by Susan Stoker
Meat’s eyes narrowed, and he glared at Gray. He didn’t struggle in his grasp, merely waited for his friend to calm down.
“Put him down,” Arrow ordered. “Beating Meat to a pulp won’t solve anything.”
Gray hesitated for a split second, then let go of Meat’s shirt abruptly. He paced back and forth next to the table. “He has to have seen her before. She only goes by the name Allyson Mystic when she dances. Maybe he went to one of her performances. Can we check everyone who paid for a ticket via credit card?”
“Well, sure, but it’s going to be a huge number of people,” Meat said, obviously not holding Gray’s outburst against him. “I’d be surprised if the kidnapper was stupid enough to buy a ticket using a credit card in his own name, but I’ll look into it and let you know if I find anything.”
“Whoever it is seems to be obsessed with your Allye,” Ro commented. “By forcing that Jessie girl to wear those contacts and by dyeing her hair brown and white, he recreated the object of his fantasy.”
“Or he just wanted to mentally torture Allye,” Black threw in.
“We could try to see who’s gone to several of her performances to help narrow it down,” Ro finished.
“Sit down, Gray,” Ball said. “You’re making me dizzy.”
Gray huffed out a breath and sat.
“Speaking of, where’s Allye?” Black asked.
“I dropped her at a dance studio downtown to blow off some steam,” Gray told his friends.
“You’re really serious about her, aren’t you?” Ro asked.
“Yeah. I am. She’s . . . I can’t really describe it.”
“Tough, compassionate, funny, pretty, and fun to be around,” Black said.
Gray narrowed his eyes at his friend.
Black held up his hands in capitulation. “Easy, friend. I was around her just a little bit, and I can see the appeal. She’s different from a lot of women. Hell, most chicks I know would’ve been freaking out if they’d found themselves in the middle of the ocean. But not her. From what I saw, and what you’ve said, she just rolled with the punches. Don’t see that very often.”
Gray nodded. “True. Even when I told her it was quite a ways to shore, she didn’t panic. Just lay back and trusted me to get her to safety.” He looked around at his friends. “I want her to stay, but I want her to want to stay. Not because she has no other choice. Help me figure this out.”
“We’re tryin’, Gray,” Meat said.
“This guy is going to do it again,” Arrow observed. “When his first message doesn’t work, he’ll escalate until he gets what he wants. Namely, Allye.”
“Not going to happen,” Gray said, his fingers clenching into fists.
“Your job is to stick close to Allye,” Black said. “We’ll do what we can to investigate. I’ll see if Rex will approve a couple of us going to San Francisco and poking around. We’ll talk to the other dancers at Allye’s work and see if they saw anything, or know anything about Jessie’s disappearance. He’s pissed that she escaped, and he’s getting desperate. We’ll track him down, Gray. I know it.”
“I hope so,” Gray said quietly. “I really hope so.”
He shook hands with each of his friends and left The Pit, giving Dave a chin lift as he went. It had only been an hour and a half since he’d left Allye, but after all the talk about missing women and what might be happening to them, Gray needed to see her. Make sure she was all right. Even though the chances of Nightingale figuring out where she was were slim, he should’ve put a guard on the dance studio. Or watched over her himself.
He drove back to the small dance studio faster than he should’ve and parked. He went in, a bell tinkling over his head announcing his arrival. A group of young girls turned and stared as he entered. An older woman, probably in her sixties, greeted him. It wasn’t Barbara, as he’d met the owner. He assumed it was another instructor.
“Let me guess, you’re here for Allyson Mystic?”
Gray blinked. How had she known Allye’s stage name? He supposed word got around quickly. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
“She’s been quite the hit here today. She might not be nationally known, but when Barbara is impressed, we’re all impressed. Word got around to the students, and they’ve been thrilled, taking turns watching a professional dancer. If you want to take a peek, you can use the observation window down the hall and to your left.”
Gray nodded his thanks and headed in the direction she’d indicated.
He knew exactly which window she was talking about, as there were four girls gathered around it, their eyes wide, watching Allye dance.
Gray stopped a few feet behind them and stood without saying a word, his eyes glued to the woman dancing on the other side of the glass.
She was amazing.
He’d never seen her practicing when she was at his house. She’d said that she felt self-conscious with him watching her, so he’d left her to it when she went downstairs to practice. Intellectually, Gray knew she must be good to have a full-time job as a dancer, but whatever he thought he knew about dancers went out the window as he watched Allye.
She’d pulled her hair up into a ponytail on the top of her head, the slash of white peeking out as she moved. He couldn’t hear the music from his vantage point, but he didn’t need to. She was graceful as she bent and swayed. Her arms seemed to be attached to her body by strings, with the way they waved and undulated to the beat. The muscles in her legs flexed with every bend and arch. She was wearing a pair of skintight pants, her feet bare except for a band of tape wrapped around the ball of each, giving her traction. She had on a tank top that clung to her curves.
The music must’ve sped up, because her movements became faster, more energetic. She began a series of spins, her arms outstretched, one knee bent, her weight all on one foot. Her head marked her place as she spun in circles, never slowing down, never misstepping. It was beautiful and awe inspiring all at the same time.
