Up All Night by Faye Avalon Read Free Book Online

her eyes at the
laughter and guffaws that greeted this, but Marco’s possessive arm around her
waist and the way his fingers moved up and down on her hip sent a warm feeling
all the way to her toes.
    “Salsa is danced at a fast tempo,”
the sequined man continued. “It uses a quick-quick-slow rhythm. The hold is
sometimes referred to as a break step. There are four beats…”
    Oh shit. Beth cringed. She was lost
already. Fast. Slow. Break. Beats. This was heading towards being a total
disaster. She hoped to heaven Marco wasn’t expecting her to be able to do this.
    “Let’s begin by counting out the
beats. Take your partner’s hand.”
    As Marco’s arm slipped from her
waist and his hand reached for hers, Beth felt her pulse kick. He had such big
hands. What was it they said about men with big hands? Hell. Don’t go there.
    “Begin. One, two, three. Beat. Five,
six, seven. Good. Again.”
    After a few of those, Beth started
to feel a little better. She forgot the beat a couple of times, but Marco’s
supportive hand squeeze and the smile he gave her made her feel less clunky. He
forgot it once, but she was sure he only did it to make her feel better.
    “Okay.” The instructor called, “and
faster.”
    The music sped up and Beth did a
sort of on the spot shuffle before she managed to get her feet into gear. Since
most of the couples around were laughing as they got it wrong, too, Beth
relaxed and soon got into the rhythm.
    Marco didn’t seem to put a foot
wrong. “You’ve done this before,” she accused, grinning up at him.
    “I’ve hit the dance floor a few
times. Having fun?”
    She was. By the time they mastered
the first basic turn, Beth had laughed so much she’d forgotten her initial
nerves. She learned that perhaps she wasn’t such a klutz after all and was in
fact feeling like she could actually look straight ahead instead of down at her
feet.
    “Good.” The instructor—whose name
she couldn’t remember—called out to the group in general. “Keep that rhythm
going.”
    “That’s the plan,” Marco muttered as
the hand on Beth’s back pressed her a little too close to his hips than the
dance required. “Doesn’t seem to be much wrong with our rhythm.”
    It didn’t take a genius to decipher
the meaning behind his words, but if she had been in any doubt the dark flash
of sexual promise in his eyes would have been confirmation enough. “Are you
sure you haven’t done this before? You seem surprisingly good for a beginner.”
    “It’s in the hips.” He waited for
the beat. “I’ve always had good hip control.”
    Damn. Her knees almost caved and
heat spread delectably between her legs. If she hadn’t been holding on to him,
she might have melted onto the ballroom floor.
    Oh hell. He was so amazingly sexy
with all that dark hair and those tempting chocolate eyes that seemed to focus
effortlessly on her alone, despite the bevy of hot and more appropriately
dressed women amongst their fellow dancers. How could she resist him? And
damned if she would. She hadn’t had sex for the best part of eighteen months,
and there’d never be a better time to break her fast. Not when she had a hot,
extremely willing male ready to service her like there was no tomorrow.
    “Good hip control?” She looked up at
him from beneath her lowered eyelashes. “I imagine that comes in handy now and
again.”
    His nostrils flared a little, then
he grinned. “You’re welcome to test it out any time you like. Sooner would be
better than later.”
    She let her smile take a while to
get where it was going, aiming for seductive. It seemed to work, because he
gave a low hum in his throat. She missed the beat step again and stepped on his
toe. “Sorry.” She giggled when he took the opportunity to pull her close
against him, and she felt his erection press against her. “While I see what you
mean about having good hip control, the evidence points to you not having much
control anywhere else.”
    He held her