Page 62 of Dance for Me

Instead she’d slipped under his skin and lodged in his heart so now nothing mattered but taking care of her. It was too late to turn back—if he refused her now, she’d either be so emotionally wounded on top of copious other scars that she’d never reach out again and deny herself the wonder of connecting with a lover, or she would go out and fuck the first guy who didn’t set off her warning radar.

She’d probably do the latter just to spite him.

Images of her climbing Atticus and riding him like a racehorse in the Derby had Braun’s hands clenching into fists on the tiles.

No, he could this. He had her trust, didn’t he? His had taken a bit of a knock, but it could be rebuilt if she found the courage to be honest with him in the morning. One thing he’d learned from the lifestyle was that there was a reason for everything.

Bodie had her reasons, and the ones he’d heard were good enough not to kick her out of his life. But he wanted all of them. She needed to lay the whole fucking mess down on the table so he could see which way they had to go to solve the problems.

It wasn’t like he’d been with inexperienced women before. Playing a woman’s body was a game to him—find the sweet spots, the ones that made her sing, the ones that burned her throat with screams and soothed her from lofty heights, and wield the knowledge with skill.

With Bodie, he might just have to move a fraction slower and make damn sure she was in the same headspace. Rather than banging her against the wall with rampant passion, he could initiate things in bed first.

Fuck, who was he kidding?

He wasn’t a callous bastard capable of hammering her into a mattress the first time. Not now he knew, anyway. His subbie was just going to have to take it as he saw fit, and one thing was for fucking sure, it wouldn’t be done in the club.

His cock remained stubbornly at half-mast, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. Cursing it and the universe, Braun soaped up under the cold water and rinsed off briskly. No point freezing his balls off when it had no effect on his dick.

He switched the water off and climbed out of the shower, dripping as he reached for a towel. Rubbing himself dry, he padded naked into his room and crossed to the dresser, hunting down a pair of loose cotton cargo shorts. He usually slept naked, but if Bodie woke through the night and needed him urgently, he assumed his cock waving at her wouldn’t reassure her in the slightest.

More suitably attired, he moved to the bed to check on her. She hadn’t moved an inch from what he could tell, body and mind completely burned out. He stroked his fingertips over her pale cheek, then switched on the bedside lamp as an afterthought. If she woke, it wouldn’t be in the dark.

Leaving her, however tempting it was to just ease in beside her, was the right thing to do, wasn’t it? The moral thing. He frowned as he summed things up. Would she appreciate being left alone in a strange place? Would sleeping in the guest room provide her leeway to steel herself against the conversation she knew was coming, give her ample time to strengthen her impressive inner sanctum so she could hide from him and the uncomfortable mess of lies and mistruths she’d used to protect herself?

Hell yeah, she’d use that time wisely.

Hoping he was making the right decision and that he wouldn’t wake up to Bodie smothering him with one of his own duck down pillows, Braun abandoned his noble plan of crashing in the room across the hall.

Her sanctum was in ruins after tonight. There was nowhere left for her to hide. It sounded as horrible as it felt to know he intended to use that to his advantage and keep her off balance.

The sheets were cool when he slid onto them. The bed conformed to his body immediately, welcoming him home like a long-lost lover. He breathed a sigh of relief, aching in too many spots to name.

His thoughts turned to her parents and the threat they posed. Liam had commented more than once on Bodie’s family so he knew she wasn’t exaggerating their cruelty, not that he doubted her honesty on that score.

Personally, he didn’t want Bodie going near them again. From their repertoire of past crimes against her, kidnap, rape, and murder weren’t crimes they were averse to committing.

He and Bodie would be discussing her relocation into his home. If she didn’t want to sleep in his bed, that was fine. He had two other spare rooms to choose from. She could use the club stage through the day to practice what she needed to, and what she earned from Avalon would more than keep her bills paid and give her a chance to save up a nice nest egg for future emergencies.

Thinking of that future, with or without him in it, Braun fell asleep.

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