Page 50 of His Daggered Heart

“Damn right,” I say before his lips touch mine.

Chapter 33

Alex

It’sbeenafewweeks since all that shit went down at the Knight house. I have been rehearsing hard for the showcase coming soon and I’ve been getting closer with the girls in my class, now that I know their men are Knights too.

Krista is hoping to own her own dance studio since her passion is teaching others, and that’s perfect for her because she’s always giving tips and advice. She sees things from the lens of a teacher.

Britt is more into making it big with music videos and backup dancing. I don’t know what I want from this. I only know that dancing is my passion and I strive to be the best. It’s an art, but I love all art, makeup, fashion, painting, and writing. It all speaks to me. I’m just creative. I even see sex as an art. It’s passion, pain, and everything in between.

I want to tell my story in every way. It’s written on my body like a tattoo, so dance happens to feel the most powerful way for me to tell it.

I study my reflection, adjusting my tights and top so I can begin again. I grab the remote and start the song over. “Needed Me” by Rhianna flows through the speakers and we all start to sway. Six girls are in formation and I am front and center. The routine I came up with is sexy and flawless. The girls I chose to do it with me are all queens. I want to showcase inclusivity in dance. It is for everyone, for so long there was this stigma that you needed to be a certain body type to be successful, and that’s just not true anymore. I want to be a part of the community of women who continue to break down those walls and pave the way in this movement. We have a range of women on display- tall, short, different races, different backgrounds, and sizes. It’s beautiful.

We begin our walk forward. We’re recording, so we pretend the camera is the person we are seducing. My eyes look straight into it as the beat drops. My right hand lifts, then the room fades away, everything engulfing in blackness. Just me and the music. I don’t need the count, my body flows with the music so naturally. My hands search my body, caressing my breasts, swiping across my abdomen, and then I turn away from the camera. Never shy, my full peach on display in these cut-off booty shorts.

I bend, running my hand from my neck to my foot and I rotate to my other foot. Rolling my body up, I move like a serpent, smooth and seductive as I tell the story of Kohen and me in this routine.

My heart accelerates, it feels like it’s beating out of my chest. I remind myself to breathe, I tend to hold it in, and I lose power that way. I exhale as I thrust forward, bouncing my hips with the beat from left to right.“Didn’t I tell you that I was a savage,”leaves my lips. I wind my body up and down, hands in my messy hair, and then I drop into a split.

Everybody yells and roars in celebration. I roll forward and into a crawling position. Then I pause on my knees and work my hand up toward the air, clapping three times. People around us cheering on, “Hey, hey, hey,” to the beat. Stomping and dancing on the sidelines, the energy builds and builds and then it’s a finale.

I rip my shirt in half, signifying how he tore me apart, and confetti drops like snow from the ceiling as I pose like I’m Beyoncé. My hands slowly running down my face like a mask, the way I covered up my pain. Roars and screams explode through the room as everyone rushes us. That was amazing.

A combination of sweat and tears ran down my face, from the little broken pieces of my heart that I poured into that. My makeup is a mess and my chest is heaving. Adrenaline is pumping through me and I’m shaking. It was so emotional. We rehearsed it all night and this last time was perfect. We decided to fully emulate what it would look like with the confetti since we didn’t want it to take away from our ending poses. I hook my phone up to the projector to watch the video playback. Holy shit, we look fucking good.

After running through some costume changes, and making sure we all get the same heels ordered, we call it a night. I text Kohen that I’m ready for him to come and get me since it’s date night. We haven’t spent much time together. I think Cora and Levi are supposed to meet us there. They are officially a couple and I’m obsessed. The dressing room is empty so I decide to rinse off so I’m not all nasty when we go out. It should take him about fifteen minutes to get here.

I undress in front of my locker and grab the jeans and top I’m going to wear, and place them on my vanity. “No bra, no panties,” I say out loud. I hear a bang and jump. “Hello?” I say out into the locker room. “Is anyone here?”

I get no answer and don’t hear anything else, so I grab my shower caddy and tear open the curtain, putting the water as hot as it will go. I throw an eucalyptus shower thingy that Kohen gave me onto the floor, and smile. I can’t wait to move into the house with him. He takes such good care of me.

I touch the water and step underneath it, letting the hot water soothe my sore muscles. I moan as my body relaxes and the steam fills the shower around me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, filling my lungs with Kohen’s favorite shower scent. I grab my loofah and shower gel, and begin to lather up my body. I notice a bruise forming on my shin so I bend to observe it.

“Goddamn, Alex.”

I freeze. A deer in headlights at that raspy tone. It’s Walker.

“You look so fucking good, angel.”

My stomach turns. “Don’t fucking call me that,” I say, turning to face him, covering as much of my body as I can. I was waiting for the shoe to drop and this is it. It’s dropping. I flinch when he moves quick, grabbing my hair.

“What the fuck did you say to me?”

“I said don’t fucking call me that.” I feel my hair being ripped as I run past him.

But he doesn’t let go and I slip. Shower gel runs down my legs and I lose my balance. He has full control as he drags me back to the shower. “What did I tell you?” he asks.

I’m flailing around on the floor, flashbacks of every time he hurt me flooding my senses. He pulls me up by my hair and I try to use the strength I know I have to push my body up, despite the slippery texture making it hard. He pushes me against the shower wall and wraps his hand around my throat, squeezing. Black spots appear behind my eyes.

I pray silently to whatever force is out there that Kohen doesn’t walk in on this. I don’t want him to see another man’s hands on me. I know I used to try and make him jealous but I’m his fiancée now. I am his, we are it for each other. He is my soulmate and I’m not fighting that anymore, but everyone else seems to be.

“What did I tell you about talking back? Do you remember?’ Walker releases my throat a bit so I can answer him.

“I thought you changed. Krystal said you worked on yourself.” Those words are a mistake because he slaps me across the face and I try to knee him in the balls. He’s too quick.

“Fuck, Alex, quit fucking fighting. You know how this ends already. That dude messed with your head, huh? It’s okay, I will fix you right back up.” His free hand runs down my cheek and I pull away. “Be a good girl for me, Alex. Be the good girl Kohen knows, huh?” He bends forward, taking my nipple in his mouth. I squirm away as best as I can and bring a hand to my side slowly, balling it in a fist. When his eyes flutter closed, I punch him in the side of his head over and over.