Page 69 of Dance for Me

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Chapter Twelve

It was a good morning when a man woke with a warm, sleeping woman curled on him. This particular woman brought sunshine into his life even though the glimpse of sky he could see through the crack in the curtains was gloomy. Right now, it could toss cats and dogs down from a sky the color of a fresh bruise, and he wouldn’t care.

He had more important plans today than worrying over what the damn weather was doing, and they all involved keeping Bodie in his bed for as long as humanly possible. He doubted it was going to be an easy task—being intimate with him was a huge step for her, and when it came to steps forward, his little subbie had a tendency to backpedal as fast and far as she could.

Unfortunately, whether she knew it or not, she’d met her match in him.

Braun stroked along the length of her spine, feeling her arch into the caress with a soft sigh. He distinctly remembered falling asleep as the big spoon sometime around dawn, yet somehow she’d reclaimed her place on top of him while they slept. Which was fine with him—anytime she wanted to crawl on him and cuddle, he was open to it.

If he had one wish come true this morning—ooops, strike that, make that this afternoon, he thought with a glance at the clock—it was that her inner bitch give them a break and just let them back in the beauty of what transpired in the hours before sunrise.

Events had gone further than he’d been prepared for, he had to admit. He’d acknowledged sex as a possibility, but hadn’t really braced himself for the impact of actuality. Strangely, although he recognized and accepted the responsibility of his actions, they didn’t weigh as heavily on his shoulders as he’d imagined.

Being her first was a privilege, one he hoped vehemently he’d done justice to, and he fully intended to become her first in so many other things. As far as he was concerned, there would be no others for Bodie. Not unless she chose to try a scene under his guidance, with his presence shadowing her every step of the way. And only with one of the other Avalon Masters; he knew them well, they were clean, they were respectful, and they understood the consequences of harming another Master’s sub.

Braun hadn’t lied when he told her he loved her. Love was nothing to joke about; it wasn’t a tool to use to lower a woman’s guard or play with her feelings. Falling in love with her had never been a choice, and he stood to lose a great deal if she threw him aside in search of bigger and better things, but in his mind, the deal was done.

Bodie belonged to him.

Every inch of this leanly muscled body and smooth skin. The turbulent and canny mind behind beautifully haunted eyes. Her innocence—and no, not the one he’d stripped from her just hours before; the inherent innocence staining her down to the soul—was his to maintain and protect for as long as possible.

He grinned, madly in love, when she snuffled and rubbed her cheek over his heart. Who knew he’d surrender it to a woman who swung from pliant to savage in the blink of an eye? Oh, he’d known there was something that day on the street when he’d stood back and watched her dance for shoppers passing her by in the rain.

Something about her. Something waiting for them both.

She’d only confirmed that knowledge when she stormed into Avalon with his cash in her little fist, wielding her attitude like a sword. Had that been when his heart first stumbled and didn’t recover?

Braun ran his fingers gently through the loose tangles of her hair where they spread over his chest. Silky and fragrant, an unfortunate casualty of last night’s adventures. He had a yearning to sit her in front of him and brush out the sleek fall of hair, tend to her in the most basic of ways.

He wondered idly if she’d let him.

Fiercely independent, that was his girl. Hopefully, she would learn to depend on him in time. She was already leaning toward seeing him as a strong shoulder, but she needed to learn to use him as such. She would, in time. It was a hard transition to make after being alone for so long, and independence was a tough trait to loosen her grip on.

A quiet whine broke his attention away from his thoughts and back to the woman moving restlessly now. He was intrigued to discover which side of her came out swinging first.

Her fingers curled over his arm, clutched it tight. “Did you catch him?”

Braun stifled a confused laugh, peering down at her with curiosity. “Catch who, little one?”

She moaned, sighed. “The total jackass who ran me over with a semi and left me for dead. Was it too much to ask for him to finish the job?”

Hmm, she appeared to be in a humorous mood rather than a decapitating one, which boded well for him. He hoped. He gave her a long stroke from neck to ass, feeling her tightening muscle loosen beneath the touch of his palm. The trick now was to keep her just like this. “Leaving you for dead wasn’t quite my intention, darlin’, but if you’d like to try again...”

A laugh snorted against his chest. “Wouldn’t take much to finish me off for good. I think I’d like to live long enough to see my next birthday, if you don’t mind.”

“Are you sure?” His cock was rapidly perking up at the notion of exploring his subbie a second, possibly even third time, if she was so inclined. “We can pull off slow and gentle for the next—when’s your birthday?”

“April twentieth.”

“Yeah, we can pull off slow and gentle for the next three months.” He kneaded her cheeks in his hands, simulating the rhythm of her riding him—because, fuck, she’d almost killed him with the tentative rock of her hips and the clench of her muscles around his cock—and brushed his lips over her eyebrow. “All joking aside for the moment, how are you doing? You feeling okay?”

Bodie sat up, using his chest for support, then swept her hair away from her face with one hand. His heart ached when she winced, but she stayed where she was. “Maybe next time I should do some stretches. My legs think they’ve run a marathon.”

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