4 Corners: Dance with Me

Caleigh looked up at the back of August as he walked away from her. A wispy trail of vapor escaped from her lips as her mouth slipped open. New feelings about August stirred within her. After all that was said, she realized that they weren't feelings of repulsion or resentment.

She shuddered as she felt her heartbeat quicken.

An uneasy knot wove its way through her stomach as they continued along the sidewalk.

************

Over the next few days, the couple seemed to hit a rut on the dance floor. More specifically, August appeared to be regressing. It wasn't a case of him not caring or trying. He was distracted and it showed in his constant stumbles, fumbled turns, and weak holds and lifts.

"I'm sorry. Man, I'm sorry," he said over and over. It was obvious he was tearing himself up.

One particular move that was sticking him like a knife in the gut. After yanking Caleigh up against his body, one hand grabbing around the small of her back, the other wrapped in her hair, pulling her back, arching her body backwards as she pushed her hands against his chest. The young woman's body seductively bowed against him, his lips were to glide downward skimming her skin from her chin, to her neck, to the top of her bosom.

While in the midst of the move, however, Caleigh felt like she was going to slip from his delicate grasp and fall back onto the floor.

"Ah, August! You're holding me too loosely!" she said as she adjusted her footing.

"Pull her tight, August. Seize her body," Thalia instructed, "No light between your waists. And brush your lips along her skin."

August frowned and grit his teeth, cursing himself. He pulled Caleigh back up then stepped away, frustrated.

Caleigh stood aside, concern on her face as she looked at him struggle with himself.

"Okay, maybe we should call it for today," Thalia said, waving her hand before the young man started with his effusive apologies again. "Cal, why don't you go get changed. I just want to talk to August for a bit."

Caleigh looked at him anxiously. She leaned towards him about to say something but instead offered him a reassuring smile then turned and walked away.

August spoke, "Thalia, I'm sorry. I-"

"Shh," the older woman hushed with a smile. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and turned him around. They watched Caleigh walking towards the change room.

"She's really great, isn't she?" Thalia said.

"God, she's the best," August replied, "She's an amazing dancer."

"She's also a beautiful young woman," Thalia added, "Don't you think? A beauty that makes you feel weak?"

August's jaw tightened. He didn't answer.

"I can't use weak, August. I need strength," Thalia said, "I need fierce. Her beauty should make you hungry."

He closed his eyes. A glowing, graceful, alluring angel filled his thoughts.

"She doesn't need a boy anymore, August," Thalia went on, "She needs a man. Hold her like a man, August, with the strength of a man. Gaze at her with all the desires of a man."

The young man breathed deeply.

"She trusts you, August. She's trusting you with her body," Thalia said softly, "She has the strong, giving body of a woman, not a delicate little girl. Treat her like a woman. She needs you to take hold of her like a woman."

Her words seeped into his mind like fragrant syrup. Even after Caleigh disappeared through the door, he could still see her vividly in his mind's eye.

"She won't break," Thalia concluded, "Take her in your arms. Be fierce."

Thalia looked at him closely. She saw a flickering intensity in his expression. Without another word, she walked away from him. August remained unmoving from his spot for a long time after she had left the studio.

********* August's feet suddenly felt so heavy. He had trouble dragging them up the flights of stairs to the top floor of the 4 Corners.

His mother could tell that he was troubled but was afraid to ask what was bothering him. For the past few weeks, he seemed to come alive and have more focus and drive than he ever had before. Now he was withdrawn and sullen.

Even the usually talkative Jimmy Dean could tell there was a cloud over August when he stopped in at Wang's to pick up the usual supplies of junk food. The shop-keeper said very little and simply loaded up the bag and handed it to August, though he still sported a beaming grin. He said something as August exited the store, because Jimmy Dean always gets the last word, but his jovial words were cut off as the door closed.

Thalia's words were like an anchor weighing heavily on his thoughts for a day. He didn't know how he was supposed to feel anymore. Before, when he told himself that he wanted to be with Caleigh, it was only to dance with her. Dancing with her made him feel like a better person. Before, that was more than enough. It was all he wanted from Caleigh.

Now it wasn't. Maybe it wasn't all along.

He almost wanted to turn around and just leave. But he couldn't do that. Caleigh was waiting for him.

