The next day, Emma got a text from her daughters. 'It has begun. Not sure if you can see where you are now, but you've been outed. They aren't being nice.'
Emma texted back, 'Ignore. That's my plan. Thanks for not divulging who I am. I'm sure they figured it out on their own. You know who I really am. If close friends or family ask, you can confirm, but please ask them to respect our privacy.'
Prince came in the living room. Emma looked up from her phone, and he asked, 'How are the girls?'
'They've been better,' she said. 'I've been identified, and apparently the tabloid press isn't being very nice. Not really a surprise. I asked them to ignore things, and stay the course.'
Prince opened his laptop, and pulled up a website, and laughed out loud. 'This picture is from before we ever met! That woman isn't you, it's my manager Kiran! These people are such liars. No more looking. Not worth the energy.'
'I wonder what the girls are so worried about?'
'Emma, there are probably other things out there. We did have to get away from those photographers the other day, and they always go for the least flattering photos, 'cause it results in better click bait for them. I'm not looking at anything else, because I don't want to get all wound up and ruin this beautiful day with beautiful you.'
'Awww,' Emma sighed, snuggling in a little closer. 'You can be the sweetest thing!'
'Can be, mama?' Prince huffed, trying really hard to look annoyed, and failing miserably.
'Everyone can have an off day. I'm just projecting. I haven't seen it yet,' Emma giggled, reassuring Prince. He obviously didn't take teasing quite as well as he dished it out. Oh well, most men didn't. Nothing new.
'Do they have passports? Let's fly them over when we go to Scandinavia or the Netherlands. Which do you think they would prefer?'
'I'll ask them. I'm not sure what their work schedules are, but I'm sure they'd be willing to take a week off to come over and meet you. I'd love to give them a hug and have them get to know you. Of course, Europe is a big draw, too, since they've never been. We got passports this year because I was planning on taking them on a cruise this fall. You just trumped any plan I would have made!'
Emma extended the invitation, and the girls jumped on the idea of the Netherlands, since they could easily travel to Paris from there and finally see the city they'd had as their dream destination for years. That sounded fine to her, and Prince had his assistant make the arrangements and get the plane reservations made. Emma knew the girls would love flying first class, an experience that she would never have been able to give them.
Two nights before their stay in Portugal ended, Emma was on the patio lying back on a comfortably padded chaise, looking at the stars. Prince came out and joined her on the chaise. He snuggled next to her, turned her face toward his, and said, 'You look beautiful in the starlight.'
'Thank you.' Emma smiled at him, tracing his jaw, as she watched the stars reflected in his eyes. 'I've never seen a sky this bright. There's so much I'd never seen before this trip, and I thought I was pretty sophisticated.'
"I know what I'd like to see more of,' 'said Prince, his eyes darkening and his gaze becoming playful and serious simultaneously. He put a wet kiss on Emma's neck, and started a journey down her body, while taking Emma's clothes off, piece by piece. As usual, Emma let him do what he wanted. His expertise in the sensual was beyond anything she could imagine, and it was blissful.
The warm breeze hitting her bare skin felt so sensual. She began returning the favor, taking pieces of clothing and tossing them aside like drifting palm fronds; they were completely unnecessary items. She then had the joy of admiring the beautiful body of this man who had chosen her. Hands and mouths worked in tandem, bringing them both to ecstasy quickly, then much more slowly, savoring this beautiful night, and the layers of sensation they were finding on and in each other. Outdoors was a first for her. Maybe it wouldn't be the last.
Their 'vacation' time wound to a close. Prince still hadn't told Emma he loved her, and she was wondering if that would really happen. She didn't want to take back what she had said, because she meant all of it. An uneasy feeling nagged at her occasionally that he hadn't done the same. Still, she had promised herself that she wouldn't make a decision to leave until the end of the series of concerts. 'The thought of our time together ending hurts too much to dwell on right now,' she thought, as she finished packing suitcases. 'I'm going to keep believing I'm where I'm supposed to be, and with the person I'm supposed to be with.'
They made their way out of Portugal and on to Scandinavia. Two shows in a week was much easier to keep pace with, and there was studio time as well.
Watching Prince in the studio was fascinating. It was easy to tell that much of what he was recording he had already listened to and figured out in his head. He would jump from drums to bass to guitar to keyboards to vocals, with a constant perfect beat and rhythm in place. Emma loved getting to be in the same room to witness all of this. The songs ran the gamut stylistically and emotionally, with political, funny, and sexy songs. There was one song that was very romantic, so beautifully sung Emma wanted to cry, but she couldn't, because he was recording vocals right in front of her at the soundboard.
