At last, as the applause faded, Mike turned toward the first judge who was openly weeping. She mopped her eyes with a pink hanky.
‘Well, Sasha. Andrei. What can I say? I don’t know if that kiss at the end there was part of the routine or not, but it certainly worked for me. It was an excellent routine and a beautiful climax to a very moving dance.’
The audience screamed appreciation as the next judge held up his hands to silence them and give his verdict.
‘What a start to the grand final that was. And, Andrei, you did all that with an injured ankle? Well done, the both of you. I know which couple has my vote. I can’t see anyone topping that tonight. It’s the best Tango I have ever seen on Celebrity Dance.’
The judge slapped down his pen in glee and smiled at his fellows beside him on the bench.
Andrei’s hand clenched hard on Sasha’s waist. She could feel his trembling as surely as if it were her own. He held her so close to his side that they could have been conjoined. There was no denying their relationship now. The papers would be full of it in the morning. When they glanced at each other while they awaited the judgment of the most camp critic of all, for the first time, they let their affection loose, their happiness warming all who witnessed it.
The judge made eyes at Andrei, making silent comment on his physique, pouting his lips in appreciation.
‘I have seen some hot dances in my time but, phew, I tell you, you two have got to be the hottest. If the public don’t vote for you as winners tonight, I’ll eat your trilby hat! Wonderful!’
The last judge was usually the most difficult of all. He sat quietly in the room of screaming fans, his face deadpan. Sasha experienced a tremor of alarm, wondering where he was going to find fault, as he looked down, twiddled with his pen before looking up again.
‘Darling,’ he smiled suggestively at Sasha. ‘You look good enough to eat. ‘ He paused for effect, making playful eyes at her over his clipboard. ‘But I see your partner has already begun the first course so I’d better let him finish.’
He milked the audience who, loving his camp performance, hurled wolf whistles and innuendos onto the floor. Sasha laughed; it was all right after all. He did like the dance. The applause was so deafening that Mike stepped forward, motioning the crowd to settle down.
‘But, you’ve forgotten to mention the dancing.’
While the audience roared with laughter the judge simpered at the camera. ‘Oh yes, darling, I forgot. Andrei, you have done an amazing job with this girl, really turned her into a dancer and, just between you and me, Sasha, you are my dancing queen.’
Andrei hugged Sasha, rocking her from side to side in delight before leading her to join Vanessa in the holding area. Pandora, dressed in an overly tight turquoise sheath dress, added her admiration in the few moments of airtime left before Joe’s dance began.
‘Wow. How do you feel, Sasha? Do you think you can win it tonight?’
She put a hand to her chest, her heart beating like a rabbits. She spoke breathlessly in a heady combination of excitement and dread.
‘I’ve no idea, Pandora. I just know that the last few weeks have been the best in my life and, if I don’t win, well, we are all winners really, aren’t we? Vanessa, Joe and Me, we’ve all come so far. We’ve all done marvellously.’
‘Very well said, Sasha.’ Pandora made cows eyes into the camera, ‘The judges are ready.’
When the first judge held up a ten Andrei squeezed Sasha’s hand tight. Sasha, in absolute disbelief, leapt up and down. ‘A ten. A ten. Oh, my God, we got a ten…’ Before she had finished squealing and hugging Andrei the next judge also held up a ten. Twice they’d been given the top score, incredible, two top scores!
Andrei cradled her tight, his face buried in her shoulder, his emotion overflowing for everyone to see. Tears glistened on both their faces as they received another ten, and then another and the camera zoomed in to capture the emotion for the benefit of the viewers at home.
Pandora thrust her microphone under their noses again. ‘Forty, Sasha and Andrei, Forty! You can’t do better than that, can you? How do you feel?’
‘I don’t know, I really don’t know. I’m sort of numb.’ Sasha mopped her tears, her bosom heaving with excitement as the camera glided toward Joe who had taken his position and was waiting to dance.
A few seconds later, when Vanessa appeared at her side, Sasha looked down at the girl, barely seeing her, and Vanessa gave a watery smile in return.
