The Dance of Passion

"Are you leaving us today, Senor?" Estralita's father was behind the desk the next morning, and what he was really saying was, 'You are leaving today, Senor.'

"Actually no, I'm enjoying my stay here so I thought that I would stay for another couple of days."

"Do you think that wise?"

"Yes I do, there is so much more for me to see here, I haven't even scratched the surface."

"I do not understand."

"I am doing Post-graduate studies in Spanish History at University and I am particularly interested in the history of flamenco. I have learnt so much about it in the last two days and I feel that there is so much more to learn."

"But I think that it is not here that you should learn these things." The threat was now obvious, I was being told to move on. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Estralita watching me.

"Will you allow me to stay one more night, there is something that I must check out and tonight is the only night that I can do it. I will leave in the morning."

"Very well, be certain that you do." There was a definite menace in his voice. He left me and walked into the back room.

I walked out the door into the sunlight, what was I to do? As a plan formed in my mind I was aware that I was being followed. As I rounded a corner I looked quickly behind me and saw Estralita. I waited for her to catch up to me. "I suppose that you heard what happened back there?"

"Yes, I heard it all. What are we to do?"

"I want you to come with me when I leave, will you?"

"Yes, yes, I will come with you, but how, how are we going to do this?"

"This afternoon you will come to my room to tidy it up, when you come you will bring some clothes with you, enough for a couple of days. I will pack them in my luggage and I will check out this evening, telling your parents that I will be making an early start in the morning so will be leaving before breakfast. We will leave tonight and be well away before they realise what has happened."

That night Estralita guided me to a clearing outside a small village nearby, in which was a group of caravans forming an encampment where about fifty people sat in a circle that was lit by small fires. The still air was broken by the sound of a lone flamenco guitar. The guitarist walked into the circle followed by two dancers. The dance began and there the similarity between what I had watched over the past two nights disappeared. While the posture of the dancers was the same there was nothing mechanical about their movements, while they followed the same twelve beat time signature, they were not chained to it. Soon other musicians and other dancers joined them in a free form dance.

"This is the true flamenco, the music and the dance is from the heart and it expresses what each person feels inside. Come, dance with me."

I closed my eyes and began to dance, at first hesitatingly, then as my confidence grew and I began to feel the music, the rhythm, with more confidence. I opened my eyes and saw Estralita watching me, tears of joy catching the flames from the fires, a smile crossing her lips. I was doing it, I was dancing the flamenco!

"Estralita!" The voice cut through the air like a rifle shot. "Come with me, now!"

"No Papa. I will stay here."

Her father lunged at her but I caught his arm and pulled him away from her. "She doesn't want to go with you."

"You will stay out of this, you have been warned!" He swung towards me, a knife in his hand. His lunge just caught the front of my shirt as I jumped back.

"No!" Estralita tried to pin her father's arms to his side but he shrugged her off and came at me again.

"Stop!" This voice carried authority. He was a large man, the one behind this voice, and he commanded attention. "Let us talk this through, there will be no blood shed in this place."

"This man is stealing my daughter, who is married, from her family." Estralita's father shouted.

"Is this true?" The leader asked.

"No, it is not true." I answered in as calm a voice as I could muster. "To begin with, while she is married, it is in name only. This man has encouraged her husband to take her sister as not only his dancing partner, but as his lover. How then can he claim that she is still bound in marriage? Secondly, I am not stealing her from her family, she is coming willingly. We are in love." The last four words were delivered in a soft but firm tone. I was stating an indisputable fact. Estralita looked at me and her smile told me and all those gathered around us that these words were true.

"How can you say that you are in love with my daughter when you have only known her for two days?"

"Loves comes from the heart, and time has little relevance in matters of the heart."

"This is true Senor. Maria and I knew in an instant that we were in love and were meant to be together. Twenty years have not changed that."

Her father at last realised the truth of those words, he stormed off. "You are no longer my daughter! I will not welcome you into my home, ever again!" He shouted as he left.

