“Good,” Kerri said. “And if I win that Oscar—”
“No, Kerri, please don’t.”
“Sorry, George, it’s a done deal. Big Pharma murdered my husband and it goes on to kill people everyday. Don’t think so? Ask Brittany Murphy, ask Heath Ledger. Oh wait, you can’t…because they’re dead! Young people, strong and physically healthy, dropping dead from a heart attack? No, George, no.”
“But what do you think you can accomplish with these billboards? I mean, Mark’s body lying on the mortician’s table?”
“I didn’t take that picture, but since it exists I’m going to use it to show people the results of this national plague. It’s shocking, it’s ugly, yes; that’s what it’s supposed to be.”
“But…what about your career? You don’t want people to think of you as some big-mouth crusader.”
“In this case, that’s exactly what I want people to think of me.”
“What does your agent think?”
“Benjamin Stallmaster has got Oscar gold in his eyes. Nobody in Hollywood’s taking offense the way you are, George. Even Britany doesn’t care, and she’s like your niece or whatever.”
“Friend of a friend. Thanks again for considering her for the role.”
“No problem, George; she’s a great actor, I gotta say. I wouldn’t have cast her otherwise.”
“I know it. I wouldn’t have asked anyone else. I’m just glad it’s working out. What does Harden make of all this?”
“He likes her too.”
“No, I mean…about the billboards. What man wants his wife to be obsessing over her ex?”
“I’m not obsessing, George, I’m avenging. Mark was a good guy; he shouldn’t have suffered the way he did; he shouldn’t have died the way he did. And nobody else should suffer that way either. Harden understands that; he supports me.” Kerri stood up, shoulders back, one brow raised. “If you’re not willing to support me too, I’ll have to make other arrangements.”
George stood too, and the two stared each other down until George finally said, “Of course, Kerri, whatever you say.”
Kerri nodded, turned, and walked out of George’s office without another word.
Chapter 3
Kerri had never been to the Academy Awards, often called simply the Oscars after the nickname given to the famous statue—a naked man holding a sword over his genitals.
Kerri felt elegant on that red carpet, blond hair piled up over her pretty face, ringlets hanging down on the sides. Her backless dress was glamorous and sexy. It had been a while since she landed any part in a movie, let alone the supporting actress role. She was feeling as radiant as ever. And Harden looked phenomenal, dapper in his black tuxedo, brows furrowed and masculine.
Kerri’s stomach twisted with nerves as they read her name along with the other nominees for best supporting actress. Kerri sat with Harden on one side and Bertram Quinn on the other, his girlfriend and leading lady, Melody Madison, on his other side, her long red hair falling over creamy, freckled skin.
“And the winner is…Kerri Abernathy for Turnstiles.”
The crowd applauded and Bertram gave her a little kiss on the cheek. Kerri and Harden’s eyes locked, a silent moment of congratulations for the two lovers. Kerri made it to the stage and took the trophy, no name emblazoned on the base. It was heavier than she expected, and as the presenters stepped away, Kerri felt alone on that stage—vulnerable, intimidated.
“Wow, I never imagined I’d be standing on this stage. I have to thank my brilliant director Bertram Quinn, and of course my gorgeous co-star, Melody Madison. I never could have delivered the performance I did without their guidance and support. Of course, Harden Steele, the man I’m soon to marry, the man responsible for my own new film, which I’m very excited to share with the world.”
Kerri looked out over that crowd—the most beautiful and famous people on the planet. She was finally accepted among their rarified ranks, and Kerri couldn’t deny she liked the feeling. She’d worked hard, she’d sacrificed, and she finally had the film career she’d always dreamed of.
It wasn’t an easy thing to risk.
