Learning to Tango

by Louise Hall

  Copyright © 2018 Louise Hall. All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorised, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  BOOKS BY LOUISE HALL

  My First Half

  Two Halves

  The Retake

  Paradise Syndrome

  Learning to Tango

  The Cabin (2018)

  Monsters & Angels (2018)

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  CHAPTER 1

  “Mr Warner?” The driver of the town car asked as the privacy screen slid down. “Are you sure that this is the right address, sir?”

  Kian looked out of the blacked-out windows. He didn’t recognise the neighbourhood at all. He retrieved his cell-phone from his jacket pocket and double-checked the text his wife, Cate had sent him that morning. It was definitely the same address. “Yes, I’m sure.”

  In front of him was a narrow cobbled street. There was an archway marking the entrance with “The Playground” lit up in blazing gold letters.

  “What is this place?” Kian asked curiously.

  “Have you ever seen the movie Fight Club?”

  “I’ve heard of it,” Kian shrugged. “Why?”

  “You’ll find out soon enough,” the driver chuckled, adjusting his black cap. “I’ll come back for you and Mrs Warner at midnight.”

  Intrigued, Kian walked through the archway into The Playground. On the right side, there was an absinthe bar; a beautiful redhead dressed as a green fairy stood by the front door beckoning passers-by to venture inside.

  The wooden, double doors on the left side were flung wide open. The room beyond was dark apart from a single spotlight trained on a large metal hoop suspended from the ceiling. A young woman slithered around the hoop, contorting herself into unimaginable positions. She had platinum-blonde hair styled like Marilyn Monroe and was naked apart from a red, glittery thong and nipple tassels. The tassels reminded Kian of his wife and he quickly hurried along.

  Cate’s directions led him to a nondescript, grey building with a neon pink sign, “Cabaret”. He was greeted at the door by a small Japanese woman in a navy blue silk jacket. When he tried to explain why he was there, she just shook her head and indicated that he should follow her inside.

  She led him through a labyrinth of corridors until she stopped outside door 33. There was something dark but safe about Cabaret. The Japanese woman handed him a bottle of what looked like sake and two glasses and then left him alone.

  Cate paced back and forth in front of the damson velvet sofa, nervously waiting for Kian to arrive. She wished now that she’d accepted the bottle of sake the hostess had offered when she’d first arrived at Cabaret.

  She was leaving for L.A. tomorrow afternoon. She was going to be one of the contestants on the TV dance competition, Stepping Out. Cate wiped her sweaty palms down her black lace dress. It was ridiculously short, hideously inappropriate for a respectable mother-of-three, it just barely covered her bottom but she wanted tonight to be special.

  When Lena, the wife of one of Kian’s teammates at Seattle F.C. had first suggested that she bring Kian to Cabaret, Cate had quickly shook her head, “Kian doesn’t sing.”

  Lena had laughed dirtily, “if you take him to Cabaret, he will.”

  Kian handed his wife a glass of sake, “cheers.” He still didn’t know why she’d brought him here to what looked like a private karaoke room. She took a sip of the sake and then placed her glass carefully down on the table.

  As she leaned forward, her skirt rode up a little and he got a tantalising glimpse of her stockings and garter belt. The dim, red lighting added an erotic twist. He took a deep breath, fighting the urge to bend his wife over the velvet sofa and fuck her deep and hard.

  “I want you to sing for me,” Cate offered him the microphone.

  Kian shook his head, “I don’t sing, angel. You know that.”

  Cate reached for his hand and kissed the palm leaving an imprint of her dark-red lipstick on his skin. “For me?” she fluttered her eyelashes.

  Kian reluctantly took the microphone from Cate and prowled towards the karaoke machine like a wild animal. He already looked intimidating. His jet-black hair was slicked back in a low ponytail, dark stubble defined his strong jaw and his lean, athletic body was encased in a black shirt and black dress pants.

  Cate sat down on the sofa and slid her hands under her softly trembling thighs. The rough velvet was torture against the strip of bare skin above her stockings, her lace skirt having ridden up a little. She wanted to drag this out as long as possible but her body was already humming with erotic anticipation.

  The music started and a low, seductive beat pulsed through the room. Cate looked down at the plush carpet, not wanting to meet Kian’s dark, fiery eyes. She allowed herself the smallest smirk. They’d made love to this song only a couple of nights ago.

  Kian began to sing and his voice, deliciously low and gravelly, felt as though it was caressing between her legs. She lifted up her slender ankle, allowing her stiletto heel to fall slowly to the floor. She did the same with the other ankle. Kian continued to sing, the words swirling sensuously around Cate as she stood up from the sofa.

  As he reached the chorus, she slowly hitched up her skirt, just high enough that he could see her garters. “Don’t stop,” Cate warned as he faltered.

  Bending forward a little, she ever so slowly rolled her stocking down her leg. Her toe-nails were painted the same dark red as her lips. She tossed the silk stocking wantonly on the floor.

