by S. Nelson
Excited?
Pissed?
Confused?
Whatever it was, the burn of the alcohol helped to simmer it to a tolerable level.
“Fine,” she curtly answered. “And you?” Her tone was as if she were talking to someone she barely knew and was merely trying to be polite. If her uncle wasn’t standing five feet away, I would have dragged her back to my room and demanded she end this craziness.
But he was.
So I didn’t have a choice but to remain calm.
“Why ya here?” I tapped the bar again, glancing at Trigger for another shot.
“I had to ask my uncle something.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
All of a sudden, Trigger leaned forward and placed his hands on the bar, doing his best to intimidate me. What he didn’t get was that, while these other guys might be scared of him, I wasn’t. The only reason I didn’t tell him I’d been sleeping with his niece was because I knew it would hurt Addy, and that was the last thing I wanted to do. Although, I guessed I’d failed in that regard anyway, seeing as how she ended things between us.
“That’s our business,” her uncle rumbled, irritation contorting his features. His displeasure for me grew daily, and even though Addy and I both denied any involvement with each other, the man wasn’t stupid. He just didn’t have any proof of our relationship. Not yet, at least. He’d certainly lose his mind if he knew I’d fucked his niece so good she hadn’t been able to walk right the next day.
Suddenly bombarded with images of a naked Addy, I smirked to myself, probably looking like a cocky sonofabitch, but ask me if I cared.
Holding up my hands in surrender, I said, “Sorry, just tryin’ to chitchat.”
“Don’t you have to go scope out talent for the new club we got openin’ next month?” he blurted, flinging a wet bar towel over his shoulder.
Addy’s posture locked tightly in place, no doubt from what Trigger had just asked me. If she wasn’t gonna give me what I wanted, which was her, then the only thing left to do at that point was to have a little fun. Gauge how much she still cared about me, about what I did.
“I was just on my way there when I saw your lovely niece and wanted to exchange pleasantries.” I smiled, and he knew I was up to something.
“I’m not gonna warn you again, Stone. Proceed carefully or else.”
One of these days, I’m gonna call his bluff for sure. But not today.
“You guys are opening up another one of those clubs?” she asked, a grimace plastered on her lovely face while she continued to look forward, ignoring me.
“Yup. Nothin’ better than pussy on tap. Right, Trigger?” I laughed, but the man wasn’t amused. Not in the least. I didn’t know if it was because I was being so crass around Addy, or if he just couldn’t stand me anymore. Shaking his head in annoyance, he walked toward the kitchen, thankfully leaving the two of us alone. I knew he was gonna be back soon, so if I wanted to provoke some kind of reaction from her, I had to do it quickly. I knew it was immature and childish, but she left me with no other choice. Asking her to talk to me, and being all nice about it, hadn’t worked, so I was left with only one option.
“You should come by and check it out when it’s up and runnin’. I think you’d like it.” Taking a risk, I ran my finger up and down her arm, a gesture which made her flinch.
“I don’t think so,” she balked, jerking her arm away. “But hey, if used-up twats is now your thing, have at it.” Shit! My game was backfiring, and fast. I wanted her to rant and rave, dare to forbid me from going there, but she only gave her snarled permission of sorts.
“Twats need lovin’ too,” I mocked.
“You’re a pig,” she sneered, pulling further away from me when I tried to touch her again.
Before I could respond, continue my banter with her, Hawke came up behind the two of us and threw his arms over each of our shoulders. “Whatcha talkin’ about?” he shouted, the smell of alcohol on his breath rather potent.
Shrugging him off, I scowled until he backed up, but calmed my expression quickly enough because I was going to use him to my advantage. “I was just tellin’ Addy she should come by the new club when it’s open.”
“Fuck yeah, you should. In fact, if you want a job, Adelaide, I’m sure we can find a spot for you.” Funny thing was, Hawke was being serious, and it was right then I wanted to punch his teeth down his goddamn throat.
Whipping around on her stool, she lurched forward and angrily shoved her finger into his chest. “Are you callin’ me a whore?” she shouted, drawing the attention of her uncle, who happened to be coming out of the kitchen right then. But he didn’t need to come to his niece’s defense. I was already all over it.
Quickly standing, I gripped him up by his cut and shoved him back. Hard. “Watch you’re fuckin’ mouth, brother,” I warned. Rising to my full height, I braced myself to kick his ass if he said one more wrong thing.
“What?” he asked, completely confused by mine and Addy’s outrage. “I just meant that she’s hot and would bring in a lot of customers.”
Clenching my teeth, I stepped closer, my fists ready to pay a visit to his face. He saw my angry expression and tried to better explain himself. “What I meant to say is that Adelaide is a classy-lookin’ woman, that she would be the highlight of the night. Ya know? All the men would want to watch her. She’d be good for business. That’s all I’m sayin’,” he offered, backing up a few more paces when he eyed first me then Trigger, who’d incidentally come around the bar and was standing right next to me. The only time we would agree on anything was when it involved defending Addy.
“You better get the fuck outta here, Hawke, before I knock you into the middle of next week,” Trigger cautioned, clenching his fists at his sides.