“Before I go,” Kerri went on, “I want to say that I am steadfastly behind my campaign to expose so-called Big Pharma, a medical industrial complex which represents one of the most thriving economies in the entire world. But that money comes at the expense of human lives. We all know people who have died because of the rampant pharmaceutical use. There must be a better way to maintain physical and mental health, a way that doesn’t cost a fortune, create life-ruining addiction, and premature death. We must find a way! Between Big Pharma, big cancer, and of course the insurance companies, they’ve got us in a stranglehold, and they’re not about to let go. We have to fight for our lives; for your freedom, we have to fight them now with everything we’ve got!”
Half the crowd cheered wildly, while the other half sat in stunned confusion, as the big band played Kerri off the stage.
Kerri and the others went to one of the massive parties afterward, washing salty beluga caviar with crisp, delicious champagne. Melody and Bertram were mingling around the other side of the ballroom, but Kerri couldn’t fight the impression that Melody was starring daggers at her all night. But when Kerri would casually glance over in her direction, Melody would turn away. But her long red hair would keep moving after her head did, and those flipping curls gave her away.
“My God,” she said to Harden, “that woman hates me, has from the start.”
Harden glanced across the room, swirling a brandy in his palm. “She’s jealous, obviously. You know how catty women can be.”
“But…she’s stunning; there’s no need for any of that.”
Harden looked at her—a nearly glowing tower of alabaster skin, red hair, green eyes, stunning body poured into a strapless black dress. Harden only shrugged. “Meh. Anyway, it’s not about looks. You’re the supporting actress and you got the Oscar; that’s gotta be driving her crazy.”
“It wouldn’t bother me.”
“That’s why I love you.” The two shared a kiss—a moment of intimacy in that room filled with public figures. “She’s also a crappy actress.”
“You think so?”
“Don’t you? Why didn’t you give her the lead in Billionaire Auction Block?”
Kerri gave it more consideration than it deserved. “Well, um…the part had a certain quality to it, and…”
Harden smiled. “I know, I know…that’s what you told her and Bertram. But you don’t have to lie to me. Hey, I’m the film’s producer. I had my own vote, and we made the right choice. If Strawberry Shortcake over there can’t handle it, that’s her problem.”
Kerri nodded, sipping some champagne and joining Harden to discuss Charlie Chaplin with Steven Spielberg. She put Melody out of her mind, but she wouldn’t be able to avoid her mounting problems very much longer.
Kerri couldn’t have known it, but her problems threatened to destroy her world and everything in it.
Chapter 4
Kerri and Harden had been together for almost a year, and the sex they’d had in that time had exceeded all of her most outrageous hopes and dreams. Harden was a caring, generous man, always concerned with her satisfaction and never failing to deliver on it. But he was also a widely experienced cocksman who knew positions Kerri had never even heard of, and she found the constant surprise and revelation to be one of the things she looked forward to most. Beyond that, she loved the familiarity—coming to know, with increasing intimacy, the little quirks and characteristics of his body and even her own as he brought out new facets of her own sexual skill.
Harden’s cock was long and hard in her mouth—salty and musky, twitching and flexing in her warm mouth. The smell of his manhood rose up around her, filling her nostrils, dizzying, intoxicating. She’d come to know those tastes, those smells, and to welcome them with a relish and an indulgence, her tongue watering just to think about it.
But there was no time for thought
, nor any need for it. Naked on the living room floor, they were two primitive creatures, instinct and passion guiding their hands, their tongues, their glistening haunches.
The hardwood floor was cold and slick with her sweat, and she clung to Harden’s tremendous tool as if for dear life. She squeezed it hard, pumping at mid-shaft as she pulled it out of her mouth to give it a good hard lick, slathering that purple head in her warm saliva before slipping it back into her mouth. Her tongue sank down to give her more room, throat widening to take in even more of that delicious cock.
Harden was working his own magic on Kerri, his tongue a precision instrument as it flicked and licked and seduced her hot, hungry clit. Kerri spread her thighs and arched the small of her back, rolling her hips to give Harden greater access to her tight, pink pussy. His tongue traced a perfect outline along her aching clit.