  The song finished too quickly and Cate stopped, making it clear that if Kian wanted her to continue the striptease, he had to sing for her. He immediately chose another song. Cate gave him a womanly smile and resumed peeling down her other stocking.

  When her legs were seductively bare, Cate stood up straight and locked eyes with Kian. She walked towards him slowly, swaying her hips. “Unbutton your shirt.”

  Kian tore at the front of his black shirt until it hung raggedly from his strong shoulders. “You’re eager, aren’t you?” Cate teased, enjoying herself. She lightly touched his zipper, chuckling as Kian hissed through his teeth.

  “You’re killing me,
” he grunted.

  “But it’s worth every second, isn’t it?” Cate slid down his zipper. He’d gone commando so his cock jutted out, hard and throbbing. She pushed his pants down his muscular thighs. Cate kissed his leaking tip and then took a step back.

  “What the…?” He’d completely forgotten about the song.

  Cate hitched her skirt up even further and hooked her thumbs inside the waistband of her thong. “Fuck,” Kian looked up at the ceiling. Cate chuckled, teasing her thong down her bare legs. She dropped to her knees and retrieved the thong from the carpet. “I thought you might want this,” she handed it to Kian, knowing that it was already soaked through.

  He brought the bundle of lace and silk up to his mouth and took a deep, drugging breath.

  Cate brushed her long, silky black hair behind her back and kissed the crown of his cock again. She looked up at him, “the only rule is that you can’t touch me.”

  She kissed his frenulum, leaving small, painted red kisses on his satiny skin. She’d read about this in one of her steamy romance novels and wanted to know if she could pleasure her husband with her mouth closed. She kissed up and down his thick shaft. If anything, he felt even more like an animal now.

  She sat up a little taller and nuzzled the trail of black hair leading down from his belly button, his stomach muscles were pulled so tight.

  When she looked up, Kian was trying to stifle his grunts with her bunched-up thong. She could tell how desperately he wanted to touch her and decided to tease him a little more. She slid the thin strap of her dress off her shoulder. Cate rubbed her soft cheek against his steely length. The front of her dress had dropped down at one side, exposing her swollen breast.

  She kissed his balls, delighting as they pulled up and tight.

  “I’m going to…” Kian cried hoarsely.

  “Not yet,” Cate teased. She kissed his thigh and dipped her head between his legs. Her silky hair trailed against his skin. He clenched his fists, fighting the urge to bury them in the depths of her hair, to scratch his fingernails against her scalp.

  Cate trailed her mouth slowly between his cock and his anus; tasting him at his most primitive. “Fuck,” Kian grunted.

  Cate sat back on her heels and slipped the other strap off her shoulder, letting her dress fall to her waist. “Here,” she cupped her engorged breasts, offering them up to Kian.

  The sight of his wife on her knees with her bare breasts cupped in her small, delicate hands was too much for Kian. He threw his head back and roared, every muscle in his body tightened to the point of pain. Cate felt the gratifying warmth of his release splash over her breasts and hands and trickle down her stomach.

  Afterwards, Kian dropped to his knees in front of Cate. Even in the dim light of the room, she looked magnificent. Her lace dress was bunched up around her waist; her breasts and stomach glistened with his release. Kian trailed his fingers over her damp, swollen breasts. He took her mouth, driven almost to the point of madness again by the unmistakable taste of his cock on her lips.

  He needed to be inside her right now. He reached for her wrists and pulled her up to standing.

  He caressed her bare bottom and then gave her a push, “go and stand facing that wall.”

  Cate immediately obeyed him.

  He brushed her hair to one side and kissed the juncture between her neck and shoulder, sucking her sweet skin into his mouth.

  “Kian…”

  Kian lifted her hands and positioned them with her palms against the cool wall. She could feel the chill just millimetres from her bare breasts and her nipples tightened uncomfortably.

  “It’s cold, isn’t it?” Kian teased, pressing her forward. Her pert nipples brushed against the wall and she shivered.

  His hands dropped to her hips and he expertly removed her bunched-up dress so she was naked.

  Kian took a step back, enjoying the sight of his wife fully bared to him. He stroked her bottom and then dipped his hand between her legs. “Oh,” Cate cried, her toes curling into the plush carpet.

  Kian pushed two fingers inside his wife; she was dripping wet. He pressed her forward; crushing her breasts against the wall; she could feel the chill perilously close to her mound and her skin broke out in goose bumps.

  “Tonight, I own your orgasms,” Kian whispered, his fingers rubbing torturously against the thickness of her g-spot. “You don’t get to come unless I give you permission.”

  Cate took a deep breath and tried to transcend the burning heat between her legs. The trouble was that Kian knew her body so intimately.

  She felt him press up against her, his cock nudged between her buttocks. “I can’t…”

  “Yes, you can,” Kian slid his free hand up her stomach and touched her breast. “Stay still.”

