Chapter 6: We dance

We danced, I opened my eyes and had her in front of me. I lowered my gaze, and my legs slowly slipped between hers. I raised my gaze, and on my eyelashes, all the lotus flowers opened as the notes of a bass sounded. The music poured over her sweaty body, seeming to come from within her. Her body moved in response to mine like two magnets found among a sea of errant metals. We danced, we danced to the same rhythm; it was as if the melody was born on my skin and sounded on hers. As if the music came from me when she held me by the waist, filling the whole room with the brush of our bodies. The rhythm pulsed in my chest and guided me toward her hands. Waves surged within me that matched the vibrations growing in the atmosphere created by the music or by the touch of her hands, I didn’t know. Little by little, the current molded to my body, moving me in front of her. Her body responded sensually to mine, as if it were a designed response to the nature of our forms dancing. I watched her sweaty skin as she lowered her gaze and gifted me a caress with her eyes. Her unbuttoned white blouse and black bra, her tanned skin and flushed cheeks were the only things keeping me connected to that place. My stranger was trapped in my waves and showed me the responses to my movements. The waves that originated from her were more violent. She turned me around, and I found myself with my back to her chest.

We moved like two disturbed drops in the water falling at the exact minute. It seemed as if we had moved to the center of the dance floor, and I felt that everyone could see us. Then the music stopped, and the people stopped moving when her hand rose up my leg and banished all the sadness that had been buried within my being. My whole body burned recognizing her touch, and all my demons were released from my soul as I let out a slight moan at the heat of her hands. If hands could tell the truth, they would lie because her hands held me as if I were hers, leaving small traces of fire as she pressed her fingers into my hips. She took my hips gently and pressed them against her with that strength only allowed by the trust built over the years.

As if she had known my hips all her life. I was turned away from her, and my body became hers the exact second I moved my waist with undulating motions identical to those of her silhouette. She ran her hands over my dress, caressing my belly, awakening a fire breath that had been asleep my whole life. My body grew numb as her hands pressed me against her, as if the only possible way to dance was to fuse until we became one. The music slowed down, and our bodies moved smoothly, the lotus flowers closed, and time seemed to pass eternally. The sound became intense, and our movements increased until I felt her hands violently tracing my belly again. She lowered her left hand, grazing the fabric of my dress until she touched my skin. I felt a path of fire opening from my leg to burn with her in all directions. She turned me to dust in her arms, and the ashes floated to reshape us in the music.

That song ended, and we began to dance to the next one. My body seemed to burn every time she pulled me towards her, seduced by her hands; my desire was the fruit of pure music. I couldn't forget that warm feeling she produced when a friend of hers arrived offering her a beer. She didn't take her hands off my body for a second while she took the beer. She asked me if I wanted a drink, and as I accepted, nodding my head and looking at her intently, she placed the bottle to my lips. I was turned away from her, drinking from her beer. I followed the rhythm perfectly—did she always dance this sensually?

We continued dancing. My dance partner took my hand and tangled it in her neck. I stroked her hair, and a smile curved my lips. Her hair was soft and wavy. With that gesture of gratitude from her, I felt her breath on my neck. I stretched my arms forward in subtle movements, then caught her head behind mine again. I delighted in feeling her short, soft hair slip through my fingers. Could love be born from a dance? I molded myself between her arms as if the control of my body belonged to her now. I arched my back dancing for her while my skin whispered my name to her fingers. My legs bore witness to her hands drawing all the lives I could live while that song played.

I was enjoying myself; suddenly, I felt that all I had wanted that night was for her to hold me in her arms, to smile at her, and to spin like a top with her breath on my neck. I felt alive as we danced until the abrupt landing of a bird just learning to fly occurred. At that moment, Meiby arrived. She took my hand and told me to come with her. I knew it was the right thing to do; I stopped dancing and went with Meiby. Everything happened so fast that I still felt my skin flushed from that girl’s touch. I turned and made a "goodbye, I'm sorry" gesture with my hand to my stranger in the white blouse as I left the dance floor, taking Meiby by the hand. She looked at me and made a gesture that I interpreted as "How could you leave me dancing alone?" I felt a hurricane of emotions inside me.