Dance of Temptation

Dance of Temptation
Janice Sims

Prima ballerina Belana Whitaker knows exactly why she hasn't found her soul mate. Her whole life has been about practice and the pursuit of perfection. Now, though, she has to admit: her jeweled tutus aren't keeping her warm at night. But when a devastating surprise sidelines Belana, a partner from her past tempts her with a whirlwind seduction. Gorgeous, wildly successful sports agent Nicolas isn't used to waiting in the wings.He's entranced by Belana's commitment to her craft and her graceful beauty. But how can he convince the reserved ballet star that they should share the sweetest dance of all? He's determined to show her step by passionate step, kiss by irresistible kiss.

They stood entwined in each other’s arms, kissing.

Their bodies sang with the need to be as one. Belana used to wonder what true sexual synchronization would feel like, because with her other lovers she had not achieved the sheer bliss that she had been told was possible between lovers who were in tune with each other. With Nick, she knew that sublime sensation.

It sounded cheesy, but it was like that old song: she was the magnet and he was steel. She pressed her hands against his hard, muscular chest and moaned with pleasure.

Nick broke off the kiss to caress her cheek and peer down into her beloved face.

“Baby, that night we saw each other again, I swore that I would have my say no matter what. You had to know how much I regretted my actions. I don’t want to regret anything about my relationship with you, so from now on I’m going to just say what’s on my mind—I love you.”

About the Author

JANICE SIMS

is the author of nineteen novels and has had stories included in nine anthologies. She is the recipient of an Emma Award for her novel Desert Heat and two Romance in Color awards: an Award of Excellence for her novel For Keeps and a Best Novella award for her short story “The Keys to My Heart” in the anthology A Very Special Love. She has been nominated for a Career Achievement Award by RT Book Reviews and her novel Temptation’s Song was nominated for Best Kimani Romance Series in 2010 by RT Book Reviews. She lives in Florida with her family.

Books by Janice Sims

Kimani Romance

Temptation’s Song Temptation’s Kiss Dance of Temptation

Dear Reader,

You cannot choose which family you will be born into. And if you could, would you? Our unique experiences are what make us who we are. All the trials and triumphs in our lives mold and shape us. This is what both Belana and Nick realize in this story. They’ve both experienced heartache but believe they have become better people because of it. To find each other and to fall in love and want to build a life together was an added bonus for these two strong-willed people. I hope you enjoy their journey.

If you’d like to contact me you can write me at Jani569432@aol.com, or visit my website at www.janicesims.com. You can also find me on Facebook. If you’re not online yet, you can write me at P.O. Box 811, Mascotte, FL 34753-0811.

Best always,

Janice Sims

Dance ofTemptation

Janice Sims

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

While I was writing this novel I realized that

Belana’s grandmother had the personality of my grandmother:

imperious to a fault, but very funny. So this book is dedicated to

the memory of my grandmother, Ester J. Long,

who left this world at the age of ninety on November 14, 2010.

Thanks to my editor, Kelli Martin, once again for her help

in making this book the best it could possibly be.

And to the rest of the editorial staff at Kimani Press.

You’re all wonderful to work with.

Chapter 1

Belana Whitaker stood backstage at the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center waiting for her cue to take the stage for the final act of Swan Lake. While she waited, she kept her muscles warm by stretching and raising her body onto the tips of the fresh pair of pointe shoes she’d changed into after the first three acts. She rarely had to change shoes between acts, but the toe box in the left shoe of the other pair had begun to break down. Well-fitting shoes were essential to a good performance.

Tonight marked the last show in which she would dance the role of Odette. Around her, other members of the ballet company warmed up as well. Strains of Tchaikovsky’s passionate score played by the symphony orchestra filled the air. The sound waves vibrated in her belly, making her jittery with excitement.

Her partner, Gideon Oliveras, who was dancing the role of Prince Siegfried, sidled up to her. Six-two and with a body whose muscular frame had been honed to perfection from years of ballet, he also had the face of a screen idol and was the sweetest guy in the company. “Ready to create magic?” he asked softly in his Spanish-accented voice.

