Double Your Pleasure Bundle (71 page)

Chapter 7

Over the course of the next couple of weeks Jonathon and I dated. As far as he and the rest of the world were concerned it was a real romance, even though my husband and I knew differently.

The fans loved it and my records started selling like hotcakes again. Every magazine and television talk show wanted to interview me again. My last album was going to go platinum any day, and my label was already in talks with my agent about renewing my contract. Everything was working itself out beautifully.

Except things started to get out of hand. One night after dinner, Jonathon asked me to come back to his hotel room. I knew then that we had taken it too far.

“I really can’t,” I said. “I’m shooting a video first thing in the morning and I need my beauty sleep.”

“Just for one drink,” he said, looking at me with his intense blue eyes. Chills ran up and down my spine, and while ever fiber of my being wanted to go, I knew I couldn’t.

“Another night,” I said as I took his hands in mine and kissed him goodbye. I had kept all of my promises to my husband except for the no kissing one. It was all innocent enough in my mind, and besides he was a great kisser.

***

“Do you have any idea how late it is?” Caleb bellowed when I walked through the door. “What the hell have you been doing?”

“Sucking him off, what do you think? I thought we settled all of this. It was just dinner.”

“You get back later and later each time. I’m getting sick and tired of waiting around every night for you to get home, wondering what on earth you’re doing with him.”

“Relax,” I said as I sat down at the table. “I’m not doing anything. It’s just that now that we know each other better we sit around and talk for a long time after dinner. It’s not even intentional. The hours get away from us.”

“I’m only going to ask you once. Are you sleeping with him?”

“Caleb,” I said as I shook my head, “I can’t even believe you asked me that. No, I’m not sleeping with him. You’re the one that made the rules, and I’m the one abiding by them. Remember, it’s you that I come home to every night.”

“I’m sorry,” he said as he looked out the window. “It’s just that I read all about your so-called relationship in the paper every morning and it’s frustrating, you know. We’ve had to keep us a secret for so long, but then everything about him is so public.”

“I know, baby,” I said as I rubbed his back. “It’ll all be over soon. My record sales are back up, and I should be able to arrange for an amicable breakup before you know it.”

He turned around and cupped my face in his hands. “You are the one thing I’ll never get enough of,” he said before he kissed me passionately. “Oh, I almost forgot, Darlene Sampson from EveningLine called. She wants to interview you on her show tomorrow night.”

***

I could hardly wait until the next morning to call Darlene back. I knew in my heart that interview would be the thing that would turn everything around forever. I tossed and turned in bed all night watching the clock until the early light of dawn finally started shining through our bedroom windows.

As soon as nine a.m. rolled around I dialed her number and agreed to be on the show. As soon as I got off the phone with her I called Erica, who squealed with delight. She knew as well as I did that this interview would keep me in business for a long time to come.

***

“You ready to go, Sasha?” Caleb called as I was getting ready for the interview. Darlene Sampson was a big deal. EveningLine was a huge deal. I had to look perfect.

“Almost,” I yelled down the stairs.

“Your car is waiting out front,” he called up. “Get a move on that ass.”

“I’m getting ready as fast as I can,” I said as I rushed down the stairs and out the door.

***

The interview was going really well. Darlene didn’t throw any questions at me that I couldn’t answer. She tried to throw a couple of monkey wrenches about my bad-girl image, but I kept mentioning evolving as an artist and a person.

When she asked why I didn’t do television interviews much, I didn’t say that it was because nobody wanted to interview me anymore. I told her that I saved that energy for my music and my videos, for the fans.

Then she asked me about the prince. I smiled and tried to skirt around the issue. She wouldn’t have any of that. She started showing photos of the two of us together. I sat there helpless as she showed photograph after photograph of the two of us out in public holding hands and kissing.

Many of those photographs hadn’t even made it into the newspapers. I cringed while I watched, wondering how I was going to explain it all to Caleb, because I knew he wouldn’t just dismiss it.

“So, Sasha, you can’t just dismiss this as a casual relationship. When I look at these photographs I see a couple in love. Can you tell us about that?”