The young dancers watching must have thought so, too, because they were murmuring to each other about how amazing “Miss Mystic” was, and how they hoped to one day be as good.
Allye suddenly stopped turning and fell to the floor. But she hadn’t really fallen, she’d collapsed as part of the choreography of the dance. Her palms on the floor, one foot flat on the wooden planks below her, the other stretched behind, toes pointed.
Gray could see her chest moving up and down with her labored breaths, but it was the serenity on her face that struck him the hardest. This was her happy place.
He hadn’t realized it, but she’d been extremely stressed over the last week, and had very effectively hidden it from him. She did a very good job of hiding all her emotions from him, from everyone.
He remembered that she said she never cried. She needed this. Needed to dance as much as he needed fresh air every day. Needed it to feel complete.
It was at that moment, watching Allye in her element, that Gray realized he loved her.
He would do anything possible to make sure she always had dancing in her life. If it meant moving to Denver so she could be closer to the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theatre, that’s what he’d do. He wanted to always see the sense of peacefulness on her face she had at that moment.
She stood and smiled at someone on the other side of the room. Wiping his hands on his pants, Gray made his way to the door. He opened it slowly, and was gratified when Allye turned to him and gave him a big smile.
“Has it been two hours already?”
“Just about. If you want to stay longer, it’s not a problem.”
If anything, her smile got bigger. “No, I’m good. Like you said, I’m going to be sore as it is. I think you promised me a bath, though.”
Gray almost blurted it out right there. Not caring about the woman who had been manning the stereo. Almost told Allye that he loved her. But he managed to hold it back. Barely. “That I did, kitten.”
He stood by the door, not trusting himself as she collected her b
elongings. She threw a T-shirt on over her tank top, and Gray was both upset that he couldn’t stare at her tits anymore and glad that she’d covered herself so no one else could stare at her tits.
She picked up her bag, and Gray took it from her as soon as she got near him. She linked her elbow with his and stayed by his side as they walked out of the room toward the front door. They were stopped half a dozen times by little girls who wanted to say hello to Miss Mystic, and then again by the owner of the dance school.
“It was wonderful to have you, Allyson,” she said. “You’re always welcome here.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Ellis. And please, call me Allye.” She looked up at Gray. “Would it be okay if you brought me here in the mornings? Barbara said that the first class doesn’t start until ten, and she’s willing to let me in around eight to do my workouts.”
“Of course,” Gray said immediately. “Whatever works for you.”
She beamed up at him before turning back to the owner. “I appreciate it very much. And I’m happy to spend time with some of the classes in return for using your space.”
The other woman looked like she was going to explode with happiness. “That’d be wonderful! Simply wonderful,” she gushed. “I’ll make sure everyone knows you’ll be rotating in and out of the various classes. They’ll all just be tickled pink to know you’re here.”
Allye smiled and gave a few more goodbyes before they were finally out of the small dance studio and on their way home.
“They seem to know who you are,” Gray observed after they were in the car. He’d grabbed her hand after he’d pulled onto the road, and she’d intertwined her fingers with his.
“Yeah, well, the dance community is actually smaller than you’d think. And I’ve been dancing professionally for a while now. I guess word gets around.” She shrugged. “How did your talk go?”
The last thing he wanted to do was talk about Nightingale, the missing women, or the spreadsheet she’d pilfered from the sinking ship. “Can we talk about it later?” he asked.
“That bad, huh?” she said, the smile slipping from her face.
Gray moved his hand up to her face and brushed the back of his fingers against her still-flushed cheek. “I just can’t bear for you to lose this content, relaxed look just yet,” he told her honestly.
“Okay,” she said, tiling her head and rubbing her cheek against his hand.
“I’ll run you a bath when we get home. Then I’ll make us something to eat afterward. Okay?”
“Sounds heavenly,” Allye said. “I don’t think anyone has ever started a bath for me before. Not even when I was a kid. I started showering when I was four because Mom said that baths wasted too much water.”
Gray clenched his teeth together. It seemed like he was doing that a lot lately. But instead of saying something derogatory about her mother and upbringing, he merely said, “Then I’m glad I get to be the first.”
An hour later, Allye lay completely boneless on top of Gray. He’d done just what he said he was going to. He’d run her a bath. But after he’d helped her in, she’d held on to his hand and tugged, saying, “Will you join me?”
She’d never seen him strip so fast. He was in the tub with her in five seconds flat. Things had almost gotten out of control, and he’d actually slipped all the way inside her before swearing and pulling out. He’d leaped out of the tub and run into the bedroom. Allye couldn’t stop giggling at his urgency, and the fact that he was walking around soaking wet, dripping water all over the floor and not seeming to care.
But when he’d returned, he’d had a condom rolled over his cock, and he’d climbed right back into the tub and thrust inside her so forcefully, she could do nothing but moan in delight.
Now, she was sitting astride him, her face tucked into the space between his shoulder and his neck, loving the way he was stroking her back in long, languid movements. He’d removed the condom, and she could feel his semihard dick tucked between their bodies, but for now at least, they were both sated.
