her needs. As a result, the area was neat and tidy with all equipment in its rightful place.
No one had been here since the night of Bodie’s attack.
He decided then and there that no one would be again. There wouldn’t be another dancer to grace this stage, not when his girl couldn’t be the one to do so. He’d find another use for the space, something Bodie could enjoy just as much as the club members.
Demonstrations, maybe.
As he waited in shadows, watching, waiting, he heard the barest whimper.
*
The lights were off, the stage was cold.
No music played.
Bodie stood on the tapestry of an art she no longer possessed and grieved for it. This was her goodbye, her moment to kiss her dreams farewell and pray she had another talent somewhere inside her. She could learn to play an instrument, to write music for the dancers who would one day glide across the stage in years to come.
The smallest whimper of distress escaped her before she could stop it.
No, no more mournful thoughts.
She was alive and loved, that was all she needed.
Braun was all she needed.
He really wasn’t going to be pleased if he caught her up here by herself, but she’d had an urge to stand here one last time. And she’d managed, hadn’t she? Even a little under the influence and with her legs aching like a bitch in heat, she’d propelled herself up the stairs, only catching her crutches once on the lip of the top step.
A definite improvement, one she was proud of. By the time she got rid of the fucking cast, she’d have mastered the art of maneuvering the stupid things.
Light blinded her. She threw a hand over her eyes to shield the worst of the glare, blinking to try and dispel the stars shimmering over her vision. At this rate, she would be dead before she got into bed, her brain fried by the brightness shining down on her.
Then she froze, ears straining as the weeping chords of a cello hummed on the air, joined by a piano and what sounded like a pair of violins. Slow and easy, the music swelled along with her heart.
“Boadicea.”
She turned her head, saw her lover striding toward her from the wings. God, he was so damned handsome. Ruffled from a tiring night, yet still carrying the aura of dominance she loved. “Master Braun.”
“I hope you understand you’ve earned a spanking for being up here unsupervised,” he told her without hesitation, blue eyes burning with disapproval. “I would have brought you myself if you’d asked.”
She offered him a repentant smile. She’d take the punishment. “It wasn’t planned. I just wanted to stand here for a little while. Remember the good times, what it felt like to become united with the stage. I’ve done that, so I guess the stage is all yours, Master.”
Braun gripped her chin. “When I saw you the first time, dancing on the street in the rain, I thought, I want her to dance for me. Here, on my stage, in my club. I could see your potential and I wanted it for myself. Then, when you chased me here to throw the money back in my face, I didn’t just want the potential, Bodie. I wanted you.”
“You’ve definitely got me, Sir.” She licked her lips, teasing him.
“A fact I’ll treasure forever. That potential is gone, little one, but the passion inside you that made the potential possible is still there. They couldn’t steal that away from you. It’s a part of you, the way dancing and music will always be your dream. So, I want you to dance for me, Bodie.”
Her lips quivered. What was he up to? “I can’t.”
He nodded, leaning down to brush his lips over hers. “What if we dance together? Our first time can be your last time. A memory we make together.”
“I-I’m not sure I understand what—”
He plucked the crutches from her grasp, tossed them off the edge of the stage. While she gaped at him, he offered her his hand. “Trust me?”
Hell, he had her wrapped around his little finger. She set her hand in his, gasped when he curled his arm around her waist and lifted her, setting her down with her feet on top of his. Feeling clumsy, afraid she’d break his toes, she tried to step back but he refused to let her. “Braun...”
“Trust me?” he repeated.
Her forehead thumped against his chest. Whatever he had in mind, he was adamant he would get his own way. “We wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t.”
“No, we wouldn’t. You’ve given me your heart and your trust, Bodie. Offered me your body and taken mine in return. Let me give you this. I want my future, our future, to be full of moments we won’t regret, and this will be the first.”
Keeping her weight slightly suspended, her cast supported by his foot, Braun began to move. Carefully to start, letting her focus on relaxing and giving him control. It felt weird, his feet lifting and falling beneath hers yet taking her with him.
They circled the stage in a waltz, bodies pressed tight together. Her arm slipped around his waist while her captured hand linked fingers with his. Mouths meeting in a soft kiss as the best thing in her life gave her the one thing she was missing.
The End