When he finished that song, he looked over his shoulder and asked, 'Well, what do you think?'' Emma replied, 'It's beautiful. On a par with all your best work. I just want to listen to it over and over, to get everything set in my head.'
'Oh, it's not finished,' Prince replied. 'Some of the lead lines are for horns and some empty spots are for strings. I'll send notes to my people back home, along with the track so they'll know what I'm talking about. They do a great job.'
'I can see why you built your own studio complex. You work so efficiently, and you can obviously multi task much better than most people. How wonderful that you know you are doing what you were put on earth to do, and you get to do it.'
'Don't you know that?', Prince asked.
'Yes, I do, and I am thankful for that. There is a real comfort and confidence in knowing you are fulfilling the mission that was prepared for you, isn't it?' Emma replied.
'Well, what do you think is your mission?' Prince spun his studio chair around so he was squarely facing her.
'To glorify God through the use of my voice, and to teach children to love God, love each other, and love music,' she replied.
'Do you think you have fulfilled your mission?' Prince continued to question her as he moved to sit beside her on the sofa in the control room. He started playing with her hair. 'He obviously has a thing for my hair, he can't keep his hands out of it,' Emma thought, distracted for a moment.
'The singing part as a soloist, yes. The teaching part, probably not entirely. That's why I've continued working with a children's choir at my church in Atlanta.' Emma surprised herself with the clarity of her answer. No one had ever asked her that before, but she'd thought about it lots in the past year. She had spent the last year considering options, believing she would be living alone in the very near future. Now she didn't know what the future held. It felt like the trajectory of her life had changed, but she still didn't feel like she could be sure.
'Do you think you could do that anywhere?' Prince took Emma's hand in his, and began the stroking motions that sent shockwaves all through her body.
'Probably.' Emma replied, while thinking it was strange to have such a spiritual conversation while feeling such physical reactions. Her core was starting to throb with each caress he gave, and she knew her panties were soaked.
'That's good to know,' Prince said. 'I want to talk to you about this more later. I can feel time ticking away, and I want to get as much recording done as possible.'
'No problem, would you like some water or tea?' Emma asked.
'Yes, tea please with way too much honey. I always forget to drink, then I'm surprised at how bad my voice sounds when it's dehydrated.'
Emma fetched and delivered tea, then sat back to watch and listen some more. She continued to be amazed at the seemingly limitless creativity she was witnessing. This day was a rare gift, and she planned to memorize as much of it as possible. She was sitting in a masterclass on how to work in a studio. It obviously was second nature at this point in his career. Prince worked on autopilot, knowing the sequence that worked best for him.
The Scandinavian concerts were both outdoors in beautiful venues. Both of them were more rock oriented, and it was nice to get to know the sweet, young members of his band. The vibe was different, and Emma saw a more nurturing side of Prince as he coached the trio through playing concerts in front of really large audiences. They'd been part of the performances in Switzerland, but those were with a much larger group of musicians on the stage. This was more exposed for them, with a much larger audience. They were brilliantly rehearsed, however, and rarely missed anything. For such young players, they played with depth. Emma stayed in the backstage area for these concerts, ready with water bottles and affection for those rare times Prince was offstage.
There weren't any aftershows, but the girls, their husbands/partners, and Prince and Emma enjoyed each other's company after concerts in a local cafe rented out for the late night/early morning, or whichever penthouse Prince rented for their stay in each town.
The bass player, Ida, was from Denmark, and between her vast knowledge and Prince's prior trips to the region, the group did a little sightseeing on their off days. Prince being Prince, sightseeing was on a very different scale, including renting an entire river cruiser for a cruise through the canals of Stockholm including a multi-course vegetarian meal with Swedish pastries. This was all new to Emma, and she was drinking in sights and experiences she'd never thought she'd have. She was especially fascinated by how comfortable with English people were. It was a little embarrassing, and made her want to get better at the other languages she had a limited knowledge of. Unlike other places in the world, the people of Scandinavia were very respectful of Prince, and didn't hound him. Maybe he was right about cold weather keeping the bad people out.
It was interesting for Emma to discover more about Prince the man. She had thought the Prince she saw in Portugal would be vastly different from the performer, and he was slightly different. His personality was definitely quieter, and he proved to be a deep thinker who loved to expound on and debate ideas; but it had become obvious to her that this was a man consumed by music. She'd known musical geniuses before, but not on this scale.
