by Maya Blake
Gritting her teeth, she barely stopped herself from slamming the bedroom door. With more than a little aggression, she tore off the bathrobe she’d shrugged into after her shower. Her irritation not only stemmed from the fact that Xandro was manipulating her—again—but she’d also discovered that he’d effectively stopped any mutiny on her part by having the clothes she’d used in Greece removed from her wardrobe.
A slightly concerned-looking Nina had confirmed that Mr Christofides had indeed left instructions for Sage’s clothes to be dry-cleaned, and no, she had no idea when they would be returned. So, short of wearing her yoga pants and leotard to dinner, Sage was forced to comb through her spanking-new wardrobe.
She plucked a white silk dress from the rack because it looked the most uncomplicated. The single across-the-shoulder strap design was elegant enough to pass any class test. She also scraped her hair into a neat bun at the top of her head because, with her half-hour notice, it was the most expedient.
Black platform shoes and a black designer clutch finished the outfit. Simple gold hoop earrings, a touch of make-up and perfume, and she was ready. She bit her tongue when James informed her he was to escort her downstairs.
They emerged from the lift into a busy foyer. But still she saw Xandro immediately. He was on the phone, one hand in his pocket as he paced beneath a giant spotlit window with lithe, predatory grace, drawing an indecent number of gazes, mostly female.
* * *
He reached the end of the space he’d created for himself, turned and saw her. A deathly stillness froze his body as his eyes locked on her. The wild zap of electricity that charged between them nearly caused her to stumble. Fingers clenched tight around her clutch, she snatched in an agitated little breath, lifted her chin and carried on walking.
Xandro murmured into his phone and hung up without taking his eyes off her. When she was within six feet of him, his eyes shifted to James. The butler stopped abruptly, wished her good evening and quietly retreated.
She reached Xandro, opened her mouth, only to have him shake his head at her. ‘Remember, we have an audience.’
She bit back her words, and told herself she should at least be thankful he hadn’t ordered her to smile. With a casual wave of his hand, he indicated for her to precede him.
Bodyguards held the door open for them as the paparazzi once again descended the moment they stepped outside. She tried not to outwardly react when she felt Xandro’s hand on her hip but, inside, her belly clenched against the branding heat of his touch as he guided her to where his limo idled.
‘You took my phone,’ she accused the moment the door shut, sealing them in the car. ‘And my clothes.’
Eyes gleaming with blatant hunger rose from perusing her body to meet hers. ‘Yes. And good evening to you too, pethi mou. You look exquisite.’
She brushed away the drawled compliment. ‘Smudging the lines between right and wrong isn’t a huge problem for you at all, is it?’
His expression momentarily tightened, but his voice was smooth when he answered. ‘It was more efficient to provide you with new clothes than to have your things packed and shipped across the country.’
She didn’t think so somehow. She’d seen the labels on the new clothes. ‘Xandro—’
A breath hissed out and he squeezed the bridge of his nose with two fingers. ‘If we’re going to fight again, can I at least get a stiff drink first?’ He reached for the crystal decanter. He poured a shot of amber liquor and downed it in one go.
She frowned. ‘What’s wrong? Has something happened? Ben—’
‘Not everything is about your brother!’
Her relief was eroded a moment later by a concern she didn’t want to feel. ‘Okay. Then what’s bothering you?’
He laughed as he set the glass in its receptacle. ‘Will you give me a chance to count?’
‘Are you mocking me?’
He sat back and pinned her to the seat with his gaze. ‘You want to know what’s wrong? You, wearing that dress that makes your legs look a mile long and drawing the eyes of every man in the room. You, sitting there, giving me lip for doing something nice for you, while my imagination runs wild with this insane hunger for you, and you glare at me with your gorgeous green eyes. That’s what’s bothering me,’ he finished with a snap.
For the first time in her life Sage wanted to do the unthinkable. She wanted to run from a fight. She wanted this overbearing man to win. Because the charged words he spoke were doing something alarming and infinitely dangerous to her.