“Thank you for letting me dance today,” she said softly.
“I watched for a while there at the end,” he told her. “You’re amazing.”
She shrugged. “I’m okay. There are a lot of people better than me.”
“Don’t do that,” he scolded. “You’re good. Really good. I doubt Robin would’ve made you lead if you weren’t. Not to mention all those little girls today had stars in their eyes when you actually talked to them. Praised their outfits.”
“It felt good,” she told him. “I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed being around kids.”
“You taught before?”
She nodded against him. Steam still rose from the tub, and she could feel the beads of sweat on her brow from both the temperature of the water and their earlier exertion. “Yeah. Part-time when I first signed on to the dance theatre. I wasn’t getting paid as much as I am now, and it helped supplement my income. There’s just something so freeing about teaching little kids. For the most part, they haven’t learned to be critical of their bodies or each other. So even the kids who are overweight don’t seem to notice or care. And there was this one class where a little girl with Down syndrome was enrolled. She always started the class with big hugs for everyone, and that little act of joyfulness carried through the entire session. Everyone seemed happier and just plain had more fun than any of my other classes. No one cared that little Rory was different from them. They didn’t care that she wasn’t very verbal. Her enthusiasm and joy in jumping around and dancing was contagious. There was more laughter in that hour of class than any other. I’d love to teach again. Maybe have a class that integrated special-needs kids with regular kids. I think it would do everyone a lot of good.”
“I think so too,” Gray said, kissing her on the forehead.
They stayed like that, bodies mashed together, enjoying the intimacy of the moment.
“Will you tell me about your meeting?” Allye finally asked.
She felt Gray tense under her, but he didn’t prevaricate. He told her about the spreadsheet and what Meat had learned. He told her how much the mysterious T.B. had paid for her to be brought to him. He even told her that some of the team would be traveling to San Francisco to talk to her friends and coworkers at the dance theatre.
When he was done, Allye said softly, “I’m not going to be safe until you guys figure out who this T.B. guy is and stop him, am I?”
“I’m going to keep you safe,” Gray swore even as he leaned over, grabbed a washcloth, lathered it up, and began to tenderly wash her back.
Allye sighed. It wasn’t exactly an answer. Deciding she couldn’t deal with any more at the moment, she sat up. She shivered, the air much cooler than the water and Gray’s body. “Promise me you’ll keep me informed. Don’t keep anything about this from me. Please?”
She could tell he wasn’t happy, but her trust in him grew when he nodded and said, “I promise.”
“Thank you.”
“How about we finish cleaning up, get out, and I get some food in you? You worked off quite a few calories today, I’m guessing. I bought a steak for me last night, and I’ll make you some veggie kabobs, if you’d like.”
She smiled. “That sounds great. And since you’ll be taking me to dance every morning for a while, I’ll need to make sure I go to bed extra early then too, huh?”
He grinned back. “I’ll make sure to tuck you in nice and tight.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m counting on it.”
She smiled at him, and they quickly finished soaping up and getting clean. When they were done, Gray put a hand at her nape and pulled her to him. He kissed her as if he’d never get to kiss her again.
Then again, every time they kissed, it was as intense as if it were their last. She loved that about him.
Allye froze. Loved. Had she completely fallen head over heels for Gray?
When she scooted back, giving him room to stand, she stared up at his chiseled body and nodded to herself.
Yeah, she loved this man. He used his strength to fight evil in the world. He could be absolutely lethal, yet he’d been nothing but protective and gentle with her. Well, gentle wasn’t the word she’d use when they were making love. Intense was more like it.
He held out a towel and wrapped his arms around her as he wrapped the towel around her body, trapping her arms at her side. He kissed the side of her neck, his beard rough and scratchy against her heat-flushed, sensitive skin.
“You smell good,” he said, inhaling deeply.
“You do too,” she told him, bending her neck and inhaling his scent at his upper arm.
“Since we were in the same tub, I’d say we smell like each other.”
She turned in his arms and smiled up at him. “I like that.”
“Me too,” he agreed. Then he stood back, turned her, and smacked her ass. “Now go get dressed, woman. And stop distracting me.”
Laughing, Allye did as he ordered and skipped into the bedroom to grab some clothes.
Gage Nightingale, otherwise known as “the Boss” to those who worked for him, frowned, standing in a hallway in front of a huge window, behind which were two of his women.
A secret door led to the long passage. Similar windows were spaced all along the hall, allowing him to look into the rooms where his pets lived.
He gripped his hands behind his back as he stared at the twins lying listlessly on the floor of their cage, not even looking at him when he rang the bell that hung inside their enclosure. When they heard the bell, they were supposed to get up and face front, letting him get a good look at them. Sometimes he went inside and took them, other times he forced them to have sex with each other, but today they refused to budge.
Making a mental note to discipline them later, Nightingale moved to the next window.
The little woman he’d acquired was doing as she had been taught, kneeling with her legs apart, staring at the floor. She hadn’t been fed yet, he could see her water and food bowls were empty, and he’d have to reprimand the zookeeper for making her wait when she was being so good. Holding back food was only for the bad pets, not those who were doing what they were told.