Drive Him Wild (THE BILLIONAIRE AND THE POP DIVA Volume 2) (3 page)

She missed her cue again. Dorian was really flashing him daggers now. Boy, this guy took his job way too seriously. She mouthed “relax” to him.

He glared at her.

But really, she’d better concentrate on her final song or she’d land in a hospital.

It was all his fault! THAT man!

Hah, are you regretting your decision now?

Of course not! Saying no to that delicious piece of…of…of…

Dorian was at her side, gyrating his sexy, super-toned body next to hers. He covered the little wireless mic attached to her head with his hand and fairly growled in her ear so she would hear him amid the pounding of drums.

“Vanna, what the hell are you singing?! Is that a fucking adlib? You’re still in the middle of the song!”

What…? Oh frosh! Did she sing her thoughts out loud? Just what exactly came out of her mouth?

“Concentrate! We’re almost done!”

Dorian slithered away.

Okay, okay, okay. She swore that Italian stallion was gonna cost her her precious career.

Italian Stallion? You’re starting to sound like a cheap ad for a cheap porn flick, bitch. You just cannot get over the fact that you turned down those kisses…those delicious, delicious…yummy…

I bet he smells good everywhere. How many times does he take a bath in a day?

Like what do you care now, huh? You let him go. Now, you’re gonna choose from your other bidders who are mostly over-fifty billionaires by the way but since they are of a religion that allows them multiple wives, you’re just an expensive diversion. But at least you’re more famous than their wives and the winner will certainly frame your hymen’s blood, and maybe one day auction it too. Hard Rock will most probably buy it since you’re considered semi-genius in your field said the Grammy peeps and put it in their Vegas branch as a thing of curiosity and people will flock around it and laugh some more at the most expensive cherry in the world and hail the ole bloke who popped it as the biggest fool in history. Like who would buy Valenna Jone’s overripe cherry? Of course, only a desperate old man who wanted to prove his dwindling virility.

Or you can choose Kim and meet him in North Korea. He’s 32 and really not
bad-looking
—

The next thing she knew, she landed hard on her butt.

Giane nearly leaped up the stage
to help her
but her dancers quickly came to her aid. She was back on her feet in a flash.

Cazzo,
just what was she attempting to do anyway?

“Hey, who spilled cherry coke on the floor and forgot to wipe it?” she addressed her screaming fans jokingly.

She was rewarded by louder screams.

Did she just say cherry?

He smiled.
Words of wisdom, baby. That cherry is definitely going to get whipped in cream soon.

Thick ropes made of cloth suddenly dropped in front of her. She removed her veil and tossed it away. “Are you ready to fly with me?!” she asked her audience.

Screams to the rafters.

Giane swallowed hard when Valenna held the fat ropes in both hands, hooking her upper arms on them.

Then she was being lifted in the air, slowly, like a rising angel.

What the…?

Her wedding gown which didn’t have a bottom from his vantage point save for a white body suit, made her glow like a diamond in the dark as the spotlight trailed her ascent.

She started singing a ballad, her voice echoing in the entire stadium, its power and beauty magnified by her magnificent display of physicality.

Higher and higher she went until he was craning his neck to watch her above. She was far and yet close enough that he could still see every curve of her body.

Like a gymnast, she fluidly lifted her legs and deftly coiled the silk ropes around them and then…holy mother of cherries, she was splitting them at 180 degrees, giving everyone a fantastic view of her...

Cazzo!

The rest was left to the imagination, but his was vivid. As vivid as the taste of her lips that seemed to have been imprinted on his own last night.

Dio,
she could move like THAT?! What can she possibly not do when engaged in the carnal dance? Such awesome strength and flexibility and yet she was all sweet curves in the right places.

Titus was cussing beside him. His bodyguard’s mouth was open as he stared awestruck at the angel above them. The thought of Titus fantasizing about Valenna in a sexual way nearly made him ram his fist between his unsuspecting bodyguard’s slack jaws.

But then again, every man inside the stadium tonight was probably aware of the auction and they were all looking at her up there, legs wide open, with the same thought in mind.

Gnashing his teeth, he watched as she did a series of fluid moves and she was upside down, spinning, her voice never breaking.

His heart was beating on triple-time now he felt like having a heart attack.

Merda,
what insanity was this?! Who made her do such dangerous stunts? Was she even wearing a harness? He couldn’t see any harness.

What if she fell?

There was no fucking net!

Could he catch her?

Dio
, she was insane! Totally! But it was such a beautiful, breathtaking performance, and he couldn’t do anything but watch her spin in the air like a winged goddess dancing in the sky in wild abandon.

Dazzling.

Mesmerizing.

Magical.

His.

Totally. Absolutely. His.

Valenna came out of the dressing room with her entourage.
It was decision time. She had reviewed the personal backgrounds of the winning bidders and she would have to make her choice.

She'd thought she would be calm and collected when it was time to choose her cherry-popper but she was antsy, her nerves clawing at her insides like corrosive acid.

Dammit, these feelings were absent before she met HIM last night. She was all gung ho about everything and then he came a-knocking on her door and quickly disrupted the order of things.

