might be ripped apart?" Just saying the words made her heart quicken and her eyes mist.
"It's my job," Stefan stated quietly.
"Your job! Don't you give a damn about your life!" she said, her voice shrill.
"Of course I do. I don't intend to get ripped apart." He took her by the arms. "Honey, you've got to have more faith in me. I'm very good at what I do."
"I'm sure you are," she said, her eyes zigzagging over his bare chest beneath the Hussar vest and the scars crossing his muscular body. "I'm also sure your father thought he was good." She looked up at Stefan, aching with the desire welling from merely the sight of him. She'd never understand his need to prove himself in such a potentially lethal way.
His thumbs began lightly stroking the sensitive flesh above her costume as he held her arms. "I didn't see your performance," he said. "What happened?"
Giving an indifferent shrug, while trying to quell the tightness in her stomach as the memory of the cat fight emerged, she replied, "My timing was off. I fell to the net."
"Because of me?"
"No," she said, looking at him through a blur or tears. "Because of... the fight."
"These things happen," he said. "It's part of my job, just as flying is yours. But we learn to live with the danger. If we can't, we shouldn't be in the show."
As Joanna looked at Stefan, his face moved slowly toward hers and his arms curved around her. Their lips met with an intensity that made Joanna weak. In his arms she felt helpless, as if she were tumbling in space like in the terrible dream, falling toward an arena with animals viciously attacking Stefan. Still, she couldn't stop what was happening. She couldn't stop her longing to be with him and feel his arms around her, or her desire to stay with him forever...
And she couldn’t stop him from going back into that cage, day after day...
With that thought, she thrust her fingers into Stefan's hair, pressing her lips to his with a urgency she couldn't quell. She felt the demand of his mouth claiming hers, the reassurance of his arms around her, and she clung to him, until the image of lions and tigers viciously attacking each other made her pull away to gasp for air. "I don't know what's happening," she said. "Just thinking of you going back into that cage makes my stomach clench with fear and my chest feel like my heart is being squeezed, and now the feeling never goes away."
"Then let me stay here with you tonight. Let me hold you and kiss you and make love to you and take all that fear you've bottled up inside and release it for you." His lips moved along her throat and down to send a trail of kisses over swell of her bosom above her costume, and back up to meet her lips. His hands came up to caress her breasts, as he said in a ragged voice, "Let me make love to you, sweetheart. Let me take you mind off everything but the gratification that my hands and my lips and my body can give you."
A little moan of pleasure bubbled up as he lowered Joanna's costume and kissed her breast. "Your making love to me would only be a temporary diversion," she said in a breathless voice. "It might make me feel good, but it would not make the scene disappear from my mind." Pulling his face from her breast, she said, "Please, Stefan, just hold me tonight. Nothing more."
Stefan sighed and gathered her against him. Although she tried to dismiss the whole horrible episode, the scene of Rafat jumping from his pedestal and leaping at the tiger came back, triggering something Walter said when she first saw Stefan working Rafat in the arena. Looking at Stefan, she asked, "What happened to Rafat's previous owner?"
Caught by surprise, Stefan stared mutely for a few moments before replying, "Rafat attacked him. It happened during a practice session."
"And?"
"I bought Rafat when the man's wife sold off his cats."
"His wife?"
"There was... brain damage."
Joanna felt like she was suffocating, as if there was suddenly no air inside the wagon. Why would Stefan
"It's my job," Stefan stated quietly.
"Your job! Don't you give a damn about your life!" she said, her voice shrill.
"Of course I do. I don't intend to get ripped apart." He took her by the arms. "Honey, you've got to have more faith in me. I'm very good at what I do."
"I'm sure you are," she said, her eyes zigzagging over his bare chest beneath the Hussar vest and the scars crossing his muscular body. "I'm also sure your father thought he was good." She looked up at Stefan, aching with the desire welling from merely the sight of him. She'd never understand his need to prove himself in such a potentially lethal way.
His thumbs began lightly stroking the sensitive flesh above her costume as he held her arms. "I didn't see your performance," he said. "What happened?"
Giving an indifferent shrug, while trying to quell the tightness in her stomach as the memory of the cat fight emerged, she replied, "My timing was off. I fell to the net."
"Because of me?"
"No," she said, looking at him through a blur or tears. "Because of... the fight."
"These things happen," he said. "It's part of my job, just as flying is yours. But we learn to live with the danger. If we can't, we shouldn't be in the show."
As Joanna looked at Stefan, his face moved slowly toward hers and his arms curved around her. Their lips met with an intensity that made Joanna weak. In his arms she felt helpless, as if she were tumbling in space like in the terrible dream, falling toward an arena with animals viciously attacking Stefan. Still, she couldn't stop what was happening. She couldn't stop her longing to be with him and feel his arms around her, or her desire to stay with him forever...
And she couldn’t stop him from going back into that cage, day after day...
With that thought, she thrust her fingers into Stefan's hair, pressing her lips to his with a urgency she couldn't quell. She felt the demand of his mouth claiming hers, the reassurance of his arms around her, and she clung to him, until the image of lions and tigers viciously attacking each other made her pull away to gasp for air. "I don't know what's happening," she said. "Just thinking of you going back into that cage makes my stomach clench with fear and my chest feel like my heart is being squeezed, and now the feeling never goes away."
"Then let me stay here with you tonight. Let me hold you and kiss you and make love to you and take all that fear you've bottled up inside and release it for you." His lips moved along her throat and down to send a trail of kisses over swell of her bosom above her costume, and back up to meet her lips. His hands came up to caress her breasts, as he said in a ragged voice, "Let me make love to you, sweetheart. Let me take you mind off everything but the gratification that my hands and my lips and my body can give you."
A little moan of pleasure bubbled up as he lowered Joanna's costume and kissed her breast. "Your making love to me would only be a temporary diversion," she said in a breathless voice. "It might make me feel good, but it would not make the scene disappear from my mind." Pulling his face from her breast, she said, "Please, Stefan, just hold me tonight. Nothing more."
Stefan sighed and gathered her against him. Although she tried to dismiss the whole horrible episode, the scene of Rafat jumping from his pedestal and leaping at the tiger came back, triggering something Walter said when she first saw Stefan working Rafat in the arena. Looking at Stefan, she asked, "What happened to Rafat's previous owner?"
Caught by surprise, Stefan stared mutely for a few moments before replying, "Rafat attacked him. It happened during a practice session."
"And?"
"I bought Rafat when the man's wife sold off his cats."
"His wife?"
"There was... brain damage."
Joanna felt like she was suffocating, as if there was suddenly no air inside the wagon. Why would Stefan
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