Diamonds Forever

by Justine Elyot

  ‘This is the worst bit,’ said Jason. ‘But if I stop, you’ll just feel it for longer. If I carry on, it’ll be over before you know it. Shh, that’s it, that’s it, oh God, yes.’

  He was all the way in – and he was right. The pain had passed. There was still a memory of it, a residual ache, but the moment of panic had not been necessary. His whole length was seated deep inside her. She could take him all the way.

  What she couldn’t do was look at him.

  The moment was too intense, too private, even though it was shared. He couldn’t possibly experience it the way she did, as the stripping away of a final layer.

  He didn’t press her, for which she was grateful. Instead he stayed in her to the hilt, breathing deeply, holding himself in check.

  The moment seemed to last and last.

  Then, shockingly, Jason began to pull out.

  Jenna’s eyes flew open and she tried to stop his backward progress, not sure she could stand it if he made a swift exit.

  ‘What’s up?’

  ‘What are you …?’

  ‘What, did you think I was just going to stay there like that? Anal sex is sex, Jen. You have to keep moving.’

  By now he had thrust back up again, so her fear that he was pulling out completely evaporated.

  ‘It just doesn’t feel like … the other kind,’ she gasped, feeling every minuscule iota of the friction entailed in his thrusting.

  ‘It’s more intense,’ he said, the words coming with difficulty now. ‘Way more. Jesus.’

  She looked at his eyes, at the hugeness of his pupils, so dilated that only a tiny ring of dark brown remained. His face had a pearlescent sheen. He looked like a man in a painting: the agony of martyrdom or something of that sort.

  ‘Your hands …’ he said. ‘You should … touch yourself.’

  Jenna shook her head at the suggestion. What she was feeling was too enormous to allow her to concentrate on anything else.

  But Jason reached and yanked one of her hands from beneath her neck, then placed it firmly over her mound.

  ‘Do it,’ he said. ‘I want you to come with me in your arse.’

  His words fired her with the will to obey him. She was his, after all. He had mastered every part of her.

  She began to rub at her clit, trying to keep a rhythm with the in-and-out movements taking place in her bottom. Jason was finding it easier and smoother now – she was made to be buggered.

  The thought gave her fingers extra impetus. She worked herself hard, keeping those sinful thoughts running through her head. He probably can’t believe how easy I am. He probably never had a girl who took to having a big cock in her bottom so quickly. I’m probably the dirtiest whore he ever had … anyone ever had … in the world …

  As the commentary got wilder, so her fingers moved faster, and Jason pumped away inside her, with less and less regard for whether her poor tight little bottom could take such forceful use.

  When she came, it was something outside any of her past experience, something so huge and so weakening that she thought she might pass out. The stars turned to blinding light, then to a rapid darkening, while the current of her orgasm jolted through her body, right down to her toes and fingertips, and especially in her behind, where Jason was still hard at labour, stretching and pounding.

  ‘Yes,’ he shouted. ‘You love it. I knew it.’

  He jerked frantically inside her for a few seconds more, then Jenna felt him shudder and fall, a wild cry of abandonment echoing around them.

  They lay in a limb-bending sprawl, still connected, on their sides.

  ‘You,’ he said thickly.

  Jenna saw that his eyes were shining. Hers weren’t much drier.

  ‘You’re the one.’

  She put her arms around him, pressing her face against his, making two warmths meld into one.

  ‘Same here,’ she said. ‘Nobody else …’

  They held on to each other, shaking in the aftermath of their passionate coupling, all in all to each other in the darkness.

  Chapter Eight

  ‘I NEED SOME advice.’

  Kayley glanced at Jenna, who was busy on her laptop tapping out emails, and took her phone out into the garden.

  ‘Did I give you my number?’

  ‘No,’ said Deano. ‘I got it off your dad.’

  ‘You did what?’

  ‘Sorry, I thought it was us global megastars who were cagey about that stuff. I thought you’d be pleased to hear from me.’

  The little chip of coldness in his voice made her both angry and incredibly flattered. He actually cared what she thought of him?

  ‘No, I am, I just … it’s a bit of a surprise, that’s all.’

  Jason, digging up the old flowerbeds a couple of hundred yards away, waved at her. She waved back, then turned her back on him.

