Chapter 32 – Reese
THE TIGER’S NOCTURNE IN E MINOR
REESE
“Ican’t do this.”
“Yes, you can. Just look at me, okay? You can look at me because I’ll be right there the whole time. Just keep your eyes on me and you’ll know that.”
Fuck.
If he just kept his hands on my face and stared into my eyes like this then yeah, maybe I could do it.
“No, Dakota—”
“Hey. You got this. We’ve practiced it a thousand times, all you have to do is look at me. And I’ll be right there looking back at you. Just imagine me in that jockstrap, baby.”
A laugh bubbled out of me. “So you want me to get turned on in front of a hundred people?”
He tilted his head and seemed to think about it, then said, “Nope. I don’t. Never mind, don’t think perverted thoughts about me until it’s over.”
Just talking to him was calming me down. Just being near him, seeing him smile, smelling his scent, touching him.
Yeah. I could do this. If Dakota thought I could do it, then I could do it. All I had to do was keep my eyes on him.
I took a deep breath and stared into his eyes. On the exhale, I said, “I love you.”
His pupils dilated, and then he moved closer, pressing his semi-hard dick into my stomach. “Fuck, I’m starting to think literally everything you say or do turns me on. Should we test it? Say happy birthday. No, never mind, that’s kind of hot anyway.”
“What—why are you half-hard right now? What the fuck?” I pushed my hand into his face. “Get away from me you horny bastard. You’re not allowed to go on stage like that, go cool down.”
“It’s too late, I can’t. I think we should both go up there with erections, what do you say? I bet they won’t even notice.”
“Dakota! For fuck’s sake.”
He laughed and kissed my cheek. “You’re too easy.”
“You’re too difficult.”
“Yeah but you love me anyway.”
Yeah. I did.
My stomach was a riot of butterflies that wouldn’t settle down, and I kept wiping my palms on my pants because they were so sweaty.
The duet before us ended, and as the applause sounded, my heart started to race.
Oh, fuck. This was it.
This was—
I heard the smack before I felt it. A delicious stinging pain began to spread across my left ass cheek, and my mind went completely blank.
Teeth dug into my neck, and then Dakota’s smoky voice was in my ear. “I got you, baby. Just keep those pretty eyes on me and everything will be alright.”
He stepped around in front of me with a beautiful smile, holding his violin and bow in one hand and holding the other hand out to me.
“Next up are Reese Walker and Dakota Voss with a classical-inspired piece in the key of E minor called The Tiger’s Nocturne!”
Dakota’s hand was the only thing I could focus on, the pain in my ass starting to subside as he dragged me onto the stage beside him.
He leaned in close, his lips brushing against my ear as he whispered, “I changed my mind, you can picture me in the jockstrap.”
A burst of affection spread through me and loosened some of the tension, dissolved some of the fear, and I turned every ounce of my attention onto Dakota.
I let my gaze settle on him, found immense comfort in his nearness, in that jagged scar, in all those freckles. The small smile adorning his lips was beautiful and reassuring, and fuck, I wanted to kiss him so badly it hurt.
He lifted a brow as if to say ready?
I nodded. We positioned our violins in unison, readied our bows, and the first note rang out as I drew my bow across the strings and Dakota held my gaze.
My part was delicate. A fragile accompaniment at first; hesitant, brittle notes that seemed to break in the force of his. But then it climbed, grew, strengthened, until our melodies were intertwining, delicately weaving around each other. It was a perfect balance.
Dakota was, without a doubt, a gifted man. He was hiding a wealth of talent and passion beneath that nonchalant smile and careless attitude.
There was so much beauty in his bones, and he was sharing it all with me.
The world around us dimmed.
There was no stage.
There was no room full of people.
There were no eyes but his, no one but him.
And as he watched me play, the smile that stretched across his face made my heart swell.
He was right here.
Nothing bad could happen to him as long as I kept my eyes on him. He was right here, right beside me, and he would always be right beside me.
I smiled back at him.
This honest, brave bastard was mine, and I was his.
We belonged to each other now, and nothing short of death would tear us apart.
But I had a feeling that even in death, we’d find each other again.
Our souls were made of the same stuff, anyway.