Thick Love

Unbelievable, I thought. Nothing for over a year and inside of a week and a half my dick started misbehaving.

Closing my eyes, I exhaled, bent closer so only she could hear me when I spoke. “It’s not on purpose, but please don’t tell Lea

I felt her nod, that small gesture against my chest and then Aly looked up, only her eyes moving. They were hazel with the smallest hint of green around the edges.

“Apologize,” she said, voice quiet but determined. My only response came from the lift of my eyebrows. “What?” she said, mouth still held in a line. “You were grosoulye...um, rude.”

“And you are a liar.”

When she slowed her movements, I pulled her in even closer. “If you stop, she’ll make us start all over again. I know you don’t want that and I sure as hell don’t want my cousin to know this dance gets me hard.”

Curiosity must have edged her because Aly tilted her head, eyes sharp as she watched me and then pressed in with another hip roll that would have been a too damn familiar if we’d been naked. She didn’t smile, but I caught the small hint of a dimple on her left cheek when I kept pace with her.

“Fine. But remember your form and remember, you have to feel it.” When I laughed, glanced down at my lap, Aly sighed like I was an idiot. “This dance is push and pull, Ransom. It’s a joining.” She slid her fingers over my heart, right across Emily’s face, and I shuddered when her fingernails grazed my nipple.

I had limited interaction with Aly, but noticed that in the studio, in her element, there was no place for shyness or awkwardness. She instructed me, just as she did her students. I was supposed to listen, to learn and as Aly exhaled, as her voice came out demanding and sharp, I realized the woman was another person—fiercer, professional—when it came to dancing. “You have feel it here,” she said before she moved her hand to my hip, pulling me into a thrust I didn’t control, “and here. Like…like really good…”

“Sex?” I asked, gri

“Modi,” she cursed. “Well, I suppose it is.” When she looked back up at me I swore I saw her light eyes deepen to a color that reminded me of whiskey. It was the first time I’d gotten close enough to really look in her eyes and see all the soft features her attitude and distance obscured.

“Sex that is wet and warm,” she continued. I turned her, into another saida and we moved further away from Lea

My throat worked all on its own, like the dryness in my mouth would never be quenched. Aly’s features seemed to soften and for a moment there was only the roll of her hips and the low, tantalizing rhythm of the music and our heartbeats. My bottom lip felt thick when I bit it, and I nearly groaned, overcome by her description and the raw feel of her body when Aly took a breath that bunched her chest closer to me.

Yeah, I had vague recollections about that kind of sex, but it wasn’t with my Emily I thought about when Aly painted that picture. It wasn’t even the dancer, though my vivid imagination cast her as my co-star in every dick-pulling fantasy I’d had over the past week. As she spoke, images heavy with sensation, it was Aly I imagined. This grumpy, rigid, remote woman. But just for a few seconds, with her body sliding against mine and her hips pretending to offer something I’d never be able to take, she became someone else. Something else.

We stared at each other, quiet, breathes mingling together and I noticed she had a small freckle near her left eyebrow. Her smooth, soft skin reminded me of honey and cream mixing together, just as sweet, just as bad for me. Her nose was straight and sharp and those cheekbones were arched like they had been formed by the careful work and talent of an artist. She had the kind of features that reflected so many of the complex heritages of New Orleans: Spanish, Black, Creole, she could have come from any number of exotic, mysterious backgrounds. For the first time I realized, despite how cold she’d always seemed to me, that Aly was beautiful. Understated and guarded behind that aloof ma

The slight rasp in her voice hinted that she wasn’t everything she wanted the world to believe her to be. She actually was more, much, much more, and the part of me who was a curious asshole with zero conscience wanted to find out what that might entail.

But before I could say anything to her, even just for a second, Lea

“Aly, that was excellent. You think Tommy can help us out? He’s doing that internship in New York still, but won’t he be back from New York next month?” Aly’s glance at me did not go u

“Okay, but I want to work on the saida and add some dips. Who can I practice with until Tommy gets back?”

Lea

“Look at me like that all you want, Lea

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t take the job, orto. I’ve just been…”

“Will you do it?” Lea

The twin expressions between me and my cousin—hers on the edge of begging, mine, I’m sure, smug and condescending—had Aly waffling. She fidgeted, likely battling the reality that Lea

“Fine, but it can only be every other day. I still have classes to teach and I work Tuesdays and Thursdays, plus every Saturday.” She stood with her back straight, barely glancing at me or my growing smirk.

“Excellent,” I said unable to keep from looking happy and far too pleased with myself.

Aly didn’t bother waving goodbye or saying anything more than an “I’ll call tomorrow” as she left the studio.

“You really are a brat sometimes, you know that, right?” Lea

“Why?” I pulled my cousin toward me with an arm over her shoulder. “Because I got a sitter for Koa?”

“No,” she stopped, elbowing me so I kept the door opened for her. “Because you used that thing to get it.”

“What thing? Charm? Cu

“I believe Keira always referred to it as Hale Demon Magic.”