Page 101 of Blood Stone

Chapter Twenty-One

Just before rolling time, Adrian phoned.

That he was phoning at all, and not simply texting, told Kate she had to take the call. She looked at her A.D. “Sorry. I’ll be as quick as I can.”

Harry look startled. “I…er…okay.”

She jog-trotted toward the make-up tent, which would be deserted now and would give her a bit of privacy from eavesdroppers. She connected the call as she went.

“What’s happened?” she asked.

“It’s fine, nothing’s wrong,” Adrian assured her. “I knew phoning you would scare the crap out of you, but text wasn’t going to do it.”

“Do what?”

He sighed heavily into the phone. “Christ, I’m fucking sorry, Kate. About dumping all over you, and telling you to fix it. All the way back to the camp, I sat there kicking myself, thinking about ways I could have handled it better. Youdoneed me for exactly the way you used me last night, but my ego got in the way.”

Kate clutched the phone, her fingers cramping. “Oh, Jesus, Adrian…” Her stomach churned sickly.

“Who am I fooling?” he said, his voice low, vibrating into her ear. “It wasn’t my ego in the way at all. Something to the left and just a little higher. I’m wading in neck deep waters with you, Kate, and I think I’m about to drown.”

She was back to breathing hard. “We need to talk.” She had to force every word from her. It was like hammering nails into a coffin. She thought she might throw up, or faint.

Silence.

Tears blurred her vision. She fought not to sob aloud, to keep it from him.

“Kate, did you take my advice?” he asked softly. “Did you try and fix it by going and fucking someone?”

She clutched at her chest. It felt like her heart might explode. Or her head. She didn’t know which.

“Yes,” she whispered and held her breath.

Adrian chuckled. “Ah…that’s my girl. Massive action to solve the problem and not a moment’s delay. I hope he was good for you. We’ll talk when you get home. You can give me the dirty details if you want.”

She disconnected and let out her breath. And another. She shoved her cellphone back into her pocket and stood and recovered, breathing hard. Then she wiped her cheeks surreptitiously so none of the crew, who were standing around waiting for her, would see.

With each inhalation, a bit more tension lifted from her and fluttered away.

She walked back to the set and by the time she arrived, she felt cleansed, airy and energetic.

And ridiculously happy. She glanced at Garrett, who was back sitting at the end of the row of chairs. She shot him a smile.

“Let’s roll,” she declared to the set in general.

* * * * *

“It was the best filming I’ve ever done. In my whole career, I think,” Kate admitted. “Everythingwas working just right. Everyone was getting it. Everything came together. It was beautiful.”

She lay on her stomach on the bed, picking at a tray of finger foods. She was naked and Adrian lay naked next to her, his hand running in lazy lines and circles over her back and buttocks as she talked.

They had made love as soon as she had walked into the trailer. Only this time, neither of them had waited long enough to walk to the bedroom. Adrian had taken her up against the office wall, literally tearing her clothes from her body and kissing her from head to toe before spreading her legs and arms and spearing her with his cock.

The salad had arrived later, brought to the trailer by Brittany. And now Kate lay on the bed, eating, while she got her promised talk as the sun rose, making golden stripes of both their bodies.

“So fixing it worked, then,” Adrian said.

She nodded. “It seems that might have been the problem.” She glanced at him. “Sorry.”