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Alejandro gripped the hand joined to his by the cuff and laced their fingers together. He squeezed her hand tight as their breaths merged, their cries mingled. “Come for me.”
The request from his mouth became a demand from his body as he thrust straight into her core again.
Shanna splintered into a million pieces, blinded by the brilliant pleasure bursting inside her. In the next moment, he followed her into the white-hot rush of shattering pleasure. Oh, god. He was all over her, everywhere…inside her. Shanna doubted she could wash his possession away with a mere shower. It seemed unlikely that time and distance would completely free her from him.
She feared she’d given a piece of herself to Alejandro she’d likely never get back: her heart.
Sated and exhausted, Shanna pulled up in the driveway of the house she’d been raised in. She and all of her siblings had moved out years ago. Dad had stayed in the rambling house alone. Why, she didn’t know. The place was haunted by the ghost of her mother, a woman she vaguely remembered smiling and dancing around the kitchen.
She should have gone home first. Showered, changed, had a cup of coffee before coming here. If she had stayed in Ali’s bed, he would have offered her all that and more. Instead, she’d pleaded the need to use the bathroom and persuaded him to unlock the cuffs joining them. She’d waited a few minutes, until she was sure he’d drifted back to sleep, then dressed in one of his shirts and a pair of long sweatpants, then sneaked out. Not that it mattered. Ali was with her, in her, in a way that had nothing to do with the fact they’d had unprotected sex and everything to do with the fact she cared far more about him than she should.
The chilly California air of the early morning hadn’t helped to sort out her head. She was in love with a man who would never mean to stand in the way of her dance dreams, but how could Alejandro not, as consuming as he was? She’d barely driven two miles from Sneak Peek, and she’d begun to feel the withdrawal of his warmth, his acceptance and tenderness.
Dangerous. She was the Bitch of the Ballroom because she’d adhered to strict discipline and a ruthless dedication to perfection. She intended to win that long-coveted trophy, damn it. When the music was high and the lights down low, the judges didn’t care what was deep in her heart. She’d do well to remember that.
Still, those moments in Ali’s arms… For the first time in years, maybe ever, she’d felt adored, and not because of what she might achieve or what competition she might win. She didn’t have anything to prove in that moment. Alejandro cared about her. He proved that in amazing, pleasure-drenched ways every time he touched her.
Now, she clutched a bag of bagels and cream cheese, along with a portable carafe of coffee she’d purchased at a bakery, and let herself into the house.
Shanna followed the smell of burned toast with a poignant smile.
She sauntered into the kitchen and looked at her father, older now, gray at the temples, his reading glasses askew, but still vital and well built for pushing sixty.
“Bagels?” she offered.
Her dad plucked charred bread from the toaster with his fingertips, then dropped it on the counter with a curse.
Then he skewered her with a stare. “Sure. As soon as you explain why you’re wearing men’s clothes, are rosy with whisker burn, and smell like sex.”
Certainly nothing off about his eyesight.
“I do things beyond work and practice at the dance studio.”
He sent her a pointed stare over the top of his glasses. “I never noticed it until today. You’ve always been very single-minded about winning.”
“I still am. What happened last night won’t happen again.” She passed him the bag of bagels, hoping it would distract him.
He ignored the gesture and arched a sharp brow, as if he disapproved. But Shanna couldn’t shake the impression that he was suppressing a smile.
“I suspected it would happen someday. Maybe it’s the female way. Who is he?”
Shanna frowned. “What do you mean, ‘the female way?’”
He shrugged. “Women follow their hearts, which usually lead them to some man or another, who may or may not respect their desire to keep pursuing their goals.”
Exactly. No doubt, he’d have complete disrespect if she ultimately made that choice. Her brothers, too.
“Which is precisely why Alejandro and I are…done.”
“Alejandro? Do I know him?”
Shanna shook her head. “Argentinean. He owns a nightclub. We met at the benefit for the Catholic orphans charity last weekend.”
God, it was weird to be discussing her love life with her father in the kitchen of her childhood home at seven in the morning. She needed coffee for this.
“Hmm.” Her father hesitated. “What does he think of your dancing?”
