The DemiGod & the Dancer

Chapter 5: The Offer

"Take my daughter?!" I repeated, fear beginning to grip me. I shook my head. "You can't do that!"

"I can't?!" Niklaus rose from the chair and stepped toward me, making me step back as he advanced. "You took her for almost five years!" He backed me against the refrigerator. "You live over a garage which only has one way in or out. It's illegal. It's unsafe!"

"The owner has a fire ladder at every window, and he's going to--"

"Doesn't matter," he said, shaking his head. "You are unfit."

"I am what?!" I wasn't hearing this, and for the first time, I was absolutely pissed. "Unfit?! She wants for nothing--"

"But a father!"

"A little girl needs her mother!"

"You worked at a strip club!"

I gasped. "How did you know?" Suddenly the stranger ordering that special bottle of wine made sense. "You followed me?!" I saw that his expression didn't change. "I wasn't a stripper! I was a hostess, and I only danced once! I didn't even take any clothes off!"

"You managed them, did choreography."

"I am a choreographer, Nik!" I noticed the puppy sniffing about a little too much for my taste. I went into the pet store bag and pulled out puppy training sheets. I spread one on the floor by the bathroom. I turned to see he had followed me. "I was there for only a year."

"So why did you dance?"

"One of the girls was sick and I wanted the money for him," I did a sweeping gesture at the dog.

Ken saw us standing there. "Hey, where's the puppy?" he asked Reina, as if on cue.

"Here, Thor!" Reina called. "Come on, Thor!"

The puppy raised its head, and ran toward her. We watched it go in the room, and Ken closed the door, but left it cracked.

"I don't believe it." Niklaus shook his head, humor overtaking his features. "She named it Thor?"

"Yes." I walked away from him toward the kitchen area, away from Reina's room. "I only worked at the club for a year while I--"

"Got your certification as a personal trainer and now you work at the health club teaching dance exercise and kettlebell workouts mostly, I know."

I shook my head, completely stressed out. I started raking my hair. I began unpacking groceries, happy to be distracted but doing something constructive. "Why are you doing this? What do you want?"

"I want to set things right." He took a deep breath behind me. I barely came up to his shoulders, but when I turned he seemed smaller than he was a few minutes ago. He locked eyes with me, and I fought the impulse to just drown in them. God, they were still beautiful. I averted my gaze, knowing I could never win that kind of battle with him. I washed out the puppy's food and water dishes. I could feel his body behind me. "I am offering you a good life, a better life, Tiana. It'd be a shame not to take the offer...for you and for her."

Tiana...I closed my eyes. He still said it like a caress. "I can't be in a marriage of convenience." With you.

"We'll be a real family," he said quickly. "We need to be, for Reina's sake."

What about my sake, I wanted to ask, but instead I stood there. I took a deep breath, and turned to look into his eyes again. They were soft and pleading, sincere. I drowned in them, I always did. It was why I ran. I couldn't imagine being a baby's mama-a woman he laid with and didn't want a child with-an inconvenience. I had never really gotten over him. If there was one thing I knew besides how much I loved my daughter, it was that, and I was scared to death.

"We used to be...really good together, you know."

I felt my body flush at his change in tone. "Don't."

He blinked at me, and then his eyes became completely suggestive. "You remember. I do, too."

I felt yet another wave of vulnerability wash over me.

"Please give this a chance," he said softly. "I'll do what it takes. I think we owe it to everyone involved to give this a shot."

"What about DemiGods?"

"DemiGods is a show. My life was a show, but it isn't now. It won't be."

The tone of his whispered plea, his masculine scent, and his eyes were permeating my senses, and to some degree, my sensibilities. I was trying to think of what to say. I had rehearsed this in my mind for years, and now that he was here, I was going horribly blank. I tried to reason: Reina and I would be provided for, we would want for nothing, right? I just had to find a way to keep my heart away from him. The thought seemed impossible.

He took my hand and kissed it, lowering his eyes to mine. "Do we have a deal then?"

I looked at him, realizing that all devils weren't dark-haired and dark-eyed. "Deal."