Grace
WEDNESDAY NIGHT, I stood at the barre with a couple of other ‘newbies,’ and watched Vitaly Popov, a visiting dancer from Russia, demonstrate a few moves with his partner, Zoe Campbell. She was another principal dancer, and beautiful wasn’t quite adequate to describe her. She was perfect.
The ballet company had a kickass principal team, and if I wanted in, I was going to have to work my ass off. I was good with that… I just wasn’t sure Flea would be.
“You.” Vitaly pointed at me and I stood straighter. “Come here.”
I walked to the middle of the room and took his hand.
“Your name?”
“Grace.”
“How is your grand jeté?”
“It’s my favorite move, actually.”
He smiled. “Show me.”
I made my way to the corner of the room, began my run and lifted off my feet, spreading into a split and keeping my toes pointed as I flew through the air. My heart soared as I came down perfectly, rising up on my toes to finish the jump.
“Sovershenstvo… perfection,” Vitaly said with a clap.
I took a curtsy and grinned. “Thank you.”
He waved me back. “I’m going to lift you onto my shoulder, then take you into a fish dive. Do you trust me?”
I nodded and took his hand again. As he settled his hands on my waist, I went into a relevé to sous sus, down to a plié, then Vitaly lifted me in one quick move onto his shoulder. I shifted just a hair and he dropped me into a fish dive, which could have easily gone badly had he not been strong… and had I not trusted him.
Lifting me back up, I lowered my feet to the floor, on my toes, then Vitaly released me. “Well done. Keep your core a little tighter when you’re lifted… it will help.”
I nodded and took my place back at the barre.
“You looked amazing.”
I turned to the sound of the whisper and smiled. “Thank you.”
“I’m Remi.”
“Grace.”
“Are you part of the company?”
I nodded. “As of Monday, I’m an apprentice.”
“Me too,” she said. “I’m so nervous.”
“I hear ya.”
“You,” Vitaly said, this time pointing to Remi.
“Oh my god,” she breathed out, and walked toward Vitaly.
“I’m going to do same as with Grace,” he said, and pulled her into position.
I held my breath as he dropped her into a fish dive and she reached for the floor. Crap. She didn’t trust him.
Vitaly righted her and set her on her feet. “You need to work on that. You must learn to trust partner, or you will get hurt.”
“Yes. Okay,” she said, and rushed back to me. “Shit.”
“You did great,” I assured her. “You just need to hold your core tighter. It’ll keep you from pitching forward.”
“We should work out together,” she said.
I nodded as I continued to watch Vitaly. “We’ll coordinate schedules.”
All too soon, class was over, and we were directed to gather our things. I sat on the floor and removed my toe shoes, pulling on sweats and sneakers, and dragging a sweatshirt over my head.
Remi walked with me toward the door, but Vitaly stopped us. “Grace, can you stay for a bit?”
“Ah, sure.”
I smiled at Remi and she walked out while I stood with Vitaly and waited for the room to clear.
“You are beautiful dancer, Grace.”
I beamed. “Thank you. Coming from you, that means a lot.”
“I would like to work with you.”
“I would be honored.”
“Good. We’ll speak on Monday.”
“Okay.” I left the class feeling six-feet-tall and that feeling got better when I found Flea waiting for me in the hallway. “Hi.”
“Hey, baby.” He grinned, taking my bag and leaning down to kiss me. “How was class?”
“It was good. Did you watch?”
He shook his head. “Just got here.”
“Vitaly is one of the visiting principals and he says I’m a beautiful dancer and he wants to work with me,” I said, my breath coming in excited bursts. “Do you know how huge that is?”
He grinned. “Sounds pretty fuckin’ huge.”
I bit my lip. “Sorry. I’m boring you.”
“Baby, you’re not,” he countered, sliding his arm around me as we walked to my car. “I love hearing you happy.”
“How was church?”
“Good,” he said, holding my car door open for me.
“Any updates on Hatch?” I asked as I slid inside.
He shook his head and made his way to the driver’s seat.
“How much longer is this going to take?” I asked.
He sighed and started my car. “No fuckin’ clue.”
“Thanks for picking me up,” I said, changing the subject.
He took my hand. “You’re welcome.”
“Who dropped you off?”
“Preacher.”
“Thank him for me.”
Flea chuckled. “Don’t need to thank him, baby. He lives a couple miles from here.”
I shrugged. “It was still nice of him to drop you off.”
He just smiled and squeezed my hand. We drove in comfortable silence and I found myself drifting a little.
“You hungry?” he asked.
“Hm?”
“Food. Do you want food?” he asked.
“Yes. Absolutely. Somewhere I can get chicken, okay?”
“Sure.”
We drove through a Salmon Creek drive thru, then headed to Grams’. A truck was parked in her driveway, but it didn’t belong to my brother or my dad. “Who’s here?”
“Flick.”
“Why?”
“Your dad couldn’t stay, and Finch was with us.”
“Flea, she can’t be left with someone she doesn’t know,” I ground out. “She’s got personal stuff going on.”
“Baby, she knows Flick.”
“Shut up, she does not.”
“Yeah, she does,” he argued. “They went to high school together.”
I gasped. “What?”
He chuckled. “Yep. He came with Finch and they figured it out while he was hangin’ out. She was good with him staying. Plus, he’s takin’ care of Darien’s dog for a couple of days, so Barney’s here too.”
“Grams can’t resist dogs.”
“Exactly what she said.”
“I wish you’d told me, I would have grabbed Flick food.”
“I grabbed extra.”