I put my arms around her and held her to me.

"There will be no more dance tonight." The leader told everyone. "Come with me." He said to us. He led us to a caravan parked just out of range of the firelight. "You will stay here tonight, I do not trust your father."

There was a single bunk along the side of the caravan and we sat on it kissing. My hand began to caress her breasts and she let go of my face long enough to pull down the top of her dress and expose them to my gaze. With this simple act she gave herself to me. Even in the pale light I had to admire their perfection. My hand was replaced by my mouth and one of her hands held me to her while the other sought entrance to my trousers and my cock.

It wasn't until I pressed my cock into her moist and waiting pussy that I came to realise just how glad I was that I had learnt the flamenco, it had taught me to listen to my heart and it was the rhythm that I heard from my heart that guided my lovemaking, the speed and force of my thrusts into her body were guided by my heart and her movements were guided by her heart that was perfectly synchronised with mine. Our hearts were one, our bodies were one and our souls were one.

Daybreak brought with it the sounds of movement and the smells of cooking. "Wake up my love."

"Must I? I was in the middle of a dream. You were making love to me in the middle of a clearing and we were surrounded by dozens of people who were all clapping in time to our lovemaking. I was just about to climax and you woke me."

"I'm sorry, but the will be many more times and many more dreams." The daylight revealed to me just how beautiful she really was. Her olive complexion showing no tan lines, her breasts were full and round, not showing any signs of sagging. I certainly couldn't say the same thing about my cock, he was standing tall and hard, ready for more lovemaking, a point that was not lost on Estralita. She took him in her hands and began to stroke him until she could sense that I was about to explode. Dropping to her knees she engulfed him and sucked him dry.

"I can taste us on him from last night. It is nice. Now we can have breakfast."

A table had been set up in the clearing with benches on either side of it. On the table were plates of food and a large pot of coffee. It all looked so inviting.

"Ah, the lovebirds have woken up. We didn't expect you for at least another hour. I am Pedro by the way, and this is my wife Maria. Did you enjoy what little sleep you had?" Had he been listening outside the caravan or was he just guessing?

"Yes, very much so."

"That is good, now eat."

We ate and during that meal our future became clear to us. "What are your plans?"

"We are going somewhere far away from here where we can dance and make love."

"You will stay here with us for the next week, tonight you dance for us."

"You must be joking! I can't dance well enough for this."

"That is not so, I watched the two of you last night and it was very plain to my eyes that you two dance from the heart. It was also very clear to me that you are very much in love because, unlike most couples that dance together, while they may dance from the heart, their hearts are not as one as yours are. I have long looked for a couple who could dance with the same passion as Maria and I, and last night I found what I have searched so long for."

Who would have thought that I would be dancing in front of people? I for one wouldn't have, but here I was, with Estralita, dancing with the eyes of a couple of dozen people on us. It took a few minutes before I was able to forget that we were being watched and allow my heart to take over my movements and as soon as it took over I saw Estralita smile and we began, as we had the night before, to dance as one, and as we danced I experienced something new, a passion for my woman, and she for me, that was expressed in our dance. I caught a glimpse of Pedro and it was obvious from the way that he smiled at me that he had sensed our passion as well.

As we finished our dance and I held her to me, Estralita looked me in the eyes and whispered, "You see my love, my dream did come true, we have made love watched by a circle of people."

The next morning Pedro dropped a bombshell on us. "Next month there is a Flamenco dance competition, dancers from all over Cordoba will be there. You two will also be there and, if I am any judge, you will win."

Estralita looked at me, "That is the competition that Margarita and Hernando have been practising for. Father will kill us if we win."

"Your father will kill no-one, and you will win."

We travelled around with Pedro and Maria, entering regional flamenco competitions. All the while Pedro and Maria would talk to us, give us advice and encouragement along with some fine tuning of our technique, but they never attempted to change the way that we danced together because, as Pedro told us one day just before a competition, no amount of professional advice could improve on the joining of our hearts and our expression, through our dance, of our love and passion for each other.

