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Nikoli’s face softened and he laughed, his deep chuckle suddenly lifted the spirit of the room as he stood and nodded. “Well done, Raine,” he said approvingly. The seed of his approval planted itself somewhere in my gut and blossomed up right through me as my lips, for the first time in a long time, curled into a genuine smile.
“Thank you for that, Raine. I owe you one,” grinned Jared who was now stood next to me.
“You saved me last week, now I’ve saved you, I guess that makes us even,” I replied.
“Okay. Partner up!”
Jared held up his arms in frame, “May I?” He asked with a bow of his head.
“You may,” I replied quietly. I held up my own frame and stepped towards him.
“Not this time, Jared, sorry. Partner Mona,” ordered Nikoli cutting in front of Jared and taking up my frame.
Jared took a step back and bored his eyes into the back of Nikoli, then growled before maneuvering towards Mona.
“Was that necessary?” I croaked when his hand met mine and grasped it firmly, then his other hand brushed past the side of my breast, under my arm and rested on my shoulder blade.
“Yes, it was necessary,” he replied quietly and pulled me forcefully closer. I lost my footing and stumbled into his chest, my head landing under his chin and I found myself closing my eyes and sighing, letting my frame sag. He smells divine.
“Are you comfortable there?” He chuckled. Quickly I snapped my eyes open and pushed myself away. A blush seared my cheeks, my face was on fire. I felt awkward, demure, and coy and tried to hide behind my hands with my eyes pinned to the floor. I could feel his eyes burning into the top of my skull as he waited for my response.
Gently he pulled them away from my face and silently forced me back into frame. “We are going to do the Waltz, it’s four steps which includes step-slide-step in 3/4th time,” he said with a wink, completely bringing me out of my embarrassed state.
I watched him as he explained body sway, rise, and fall actions, and the relaxation moves, then he showed me some steps and before I could take a breath we were step-slide-stepping around the perimeter of the studio, weaving in and out of the other students in time to the music. Nikoli’s hold on me was comma
nding, I could feel myself begin to loosen up and I daringly stole a glance in his direction. My eyes met his, “You move well,” he said.
“I didn’t realize it was this easy,” I replied, a giggle escaping me.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, this is only one part of the Waltz. Eyes front,” he ordered making me unwillingly pull away from his gaze.
Nikoli never let go of me once, his hold never wavered and with startling realization I found he made me feel safe, confident, and free in his arms as we continued to glide around the floor.
He brought me to a sudden stop by swiveling my body and draping me backwards over his arm, my body bent of its own accord and my breath hitched in the back of my throat. He leant over me with a dangerous glint in his eye, “This is only one of the many positions I’ll have this body of yours in,” he said lowly. Suddenly I was upright on my feet, swaying like a pendulum and a partner less as he walked away and turned off the music.
I gulped, then raced towards my bag for my water bottle, my throat felt dry as the look he had burned in my direction, made me feel flustered just thinking about it.
Think of Max. Think of Max.
Max’s angry face, complete with spittle at the corners of his mouth, floated into my mind. I let out a deep hiss through clenched teeth, and the heat of my body instantly cooled down to minus degrees.
“I thought you said you couldn’t dance?” Jared said, sitting on the floor next to me.
“I can’t,” I replied nonchalantly. I noticed Mona come and sit the other side of Jared. She smiled and winked at me.
“You looked great out there with Mr. Shaggable,” she said. “I remember the first time he danced with me, it was all I could do not to throw myself at him.”
“He dances with all his students?” I squeaked. As she nodded and continued to talk, I zoned out. The shine of dancing with Nikoli eroded away, leaving me feeling annoyed with myself that I would stupidly think that in anyone’s eyes, I would be viewed as special.
Nikoli’s voice commanded everyone’s attention again, and we rose to our feet. I kept my eyes to a spot on the wall behind his head as he spoke. As soon as he ordered us into partners again, I instantly made a beeline towards Jared. “Be my partner?” I almost growled before Nikoli could move from his spot.
As Jared and I moved around the dance floor, I felt something I hadn’t felt for two years, not since the day Max tore shreds out of me at our wedding. I felt alive. As we continued to dance I found myself giggling uncontrollably at nothing at all, spurred on by Jared’s deep bouts of laughter, yet every time my eyes glanced in Nikoli’s direction, his eyes were dark and piercingly drilled directly into me but his face remained unreadable. I heard Nikoli’s voice call time on the class, and he pulled the plug on the speaker system, killing the music.
Two hours is up already?
“See you on Friday?” Jared asked as I pulled on my hoodie. Friday suddenly seemed a long time away and I wasn’t sure I wanted to wait that long to feel alive and free again. “I might see you in Latin,” I replied bending over to get my bag.
“You’d better, Raine. I have a feeling me and you girl, are gonna be like best friends,” called out Mona.
