Hollywood snuck up by the stage with a twenty folded long ways. Free was near the top of the pole, her back to the audience as she slid down in a twirl. Her eyes closed, but she seemed aware of how far she was from the stage. Hollywood traced the bill from her juncture, over her belly and between her breasts. Those at the right angle could see her start to smile because she knew who was teasing her. It was simple because, while men were tossing bills on the stage, anyone allowed this close had to not only be a Steel, but her man. When he tucked into the strap of her bra, he leaned in cradling the back of her head as he kissed her deeply. Her thighs wrapped tight and she pushed him back before doing her signature dismount. Hollywood whispered something in her ear and the crowd booed him as he rested his hand on the butt of his gun still holstered.
“Hey,” Onyx hollered. “People pay extra to see the cops with strippers in LA.”
It was Hollywood’s fault for still being dressed for work. His best friend flipped him off and Free’s song ended. With a quicks scoop of the last few bills, both she and Hollywood disappeared in the back.
Onyx sat back to see if any of the women he liked were around. Lyna took over dancing on stage while Tempest and Zoe were walking around. Now, those women were some women you could fuck and didn’t want attachment. He liked that. They were women who just loved sex like he did but didn’t want anything but an orgasm or two in return.
Michele walked back to the table and set his beer down. “Here you go. What can I get you to eat?”
“Steak, the T-bone, baked potato and whatever vegetable you have available to go with it. Oh, and you can bring me a piece of that chocolate cake I love.” He winked.
Michelle laughed. “Sure thing Onyx, I wouldn’t keep you from that cake now would I?”
“No, you better not.” Onyx joked with her.
Shark finished up his food. “So how did that rescue go that you went on?”
“It was okay, the usual. Ended up with stitches in my head from a fight, but other than that it was uneventful. How was the run you and Freaky went on?”
“It went pretty well. We made about five grand for the club and a few for ourselves. I don’t mind going on them as long as it goes as well as this one did.”
“That’s good. I wondered how all that would pan out for the club. Illegal activity was never something I cared too much about.”
“Yeah, it is that isn’t it?” Shark took a long pull from his glass. “You and Hollywood, not sure how you lasted in LA and weren’t corrupt.”
“TV and movies, all lies and over exaggerations.”
Topaz walked into the restaurant, fresh in a tight outfit and headed toward the bar.
Onyx noticed her right away. Why couldn’t the woman he wanted, be the one with as little care as the others? This rescue proved that she didn’t want a damn thing to do with him.
Michele walked back and gave him his plate of food. It smelled wonderful and triggered his hunger more than Topaz triggered his need for release.
Shark told him about the run while he ate his meal and after he cleaned his plate, he was ready for more. Like a warm body to take to his bed.
Lyna walked over to their table. “Hi Onyx. Hiyah Shark.”
“Hi beautiful. What are you doing?” Onyx shifted his chair to the side, so his lap was open and curled his finger to pull her to him.
“Aw… you got a boo-boo.” Lyna placed a kiss on the Band-aid.
He whispered in her ear, “My lap is a little cold and lonely, sweetie.”
“Guess you took the wrong person for that long ride.” Lyna leaned in, draping her arms on either side of him as he fished a few bills from his wallet, tucking them in the top of her panties as she whispered in his ear. “Remember how satisfying the trip was when you let me on your bike.”
She bit at his earlobe and he adjusted his hips so she could work her magic. Having stripped down to her bra and panties on stage. The little skirt she wrapped around her hips was less than a dust ruffle. Lyna stretched her body then moved in between his legs, swaying her ass back and forth over his crotch.
He should have been paying attention to the thick curves giving him a lap dance, but Onyx’s eye caught sight of Topaz staring at him. She glared, but continued to work behind the bar. He wanted to ignore her but they were both caught, focused on each other and he couldn’t help imagining what her beautiful body would be like if she were giving him the dance.
After Lyna finished her dance, he was charged up and wanted more from this beauty. She was the type of woman who could help relieve him of his pressures.
