by Alexis Angel
That’s about all it ever amounted to. Fun while it lasted.
I vaguely notice she’s wearing some designer dress that probably makes her look even more amazing than usual, and her hair is done in the latest fashion. I think she must have gotten some lip injections since I last saw her, too, though I can’t be sure. She was always making that pouty face. Anyway, I’m sure she looks great, but I barely register any of it as she sidles up to me and slides down next to me on the plush booth. My mind is somewhere else entirely.
“Kane,” Carissa purrs. “Long time no see. You look as fuckable as ever.”
I lift one corner of my mouth in what I hope passes for a smile. Did that shit really used to do it for me? Telling me how fuckable I am?
I shrug. “You look nice, too.”
I feel rather than see her recoil in shock because I’m too busy scanning the crowd to really pay her much attention. “Nice? I look nice?”
“Yeah,” I mutter, wondering how long she’s going to stick around. “Did you come here alone?” I ask.
“Sorry, I’m still stuck on the fact you think I look nice,” she says, and I finally turn to her. She’s pouting, as usual—unless it’s the lip injections—and looking like I actually insulted her or something.
“Sorry?” I say, shaking my head. This chick is a piece of work.
She seems to take the word at face value because she smiles again and cuddles up next to me, resting her hand right on top of my cock and squeezing.
“I was hoping I might see you here tonight, Kane,” she says. “I’ve just been so frustrated lately. Nobody can make me feel the way you do. I need some of this magic cock in my life.” She squeezes again for emphasis, obviously hoping to get me going, but my reaction is pretty much nonexistent. She tries again, whispering in my ear. “Take me home and fuck me.”
Her hot breath on me makes me cringe, and I try to peel her off of me.
“Sorry, Carissa, not tonight.”
By the way her face contorts, you’d think I just told her she smelled like rotten fish. “Are you fucking with me, Kane? ‘Not tonight?’ Since when do you turn down sex with me?”
Since right now, bitch, I want to say. What is it with these entitled women I keep dealing with? And why am I just now noticing how obnoxious it is?
I stand up, ready to leave, but she grabs my arm, her nails digging into me like talons. “Don’t you dare walk away from me. You will not embarrass me like this.”
No, embarrassing her was not my intention, but she’s doing a damn good job of it herself. Heads turn our way, and I see a few phones point at us. Whatever. I’m so not in the mood for this. Pulling my arm back, I simply turn away and head for the exit, not bothering to look back at the gasp of shock Carissa lets out. I just make my way to the valet station.
Standing outside the club, I hope this isn’t an indication of how things are going to be. This is supposed to be the place I go when I need to relax, to let loose. And now I can’t wait to get out of here. Even more disturbing, I just turned down sex with the woman who was just voted the hottest girl on the planet. And as much as I tried, I can’t get Sasha out of my mind. What the fuck?
As the driver pulls up with my car, I’m hit with a realization. This can only mean one thing. However new they are, there’s no denying it. I have feelings for Sasha.
15
Kane
Okay, I can do this. I’m a professional. Acting is in my blood. I’ve been doing this successfully for years and years. It’s my job. There’s no reason why I can’t go in to work today and just be normal. Just get through the day like it’s any other day of shooting.
There’s absolutely, positively no reason whatsoever that I need to think about the realization I had the other night at the club. Except that I can’t think about anything else.
I know how I feel about Sasha. She’s different from all the other women I’ve been around in the entertainment industry, and I really want to get to know her on a personal level. But I also want to get to know her even better on a physical level. And the scenes we have to shoot today are going to kill me if I can’t get it together and figure out how to be a professional again.
I go through hair and makeup in a bit of a daze trying to psych myself up for the scene. This is going to be another sexy, flirty scene. Like most of mine with Sasha are. The director really likes the way our chemistry is translating to the screen, and the writers have adjusted the script to include even more flirting and seduction.
