Page 39 of The Stallion (Men Under Revue #2)

Dallas

Weeks had passed and to my relief, whatever the fuck Dustin had done to clear Bria’s name had indeed worked. There was nothing on the news, here or in Phoenix. I had one of my employees at Isla keep an eye on their local cast, just in case.

Bria had spoken with her friend, Asher, several times over text, call, and video chat, and she had the same impression—it was as if it had never happened.

For what started as a publicly announced crime in front of over a thousand spectators and several news crews who had witnessed and recorded the event, the Las Vegas PD and Special Forces arrest ended as nothing more than an embarrassing blind accusation and rumor—the credibility of both was damaged in the fallout.

It took only a week for the name Connor Harrison to die out, just as fast as he legitimately did .

From what I had gathered, everyone now believed that he ran away with another woman, changed his entire identity to start a new life, unable to handle the one he had previously been living, jealous of the man who stole his girlfriend.

Another lie twisted to fit a narrative that cleared my sweet girl’s name of all liability and charges. Not going to lie, I would have stolen her from him even if he were still alive today.

He didn’t stand a chance against me, and I always ensured I got what I wanted regardless of the cost.

Something told me that I would have found Bria no matter what—our paths were always meant to cross.

With the chaos now behind us, we took a few days to disconnect from the real world, and our time spent together was nothing but heaven.

I had Nash fill in for my parts in the show, while I remained home, comforting my wife and spending every waking hour showing her just how much she meant to me.

My work could wait; she would always come first.

When Bria was ready to come out of her shell and face the world, confident that she no longer had a target on her back for the allegations, she returned to the stage with me. And the two of us have been performing our water routine every night since.

On our last performance, an idea suddenly struck me. I remembered when Alec had choreographed this routine, inspired by his wife, and how it had become a fundamental part of the show after the fact .

I wanted to do something similar for Bria—create a dance tailored to her that expressed every ounce of the adoration she elicited from me.

I had put off the initial idea for almost a year, with only vague bits and pieces to run with, but with her in my life, there was no better time to bring it to life. And I knew exactly what that performance would entail.

After our set, I roughly dried myself off in a rush to get ready, swiftly changing into a loosely buttoned black dress shirt and dark denim jeans.

I skipped over putting on shoes and socks, not needing them for the performance I was about to surprise my sweet girl with.

Once dressed, I hauled ass out of my office and down the hall, not having long to spare between dance sets.

When I reached the locker room, I found Bria standing with her back turned to me, facing her locker, with dry clothes in her hands.

Without a second to spare, I grabbed her wrist, tearing her away from where she stood.

Bria dropped her clothes, including the towel wrapped around her body. She was still dressed in the lingerie from our last performance, her hair just barely dry.

“Dallas, what the fuck!” I paid her no attention as she hissed at me like a feral cat, baring her teeth while I dragged her down the hall, not letting go for even a second. “Dallas! ”

“Shh!” I pressed my index finger firmly against her lips as we stopped just outside the main theater doors. “Trust me.”

She shot me a skeptical scowl with a scoff, rolling her eyes and stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest, not in the least bit amused with how I had handled her.

I’ll admit, I could have been a tad more subtle with the grabbing and the dragging, but we were down to mere minutes before the next set began.

Our set; our dance.

“Wait, how come you got to change and I didn’t? What’s going on, Dallas?”

With a short sigh, I breathed into my palms, warming them up before rubbing them along her biceps, using the friction to warm her up. I saw her skin pebbling from the cool air and a shiver shaking her shoulders.

“I can’t tell you right this second, just—trust me. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”

Bria pinched the bridge of her nose and released a heavy, agitated breath before nodding, reluctantly pressing her lips together. My sweet girl should know by now that I am full of surprises, and the best ones are those that piss her off the most.

I started climbing the ladder to the rafters that lined the ceiling, and she followed close behind, wary of where I was taking her.

When I had reached the top, I paused, turning back to help her onto the platform, before gesturing silently across to where the pool was stored when we weren’t performing our routine .

Bria shook her head nervously, peering down at the dancers entertaining the crowd. I didn’t know if she had a fear of heights, but I could feel the anxiety radiating off of her.

Crouching forward, I cupped her face with gentle hands and pulled her attention to focus on me.

“You can do this, sweet girl. All you have to do is crawl across this ledge to that circular platform and relax.” I nudged my head toward the dark velvet, padded platform I had designed to imitate a bed. The theater contractors installed it early this morning, specifically for this surprise.

“You’re fucking insane.” She growled at a whisper level before getting down on all fours and swiftly crawling her way across the ledge.

“I love you, too.” I chuckled under my breath, following closely behind until she was safely on the platform, looking far more relieved than earlier.

With both of us in place, I stood up, pulling two ropes down from a long metal bar. The ropes were secured in a single loop on either end, mimicking a double swing.

Bria eyed me attentively as I set everything up and got myself into position. I lay back in the ropes using it like a hammock, with one loop supporting my back under my armpits and the other around my ankles.

I glanced over at my wife, who stared at me in wide-eyed awe. Her hand reached out to touch the velvet ropes, the same shade of deep purple as the bed, and examined the harness from top to bottom .