I was really sitting in the hot seat and I knew it. I had to think fast. “It’s really important to me to keep my private life as private as I can,” I said. “Being a star, there’s not much in my life that’s just for me, and I’d like to keep my relationship with my prince between him and I.” I was proud of the way I handled it.

“Well, why don’t we bring Prince Jonathon of Sitanisburg out here to see what he has to say about it?” she said. I sat there astonished. I hadn’t even seen him when I was in the greenroom waiting for the announcer to call me out.

The audience cheered while Jonathon made his grand entrance. He walked over to where I sat and held his hands out to take mine. I put my hands in his and he led me to my feet.

As I stood up, he knelt down in front of me on one knee and pulled a small velvet box out of his jacket pocket. My hands flew up over my mouth as he began to speak.

“People think that a prince has everything he needs handed to him,” he said. “But all my life I have looked for a princess to rule my world. I never thought I’d find her until the day I danced on stage with you. Sasha Storms, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife, my princess, my reason for living?”

I didn’t know what to do. The cameras were rolling and I couldn’t embarrass him on international television. He thought I was pondering the question, and opened the box to show me the biggest diamond I’d ever seen in my life surrounded by rubies.

I was so caught up in the moment, in the idea of being a princess, in him. I nodded my head through my tears before I managed to get out a barely audible, “Yes.”

The rest of the interview was a blur to me. I was in shock, still wondering how I was going to fix this. There was no way I could marry one man while still married to the other, and there was no way I was going to leave my husband.

Chapter 8

“Well, if it isn’t princess polygamy herself,” Caleb said when I got home.

“I know,” I said. “I really screwed up. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t embarrass him on television. Besides, look at the ring.” I kept twirling my finger showing it off.

“Listen to yourself, Sasha. You already have a husband, remember? He’s standing right in front of you.”

“I know that. I’m going to break it off with him in the morning. I promise.”

“I think it’s a little late for that,” he said as he turned on the TV and started flipping through channels. Every single station was covering the news of our engagement and upcoming nuptials.

“Oh, God,” I said as I rubbed my temples and sat down. “What have I done?”

“You got carried away, and now you’re stuck riding on the mess you made. I don’t even think Charlie can put a spin on this one.”

“I’ve really done it this time. I’ll end it. I’ll find a way.” I meant what I said, I just had no idea how to go about it.

***

The next morning, Caleb was singing a different tune. “You know, I’ve been thinking. Maybe you should ride out this royal wedding thing. Get some great gifts from royal families from all over the world, retire within the next year, and then come back to me.”

“Have you lost your mind?” I said as I stared at him.

“It’s not a bad idea,” he insisted. “Think about it. No more tours, and we’d be free to be ourselves when you got back.”

“That’s not what’s going to happen,” I said as I stretched and sat up in bed. “I’m going to level with the prince about everything. I think if I’m straight up with him he’ll understand and we can come up with some sort of story about our breakup together.”

“What happened to the Sasha who lived by the seat of her pants?” he said, laughing.

“She landed on her ass one too many times,” I said. We both burst into laughter and he grabbed me and drew me into a kiss. I started unbuttoning his shirt as he kissed my neck. When my cell phone started ringing I tried to ignore it, but it kept distracting me.

“Why don’t you answer that?” he said after he cleared his throat.

“What is it, Erica?” I said impatiently.

“I’m just making sure I’m the maid of honor,” she snickered into the phone. “You must be so excited. Have you set a date?”

“Are you insane? There is no wedding. I’m calling the whole thing off tomorrow.”

“You can’t do that. This is huge. Your sales are tearing up the charts, and you’re number one almost everywhere since the big proposal.”

“You’re kidding.” I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and got my thoughts together. “No, this is where I draw the line. There won’t be a wedding. I’m going to tell Jonathon everything in the morning. I don’t care what it does to my career, but I’m not doing this to Caleb anymore. It’s not fair to him and it’s not fair to Jonathon.”

“Sasha, I want you to really think about this...”

“I already have,” I said as I hung up the phone.

“Hey you,” I said as I grabbed hold of Caleb, who was waiting patiently for my attention. “Now where did we leave off?”

“Right about here,” he said as he threw me up against the wall and pressed his body against mine while he kissed me.

