Disciplining the Duchess (35 page)

I scurried to my mark, or maybe one of the stagehands pushed me. I heard the cue to enter and looked up at the same moment into Rubio’s dark, wide-set eyes. My inspiration, my idol—this was both a dream and a nightmare. We moved toward each other, arms outstretched. My smile said
oh God, help me
, while his was more
WTF
? He fixed his expression first, turning to the audience with a blazing smile. I did the same. We posed, the happy couple, Sleeping Beauty and her prince.

The orchestral cue straightened my spine like the demanding tap of a teacher. I could do this. I’d been dancing for twenty of my twenty-four years. I could do it—I just wasn’t ready to. Rubio swept me forward to center stage and we struck another pose. His whole body tensed, vibrating beside me. I could sense his fury like a palpable thing and it shook my already-faltering confidence.
Don’t mess up. Don’t dare
, my brain screamed.
Don’t do one thing wrong or your idol will hate you forever.

The dance began with a sustained
développé
facing away from the audience. I had to extend my leg to the front and then lean backward in a very slow, graceful, controlled movement. One wobble, the slightest falter, and I’d fall on my ass in front of four thousand eyes. My balance depended solely on his skill as a partner. My hands were so sweaty I was afraid my fingers would slip, but his grasp tightened like a vise. He centered me, supported me. In those slow, panicked seconds he sent me a message with his stance, his grip, his balance.

I got you. This is yours to fuck up.

Oh God, I was going to fuck it up.

Follow Annabel’s blog (annabeljoseph.com) and Twitter (@annabeljoseph) to learn more about the summer 2013 release of
Waking Kiss
.

Annabel Joseph is a multi-published BDSM romance author. She writes mainly contemporary romance, although she has been known to dabble in the medieval and Regency eras. She is known for writing emotionally intense BDSM storylines, and strives to create characters that seem real—even flawed—so readers are better able to relate to them. Annabel also writes vanilla (non-BDSM) erotic romance under the pen name Molly Joseph.

Annabel Joseph loves to hear from her readers at [email protected].

Other erotic romance by Annabel Joseph

Mercy

Cait and the Devil

Firebird

Deep in the Woods

Fortune

Owning Wednesday

Lily Mine

Comfort Object

Caressa’s Knees

Odalisque

Command Performance

Cirque de Minuit

Burn For You

The Edge of the Earth (as Molly Joseph)

Erotica by Annabel Joseph

Club Mephisto

Molly’s Lips: Club Mephisto Retold

Coming Soon:

Waking Kiss

Fever Dream

Cirque Vivide