Capturing her hand, he slowed her from moving on and stood. “If you’ll excuse us Shark, I have some business to tend to.”
“Have fun. I’m going to look for some for myself.” Shark grinned.
Topaz was furious and horny which tended to be a dangerous combo. Watching Lyna give Onyx a lap dance had triggered her anger. Outside of the tuck of cash, he’d kept his hands on either side of his chair. Allowing the body to brush against his. When their eyes locked was when the rage turned to desire. As if unspoken he told her she was who really was dancing. The one straddling his leg, like she had in the motel bathroom. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and leaning in. More importantly, she was the one causing the rise in his pants.
She tried to serve customers, but every time her eyes strayed toward the couple, it infuriated her even more. When Lyna pulled Onyx toward the back of the stage Topaz knew where they were going, setting off a level of irritation, that in a clam could produce a pearl, but in her, it might just explode.
They made their way across the restaurant, Topaz slipped from behind the bar and stood by the door that led to the back rooms. The ones where private dances turned naked and for the most part, only MC members went.
“Lyna!” Topaz stood, arms crossed and legs planted. “You need to go in the back and get changed.”
“Why?” Lyna asked, her fingers intertwined with Onyx’s as his hand wrapped around her body and rested on her bare belly. “We had a little business—”
“You need to go on stage again tonight, then after that I want you to take a shift behind the bar,” Topaz ordered the woman. “I’m sure Onyx can handle his own business.”
“But—”
“It’s not a suggestion.”
Onyx’s hand slipped from Lyna’s and he stepped back, leaning a bit on the stage.
“Sure Topaz, I can do that.” Lyna smiled up at Onyx, her hand trailing down his chest to his waistband giving his pants a tug. “Darling, I get off at two if you want to wait for me.”
“Well, if that ain’t a tempting offer to a starving man. Maybe I’ll do just that,” Onyx replied. “Watching you dance might heighten my delayed satisfaction. So how about you be a good little girl for Topaz and show me your special moves.”
“I’d rather show my skills in the back.” Lyna cut her eyes at Topaz, setting off a small fire in her. “But I guess some people think they’re my lord and master.” She turned, making sure Topaz saw her displeasure before moving around her and off to the dressing room.
“Queen bee, you gonna take care of me?” he asked tossing a little gas on the bonfire already reaching the stars.
“Really? Swapping out women like plugs?” she snarled.
“You’re the one jamming them child safety covers in the socket,” he replied standing over her. “Maybe I don’t mind getting a little jolt every now and then.”
His body was hard and large. Most would have feared, but she didn’t. In a way, it was a blanket ready to cover her. In Byron’s arms, she thought nothing could ever hurt her and Onyx was twice the size. He knew how to fight and had seen the ugliness of the world.
Topaz tilted her head upward to face Onyx. “It’s just like you to take one of my girls away before the end of her shift.”
“What the hell Topaz? Like a shift ever mattered to any of these girls,” he bit. “Besides, what we were about to do is part of her job.”
&nbs
p; “Not hardly. They think they can just leave any time. It’s not happening under my watch.”
“I’m pretty sure Free’s break is going a little long in the back there, she might have clocked the fuck out for the night. Which means you don’t give a shit about the girls.” Onyx glared. “Must mean you have something against me.”
“Why would you think that?” Topaz felt more anger at herself for letting her want for him to manifest this way.
“Because you seem to have it out for me. The entire trip you were a cold, distant, bitch and now, you take away my fun for the night.”
“First off, I fixed your head.”
“Yeah, well Lyna was gonna take care of the one you ignored.”
Avoided would have been a better word and it wasn’t like he even made a move.
“Second, I didn’t take away your fun. You made a plan to be with her later. I just made her do her job.”
“You don’t normally stop the girls from taking care of the members of this club. So why do you seem bent on taking it from me?” Onyx raised his voice an octave.
A few people near them turned on their barstools.
“I ask because it ain’t the first time, but Topaz, it will be the last.”
