“I wanted to tell you I was in tonight, but the surprise was too delicious,” Victoria replied, running her thumb over Anna’s bottom lip as her palm rested on Anna’s jaw. “I told myself if I wanted to be truly mysterious I’d slip in and slip out without coming to see you after the show, but we both know I’m nowhere near that strong when it comes to you.”
“Strong enough,” Anna argued. It wasn’t like Victoria to just blurt out a weakness like that, even in this advanced stage of their complicated relationship. “Strong enough to insist we not see other people while we have to be apart, even though you could no doubt have your pick in Paris.”
Victoria’s eyes flashed a little darker at that, their green irises seeming to almost disappear in the low light. Only the dressing table bulbs were on, leaving this side of the room half in shadow. “If this is your way of telling me you’ve met someone back in New York…”
“No! God, Victoria. We only spoke the other day. You know I’m not even looking.”
“Not even to have a date to your sister’s wedding? Irina told me you wanted someone on your arm.”
Anna felt like smacking her forehead against the wall for a moment. “I want you on my arm. Did you not… Okay, first of all, Irina is always trying to make you mad. Also, I know she’s sending you an invite, so the only person I want to go with is you.”
“Anna, that might not—”
“No, not tonight,” Anna interrupted, holding up her hand to stem the tide of any argument Victoria might have, a technique stolen from the woman herself. “Listen, it’s been a long day and a lot of long days before that, including a really long flight. And lately we’ve had to say no to a lot of things. A lot of opportunities to be together have just passed us by. That’s the deal; we both knew what we were getting into when you got your dream job in Paris, but that doesn’t mean it’s been easy.”
Victoria nodded. The fact that she was letting Anna ramble on was the kindest gesture she could make at that point. She smoothed the black silk of her blazer, making it tug at the neckline of the black gown she wore beneath it. Anna bit her bottom lip for a second, refusing to be distracted at the thought of exposing more skin, of having Victoria naked right there on the couch.
“So let’s not talk about plans and complications tonight. I have a hotel room, or I’m guessing you have one where the rest of the company won’t be staying, and we can just have a few hours without the world getting in our way.”
“I’m beginning to think you’ve missed me,” Victoria replied. “But I agree with your plan. No planning. No more buts and maybes and checking the calendar. Get dressed enough to get out of here, and then we’re going right down the street to my hotel.”
“I have missed you.” Anna stood up with some reluctance, feeling the loss of Victoria’s body against hers like a sudden chill. “Did you miss me?”
“What do you think?” Victoria asked, before grabbing Anna’s favorite jeans and throwing them at her. “Come on, once we’re out of here I can show you just how much.”
They practically skipped down the street after running the gauntlet of dancers and assistants and lingering ballet fans who wanted a glimpse of the new prima without many noticing the former one at her side. Victoria forced herself to enjoy the anonymity, though it stung a little each time until a few of the real aficionados gasped, Victoria Ford, right before they made it clear of the theater. A little balm for a healthy ego.
In a mood like this, Victoria hardly felt the pain in her knee. Sometimes a good burst of adrenaline was as effective as any dose of low-grade opiates or a steroid injection. Unfortunately, as with those, she would pay for her hubris when the thrill wore off.
They darted across her hotel lobby like uninvited guests trying to sneak past the watchful concierge, even though Victoria had the keycard to her suite pressed into her palm. Another expanse of white marble, much like the opera house they’d just fled from. Getting the elevator to themselves was too much temptation to ignore, and by the time the doors pinged open on the top floor, Victoria’s jacket was bunched up in Anna’s hand, the other having already found its way beneath the hem of her dress.
“Do try not to get us arrested,” Victoria warned, letting Anna practically carry her along the corridor with just a nod in the right direction. Only at the suite door did Anna relent with her open-mouthed kisses down the column of Victoria’s neck, hands retreating just long enough to set Victoria fully on the ground. Her turn to actually open the door was far from a pirouette, but much to her mortification, Victoria found her hands trembling as she aimed the plastic card at the waiting slot.
Anna wrapped her arms around Victoria, grounding her with a simple embrace. “Take your time,” Anna said, her voice a murmur disappearing against Victoria’s collarbone. “Or don’t,” she amended as Victoria unlocked the door and kicked it open with her stronger leg, dragging Anna into the suite along with her.
They didn’t pause to take in the decor, not the spiral staircase in one corner leading to the second bedroom, nor the artwork above the bed that mimicked the heavy red curtains of a theater. This private space was no stage, and Victoria had spent far too much of the day in a state of anticipation. It was officially time to enjoy having Anna in her arms without interruptions or obligations elsewhere.
Anna knew that Victoria probably had an elaborate plan for their night together because that bossy, brilliant brain of hers rarely took so much as an hour off. But Anna had been alone in New York for months, a relentless slideshow of fantasies parading through her head whenever she hadn’t been too exhausted to daydream.
Besides, what kind of prima couldn’t take charge of the scene on command? Their clothes were long gone, and Anna had Victoria just where she wanted her: flat on her back, soft curls streaming across the crisp white sheets. Her hair had gotten longer, and there was a tiny hint of silver at her temples, blending in with the blonde.
“You really are a work of art,” Anna said, her voice too quiet for the huge room at first. “Do you know how often I’ve pictured being with you, just like this?”
“How often?” Victoria asked. “Can’t possibly have been as often as I caught myself thinking about having you back in my studio every day, watching you bend and flex for me.”
Anna closed her eyes for a moment, picturing exactly that. The frisson of excitement had been missing from every rehearsal and costume fitting without Victoria there to invade Anna’s personal space, to touch in ways just short of inappropriate as long as they had an audience. “I’ve kept up the work on my lifting, just in case,” Anna wasn’t sure where the bragging was coming from, but it felt important to tell Victoria that much. “And you know what it’s like after a night like tonight, an audience like that. I’ve got a lot to burn off right here.”
She flexed her arms as she leaned down to claim another kiss, letting her lips wander down to graze each of Victoria’s hardened nipples in turn. Anna’s reward was a throaty moan that seemed to ripple right through them both, a first warning not to tease for too long.