Valentines for Cinderella

"Be patient," Mel texted, "I'll get there as soon as I can." Mel finally showed up with her dance bag over her shoulder. Her hair was still up in the French twist that Jill gave her, but she was dressed for the cast party. Ray stopped her with his hands on her arms and gawked. Her long legs stretched below a short blue skirt that hugged her hips; the cowl collar fell low and invited him to taste her throat.

Ray licked his lips and said, "You're gorgeous!" then asked, "How long is this party supposed to last?"

"A lot longer than I want to be there," Mel answered, "But Julio and I need to kiss up to the Board members." She tucked her hand into Ray's and tugged him to the door. "Can we get something real to eat before we go, so we don't fill up on party snacks?" she asked.

Ray drove west from the city after dinner, to where large homes perched on forested hillsides and commanded sweeping views of the city's lights. The night was cold and clear, and Mel stayed close to Ray's warmth while they walked to the front door. She stroked his arm with both hands and explained, "Two of the Board members really like watching Julio and me dance. Rudy told us they know we aren't a couple, but they still have this sort of romantic fantasy that we are, and Rudy wants us to make them happy. I need to stick with Julio while they're still here."

Mel and Julio made a beautiful couple and they acted their roles well. Mel's eyes sparked in the chandelier light and she laughed with Julio as they entertained Sofia and the other wealthy, white-haired women on the Board.

Ray was standing alone when Rudy Lowe stepped up beside him. "Miss White is lovely, isn't she?" he asked. "I saw you come in with her."

"There are a lot of beautiful people here," Ray said and motioned around the room. "And maybe Mel is the prettiest of them all."

"I'm Rudy Lowe, the company's executive director," Rudy said. "Did I see you back stage tonight?" he asked, "With Jennifer Parker?"

"I was there," Ray admitted. He pulled a card from his jacket pocket and gave it to Lowe. "I was there to see Mel—socially, not professionally—but I overheard you and Paul Lovato first."

"That's too bad," Rudy said. "I should have been more careful about where and when I confronted him."

Ray watched Rudy's expression then asked, "How do you make up for losing a fifth of next year's budget?"

Rudy's shoulders slumped before he answered. "The biggest thing right now is to avoid carrying debts into next year. Then we'll have to make some cuts. If we don't get new sponsorships, then the dancers may have to support more of their costs and maybe we drop a show from the season. Ultimately it's the dancers who are hurt by it."

"We do some pro bono work with non-profits," Ray said, "and since I'm junior in the firm a lot of that falls to me. I've seen some problems. Do you have a card with you? I'm going to be out of town for most of the next two weeks, but I should have time to call and see if there are ways we can help."

Rudy produced a card, but their conversation was cut short when Jill slipped her hand around Ray's arm. "You don't mind, do you?" she asked. "There's a creep from the lighting crew following me around."

Ray watched Mel until the Board members started filtering out then with Jill still on his arm he stepped up beside Mel. She looked around Ray at Jill then asked him, "Are you branching out?"

Jill protested, "Mel, No! I just needed to get rid of a creeper." She held her hands up so that Mel could see.

Ray laughed, then settled his hand on Mel's hip and leaned to her ear to say, "I want to take you home now."

Jill overheard. She leaned to Mel and hissed, "You're going to Ray's this time, right? I actually want to get some sleep tonight."

"Yeah," Mel answered, "We're going to Ray's," then she looked back at Ray. "Right?"

*****

Ray unlocked the door, guided Mel into his darkened condo with his hand on her waist, and dragged his suitcase behind them. "I haven't been here since I took you home Wednesday morning," he said. "I should check the mail, but that can wait."

Mel stopped inside the door and dropped her dance bag. Ray flicked the switch behind her to turn on the light then closed the door. He tucked his hand behind her neck and when she looked up he said, "I feel like a vampire, I've wanted to taste you ever since I saw you in the theater lobby."

"Then let me feed you now," Mel said, and tipped her head back to offer him her long, pale throat.

Ray inhaled Mel's scent and tasted her tender skin. He pulled her to him with his arm around her waist and dragged her flesh through his teeth. Mel giggled at the ceiling and wrapped her arms around his head.

Tension built in Ray's body until he finally released his breath with a desperate gasp. He pulled his head back to look in Mel's dark eyes and when she tipped her lips up to him he took her mouth. She rose in his arms to press her body against his and her breath burned on his cheek.