Kerri pressed Harden’s cock against her cheek, nuzzling it, rubbing it against her cheeks, her chin, her eyes, craving to be closer to it, to envelop it, to consume it. Just a little shift positioned Kerri under Harden’s balls and she took them in one at a time, rolling them on her tongue, gently, while squeezing his cock and pumping it even harder. The contrast registered, and Harden’s moan leaked out of his mouth.
His voice collected in her crotch, his energy palpable as he nursed her orgasm, forever simmering under the surface. He’d mastered the art of creating the constant female orgasm, something Kerri didn’t even know existed until he shared it with her. Since then, she’d become more orgasmic than she’d ever realized. She could cum on command, she could manipulate her own orgasms to hover just beneath the surface—percolating, roiling, and rumbling. Kerri couldn’t know how much she was controlling her own body or how much Harden was doing it, but it really didn’t matter. They were always together when it happened, and it happened every time.
Harden’s strength and power were always at the fore, so when Harden stood, Kerri didn’t even allow herself to wonder what he was going to do next, she simply lay there and allowed him to do it. In this case it was another first—Harden’s powerful hands on Kerri’s hips, his muscular legs flexing as he stood, lifting himself and Kerri up with one swift and graceful motion.
Kerri’s world turned upside-down, and she loved it. Blood rushed to her head, and to her crotch. Kerri knew she was secure in Harden’s grip, so there was no reason to hold on from fear of falling. Instead she could just hang there, pumping that meaty rod, gobbling down the front end, squeezing his ballsack with her free hand, blond hair falling to his knees.
And Harden’s own attention to her quivering pussy was uninterrupted by the move, her legs reaching up past his head, bending at the knees, feet rolling on the ends of her taught calves. Her compact frame and his height and strength made this standing sixty-nine an easy and magical position, Kerri’s brain swimming with blood and disoriented glee.
Harden’s low, deep groans seemed to be passing right into Kerri’s body through her trembling, twitching pussy, stirring that orgasm to greater and greater strength. Kerri could only hope to return all that marvelous energy into his eager dick so it passed through him like a forceful sexual current.
Lick and pump and kiss. Kerri’s lungs began to strain, panting out her lust in a steadied rhythm. Harden seemed to know it too, reading her body, experienced in those exotic arts. With a thrush of strength, perfectly timed, he lifted her higher and flung her around so that she was right-side up, facing him, eyes locking and mouths mashing together. Kerri could taste her own pussy on Harden’s lips and tongue—a chemical cocktail that shot straight to her brain and her heart and her soul, and everywhere else. It was a taste that could not be replicated, a once-in-a-lifetime combination of their bare essences, combining to create something entirely unique and undeniably powerful. It was the perfect manifestation of their lives together—their love, but she could hardly think at all.
No man had ever manipulated Kerri with such ease and power, such control. Even then as Kerri lowered herself down on that pink and purple monster, she knew that she was going along for the ride, and it would be the ride of her life. Kerri had a lot to offer, and she’d earned Harden’s love without a doubt. But at times like these, she couldn’t help but think of herself as being caught up in a force of nature, like a hurricane—something she could only hope to survive but not to master.
Kerri wrapped her arms around his thick, muscular shoulders. His huge cock was too much to take in all at once, and Harden was careful to ease her down onto him, those powerful hands guiding her with care and precision.
Harden stepped forward—Kerri sinking down farther—his enormous meat filling her completely. Her orgasm splashed and roiled inside her, Kerri’s body shaking as she went down on that colossal cock. Kerri’s thighs locked onto Harden’s hips, squeezing tight, controlling what little she could of her own body, her own mind.
With every step came another lusty pump, Harden carrying her in a jittery tour of the living room, Kerri’s hips spreading farther to take him in as far as she could.
The wall was hard and flat behind her, and Harden restrained her, closing in. His musky scent surrounded her. Kerri was pinned, feet dangling, Harden’s hardened hammer pushing up into her, every thrust like a sexual electrical current. Harden leaned over her, his head looming above her own, his strong arms encasing her. Kerri was surrounded on all sides, between a cock and a hard place, and that’s where she wanted to be.