‘You...you can’t say things like that to me.’ Her voice shook and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
His sensual mouth twisted. ‘I speak what’s on my mind. You know this about me.’
‘But... I thought what we’re doing...’
His hand slashed through the air. ‘That’s just the problem, glikia mou. We’re not even doing anything and I’m already aggravated beyond all reason. So let’s call a truce on the bickering and just keep doing nothing, yes?’
Unable to find a response for that, she nodded.
It set the routine for the next two weeks.
She rose early, drank her cup of restorative coffee while standing at the window watching the sunrise. After that, she practised for three hours before breakfast. The times when Xandro joined her at the window, they stood in quiet, charged silence.
In the evenings, she dressed in another exquisite creation, met him downstairs, and off they went to dinner. Afterwards they would either go to a bar for a nightcap, or a nightclub where he would pull her close, swaying with her on the dance floor while he trailed kisses over her face and suggestive touches along her body.
The moment he was sure their antics had been captured on camera, he would place his hand on her back and guide her to the car. Back in the penthouse, he would bid her a stiff goodnight and retreat to his study.
Although she got her phone back, Ben never called. Her suspicion that his number was being blocked to her phone received a curt, ‘Leave it alone,’ when she broached the subject with Xandro.
And with Ben’s trail having gone ice-cold, they’d arrived at a standoff.
Xandro, for his part, worked punishing hours. Either that or he was actively avoiding the penthouse.
So when a knock came on the studio door late afternoon two Sundays later, she stopped mid-practise and called out a response.
Xandro entered holding two bottles of mineral water. He wore a black T-shirt and his favourite sweatpants, but his feet were bare. It took a lot of effort not to stare at them.
‘James tells me you’ve been in here since dawn.’
She shrugged, warily accepting the drink from him when she noticed the other item in his hand. The dumbbell she’d requested from James earlier. ‘I’m not really keeping track of time.’
‘At the risk of getting my head bitten off, you’ll wear yourself out if you don’t slow down.’
Self-conscious of the mild sheen of sweat filming her body, she retreated to grab her towel and dabbed at her face and neck. ‘I was just about to do a last set before I call it a day.’
‘But you asked for this.’ He held up the dumbbell and his gaze dropped to her wrist. ‘What’s wrong with your wrist? And don’t say nothing. I’ve seen you favouring it more than once.’
‘It doesn’t affect my work,’ she said hastily. A little too hastily if his shrewd gaze was any indication. Sage flinched inwardly.
‘I didn’t suggest otherwise. But I still want to know,’ Xandro said.
‘Why?’ she asked suspiciously.
He sighed. ‘I’m aware I’m still the big, bad ogre in your eyes, Sage, but let’s not turn every conversation into a battle, hmm?’
Maybe she was tired from the long day. Or maybe she didn’t want the shaky truce they’d struck over the last two weeks ending just yet. Either way, she found herself nodding.
Xandro set the dumbbell on the small table before he straightened and faced her. Bracing herself for
sharp questions, she was stunned when he took her hand and slid his thumb over her throbbing wrist.
‘Were you injured?’
The spark ignited by his touch slowly began to build. ‘Yes.’
‘How did it happen?’ he asked quietly.
Her mouth twisted. ‘For some strange reason I attracted the attention of the most popular girls at school. Except they weren’t just popular, they were nasty with it.’
His fingers drifted over her wrist again. The touch was light but she felt it all the way inside. ‘It’s not strange at all. Talent and beauty is often resented.’
She grimaced. ‘I wasn’t beautiful. I was all arms and legs and very clumsy inelegance.’
‘Your aggressors saw your potential and were envious. Talent like yours is in your DNA.’
The laughter that emerged was raw with pain and bitterness. ‘That’s not what my parents said. Getting embroiled in the issues at school and getting injured only strengthened their belief that my dancing was just a burden to them.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘This is the real reason you’re estranged from your parents, isn’t it? Not your disagreement over the hotel?’