Finally arriving at the door, he took a deep breath before entering the apartment.

"Hey, junk food delivery," he said, mustering some enthusiasm.

Caleigh was tying her hair in a ponytail when he came in. She smiled. Standing by the windows, sunlight casting a glow around her, she was truly beautiful. August could barely look at her.

He placed the bag on the kitchen counter, his back to her, and unpacked their food. Pulling out what he thought was the last item, a bottle of juice, he frowned and looked down into the bag. He reached in and pulled out packets of condoms. Jimmy Dean was pretty slick.

"Everything okay?" Caleigh asked from behind.

August blinked, his heart surging up his throat. He stammered, "Uh, yeah, yeah. It's cool. All good."

He quickly pocketed the small packets as he turned to her.

"Want to get started partner?" she asked.

August inhaled deeply, steadying himself, and nodded.

*********

Caleigh was curled up on the big purple easy-chair as she stirred from her nap. She took a deep, quiet breath as she opened her eyes slowly, awakened by a dream. It was a dream of herself in a pitch dark room with only a bright spotlight upon her. There was a driving, indiscernible beat and rhythm filling the space. She was nude, her white skin shimmering from the light above. Her body was moving, twisting, flailing. She was dancing, but she wasn't in control. Like a plaything doll, her body was being moved and rolled, sometimes smoothly, sometimes vigorously, at the command of another force, something from the darkness.

As she slipped from her dream world, the last image she saw was that of strong ebony hands, reaching out of the darkness and moving towards her, taking her glowing white flesh into their grasp. Muscular, sinewy arms held her close. Finally emerging from the blackness were a masculine face and body, darkly handsome silk chocolate coloured. He seized her body with command and authority, and while she looked into his eyes --those amazing green-grey eyes- to find the boy that she knew, her partner, all she saw was the fiery passion and undeniable desire of a man. And it was all focused on her.

After that first long breath, Caleigh shuddered softly as she breathed out. Her body was tense, her heart beating at a quick pace. It took her time to realize where she was and absorb what she had just dreamt about. Feeling the comfort of the big easy-chair cradling her, she was able to relax her body a bit.

She blinked and frowned. She still heard the heavy rhythm of music from her dream. Was she actually awake? With a sigh, her eyes finally saw clearly. In front of the mirrors, her partner danced by himself. It wasn't the choreography they had been working on but a jazzy, hip hop routine.

Caleigh shifted quietly in the chair as she watched August shuffle smoothly to the music. There was a strength and confidence that radiated from him as he popped and snapped his joints and limbs. His body rolled like the tide with a unique gracefulness as he impressively controlled every ligament with deliberate precision. There was an attractive flow of power as well. In all respects, his positioning and lines were perfect and during his momentary holds, Caleigh had to admire his dark, sleek, muscular features, a type of body that could only be attained by a true dancer.

She didn't move as she continued to watch him slide and glide his body along the floor. August was flawless. Caleigh never realized how beautiful a man could be. No, she had known all along how attracted she was to her dance partner, just never really focused on it. Dance had always been her escape from those feelings. Her heart fluttered. The swell of arousal hit her so suddenly, she snapped her head away to the side, eyes wide open.

The sudden jerk of her head was enough to catch August's attention as he looked behind him through the mirror. He stopped his routine, the power and confidence in his body instantly subsiding, and turned to Caleigh.

"Hey, you up?" he said nodding towards her.

Caleigh blinked and looked at him. "Uh, yeah," she said. She cleared her throat and patted her cheeks adding, "Sorry. Was I out long?"

"Nah," August replied. He paused, looking at her then he pointed at the boom-box and said, "I uh...I was just messing around while you were napping."

He moved awkwardly, hesitantly, towards the portable stereo like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I'll get our music going again."

"No. It's alright," Caleigh said, sitting up in the chair, "You looked good. I haven't actually seen you perform in your own style. Show me more."

August shook his head. "Nah, don't want to mess up our choreography," he said.

Caleigh smiled. "I don't think you will. Come on. Here," she said standing up from the chair, "Why don't you show me."

August rolled his eyes. He looked away with an embarrassed smile and laughed, "Nah, forget it, Cal. Let's just do our thing."

"Come on, August," she coaxed playfully, "Show me what you've got!"

