Beat of the Heart Read online

  “It doesn’t matter if you were a dance school dropout. There’s no plies or leaps involved with the waltz, so I think we’re safe.”

  “Famous last words,” I grumbled.

  AJ walked over to the stereo system and grabbed a remote. After flicking through a few choices, he decided on one. Taking the remote with him, he made his way back over to me. Grabbing my hand, he dragged me closer to the wall of mirrors. “First, I’ll show you how to do the steps on your own, and then we’ll put it together, okay?”

  “Whatever you say, Master.”

  “Ooh, I kinda like you calling me that. Very kinky.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Get on with it.”

  “Okay, so here’s what you’re going to do. First, go back with your left foot.” Once I stepped back, AJ commanded, “Now bring your right foot to the side.” “Now bring the left one together.” He motioned to my image in the mirror. “Okay, try it, and let me see.”

  Trying not to break a sweat with my concentration, I repeated the steps AJ had taught me. “Good. You’re a fast learner.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Ready to try it together?”

  “Sure.”

  AJ clasped one of my hands in his, bringing our arms out straight out. Then he brought his other hand to rest to the side of my shoulder blade. When my gaze locked with his, he winked. “As much as I’d like to get extra close and personal with you right now, you’re just going to put your other arm on my shoulder.”

  “Oh, you mean we’re not going to be doing the Down and Dirty Waltz?”

  “That’s for later.”

  I grinned. “Whatever.”

  “All right. Let’s do this.”

  The moment AJ brought his foot forward, I forgot about stepping back, and instead, I brought the heel of my pump down on his toes. “Fuck!” he cried, breaking our embrace.

  “Oh God, I’m sorry.”

  With a grimace, he shook his head. “It’s okay.”

  “You sure?”

  “Mia, I’d be a real pussy if a little high heel to toe action took me out, don’t you think?”

  I laughed. “I guess.”

  “Let’s go again.” His arms came around me, and I clasped my palm in his. “Remember, step back.”

  “Got it.”

  The next time I managed to execute the entire step perfectly. “Nice job, cariño,” he complimented.

  “Thanks.”

  “Think we can try it with music now?” When I bobbed my head, AJ took the remote out of his pocket and reset the song. “Ready. Five, six, seven, eight…Slow, quick, quick slow.” I managed to keep up with him, even when he turned us side to side as we waltzed around the room.

  “See, you’ve got it in the bag.”

  “Miraculously,” I replied, still concentrating on steps that seemed so effortless to AJ.

  “I am a good teacher.” When I glanced up at him, he wagged his eyebrows.

  “Do you ever stop?”

  “Nope.” He leaned in closer to me. “And trust me, once I get started, you’ll be begging me not to.”

  A burning fire rippled through my lower-half, but I quickly played it off. “We’ll see about that.”

  “Okay, now, I want to teach you the rumba.”

  I grimaced. “You mean the whole waltzing shit wasn’t painful enough?”

  AJ shook his head with a smile. “The waltz is the stepping stone—a traditional and formal dance, but the rumba is more a dance of passion and desire.” At my hesitation, AJ added, “I’m just going to show you the American style for tonight. I don’t want to make it too complicated for you.”

  “I think we passed complicated the minute you suggested it,” I groaned.

  Grasping my chin in his fingers, he replied, “Quit whining and let me teach you.”

  “Fine.”

  “Like before, I’m going to show you the steps first.” AJ stepped closer to the mirror. “So you step out on one foot, and then when you bring the other together, you’re going to kinda pump around on your feet and then slide the other foot away again to repeat the process.”

  As he moved, my eyes honed in on the flourishing movements of his hips. With his blazer off, I could see his back muscles flexing through his shirt. Moist heat burned between my legs from watching the way the rhythm moved so effortlessly through every inch of him. My mind couldn’t help wandering from the dance steps to what those hips and shoulders might feel like moving above me, my hands running up and down his corded back muscles as he thrust in and out of me…

  AJ’s voice brought me out of my fantasy. “Got it?”

