Backstage (The Barter System Book 4) Read online

  The grin he gave her was so beautiful that she finally understood the phrase struck dumb. She hugged his neck and rested her face at the bend of his shoulder. His arms hugged more of her than she’d ever felt before.

  “Please move. Let me feel every inch of you taking me.”

  “Mikayla, you are pure magic.”

  Then he braced her and began to rock into her body strong and steady. The first orgasm hit her after less than a dozen strokes and she bit her lower lip to keep from shouting as vibrations crashed through her torso and tightened her nipples painfully hard.

  She clung to his body, one hand in the shaggy dark hair at the base of his neck, the other cupping the nape. “You make me feel better than I honestly thought was possible.”

  “I need to make you come again, Mikayla. You feel so good, it’s overwhelming…I can barely stand not coming.” Strong hands squeezed her ass. With every stroke, her pussy sucked at him, fighting to keep him inside.

  Mikayla kneaded the muscles of his upper back. “I need to see this beautiful body I can feel against me, inside me.” She stroked her fingers through his hair, over his face, down his neck, and as much of his upper body as she could reach. “I need more of you.”

  “I only wanted to help you. I never dreamed of this.” His words were low and rough, his hands tightening. The power behind his thrusts increased and she moaned.

  Raising her face, Mikayla stared at him while he fucked her. “I have dreamed of this. The reality is so much better.” She knew the words didn’t make sense but her climax was building hot and heavy in her womb and the tops of her thighs. “Please come for me. I want you to have a small taste of what you’re making my body feel.”

  Isaiah’s rhythm stumbled at her words an instant before he increased his power, driving into her with brute force. She struggled to muffle the scream rising in her chest. Her nails dug into his upper back and his scalp, her pussy clamped hard around his cock.

  His groans were low and fierce but his eyes never left her face. “Mikayla…fuck yes.”

  Three hard thrusts and he came. The heat of his semen filling the condom and the expression he wore pushed her orgasm on and on. He delivered short, hard strokes and pumped himself dry, then collapsed against her on the wall. His muscled arm above her head held as much of his weight off her as he could.

  Hearts racing, gasping for air, they didn’t move for a long time. His head was on her shoulder and she ran her hands through his hair.

  “In a world that’s all make-believe, you are so real, Isaiah.” She hugged him and planted kisses along his shoulder. “Your warmth thaws the cold places inside me. I wish I could touch more of you, all of you.”

  Raising his face, he stared at her and she wondered what he was thinking. Stroking her palms along his cheeks, she kissed him until his cock twitched inside her and he groaned into her mouth.

  She broke the kiss despite the fact that it was the last thing she wanted to do.

  Releasing a rough breath, he eased the grip of his hands on her skin, and carried her back to the exit ramp where they’d left her panties. Lifting her carefully, he separated them and she gasped at the loss of him. Reflex made her tighten around him and he hugged her.

  “Wait. Please wait just a moment,” she whispered faintly. He nodded and held her, his strength infusing her, stroking her back as she breathed deeply of his skin. “I know I’ll be late. I know.”

  He set her on her feet and went to his knees so she could step into the white cotton he held for her then pulled them up, settling them around her ass and waist. Rising, Isaiah gathered her completely in his arms once more and kissed her thoroughly.

  “Do you feel better?”

  She nodded while she laced up her bodice with trembling hands. “Thank you, Isaiah.”

  Unfamiliar insecurity washed over her. What must he think of a woman who behaved in such a way? “Will you find me after the show?”

  “Everyone is going to want your time, exactly as it should be. Don’t think about me.” He leaned down to claim her lips. “Thank you. You can’t know what you’ve done for me.”

  Maybe he didn’t think badly of her after all.

  Knowing it was too dark for him to see her blush gave her more confidence. “You’re beautiful and strong, an incredibly giving lover.” She kissed him deeply. “It was a privilege to have you holding me, kissing me, taking me.” Her fingers stroked both sides of his face as she stared deeply into his eyes. “I wish we had more time. I need more time.”

