Page 109 of Knot For A Moment

Tilting my head so I didn’t smack his helmet with mine, I leaned my head against him. The vibration of the bike and the faint traces of his scent that made their way to me through both the helmet and leather lulled me into perfect contentment.

It felt… wild. Not even two weeks ago, everything was different, and now I was here. With a pack.

“Do you know where Jace is taking me?”

“Yup.”

“Wanna give me a hint?”

Instead of pulling up to the curb of the plaza like he usually did, Ash pulled around the back of the theater, opening the door with a code on the lock. It was the same door they’d ushered me out of when I was going into heat. “Why are we parking here?”

Ash shut off the bike and took off both his helmet and mine. His face was carefully guarded when he looked at me. “Gabe asked me to. Because we don’t know if Craig would do something like sabotage it.”

I swallowed. “Oh.”

“Blue, look at me.” Somehow I’d looked away and I hadn’t even realized it. “It’s just a precaution. Like hell am I risking your life.”

“Is that the real reason you want to get me a leather jacket?”

“No,” he handed me my smoothie. “I want to get you one because I do want to take you places, and you would look sexy as fuck in one. And no, I’m not telling you shit about where Jace is taking you.” He laughed, lifting the mood again.

“Come on. Please?”

Ash grabbed my hand and wove our fingers together. “Absolutely not.”

I wrinkled my nose. “You’re no fun.”

“I just value my life.”

Class was sparser today, and Madame Hubert didn’t seem to care. If anything, I saw understanding in her eyes when she saw me. It felt good to get back to it, even if my body protested a bit. Served me right for going this long without even a warm-up, regardless of the hellish rehearsal week.

When class was over, this week’s cohort with Chloe as Giselle went to their pickup rehearsals. Madame Hubert and the accompanist went with them, and we were alone in the class studio.

I snorted and grabbed my phone, laying out on the floor. “That was fast.”

“Everyone’s eager to getGiselleover with.”

“No kidding.” Asher stood above me, looking down and tilting his head. I looked at him from where I was texting Petra. “What?”

His only expression was mischief. “Have you seen those videos online?”

“You’re going to have to be more specific than that,” I laughed.

“The ones where they do this.” He dropped to his knees by my legs, inserting them beneath my knees and flipping me over in a second. I landed on my stomach, and he was on top of me, body lined up perfectly. He whispered in my ear. “Ringing a bell?”

I was no longer capable of speech, but I nodded. Those videos of male strippers doing the move on stages all over the world and gone viral. But holyfuck, nothing would ever compare to how that felt.

“Remember what I said to you during your heat? What I used to think about?”

Ash was so wrapped around me, he brushed his lips over my cheek. “Someday we’re going to do all of those things.”

“And get fired for indecency at work.”

“The good thing about having the Executive Director as a member of your pack. Not using it to get ahead, but what’s the fun if there’snobenefits?”

Rolling beneath him, I smoothed my hands up the tight material of his shirt. “You might be right, but I think I need some more convincing.”

“Done.”

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