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Chapter One: The Gypsy King

Kelsey was lost again She couldn’t believe it

Four months at Cirque du Monde’s Paris headquarters, and the asted her sense of direction The hallways les and the nulass, while others were painted concrete A sht be nestled next to a cavernous rehearsal space, a dressing roo for a trainer’s office at the moment

She was pretty sure she was in the “J” corridor, but she needed to be in the “I” corridor She opened the next door she encountered, hoping to cut across, and found herself in a di soared above her, dotted by skylights She had just enough light to navigate through the densely stacked boxes, but she still y that saved her from a total pratfall She rolled and caainst the side of a crate, rubbing her aching shin Graceful, Kelsey Thank God no one saw that

Then she heard voices, a ry Kelsey stood and peered around the crate in front of her in the semi-darkness The couple was perhaps twenty yards away Minya, a gorgeous Chinese trapeze artist, and him

Theo Za

Kelsey had noticed Theo Zah the studio around ten in the ; she even remembered the time Just the way he walked, the casual flick of his wrist as he passed them, arrested her She’d been unable to look away until he’d left through the other door She’d seen him a couple other times that week, and each time his presence had affected her in the same visceral way When she was hired a week later, her first thought was Noork in the same company as him

Kelsey was alatching for his in hopes of a gli body, his dark eyes She stared at hie as they performed in the Cirque Tsilaosa show Not once--not one tied words

Exchanged words? Ha Theo Zamora didn’t even know she existed He was unapproachable to her, a sleek and powerful idol to be admired from afar Even now, her heart raced to be in such close proximity to him

Kelsey pressed her hand to her mouth and stood perfectly still as she watched the couple in profile He was scolding his trapeze partner Kelsey couldn’t hear his words, but she picked up the inflection of French, his native language He towered over Minya, his face amask

Dark-haired Minya shrank away, fell to her knees Theo pulled her up again, not roughly but not gently either, and pushed her face down over the edge of a box Kelsey waited for Minya to pull away, but the quivering woether and her face buried in her arms

Kelsey knew she shouldn’t witness this private moment, but she couldn’t look away She watched with horrified fascination as Theo ruhtened Soled from his hand Oh my God Kelsey felt trau way he stood, his stern expression She sucked in a silent breath as he braced his hand on the small of Minya’s back The sound of the strap’s impact made her jump

Kelsey dug her nails into her palet away But she didn’t She actually seeainst the edge of the box Kelsey could hear her low, erotic n of distress was a small kick of her feet--and those muffled moans

Theo was clearly enjoying hiressive pleasure written on his face She’d read about people doing this kind of stuff, but to see it going on right in front of her eyesto hear the cracking sounds of impact and Minya’s intimate noises

Kelsey’s knees gave way She huddled behind the crate, hugging herself Blood rushed in her ears She was freaked out, and yet… She closed her eyes and slid her hand between her legs, trying to soothe the shocking, unexpected bloo continued, but her clit signaled soether You like this This passionate violence

You want it yourself

At last the sound of the blows stopped Kelsey scrambled to her feet and peered over the top of the crate Theo squeezed and patted Minya’s ass cheeks through her leotard while she reers, and she was down on the floor again Kelsey’s pussy seemed to pulse in time with the petite woman’s movements Hoould it feel to lay at his feet, conquered by hi and sore from his strap?

She held her breath as Theo thrust his hand down his gy cock, beckoning his partner Minya didn’t resist, even when he grabbed the back of her hair and Wo could Minya take him so deep in her throat and still breathe?

Minya reached out to brace herself against his legs He took her hands in his and pulled her closer Minya gagged slightly, but she didn’t fight, didn’t resist, and he didn’t back away froot herself and gasped aloud His gaze flew to hers at once, over boxes and crates of equipment Their eyes locked, and then his lips twisted into a lurid smile

“Hey you, girl, hiding there Either join us or get out”

It was the first words he’d ever spoken to her Kelsey ducked her head and ran for her life

After that, Kelsey saw him constantly, no matter how much she went out of her way to avoid hiether, so it really couldn’t be helped Kelsey was training in order to replace one of the acrobats as taking a break to start a family Theo and Minya were a well-established act, one of the anchor acts for the production

&nb

sp; With a cast of only fifty-odd people, Kelsey was pretty visible as a trainee Add in her distinctive white-blonde hair, and there was no chance he hadn’t recognized her When he , he made it abundantly clear he remembered her and what she’d seen

Minya, on the other hand, ignored her The doe-eyed trapezist seemed lost in her oorld Kelsey had always interpreted her standoffishness and dreamy quality as artistic affectation, but now she couldn’t stop picturing her cowering at Theo’s feet She wondered what Minya had done to deserve that punishment--if it was even really punishment--and how often the two played out scenes like the one she’d spied on

Da about the in the backstage area to prepare for the evening’s show Kelsey stretched on a htropes, tread bars in the center She kept her back to the structure where Theo normally warmed up with a series of chin-ups Kelsey had learned to resist the urge to sneak looks because, daht her He’d pin her with those coal black eyes, and she would flush with eaze, only an all-too-knowing assessment That was the worst part of all

Kelsey had a sick feeling he knew she hadn’t been scandalized by what she’d seen God, if he had any idea howunder her blankets in the coe, the scene replayed itself in her raceful sub--

“Hey, Kels How’s it going?”

Kelsey swung around, hoping her train of thought wasn’t written all over her face “Oh Hi”

Jason Beck was one of her coaches, a fellow Californian who made the unfamiliar French headquarters feel a little more like home Like all the Cirque’s employees, he was supremely fit and staunchly professional He put a hand on her back “Want me to help you stretch?”

She didn’t take it as a coh, before Theo, Jason would have been her type--tall and ish chestnut hair he tamed into a ponytail at the back of his neck Kelsey knew the countless ti to do with sex or flirtation It was just part of his job

Jason had a reputation for being zealous about his new recruits, about getting them acclimated and involved in one of Cirque du Monde’s fifteen currently operating shows So Kelsey tolerated his poking, pushing, prodding, and general questioning as the practice space around them ratcheted up in motion and noise

Unfortunately, since she’d turned to talk to Jason, she saw Theo saunter past jugglers and a troupe of ainst the pull-up bars He scanned the rooht her staring, but Jason noticed and turned to find the object of her scrutiny

He turned back to her aher ankle back nearly to her shoulder “I wouldn’t recoled up with the likes of him”

“‘The likes of hirandma”