Page 73 of Dance for Me

It swirled faster and faster, all-consuming as it snuck through her body. It set her heart thundering in her chest, her brain to useless mush, and bided its time for the kill as Braun lifted her to the edge of climax and held her there, suspended.

“Come, darlin’. Come with me now. I’m right with you.”

She fell into the waiting maw with a cry, hearing the rumble of Braun’s orgasm as he fell with her just as he promised.

*

Later that night, Braun settled into the seating pit with the quiet smile of a satisfied man on his lips. The damn thing hadn’t left his mouth since that afternoon when, after reducing Bodie into a blissed-out, limp noodle, he’d carried her into the shower and bathed her like a newborn.

She’d stood under the hot water and allowed him to wash every inch of her body—that succulent body he was finally learning every inch of in his unhurried explorations—then been pliant as a kitten while he dried her off and snuggled her into his monstrously oversized robe.

He needed to get her one of her own.

Bless her heart, she’d fallen asleep on a counter stool in the kitchen as he made dinner. One moment they’d been talking about simple things and he’d gained some more information about what her childhood had been like. One sister now disabled and paralyzed from the waist down after an accident. No pets after her father had gutted and skinned her cat as punishment for said accident. Her favorite color was black, she hated candy corn, and music was the one stable element in her life she could count on.

She’d dropped off in mid-sentence, her head pillowed on folded arms resting on the island counter while he checked the vegetables simmering on the stove.

It took his breath away even now, hours later. The visage she made, fast asleep, every inch the innocent he’d defiled. Long, dark eyelashes on pale skin, her hair braided loosely but still damp. He loved her hair.

For Braun, it had been a moment depicting what the rest of their lives together could be like. Bodie, body heavy with child, napping at the counter or in the eating nook, while he did what his nature did best—tended. He’d rub her tired feet every night after a long day of dancing, talk about their day over a good meal, then watch TV or listen to music until he carried her upstairs to their room and made love to her until the world ended.

Sappy asshole.

“Someone looks fucking pleased with himself.” Jasper slapped him on the shoulder as he dropped down beside him. “Has the curse of the blue balls finally abandoned you to plague some other poor sucker?”

“Sure, I sent it your way, buddy. About time you suffered the indignity of blue balls, what with all the subbies vying for your attention.” Braun gestured to the ever-present Anarchy hovering to their left, more than a dozen feet away. It was clear to anyone with a brain cell in his head that the little subbie's focus had laser-sharp intensity, and all of it was for Jasper. “One in particular.”

The sadist glanced toward the sub, eyes brightening with the primal hunger so many women fawned over...until they realized the true extent of his bestial nature. “We’re not talking about my sex life, Braun, but just so we are perfectly clear, I am not getting involved with that tasty morsel. So, back to you and the delightful Boadicea. The deed is done?”

Braun's gaze swept the room, landing on his own sub at the bar. Tonight was a good night, not the frantic heave of Friday and Saturday nights, but a gathering of players small enough to make the evening cozy yet large enough to appease his business sense. “She’s mine, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Jasper almost purred. “Excellent. Perhaps she’ll find a modicum of peace with a strong hand guiding her. She’ll make you work for everything she gives you, but you’ve never backed down from a challenge that I can remember.”

“I told her I love her.”

“You did what now?”

Braun lifted his shoulder. “It’s the truth. It doesn’t scare me, and I figure she should get used to hearing me say it. Might seem too soon, but I’m sunk, J. Pretty damn sure her initials are carved into my heart. I see a future with her and, fuck, I’d kill to have it. To have her in my life, period.”

“As in subbie?”

“As in wife.” His gaze followed her as she accepted a glass from Liam, blushed furiously at something the Master said, then made her way tentatively toward the seating pit. She still carried herself with her innate dancer’s grace, he noted with a proud smirk, but he could see from here how her body protested the foreign new use of her muscles. “As in forever.”

“By God, you work fucking fast,” Jasper breathed. “Are you sure the curse hasn’t just twisted your perception of easy access pussy into something momentarily more permanent?”

“I should belt you for that,” Braun responded casually, fisting his hand in warning. “I know my one when she falls into my lap, brother. Wouldn’t you?”

Jasper glared at his shadow, still lurking several feet away. “Nope. Because the one isn’t always the right one. For either person involved. Sometimes it’s better not to get involved with them at all because you just know someone will end up buried head-first in a five-pint tub of ice cream and drowning in sad fucking romance movies for a week or six.”

“Wow,” Braun said, impressed. “That’s deep. You bury yourself in ice cream often, J? You’ve never asked me around for one of these pity parties—have you been holding out on me?”

“Fuck you.” Jasper jammed his elbow into Braun’s ribs, then smiled at the vision descending the steps into the pit. “If she’s really who you want, I’ll wish you all the best. Could do a helluva lot worse.”

The mellow lighting throughout the area dimmed in comparison to the woman walking toward him in a pair of red boy shorts and a black tank top. Her practice clothes for dance workouts, and the only thing they’d been able to rustle up from her car. She held the glass in her hands like a bomb, afraid jostling it might make the damn thing blow up.

“She’s really who I want,” Braun murmured, entranced by her. His hand slipped around her waist when she stood before him, offering his drink without a word. He took it, set it on the wooden rim of the pit, then pulled her onto his lap. “Do you want to scene tonight, little one, or would you rather just have a quiet evening sitting here for a while?”

Her head cocked, her eyes confused. “I get a choice?”

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