Mel broke off their kiss and laughed in Ray's ear. "I want to see what I've only been able to feel through your shirt and jacket." she said. She stepped back and tugged Ray into the living room.

Ray dropped onto the couch and turned on the reading lamp while Mel settled down beside him. She peeled his jacket down off his shoulders then started unbuttoning his shirt. "Ooh!" Mel said as she slipped her hands under his shirt to feel his arms, then his chest. "A month of working out did you a lot of good."

"Tone, mostly." Ray said as Mel's hands stroked down his side to his belt. "I don't think I've lost any weight," he said with a laugh, "But I don't jiggle as much when I run." He couldn't tell if Mel was listening or not. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Mel saw no need to answer. She kissed his chest, then unbuckled his belt and opened his slacks. She slid off the couch to kneel between his legs in her little blue dress and pulled his trousers and his boxers down to take his hardened shaft in hand.

Ray watched his cock slip between Mel's red lips then laid his head back and moaned. He touched her tightly pinned hair, then her ears and ran his finger tips along the line of her jaw. Ray couldn't possibly last long in Mel's mouth. He groaned, "Oh God, Mel!" to warn her that he was about to come. He thrust his cock up while Mel pumped him with both hands. His essence gushed into her mouth, onto her hands and her lips. She gave Ray a triumphant smile, then while he relaxed and tried to catch his breath she sucked his cream off his cock, and licked him off her lips and her hands.

Mel got up after she knew that Ray was done, went to the kitchen and came back with a towel. She kicked her heels off, settled on the couch, and cleaned him with the towel.

Ray wrapped his arm around Mel and kissed her ear. "You were awfully good at that," he said.

"Thanks," Mel said. "I remember that you were awfully good at it, too." She stroked his chin with her finger tips then brushed her lips against his.

Ray's hand slipped to the inside of her nylon-covered thigh then under her dress. Mel shifted to give his hand more room, and Ray bent over to kiss her. His tongue found hers and his fingers caressed the warm fabric between her legs.

"What are you doing, Ray?" Mel asked as his hand stroked up to her waist, and this time it was Ray who saw no need to answer. He thrust his hand into Mel's panties, and she squealed and laughed while he tugged her panties and pantyhose down around her thighs.

Mel righted herself again and leaned back against the arm of the couch. She picked hairpins from her hair and watched Ray peel the nylon and satin down and off her feet.

Ray picked up her right foot and kissed her toes. "You have very talented feet," he said.

"I have gnarled feet." Mel said. She wiggled her toes and said, "There's hardly anything more important to a ballet dancer than her feet. They take a lot of abuse and they love a lot of attention." She shifted as she talked to invite Ray's eyes to travel up her leg and under her dress.

Ray rubbed the sole of Mel's foot with his thumbs and smoothed her hard muscles and tight tendons. He slipped his tongue between her toes and kissed them. He rotated her ankle to loosen it, flexed her foot and kissed the top of her arch.

Mel's hair was down and she was loosening the hairspray with her fingers when Ray set her right foot on the couch and turned his attention to her left foot. He brought her toes to his lips, and looked up her long leg while he kissed and massaged her foot.

When Ray was done with Mel's feet he rose on one knee between her knees and tugged up on the hem of her dress. He slipped it under her butt then Mel lifted her arms and let Ray pull the dress over her head.

Mel laid back on the couch and let Ray study her sleek, naked body. He touched her lips and she kissed his fingertips. He touched her nipples and felt them grow firm, and he slipped his fingers over her taut abs then through her trimmed muff. "You like being looked at, don't you." he said.

Mel laughed and told him, "I've spent a lot of my life trying to make my body perfect, and I'm proud of it. Yeah, I like being looked at. I think all us dancers do—I was a little surprised that Jenn and Jill didn't let you watch them in the dressing room tonight, but maybe that was because I was there.

"I like being watched on stage," Mel said. "I liked it when you were watching me at the party, and I especially like it right now."

She sat up to slip her hand around Ray's hardened cock and lifted her legs around his hips. "I'll have you right here, or you can take me to bed. Either way, I want you in me."

