Page 24 of Dirty Dancer

“For Theo?” Kellan raised his brows as he slid his hands under my shirt to rest against my bare hips. “You don’t have to thank me for that, Sparrow. He’s family.”

The easy acceptance in his voice and his tone made me sigh. “I don’t think he knows what to think about me.”

“He knows you’re his big sister and that you brought your whole show to Prague to save him and the other kids.” Despite his calm certainty, I still frowned. “Right now… He’s struggling with a lot of things. From the way he was raised to his identity to who he can trust. As someone who was once a fourteen year old boy, if I had a big sister like you—I’d have treasured every moment with her.”

“He doesn’t know me though.”

“He wants to know you. That’s as important. He’s not demanding the time with you or trying to get arrested daily for attention.”

I grimaced at the description, but Kellan chuckled.

“Trust me, we’ve all been there. Me. Vaughn. Even Jasper and Freddie.”

The mention of Freddie brought another sigh out of me.

“He’s one of us, Sparrow. Whether he knows it or not. Whether he’s ready to hear it or not, he’s a Vandal. We’ll keep him safe.”

I knew that. I’d known that from the beginning. Stretching down, I brushed my nose to his. “Sorry…”

“If you apologize to me because you’re bringing me what you’re worried about and letting me address it, I’m going to spank that gorgeous ass of yours until it’s shiny and red.”

My cunt clenched along with my thighs at the description. “Well, technically, I wasn’t going to apologize for that.”

“Uh huh.” Amusement populated his voice. “Then what were you saying sorry for?”

Busted. Still, I didn’t mind anything Kellan wanted to do to me. The man held my heart and my soul, and he’d done everything in his power, along with all the other Vandals, to help me reclaim my body and my mind. “For getting distracted from you and going back to sleep.”

His snort was worth the playful tease. He tugged me forward, then wrapped a hand around my nape. “I don’t care if I haven’t seen you for five minutes, five days, five months or five years—though if it’s five years, trust me when I say you and I will have a lot of words about that—if you need to talk to me about anything, Sparrow, I am here for you.”

A true giggle escaped me. “No way would I let it be five years. I don’t even like more than five weeks.”

Personally, the longest we’d done was six weeks, then a week of downtime, then back on the road again.

“The tour has been extended twice now, but this is a longer break.” We hadn’t really had time to discuss this the nightbefore. “The crew is taking a well-earned break. I released the dancers for a month, so they could take their own breaks or do other gigs in the meanwhile, then we’ll meet up back here in Braxton Harbor to train for the next leg.”

“Four weeks?” Kellan’s smile deepened. “That’s a whole month, Sparrow. I like your confidence and I’m glad everyone is here, but I hope you aren’t planning on a lot of sleep.”

That made me laugh harder. The guys always put my care far ahead of their own. I wasn’t concerned. “Good thing for all of you that being back in peak performance means I have loads of energy.”

“Yes,” he said slowly, stroking his hand down to my ass. The shirt had slid up and he took the time to rub one cheek and then the other. It was gentle petting interspersed with deeper massaging squeezes. Once upon a time, even the suggestion of it would trigger me.

The only thing it made me want to do right now was stretch out like a cat. Particularly with his cock firmly set between my thighs, though a sheet still separated us.

“Are you really enjoying your tour, Sparrow?” The quiet question brought my mind to the present and up from where he was touching me.

“I am,” I said slowly. “I told you about making changes, right?”

“Yes,” he said. “I want to hear more about those while you’re here. It’s not just about the silks, but the stage work, and you’re adding more challenges.”

I smiled. Yes, he always listened to every single word. I soaked up the admission to store away for when self-doubt plagued me. “Yes, Rome is going to perform with me. I want to do more partner work again, some of these I can totally do on my own and I’ll be good at them.”

Cocky? Maybe, but I was pushing my own limits and there were a couple of these I had coming up that would give everyone pause. I truly couldn’t wait.

“I need to be pushed out of my comfort zone though,” I confessed. “This isn’t about sex so much as trusting outside of the bedroom, trusting on the stage and in the air.”

“Rome will never hurt you,” Kellan said, not that I needed the assurance.

“I know he won’t. He also knows my routines better than I do sometimes. I worried when he first volunteered that he was only offering because I wanted someone to partner with.”

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