“What the fuck?” Hawke mumbled before walking away, shaking his head the entire time in utter confusion.
“Sorry about that,” I apologized, sitting down next to her again.
“He’s an ass,” she chided. “Even though I don’t think he meant it as badly as I took it.”
“He still shouldn’t have said it.” A silent minute passed, the back and forth between us abruptly ending. Hawke’s interruption only intensified the tension, giving us both time to gather our wits and decide what the next move was going to be.
Drumming my fingers on the bar, I desperately tried to think of something to say which would turn it around for us, but I came up empty. Finally, I decided it was time to go, even though it killed me I’d be leaving her.
“Trigger, if Marek is lookin’ for me, let him know I’m at Flings.” Standing back up, I was half turned away from her when her voice stopped me.
“You’re really going to look at a bunch of naked women right now?” She had whispered her question but I’d heard her loud and clear.
There were so many ways I could play this, but for some reason I decided against it. I went with the truth.
“Yeah, club—”
“Business,” she finished. “Yeah, I know.” Irritated, she turned in her seat and looked up at me with sad eyes. Had we still been doing our thing, I would have passed off the job to a few of the other brothers, not wanting to witness the hurt on her face. But she’d ended things, so she had no right to make me feel any sort of way toward something I normally wouldn’t think twice about.
I glanced around, making sure Trigger wasn’t within hearing distance before leaning close and asking, “What do you want from me, Addy? Huh? Because you’re confusing me right now. You don’t want to be with me, but you’re actin’ all hurt because I gotta go deal with business.”
Frustration poured off her in waves, a feeling I was quite familiar with as of late. Her mouth remained closed, her eyes pleading, but I was clueless as to what she wanted. She said one thing then did another. She’d tossed me aside, yet there she was, sitting inside my clubhouse, distressing me with her mere presence.
Just when I thought she was gonna let it go, her voice broke t
he silence. “I don’t know, all right?” Flicking her hair over her shoulder, she steeled whatever reserve she had left and said, “Just go,” before rising from her stool and adjusting her dress, her head down the entire time. “Do whatever you want.” Defeat coated her words, and if I wasn’t so hell-bent on teaching her a lesson, I would have grabbed her and demanded she take me back. But would I be content with continuing to keep us a secret? I knew I wanted her, more than anything, but I wanted us to be out in the open. And if I knew anything, I realized the stubborn woman standing in front of me wasn’t there yet.
No more words were exchanged before she quickly walked away. And there I was, left to sit and wonder if she was ever gonna come back around.
Deciding I was tired of having my emotions jerked all over the damn place, I grabbed Hawke and Ryder, heading out to find the distraction I so desperately needed.
Stone
A heavy haze of smoke blinded me as soon as I walked into Flings, the dim lighting making it nearly impossible to see the bar that ran the length of the wall to the left. Numerous tables and a few couches were scattered throughout, and circling the large stage in the middle of the room were single plush chairs where the men could sit up close and personal. Two smaller stages were placed to the left and right of the main one, and five private rooms existed toward the back for when the men wanted a little more privacy with one of the dancers.
We didn’t put much thought into the décor of the place because . . . what the hell for? Men came to watch women take their clothes off. Plain and simple. They didn’t care what color the walls were or about the texture of the couches and chairs. So, we threw up some red paint and the seating was entirely leather.
Simple and easy.
Just how the men liked their women.
I was a red-blooded male, through and through, someone who loved tits and ass as much as the next guy. But sitting through countless auditions of women stripping for a spot at the new club just didn’t interest me. I couldn’t be bothered. It was why I brought along two of my brothers. They’d be making the final decisions simply because my head wasn’t in it.
The only naked woman I wanted to see right then was Addy, but that wasn’t gonna be happening anytime soon.
Scantily clad females milled all throughout the wide-open space, waiting for their turn to bare everything for the three of us. In any other circumstance, I would have appreciated the variety of women who had come out today. There were blondes, brunettes and redheads. There was even one who’d dyed her hair pink. Some of them were shorter than others, but the one thing most of them had in common was that they were blessed with big tits. It didn’t take a genius to see that the majority of the potential talent had been to see a doctor to enhance themselves, but that didn’t make a difference to me. Tits equaled money.
The only rules we had were no hard drugs. Other than that, anything went, from lap dances to whatever else transpired between consenting adults. Everyone who walked through those doors knew not to step out of line, one wrong move by the customer and there would be some serious repercussions. While we didn’t have a bouncer in the back rooms with the dancers and their clients, we had surveillance, and someone manning the booth at all times, in case someone got out of hand. Which rarely happened, because most people around here knew we owned the club and knew acting out of turn wouldn’t be tolerated.
“Fuck!” Hawke shouted, coming up behind me. “I can’t wait to see me some naked bitches bouncin’ up and down on that pole.” A wide grin lit up his face.
“You act like you ain’t never seen a stripper before, man,” Ryder grumbled, smacking him in the back of his still-bald head. “You better calm down before Edana gets all over your ass.”
“How’s she gonna know?” Hawke smiled at a few of the women standing around, waiting to be called up to the stage for their audition.
