“You going to teach me to dance today?” I ask, heart thundering. Now that we know Sara Young is following me around, we have to be extremely careful with what we do. Having me come here to dance, now that’s a great way to throw her off our trail.

“More like … I’m going to show you how to find the dancer inside of you,” Callum murmurs, leaning over and folding his body in half. He presses his chest into his thighs, hands wrapped around his feet. Impressive. “Get changed and start the playlist on my phone.”

I nod, and head up to the front of the room to dig through his duffel bag. He’s packed me some pink leggings with a matching sports bra, and a loose black tank to go over the top of it. The ballet slippers with the ribbons are in there, too, just waiting to kiss my toes and carry me across the dance floor.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you all week,” I say, facing the mirror as I strip down, watching as Cal lifts his head up from his stretch so that he can watch me right back. We’ve been here, done this before, but now … things are different.

Now, he’s the only letter in that dark acronym I haven’t fucked.

Now, Victor’s given his blessing and there’s nothing shady or underhanded to this.

So why the hell do I feel so nervous? I guess getting harassed by cops at school could be part of it. Or it could be because Sara Young follows me every-fucking-where I go now. But … it’s none of those things, is it?

It’s because Cal and I both know we’re not just here to dance today. If we were, I wouldn’t be sweaty, and my hands wouldn’t shake as I yank the sports bra over my head and do my best to wrestle my breasts into it.

“This feels like a tourniquet for my tits,” I choke out, trying to lighten the mood. Callum chuckles, and the sound feels much closer than it should be. When I lift my head up suddenly to look in the mirror, I can see him standing right behind me. “Jesus, Cal, how the fuck do you do that?”

“Do what?” he asks, tilting his head to one side and smiling at me. Ass. He knows exactly what he’s doing, and he gets a kick out of it, too.

“Move like that,” I say, turning around in my new outfit. Callum looks me over appreciatively and then pushes me gently back into the wooden chair near the mirror. As he kneels down to help me with the ballet slippers, I tie my hair up into a bouncy pony. “It’s like … you teleport or some shit.” He presses his mouth to my foot and chuckles, so that the sound reverberates up my entire leg and right into my crotch.

Yep.

Oh yeah.

This is happening.

I need it to happen. Some part of me feels like the most pressing bit of business that Havoc has to deal with right now is this: me claiming my boys. I have one left, and I have to make him mine. I just have to.

The feel of Callum’s fingers as he slips the pink shoes onto my feet and carefully ties the ribbons is exquisite, like the opening of a slow, sensual track meant for dancing in the rain or reuniting after a tragedy. The way the touches me tells a story, one that I never want to end.

“Hey Cal,” I start, grabbing my discarded pants from the floor and pulling out my lip gloss. I apply it, but only so that I can pretend I’m not scheming here. Pretty sure he knows that I am, that I’m quite literally gunning for his dick, but I can at least try to be subtle, right?

“Yes?” he queries back, lifting that cerulean gaze of his to my face. There are scars on his throat that catch the light from above, turning silver as he sits back into a crouch to look at me.

“I’m sorry if I make you feel like you’re part of the background, or if I hurt you by letting Oscar—”

“No,” he says, voice much firmer than usual. That distinct gravelly tone of his comes across even stronger, and I shiver. “I like to be in the background; I like to sit in the shadows. That’s where I feel comfortable.” He rises to his feet and holds a hand out toward me. A slight smirk works its way across his pretty pink mouth. “And Oscar is … well, I can’t say I’m not a little bit jealous, but he needs you, Bernie.” Cal pauses as I lift my hand up and place it in his. He curls tattooed fingers around mine and hauls me to my feet. “We all do.”

Callum holds me for a moment before stepping away to start up his playlist. He waits until I move into the center of the room before hitting play. As soon as the music begins to trickle from the speakers, I know what I’m listening to.

This is it. The song I’m going to fuck Callum Park to.

Redemption by Besomorph, Coopex, and RIELL.

“Just follow me,” he commands, and here, in his kingdom, in his domain, I’m powerless to resist.

We circle each other, heads down, gazes locked. Callum is so fucking intense; I do my best to meet him tit-for-tat. It’s hard though. He blends into the shadows, makes himself invisible, and yet … he’s an eruption waiting to happen.

Our slippers whisper across the floor as we move together in nearly perfect unison. It isn’t easy, but I do my best to match his steps. Callum can feel the beat in a way I never could; he understands so much more about his own body.

