"The crowd tonight is amazing!" I say to the girls before taking a big swig of water in the spacious dressing room. Performers are everywhere, laughing, chatting loudly, and being carried by the high of their performances.
The dance routine was one of the best performances we've ever done. The excitement and energy in the air polished off every hit of every beat.
Yet I don't have too much time to celebrate. The reverberation from Ana's voice reaches the room indicating I need to be back there any second now to do the final performance.
I've only stepped in for Ana once or twice before and hope she picks someone who could have fun with it. The last time I did this dance the guy almost peed his pants from how terrified he was.
After quickly changing into my black long-sleeve bodysuit with mesh paneling cutouts and strapping on her heels, I hurry through the back of the theater hallway. The sound of a man's voice reaches my ears, indicating Ana picked someone.
I giggle to myself thinking about some of the moves I need to do. I wonder who the lucky guy is.
I make my way to the side of the stage and as soon as my gaze lands on the back of the man's head, my pulse ticks up a notch. He's seated on a chair with his back toward me... and looks too familiar.
Before I can even process who the man is, Ana calls the audience to give it up for me. The spotlights change to a reddish-purple hue and Ana scurries off the stage. The opening of Taylor Swift's Vigilante Shit begins to stream through the speakers, filling up the space and prompting me to move into the audience's view of the stage.
The crowd cheers loudly as I seductively walked toward the broad-shouldered man in the chair. Those broad shoulders look so much like - I freeze, my pulse skyrocketing through the roof. The man turns his head toward the audience and his profile becomes visible.
What the...? There's no way!
I move swiftly to be in front of Lucas, not even bothering to keep up the routine. My jaw falls to the floor.
Lucas, in flesh and blood, is grinning from ear to ear seated on the chair in front of me. The very same spot where I'm supposed to be waving my ass and boobs around in the air in a few seconds.
My mind moves rapidly trying to process what's going on. How did he find out about this? Did he see my dance earlier? What the hell is he doing?
The music stops. I'm frozen. For a moment everything is dead silent, and all I can hear is my pulse in my eardrums.
Lucas draws his brows together briefly. Yet a moment later, his features morph into a challenging glint.
Fuck, he's good.
I shift my gaze around to the waiting crowd and then meet Ana's concerned look in the corner. She glances back at Lucas and a smile tugs at her lips. I look at Lucas and all I see is smug.
You want to play? Then let's play.
"Sorry, everyone!" I shout out to the audience. "I know this guy and it tripped me up!" My performance smile is back on, and the audience reacts with cheers. "We're going to take it from the top," I continue, and the audience cheers even louder.
Lucas can't seem to contain his boyish grin as he sits there comfortably in his seat. I lean down, my lips reaching the shell of his ear, before I whisper, "Turn your chair around and face me."
Lucas' hands tremble on his lap. I back away and move to the starting position. When I turn around to face him again, he's seated facing me and rubbing his hands together.
You want to see me dance? Then see me dance.
The music starts. His eyes slowly scanned my figure leaving a burning sensation over every surface area they move over. I start off my seductive walk toward him and the crowd quiets.
I move to the beat - popping my hip, whipping my hair, and rolling my body as I reach directly in front of him. The adrenaline of doing this dance for Lucas is making my mind and body buzz in a way I've never felt before. It's invigorating and terrifying all at the same time.
His eyes are completely dark. The bright hues of blue are no longer visible. It's as if his pupils are dilated to maximum capacity. When our eyes lock, another rush floods through me. His smirk is throwing hay into the fire lighting up my body.
I move my hips and fling my leg up to his chest, the sole of my heel presses against him. The crowd goes wild at this first point of contact. Lucas' eyes roam along my leg and he places his hand on the side of it. He starts to move his hand down, but I put my leg back on the ground before he could go further. I smile coyly and shake my head slightly in a way that conveys there's no touching allowed.
I don't know if Lucas picked up on my signal as his gaze is back to drinking up every inch of me with a slightly open mouth. Heat pools everywhere in my body as I move back toward him. I grab onto his thighs and bend down before slowly rolling myself back up. A pleasant sage and leather cologne scent fills my nostrils as I move closer. Someone in the crowd yells out, "Hot damn!" followed by some whistles and I smile wider.
Lucas doesn't react to the audience and his gaze remains fixed on me. I turn and do another drop with a slow roll up, this time my back facing him and my ass with the Brazilian cut of my bodysuit is in his full view.
When I turn back around, his mouth is still hanging open and I nearly giggle. I had an inkling that he found me attractive, but his face right now confirms it. The power I have in this moment is thrumming loudly in my veins. I want to do more, show him more.
I make my way back to his lap and this time, take a seat on one of his thighs. We both smile widely at each other when his eyes reach mine. I kick my legs in the air and move over to his other side, breaking eye contact.
Before I can continue to dance up against his thighs, Lucas' hands find my waist and greedily move them over my sides, feeling the slopes of my curves. The electricity zinging through them raises the temperature of my body. My smile falters as I try to keep my breath even and stay in control.
The crowd continues to whistle as I turn around to face him. I place my hands on his shoulders and his hands make their way back to my sides again, making my body visibly shudder. He doesn't seem to notice as his eyes are glued to my cleavage shoved up near his face.
The song is coming to an end, and I move even closer. Lucas' pulse beats wildly against my skin, likely mirroring my own. I sit down facing him, and partially straddling him, as I do body rolls against his chest. His boyish grin is back on full display and without warning, he grabs onto my sides and brings me fully against him.
Holy shit!
Lucas is as hard as a rock. I can feel him up against the crevice between my butt and leg. His length against me forces a sharp intake of breath. Butterflies erupt in a praise-like dance within my stomach. I push back against his chest to finish off the whip of my hair on each side of him.
With a heaving chest, I move closer and my eyes come back to meet his. The loud cheers of the audience are drowned out by the dark, almost sinister look in Lucas' eyes.
My heart is getting ready to throw open my ribcage and burst out of my chest. I freeze with our faces a mere inches away from each other. He slowly brings a hand up and places it on the side of my face tenderly. Even though the music is subsiding, I can't move. Something is happening. My body will combust into flames if I don't witness how it plays out. Without missing another beat, Lucas tugs on to the back of my neck and brings his lips up to meet mine.