immediate whim that flits across your mind. That’s fine. I enjoy your company and I like the challenge.’ He leaned on the counter and splayed his hands flat on the surface between them. ‘But you will either be warm, polite and friendly to my other guests or you will leave. Half naked and freezing none the less. Is that clear?’

Kara felt a lump rise in her throat. She blinked hard, several times. His territory, his rules. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said hoarsely. ‘I’ll stay.’

‘Good. Now go and make yourself comfortable, and we’ll enjoy the rest of the evening, OK?’

Kara nodded. When she turned to leave, Mike grabbed her wrist.

‘I know a lot’s happening for you right now. I know it’s all new and strange and you think that you have to fight to keep yourself on solid ground. But you don’t need to fight me, Kara. I’m on your side.’

Kara clutched at the towel where it was knotted over her breasts. Mike had her other hand and his grip was firm. Curious, she thought. Usually when someone held on to her she wanted
to
twist free. But when Mike took hold of her, all she could think of was how sure he was, how solid and certain. Like an anchor that would hold her in harbour no matter how stormy the sea. When he let go, she missed his touch immediately.

She fetched the wrap and padded through to the sitting room, where Judy had lit a fire and was warming herself in front of it.

‘Better?’ the other girl asked, and Kara allowed herself to relax a little.

‘Yes.’ She sat down and pulled the robe tighter around herself. ‘I was a bit worked up,’ she said. ‘It’s been a long day.’

Judy lifted a poker and nudged a log deeper into the grate. The bark caught quickly and flames licked over the dry wood, curling over the surface and burning into the soft, pale heartwood.

‘That’s what the nights are for,’ she said softly, laying the poker down. ‘Unravelling all the kinks of a long day.’ She looked straight at Kara then and her eyes were a clear soft grey. ‘That’s why I’m here.’

They ate at the low coffee table, hardly talking, listening to the fire spit and crackle and the wind blustering in the chimney. Kara relaxed, notch by notch, as she emptied two glasses of wine and the plate of creamy risotto. Mike’s living room was shabby, it was true, but with a cold tangled night outside and rain flecking the window, it was also a welcome escape from the uneasiness Kara imagined when she thought of the band, the flat, her life.

She felt part of a very small tight circle, lit by the glow of the fire and lulled into silence by the ticking brass clock. Judy had slid out of her court shoes and with her inky-black hair falling over her shoulders and her stocking feet hooked over the arm of a chair, she had lost that uptight clerkish look. In
fact,
she had a wry, easy humour that Kara warmed to and when she laughed her face took on a wicked impish look.

There was something else in the room Kara couldn’t quite put her finger on, a tension dancing just under the surface. She noticed slight signals – the way Judy’s eyes widened when she listened to Mike, Mike rubbing at his stubble, letting his gaze drop and roam over Judy’s body. Kara recognised that move. His hand covered the smile, the one that hooked up the corner of his mouth when he was thinking something dirty. When Judy took the empty plates through to the kitchen and Mike came to sit next to her on the sofa, pulling her bare feet into his lap, Kara sensed what was coming next.