Carter had never been one to dance much. For all his athletic skill, it made him feel awkward and out of place. Given his druthers, he would have been content to just sit with Elena at the table and listen to the music all night, but he was powerless to refuse her and so once again let himself be dragged away. Elena’s friends followed close behind, and soon they were all out on the floor dancing together. It did not take long for others in the club to get up from their tables, as well, and crowd in around them.

Before Carter knew it, he was surrounded on all sides by a mass of bodies moving back and forth to the rhythm of the music. Though he himself was like a fish out of water, Elena was clearly in her element, and all he could do was watch her and forget the rest of the world.

Tossing her hair back, her eyes closed as if she had fallen into a trance, Elena stretched her arms over her head in the most beguiling way and swayed her lithe, supple body to the music with deliciously sinuous movements. As if knowing that he could not take his eyes off of her, she opened her own once more and draped her arms over his shoulders. Pressing her body against his, letting him feel the warmth of her abdomen and breasts moving against him, she gave Carter a provocative look and ran her fingers through his hair before pulling away and losing herself once more in the dance. On and on it went this way, the music throbbing like a pulse, Elena’s body always in motion with it.

Carter was enraptured. It was like gazing into a fire and wanting with all his heart to fall into it and let himself be consumed. Elena was dancing for him, he told himself, for the two of them! Here at last was the reward for his unwavering devotion to her, the discipline, the hours of study, and the long, lonely nights of dreaming only of her. This dance was just a prelude to what the rest of that night would hold, and all Carter could think of was taking her in his arms and making love to her over and over again.