by Lauren Dane
He grunted as his cock shot, unloaded deep within her as she writhed through the echoes of her climax.
In the background, as his knees buckled and they headed to the floor, he heard the front door open and close and then his phone rang.
My God your ass is stellar,' she said as he crawled to where he'd tossed his phone. I'm glad you approve.' He looked at the screen. 'Uh oh, it's Bingo.'
Kate regained feeling in her legs and moved into the bathroom to clean up and set her clothes to rights. When she came back out Dix was sitting on the bed, eating the food they'd had delivered. What's up?'
He's going back to the Penny Pincher. He's giving Leah space to think.'
Go on after him. He's not a moron, but he probably needs a friend right about now. I'm going to talk to Leah and see if, between you and me, we can't get these two crazy kids back together. Take him to a strip club or something suitably guy-bondy type. If you get a lap dance, do not return to me with feminine goo on your pants or I will maim you. Only my feminine goo is acceptable on any part of you. But who am I to refuse a stripper such a face?'
He stood up and smirked, kissing her hard. 'And you'll be where?'
'Thunder From Down Under. Hunky Australian dudes taking clothes off, undulating, all that jazz. We have tickets and they're non-refundable. What can I say? I wouldn't want to waste the money. I'm all about value.'
He laughed. I do like lap dances, but I like the one you gave me at that little club in Philly two months ago. Your goo is far more preferable. But hell, I like to look at strippers and it'll give Bingo an outlet. God, I've got to stop calling him that. The rule goes for you too. I don't want any male goo on you.'
I don't think they do lap dances but I'll keep that in mind. Now go.' She pressed her key card into his hand. You're more than welcome to sleep here, in this luxurious bed, servicing me.'
Let's hope I won't have to endure a sympathy night at the Penny Pincher again.' He pulled his shirt back on and stepped into his shoes as he ate the last bit of food. 'We're going to hash out this moving-in-together thing when Leah and Brandon have worked this through.'
Before she could argue, he swatted her ass and left.
Smiling, she wandered over to Leah's door and tapped. Leah? Girl, I hope Bingo didn't wear you out, we have Australian strippers to ogle,' Kate called through the closed door.
Leah opened up. 'I'm ready.'
'Good, you can tell me why poor little Bingo went away upset and why Dix is going to have to take him to a strip club.'
'He'd better not bring him back with anything itchy.'
They both laughed as they got ready for their night on the town.
Chapter 10
'Those can't be real. Are those real? Those can't be real.' Laughing through her astonishment, Leah put a self-conscious hand on her chest. 'Good Lord, they're bigger than mine.'
Kate, drink in hand and eyes shining with laughter, had to catch her breath before she could speak. 'All real and covered with enough oil to fry a basket of fries.'
The man gyrating on the stage had stripped down to a fringed loincloth, his long hair held back from his face by a leather headband. His broad, muscled chest gleamed under the barrage of disco lights as the music thumped. And then he did it again, the trick that had so astounded Leah. One, two, one, his pecs jerked in time to the bass beat. He never stopped grinning.
Leah finished her second margarita and leant back in the comfortable padded booth Kate's connections had scored for them. 'Damn, that's impressive.'
The show had barely gotten under way, but already the screaming audience had been whipped into a frenzy by the totally cute emcee with the sexy Australian accent. The place was packed, wall-to-wall women, and not a one of them had to wave a dollar bill to get a stripper's attention. Thunder From Down Under didn't work that way. You paid to get in, you sat back and enjoyed the show.
'I sort of miss the dollars,' she confided to Kate. 'I mean, they say that something like twenty-five per cent of the dollar bills in circulation have spent some time in a stripper's G-string. Besides, stuffing money in a guy's jock is so . . . tactile.'
Kate guffawed and slapped the table, then jerked the platter of nachos towards her to grab up a chip dripping with cheese and salsa. 'You'd better slow down on those drinks. You're starting to rationalise touching strippers again.'
'As if that needed rationalising!' Leah waved at the waiter, a cute young thing in a pair of black dress trousers and a bow-tie, and nothing else. 'Another round!'
Then they had no more time for jokes, because the show began in earnest. And sure, it was a group of buff, toned and tanned men all greased up and shaking their moneymakers to s pop tunes, but what wasn't there to love about that? Leah sipped at her third drink and sat back to enjoy the show.
Dix is so much hotter than any of these guys.' Kate shoved away the empty nacho basket and pointed to the stage, where a trio of dudes dressed like firefighters were bumping and grinding. 'So's Bingo, for that matter.'
'Brandon' Leah said firmly, because the name Bingo made her want to laugh and cringe at the same time, 'is super-duper way hotter than that.'
Kate lifted her glass. 'We are fucking two of the hottest men on the planet. You do realise that.' Leah clinked her glass to her friend's. 'Hell, yeah!'
'Although that one on the end is pretty fucking delish,' Kate added, pointing to a short-cropped blond in a pair of ball-hugging denim shorts. 'I could do without the plum-smugglers but, holy shit, does he have a nice belly.' 'I'm not into blonds so much, but yeah. Nice.'
