Brutal Obsession (114)

I don’t need much more prompting to slide inside her wet cunt.

Perks of sleeping naked.

She frowns at me, her eyes no more than slits. “What time is it?”

“Time to fuck, darling.” I roll my hips.

“It’s five in the morning.” She glances at the clock, then back at me. “I think I’m still drunk.”

I laugh and kiss her. I still feel it, too. The haze of liquor on my mind. Maybe that’s what’s driving this melancholy.

Oh, no. It was Violet humping me that woke me up. I smile against her lips, and she automatically mirrors me. I lick her lip, then suck it into my mouth. My teeth nibble her flesh, wanting a taste of their own. I bite harder, until the familiar metallic taste of blood drops on my tongue.

She kisses me harder. She presses into me, nipping my lips. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was trying to climb into my skin. The prick of pain of her breaking open my skin is refreshing.

We mix our blood and saliva and love together.

Maybe she doesn’t know about the last, but I do.

I feel it in the way she touches me and how she looks at me. She brushes my hair off my forehead and examines my face. She’s got a bead of blood on her lip that I lean down and lick away. Her eyes soften, and she cups my cheeks. Kisses me again, even after everything that once ran rampant between us.

Violet Reece is totally in love with me.





50





VIOLET





“How are you feeling?”

I glance up from my position on the floor. When I see Mia in my rented studio, I shoot to my feet. “Good.” I clear my throat. “Fine. Thank you.”

She chuckles and runs her hand down one of the bars. “Sorry to drop in unannounced.”

I try not to fidget as she appraises me. Hair in a braid over my shoulder, a loose cardigan over my gray leotard and black, stretchy shorts. I had a dance class an hour ago and have been working through the choreography for my audition.

Grey is sitting in the corner, his homework forgotten and his gaze on me.

“What’s up?” I grab my water bottle.

“Laramie told me you requested additional studio space after your lesson, so I figured I’d swing by and see how preparation is going.”

I shoot her a smile. “It’s going.”

She snorts. “Want to show me?”

“Is that biased?” I lift one shoulder and take a swig of the cool water. Surely she’s the one deciding who gets the part. But then again, she’s the one who pulled me out of retirement. That may have been the biggest tell of all.

“It may be.” She crosses to the speaker connected to my phone and hits play.

The familiar piece fills the room, an orchestral work from the original Sleeping Beauty. I want the lead role of Princess Aurora. Whether I can achieve her sweetness and grace is anyone’s guess. This particular part is a variation in the first act. She’s celebrating her sixteenth birthday, on the cusp of being cursed to a hundred-year sleep, and dancing alone before meeting four suitors.

I take my position in front of the mirrors, cue my entrance, and begin.

There are pieces we’re still working on, movements I wanted to perfect, but my body feels good. My leg is solid, almost entirely painless while I dance. It’s strong again. That alone is enough to bring a burn to the backs of my eyes.

The aquatic therapy helped—and I almost couldn’t do it because of money.

I turn my mind back to Aurora. I don’t believe her parents told her about the curse. If they did, she wouldn’t be tempted later in the act to inspect the spindle. She wouldn’t have been so curious as to reach out and prick her finger on it.

Would I have been so curious about Greyson if I knew all that my mother had done—and was doing?

Before I know it, the music has moved on, and I hover in my final pose. I come out of it and meet Mia’s eyes in the mirror, shocked that she has a huge smile on her face.

“It’s like you never left,” she says softly.

I beam.

“Truly beautiful. Work on those parts that weren’t as seamless, but other than that?” She shakes her head. “You know, I would’ve loved to see you in Swan Lake.”

The role I had.

“Maybe I’ll dance as the white and black swans one day.” I lift a shoulder.

She frowns. “It’s unlikely Crown Point Ballet will do it again.”

I tilt my head. It would be unusual for me to stay with the same company for the entire length of my career. But I don’t answer—it wouldn’t really do either of us any good for me to tell her I plan on leaving CPB one day. In fact, I have a feeling it would hinder me.

Mia nods again. “I just wanted to stop by and give you some more information about Sleeping Beauty, if you have time?”

I check my watch. I have the studio for the rest of the evening, and I’m curious about why she stopped by. I nod to Mia and leave Greyson in the room. We go down the hall to a darkened studio. She picks the one Grey and I had our… um… moment. My face heats, and I squash those memories.

“Crown Point Ballet is using Sleeping Beauty to hold open auditions for the company,” Mia says. That’s a way to get new blood into the company. Most hold open auditions maybe once a year, gearing up for the season. “We have a new choreographer for this ballet, but I think you know him. Shawn Meridian?”