Hearing the smile in his tone, Belana turned her face up to his and smiled back at him. “More than ready. I’m fired up! It would be nice if we didn’t have to die this time,” she joked. In the ballet, the lovers drown in the lake and their souls ascend to Heaven.

Gideon beamed. “Sorry, I can’t make any promises. Besides, when you fall into my arms, it’s the highlight of my night, every night.”

Belana laughed shortly. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“I do not!” Gideon replied, feigning hurt at her accusation. He was happily married to another dancer. He would never cheat on her, but he’d always had a soft spot for Belana. He saw no signs that she was aware of it, though. In times like this she was focused only on the dance. He gave an imperceptible sigh, and drank in her beauty. Underneath the stage makeup was golden-brown skin that glowed, and somewhere behind the artificial eyelashes that were so long and thick they looked better suited for a cow, were warm, golden-brown eyes that sparkled. Heavy makeup was one of the sacrifices a ballerina made in order to be seen by theatergoers in the last row.

“Of course you do,” Belana said with a grin. She smoothed a stray lock of long, wavy, dark brown hair with auburn highlights behind her ear. “We girls appreciate the attention. Although we know you’d never leave Gwen. You’re too perfect together.”

His wife, Gwen Barrow-Oliveras, was a principal dancer with another ballet company in New York City. “Because she would kill me if I cheated on her. She’s very high-strung, our Gwen,” Gideon said.

Belana couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but the image of slender-to-the-point-of-near-emaciation, ultrafeminine Gwen overpowering her much larger husband made her giggle. Now, if she were the one with blood in her eye, she might do him some damage. She was not one of those tiny ballerinas who looked as if a stiff breeze might blow her away. She was an athlete with muscles capable of achieving onstage leaps rivaling those of her male colleagues. Twenty years of ballet plus weight training and long-distance running had made her strong. She didn’t look bulky like a weight lifter. Her muscles were gracefully elongated, giving her the kind of extension ballet dancers needed in order to perform intricate moves. None of it had been won without hours of grueling practice.

Which culminated in nights like this, she reminded herself as she and Gideon received their cues and leaped on to the stage, followed by the corps de ballet.

The audience applauded enthusiastically, and Belana couldn’t help thinking of the loved ones she had in the audience—her father, John, her stepmother, Isobel, and her brother, Erik.

She knew they were sitting somewhere in the middle of the theater, close to the front, but because of the bright lights she was unable to see them. Perhaps it was a good thing since all her concentration was needed to make certain her movements were precise.

The choreographer had taken risks and included acrobatics that had her soaring in tandem with Gideon, who was well-known for his ability to seemingly defy gravity and appear to be flying.

They executed an airborne split, Belana in her white swan costume, Gideon in his hunter’s costume, dancing to her left in such perfect timing that he could have been her shadow. The audience gasped with delight, marveling at the height the two achieved, and the ease with which they landed and promptly went into a lift in which Gideon raised Belana above his head. With her arms spread wide, back arched, Belana exulted in the moment. This was the reason she’d never wanted to be anything except a dancer—this feeling of utter elation, of time standing still, of being in sync with another human being to such an extent that you felt as close to paradise as you ever would on earth.

In the audience her stepmother, Isobel, momentarily held her breath. “Oh, dear God, don’t let him drop her,” she said softly.

Her husband, John, laughed quietly. “Don’t worry, darling, she’s in good hands.”

Farther in the back of the theater, fifteen-year-old Nona Reed sat rapt, her eyes hardly blinking as she stared at the dancers onstage. One day, she promised, she would be the one up there wowing the audience. She would be as good as Belana Whitaker.

She’d gotten so excited that she’d reached for her grandmother’s hand, something she didn’t often do anymore because she thought she was too old for those kinds of demonstrations of affection. Momma Yvonne had squeezed her hand affectionately.