  “Mikayla…”

  “Come find me after the show, Isaiah. Please don’t forget.” She kissed him quickly once more, gave him the smile she felt all over her body, and ran toward the main stage.

  Chapter Three

  Isaiah watched Mikayla go, a woman of twenty-seven who barely looked old enough to drink. Her long sable hair streamed out behind her and the ballet slippers on her feet made no sound as she ran towards the stage.

  Isaiah put himself together and took a deep breath. The past hour seemed surreal and when he stood alone in the darkness, he wondered if he could have dreamed his time with her.

  Though he’d had lovers since he’d been injured, they were usually too drunk to care about his face. Most saw him from one angle, found him attractive, and then drew back when they saw the scar that brutalized the other side.

  If they were drunk enough, they could pretend they hadn’t known, while he fucked them through one orgasm after another. Only when they were completely spent would he take his own climax.

  Afterward, his heart was always empty as he pulled from their bodies and went home.

  He hadn’t had sex in the light since the day a truss came loose during the build-out for a children’s play they were hosting for charity. The wires holding the thousand-pound piece of equipment whipped up and sliced him open on the catwalk fifty feet above the stage.

  Ripping off his over-shirt, he pressed it to the worst of the bleeding and stumbled to the ground level before he collapsed from loss of blood.

  As bad as it was, it was so much better than it could have been. One of the top plastic surgeons in New York had done the stitching, which was the only reason it hadn’t thickened even further as it healed. He’d gone back to work two weeks later, still heavily bandaged.

  Before that day, women had thrown themselves at him. The combination of his size, his looks, and his money meant he never spent nights alone if he didn’t wish. Back then, he quickly forgot the nervous actresses he calmed before show time.

  Since the accident, he’d stayed in the shadows, remaining as far in the background as possible. As the older half of the once-infamous Zelder brothers, it had taken time to adjust. The fact that he towered over most of the population had required him to achieve a certain level of stealth.

  Listening to Mikayla slowly spiral into panic earlier had driven him insane. Watching from above, he warred with himself about approaching a woman he had watched nail her lines a hundred times, with the rest of the cast and alone.

  He knew he could help her, calm her enough to remove the block her mind had erected in fear. He never considered that she would have sex with him, much less that she would touch his face…and tell him he was beautiful.

  Since the Johannson sisters’ arrival months before, the overall morale at the theater had drastically improved. In an industry where people outside the spotlight were usually overlooked, the girls from Oklahoma went out of their way to introduce themselves, to say please and thank you to everyone. Ezra was the “face” of the theater but they treated the cleaning crew with equal kindness and respect.

  The first day they’d tested the acoustics of the stage, Isaiah stood in the sound booth with a vice around his chest. Mikayla’s exuberance had fascinated him from the very beginning.

  She and her sister danced around the stage a few hours after signing the contract for the theater as if they’d been performing Madeline’s play for years. In close-fitting running clothes, wearing her sist
er’s heels, Mikayla elicited a reaction women simply didn’t inspire anymore.

  Her talent and beauty were remarkable but it was the way she seemed to “bounce” through life with a smile on her face that made him want to be near her. She laughed more than anyone he’d ever known.

  Several times over the past months, she’d tried to introduce herself, waiting until the rest of the cast was gone in hopes of meeting him.

  Late one night, she had called out to him, unable to see him in the darkness above the stage. Standing below with something in her hands, she asked loudly, “Is anyone there?” After a pause, she added, “I’m Mikayla. Mikayla Johannson. I thought I’d say hello.”

  He’d instantly gone still and turned off the radio linking him to the guys off-loading the materials they’d use to assemble the next piece of the set. It had taken everything in him not to respond. She waited, called out twice more, before sighing heavily. He watched her take a card from her bag and tuck it in the basket before leaving the building.