In order to remain in his life, she realized she would have to either have her own interests within a very flexible schedule so she could tour with him, which she would definitely want to do, or not spend much time with him at all, which sounded miserable. That was a conundrum, because all the church music jobs she had in the past kept her tied down weekend after weekend.
She didn't know how to reconcile the two at that point, so she decided not to worry about it, and just enjoy what she had. What she had was pretty special.
She woke up the next morning to the sensation of slightly callused fingers stroking her, while the mouth she continually craved rained kisses on her forehead, cheeks, and eyelids. When her eyes opened, her mouth was captured and dominated.
She broke off the kiss and confused, asked, 'Good morning?'
All she got in response was, 'Shh. Those aren't the words I want to hear,' as Prince's mouth came crashing back down on hers. Her body responded immediately, hands grabbing, back arching, hips rocking, all in response to the feelings created by her man. It was as if a wildfire broke out in her body, and she wasn't able to use any of her natural reserve. She wanted all of him, immediately, with as little foreplay as possible.
He stopped his kiss to move across her cheek to her ear, lightly tugging on it and then murmuring, 'It starts now,' as he entered he in one swift motion, causing her to fall off into space immediately. His self-control was shattered by the intensity of her reaction, and he followed her quickly, which only magnified her experience. They both were shouting, quivering, and shaking in response to the remarkable sensations their lovemaking created.
When they both could take even breaths and speak again, Prince looked at Emma and said,
'For a minute there, I thought I wasn't coming back. Woman, where did you learn that?'
'From you,' Emma said, as she levered herself on top of him and captured his mouth. 'Wanna go for round two?' His hands reflexively attached themselves to her breasts, manipulating them in ways he had found got an immediate response. He growled, 'As many times as you want, baby,' while making sure he was deeply seated in his new favorite place. It was the start of a long day of sexual exploration, until Prince had to leave for sound check.
After a couple of hours securely held in Prince's arms as they dozed in exhaustion, he left her alone in the bed, returning showered and dressed for his soundcheck.
'Will you have any energy for tonight?' Emma asked, barely able to lift her head, much less her legs, after the thoroughness with which he'd loved her throughout the day.
'Oh, girl, you've fed me so many ways today, I can go on for hours,' he replied. 'Make sure you're downstairs by 7:30 so you can catch a ride over. You'll see how much energy I have.'
She passed out after he left, thankful for the alarm she'd set on her phone. When she came out from under at its incessant ringing, she felt drugged. Staggering to the shower, she first used the hottest water she could stand, then the coldest, to wake her up and bring her back to life.
Getting dressed in another of the outfits Prince had purchased for her, she emerged from the bedroom to find a table set for a meal, and a waitress standing by. She startled a little bit seeing a stranger in what she considered a private space.
'Good evening, madam. Mr. Nelson requested a meal for you before you left for the concert. He wanted you to know the start time has been pushed back to fix some sound issues, so you can take your time.' As Emma seated herself, she was served a Greek salad and pasta primavera, with a crisp white wine and a carafe of water.
Finishing her meal, she quickly brushed her teeth and refreshed her lipstick before getting in the waiting limousine. A part of her felt guilty making all these people wait on her and wait for her, but she knew that in Prince's world, this was the norm. It would be easy to fall in the trap of believing she deserved this kind of treatment, as well. She would have to find ways to keep herself grounded if she was going to remain in his world.
The concert was as energetic as he had promised. Emma was amazed once again at the way he commanded an audience. The other musicians were talented, no doubt, but he easily outshined them all. She almost drooled at the sight of his bare arms, the rest of his upper body covered in a different jerkin than the one he'd worn in Montreux. Knowing those arms had been around her was a heady feeling.
When the final encore had finished, Prince rushed off the stage, grabbed Emma up from her seat on the sofa backstage, and spun her around in a circle so quickly her feet left the ground. She laughed out loud, throwing her head back. When he finally slowed down and her feet touched the ground, she caught her breath and asked,
'What was that for?' Prince leaned in to her ear, and in an intimate tone of voice only she could hear, replied,
'For inspiring my performance tonight. The only reason I finally ended the concert was knowing I'd have you back in my arms again. I'm a junky for your love, Emma. It's what I kept thinking about throughout the concert. Let's get back to the bedroom. I desperately want a repeat.'
'Your wish is my command,' she whispered in his ear.
'Finally,' was his smug response.
A/N-Thanks for your votes and comments. Most of all, thanks for reading!