‘God, Sasha. I will never dance as well as that. You were amazing. Look at you; you’re beautiful. I might as well congratulate you now.’
Tears shone in Vanessa’s eyes as she acknowledged that she really didn’t stand a chance against Sasha’s natural ability. Slipping an arm around the girl’s shoulder Sasha tried to booster her sliding confidence, knowing how hard it was to take the floor after what looked like a runaway success. She kissed her cheek, her fearful pallor hidden beneath layers of makeup.
‘Of course you can beat an old thing like me. Look at you; you have youth and energy on your side and anyway …you’d better hurry they are calling your name. Go get ready, and go for it, Nessa!’
Andrei, his hand possessively on Sasha’s back, leaned over the balcony and watched Joe moving around the floor in a quickstep. It was harder for the men. They not only had to learn to dance but they had to lead their partner, keeping the steps, the positioning in their heads, the placement of their hands correct at the same time as remembering the rise and fall and the sway that turned an ok dance into a great one. Andrei knew a great dance when he saw one and he knew he wasn’t looking at one now.
‘It’s ok, Sasha. Joe doesn’t stand a cat’s chance in hell of beating us.’ Sasha gripped his hand tighter, his words confirming her own suspicions. As the dance came to an end and Joe and his partner pattered lightly across the floor to take their place before the judges, Sasha caught a glimpse of Vanessa’s dress in the wings as she prepared to go on.
‘Poor love,’ she thought, remembering how, just a short time ago, she had been consumed with identical fears. While the judges called out Joe’s scores, which fell far short of her own, she watched Vanessa trying to calm herself. Taking deep breaths, trying not to worry about the watching audience. Suddenly, as she stood there, Sasha realised that this was the last dance, it was probably the last time any of the celebrities would dance in public again. It was a sad fact.
When Joe tripped up the stairs, his face flushed and sweating in the studio lights, Andrei and Sasha shook his hand, congratulated him on a fight well fought. Neither of them pretended that they weren’t delighted to be so far above him on the leader board. The music began and Sasha turned to lean over the balcony rail again and watch Vanessa on the floor.
She was a pretty girl, light and bubbly, her movements as effervescent as her personality but her dancing was no more than enthusiastic. As she watched them jive Sasha felt certain that they could not beat her. The dance was competent and perky, Vanessa’s swinging ponytail and broad smile not enough to obliterate the heat and passion of their Tango. As the performance ended Sasha clapped and applauded loudly but, all the time, in her heart, she was celebrating her own approaching triumph.
As the judges commented on Vanessa’s dance Sasha and Andrei held their breath. The first judge commended the refreshing exuberance of the dance but felt Vanessa’s foot placements weren’t precise enough. ‘It’s not quite there, Vanessa. You need to sharpen your kicks and finishes, my dear, but I enjoyed watching you. You have entertained us week after week. Well done.’
Time seemed to seep by like cold treacle while Sasha’s stomch churned with anxiety and excitement. Andrei stood stock still at her side as the last judge gushed about Vanessa’s wonderful outfit, her lively personality and the joy it was to watch her. Vanessa hung on her partner’s arm, grinning up at him, ‘It wasn’t the best dance I’ve ever seen but it wasn’t the worst either. On the whole, very well done. It’s a difficult dance to master.�
� Vanessa’s face fell and her eyes dipped as she skipped gracefully up the stairs.
Pandora’s voice came over the speakers, whipping the audience into near hysteria as the judges’ scores were combined with those of the T.V audience. Sasha heard a loud rushing sound in her ears as her own anxiety mounted to unbearable proportions. She turned her face into Andrei’s shoulder, grateful for the warmth of his caressing hand on her shoulder.
The spectators fell silent, tension mounting as Pandora batted her eyelashes and mouthed her now familiar cliché into the camera. ‘The judges are ready.’
Mike, resplendent in Armani, stepped forward into the limelight.
‘Ladies and gentlemen; the scores of the judges have been counted and added to those of the television viewers and I have delight in announcing that the winners of the Celebrity Dance Competition of 2012 are ……
Purple and pink lights flashed around the set as the drums began to roll and the audience and competitors alike held their breaths. Sasha’s heart faltered, began again, thumping deep and hard as the moments seemed to stretch into hours. There was not a sound in the room.