“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “I remember now.” He lifted my shirt up over my head while I unbuttoned his. I gave him a sly grin as I unbuckled his belt and freed his hard cock from the confines of his pants.

We were so desperate for each other that our clothes started flying everywhere while we ripped them off each other. His hardness press against me and I fondled his mushroom-shaped head in my hand.

No matter how many times I’d touched it before, it still held a fascination for me. I loved it, every inch of it. I knelt down in front of him and stared into his eyes as I took him in my mouth. His eyes rolled back in his head while I swirled my tongue around the tip.

I moved my mouth up and down along his shaft while he pushed on the back of my head, moving me along with his rhythm. I was getting hotter by the second, thinking of the feeling of having him inside of me.

As my pussy got wetter and wetter, I fondled his balls with my free hand while I stroked him and continued to suck. I wanted him to fill my throat with his warm cum, to drink it, to devour it.

Just as his muscles were starting to tighten, he pulled my mouth off him and knelt in front of me before he pushed me backward. He climbed on top of me and slowly eased his massive hard cock into me, making me writhe with delight as it filled me.

I wrapped my legs around his back and kissed him as he thrust into me. It felt so good having him take control of me like that. My moans drove him wild, and he practically drove me into the bed while he fucked me harder and faster.

My hands dug into his hips as my legs squeezed him tighter, trying to push him deeper into me. He knew I was getting close, so he reached down between my legs and starting rubbing my clit.

I cried out in unbridled passion while a thunderous orgasm shook my body. I tried to breath through my pants while my moans turned into gasps. Every touch of his hand against my clit felt like an electrical jolt through my entire body and I felt as if I were on fire.

As soon as my release was complete he started thrusting as deeply into me as could while my pussy pulsated against him. His entire body stiffened and he let out a loud groan. I grabbed his hips as he shot spurts of his warm cum up inside my waiting pussy.

We laid there together in a tangled heap until we caught our breath. “I love you,” I whispered before I kissed him goodnight.

“I love you too, princess,” he whispered as he rolled over and wrapped his arms around me. I laid there for hours listening to him breathe. I couldn’t imagine what I’d put him through over the past few weeks, and I knew in his shoes I wouldn’t have been able to handle it.

My career had overtaken my life. Not just my career, everyone had overtaken my life to the point where it wasn’t mine anymore. I thought back to when I worried about having enough money to live. I thought that if I got famous, I wouldn’t have to worry anymore.

I still had plenty of worries, more than ever before. They were just different now. I had to make sure my accountant was paying my bills, worry about who was using me, who was trying to rip me off, and even about investing money to make sure I wouldn’t get taxed on it.

All of those worries brought on migraines, and I couldn’t handle the pressure. Before I knew it I hired more people to make sure that everyone else was doing their jobs. Between the studio, and my agents, my life was planned out for me, or at least my image.

My fans thought the person on the stage was me. But I was a far cry from the fierce woman that took over the stage with the powerful voice. The real me cowered away and let other people make decisions for her.

As I tossed and turned I thought about what stardom had done to me and what it had done to my life. I loved the fans, but I didn’t like what the money had done to my mind. After a while it became all about ways to put more money in my bank account and less about being true to myself.

I’d even made my husband feel like less of a man out in public, all because my handlers told me to. “Having a boyfriend is career suicide,” they’d said. “Your fans will drop off in masses.”

As I laid there contemplating everything in my mind, I wished I could go back to the days when my worries were much simpler. With one exception, of course. I wouldn’t change having met Caleb for anything in the world. He was my savoir. He was the only thing that kept me sane in a world of craziness.

In the morning I would make it all up to him. I decided that first I would explain everything to Jonathon and return the ring. Then I would try to set up an interview with Ophelia, the biggest daytime talk show host of all time, to out myself and my marriage to my fans.

Maybe it was career suicide, but I didn’t care. If my fans truly loved me, they’d understand why I’d kept so many secrets. I also considered outing the industry and how they manipulate young artists like myself into doing things to reinvent ourselves into their vision of our image. I hoped in the end it would all make sense. I finally fell asleep just before the alarm went off.