  “Huh?”

  He laughed. “Come on, Mia. This is the easiest part I could show you without blowing your mind with the complications.”

  “It wouldn’t take much.”

  “Let’s try it together.” Once again, he took the remote out of his pocket. He flipped through several songs. When a sultry, Latin beat came from the speakers, he shoved the remote back inside his pocket. He then slid his arm around my back while the other went to clasp my hand. He waited for the music to pick up at the right place. “Slow. Quick, quick, slow,” he instructed, his breath fanning across my cheek.

  While the rhythm rippled easily through AJ’s body, I wasn’t quite getting the upper body flow or the swishing of the hips.

  “Keep your frame locked, don’t slouch.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Jesus, I feel like I stepped into Dirty Dancing.”

  AJ laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever been likened to Patrick Swayze, but hey, I’ll take it. The man had some serious moves.”

  As I looked at AJ’s body, so built and muscular with its fluid movements, my stomach rolled with nervous energy. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror and shuddered. I couldn’t do this. My head was starting to swim with old insecurities rapidly taking over my pretense of sexy and strong. There was no way in hell I looked graceful. Beads of perspiration had started to pop out on my face and chest from both my exertions and anxiety. Dancing, or attempting to dance, was so not me. This was a huge fucking mistake to even attempt it with someone like AJ.

  “AJ, I can’t do this. I’m completely robotic compared to you!”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “I tried to tell you before that I just don’t have it in me.” I dropped my arm from his shoulder and started to stalk off, but AJ tightened his grip on my hand before whirling me back against him.

  “Yes, you do have it in you, Mia. And I’m going to show you.” He turned me to face the mirror before sliding behind me. His hands came to rest on my shoulders. “First of all, you’re way too tense. You need to loosen up. You have to let the music flow through you.” His deft fingers began massaging my neck and shoulders. His dark eyes locked on mine. “That’s it. Let the tension go. It’s only you and me here. No one is judging you.”

  “But you—”

  He shook his head. “You’re the one doubting yourself, not me.”

  AJ’s fingers slid down, teasing along my clavicle. I felt the muscles in my neck and shoulders go limp. My eyelids started fluttering closed as he continued massaging me. “Mia, when will you get it through your thick, stubborn, Sicilian skull that your body is made for dancing…and for fucking?”

  I popped my eyes open to stare open-mouthed at his reflection. He winked at me before leaning down to kiss my cheek. “Turn your head, and give me your mouth, Mia.”

  Although I wasn’t one for commands of the non-dancing kind, I obliged. AJ’s warm lips crushed against mine. As he deepened the kiss, I felt my tension releasing as I melted into him.

  He pulled away, and I had to fight not to whine in protest. “Now for the lower half.” His hands slid down the side of my body, slightly catching the sides of my breasts, before coming to grip my hips. His hands rose up and down on my flesh, causing my hips to roll forward and backward. “That’s right.”

  When he eased up on his grip, I kept up the same pace of undulating my hips. “Very nice.”
He met my gaze in the mirror and grinned. “See, you don’t suck.” Keeping his eyes locked on mine, he slid his hands slowly back up my torso. My breath hitched when they paused above my ribcage to tease the underside of my boobs. Surveying my reaction, he then splayed out his fingers to fully cup my breasts.

  I raised my brows at him. “And when did groping second base get added to the rumba?” I questioned breathlessly.

  His head dipped to nuzzle my neck. “It’s all part of my rumba.”

  “I see.”

  “Do you like it?” he asked, as his thumb and forefinger pebbled my nipple over the dress’s fabric.

  “It’s not bad,” I managed to croak out, despite my rapidly fluttering heart, not to mention my jittery, rubbery legs. I had reached a new level of Heaven. AJ’s fingers were divine.

  “Hmm, ‘not bad’? That’s not exactly good, is it? Guess I better work on my moves.” His right hand released my breast and trailed down my side before coming to rest between my legs. “Think I might be able to sell you on third base better?”