When it’s time to take our places on the soundstage, I remind myself what’s at stake here. This is about more than me being intrigued by a woman or me wanting to get my dick wet. Sasha’s career is on the line here. If that’s not enough to make me pull it together and be professional, I don’t know what is.
She gives me a little smile when she joins me on the soundstage, and I’m pretty sure I see just as much longing and desire there as I feel. I wonder if it’s as obvious to everyone else as it is to me. Fuck, I hope not.
The director calls Action, and the scene begins.
Sasha saunters up to me, all naughty seduction, dressed in some slinky excuse for pajamas. The scene is supposed to take place at my character’s house. Sasha is spending the night with Alberta’s character and has woken up in the middle of the night and come downstairs in a tiny little gown that’s white and sheer. What girl actually wears something like that to spend the night at her friend’s house? But whatever. It makes good TV. And I’m sure loving it at the moment.
“Oh,” she says in character, feigning surprise with a wicked gleam in her eye, “I didn’t know you’d be down here, sir.”
“Oh, didn’t you?” I say. I’m dressed in nothing but boxer briefs, of course. Hell, I’m surprised the directors didn’t have me naked for this scene. They do love to flaunt my giant cock on their uncensored network.
“No. I just came down for a glass of water. I think I got overheated.” She fans herself with her hand, watching me from the corner of her eye.
“Too hot,” I say in a growly voice, the one they tell me the female viewers love.
She nods, an overly innocent expression on her face. “Yes. I was thinking about…”
Sasha looks away demurely, but I know the camera has her on an angle where they can film the devious look I know is supposed to be there.
“Thinking about what?” I prod. I know what’s coming, and my cock is already responding.
She shakes her head, and I grip her arms and lean forward so that my chest is pressed against her back. She lets out a soft little gasp that seals the deal for my dick. He’s good and hard now. Taking a deep breath, I force myself to just play a role. To not respond to the very real attraction I’m feeling for Sasha this very second. I pull back slightly so that I’m not pressed so close to her warm, smooth skin.
“Tell me,” I say, my voice just as stiff as my cock.
“I’ve been such a bad girl,” she says. “When I was upstairs, I couldn’t stop wondering if you’d be down here. Or what you’d be wearing. If you’d be wearing anything.” She says the lines in that sexy voice that turns me on so much, but there’s something off about them. Something different from before. I pull back even further and loosen my grip on her arms, keeping my hands there but just resting them lightly against her.
“What else did you think about?” I ask.
“I wondered if you’d be naked, and what you’d look like,” she whispers, and again there’s something different in her voice. “And then I touched myself.”
Aw, fuck. Even though I know what the lines are ahead of time, hearing Sasha say them still gets to me.
“You've been a bad girl,” I say, wishing there were no cameras right now so I could just cut out all the acting and turn her around, yank that sheer gown off her luscious body, and settle her right down on top of my dick. “I think I might just have to teach you a lesson.”
She turns to me, her eyes dark with lust, and I know she isn’t just playing a part ri
ght now. “Teach me.”
Just as I start to reach for her to pull her close, the director calls, “Cut!”
I heave a giant breath and lean back on the sofa. This is too fucking hard. I’ve never struggled through a scene like this before.
“What the fuck was that?” the director shouts, approaching us and waving his arms.
Sasha gives me a nervous look, and I shrug, looking back at him. “What?”
“You two look like you couldn’t be more uncomfortable right now. You’re coming off totally stiff and wooden.”
I scoff. That's the understatement of the year. Stiff and wooden don’t even begin to describe the current condition of my body.
“I’m so sorry,” Sasha blurts out. “I’m just nervous to do this scene.”
She’s not nervous. She’s already a pro. But apparently neither one of us are able to hide how we’re feeling, so we’re compensating by holding back.
“No, it’s my fault,” I say. I’ll be damned if I let her take the blame. “I’m tired. Stayed out too late last night.”