The room below us went dark, leaving only a dim blue lighting to illuminate the space as the harness and the bed began lowering in time with one another.

“Trouble” by Camylio started playing through the speakers as we descended, and I sent my wife a brief wink with a proud as fuck smirk, knowing that this was throwing her off her game. My heart began accelerating for a dance I had spent tireless hours over the week perfecting—just for her.

Without skipping a beat, Bria hoisted herself on top of my body, nearly winding me as she unexpectedly stepped directly on my abs before climbing up the ropes. A subtle and yet not-so-subtle gesture. I deserved that. Can’t blame a guy for trying.

As we reached the halfway point of descending to the stage, she spread her legs into the splits above me before lowering herself down and resting her body along mine.

I could feel myself growing hard as she teasingly ground against me, leaning over to brush a palm along my cheek with an affectionate touch, returning my smug wink right back at me before gracefully rolling forward off my body, and lowering herself onto the bed.

I rolled myself in the ropes to face her, now below me.

Pushing myself back, I gripped her thighs and pressed a gentle kiss to her stomach.

Bria lifted her upper body to follow me, caressing my face with her palms before arching her spine and lowering back down while I brushed up her body and spun to hover in the opposite direction .

I knew she would fit into this routine without the need for practice. She was a natural and could read me better than anyone else. Her cues were unplanned and unexpected, making this first performance one I will remember well past tonight.

Giving myself momentum to swing, I pressed myself forward until my palms met my hips before letting go with a hard pull back. I extended my hands out and reached for my sweet girls’ hands as I passed by her head, and she stretched hers to meet them.

When our palms touched, I stopped myself from swinging back by firmly gripping the platform's edge.

Lowering my face to hers, I smiled lovingly as I dipped my head to whisper alongside her ear, “This right here is all for you, my sweet, pretty girl.”

I could see her eyes flare from my words, the beautiful amber shade glowing as she beamed and reached up to run her fingers along the underside of my jaw. She left me with a passionate kiss before I let go and swung back in the direction I had come.

Halfway, I gripped onto the bed's fabric before spinning clockwise, the harness lifting me away from Bria as I continued to use the momentum I had established to twirl my body in the ropes.

I released one of my legs, swinging it down and back up with a strong kick, before wrapping it inside the rope supporting my chest and pulling it straight down to meet my other ankle, holding tight to one loose strand.

I let myself fall sideways, still spinning, but at a much slower pace, before hoisting my upper body back up and twisting my ankles in the ropes, until I was kneeling in the air with each one wrapped around a single ankle and my hands holding the upper portions nearest the bar.

The abrupt change in position accelerated my spin, and I played into it, bouncing myself up and down as if I were on springs before sinking low and transitioning out of the loops entirely, holding them together as I descended to stand over Bria.

When the ropes were low enough for her to reach in a seated position, she pulled them across her waist, lying back down as I wrapped each leg, and straddled her waist once they were secure.

The harness rose again, taking me with it.

When I was high enough away from her, I released my grip and fell forward, hanging upside down like a bat as Bria pushed herself up to tear my shirt off with a mischievous grin.

Always so eager to see me shirtless, and stealing another deep kiss before falling back to watch the rest of my performance.

I played with the ropes, performing various tricks and rolls, some more advanced than others, given the time I’d had to practice my new craft.

A few times, I could see my sweet girl running her hands along her body, practically writhing below me. I knew this would be a turn-on for her, and I enjoyed making her squirm for every single second.

With both ropes nestled under my arms from behind, I lowered back down one last time, picking up my sweet girl, and wrapping her legs tightly around my waist before slinging one of the ropes around her back and under her arms, to mirror my position .

As I knew she would, she let herself go with me, falling back with her arms stretched out wide as if she could float or fly.

I held on to her hips and spun our bodies around, gaining enough speed to continue with the motion as we were raised back up to the ceiling for the finale.

I could hear my sweet girl giggling, her thighs tensing around my waist as the lights turned low, the music faded out, and the bed followed us shortly after.

When the night was over, Bria ran to meet me at the elevator bay, now fully dressed and grinning uncontrollably from ear to ear.

“That was exhilarating! Incredible!—When—How—” She was breathless from her sprint from the women’s locker room and could barely contain her excitement. Her reaction was everything. “Dallas—”

I claimed her gaping mouth to stop her words and slow her racing mind, my heart beating at almost the same rate. Her body melted into mine just as the elevator chimed, and I backed us into it, not taking my lips off hers, stealing her breath for myself.

I took a blind guess as to which button would take us to the first floor, fuck it, we had all night—forever.

“For me… You choreographed that entire performance for— me ?”

For a woman who was never doted on enough, and always deserved so much more.

“With time and practice, that will be our dance—yours and mine. No more water.” I had been looking forward to this moment all week. Seeing the light in her eyes shining bright because of something I had poured my heart and soul into, all for her .

Learning a new technique, spending days and countless hours training and practicing until I was perfect—flawless just like my wife.

“But I love the water.”

“Then I guess we’ll just have to compromise and do both routines every night. Think my sweet girl could handle it?”

“Is that a challenge, Ponyboy?”

“Always, wifey.”

Always.