Chapter 56
Chapter Fifty-Six
The first stirrings of music materialized from the single cordless speaker, and Haven fought back a smile mixed with nervousness, vulnerability, and a dash of hope.
She could do this.
She could lay her soul out before him, and show him what her heart ached for.
Letting the heavy, flowing melody pulse through her, she tensed every muscle, and let out a slow, deep breath.
At the first staccato beat, she moved, her body an extension of the music.
With each down beat, she thrust her chest out in an imitation of a heartbeat.
As the music and the beats grew louder, her movements grew larger, eventually she thrust her entire upper body out from the back of the chair, her once crossed legs now spread wide, her fingers digging into the chair arms.
She was a master of using her body to tell a story.
She’d done it hundreds of times before, but this time, the story was personal.
When she danced for strangers, she could put on a facade, a fake face to fool the drooling meat suits.
But dancing for Logan meant she would finally dance as Haven.
She could throw the facade aside, and show him her weaknesses.
The lyrics washed over her. As the words wove through the music, she began her seduction in earnest, letting her body move as the heart and soul commanded, as the passion burning within her demanded.
Time to let go.
As the chorus erupted, she bent forward, writhing in a show of pleasure and agony, lifting her arms above her, throwing her head back, and running her spread fingers over the edge of her corset, her breasts heaving with the exertion and excitement.
Something dark, sensual, and hungry thrilled through her. She smiled, her whole face warming with an expression of ecstasy.
Pointing an outstretched hand at him in the shadows, she peered through the darkness into his eyes, the emotion in her movements, the silent words on her lips, and the confession in her gaze conveying the truth of the lyrics.
His raw expression fueled the already scorching flames within, pouring waves of molten desire over her.
He was riveted, his eyes burning onyx, his knuckles white, and his whole frame as rigid as stone.
Her breath quickened.
She rose to her feet and danced as the mood moved her, as the music led her. She was a slave to the passion and the sensual ecstasy the simple flowing movements produced. She couldn’t stop her body from doing what it wanted to.
It was like breathing, and if she stopped, she’d die.
The chorus began again and she let the full emotion of her dance envelop her.
Every fear, desire, hope, and ounce of love buried within her spilled forth.
Her arms, hips, waist, head, and chest moved as though the very emotions themselves were pushing, pulling, lifting, and desperately trying to expel the demons of hunger and passion.
Her body swayed, twisted, writhed, and begged for release from the hurt and anger threatening to overcome her.
She spread her hands across her chest, teasing, enthralling, and begging him to feel the same anguish and agony she did, to burn with the same blazing desire and lust that was consuming her.
As the power and passion of the dance moved through her, she glanced at him and dared him to look away.
He didn’t, and his whole body responded to her taunt, the erection in his pants evidence of his arousal.
Knowing the song was nearing its end, she released the floodgates, letting the adrenaline rush through her blood, heat her skin, and loosen her hold on her limbs.
She was the dance, the music, the pinnacle of carnal passion...and she never wanted to come down.
She cast her gaze to the floor in a silent prayer for him to love her, to choose her above all else. With her face hidden behind the fall of her hair, she allowed the tears to slide down her cheeks. Her heart open and laid bare, the pieces held together by desperate hope.
The last strains of the music faded into silence. She drew back and waited, her breathing heavy from her exertion—physical and emotional.
She trembled as the adrenaline left her body.
Logan.
What was he thinking? Did he see her—who she really was, what she truly felt? Did he care?
She peeked through the strands of hair.
Flames of desire engulfed her.
His expression intense, desire and hunger etched dark lines into his face.
His black eyes were twin lakes of fire, burning hotter than she’d ever imagined.
Every muscle of his frame tensed, and a wave of dark, sexual energy radiated from him as though his entire being focused on her, on getting to and devouring her.
She held her breath and kept her head bowed, her cascades of hair hiding her flushed face and teary eyes.
Because she danced for him with everything in her, her nerves were raw, her soul flayed and spread open for him to inspect.
What if he didn’t want what she offered?
What if his body responded but his heart remained untouched?
What if the duke in him was disgusted with her, with what she’d done?
She trembled beneath his heated scrutiny. Anxious, terrified, and turned on as hell, she waited for him to respond.
He rose from the chair, and walked toward her.
He didn’t hesitate in his stride, his dark eyes bored into her, and a muscle ticked in his jaw. He didn’t utter a word, but the very air around him hummed with his intent.
She couldn’t breathe.
He stopped before her, and the waves of heat radiating from his taut body nearly floored her. His voice rumbled through the heavy silence of the room, and her heart stuttered a moment before pounding again.
“I am undone.”
No other words could describe what Logan felt in that moment.
Awed? Dumbstruck? Utterly and completely shattered to pieces, and then brought back to life with the most exquisite magic?
He’d never in his life imagined someone could dance with such passion, sensuality, emotion, and provocativeness.
He remembered when she’d first danced for him—she hid behind a veil of mist, and teased and enticed him, until he begged her to reveal herself, to stay and show him more.
She’d been a dream then, but now, she was a dream come to life.
He’d never felt so scorched, so hot and uncontrollably aroused.
He didn’t think it possible to be so hungry for one person, to be starving to touch, to taste her. He was ravenous, and he didn’t care.
She’d danced for him. She’d played with the very fire of his desire, stoking, feeding, and building it until it devoured him, but she hadn’t stopped there.
When he couldn’t possibly desire her any more than he already did, she gazed upon him with her glowing jade eyes, and the pleasure-pain grew to a new level.
She was magnificent.
She was his.
Standing before her, he couldn’t hold back any longer, but he wanted to take his time, to savor every last drop of passion he’d seen in the depths of her eyes. It wasn’t just the dance that aroused him, her expression had as well. She’d opened up the vault of her soul, and let her emotions shine.
Breathtaking.
She was more precious than anything on earth, and he wanted to show her just how much she’d come to mean to him.
Cupping her face with trembling hands, a gentle pressure commanding her to look him in the eye. He wanted her to see the devastation she had wrought.
Her eyes were overflowing with emotion; passion, desire, fear—what did she have to fear? She had captured him utterly. He was her slave, she his master, and he wanted nothing more than to kneel before her, to worship her, and bring her the greatest pleasure.
“Do you see? Do you see what you have done to me?” She hesitated, her head bobbing in an uncertain nod. Grabbing her wrist, he led her hand to his aching groin. “Can you feel what you have done to me?”
She gasped, and confidence flashed over her face.
His cock hardened further when her eyes darkened, and her expression turned sensuous.
No more.
He groaned and covered her mouth with his.
She sighed, and he slipped his tongue inside the warm, wet paradise, letting his lips set to work.
With every thrust of his tongue, he purposed to give her pleasure, to skillfully bring her to the breaking point, and then fall with her as they shattered to pieces.
Her tongue danced with his, but he pulled back, gentling the kiss, forcing her to exert more pressure, to delve deeper, to open for more.
She leaned against him, and he pulled pieces of his heart to the surface, painting each moment with the deep, rich color of his devotion.