Doing my best to erase his sadness, I tasted his lips over and over. His breath eventually picked up as the passionate fire inside him sparked under my administrations. His hands came up to tangle in my hair, holding my head tight to his. His tongue passed over mine, teasing me, and a low moan disrupted the stillness of our bedroom. An erotic noise burrowed up from Kellan's chest, mixing with my breathy exhales. My impatient hands ran up and under his shirt. I needed all of the barriers between us gone. Now.

Kellan broke apart from me to help my eager fingers remove his shirt, then instantly sought my lips again once the material was free. I traced the lines and valleys I knew and loved so well. My fingers found the deep V of his lower abdomen, and I tugged on the waistband of his damp shorts, needing those off as well. Kellan helped me there too, and before I could really comprehend it, he was standing before me, completely bare and not the least bit self-conscious about it.

His eyes were hooded as mine roved over his body. He was mine, heart and soul. Sienna may have a brief moment with him-a very tiny, tiny, taste-but she would never have the full magnificence of this stunning man. I almost felt a little sorry for her. Almost.

Breath fast, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him onto the bed. As soon as my back hit the mattress, he started stripping away my clothes. My damp shorts met up with his on the floor, my tankini briefs immediately following. His hands slid up my sides, taking my top with it, and I groaned when my chest was free. His mouth enclosed a nipple, and I delighted in something I knew he wouldn't be able to film with her. Not for a PG-13 music video.

Kellan, also reveling in what was his and his alone, moved my leg up his hip and immediately sank himself into me. I clutched him tight, groaning "Yes" a lot louder than I probably should have.

Kellan sucked in a breath through his teeth. "God, Kiera . . ." he murmured, before he began to move.

Maybe it was the wildly swinging emotions we'd been experiencing just before this moment, but every cell in my body felt energized, alive, and tingling with sensation. And I didn't hold anything back as Kellan and I rocked together. This was ours, and Sienna would never share in it. And even though she was nowhere near us, I let out my joy as if she could hear it.

Kellan did too. And it wasn't too much longer before we were both approaching the crest, our bodies lightly shaking, slightly damp from the exertion. As my cli**x burst through me, I raked my nails down Kellan's back. Not strong enough to draw blood, but strong enough that he would feel it for a while. My little reminder of who we were and what we'd been through. Kellan buried his head into my shoulder. He cried out as his body tensed, then released. I groaned as I felt him, heard him, was one with him.

No, Sienna would never have this. Her pale imitation of this moment wouldn't even come close.

Breath heavy, Kellan rolled to my side. I kissed his cheek and he smiled with his eyes still closed. I watched him as he recovered, mesmerized by him. His smile never faded, but his breathing slowed and evened. When his face relaxed and his breathing turned shallow, I realized that I'd relaxed him right into sleep. That gave me a strange feeling of euphoria. But then I started thinking about Wednesday, and my earlier bravado faltered. Maybe Sienna wouldn't have this moment with him, but was I opening a can of worms by giving them a taste of each other? Was I making a monumental mistake by allowing this to happen?

Stealthily sliding out of bed, I folded the comforter around Kellan so he was covered. After putting on some clean, dry clothes, I picked up Kellan's phone from his nightstand and silently left my sleeping husband. When I got back into the main lounging area, I was expecting to see the other D-Bags waiting around to hear what Kellan had to say. But then my mind replayed the last few moments and I realized that Kellan and I had both been quite vocal, and they probably already knew that I had successfully changed his mind. My cheeks heated, but I ignored the embarrassment. At least no one had walked in on us this time.

Griffin came out of the community bathroom as I was making my way to the deck. I froze when I saw him, wondering what obscene comment he was going to make. With a look of pride on his face, he pointed at my closed bedroom door. "Did you just f**k him into submission?" He held his knuckles up to me. "Nice."

My initial reaction was to scoff, call him a pig, and storm off in a mortified huff. But I'd promised myself that I'd make an attempt to be nice to him, so I shrugged and made myself talk to him. "I changed his mind about doing the video, but . . . now I'm worried that I made a mistake."

As Griffin ran a hand through his hair, I realized that this was the first conversation I'd ever really had with him. It was odd, and I had no idea what he would say, or if I would find it offensive or not.

He made a dismissive sound with his lips. "Nah, don't worry about it. You guys aren't into sharing, so he won't really do anything with her." He winked at me, and I strangely found it charming instead of creepy. "Kell knows what side his dick's buttered on."

Feeling oddly reassured by his absurd expression, I muttered, "Thank you . . . I think."

Griffin laughed as he left the room. "Anytime, Kiera."

Shaking my head, I began to wonder if I'd just entered into some strange sort of opposite world, where I encouraged Kellan to make out with other women and found advice from Griffin comforting. What else was going to happen? Anna and Denny hook up and decide to get married and raise Griffin's baby as their own? That made me laugh as I walked outside. No, no way would those two ever get together. Anna would eat Denny alive.

Palms sweaty, I started pacing near the railing. I had a view of the backyard pool and could see Matt and Evan near the edge, both of them chatting on their cell phones, most likely to Rachel and Jenny. Probably telling them the exciting news about their music video with Sienna Sexton. Internally groaning, I pulled up Kellan's contact list and scrolled through until I found Sienna's number. Kellan was mine, and I wasn't just going to roll over and let somebody else nab him from me.

She picked up almost immediately. "Kellan, what a wonderful surprise. What can I do for you, love?"