“Let’s take this outside.” Topaz grabbed his hand, rough and calloused she tried to push out the feel of them on her hips as she pulled him through the kitchen to the back door of the restaurant. Shoving him, he actually stumbled a bit and she kicked herself. She’d forgotten his leg was still hurting and not lined up right. Even with his weight, he couldn’t match her angry strength because he wasn’t at a hundred percent.
The night air surrounded them as the moon and stars shone brighter than the security light. Topaz didn’t know what to say to him as she stood, arms crossed with him glaring at her.
“What do you want from me?” Onyx asked. “Seriously, from the first day I saw you walking through the clinic, you’ve been scared of me. I get I’m big, I’m black—”
“That’s not it,” she snapped. “You don’t understand what you do to me. And that day, I wasn’t expecting to see a stranger when the clinic was closed.”
Onyx took one step and she retreated. Her back to the wall as he stood over her and cradled her face in his hand. Bending his head, his lips so close when he spoke they brushed hers with sweet heat from the single deep purr of her name, “Topaz…”
A swath of light blinded them. Cutting the tight space and causing them to close their eyes as if the cops had spotlighted the couple. At first, she wondered if Hollywood was fucking with them until her eyes adjusted enough to see a large black van parked a few feet from them.
Onyx raised his arm to block the light, but four men had already jumped out of the side and approached with guns and bats.
The click of a hammer had Onyx’s eyes widening in front of her.
“Damn man, we barely saw you out here,” one man said as he cocked his head back and forth between Onyx and her. His tight polo would make a person think he was respectable.
Topaz even thought she might have served him at the bar, but her memory was tumbling to years past. There was no holding on to what happened moments ago. Her fears slamming into her like a wave after a speedboat passed too close in a lake. Knocking her over and stealing her breath all at the same time.
“At first, all we saw was a shadowed sexy woman. Thank goodness for that bandage or we might not have seen you until you smiled wide.”
Onyx’s jaw tightened as his head moved forward a bit from the barrel of the gun being pressed into his skull. When his forehead met hers, a moment that should be intimate, shared between them was destroyed by a punk.
“Hey nigger, think you’ve stepped a little too close to this fine woman,” the man holding the gun spat.
Topaz froze as her past came crashing into her. A mix of sounds, smells and words melding together in one fucked up not again, dear God I can’t go through it again moment.
“Help us settle a bet,” the man bold enough to confront them because his bestie had a gun to Onyx’s head said. “When you get out of a car does the oil pressure drop? I mean you’re so damn dark, I wondered if you were going to tell me you were a Nigerian prince dropping off this lady’s investment.”
The last two men yanked on Onyx’s arms, but he stayed stone still like a statue, his head the only connection between them. Should she tell Onyx to let them take him? That she’d run inside and have a dozen men chasing them down in less than a minute? Would he even have a minute? Her fingers grasped his shirt and clung to him as a lifeboat to rescue them both. Why hadn’t she told him how much he made her heart swoon? That his face was in her dreams, not nightmares, but dreams. Hopes for the future. The life she lost once before, but could have again, if only they hadn’t come out here to fight. All— because she wanted to be the one dancing on him. The one turning him on and being taken in the back to fuck until they were both exhausted.
“I’m gonna say this nicely,” Onyx said. “Back—the fuck—off.”
Topaz could see the fear in his eyes, but it didn’t make it to his voice. Did the man have a block in place or was it the faking it shit, Hollywood used to talk about? Stressful, scary situations happen, but you have to wait until they are over before you react. The moment breaking down won’t make it go quicker or better. Onyx was scared, but if he panicked both of them would be screwed. Right now, all she could see were his eyes losing their light and her being covered in his blood. What was the alternative?
“I’m sure you’re used to what’s about to happen,” the mouthpiece said.
Onyx’s arms were then yanked, this time by more than one man forcing him to be compliant and cuffing his wrists together.