Mel's touch and her excited scent were maddening for Ray, but he caught his breath and said, "We're going to bed eventually, so I'll take you there now." He dropped his shirt down his arms and bent to lift Mel off the couch

The bed was still unmade from when Mel slept there Tuesday night. Ray laid her down then tossed the covers aside and climbed over her. Mel's breath was so ragged and excited that her tits heaved when Ray bent to suck her; he caught her nipple between his lips then filled his mouth with her firm breast.

Mel wrapped Ray's head in her arms and laughed in his ear. He wasn't sure how she did it, but he found himself on his side with her leg over his waist. She squirmed down to get his hard-on in hand and rubbed it over her clit, then she slipped it back between her labia and worked him into her wet slit.

"Lay back," Mel said and pressed on Ray's shoulder. She leaned over him to click on his bedside lamp then sat back in a pool of golden light and told him, "Now watch me." Mel's muscular torso writhed in a sensuous dance while Ray watched the excitement in every detail of her naked lines and curves.

Ray pressed himself back against Mel's rhythmic grind until she pitched forward on his chest, and her hair fell soft around his neck. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and she screamed through clenched teeth as her orgasm wracked her body.

Mel relaxed while Ray kissed her and inhaled the warm scent from her hair. Ray held Mel against his chest and rolled onto his side. He pulled her leg over his hip and watched Mel's expression while he thrust into her. She caught her breath and tipped her head back, and he knew she would come for him again. Mel gripped his shoulders and she panted his name while her climax tightened her cunt around his plunging shaft.

They relaxed in each others arms. They joked together, sang songs to each other and wrestled breathlessly—slick, bare skin on skin. In the end, Mel coaxed Ray to empty himself into her one more time, and then he held her; he stroked her hair and kissed her face until they were both asleep.

Mel woke when Ray untangled himself from her. He stood by the bed and pulled the warm covers over her. She listened and watched him without leaving the bed. She was too warm and too relaxed to want to move even a finger. He pulled on shorts and a tee-shirt, cinched up his running shoes and left into the chill mid-morning.

He ran his usual two-mile course through the sparse Sunday-morning traffic. Church bells chimed in the distance and people who huddled in corners to sleep off their Saturday night were starting to stir.

When Ray got home again he found Mel searching through the refrigerator, wearing nothing but the shirt she stripped off him the night before. He touched her hips and then bent to sniff her neck. "You showered," he said.

"I did." Mel answered. She touched Ray's sweat-dampened tee-shirt and sniffed, then wrinkled her nose. "And you need to. Do you want me to cook you eggs and sausage while you shower? It looks like that's what you have to eat."

Breakfast was on the table when Ray got out of the shower with a towel wrapping his waist. Mel sat down across the table from him and asked, "Do you have to do anything today?" She noticed how Ray studied her, so she straightened her back and let the shirt fall open.

As Ray spoke his eyes traveled from Mel's smile to her small, dark aureoles and back again. "I have to fly back to Baton Rouge this evening so I can be in the courtroom by nine in the morning." He said. "Can you stay with me until then? I'll need to repack my suit case and get you home, but that still leaves us most of the day. I'd like to spend it in bed with you."

"A naked day?" Mel asked. "That sounds great to me. I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night to do much else."

"I'll clean up here and see you in bed." Ray said. He carried a bowl of grapes with him when he went. Mel was already asleep and his shirt was draped over the foot of the bed. Ray left the grapes by his lamp, dropped his towel and lifted the covers to look at Mel's relaxed body. He slipped into bed with her and she turned without waking to duck her head against his chest. Ray held her close and joined her in sleep.

When Ray woke again he found Mel using him as a back rest while she snacked on grapes and read from a paperback novel. "What are you reading?" He asked.

"It's a romance that I think your girlfriend must have left here." Mel said. "I found it under the edge of the bed." She folded the front cover and showed him Angela's name written in the corner.

Ray groaned to himself then realized that Mel didn't seem very upset, and maybe he wanted her to be upset. He sat up behind her and pulled the covers up to wrap them both. He kissed her neck below her ear and tried to explain, "She's not my girlfriend—not really."

Mel tipped her head to let Ray's lips travel, but laughed and asked, "So a girl named Angela leaves a sex-soaked romance novel under your bed and she's not your girlfriend? Is she a literate hooker?"

