Page 5 of Nightmare's Dance

Once he was sure I was ready, he pressed against my entrance and, at my nod, worked his way inside.

Moaning at the delicious stretch, I angled myself to take him as deeply as I could in that position. Geraint got his feet under him then stood, grasping my hips with his hands, lifting my butt, and thrust into me, a satisfied groan escaping his lips as he caged himself inside me. We maintained that position for a solid build toward more orgasms before Geraint lowered my hips, kneeled on the bed, and pushed one of my legs to my chest, splitting my thighs and taking advantage of my flexibility. Then he really pounded into me. I panted, crying out as my orgasm built.

We crested together, limbs trembling, breath coming fast, as we shuddered in the aftershocks of our orgasms. We were quick for our first round, but we had a few hours left before we’d need to snatch some sleep prior to brunch, and Geraint wouldn’t let the time go to waste.

Ember

“You two ready for tonight?” Robby, though he hadn’t come back to the apartment until morning, was bright eyed at lunchtime, as always.

Geraint seemed unaffected by our late night, but I clutched my coffee like the lifeline it was.

“Yeah,” I said. “I will be, anyway. Some exercise and a nap and I’ll be good to go by this evening.”

He grinned at me, delighting in my apparent misery. I had no regrets, except that I wasn’t still in bed. Breakfast was tasty, however, so that helped some. Well, it was basically lunchtime, but I was eating breakfast foods.

“Why don’t you two enjoy the rest of the afternoon? I’ll finish packing and deal with the rental agency. We’ll be on the road back to Pennsylvania before you know it.”

Our manager knew I was eager to be home. We’d met Robby in high school, and he’d become fast friends with Geraint. It had taken a little while for him to grow on me, but by the time we were off touring, his knack for making connections and organization had proven itself repeatedly, and making him our manager had been a simple decision.

“Be careful with Max!” I ordered.

“Your precious succulent will be safe with me, Ember,” Robby chided.

“It had better be.” I aimed a fake frown at him before diving into the last of my breakfast.

Geraint laughed, though didn’t object. He might have thought my concern for my little plant was silly, but he never actually said it. I’d “rescued” the poor thing from severe over watering. Soon, I’d be home amongst the gardens I tended through the summer, surrounded by my favorite flowers in my favorite landscape, rolling hills and old-growth forests. I itched to get some time where I didn’t have to perform constantly, and I could relax and water flowers and draw my favorite landscapes. I had a couple of summer commissions waiting for me.

“Let’s go to the park,” Geraint suggested. “We can get some exercise in, and then you can take time to draw that pond you’ve been admiring all winter.”

He always knew just what I wanted.

The weather was perfect, and I agreed immediately.

Geraint left me with Robby to go retrieve my sketchbook, and I sat in comfortable silence with my friend for a few minutes before I remembered my conversation with Casey last night.

“Oh, by the way, Casey has a lead on some Caribbean gigs for the winter. You should talk to her.”

He perked up at that idea. “Excellent. I’ve had a few inquiries about our shows, but I’m still collecting information. We have a lot of interest, so I doubt we’ll have trouble finding something to our liking.”

I smiled at that. It hadn’t always been that way. Before we had made a name for ourselves, the three of us took whatever gigs we could get. These days, people mostly came to us, but it had taken years to get to that point. Geraint and I had another solid decade of performing ahead of us, before we had to decide what was next. My parents wanted me to take over their school. Trouble was, they also wanted to at least partially retire sooner than I wanted to stop traveling. It was an increasingly uncomfortable conversation that we had more and more often. Mostly, I tried to avoid the subject. Mostly, they let me. Thirty was right around the corner, but I didn’t figure I had to think about settling down until I was forty, at least.

I’d finished another coffee by the time Geraint returned with my sketchbook. We both gave Robby a quick hug before heading out to the park, hand in hand. My knight had my bag over my shoulder, and I trusted him to lead the way while I took in the sights.

After six months, this part of New York was very familiar to me. We’d had contracts in New York before, even in the city, but this was the first time I’d been in this area of the state. I enjoyed it, but I was peopled out. Of course, by the end of the summer, I’d be itching to get back on the road. Especially if we got a good gig where white sand beaches and crystal clear water were part of the deal.

“Casey wants to work on that act she’s mentioned a few times if we get in the same gig together,” I said after a few minutes of quiet.

“If you want to do it, you know I’m game.” He squeezed my hand while we walked, his arm brushing against mine.

Geraint rarely objected to anything. He was so easy to get along with. About the only time we’d ever truly argued was when I’d been trying to find someone to hook up with, after he’d turned me down one too many times. For a while, I thought he’d finally agreed to join me in bed just to keep me from going after someone else. Still, we’d been together for several years now, and I never figured out what his objection had been. It was easier to let it go and just enjoy what he gave me. Like it was easier not to press on why he didn’t want to get married. It truly didn’t matter. He’d just never given me an answer that really made sense the handful of times I’d brought it up.

My knight found me the perfect vantage point to observe the lake while we sat in the lush grass and stretched out muscles that were stiff from use yesterday. I paid particular attention to my forearms and shoulders, though all of me got warmed up. Once I was ready, we jogged around the lake a few times before returning to the spot we’d stretched at. We didn’t need a lot of exercise today, just enough to limber up. The entire process took about an hour.

Geraint caught more than one extended stare from some of the women enjoying the park and a few of the men. My knight was tall, muscular, and strong as hell. He had to be to haul me around in the air as effortlessly as he did. I was taller for a gymnast, and though I was lean and strong, I was not nearly as light as the smaller women in my field. Still, my knight and I had trained together since we were little, and he’d adapted as I’d grown.

We would repeat the stretching and warmup later before we performed tonight. After settling with my back against a tree, I pulled out my sketchpad and put my pen to the page.

At one point I noticed Geraint talking to someone, but he often did that as he wandered while I drew. I didn’t think much of it, far more entranced with capturing the play of light across the water with my pen strokes than I was with who my partner talked to.

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