Everything was set and running according to plan. She was prepared to lose her cherry the way she had designed it. One night of safe sex on her terms
—
no abuse in whatever form, just straight, traditional sex as specified in her rules. It would be a brief association without the pressure of a deep emotional entanglement, much like a one night stand, except that she’d get paid for it. Well, truthfully, much like the highest paid hooker in history, but that was just semantics and she had stared everyone in the eye who’d righteously questioned her morals and motives. The proceeds of this “fundraiser” would all go to her Art For Freedom school and more likely turn it into the best of its kind in the world. Really, a small sacrifice for a huge cause. What was so immoral with that?

Meaningless sex,
whispered the smartass in her head who was suddenly waxing poetic over a blue-eyed Italian who kissed like her Grammy-award-winning songs.

Lots of women have lost their cherries in meaningless circumstances over men they didn’t even care about,
she had rationalized many times just to shut up the nagging misgivings that were suddenly raining on her parade. Anouska had quoted an article from a reputed auction blog ran by a prestigious organization that she was being hailed as a genius in the trade as nobody in history had ever sold their cherries for such an astronomical price. That should have encouraged her to carry out her “mission’ to the last drop with no regrets but it made her feel worse. To the last drop. She winced inwardly. Indeed, she will bleed some, maybe, for her cause. After all, all heroes had bled one way or another, literally and figuratively for their causes. But she wished it was with the man she really liked.

There it was, the crux of the matter.

From the beginning, this auction was never about the highest bidder. That was only secondary. It was about losing her cherry to the man she liked. And she found him. Or rather he found her. She really, really liked him and apparently, he really really liked her as well, as his bid trumped everyone’s by fifteen million dollars. Alas, she was fucking Brigitte too and that was the deal breaker. No way will she fuck a dick who had been partying with that harlot’s pussy. Her pride was firmly atop her hormones. The moment the press got a whiff of this, they would easily put two and two together and she would be back to being the laughingstock, the poor girl whose choice of lovers preferred to fuck Brigitte FIRST.

She had never taken well to second best. Second best had no room in her very competitive world. No, she could not afford to go back in that hellhole of self-pity that took her more than a year to recover from. She still hurt some whenever she’d think of the good times with Kerion but she was almost done with the recovery phase. Being at the top of the charts again sure helped repair her badly-damaged ego and restore her self-confidence. Her album, Break The Bull was No. 1 in the world right now, in all American pop-consuming countries. Her world tour had sold out every single arena. Her die hard fans were waiting for her in almost a dozen different countries.

Reminded of the reason she was turning down the only man who had really made her ovaries nearly explode on their first meeting, so to speak, her resolve came back.

Quit thinking of him and get your act together, bitch. Take charge. This is your show, the biggest spectacle in the world right now and everybody’s watching. You’d better give it a happy ending since you wrote the froshing script or you’d never hear the end of it from your detractors.

In the hallway, she was met by Gina Harper, her publicist and the PR in-charge of her tour.

“Vanna, the press are waiting for you.”

“Do we have time for this, Gina? I need to meet some important people.”

“Yes, I know but this has been organized by your biggest media supporters here in Oz. We cannot say no to them.”

“Okay, fifteen minutes. Did you brief them what not to ask me?”

“Yes, I did. But expect questions about the auction.”

She sighed. “Can I plead the fifth on that?”

“How can you do that when you made it so public in the first place? You created this shit. Now it’s gonna hit the fan.”

She gave Gina an annoyed look. “Why do you all sound the same?”

“You mean, why do we sound like you?” Gina exchanged meaningful looks with Nusha and Baba who were walking beside them. They smiled at each other knowingly.

Valenna rolled her eyes. As usual, she was outnumbered. She had been with her staff a long time and they knew each other pretty well like family.

A man opened the door for them at the end of the hallway.

She was greeted by probably two dozens of media people inside the room. They froze for a bit when they saw her emerge but went back to business quickly. Cameras started flashing.

Baba guided her to the center of the elevated platform. She sat down, trying not to blink rapidly at the camera flashes. She’d learned how to do that so she would always look good in the pictures with her eyes open.

She settled on a chair. Gina sat to her left and Nusha to her right.

Valenna flashed them a big smile. “Hello, Oz! So happy to see you guys, again!”

They greeted her back.

“First, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your warm welcome and all the support you’ve given me and my people here in Oz during my short stay. I consider this country like a home too and try to enjoy the sights whenever I’m here. I hope to return again soon for another show and I hope to see you all again. I apologize that I’ve only a few minutes to spare. I’ll have another junket tomorrow and you’re all invited. So…” She tapped the table lightly, “Let’s get this thing rolling. I will only answer five questions, so make ‘em count.”

Hands were raised. She chose one reporter.

“Valenna, the entire world is waiting for the result of your auction. Have you chosen a winner?”

She moved her face closer to the mic. “Uhm, Yes, I have decided—”

“Indeed, she has chosen a winner.”

She froze.

All eyes went wide.

Total silence wiped out all the noise in the room for several seconds.

“The bidding closed last night at fifty million dollars. My bid.”

Eyes popped out.

Gasps and murmurs.

Valenna swallowed hard, nearly choking on her saliva.

Pandemonium erupted.

Cameras flashed furiously again. They were not taking her pictures this time, she was sure. They were aiming their cams at somebody behind her. Somebody probably more famous than her here in Oz.

“She has chosen me!” His baritone voice reverberated above the noise. “Her cherry is mine!”

All the hair on her head seemed to rise up in further shock.

He didn’t just shout that out, DID HE?!

She slowly turned around.

GAME ON

HE WAS STANDING BETWEEN
Baba and his bodyguard, Titus, looking all confident and cocky in an all-black outfit.