  A shudder rippled over me as he cupped and stroked me over my dress. Even through the fabric, I could feel the heat of his fingers. “Pretty good.”

  “That’s what I like to hear.” When his hand left me, I moaned at the loss of sensation. In a flash, AJ was tugging at my hemline. My eyes widened when I watched his hand trail up my bare thigh.

  Trying to steady my erratic heartbeat, I sucked in a breath when his hand delved into my panties. “AJ—”

  “Don’t fight it. Just feel.” His fingers stroked my clit, causing me to whimper. My gaze darted over to the door, fearing that at any moment the instructor was going to walk in on us. As if he could read my mind, AJ said, “Don’t think about her. Just think about what my fingers feel like against your warm, wet pussy.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, but AJ silenced me by sliding two fingers deep inside me. “Oh God,” I murmured. A little whimper escaped my lips at the delicious way he felt pumping his fingers while thumbing my clit. My eyes locked on AJ’s hooded gaze in the mirror. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t tear myself away from looking at what he was doing to me.

  “Do you like watching me touch you?”

  “Yes,” I panted.

  “I like watching you react to me—the way your eyes widen, the way your chest rises and falls, the way your hips move.” He dipped his head to where his breath burned fiery against my ear. “I can’t wait until it’s my dick, not my fingers, that’s inside you.”

  “Me too,” I murmured. With my first male induced orgasm in six months within reach, I no longer cared that we were standing in a public place or that AJ had a thing for dirty talk unlike any of my other lovers. All I cared about in that moment was getting off. My arms went behind me to grasp onto his hips that were moving against my ass. “Mmm, I’m close. Make me come, AJ,” I commanded.

  His fingers quickened to a lightning fast speed. Holy shit, those fingers were like magic. More parts of me tingled and had been set on fire more than I ever had before. And then a warm rush filled me from head to toe. As I went over the edge, my head fell back against AJ’s shoulder. I bit down on my lip to stifle my cries, but they still echoed through the room. AJ kept on stroking me as I pulsed around his fingers. When I finally came back to myself, I met his gaze in the mirror. “Fucking hell, that was hot.” He then jerked his hand out of my panties. With my eyes still hooded from a post-orgasm haze, I watched as he brought his index and middle finger to his mouth and sucked them inside. “Mmm, you taste amazing.”

  His words and actions, along with the fact he continued to rub his erection against my ass, almost caused me to come again.

  “I gotta get you out of here.”

  Still coming down from my high, I blindly let him drag me behind him while trying to smooth down my dress. “Wait, why are we leaving so fast?”

  “Because if I don’t get you out of here, I’m going to fuck you right in the middle of the dance studio, which I’m pretty sure would get us arrested.”

  A giggle escaped my lips at his summation. Wait, was I actually giggling like a vapid teenage girl? What was happening to me? When we got to the door, I tugged on his hand. “Shouldn’t we at least tell Molly thank you?”

  His lips curled up into that signature cocky smirk of his. “If she took one look at you right now all sexed up, she’d know we weren’t doing much dancing in there.”

  I smacked his arm. “Yeah, well, whose fault is that?”

  “Mine.” He winked at me. “I’m not one bit sorry either.” His lips grazed mine before kissing a trail across to my ear. As he breathed in my ear, he whispered, ‘Nor am I gonna regret sliding my hands back up under that sexy dress of yours, jerking down your sexy panties, and getting right up close with your gorgeous pussy.” I shivered as AJ thrust his tongue against my ear, swirling it around my earlobe. “I’ll tease you. Taste you. Make you come again, but this time, on my face. And just when you think you won’t be able to come again, I will not regret fucking you senseless, right there, in that limo where Benny will be able to hear every moan and every cry of intense pleasure I give you. No, I will not regret that. At. All. Beautiful carina.”

  A tremor of excitement went through me at his words, and I had to press my thighs together to alleviate some of the pressure building between them. “I guess I’ll let you,” I teased breathlessly, as we stumbled out of the door and into the evening heat.

