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Nell wore the same colored, fitted bra top. It held her securely without making her hot and allowed for plenty of shimmy action.

The class of twenty dancers all wore similar styles of outfits. There was a mixture of humans and aliens in her class. Some had gone all-out in getting themselves a full belly dancing outfit, while others came in shorts and tank tops and tied colored scarves around their hips and wrists. No matter what they did, they all looked beautiful when they moved. One thing that Nell was happy about was the lack of men in her class.

It wasn’t that she didn’t allow men in, but she’d yet to find any who were interested in the art of belly dancing. It was seen as a feminine pursuit. That suited her just fine. They would only cause an unwanted distraction.

She loved her classes of dedicated dancers. They came in all shapes and sizes, from curvy humans to seven feet tall aliens. They could all move and loved to lose themselves in the dance, just as she did.

Nell started the music, and the class instantly quietened. There was some serious rivalry in here, everyone keen to make the best hip drop and shimmy.

She pressed her hands together and bowed to her class as the deep rhythmic drumming started, the beat pulsing through the floor and making her feet start to move.

As usual, Nell barely spoke and simply showed them the moves they needed to copy. She gave pointers when needed, but her women were quick at picking up new routines.

They all repeated the first section easily, a series of hip drops and figure eight moves.

She was about to run through the second section of the dance when the door at the back of the room opened. Her eyes widened as she saw Rane enter with another Olickie by his side.

Rane looked equally surprised when he saw Nell, but his smile grew as his gaze ran over her outfit.

She let out a loud sigh, which was drowned out by the music. What the hell were they doing barging into her dance class?

Horror slid over her as she studied them. They weren’t here by accident. They wore harem pants and were joining the back of the class.

Nell watched as Rane’s companion chivvied him into position. Not only were they in harem pants, but they had fitted waistcoats that opened to reveal tight, toned abs and smooth, pale green skin. Rane wore silky black, and his friend was in dark purple.

She twisted her mouth in displeasure. She did not want them here. Rane had startled her when they’d first met, and she still wasn’t happy he’d used his ability to manipulate her. She had every reason to feel panic when encountering a strange alien lurking naked in a dusty store room.

Nell switched her attention to the rest of the class. “Let’s run through the first section one more time to make sure everybody’s got it.” She nodded an acknowledgement at the Olickies. Let’s see what they were made of when it came to dance. Maybe she could scare them off if she did something complicated they couldn’t keep up with.

She moved through the sequence again, keeping an eye on Rane and his friend to make sure they weren’t misbehaving or spending their time leering at the women.

Nell was surprised to see they picked up the movements easily enough, even though some of Rane’s gestures looked a little stiff.

If they wanted a dance class, she would give them one. Nell had performed in a group of belly dancers on Earth since she was a teenager and had competed in competitions around the country. These Olickie weren’t going to intimidate her out of her own dance class.

“Okay, ladies and gentlemen, let’s see if you can keep up with this.” She ran through a fast series of lifts and hip drops, slides, shimmies, twists, hip circles, figure eights, and undulations.

When she looked up, gasping for breath, her class stared at her in alarm.

One woman, Nicki Utah, raised her hand. “Do you expect us to follow that?”

Nell laughed and wiped her brow. “It’s something to work toward if you’re up for the challenge.” Her gaze shifted to Rane and his companion. Their mouths were open.

“I’ll never be that good,” Nicki said.

“Don’t worry, we’ll go through it all. You’ll be able to do this.” Nell ran through the routine three times. She felt a tingle of pride as her students picked up the moves. It was the hardest thing she’d ever shown them.

She also saw that Rane and his friend were having a go. Despite their large frames, they were supple and graceful. That was until Rane attempted a complicated spin and shimmy and almost fell on his face.

Nell grinned and increased the pace. Maybe she could dance this Olickie out of her life.

Twenty minutes later, the whole class was panting and sweating.

“Take a five-minute break, everybody. Grab some water, and we’ll come back and try again.”

“Why don’t you show us the traditional Raqs sharqi routine you promised us?” One of her students, a blonde-haired human called Rita said.

Nell glanced over at Rane and his friend. “Another time.” That dance was a traditional style of dancing and as sensual as you could get when it came to the number of hip thrusts she’d have to perform.