  ‘Why? I thought we hit it off, the other day. Didn’t you?’

  ‘Well, yeah, I had a great time.’

  ‘But?’

  ‘But I thought that was that. You did your white knight, I got away from Harville, job done, move on to the next thing.’

  ‘Yes, but have you forgotten the favour I asked?’

  Kayley slapped her forehead. Of course. He wasn’t phoning because he wanted to talk to her. She was crazy to have thought that for even one second.

  ‘Oh, right. I did ask her.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘Sorry. No go. She really isn’t up for it.’

  There was a silence. Kayley considered hanging up, then giggled slightly at the idea of her hanging up on Deano Diamond. Surely she wouldn’t dare?

  ‘Are you at the Hall now?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I thought so. Your dad said you’d gone to stay there for a few days. Listen, I’m a cheeky bastard, I know, but I’m going to ask you for another favour.’

  Kayley’s heart sank. Just call me Gertie Go-Between.

  ‘Can you invite me round? To visit you, as a friend.’

  ‘Invite you here? You must be joking. Jenna would freak out.’

  ‘Yeah, well, Jenna ought to answer her phone then,’ he said sourly. ‘I’ve been ringing her every twenty minutes for the last three days. She won’t pick up.’

  ‘I think she’s blocked your number.’

  ‘So that good word you were going to put in for me worked well, then.’

  Kayley sighed.

  ‘I did my best. It’s too soon, though. And she’s been through a lot lately. Your timing’s shit, Diamond.’

  She bit her lip then, thinking she must have gone too far, the silence deafening her from the other end of the line.

  But then he laughed.

  ‘You could be right. Jenna was always the one who seemed to understand that kind of thing. I’m a bull in a china shop.’

  ‘Sorry,’ said Kayley.

  ‘Don’t be. Listen, about that invitation …’

  ‘Sorry, got to go,’ said Kayley hurriedly, hearing the heavy tread of Jason’s work boots in her immediate vicinity. ‘Catch you later, yeah?’

  ‘Who’s that?’ Jason parked his wheelbarrow and stretched, flexing the knots out of his shoulders. He was wearing a T-shirt today, and it was filthy, covered in burrs and dirt.

  ‘Nobody,’ said Kayley, putting the phone away.

  ‘I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.’ Jason grinned.

  ‘I haven’t!’

  ‘Oh yeah? “Nobody” is always somebody, if you ask me. And usually somebody you’re shagging, or hoping to shag.’

  ‘Shut up, Jay. You’re right cocky ever since you started seeing Jenna.’

  But Kayley’s cheeks burned. Is he right? Do I want to shag Deano?

  ‘I was always cocky,’ he said. ‘Just now I’ve got reason to be, that’s all. Jesus, a man could die of thirst round here.’

  ‘All right, all right. I’ll get the kettle on.’

  Kayley was glad of the excuse to slide out from under Jason’s knowing gaze.

&
nbsp; ‘What’s his name?’ he asked, as a parting shot.

  ‘Beeswax,’ she said smartly. ‘Mr M Y O Beeswax.’

  Jason’s laughter rang in her ears as she escaped into the kitchen.

  Jenna was already in there, looking bright eyed and flushed.

  ‘I’ve got the kettle on already. Is Jason coming in for a cup of tea? I’ve got something to show him,’ she said.

  ‘Yeah, I think so.’ Kayley found three mugs and lined them up.

  Jason came in a few seconds later, leaving his work boots by the door.

  ‘Jason, come into the drawing room. I’ve found something out,’ said Jenna.

  ‘I’ll bring the teas through, shall I?’ Kayley called after them, but they were too intent on their mysterious business to reply.

  She shrugged and opened the tea caddy.

  In the drawing room, Jenna winced as Jason sat his dusty, jeans-clad bottom down on her new antique sofa.

  ‘What is it then?’

  ‘I’ve subscribed to this genealogy website,’ began Jenna enthusiastically, ‘and I’ve been looking up Frances Harville’s family in Nottingham. And I think I’ve found something interesting.’

  ‘Oh, right,’ said Jason. ‘Like, what happened to her and the kid after they left here?’

  ‘Possibly. I don’t know. But look here.’

  She opened a page depicting a scanned-in photograph of a newspaper clipping from long, long ago. It contained a list of births, deaths and marriages.