“Most likely by all the glitter you’re gonna be wearin’,” I said, shaking my head at the poor bastard. Sometimes he was so dense it was almost comical. He looked confused until I added, “Don’t tell me you ain’t gonna let some of them give you a private show.”
He said nothing in response, only smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.
One after another, the women strutted across the stage, tearing off their clothes to the song of their choice. I tried to get into it and appreciate the moment for what it was, but Addy kept popping up in my head, those sad blue eyes of hers gutting me when she heard I was coming here. I berated myself for continuing to let her affect me the way she did, but I simply couldn’t help it. Deep down, I knew she was gonna be mine again; it was just a matter of persuasion and time.
After the auditions were finally over, I leaned against the edge of the bar and allowed Ryder and Hawke to make their picks, giving the women the details on when and where to report. Tipping my head back and swallowing a shot of whiskey, the burn the perfect calm to my busy brain, I heard someone talking near me. It took me a second to realize the woman standing to my right was indeed trying to engage me in conversation.
Before Addy, I would have been all over her, taking her into one of the back rooms and giving her the ride of her life. But now . . . nothing. While she was attractive in the fake-tits, bleached-blonde hair, heavy-makeup kind of way, she didn’t hold a candle to the woman who held my heart—and my nuts—in a vice. I felt like a pussy over the way I pined after Addy, an emotion which only served to piss me off the further I indulged it.
Once my eyes landed on the stranger, she took it as some sort of invitation, I guessed. “Hey, handsome,” she enticed, pressing her implanted double Ds against my side. “In the mood for a lap dance? Maybe a little more?”
“No, thanks,” I declined, briskly walking around her and toward Ryder who was sitting on one of the couches, sandwiched between two topless brunettes.
Once I stood two feet from him, I announced I was taking off. “I’m out. I’ll see you guys later.”
“Where you headin’ to?” Hawke yelled, striding across the room, zipping up his pants with a mischievous look on his smug face.
“I got things to do.”
“Like what?” Ryder pressed, his brows raised while waiting for me to respond to his nosy question.
His hand disappeared down the front of one of the brunette’s thongs. Funny thing was, while he began to stroke her, he kept his attention on me, as if he wasn’t doing anything at all. That’s how used to this type of thing my brothers were, like it was second nature to finger-fuck some chick out in the open. Normally, I found it rather amusing, but my nerves were frayed and all I wanted to do was be alone until I could find Addy. Praying she would at least find it in her heart to talk to me, and maybe allow me the chance to explain myself one more time.
“Like none of your fuckin’ business,” I snapped. “How ‘bout that?”
“Fuck you, Stone,” Ryder bit back. “Your miserable ass needs to get laid.” Shrugging, he continued on his little tirade. “Beats me why you won’t take one of these broads in the back and let ‘em suck your dick.”
Before I could even respond, Hawke’s loud mouth piped into the conversation. “Because the only chick’s lips he wants wrapped around his cock are probably Addy’s.” He laughed. The bastard had the audacity to slap my back when he said it, too. An action which pushed me to see red. No one was allowed to talk about my woman like that, even if what he said was the absolute truth.
Snatching him up by his throat, I slammed him against the nearest wall, baring my teeth as if I was gonna rip his goddamn throat out. “If you ever talk about her like that again, I’ll fuckin’ kill you.”
Hawke’s shocked eyes were as wide as could be, until they weren’t. “I knew it,” he garbled. “You fuckin’ love her, man.” He tried to laugh, but there was only so much air I was allowing him, so his words came out more like a harsh whisper. Shocked by what I heard, I released him, backing up a step and preparing myself for whatever else he chose to point out.
Pointing toward Ryder, wh
o was still seated on the couch, Hawke yelled, “I told you there was something goin’ on between the two of them.”
The stupid shit wasn’t even fazed that I could crush him right then, too wrapped up in the fact he’d discovered some golden truth.
“You better shut the fuck up, Hawke, or I’ll do it for you.” My tone left no room for misunderstanding.
Throwing up his hands in a sign of surrender, he smirked and shook his head.
“All right, all right. Fine.” Walking away, he mumbled, “I knew it. Ya’ll don’t think I pay attention, but I do.”
“Hawke . . .” I warned, my temper on full blast at that point. While I was hot under the collar, I also started to wonder who else picked up on this thing between me and Addy. Trigger? Surely, he would have tried to shoot me by now if he seriously thought I was shaggin’ his niece.
Needing to clear my head a bit, I decided to take the long way to Addy’s apartment. The rumble of the bike between my legs caressed me into numbness. To a certain degree. So much stuff rattled around inside my head it distracted me from my main objective.
To get Addy back.
But then what?
Would she finally accept what we had and announce it to the world?
Would I be able to finally claim her for good?
Would she, in turn, claim me?
Fuck Trigger. Fuck anyone who objected. Fuck the nonsense spouting from Addy’s beautiful mouth. And fuck my temper—which, by the way, was fully on its way to erupting the longer I even thought about all this.
The sun slowly dipped behind the horizon, colors of red, orange, and purple silhouetting the sky like some kind of artsy painting. Without sounding like a pansy, I could admit it was rather beautiful. And guess who I wanted to share that sentiment with?