Ray cursed Angela's habit of putting her name in all of her paperbacks, but she came from a large family and never got over the habit of writing her name on things so her sisters wouldn't take them. "Angela's an attorney, and my old friend." Ray said. "I've known her for like ten years and we sleep together now and then." He remembered back to the last time that Angela slept over and added, "I don't know if that will go on. She knows about you."

Mel pushed herself away. She tossed the covers aside and stood at the window with her arms crossed below her breasts. She was silhouetted there by the afternoon light as she stared unseeing at the urban landscape outside. Without turning back she said, "Ray, maybe you're better off with Angela. You really tempt me, but I've told you before how hard it is for dancers to maintain relationships."

"I'm probably going to hurt you, you know." Mel said, as she turned back to look at Ray. "Or you're going to hurt me, and I'm really done with being hurt."

"None of that has to happen," Ray said. He stood up by the bed and tugged on Mel's elbow until she stood close. He searched his mind for a way to make her more comfortable. "We don't need to ruin our naked afternoon by thinking about it. You look cold. Let's get back in bed and I'll keep you warm."

5.

The murmur of a hundred different conversations filled the theater. Ray lifted the insert from the Nutcracker program and looked at it again; "Melissa White, Jennifer Parker and Jill Nielson are sponsored by Sanford, Casals and Levine PA."

The trial in Baton Rouge started slowly and Ray used the time to talk with Rudy Lowe, and then he convinced Sam Levine to buy the sponsorships. Mel didn't know about it until opening night when Rudy showed her the insert. The reaction that she texted from the dressing room wasn't quite what Ray hoped for. "Thanks Ray," she said, "That helps." Jenn and Jill were more excited.

Ray shifted uneasily in his seat; his excitement wouldn't let him rest. He hadn't seen Mel since their naked afternoon, but not because he didn't want to. They tried to arrange something that first weekend after the trial started, but he had work to do and she was exhausted. Next came Thanksgiving and he spent that weekend with his parents. The trial was done for now and he just had to sit through this matinée, then he would see Mel again. They had a date.

The theater lights dimmed, the music started, and dancers filled the stage. Mel didn't appear until near the end of the first act and Ray caught his breath when he saw her. She danced in a jeweled white tutu and a white headpiece that covered her dark hair, and she turned among the dancers who swirling around her like snowflakes.

Mel was the Ice Queen on stage and she wore the same costume to the lobby after the show, where children gathered around to hear the Ice Queen's story. When she talked with them, her eyes flashed brighter than the icy blue gems on her costume. Ray watched her with a smile that wouldn't go away.

They waited until the parents pulled their kids home then Mel led Ray through the theater to the front of the stage. The house lights were up, the curtains were open, and the stage was lit while the crew reset. "Why don't you wait for me here? I'll come get you when I've changed," she said.

There was a clatter in the wing and a prop rifle skittered across the stage. Someone in the wing cursed, "Damn you! You old cunt!"

The crew stopped their work to watch. A thin, graying woman in dance flats charged onto the stage. Paul Lovato caught her from behind and hooked her elbow. She pulled out of his grasp and turned back to face him and he yelled, "I can fire you as fast as I can fire anyone in this company. No-one here is irreplaceable, even you!"

She yelled back, "It's changing you, Paul! You weren't always such a horse's ass! You have to stop," then she turned again and stormed off stage.

Paul watched her leave then saw Mel in the theater. He pointed at her and said, "Get out of that costume and get out of here!" He kicked the prop rifle again and sent it spinning to the back of the stage.

Mel looked at Ray's confused expression and explained, "That was Karen Stein, the Ballet Mistress. They used to be married. It sounds like she must have caught him coking up again." She watched where Paul disappeared and without looking back at Ray she said, "Jen and Jill should be about ready to go. I need to give them a ride home before we go to dinner."

"Can't you just let them drive your car?" Ray asked. He didn't want to delay things.

"My car was acting funny on the way here," Mel said. "I don't want to leave them with my problem, if it is one." She nudged Ray toward a seat.

Mel's smelly old Dodge was in rock star parking because she had to get there two hours before the show. It wouldn't start. She sat in the driver seat and raged, "You piece of shit!" and slapped the steering wheel with both hands.

Ray was already on his phone. "A tow truck is on the way," he said. "Do you have someplace that works on your car? I know a good garage."

"I can't afford a good garage," Mel complained. "I have friends of friends who work on it, usually for the cost of parts."