I feel like I never got to really know my body. After all, it was hard to remember that it actually belonged to me. So many people wanted to take it from me and use it for themselves. I guess I just sort of disconnected my brain from all of that.

Callum steps forward and I do the same, holding up my palms the way he does. We press our hands together briefly before he turns and does a little spin, holding his hand out for me. I look at it for a second before I prance forward on my toes and grab hold. He yanks me close, until we’re face to face, drawing his fingertips along the edge of my jaw. There’s sweat dripping down the sides of his face. Mine, too. I’m soaked in it.

His arm bands around my waist, lifting me just a few inches off the floor and then turning the pair of us around in another circle. He sets me down, but only for a second, and then he lifts me up higher, catching me by the pelvis and turning us around in another circle.

When Cal lets my body slide down along the length of his, I can feel the hardness of his cock beneath his sweats. That, and his spirit; it’s like our souls are dancing at the same time as our bodies, brushing up against one another and pulling apart. It’s how we’ve been for years, me and him. Together and apart, a delicate dance of feelings and circumstance that only now is coming to a head.

“Focus,” he breathes as my fingers trail down his bare chest. I feel light-headed and strange as Callum lets go of me and does a series of impressive leaps and spins, his legs coming up above my head. He dances around me as I turn, trying to keep my eyes on him at all times. He moves so quickly that it isn’t easy. My breath quickens, my heartbeat thunders, my vision narrows down to a single pinprick.

He’s very clearly performing for me and me alone; this dance is meant for no other woman.

Callum holds out his hand again and this time, when I grab him, he pulls us together for a formal waltz. His feet meet mine, pushing them back, drawing them forward with subtle physical cues. He turns his head away from me though, forcing us to turn in a circle and then another. Another. Another.

When he clasps my right hand with his own, fingers woven together, and holds my hip with his other, I hear the drop in the song coming. Callum straightens his arm, forcing me back and then yanking me forward. He drops me back and sweeps the floor with my hair, back and forth, lifting me up again and grabbing both of my hands.

He slides me forward, my legs between his, until I’m nearly underneath him. I manage to keep my muscles tight, so I move like he wants me to. Cal lifts me back up, pulls me close and then kneels down, laying me out beneath him, my legs still between his.

He undulates his body above mine several times, my right hand still locked with his, his blue eyes on mine.

Cal rolls off of me and then sits up on his knees, his body now perpendicular with mine. This time, when he offers his hand, I crawl to him. He slides me the rest of the way across the floor and I wrap my legs around his waist.

I fall back and he chases me down, straddling me and looking into my eyes. A bit of sweat drips off of him and onto me, but I don’t care. I just want him to fucking kiss me.

The song slows again, and Callum pulls back, rising to his feet and dancing around me like he’s worshipping at some dark altar. I just didn’t expect to be his wicked goddess. My breathing fogs the floor as I roll to my side to watch him. He’s so darkly beautiful, so twisted and complex. Why don’t I know more? That’s all I want, to know everything.

He comes back to me then, hauling me to my feet as effortlessly as one might take a breath. Cal pulls my body to his, encouraging me to grind against him, our hips moving together like we’re fucking. I am beyond soaked, my nipples hard points, my heart thundering.

“Callum,” I murmur, because I just want him now. It shouldn’t have taken us this long to be together anyway. And I really, really should’ve slept with him before Oscar. “Please.”

He doesn’t reply to me, running his hands down my sides and then stepping forward so that I very naturally take a step back. Callum takes my waist in both hands, and I dip back naturally, letting myself go weightless in his arms. He lays me down again, covering my body with his, undulating on me again.

“If it cost me my body, and my future in dance, to be with you, then it’ll have all been worth it.” The song ends as Cal presses his lips to my clavicle, tasting the sweat on my skin. Another one starts right up—this time it’s the remix of “Sweet Dreams” by Besomorph—and the tone of it is perfectly somber and sensual at the same time. “Worth every broken bone,” Cal whispers again, his voice husky and low. He kisses down my chest until he gets to the sweat-soaked tank top I’m wearing.

So much for dance lessons.

Looks like I’m about to get a lesson in something else.

Cal very carefully slips the shirt off, leaving me in my sports bra. He tosses the tank top aside and keeps going, his mouth trailing kisses down my belly.

“Worth my voice,” he continues, kissing along the seam in my leggings. He starts to suck and kiss on my clit through the fabric, driving me absolutely up the goddamn wall as he nibbles and teases it with his teeth. “Worth my innocence.”