“You like it, baby? You like it?”
“God, yes,” Kerri said. “Oh God, I love it!”
“You cumming? You already cumming for me?”
“You know I am,” she rasped out.
“Say it!”
“I’m cumming, baby, cumming so hard—”
“And you’re gonna keep cumming, aren’t you?” Kerri nodded as Harden pushed that big dick into her. He leaned heavily to the side and paused, leaving his meat inside her and pressing the sides of her clit, her nerves exploding before he returned to a fast, feverish pumping cycle. Another pause to press that hammer against the other side of Kerri’s clit made her body shake, almost drowning on the inside.
“Say it!”
“I’m gonna keep cumming … keep cumming so hard for you, baby!”
“Oh yeah, that’s right.”
“Oh please, baby, please … ”
“Please what?” Harden paused, pinning her against that wall, her body shivering. “Please, baby, please … ”
“Say it, Kerri!”
“Cum for me,” she barely pushed out.
“What?”
“Please cum for me, baby!”
“No, Kerri, no,” Harden said in a razor-like whisper, “I’m not gonna cum for you, because I wanna keep fucking you, so good and hard. That good for you, baby?”
Kerri nodded, spitting out, “It’s so good.”
“And you don’t ever want me to stop, do you?” Kerri shook her head, that cock pushing deeper and harder and faster, her feet dangling, toes curling. “Say it!”
“Don’t ever stop,” Kerri said, “please, I … I … ” But Kerri’s frenzied brains couldn’t find anymore words. Whatever Harden would demand, she had no more control over her body and her sense while a long, wordless wail spilled out of her mouth. It was all she could do to remain conscious, and after a while she wasn’t even sure about that.
Chapter 5
The next morning, Kerri found her own picture splashed all over the internet. Accepting her Oscar, she stood at the famous podium in video and still photos, the Yahoo! News headline reading Abernathy Stuns with Oscar Speech.
Harden stood at the mirror shaving while Kerri browsed the articles. He asked, “Good news?”
“Is it ever?”
“Lemme guess,” Harden said, “some people are thrilled, some are furious.”
Kerri followed the links to YouTube, where the clip was already earning thousands of hits. Kerri didn’t bother watching the video, but she was quick to scroll down the screen to the remarks.
“Nailed it. Here’s one calling me a national hero…but this guy thinks I should be burned at the stake. ‘That bitch doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about. She’ll have plenty of need for meds when her career dies and she starts to shrivel up.’ This guy just says, ‘Too old to rape.’ Jesus, the people out there…”
“It’s a world of trolls,” Harden said, “but don’t worry about them. You were right to call out Big Pharma. Half this town’s hooked; some of them are dying and they know it. Somebody had to stand up and be counted. I’m proud of you.”
Kerri smiled, but there was little joy in it, a nervous curl in her stomach reminding her that there were things even the great Harden Steele couldn’t protect her from.
The soundstage was massive, buzzing with crew members, personal assistants, even a few spectators. Britany Stevens and Carl Harrington were at their places at the top of the huge staircase in the center of the mansion set where much of the movie’s action took place. Kerri walked up the stairs, a camera on a huge crane lifting toward them.
“Okay,” Kerri said, “you two come running down the hall here to head down the stairs when the monks run up, trapping you. Then we’ll bring in the stunt doubles to do the jump to the chandelier.”
The actors nodded and crossed down the hallway to wait for their call to action as Kerri descended the staircase and took a seat in her director’s chair. Raising a bullhorn to her lips, Kerri said, “Roll tape.”
The sound man shouted, “Tape to speed.”
“Lights,” she said.
“Lights,” somebody responded.
“Cameras.”
“Cameras rolling,” the camera man called down.
Billionaire Bash: The Complete Steele Series Page 10