“Not if you had nothing to do with any of this,” I said, fighting tears back as I inhaled Dem’s calming scent.
Dem lifted his head to Susan and shook his head in reply. “We’ll see you tomorrow for class.”
“Right,” Susan said, quickly walking off and disappearing around the corner.
I couldn’t hold back the soft whimpers as I nuzzled my head back into Dem’s chest. “Thank you,” I whispered, reaching my arm back to pull Lukas tighter into our hug. “Thank you both.”
“This is part of our home,” Lukas said, nuzzling into the other side of my neck. “And you will be safe in it.”
And surprisingly, he was right, I already felt a lot safer, nestled in their arms.
***
Preston
“I still can’t believe Erika was the one who put glass in my shoes,” Ivy said. We were sitting on the floor in our home studio, waiting for Isaac to join us for his extra rehearsals. “I was hoping one day, we could be friends again.”
I pulled Ivy into my arms and held her tight. The cold dance floor froze my back a bit as I crashed backwards with Ivy on me. “I’m glad for your sake that it’s all over. I hated the idea of you in danger. This whole thing’s made me want to lock you in a tower and never let you out of sight.”
“You were supposed to be my prince who saves me from the evil tower, not the one who locks me up,” Ivy laughed, rubbing her nose against mine. “And what would you do with me up in that tower?”
“Very naughty things,” I whispered against her lips. Our mouths reconnected into a soft, passionate kiss. I could kiss her all day, every day…
“I love you,” I blurted out, lifting my head from our kiss.
She softly laughed, rubbing our noses together again. “I love you too.”
With my heart full, I smiled at her. “Shall we keep kissing?”
She was about to agree when Isaac stormed into the room and walked over to the stereo, plugging in his phone and staring at us.
“Let’s go, you two. I want to see our duet now. And stop holding back! You’re not giving it your all. We’ve only got a few days left to get this right.”
I stood up off the floor. “Look, we’re holding back for a reason. This piece is so sensual. I have to walk a very fine line between getting the job done and not losing control.”
“Agreed.” Ivy stood up next to me. “I’m so close to letting desire take over and falling into a heat-flash with this piece. Is that really what you want, us having sex on the stage?”
“I want you to push past that and become familiar with dancing in that sensuality,” Isaac replied. “If you push into it enough, you’ll train to get past it.”
“I didn’t realize you were an expert on dancing with your scent-matched mate,” I mumbled, crossing my arms.
“Fine. Let’s stop holding back.” Ivy threw her hands up in the air. “I’m not afraid of what this will become. I won’t hold back.” She pointed at me. “Don’t hold back either.”
I shrugged in agreement, not bothering to hold back a smile. This would definitely end in us having sex.
I took my place next to Ivy and looked over to Isaac to begin.
The music started with three distinct notes, then on the fourth, I reached out and wrapped my hand around the back of Ivy’s neck. She grabbed my arms and rolled into my body before stepping up to pointe. Next, my hand guided her leg up to the side, then drifted back to her hip. Instead of resisting, I leaned her against my body, firmly grasping her hip with my hand, and burying my head in her shoulder.
“Good!” Isaac shouted in approval.
A shiver ran down Ivy’s spine as I went to lift her over my head. From the top of the lift, I slowly lowered her down along my shoulder, her back and neck relaxing against me as my hand slid up along her stomach, between her breasts till it cradled her head. I could hear Ivy’s breath hitch as I used her neck to rotate under my arms.
Next, she dashed away from me, which kicked in my alpha instinct to chase. I quickly caught up to her and overpowered her as she extended her leg front. A tiny gasp escaped from her as she shuddered into my arms, my grasp far more possessive than we’d rehearsed. I pulled her back towards me into a drag down to the floor. As my arousal grew, I could pick up the scent of her growing need as well.
She rolled out of my grasp, again triggering my alpha instincts to catch her, which I used to run and roll past her to the ground, catching her with my arms and pulling her up tome. She lifted her leg, her chest pressed against mine—and for a second, I couldn’t stop picturing her naked on top of me.
“This is better! More!” Isaac shouted, slowly moving closer to us. The scent of his lust was mixing with ours.