At first we attracted small crowds but Pedro was astute, he had us stay in each village for at least three days and with each successive day the crowds grew and the word of our talent spread to surrounding villages, so that when we arrived at the next destination the crowds were bigger from the start and continued to grow.

At the end of the month we found ourselves in Cordoba and the main competition.

It was colour, it was music and noise. There were heats to dance, and even for the heats we had a large following of fans that had travelled to be there just to watch us dance. Then came a series of finals leading up to the big one, the grand final. We were up against the best flamenco dancers in the state, against dancers who had danced together for years and here we were, virtual novice partners, in the final.

We drew the last position, we were to be the last couple and it wasn't the best position because we had to be demonstrably better than those that had gone before us to win.

Margarita and Hernando were the third couple to dance and they scored well, better than the two couples who danced before them. They were technically perfect, not one mistake in their routine and when it came to our turn they were the couple to beat.

Estralita looked amazing, Maria had dragged one of her best dresses out and, with a few minor adjustments, it fitted perfectly. My trousers and shirt were cleaned and pressed to a standard that would have satisfied the most fastidious Guards Drill Sergeant, I also looked the part, at least that was what I thought until Pedro emerged carrying a gold beaded vest. It matched the colour of Estralita's dress and our clothes were obviously what Pedro and Maria had worn when they danced together.

Pedro stood in his position as our accompanist and strummed his guitar. "Remember my love, from the heart, think of our love when you dance." Estralita whispered to me. We walked onto the dance floor to be greeted by a huge round of applause from our fans who seemed to make up at least half of the audience. I smiled briefly as we took our position on the floor. An expectant hush settled over the crowd, those that didn't know us could barely believe that half of the couple on the floor was not Spanish, she was, but as I was so obviously of Celtic origin and the wrong shape for this dance, they wondered how it was that we had gotten this far.

From the very first instant of our dance they realised that we were something special.

Everything that we did was perfect, we even did moves that we had barely practiced before, they just seemed right at the time and our timing was perfect, our movements were fluent, our feet moved in unison, our bodies complemented each other, my clapping enhanced the tap, stomp of my feet and Estralita kept time perfectly with her castanets and her feet. This was flamenco in its purest form, where the dance is improvised along the palo or rhythm. By the time we were close to the completion of our dance the crowd was on its feet, stamping and clapping along with us. They could sense that this was not a routine that had been rehearsed to death, but one that had the spontaneity of a couple that was so in tune with each other than every move just happened, and was so right.

Our final movement was yet another that we hadn't really practiced; I held one hand over her, my fingers just touching hers as she spun around, feet stamping out a staccato beat, her other hand holding her skirt up revealing her shapely leg. As she came full circle and faced me she dropped her hand and let the skirt fall, looking me in the eyes. Our dance stopped suddenly as I stood on my toes and raised both hands above my head, the index fingers pointing down and towards her, it was like the matador about to deliver the coup de Gras to the spent and submissive bull. Estralita knew immediately what to do, she dropped to her knees in front of me, her arms around my legs, telling me and everyone else that she was submitting to me, I was her lover and she was mine totally.

Pedro was in tune with us, the music stopped abruptly at that point but the crowd kept up their clapping as I bent down and lifted my Estralita to her feet and kissed her, our embrace telling the people that she was no longer in submission but that we were one together. We took our bows, first to the judges, then to the crowd on all sides, their response telling us that we were definitely the crowd favourites.

The judges were unanimous in their decision, we, while we weren't technically the best, were the winners because our dance had embodied the spirit and passion of the real flamenco.

Margarita and Hernando glared at us from the dancers' entrance, their disappointment overshadowed by their anger. His because he had come to realise that he had chosen the wrong sister and hers because she still couldn't believe that we had beaten them, after all wasn't she perfect?