  “Oh you’ll more than let me,” he growled.

  At the sight of us on the street, Benny hopped out of the limo. “Sorry sir, I didn’t know when you would be coming out.”

  “No problem, man.” As Benny stepped forward to open the door, AJ asked, “Can you let me know when we’re ten minutes from the restaurant?” He glanced over at me and winked.

  A flush entered Benny’s face, but he managed to bob his head. “Yes, sir.”

  When I started into the limo, AJ gently pushed me forward onto my knees on the floor. I glanced back at him in surprise. “So this is how we’re playing it?”

  He shot me a wicked grin. “This time, yes. I’ve waited all night to see that fabulous ass of yours.”

  I planted my palms firmly onto the limo floor while AJ nudged my thighs apart with his knee. He then jerked the hemline of my dress up, shoving it over my hips. Just when I expected him to grab the waistband of my thong, he grasped the lacy scrap of cloth covering my core and jerked it to the side. I waited for those delicious fingers he’d used in the dance studio to reenter me, but instead I got a warm, wet surprise that caused my toes to curl. AJ’s tongue slid agonizingly slow up my slit. “AJ! Oh yes…YES!” I cried, digging my fingertips into the carpeting. He continued lapping and sucking at my center. “Oh God, I’m close again…so close.”

  Just as I felt myself tense up to go over the edge, AJ suddenly pulled back. Throwing my hair out of my face, I peered over my shoulder in desperation. “No, don’t stop,” I pleaded, shoving my hips back against his face.

  He shot me a wicked grin. “Oh, I’m just getting started.”

  When I felt AJ’s fingers spreading me apart, my neck loosened, and I almost smacked my face onto the limo floor. But I could have cared less. I wanted and needed this orgasm so much I would have endured face-planting onto the carpet to ensure I was going to get it. As AJ’s tongue thrust inside me, the curtain of my hair pooled around me, thankfully muffling my scream. Down on my elbows, I rhythmically rocked my hips against his face as his tongue swirled around and around inside of me, darting deeper each time. When his thumb slid down from one of my lips to circle and then rub my clit, I went over the edge.

  Jerking my head up, I clenched my fingers into the carpeting so tight my knuckles turned white. “AJ! OH GOD! YES!” I knew from the high octave of my voice that there was no doubt that the driver heard me. Hell, anyone driving within a five mile radius probably did. I hadn’t come so hard in years. Bless AJ and his magic fingers and tongue, I thought silently as I continued th
rusting my hips toward him as I rode the pulsing wave.

  A voice crackling over the intercom brought me out of my sex haze. “Uh, sir?”

  “Yeah?” AJ questioned, his deep voice vibrating against my still convulsing core.

  “Um, there’s not much traffic, so I, uh, I believe that we’re about ten minutes from the restaurant.”

  “Thanks, Benny,” AJ called, as he pulled himself back on his heels. When I started to move, he playfully swatted my backside. “Don’t move that fabulous ass one inch.” He dug his wallet from the back of his dress pants and ripped a condom out. In a dizzying flurry, he managed within seconds to undo his pants, shove them and his boxers down, and slide on the condom.

  I quirked my brows at him. “Wow, minute man. I’m impressed.”

  AJ grinned as he took his erection in his hand. Mesmerized, I couldn’t help but watch as he pumped his hand up and down his length. I was going to have the worst crick in my neck tomorrow, not to mention my knees probably would take a week to recover. But being taken from behind was my favorite position, and after my lengthy sex drought, I was thrilled to be using it to get back in the saddle.

  “Once again, this is only round one. I plan to properly fuck you when we get back to my place, but for now, this will have to do.”

  I laughed. “Okay then. I’ll try not to judge you too harshly then if it doesn’t live up to my expectations.”

  AJ winked. “I think I’ll blow that challenge out of the water.” And with one harsh thrust he drove himself all the way inside me, sending us both crying out. “Oh fuck me, you’re tight as hell.”