I let out a dramatic sigh. “Okay, good, because you ordered a shit-ton of food and I was beginning to worry.”
Flea dropped his head back and laughed, then kissed me quickly. “Come on, baby, let’s go say hi.”
I grabbed the food, he grabbed my bag and the drinks, and we headed inside.
“Grams, it’s me,” I called out, and heard a dog growl.
“Shh,” Flick hissed, greeting us in the foyer. “She’s asleep.”
Barney was on his heels and sniffed my legs, then Flea’s.
“Hey, puppy,” I crooned, leaning down to stroke his head. He licked my hand and then sat at Flick’s feet. “How’s Grams?”
“She’s good, babe,” Flick said. “I see food. You bring me food?”
“Yeah, brother, we brought you food,” Flea said, and headed to the kitchen.
We unpacked the bags as quietly as we could, but Grams still stirred from her place in the recliner. I made my way to her and smiled down at her. “Hey, Grams. Did you enjoy your reunion?”
She smiled. “Sure did.”
“Are you hungry. We got burgers.”
“Yeah, sweetpea. Starving.”
“Okay, I’ll bring you everything. Are you due for meds?”
“Probably.”
“Okay. Stay put.”
I grabbed a tray and set her food on it, laying it across her lap, then I joined Flea and Flick in the kitchen. Once Flick inhaled his food, he decided it was time to go, so he scooped up Barney and headed out.
Grams insisted Flea stay if he wanted to, bidding us a goodnight and using her walker to head to her bedroom. I followed a few minutes later and made sure she was comfortable before joining Flea in the family room. “I’m gonna go shower. Are you staying?”
“You want me to stay?”
I rolled my eyes. “I will treat that as a rhetorical question.”
He grinned and followed me back to my room. “Want some help washin’ your back?”
I raised an eyebrow. “No… but I could use some help washing my front.”
He rushed me, kissing me deeply as he closed the bedroom door.
“Hold on,” I panted out. “I need to turn on the monitor.”
I’d set up a baby monitor, so Grams could just ‘yell’ for me if she needed me, so I turned it on, then grabbed Flea’s cut. “You gonna get naked now?” I challenged.
“Not sure how I feel about fuckin’ you in your Grams’ house.”
“But heavy petting was okay?”
“She wasn’t here then, baby.”
I smiled and did my best Elmer Fudd impersonation, whispering, “We’ll be vewy, vewy quiet.”
He grinned, kissing me again before tearing my clothes off. Once he was naked, he backed me into the bathroom and stalled. “Shit.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Forgot about the tiny shower.” His eyes swept the space. “We’re gonna have to get creative.”
“I like creative.”
I was looking forward to tonight. It would be the first time without condoms, which would be a surprise to him. I’d gotten on the pill almost immediately and I was officially past the danger point.
“Let me grab a condom.”
I grabbed his arm. “You don’t need it.”
“No shit?”
“No shit.” I kissed his chest. “According to the doctor, D-day was yesterday… we’re safe.”
“Fuck,” he rasped, kissing me deeply.
Keeping his arm around me, he started the shower and lifted me inside. I shivered when the tepid water hit my skin, but then his mouth was on mine again and my shiver turned into something much, much nicer.
I reached for a washcloth and soaped it up, running my tongue over one of his nipples as I gently wrapped the cloth up and down the bottom-side of his cock.
I knew I hit pay-dirt when Flea hissed, lifting my chin to kiss me again. I continued to work his shaft, dropping the washcloth, I wrapped my fingers around his girth. He cupped my breasts and sucked one nipple, then the other, before sliding his hand between my legs. Having just gotten waxed, I was a little tender, and it added to the sensation.
“You sore?” he asked.
“No. Just sensitive.”
“Need me to move on?”
I grabbed his wrist and held it steady. “No.”
He grinned, slipping a finger inside of me while his thumb went to my clit. I gripped his shoulders and moved against his hand.
“Brace yourself, baby.” He lifted one of my legs to his hip and guided his cock to my entrance. “Ready?”
“So ready.”
He slid slowly into me and I arched my hips to pull him deeper. “Oh, god,” I rasped.
“Fuck,” he breathed out at the same time.
“That feels… incredible.”
“Yeah, baby, it does.”
He moved, slowly at first, then sped up the pace, and I gripped his shoulders as my climax began to build. “Honey…”
“Wait, Grace.”
I squeaked. “I don’t know if I can.”
This fact was driven home when he rolled my nipple between his fingertips… hard. I exploded, biting his shoulder to keep from crying out. Flea gave one more thrust and I felt him pulse inside of me as he let out a quiet grunt.
Kissing me gently, he pulled out of me and lowered my shaky leg. I continued to grip his shoulders as my body basked in the afterglow of my orgasm. I dropped my head to his chest and kissed his pec gently. “I love you,” I whispered.
He cupped my face and raised my head. “What was that?”
I licked my lips. “I love you.”
His eyes got soft and he smiled. “Yeah?”
I nodded.
“Love you too, honey.”
I smiled. “I know.”
“You do, huh?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“The way you look at me. The way you make sure I’m safe. The way you make me feel when we’re naked.” I looped my arms around his neck. “And the way you make sure my grandmother feels safe and secure.”
“That’s all on you, honey.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Don’t try to tell me you had nothing to do with the Flick thing. I know you.”
“I had Finch bring him by the other day. Your brother said they didn’t stop talking.”
I stroked his neck. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He kissed me again, then guided me under the water. “Gonna get us clean so I can dirty you up in bed.”
I giggled. “Have at it.”