CREATURE

・chapter 13・

Asya stood coupé derrière as Ivan kneeled in front of her and kissed all the way up her arm, laying his head in her palm affectionately once he reached her elbow. She giggled girlishly and beamed down at him, just as Zharnov picked her up by her hips and carried her away to steal her attention again. Ivan sprung to his feet to protest, and the two men began sizing each other up with some turns.

Her character watched animatedly as they eagerly tried to impress her with their respective skills, occasionally wincing when one of them tried to lunge at the other. While they finished up their combinations she began counting down in her head, knowing that she had mere seconds before they broke apart and she'd need to step into her chaînés, which culminated in the dreaded lift.

The anticipation of it made her stomach twist uncomfortably, but she held her pose and didn't let even a drop of anxiety show on her body, like she'd been taught. No matter how scared or intimidated she was, the show had to go on.

With both the men still going at it she stepped into her chaîné turns, her feet flying over one another in the diagonal as she built up speed. The rational part of her insisted that she would be running to Ivan, that he'd be throwing her into the air and bringing her back down, like they'd practised for the past four days.

She'd been raised to follow orders and play by ballet's inhumanly strict rules, never to refuse or question anything she was asked to do. Perhaps it was the rush of being on stage, the fear throbbing in her stomach, or a singular rebellious spark in her chest, that had her believing she was better off entrusting a dangerous lift on the star of the Russian ballet than her long-time partner.

It was the single biggest risk she'd ever taken in her life, but in a split second her body had decided for her. She pivoted on her feet and switched directions, straying off-course and heading downstage instead.

Afraid Ivan would try and lunge for her to bring her back she took her arms to an open fifth position while she turned, and kept spinning. She spotted to Zharnov, going from blurs of dark and light to his icy gaze and waiting for the beat of music that told her it was time to jump.

With one last stride she left the floor, and when she felt his hands catch her middle she could have cried for joy. His grip on her hips was firm as he raised her into the air steadily, and she arched her back into his touch to make herself easier to handle. He held her perfectly still as she extended her arms to third arabesque and looked upward. The easy part was over.

There were mere seconds between her and the drop and catch, and she unwittingly held her breath. He knows what he's doing, she chanted to herself over and over again as he released her. She fell back into his arms, letting him cradle her to his chest for a few fleeting heartbeats.

It was like nothing she'd ever done before, reckless and unplanned, totally out of character for her. She couldn't anticipate anything about the upcoming lift, she was completely at his mercy to make sure it went smoothly. Still, she couldn't deny that the results looked promising thus far, and that it made for one hell of an adrenaline rush. But even with suspense gushing through her, she wasn't afraid as she should have been the first time with a new partner, she was... Excited?

She smiled at him, and to her surprise he returned it, before he tossed her into the air. She inhaled sharply as the world around her slowed down and kept going slower and slower until she saw nothing but floodlights and the night sky beyond. The first stars were already out, calling her to the cosmos, tempting her to let go of gravity and keep flying.

For a fleeting moment in time her senses shut down completely, she felt nothing but hollowness in her bones and air rushing between her fingers. She wasn't exhausted or hungry, anxious or thinking, she didn't even really exist at all. The feeling stretched into eternity, slowed to perfection, power, freedom, like she'd been cut loose from chains she didn't know she was shackled into.