That’s a lie, but it works.
The director sighs. “Fine. We’ll shoot something else today. Just go get some rest. We need you fresh tomorrow.”
Get some rest. Yeah right. Not with what Sasha’s doing to me. I don’t know how I’m going to make it day after day like this with her and not be able to have her now that I know just what it is I’m missing out on.
16
Sasha
“All you need is —”
“Thick skin,” Stefan nods, finishing Jasmine’s sentence.
Even though they’re just playing as twins on screen, no one would doubt them if they said they’re twins in real life. Sure, they don’t really look alike, but the chemistry between them is off the charts. Not sexual chemistry, mind you, but something that I would definitely compare to a brother-sister relationship. They finish each other’s lines all the time, and they always seem to hang around together. Always cracking jokes and teasing each other, these two have a relationship as close as the one I have with Laurel.
“Besides, I wouldn’t worry too much. You’ve been doing great ever since you got here,” Jasmine continues, taking a bite out of the turkey sandwich in her hands.
“That’s right. We all got scolded by the directors every single day of shooting during our first weeks,” Stefan agrees, reaching for Jasmine’s tray and stealing a handful of French fries. “You’ve been at this for a few days now, and this is the first time you haven’t managed to pull off a scene. So, really...You’re basically bummed out because that scene was a combo-breaker.”
“Yup,” Jasmine nods. “You’re just having a rough day. Don’t read too much into it.”
“Thank you, guys, really,” I start, pushing around the peas on my plate with my fork. “Working in a production like this one...It’s intense,” I tell them, feeling good that I have someone with whom I can shoot the shit and get things off my chest. Sure, I have Laurel...But it’s different when you’re talking to someone who understands exactly what you’re going through.
I guess I could just as easily talk about all these things with Kane, but that’d be a risk. I doubt I’d get three sentences out of my mouth before I finally fell on my knees in front of him. Ever since that time in my dressing room I can barely think of something else. I even dreamt of him last night, can you imagine it?
“Don’t worry ‘bout it. We gotta have each other’s back. Besides, everyone on set loves you,” Jasmine tells me with a smile, and I can’t help but smile back at her.
“Alberta doesn’t seem to love me that much, though…” I sigh, lowering my gaze again and pushing the peas around. I thought that putting something down my stomach would help me recover from screwing up the scene, but I haven’t even been able to work up an appetite.
“Alberta’s a bitch,” Stefan tells me right away, not even bothering to beat around the bush. That earns him a quick elbow from Jasmine in his ribs, and he just shrugs. “What? You know it’s true.”
“Yeah,” Jasmine whispers. “But you don’t need to be shouting it in the mess hall, do you? But, yeah, Stefan’s right,” she admits, looking at me with a resigned smile. “It isn’t easy working with her, especially because she has a penchant for backstabbing people.”
“Just pretend that you’re in a Game of Thrones kind of set, Sasha, and it’ll work out,” Stefan tells me with a shrug, and I just look at him trying to understand his joke. “You know, backstabbing people and all that?”
“Oh,” I laugh, “for a moment I thought I was at risk of losing my head.”
“Well, unless Ryan gives Alberta supreme command over all our fates, I doubt that’ll happen. So, cheer up, you have a long life ahead of you.”
“At least there’s that,” I continue to laugh, but my voice quickly falters as I see the last person to walk inside the mess hall. With his hands in his pockets, the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up to his elbows, Kane walks in as if he owns the place.
Okay, be cool, Sasha, I encourage myself, my heart suddenly starting to race. I feel my hand start to tremble, and I place it palm-down on the table so that no one can see how nervous I am.
“Mind if join?” Kane asks the three of us, grabbing the back of one chair.
“Sure, daddy,” Stefan and Jasmine tell him at the same time, and then they just burst up laughing. Kane’s character always seems to find himself in weird situations, and the script always plays that up by using the ‘father’ angle. Whenever the twins have the chance to tease him about it, that’s exactly what they do.