She readjusted her pony tail and cinched up her shorts that covered the bottom of her one-piece tights. She threw him a coy look as she limbered up and said, "Teach me August-style!"

He eyed her. "'August-style'?" he said with a smirk, "What are you on about?"

Caleigh put her hands on her hips, threw them to the side, and pouted her lower lip. "Ain't no thing," she sniffed.

The partners stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before doubling over in spurts of laughter.

"Come on!" she insisted beaming her winter-fresh smile, "Show me before I have to do more 'Caleigh-from-the-block' speak!"

"Alright! Alright!" August said, bobbing his head. He held out his hand. "Let's groove."

********* The two of them worked up a decent sweat as they danced side-by-side in front of the mirrors to the tune of Estelle's "American Boy". To no surprise of August, Caleigh picked up his steps easily. She slid and popped across the floor with a confident, strong form, quickly moving from cutesy, delayed mimicry to seamlessly matching his steps.

As Caleigh grew more accustomed to the style and they anticipated one another's moves, the space between them tightened, their bodies drawn closer. Slowly, she glided in front of him. As she shifted back, he moved forward, until their bodies were pressing together. They continued to watch each other closely in the mirrors as August's arms reached for her waist. He felt her hips rock side-to-side.

August's expression suddenly darkened as he looked into the mirror, seeing himself holding her. He looked at her eyes. They almost seemed dreamy. Through the slender slits he could see that her brown eyes were focused on him. The expression on her pretty face, some sort of look of nervous anticipation, was disarming.

August stopped moving. "We should get back to Thalia's choreography," he said as he started to pull away.

"No wait," Caleigh said softly still looking in the mirror. She held his hands at her sides, "Show me more."

August gazed at her in the mirror. She was breathing deeply. He could feel the slightest shudder from her body as he held her close. Her nerves were electric but she was doing little to try to calm them. She continued to look at him nervously, anxiously, but she had a firm grasp around his hands.

The two of them began to sway together, their bodies rolling in unison like symmetrical waves, and pressing harder and harder together as the seconds ticked by. Caleigh felt his body heat from his chest along her back.

Caleigh stared at his eyes in the mirror. She reached over and behind, wrapping her hand around his neck and leaning the back of her head against his shoulder, stretching her slender body against his.

August could smell the sweetness in her soft hair as it fell over his shoulder. Her cheek was close to his and he could hear the gentle breaths escaping through her shiny rose lips.

Always swaying to the rhythm of the music, she could feel his heart beating faster, matching her own increasingly rapid pace. Their heads turned in unison to look at one another. Their lips so close, they traded warm breaths. August glanced at the lips of his partner. They were parted and trembling.

Still feeling the music, he set his jaw and turned away from her tempting mouth. With a gentle yet firm motion, he pushed at her back with one hand while the other held her hips steady. Caleigh bent forward at her waist until her hands were pressed up against the mirrors. Bracing herself against the wall, she gyrated her body in smooth rhythm, pushing her firm bottom against August's crotch.

He stood strong, feeling her grind against him. He didn't move even as she pushed harder and harder against his body. His hands tensed around her waist. It wasn't out of stress or nervousness. He felt a renewed strength and confidence flow through his blood. It was a familiar feeling, one that he had been trying keep in check for a long time now.

Caleigh closed her eyes as she moved. She wasn't quite certain of her actions and her nerves were racing but she couldn't stop herself. Even the stiffening arousal she felt from August as she pressed her bottom into his pelvis didn't deter her. Usually steady and confident whenever she danced, now she was taking quick breaths and gasps.

August watched her, his eyes lingering on her expression whenever she looked up in the mirror. The beautiful dancer was fading before his eyes. The beautiful woman appeared.

He firmed his jaw, tilted his head toward the ceiling and inhaled deeply. The young man's mind screamed.

When Caleigh heard a deep, guttural sigh escape from August and felt his fingers dig deeper into her waist, she opened her eyes and glanced back at him in the mirror. She saw eyes looking back at her, eyes filled with a sudden resolve and a fiery hunger. The young woman paused her motions, startled by the intensity of the man holding her tight from behind.

"Au-August?" she said softly.

Firm, strong hands gripped her body and pulled her up. They spun her around and shoved her up against the mirrors. Caleigh gasped, her back pressed up against the wall. Immediately August was in her face. He slapped his palms against the mirror on both sides of her head. He leaned in close, barely an inch separating their faces and bodies.