“We’re not in your dungeon pervert, no reason to be so tight with the cuffs. We both know how you like it, Daddy,” Onyx spat when the final click of the cuffs caused his face to wince. His eyes, dark pools were telling her to stay. He’d take the blunt of what was about to happen.
But she didn’t have the option to run. Go for help and save him. Her arms were twisted behind her as she was pinned to the wall. The man taking a few liberties with an unnecessary pat down.
“Hey, she may be built like a twelve year old boy,” Onyx said, continuing his goading of the men. “But you’re not gonna like it when you get around to the front. Sorry boys, without a strap on, she’s not going to be able to fuck you in the ass like you—”
A loud thwack silenced Onyx as his head fell forward and the men had to catch him and drag him to the van. The soles of his booted feet were facing her in the saddest way imaginable.
With a tug of her arm, Topaz was pulled from the wall. A harsh scrape of her skin to the brick before she was thrown inside the van next to Onyx. A gag placed over his mouth and she saw his eyes fluttering in his struggle to stay at least somewhat conscious. Salt from the terry cloth washcloth stuffed in her mouth stirred her belly, sending bile up her throat with no relief as a band was wrapped around her head.
Topaz wasn’t sure what the hell happened, just that they were in trouble. She inched closer to Onyx, wishing her arms weren’t behind her back and she could cradle his head on her lap. Anything to care for the man still fighting, more for her then him, until they’d knocked him out.
The world had slowed— to her, an hour had passed in the few minutes it took to grab them both. No chance of Manny coming out with a bag of trash, not because he was swamped. No, her fear me attitude lately had him moving away from her like a set of magnets turned around. A sharp sting and rush of cold hit her in the neck and she turned to see a needle being plunged, the liquid inside vanishing in a rush as the blackness took over before she appreciated what hit her.
6
Onyx struggled to open his eyes. He couldn’t figure out where the hell he was. Making a mental checklist, he worked on a damage assessment. Wiggling his foot bending his knees, one real, one a piss poor Xerox copy. That tracked. Hips, cock and belly all sore, but not in we had some fu
n holding that girl up on a wall and keeping the abs working out type of way. More like someone used his stomach to wipe their shoes. Ribs, irritated, but not screaming in pain when he breathed. Head, miserable and pounding. Did he party a little too much last night? It felt like a really bad one for sure. His brain wasn’t functioning, losing bits and pieces. Only catching flashes of bright yellow from hair? Or light? Was it the strobe at the bar? No matter the cause of his pain, it didn’t feel right.
He heard a moaning coming from someone right beside him. A female cried out, “Onyx, come on, open your eyes.”
The air around him was stale. Like dust and wood. Definitely not in an alley behind the bar or in the clubhouse. Why was he thinking about the alley?
He recognized the voice. He’d heard it before, but who was it? What the hell happened to him? Shifting to bring his hand and wipe his eyes clear, he found a vice was on his wrists. Recognition hit him like a ton of bricks. The bar, the alley, Topaz saying he did something to her, like in a very good way. Not the way he’d assumed. Then assholes. White, grabby, gun toting fuckers.
Shit, they’d been taken.
Struggling he opened his eyes. It was blurry and his head pounded even worse the more he tried to wake up. All he could see was a red haze of blurry items. The room started to peek through. Firming edges in the dank place. Smell of wood, both fresh and burnt filled his lungs as he tamped down the panicked urge to leap from his seated position. They were in what appeared to be a cabin or something along those lines. The few sparse pieces of furniture were wooden and appeared homemade. Walls were made of logs with a thick coat of caulk like muck creating an insulation. An iron fireplace sat in the middle of the room. Cold and shadowed with burnt logs sitting in the bottom of it.
His arms were locked onto more than his chair while his back was up against another. Topaz! The thought of Topaz being hurt pushed the fuzz out of his brain. He tried to clear his vision by bending his neck and lifting his shoulder he tried to wipe his eyes the best he could on the leather of his coat.
Topaz: Book 8 of the Steel MC Montana Charter Page 6