I bristled at her charming term of endearment, but tried not to think too much of it. She called everyone "love." "Um, actually, this is Kiera. I'm borrowing Kellan's phone."

"Oh, well, what can I do for you, Kiera?" There was a small trace of disappointment in her accent, but she covered it well with bubbly politeness.

"I just wanted to let you know that I talked Kellan into doing the music video with you," I said.

She couldn't hide the disappointment this time. "He didn't want to do the video?"

I sighed, hating that I had to placate both sides. "He wasn't okay with the direction the director wanted to take it, filming a love scene with you. But I told him . . . it was fine."

"He had to ask for your permission? How . . . quaint." Her amusement was evident. Sienna Sexton probably didn't ask permission for anything.

I hesitated, not really wanting to defend Kellan's actions. And that wasn't really the point of my phone call anyway. "Well, the fact that he's agreed to do it is all that's important. But, I just wanted to know . . ." I inhaled a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "Did I make a mistake encouraging him to film an intimate scene with you? You're used to getting what you want. Woman to woman, be honest with me . . . do you want my husband?"

There was a long pause on Sienna's end. My stomach twisted into a knot that I was positive I would never be able to untangle as I waited for her to say yes. When she did, it came as no surprise. "Yes, I do . . . but not in the way you think." I blinked. That did surprise me. Call me naive, but what other way was there?

Sienna continued before I could ask. "My career has hit a . . . stalling point. I need Kellan to refuel it. Being in the tabloids with him just this short while has done wonders for me. I've already received collaboration offers from other musicians, and just yesterday, I was handed a movie script." As her words sank in, she added, "So, yes, I want him . . . desperately . . . but only for the buzz."

"Oh," I murmured.

"Did you need anything else from me, love?"

My mind still spinning, I told her, "No . . . that was it. Thank you for being honest."

"Sure thing. Ta-ta!" She clicked off the line, and I stared at Kellan's phone for long seconds. Did I believe her? Could I trust her? Only time would tell.

Chapter 11: The Madness Begins

There was an energy in the air the night before the single was to be released; it even alleviated Kellan's qualms about his upcoming sex scene with another woman. It was a tangible feeling that invigorated the band. Like kids waiting for Christmas morning, they were all giddy, excited, restless. As usual, the guys burned off their excess energy by tormenting Griffin. While I feverishly worked on my book, the boys played one of the Halo games. Without verbalizing it, Griffin somehow became everybody's "target." There were a lot of swear words flying around as Griffin slowly lost his cool.

"Quit f**king killing me, Matt!"

Eyes glued to the screen, the blond guitarist did his best to not smile. "Sorry, didn't mean to."

"Evan, dude! You nailed me in the head!"

Evan also tried not to smile. "Oops, my bad."

"Kellan, Jesus Christ! Learn to f**king aim!"

Kellan wasn't as successful at hiding his glee as his band mates started laughing. Griffin threw down his controller. "You guys suck!"

He stormed off to his room, and everybody started laughing. They stopped when Griffin reappeared a minute later with two full-sized Super Soakers. "Die, f**kers!" he yelled before letting loose on the four of us.

I screamed and covered my laptop as best I could. The guys let out surprised exclamations and took off, each one darting toward a different point of retreat. Griffin let out a maniacal laugh, then took off after Matt, who'd dashed downstairs. Evan emerged from his room, bucket of water balloons in hand. At least, I hoped they were water balloons this time. He chased after Griffin, letting out a fierce battle cry as he went. Laughing, Kellan followed after him, eager to join the assault. I shook my head as I listened to the chaos. Men.

There was yelling, banging, cursing, and at one point, Griffin loudly exclaimed, "The hose is cheating, Kellan!"

When they finally resurfaced forty-five minutes later, each and every one of them was soaked. Setting my laptop on the table beside me, I crossed my arms and murmured, "If you think I'm cleaning up the mess you just made downstairs, you're dead wrong."

Smirking, Kellan shook his head. Water droplets fell from his hair, shirt, and his pants. "Don't worry, the maid comes in the morning."

With that, he twisted his body and revealed the bucket behind his back. I had just enough time to tell him, "Don't you dare!" before he flung the contents at me, drenching me with ice cold water.

Screaming, I shot up off the couch. "You are so freaking dead, Kellan Kyle!"

Griffin pursed his lips as I ran past him to get to my soon-to-be-deceased husband. "Oh, she gets feisty when she's angry. That's hot!"

Needless to say, we all stayed up much too late, considering the boys had a radio show interview at the crack of dawn the next day. Then after the interview, we were immediately getting on a plane to start the first leg of the D-Bags' chaotic promo tour for their album. Ready or not, let the madness begin.

When we all ambled downstairs in the morning, bags in hand, Nick was already there waiting. Lifting an eyebrow, he asked, "All ready?" Kellan nodded, yawning. His yawn contagious, I yawned too. Nick smiled at us, then indicated a woman to his right. She was a tall, leggy blonde who was dressed as posh as he was. Her face was stern, cold, impassive, not much in the way of warmth. "This is Tory. She'll be your handler for all of the media interviews."

Tory extended her hand to Kellan. "Nice to officially meet you. Nick has told me many nice things," she said. While her face remained expressionless, her eyes darted down his body.

Kellan shook her hand, asking Nick, "A handler?"

Tory answered his implied question about what a handler was and why he needed one. "I'm the one that lined up all of your interviews. I'll be checking you in for each one, and letting the interviewers know which questions you won't be allowing. I will also end the interview if I feel they are not respecting the label's wishes."