“Really funny, guys,” Kane says, sitting down right next to me. I look straight down, too nervous to meet his gaze, and go back to playing with the food on my plate.
“Your next scene is a spicy one, huh?” Jasmine asks us distractedly, and I have to take a deep breath to stop my head from blowing up. I’ve been trying all day not to think of the sex scene I’ll have to shoot with Kane, but there’s no escaping it.
“It’s just another scene,” Kane tells her, his tone of voice so casual that I almost believe what he’s saying. Yeah, it’s just another scene, right—one where the two of us will be half-naked in bed, making out like horny teenagers.
“Yup, just another scene,” I agree, trying to follow Kane’s lead and act as casually as possible.
“We’re used to it by now,” he continues, looking at me with a disarming smile. “Acting together, I mean.”
“Yeah,” I agree, my tone of voice almost too desperate. “We can act without allowing sex to get in the way.” My hand goes back to shaking as I say that, and I flatten it over the surface of the table, taking a deep breath as I do it. The tension between Kane and I is so thick that you could cut it in slices with a knife.
“Sex scenes are fun,” Stefan tells me distractedly, but then he exchanges a glance with Jasmine. I’m almost sure that they’ve noticed the tension between Kane and I but, thankfully, they don’t say a word about it.
“Sex is fun,” Jasmine adds, correcting Stefan with a devious smile. As she says it, she looks straight at me...Almost as if she knows exactly what happened between Kane and I. Oh, God.
“Okay, um, I gotta go and prepare,” I tell the three of them, pushing my chair back and jumping up to my feet. “I still have to study today’s script,” I continue, my mind working at a thousand miles per hour. Patting the front of my dress nervously, I then turn around and start walking out the mess hall.
Jesus, I barely survived lunch just now...How the hell am I going to survive the rest of the season?
17
TV Roundup!
Chase: And a very hearty welcome to you folks out there from us in TV Land! I'm your host for TV Roundup, Chase Worthington.
Nadia: And I'm your co-host, Nadia Moore.
Chase: Well the moment in Manhattan Reign that we've all been waiting for is finally coming, folks!
Nadia: That's right. All signs point to Katya, played by Sasha Carlton, to
have her first on air sex scene with Kane Parker, star of the hit show.
Chase: Audiences are lighting up social media wondering how the pair will look on camera.
Nadia: That's right, Chase. The duo, already familiar and popular with viewers, has the whole nation at the edge of their seats as we wait for the fateful scene.
Chase: I know I'm ready for it.
Nadia: Of course you are. You've been lusting after Sasha Carlton since she first set foot on the show.
Chase: It doesn't hurt that she was named Sexiest Debut TV Star by the New York Daily Journal. Taking her place next to Kane Parker who has been named Sexiest Man on TV for the fourth year in a row.
Nadia: But my spies tell me that all is not well on the cast of Manhattan Reign. Because who do you think was the Sexiest Woman On TV before Sasha came into the picture as Katya the foreign exchange student?
Chase: None other than Alberta, I presume.
Nadia: That's right. And my spies tell me that things are not happy on the set. Looks like Sasha may be stepping on some pretty little toes. But while things are tense, they haven't blown up yet.
Chase: But that doesn't stop viewers from speculating whether Kane and Sasha have hooked up.
Nadia: Not in the slightest. In fact there a giant poll trending on Twitter right now that asks how many people think that the two stars should get together and do the dirty. Overwhelmingly, the population is voting at 97% that the two should do the nasty.
Chase: Neither of the stars is commenting on whether they've attempted any sort of romantic liaison—
Nadia: Chase, you know you can say "fucking" on the air, right? No one is going to fine you.
Chase: Right. Sorry. So, neither Kane nor Sasha has commented on whether they've fucked. When reporters asked Sasha's PA, Laurel Berg, she only said: "We'll see."