Andrei looked down at the spinning lights on the floor, his hand clenched hard on Sasha’s. He could hear her breath rasping from her chest, feel her body trembling beside him …as the seconds ticked on.
‘Please God, please God …’he heard her pray.
‘Sasha Johnson and Andrei Kovalevsky!’
The studio floor fell into disarray as the crowd went wild, Joe and Vanessa exchanged hugs of condolence and Andrei grabbed Sasha, lifting her high in the air, spinning her around and around in the dizzying lights. He was yelling, his face stretched in ecstatic joy.
Sasha found she was crying; she couldn’t help it. All her pent up doubt and elation and terror merged together and, finding no other release, poured from her eyes. As the confetti spiralled down, settling in her hair and on her eyelashes, Sasha kissed Andrei, laughing through her tears.
And then, through the milling crowd, she saw Yana racing across the ballroom floor toward her, her face alight with happiness. Andrei saw her too and, as the Celebrity Dance trophy was placed in his hands, he passed it straight into Yana’s, scooped her into his arms and held them both high in the air, as if he couldn’t decide which was the greater prize.
They were all there. Her mum and dad; her brother, Jack, who somehow and quite wonderfully, was holding Lisa’s hand but, although Sasha realised that they were together, she had no time to remark on it for Andrei’s mother was waiting to meet her and all her friends from The Mike Bywater Show were pressing close to kiss and congratulate her. Mike, almost weeping with joy and pride, pushed his wife and daughters forward so they could clutch Sasha’s hand and tell her, ‘well done.’
It was like a dream, the most wonderful, marvellous, happy dream that any one had ever dreamt. Everything had worked out. The whole complicated chaos of her life had finally slipped neatly into place. She was a success and people loved her.
It seemed hours later that they found themselves alone in Sasha’s dressing room. Her make-up was spoiled now; the lipstick kissed away, her hair dishevelled from the numerous embraces and hugs of congratulation. He closed the door and turned to where she was reaching up to release the fastening.
‘Here, let me.’
He stood behind her at the mirror while she bowed her head forward, wisps of hair curling at the nape of her neck. Glancing at their reflection, he saw again her delicious shape encased in its superb lace packaging and his body responded as urgently as it had earlier. She was like an early Christmas gift and Andrei wasn’t prepared to wait until the morning to unwrap it.
His hands slid from her neck, beneath her arms to cup her breasts, the lace slightly rough on his fingers, her nipples hardening in response. Sasha released a tiny sigh and leant back against him and he felt the softness of her bottom against the hardening bulge in his groin. Reaching down, he fumbled at her skirt, his fingers discovering the smooth bare skin and the silky strap of her suspenders, above her lacy stocking tops.
Neither of them spoke. In the mirror he saw her eyes were closed so he watched his own hand work its way beneath the lace to grasp her panties, tearing them away, his forefinger travelling down to the moistness of her clitoris. Sasha gasped. Her false lashes fluttering on her blushing cheeks, making her look like an exotic doll. She lay her head back and relaxed into him.
Andrei clenched his teeth, fighting down the impulse to give in and let it end too soon. He tried to think of something else, anything to stop the surging need to take her there and then. Blood coursed through his body as, withdrawing his hands, he ran them across her upper body, cradling her breasts again as he pushed his pelvis against her bottom, pressing her upper body forward so that she leaned across the dressing table, her lace clad behind tantalisingly pert. There was no other woman like her, never had been, never would be.
Lifting her skirt, he exposed her bare bottom to his view, ran his hands across the ripe roundness of her cheeks, his hand creeping further down, between her legs, seeking her moistness. She groaned again and wriggled her hips, turning her head so that their eyes met in the mirror. Sasha smiled shyly, embarrassed that he had been watching the wonderful effect his touch was having on her.