  Only when he knew she was gone did he return to the main level. She’d left him a basket of cookies, muffins, and a card on the edge of the stage. Inside, she’d written, “Isaiah, for making everything so easy for my sister…thank you. I hope to meet you in person one day. You’re like a ninja. XO Mikayla.”

  Ezra mentioned her interest in meeting him a few days later but he continued to go out of his way to avoid her. She didn’t understand the man she was trying to talk to – the damage to his face – and he didn’t want her to know.

  Still, unable to help himself, he’d watched her. Coming in before the rest of his guys, he would stand on the catwalk and watch her sing, dance, and interact with others. She usually stayed after they left; pushing her body and giving herself pep talks about not being a slacker.

  For so many months to pass without even talking to her and have them end with such an experience didn’t seem possible. Shaking himself from the euphoria Mikayla inspired, Isaiah went back to work.

  The theater’s personal caterer stopped him as he passed. “Isaiah! Just a second. I have something for you.”

  Theodora Grove was a smart and gentle woman that the Johannson sisters went out of their way to chat with every day. She’d been part of the Zelder brothers’ lives since they were children.

  Bending, she removed two containers from under her counter. “I made you some of those lemon squares you love and Ezra gets the fudge.” She was short so he bent over the top of her station to kiss her cheek. She blushed brightly and waved her hands at him. “Stop that! People will gossip and you know how it freaks me out.”

  Her bright blue eyes sparkled with laughter. She was one of the few people who had never flinched when she saw his scar. The first time he’d shown her his face without the bandages, she’d inspected the skin around the still-healing wound carefully.

  In his office at the back of the theater, she’d hugged him tightly and cried in relief that he hadn’t been killed. He and his brother had always loved her and been intensely protective.

  “You’re an angel. We’d starve if not for you.”

  Pushing her white-blonde curls away from her face, she rolled her eyes. “I call bullshit. You learned to cook from the same people I did. I just keep you in the sweets you’re both too disciplined to make yourselves.” Tilting her head, she stared at his face for a long moment in silence.

  A huge smile spread over her sweetly pretty features. She told him, “I think I know a secret that involves a lovely young woman who dashed through here a few minutes ago, looking flushed and happier than I’ve ever seen her.”

  His eyes widened and she winked. “You know it’s safe with me. She hugged me so tight when I handed her a bottle of water.”

  Isaiah blinked. “She looked happy?”

  Theodora nodded. “I’d go so far as to say blissful. She was positively glowing and as cheerful as she usually is, that’s saying something. Though…she’s been a bit down lately.” She walked out from behind her station. “Now. Take water with the treats. Get to work and I love how relaxed you look right now. It’s been years since I’ve seen this side of you.”

  He bent and gave her another kiss on the cheek. “Thanks.”

  She nodded and returned to bustling around the extensive station they’d created when she agreed to be in charge of food preparation for the theater. It was one of the best investments they’d ever made and they liked having her close.

  Keeping to the shadows out of habit, he consulted with several members of his crew. In the years since the accident, he’d assembled a group of men he trusted completely.

  The lighting truss that had drastically changed his life had been installed by a man killing time backstage, looking for his big break. The job had been a stepping-stone, nothing more. If it had fallen during a performance, it could have killed someone.

  After walking the perimeter himself, he headed to the lighting and sound booth. His younger brother turned to him. “We ready to roll?”

  Isaiah nodded and handed him Theodora’s gift.

  “She’s determined to make me fat. How I love her efforts.” Popping the top, Ezra wasted no time devouring a piece of the homemade dessert. “She’s got sorcery in her hands.”

  Hands on his hips, he stared down at the rapidly filling theater and the curtained stage. “It’s going to be a packed house.”

  “Word has been spreading about the upstarts from Oklahoma.” Ezra grinned. “When they realize how talented the sisters are, they can eat their catty comments.”

  “Agreed.”