Caleigh's slender eyes widened and her mouth trembled open. She looked deep into the eyes of her partner. His stare was unflinching and aggressive. She heard a rumble from his throat as he breathed deeply upon her. His dark face was set like stone but she could feel the intensity, the ferocity, emanating from him. He was like a big cat deciding what to do with the bird beneath its paws.

They held their position, motionless, for half-a-minute.

Then the song faded into silence.

Caleigh swallowed and started to speak, "Aug-UMMM!!!"

August's full-pink lips pressed hard against hers, smothering her voice. Her eyes widened further as she felt the urgency of the kiss surge through her. August leaned into her, pinning her body against the mirror.

Her lips were as sweet and soft as he could ever have imagined, like kissing fresh rose petals. He folded his lips over hers several times before pulling away.

Caleigh loosed a quick high pitched gasp for air. Her cheeks were flushed a deep pink and her eyes skittered around August's face trying to find something of her partner in the dark, passionate visage. All she saw was ferocious desire.

As August moved in again, she raised her hands against his chest.

"A-August, wait, wait..." she sputtered, her breaths sharp and short.

The man shook his head and coolly took her hands together and raised them up, pinning them to the glass over her head. With a stern curl on his lips, he said in a low voice, "Cal. Shut up, okay? Just follow me, okay?"

The young woman's mouth hung open but she didn't speak.

"Okay?" he repeated in a suddenly calm voice that sounded like a moment's break in a swirling storm.

The next track on the stereo, Duffy's "Mercy", began to play.

As the sassy, retro-style beat filled the room, Caleigh looked steadily into August's glimmering eyes. She knew then that she had let the lion out of his cage. He wasn't going back and she never had any intention of trying to do so. Slowly, she nodded once.

"Yeah?" August breathed, nodding quickly as he moved his face towards her, "Okay..."

Once more their lips came together in earnest. August's mouth was in constant hungry motion, kissing, licking and sucking her lips, capturing each one of her quick gasps. His aggressive kisses forced her lips apart and his tongue quickly went to work lashing the inside of her mouth, savouring her warm, wet breaths.

Caleigh bore his full weight against her body. She dropped her hands and wrapped them around his back, holding him in a desperate clinch. Her leg lifted and hooked around the back of his muscular calf. She felt his solid chest press into her bosom. As he ground his crotch against her, she tried not to think of the hardening length she felt through his shorts rubbing along her lower belly. Like a dance, she would let the music --and her partner- carry her along.

August fell away from her mouth. His inner lips kissed her supple flesh down her neck to the collar of her pastel-pink tights. Her chest was heaving unsteadily, he could practically see her heart pounding from within. His hand quickly claimed one of her rounded breasts and held it firmly as his mouth came down on it. He licked and sucked the soft, tender flesh quickly covering her tights with his saliva. Caleigh's head listed back, her eyes squeezing together, as she moaned at his kiss and touch.

August could feel with his tongue the tip of her nipple straining against the sheer material of her tights. He hooked her shoulder straps and with one firm motion, tugged them down to her elbows, peeling her tights to just above her belly. He took a step back to admire the glowing, white, bare flesh before him. Caleigh's smooth, sloping breasts glistened from his saliva. Even in just his tank top he was feeling the heat and he quickly discarded it before moving in again to sample her exposed breasts.

Caleigh's pale fingers rubbed against his ebony back and through his cornrow braids. With each flick of his tongue, with every long, loud suckle of her breasts she gasped and flinched. Her light brown nipples strained erect as he nipped them gently with his teeth and swirled his nimble tongue around them. She couldn't catch her breath and she felt her heart pound up her throat. Her bare back smeared the mirror with her perspiration.

August pushed her shorts down to her ankles. He kneeled on the ground, reached behind Caleigh, clutching at her smooth butt. Caleigh draped a leg over his shoulder as he pulled her in. Again he tasted her through the thin material of her tights as he ploughed his face into her crotch. He inhaled as he licked and kissed her, taking in her scent. His teeth nipped at the tights, stretching them, before pulling the material aside with his finger. His eyes steadied on the clean shaven slit of Caleigh's tender snatch. He moistened his wide-lips with his tongue before swiftly moving in.