Keeping his eyes on hers, with slow deliberation, he opened his trousers and pressed his hot erection against her, finding her slick entrance straight away. Andrei, with his dark eyes still smouldering on Sasha’s, eased into her, gasping as she clenched and drew him in, holding on to him as if she would never let him go.
Chapter Ten
Sasha opened her eyes. It was Christmas morning. A Christmas different from any she had ever known before. Beside her, oblivious on his pillow lay Andrei Kovalevsky, sprawled in sleep. She blinked and extended her gaze beyond him to the bedside table, where the coveted Celebrity Dance Trophy twinkled proudly in the early morning light.
Stretching her limbs contentedly down the mattress, she rolled onto her back, remembering the elation of the night before. Even after dancing as she had never danced before, making love very thoroughly with Andrei in her dressing room and partying until the small hours, it had taken her ages to get to sleep.
Like a comfortable tabby cat Sasha smiled, her insides curling with pleasure as she remembered the erotic hour they has shared before the party. It had been sensuous and wild, and rather naughty, knowing the chauffeur waited to drive them home, and that reporters were clamouring at the stage doors, ready to besiege them the moment they emerged.
‘Let them wait,’ Andrei had said, sounding rather like Marie Antoinette and Sasha had thought, ‘what the hell.’ Let them think what they liked. She and Andrei were a couple now and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Not the press, not Celia, not even the Queen of England could change it now. They had won, and for Sasha, it meant, not just the trophy but the man she had always dreamed of. It was the pinnacle moment, not just of her career but of her life so far, and nothing could change that, nothing.
But, as they left the studio, bundled into warm coats, Sasha’s post-coital glow tempered behind dark glasses, a messenger had appeared and handed Andrei a letter. It was not until the limo had crossed London Bridge and was merging onto the motorway on its way to the Johnson’s home that Andrei ripped open the envelope. Her mind still reeling with the shock of being the reigning Celebrity Dance champion, she took little notice as he scanned the page but then …
‘My God, Sasha!’
She tried to peer over his shoulder at the scrawled message but he pulled it away, his eyes gleaming with delight. ‘You will never guess.’
‘No, I probably won’t,’ she cried, lunging for the piece of paper that he held tantalisingly aloft, at arms length. ‘Let me see what it says.’
He continued to torment her, waving the paper in her face and snatching it back each time she grabbed for it. In the end, she pouted, folded her arms across her chest and looked so very adorable that Andrei found himself defeate
d.
‘Ok, I’ll tell you. It’s a message from the producers. They want to see me to discuss a televised European spring tour.’
Sasha’s face fell, her eyes instantly tragic.
‘What? When? What about our holiday and spending time together? I’m not ready for you to go careering around Europe without me. They could have given us some time.’
Sasha grabbed for the letter again, taking him by surprise and as he tried to keep hold of it, it ripped cleanly in two. He laid his head on her shoulder, his eyes glinting mischievously.
‘Don’t worry; I will be in safe hands. The woman I will be dancing with is as ugly as sin and I won’t be in the least tempted to make love to her.’
Her life had become an emotional roller coaster and she was unprepared for this dark cloud that was threatening her idyll so soon. She had been so looking forward to spending time away from the public eye, enjoying some quality time with him and Yana.
Her mood swung suddenly from elation to gloom and her mouth turned down, her chin nobbling as she fought back tears. Andrei took one look at her stricken face and his heart turned over.
He reached for her cheek.
‘Hey, Sasha, don’t cry. Not tonight. I was just kidding. Look.’ He held out the letter but she couldn’t read it because her eyes were swimming with tears, so he told her quickly what it said. ‘They want both of us. You will be my partner, if we agree to do it. And it won’t be for a few months at least. These things take ages to arrange.’ He wiped away a tear with his finger.
‘What?’ She snatched his half of the letter away, blinked her wet eyes to confirm what he was telling her.
‘Oh, my God.’ Her smile was watery as hope vanquished anxiety. ‘I thought I’d never dance with you again …not properly, you know, on a dance floor.’
‘I don’t have a professional partner now, Sasha, so the position is open if you want it.’
‘I’m not good enough to be a professional.’
Come, Dance With Me Page 15