Her bruised heart lurched. The heavy stone that had lodged itself in her belly for far longer than she wanted to admit jumped into her throat, blocking her answer.
‘Sage?’
‘Yes,’ she murmured. ‘That’s how it started. They didn’t believe me when I told them I was being bullied. Every school day for three years I had to face those girls and their vicious taunts. It worsened when I joined the drama class. Then it grew...physical.’
Xandro’s jaw tightened. ‘What did they do?’
‘It was mostly silly things at the start. A foot tripping me up. A shove here and there.’ She stopped and took a shaky breath. ‘Then I was picked to be Odette in the school’s Swan Lake production.’
‘What happened?’ he pressed.
‘The leader of the group, Darcy, wanted the part. She and her gang confronted me in the bathroom. We...fought. She broke my wrist.’
He swore under his breath. ‘You told your parents this too?’
It hurt to nod. She wondered why she was baring herself to him. But the time to bolt the door had gone. She’d already spilled her deepest anguish. Whether it would come back to bite her wasn’t something she wanted to consider now. ‘They thought I was making it all up.’
Xandro’s gaze dropped to the wrist he now cradled in both hands. His fingers traced the delicate veins beneath her skin, sparking hotter flames. ‘But they took you to get your injury seen to, right?’
Tears clogged at the back of her throat. She swallowed hard to keep them from breaking free as she shook her head. ‘No. They kept putting it off. It was Ben who took me to the ER three days later. The X-ray showed my wrist was fractured in three places.’
His fingers tightened momentarily, then he exhaled harshly. ‘And your parents still didn’t come around?’
‘My mother said she was sorry that I was in pain. But she wasn’t sorry enough to make the three meetings the principal tried to get her to attend to address the bullying problem. I was almost out of high school anyway so I guess she didn’t see what the fuss was all about.’ Sage heard the bleakness echoing in her voice and pursed her lips. ‘Anyway, that’s behind me now. I didn’t mean to unload on you like this. Just that...’
‘I was relentless and overbearing.’
Her sadness wouldn’t allow a smile to slip through. ‘Yes.’
Xandro remained silent after her response. For a long time he just caressed her wrist, his gaze riveted on it. ‘Did it leave lasting damage?’
‘No...it’s just...every now and then I think I feel the pain.’
He nodded. ‘Phantom pain. When you’re overworked or distressed,’ he surmised.
‘Yes. The doctor said it was all in my mind.’
‘And using the dumbbell?’
‘It helps me feel strong. Whole.’
His head snapped up, and he stared at her with piercing eyes. ‘You are whole. You powered through your adversity. If nothing else, you can take comfort in that.’
‘And finding out my parents turned away the talent scout who wanted me to join his company in New York when I was eighteen? How do I power through that?’ she questioned bitterly. Then immediately shook her head. ‘Don’t answer that. I’m not even sure why I’m telling you all this.’
‘Because you’re still upset by it. Dismissing your ambition was one thing. Deliberately setting out to sabotage your chosen career was quite another. They broke your trust.’
She suppressed a sad smile. They’d broken more than her trust. They’d broken her heart.
‘Not many people can turn their backs on everything they treasure to make a success of their lives. Don’t undervalue what you’ve achieved. Besides, that scout’s loss is my gain.’
His voice had dropped lower, and the fingers moving over her skin were creating even more potent magic on her senses. ‘Xandro—’
The fierce light in his eyes intensified. ‘What piece were you working on?’
She struggled to recall. Melissa had sent three choreographed routines the week before. The one she was working on was the final one. ‘It’s called Resistance.’
He nodded. Looked around. Then back at her. ‘May I stay?’ he asked. The request was unexpected, as was the plea in it.
Her already feeble resolve weakened further. ‘Okay, if you want to.’