What happened after that was pure chaos, there were interviews, people came up to us offering dancing engagements, these were referred to Pedro who had become our manager, there was a quick congratulatory word from Estralita's mother before she was dragged away by her husband, there was a short angry exchange between Estralita and Margarita, but at last it was all over and we were alone in our hotel room, the 'do not disturb' sign hanging from the door knob.

"My darling, do you realise what has just happened? We are famous!" I said.

"I know and I'm afraid. I don't think that I want this fame. We shouldn't have allowed Pedro to talk us into this competition because we will not have any privacy, we will be expected to dance whenever we are asked and that wasn't what I was looking for, what I wanted, when I taught you the real flamenco. I was teaching you a dance of passion, a dance of love, a personal dance of love. I know that I sound selfish but I never wanted to share you with anyone, and now I have to share you with everyone."

"I know, and I think I have a solution. I haven't wanted to face the fact that sooner or later I was going to have to return home. My visa expires soon and I won't be able to stay, as well as that my study grant is just about all gone and I have little time left to submit my thesis." I could sense the feeling of impending doom in her. "But I think we can use this for us."

"What do you mean?"

"I want you to come with me when I return home. All that you need to do is to apply for a tourist visa and as soon as we get home we can apply for a resident's permit for you. When we get married you will be able to stay permanently. We can come back here to visit your family and Pedro and to perform on a limited basis, and you can continue to teach the girls, but you and I will still have our personal dance and we will be together, forever."

"But how can I marry you, Hernando will never agree to a divorce."

"In Australia all that is required is that you are separated from your husband for twelve months, then we file for divorce and as soon as it is granted we will get married."

Estralita looked at me for a few seconds and then launched herself at me forcing me back onto the bed, her kisses taking my breath away, her hands reaching for me, ripping my shirt open and then hastily undoing my trousers. This was the first time that our passion had overcome our hearts. I rolled her over so that I was on top. I didn't bother to take her dress off her, I pulled down the top and rained kiss after kiss on her nipples while I pulled her skirts up to her waist. Pulling her panties aside I thrust my cock into her waiting pussy. "Yes, yes oh yes I want all of you now." Her legs were around me, pulling me deeper inside her. I thrust him deeper and deeper into her until I could get no more of him into her sopping wet pussy, and with a final lunge I came, and came, and came.

We lay panting in the puddle that we had left on the bed. "I Love you." We said in unison and then collapsed in laughter, our hearts had regained control.

I would like to tell you that everything has gone as planned but that isn't the case, but I'm not complaining. By the time that Estralita and I married we had a child, a gorgeous little flamenco dancer (we hope) called Maria. I mean, what would expect when your love making is guided by the heart and not by practicality. We had completely forgotten in the heat of passion that Estralita, being the good Catholic girl that she is, was not practising birth control, you can guess the rest.

My family have welcomed first Estralita and then Maria into their lives. At first they couldn't believe that I was in love with a real flamenco dancer, and a beautiful one at that, but you should have seen the look of amazement on their faces when the saw us dance together, me dance, who'd have thought that? As they watched us it became abundantly clear that we were very much in love.

When we went back to Spain we found that so much had happened. Margarita and Hernando had split up straight after the competition, partly because they had not won and partly because Margarita was offered a position in a professional troupe that didn't include Hernando. He was pissed to say the least and was last heard of trying out for a small troupe that had no real potential.

The sight of Maria softened Estralita's parents' hearts and her father actually welcomed me into the family.

Estralita told me that her mother had realised the truth of the situation as soon as she had seen us dance, that we were in love and meant to be together. She had told this to her husband who was angry at first that she was taking our side in this but he eventually accepted it.

We danced for them that night to a crowded room and the response from the crowd was overwhelming, they didn't want us to stop, but a combination of fatigue and jet-lag forced an end to the dance. The next several days were spent dancing at night and teaching the young girls, and a few boys, the flamenco during the day, talk about hectic.