  ‘Which one?’

  ‘Far right column, second down.’

  It was a death notice for a Joseph Manning, draper, of Carlton Vale. Survived by his wife, Ethel, and three children, Frances, Mary and David.

  ‘Three children?’ said Jason. ‘I know she had a sister, but …’

  ‘Exactly. She had a sister, Mary, but no brother that she mentioned. And she would have mentioned that in her diary entries, given how upset she was at having to leave her family. So David …’

  ‘David’s the kid? Harville’s son?’

  ‘Same first name. And it was very common, in those days, if a daughter of a respectable family was “disgraced”, to bring the child up as their sibling. I really think this David is Frances’s son. I’m going to look for the birth certificate next. And then I’m going to try and find out what happened to him, and to Frances. Isn’t it amazing how much we can glean from these notices and parish records? I might take a trip to Nottingham tomorrow and see if I can take a look at the county archive.’

  ‘Go for it,’ said Jason, his interest turning quickly to the tray of mugs Kayley was bringing in. ‘Ah, that’s what I need right now. A good brew. Cheers, Kay.’

  He turned to Jenna.

  ‘Do you know who her mystery bloke is, then?’

  Jenna looked swiftly at Kayley.

  ‘Mystery bloke? No. What’s this about?’

  ‘Nothing,’ said Kayley firmly, leaning on a table to sip her tea. ‘Jason’s put two and two together and made seven.’

  ‘Yeah, ending your phone calls really suddenly and being all cagey about who you were talking to,’ said Jason, rolling his eyes. ‘That’s not a dead giveaway at all.’

  ‘Oh, leave her alone,’ said Jenna. ‘She’s entitled to a private life, you know.’

  Jason concentrated on his tea.

  ‘Yeah,’ he said after swallowing a big mouthful. ‘Maybe I’ve forgotten what it’s like to have real privacy. I had to shout at some daft beggar who was trying to take a picture of me gardening. Clinging on to the top of the wall, he was, camera at the ready. He fell off when I saw him.’

  Jenna leant her head on his shoulder, then thought better of it when her cheek came into close quarters with her lover’s grimy T-shirt.

  ‘They’ll tire of us eventually,’ she said, but she didn’t sound convinced. ‘If only Deano would bugger off, it might happen sooner.’

  ‘Maybe,’ said Kayley tentatively, and Jenna gave her a sharp stare, intrigued by her tone. ‘Maybe if you went along with him about the documentary … then he’d have to move on once it was done. I mean, all this stalling is just making him dig his heels in. If you just said yes, I’ll do a couple of quick interviews or sound-bites or whatever, then he’d have nothing to pester you about.’

  ‘Oh yes?’ said Jenna. ‘And where exactly have you gleaned this in-depth knowledge of Mr Diamond’s personality and motivations?’

  Kayley looked back down into her cup. ‘Nowhere,’ she mumbled. ‘It’s just a thought. Bit of, like, psychology, or whatever.’

  ‘Maybe she’s got a point,’ said Jason. ‘And you wouldn’t have to see him, necessarily. Do your bits of the film, then leave him to it.’

  Jenna gave each of them a hard stare.

  ‘Has he been paying you?’ she said, then she laughed. ‘God. Listen to me. Paranoia central. OK, maybe you do have a point. Let me think about it. Once I’ve been to Nottingham and looked into this Harville thing.’

  They finished their tea, chatting generally about the weather forecast, the plans for the gala and the satanic alliance of Lawrence Harville and Deano Diamond, until there was a ring at the doorbell.

  ‘It’ll be some journalist,’ said Jenna. ‘Leave it. I’m not expecting anyone.’

  But a flurry of noisy activity from outside drew her to the window to peek at the visitor.

  ‘What?’

  Her strangulated cry of outrage brought Jason and Kayley over to join her.

  Deano Diamond stood on the doorstep, suave in a tight long-sleeved black T-shirt and skinny jeans in a Prince of Wales check.

  ‘Oh God,’ moaned Kayley, when he caught sight of them and gave Kayley a beaming smile and big wave.

  When he beckoned her to the door, she left Jenna’s silent outrage behind her and went to speak to him.

  ‘What the hell are you doing?’ she hissed through gritted teeth, opening the front door a crack.