‘I want to. Very much.’
The way he said the words heightened the voltage of awareness inside her. It grew steadily as he dropped her wrist, picked up his water and walked backwards, away from her, to lean against the wall.
Watching. Waiting.
She dragged her gaze from his hypnotic one and picked up the remote.
The first strains of her favourite music filled the room. She discarded the towel and water, fighting the nerves swarming inside her.
Without taking his eyes off her, he took a drink from his own bottle then slid down the glass wall onto the floor.
‘You may begin.’
Self-consciousness while dancing had never been an issue. Until now. Perhaps it was the discussion of her injury, and the knowledge that she’d almost given up after that low point in her life, that made her feel raw now. Or the desire to prove to him, and to herself, that her passion burned brighter than ever.
Whatever the reason, Sage wanted to give the best performance of her life.
She spread her arms wide, feeling the power and joy tingle up from her toes, taking over the pain in her heart to settle deep in her soul.
The travelling pirouettes took her from one end of the room to the other. By the time she reversed position and executed the first arabesque, the nerves had dispersed.
Instinct and hours of practice made the movement flow from her core, the joy she’d felt from the first time she’d danced fizzing through her blood. As she twisted, leapt and turned, the tricky part of the routine she’d been practising all day grew closer. She hadn’t perfected it yet, so she almost bypassed it to finish with a move she knew by heart. At the last moment, she decided to go for it. The slow back bend was melting and effortless, and holding herself up on her fingers and toes made her feel as if she were floating on air. But it was the power she needed to snap her lower body into an upside down split that gave her a moment’s pause.
With a deep breath, she planted her hands on the floor and drove up with everything she had.
Xandro’s stunned hiss was even sweeter music to her ears than the triumph of executing the move. She never looked his way though, never stopped until the routine was done.
She straightened from her crouched position, flushed, infinitely thrilled, and watched him slowly rise from the floor. Chest rising and falling, he came towards her, a predator fixated on her.
His jaw was set and a ferocious light blazed in his eyes that reached out and singed her. ‘I’m glad you’re not running a hotel in rural
Virginia, Sage, because you are a truly exceptional dancer.’ His voice was gravel-rough, terse with an emotion she couldn’t decipher. ‘I can’t take my eyes off you.’
‘Th...thank you.’
He stepped closer, remorselessly invading her space. But this time she didn’t move or demand he step away. They were caught in the grip of a fever she wasn’t sure she wanted to escape.
‘We’re not in public so I won’t attempt to instigate another publicity-seeking stunt. But I would very much like to taste you again.’
‘Xandro... I don’t think it’s—’
He stepped closer still, until his mouth was a hair’s breadth from hers. ‘Don’t think. Follow through on this raw, beautiful emotion and just kiss me, Sage,’ he muttered roughly.
Something snapped inside her. She complied because it felt as if she’d waited a lifetime to kiss him since the last time. As if her very soul would wither and die if she didn’t succumb to his demand. Her arms were sliding around his neck before she’d given herself full permission to assuage her terrible hunger.
A second later it was too late to change her mind. But that was fine. This was just a kiss. Like the ones before, it would have a beginning, a middle and end, which would probably lead to another fight and them both going their separate ways.
So when his strong hands gripped her waist, captured and lifted her high as their lips met, fused, then parted in a breathless dance as old as time, Sage went with it.
Because it felt good. But it would end in a moment.
CHAPTER TWELVE
XANDRO SPEARED URGENT fingers through her hair, glorying in the silky weight as he angled her head for a better, deeper taste of her. Thee mou, but she tasted like nothing he’d ever experienced. Just as watching her dance with such glorious abandonment was like nothing he’d ever seen. Knowing she’d carved this beautiful niche for herself in the face of cruel adversity almost threatened to shake his soul. Their paths through life had been vastly different, and yet he felt a kinship that pulled even harder at the connection he hadn’t been able to deny since that first moment he’d seen her dance.