Read Pursuing Paige for Free Online

feet,
the taste of him still on her mouth. “Okay.”
    “See you later.”
    She nodded
again, unable to form a sentence. He closed the door, leaving her
alone in the immense space. She dragged a few agonized breaths into
her lungs. It went against everything she’d been taught, ran
contrary to the woman she’d thought she’d been her entire adult
life—but she wanted him. Wanted them both . At the same time.
Any way she could get them.
    Was that what people meant when they talked
about chemistry? It was powerful, powerful enough to override her
good sense. If Jarek had pressed the issue just then, she would
have gladly allowed him just about anything.
    Or was it the bond?
    She thought about that for a moment, and
then shook her head. Silly. She wasn’t going to buy into that the way her sister had. It was more like she hadn’t sex in
a very long time and Jarek and Kaiden were both
sex-on-legs.
    Once her body had cooled off a bit, she
adjusted the illumination in the room to light the stage and
nothing else. The view of seats, even completely empty ones, always
made her nervous and right now she just wanted to dance. She needed to dance.
    There was nothing on the stage, no bars,
mirrors, or even a chair. It was all open space, full of
possibility. She pulled on her tights and leotard, and then added a
loose gray boatneck T-shirt. Finally, she laced up her ballet
shoes. As she warmed up, she readied music tracks in her mind.
    Finally, she rose, and with a sweep of her
arm, she began to dance. Her body swayed, lifted, twirled, made use
of the space. Her muscles stretched, contracted, invigorating every
pore of her body with euphoria. Perspiration sheened her skin as
she went through the motions of the pieces she’d been working on.
For the time being, she could forget her situation, forget she’d
been pulled into an alternate reality, forget the strangeness of it
all. Change wasn’t something that had ever come easily to her.
    But she couldn’t forget Jarek and Kaiden.
    She tried. As she leapt and swooped across
the stage, pushing her body to the limits of its capacity for
exertion, she did her best to wipe the men from her mind, but they
just wouldn’t go. They were unforgettable, lodged in her psyche so
securely not even her favorite thing in the world could force her
thoughts from them.
    Was she destined to always carry them with
her? Even after she returned to the other side? How could two men
she barely knew have that kind of power over her?
    Deep in thought, she danced so hard and so
long she lost track of time. She heard footsteps behind her and
Jarek was there. She turned and ended up in his arms.
    He wore a hungry expression on his face. He
was dressed in a loose fitting shirt and a pair of pants. “We
watched you dance so often through the veil. To see you in person
is indescribable.”
    She straightened, her heart beating and her
breath coming fast and hard from the exercise. “I feel better now.
My head is clear.” Almost.
    They stood looking at each other for a long
moment. Finally, as though of one mind, they each took a step
toward other. Jarek dragged her up against his chest, his mouth
coming down hungrily on hers. “I want you more than anything,” he
whispered against her lips between kisses.
    “I’m yours,” she answered. At least for right
now.
    He lifted her around the waist like she
weighed nothing and stepped off the stage to the first row of seats
that were swathed in near darkness. Sitting her down on the edge of
one, he dragged his fingers down one of her legs and slowly lifted
her ankle. She sat back in the seat and bit her lower lip. The
sight of her battered ballet shoe in his huge hand, his dark eyes
looking at her with such hunger, it made her stomach warm with
need.
    Slowly, he untied the ribbons of her shoe and
slid it off, letting her foot fall gently down. He did the same
with the other. Her feet were not beautiful, a result of the
pummeling she constantly gave them. That