  Knowing that she wasn’t allowed to move, it was all she wanted to do. His fingers tugged roughly on her taut nipple, sending high-voltage electric shocks to her already frantically clenching sex. Cate focused on a small crack in the plaster on the wall in front of her as if it was the most interesting thing she’d ever seen. She wanted to orgasm so badly.

  Kian removed his fingers from between her legs and brought them up to her mouth, “open.” He slid his fingers between her parted lips. “You taste so fucking good, angel.” Cate greedily sucked his fingers clean of her own juices.

  His hands dropped to her hips again and he pressed her fully against the cold plaster. Kian positioned himself, easing the tip of his cock just inside his wife’s pussy. “Remember what I said. Tonight, I own your orgasms, angel.”

  He bent his knees and then thrust up hungrily, filling her completely with one excruciatingly deep, penetrating thrust. It felt so fucking good now that he’d had the vasectomy and he could fuck his wife without any barriers. Cate cried out, her body shoved upwards until she was barely on tiptoes. She gripped him so tightly.

  “Please,” Cate begged.

  “Not yet,” Kian teased her mercilessly. He pulled her back from the wall a little and his hand cupped her breast, cold and sticky with his release. He used his other hand to turn her face so she was looking directly at him. Her black eyes betrayed that she was perilously close to breaking point.

  “Kiss me,” Kian demanded hotly. Cate kissed him with everything that she had; biting his lips and sucking long and hard on his tongue.

  Kian gently caressed her quivering breast, careful to avoid her taut, dusky-pink nipple. She was so tightly-strung that even the barest of touches now would bring her to orgasm.

  Kian savoured this feeling of complete control over his wife. He could feel each and every one of her choppy breaths as she struggled to obey him. His cock, which was already rock-hard again despite his earlier climax and engorged almost to the point of fucking pain, remained still, wedged firmly inside her pussy. Her inner walls squeezed him so desperately, her abundant juices trickling down the front of his muscular thighs.

  He broke away just enough that she could feel his breath still dancing over her swollen lips, “come.”

  The climax ripped violently through her body, leaving her barely coherent.

  Afterwards, Kian felt her sag in his arms and he gently lowered them to the floor. He knelt on the carpet and arranged Cate in his lap, her flushed cheek pressed against his pectoral. “Angel,” he said softly, stroking his fingers through her tangled hair. “It’s time to go home.”

  Cate looked up at him wide-eyed, “I don’t think I can walk after that.”

  Kian chuckled; he bent down and pressed his lips to her forehead. “I’ll carry you.”

  He found a packet of baby wipes in Cate’s handbag and reluctantly cleaned her breasts and stomach. “Thank you,” she murmured, reaching for her dress.

  Kian stood up and reached for his trousers. She felt so proud when she saw the kisses on his stomach and thighs and the lipstick smeared around his lips.

  “What are you laughing at?”

  Cate reached for one of the baby wipes and stood up, dropping her dress on
the table. As she cleaned his mouth and stomach, she suddenly felt sad. She was going to L.A. tomorrow. She would be gone for three days while she rehearsed the group dance for the first episode of Stepping Out with the other contestants and professional dancers. “I don’t want to go to L.A.”

  Kian tipped her head back, “you’re going to be amazing, angel.”

  “I’m going to be rubbish,” Cate frowned. “I’m going to miss you and the children too much.”

  Cate stepped into her dress; it felt even more obscene now without her thong and stockings. How was she going to manage with the skimpy costumes on the TV show?

  When they were both dressed, Kian reached for Cate’s hand. “It’s OK to be nervous.”

  “Ha,” Cate laughed, “I’m not nervous, I’m absolutely freaking terrified. I shouldn’t be on TV, Kian. I’m not a celebrity.”

  The only reason she’d said yes was because with every week she stayed in the competition, she’d earn more money for her charity, 33 Rocks.

  CHAPTER 2

  “So…” Ruby asked eagerly. “How did it go?”

  “Ugh,” Cate kicked off her shoes and flopped face down on the king-sized bed.

  It was nearly midnight and she’d only just got back to her hotel room after the second day of gruelling rehearsals in L.A. for Stepping Out. Her inky-black hair was tied in a very rough bun and she was still wearing her sweaty dance clothes, a black vest and yoga pants.

  “That good, huh?” Ruby laughed. “Have you found out who you’re going to be dancing with yet?”

  Cate shook her head, “next week.”

  “I really hope you get Declan. He’s attractive but not too much so, not like Vladimir. How could you concentrate on learning to dance if you were paired with him?”

  Cate gulped, she was really hoping that she didn’t get paired with Vladimir. It wasn’t because of what he looked like – he was definitely the heartthrob of Stepping Out; over six-foot tall with well-defined muscles, jet black hair and piercing blue eyes. It was more his fearsome reputation as a teacher.

  In each of the five seasons he’d been competing on the show, he’d always reached at least the semi-finals and had gone on to win the competition twice. Whoever he was partnered with, whether they’d had previous dance training or not, they put in many more hours than any of the other couples.