Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Lila
I told myself I was a mature adult, and I could handle this. Yes, what had happened this weekend was essentially a wild tryst with a coworker, but I could keep that separate from what needed to happen at this afternoon’s rehearsal.
Granted, I couldn’t look at Kardok without remembering the sight of him planted between my legs, licking me with an erotic gusto I’d never before imagined… But I could get through this. Yes, I might look like a tomato, but I could be professional about this.
I would be proper and composed and refined, my mind insisted.
Unfortunately, my body didn’t get the memo.
Because as soon as Kardok stepped out onto the ice—no, before that! Somehow, I’d known when he was approaching, and had already turned to the door to watch him enter the smaller practice rink. But as soon as that happened, my core flooded with liquid desire.
Pussy.
That’s what Kardok had told me to call it and told me I was just as wicked as he was.
Oh dear, it was warm in this ice rink, wasn’t it?
Thank goodness Joshua had taken over more of the coaching responsibilities, and I could stand beside him and nod along like I was fascinated by what he was saying.
Like I was even listening to what he was saying, instead of being hyperaware of the male at my side.
It took me until after warm-ups to realize that as awkward as I was feeling around Kardok…he seemed even stranger. He’d spoken little to me, and none of it was that flirtatious banter from this weekend or even this morning. Instead, he seemed…
Intent.
Now, for instance, he was staring at me, one hand over his chest. Was he even listening to Joshua’s vision for the routine? I realized his claws had extended, and he was almost digging them into his shirt, as if he could scratch his heart.
Oh dear.
“Okay.” Joshua clapped his hands together with the enthusiasm of a man who had been waiting to say this for weeks. “Lila and I have been working on the story we want this performance to tell. So here’s what we’re going to do.”
He gestured broadly at the ice, as if conducting an orchestra only he could hear.
“The performance tells a story. No words—you’re not going to speak, you’re not going to act.
You’re going to skate the story, and the audience is going to feel it even if they can’t explain why.
” He pointed at me. “Lila, you start alone. Center ice, full solo—two minutes of pure figure skating. Every elegant thing you know how to do. You’re not warming up, you’re not waiting for a partner. You’re complete.”
I nodded, which required me to look at Joshua rather than at Kardok, which was a significant act of discipline.
“Then.” Joshua turned and pointed at the far end of the rink.
“Kardok. You start down there, alone, and you skate your way. Hockey stride, full speed, everything you are. You’re not trying to look like a figure skater and I—we don’t want you to.
I want the audience to see exactly what you are: power, speed, that thing you do with your tongue, whatever.
I want you to look like you own whatever ice you’re standing on. ”
From beside me, I felt Kardok shift his weight. I did not look at him.
“At this point in the performance, you two haven’t acknowledged each other yet,” Joshua continued, pacing now, which he always did when the ideas were coming fast. “You’re in the same world, but you haven’t found each other.
And then—” He paused for effect, turning to us, hands out, and lowered his voice.
“The music changes. Not a new song. The same song, but it opens up, and you start to move toward each other.”
He waved us both onto the ice.
I pushed off without thinking, settling into the familiar cold and silence of blades on fresh ice, and I heard Kardok’s heavier stride behind me. Joshua skated behind us, still talking.
“This next section is call and response. Lila, you do something—a turn, an edge, whatever comes naturally, we’ll work through it—and Kardok, you’ll answer it. Not by copying her. By translating her. The same impulse, your language.”
I did a slow back edge along the curve of the rink, feeling the familiar pull of it in my hip, and heard Kardok’s blades shift behind me—a hockey stop, quick and controlled, that somehow had the same quality of intention. I turned to look without meaning to.
He was already looking at me.
Intent was still the right word. His expression hadn’t changed, but his eyes were more green than black now. His hand was still pressed to his chest.
“Good,” Joshua said approvingly, though I wasn’t sure either of us had done anything intentional.
“That. Exactly that.” He skated between us, gesturing.
“Then you come together—side by side, inside hands joined—and this is where the story shifts. You’re not two separate things anymore.
Not in two separate worlds. You’re learning to share the ice, figure skating and ice hockey. ”
He pointed to each of us, delivering the instructions decisively. “His power drives you forward, her edges guide the direction. Neither of you are leading entirely.”