  He could practically feel Ezra’s gaze on him. “You look…different.”

  Isaiah turned to the closest person in his life and told him about his experience with Mikayla. He left out the details but his brother would never utter a word said between them.

  When he was done, he raked his hands through his hair and returned to staring through the large window. “I feel like I’m fifteen with my first major crush.” He focused on the stage. “She’s going to be famous, Ezra.”

  “They’re two of the most naturally gifted women I’ve ever met and they don’t seem to realize it most of the time.” He sighed. “They’re going places.” The tone of his voice made Isaiah turn and his brother shrugged. “I spend so much time with Madeline. Brilliant, gorgeous, smells fantastic. Drives me fucking crazy to imagine her traveling with the play.”

  “You’re an idiot. Make her yours.”

  Ezra’s expression blanked. “We’ll see what happens. She’s the type of woman I could fall for, Isaiah. Really fall for. She’s got it all.”

  His voice was reflective and Isaiah wanted to push but didn’t. It wasn’t the right time.

  Something in the way he said it made Isaiah think his brother had already fallen for Madeline. He wasn’t scarred like the fucking Phantom. If he didn’t pursue her, he would lose her.

  “I’ve watched Mikayla for months. The thought of her looking at me with fear or disgust...I didn’t have it in me to see it. Not from her. After we talked about it, she didn’t even seem to notice the scar.” He ran his hand over the destroyed half of his face. His eyes closed as he remembered the way she touched him. “She called me beautiful and told me to come find her after the show.”

  “Will you?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “I…helped her. I don’t want her to feel like she owes me anything.”

  Ezra was quiet for a long time. “That young woman, she’s been fixated on meeting you, talking to you for a while. She sexually blew your mind, doesn’t notice the scar, and you’re going to let her get away? Who’s the idiot?” He put his hands on the control board with a shake of his head. “Don’t make a choice you’ll regret.” Inhaling deeply, he said, “Let’s help them take New York by storm.”

  Isaiah nodded and did a radio check with his team.

  As was the Zelder brothers’ custom, the first week of shows every new season was used for local charities as a way for
them to raise funds. Their contacts in the world of substantial fortunes ensured that smaller charities received exposure to philanthropists with deep pockets.

  Discounted ticket prices gave everyone time to figure out any small changes they’d need to make before their full marketing press and opening night. Dress rehearsals were good but nothing beat a live audience.

  After he made sure each zone was covered, he uncapped a bottle of water and wondered at Theodora’s comment that Mikayla had looked blissful after her time with him.

  He’d give anything to make her his. To soak up the way she looked at him…as if he was the man he used to be.

  As the thought went through his mind, Isaiah quickly squashed it. She wasn’t meant for him. He would always be more comfortable in the shadows and she belonged in the spotlight. He couldn’t bear the thought of her being with him out of pity or obligation.

  The memory of having her in his arms would carry him through many lonely nights.

  Chapter Four

  Receiving the all clear from backstage, Ezra took the house lights down and brought the stage lights up. The curtain slowly lifted and they took in the set with a critical eye.

  Moments later, music began to play and Mikayla danced out on stage. Every part of Isaiah felt lit from the inside out the second he saw her. Other dancers moved around her but his eyes didn’t stray from the woman who’d made him remember what it was like to be a man for the first time in a very long time.

  He knew within five minutes of their first performance in front of a live audience that the Johansson sisters were going to do it. They were going to be NYC’s next big thing. He was enthralled by Kayla’s every movement.

  Not That Desperate was a musical comedy about a young woman who’d grown bitter in regards to men. When Ezra passed him the script, he’d found the writing highly intelligent and well written. He’d laughed several times reading it.

  The acting and choreography were outstanding.

  Though the set and costumes had an Old World feel to them, the theme of the play was distinctly modern. Ezra once remarked that it was Madeline’s way of thumbing her nose at “how far” women had supposedly come from their downtrodden history.