  ‘You put the phone down on me!’ he cried. ‘What did you think I was going to do? We weren’t finished.’

  By this time, Jenna and Jason were hovering behind her.

  ‘What does he mean?’ demanded Jenna. ‘What do you mean?’ She referred the same question to Deano.

  ‘Kayley here invited me for a cup of tea,’ he said with a sharky smile. ‘But she got cut off. So I thought I’d come over anyway and make sure she was OK. You are OK, aren’t you, Kayley?’

  ‘Fine,’ she muttered, wanting to get behind one of the new big urns on either side of the door and hide there until the storm was past. ‘But I didn’t invite you.’

  ‘Did I misunderstand?’ he asked. ‘Oh dear, I’m really sorry about that. But I’ve come all this way, and …’ He turned to indicate the pack of press photographers, hanging on every second of this exchange. ‘If you don’t want another front page …’

  ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake,’ fumed Jenna. ‘Come in then. But you’re not staying.’

  Deano smiled more widely still as Kayley opened the door enough for his slender frame to ease through into the hall.

  ‘Nice outfit,’ he said glibly, eyeing Jason’s dirty jeans and T-shirt combo. ‘Wouldn’t have recognised you from the other night.’

  ‘What do you want?’ said Jason, with barely suppressed menace.

  ‘Like I said, to have a drink with Kayley. She’s my new pal. I need her advice.’

  ‘I’ll leave you to it then,’ said Jenna, stalking back into the drawing room. ‘But you’re leaving in ten minutes max.’

  Jason, after giving Deano a stare that contained daggers, clubs and shotguns for good measure, followed her.

  ‘Well, thank you very much,’ said Kayley dully. ‘There goes my job.’

  ‘Don’t be like that. Where can we go to talk in private?’

  ‘I don’t want to talk to you.’ She sat down on a chair set into an alcove and buried her face in her hands.

  Deano stood, almost awkwardly despite his rock star poise, fidgeting with the ends of his fringed scarf.
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  ‘Do you know what?’ he said, quite softly. ‘I can’t remember the last time a girl spoke to me like that. Well, apart from Jenna. I wouldn’t take it from just anyone. I mean, hanging up on me, for Christ’s sake! Nobody ever does that to me.’

  ‘I guess that’s why you’re such a berk,’ said Kayley, raising her face to give him an uncompromising glare. ‘I get why Jenna left you now. Never understood it before.’

  ‘Didn’t you?’ said Deano, apparently deaf to the insult she’d just shot at him.

  ‘No. Well, you know. Little people like me never understand, do we? How could anyone cheat on Cheryl Cole? How could anyone dump Johnny Depp? You don’t understand it, when you’re outside it. But now I’ve got to know Jenna, and I’ve seen what a selfish, inconsiderate prick you can be, it’s much easier to get my head round it.’

  She watched Deano take a deep breath and look away from her, towards the drawing room door. For a moment, she’d wondered if he might hit her, or at least deal a vituperative tongue-lashing. But he didn’t. He steadied himself, then looked back at her.

  ‘Ouch,’ he said, with such wounded dignity she almost laughed. ‘You know, if I didn’t like you so much …’

  ‘Oh, get off. You don’t like me. I’m a means to an end. And Jenna’s the end.’

  ‘Yeah, she pretty much is, isn’t she?’ He gave her a weak smile. ‘At least, as far as it goes between me and her. I get that she hates me right now, but you know her, Kayl. She’s worth fighting for, isn’t she?’

  Kayley nodded, slowly, feeling a leaden weight right under her ribcage.

  Yes, she was being used. And yes, she would let Deano use her again. He was a jerk and a twat and a bastard, but something in his silvery, soulful eyes had her right against the wall.

  But it was Jenna he wanted, pinned there, crushed against him, not her.

  ‘Give up, though,’ she said. ‘She loves Jason. They’re happy.’

  Deano waved his hand. ‘A nine-day wonder,’ he said. ‘An infatuation. Me and her, we’ve got so much history. Years and years. We grew up together. We’re part of each other. That has to count for something, right?’

  ‘Look,’ said Kayley. ‘I was really close, back then, to getting her to agree to do your film. She was going to think about it. I think she’d have done it. But she won’t now. You’ve really pissed her off. Again.’