“Stronger together,” I whispered, and I saw understanding flare in his eyes.
We fell into the paired position automatically, the way we had been doing for weeks, his hand warm around mine. I felt rather than heard the low sound in his chest—not quite a rumble, something quieter, like…a question answering itself.
I told myself this wasn’t arousing.
But myself, being myself, didn’t listen, and I had to stop from swaying toward Kardok, leaning against his body in surrender. Just the memory of his body…
I shuddered, and his hand tightened around mine.
“The lifts come in the third section,” Joshua said, skating alongside us now, his voice taking on the reverence he got when he was talking about something he found genuinely beautiful.
“Press lift first. The audience will feel the significance—he raises her, she trusts him, and together they make something neither of them could make alone. Et cetera.” He looked at Kardok.
“When you have her up there, you’re not showing off your strength.
You’re holding something precious. That’s what the audience needs to see on your face. ”
I felt Kardok’s grip on my hand shift and his warmth momentarily grew closer.
Could Joshua see what had changed between us? Besides my flaming-red cheeks, was it obvious how much I wanted—needed—to be touching Kardok? I hoped not, and considering the way our coach continued to narrate, maybe he was as oblivious as I’d hoped.
“The platter lift builds on that—she’s fully committed, fully trusting, and you’re carrying her.
And then—” Joshua stopped skating and let us glide past him, his voice carrying across the ice.
“The overhead lift. That’s your thesis statement.
That’s the moment the whole audience has been waiting for, really.
Lila, you’ll start down there and hurtle your way toward him.
Kardok catches you and you go up—and what the audience sees is two people who have learned to be stronger together than apart. ”
I was focusing very hard on the far boards.
“The ending,” Joshua called after us, “is the two of you side by side. Matched stride. Kardok’s power, Lila’s grace, now in this world—no, this dance you’ve built together. You’re not in contrast anymore, but the same thing.”
We reached the far end of the rink and came to a natural stop. Behind us, Joshua’s flowery description faded to silence, and I glanced shyly at Kardok.
His eyes burned.
I tried for a smile. “I like the imagery he’s describing. Us coming from different worlds, building something new.” Was it too soon, too foolish, to be excited about something like that? “And it doesn’t sound too difficult.”
“Doesn’t it?” he murmured, his gaze dropping to my lips. They were the first words he’d spoken since he’d arrived. “A month ago, I would have said it sounded impossible.”
Was he talking about the routine, or this—this between us? Building a new world. My smile was probably sickly when I asked, “And now?”
“Now I’m not sure of anything.”
“Well, I am.” I took a deep breath and slowly turned us back toward center ice. I guess it was up to me to be clear what I wanted—to remember the boldness he’d taught me. “I had a lot of fun this weekend, and I would like to do it again.” I snuck a glance up at him. “Tonight, maybe?”
His eyes were locked on mine. “Tonight,” he murmured, as if distracted.
“Why don’t you come to my place for dinner?” I could feel the boldness slipping away, the uncertainty sneaking in as Joshua skated toward the bench to cue the music. “I mean, if you wanted to.”
Kardok’s free hand rose, his fingertips brushing against my cheek. “What are you going to serve me for dinner, Princess?”
I flushed at the seductive lure of his growl, and felt my core pulse in memory of his touch. “Me?” I whispered.
His fingers slid around the back of my neck, gripping me, anchoring me, holding me in place as he turned to face me fully. “I’ve gone hours without tasting you, Lila.”
I whimpered, my fingers curled around his arm, pulling him toward me.
And as the music rose in the background, right there on the ice in front of our coach and whoever else might be passing by, Kardok kissed me. And me? Perfect prim and proper Lila Fairbanks, who eschewed scandal and had spent a life wrapping myself in propriety?
I kissed him right back.
Kardok
I stepped into Lila’s apartment, and the scent hit me like a brick to the face. Something delicious and fancy wafted from the kitchen, but I didn’t give a damn about food right then. I had one thing on my mind, and it was the sweet, intoxicating scent of Lila herself.
I found her in the kitchen, stirring something on the stove. She looked up, her eyes widening in surprise as I strode in. Without a word, I picked her up, tossing her over my shoulder. She yelped, then laughed, her fingers still clutching the cooking spoon.