Kate snorted and rolled her eyes. 'You're not into blonds. No kidding.' What's that supposed to mean?' God, it felt good to laugh. 'It means you have a type.'
'Pfft.' Leah nodded towards the stage. 'And you don't?'
'Nothing wrong with it,' Kate said, then paused, looking at the stage. 'Now that one. That guy, he's your type.'
The song had ended and a new guy took the stage. Leah looked. Tall, lean, dark hair with emo bangs covering one eye. From this distance she couldn't be sure, but she thought he might have blue eyes. He wore a pair of black suit pants and a white button-down shirt, a tie pulled loose at his neck.
'Hell, yes,' she murmured, watching as the emcee pulled a woman up from the front row and seated her in a spinning office chair. Can I tell you how happy I am we're back here in the non-VIP section?'
Kate laughed. 'What, you're not interested in going home covered with baby oil?'
'Not even.' Leah watched as the cute guy, just her type, twirled the woman on the chair and danced around her. 'And I already told you, if Dix brings home my Brandon covered in - Oh, shit.'
The action on the stage had taken a surprising turn. Leah had been expecting the dancer to shake his stuff in the woman's face, maybe reach down and yank off his tearaway pants and sit on her lap. Standard male stripper moves. But this guy . . . this guy in his naughty-schoolboy outfit, had just dropped to his knees, pulling at his tie, sliding open the buttons on his shirt to reveal a bare sleek chest with a line of dark hair disappearing down his belly into the waistband of his trousers.
'He's got body hair!' Kate crowed. 'Wow!'
Leah swallowed a rush of saliva, tasting tequila and lime. 'Yeah. That h just my type.' Kate shot her a look. 'Like I said. Nothing wrong with it.'
The scene on the stage was overblown and bordering on ridiculous, but nevertheless Leah felt a rush of heat as the dancer rubbed his cheek up the woman's leg, only to pull away and arch back, thrusting his groin into the air as the emcee encouraged the woman's friends to egg her into uniipping his pants. When she did, the energy level in the room ratcheted up another couple hundred notches until the air practically vibrated from it. Or maybe that was all the screaming, Leah thought as the woman reached for the stripper's crotch and gave them all what they clamoured for.
Kate woo-hooed along with the crowd, and a moment later Leah found the voice to join her. The waiter brought more drinks. The guy on his knees got up so the woma
n in the chair could pull his pants down around his ankles for him. After that, the moment was lost when he started to re-enact the famous underpants-dance scene from Risky Business, but Leah kept her eyes on the guy as he finished his strut, planted a kiss on the woman's cheek and left the stage.
Nothing wrong with having a type, hell no. Wasn't it better to know what you wanted, what you craved, than denying it? Or worse, never finding out? Leah sat back again against the padded booth, watching the next set of dancers, one of them in a pair of fishnets and a wig, rock out to the 'Time Warp'. How could anyone not love a bunch of half-naked men with good senses of humour?
Her phone lay dark and silent in her bag, but she reached for it anyway and slid a finger across the touch screen to unlock it and check for any missed calls or text messages. Nothing. She put it on the table where she'd be able to see if something came in, just in case.
'Brandon checking up on you?' Kate teased.
Leah shook her head. 'No. I'm sure he and Dix are busy right about now.'
She frowned, imagining a set of huge tits and a tiny, tight ass in a thong bouncing on Brandon's lap. Women paid attention to him all the time. Hell, they couldn't walk into the grocery store without him turning heads. But there was no threat from a stripper, no matter how naked or covered in glitter she might be. Or how big her tits. For strippers, it was just a job. Right?
'You're not worried, are you?'
The music had died down a little bit while the emcee chattered, getting them ready for the second half of the show. He was talking about some sort of picture package available for sale after the performance. Leah shook her head. 'No. I trust him.' 'I trust Dix too,' Kate said. Then she frowned. 'Did I tell you Pickles came on to him?'
This put everything into proper perspective, and Leah drew in a breath. 'No! Well, I'd say I'm shocked, but I guess I'm not. What a bitch.'
Kate sneered. 'I tried. I tried to put myself in her place. Dix is an awesome man, how would I feel if he didn't love me?'
Leah nodded as they both made growling sounds when the dark-haired pirate came on stage and undulated around a young woman in a tight T-shirt with BRIDE emblazoned across her boobies. Boobies she now was busily exposing and shoving into the face of the oiled-up pirate as she tried to grab a handful of cock.
Leah sniffed. 'Her mother must be proud. Anyway, they've been split up for a long time. While it's nice and all for you to be understanding, that bitch needs a smack.
Kate shrugged and downed her drink. Wow, she was tipsy. It was a good thing Eve was thousands of miles away or she would have gotten a smack.
She snickered. 'I'm done with her. I told her off, but she doesn't care. Dix says he told her off too. I believe he did. But like I said, she doesn't care. She can't possibly think she'll win him back. She couldn't do that before I entered the scene.'
'Maybe she just wants to drive a wedge between you.' Leah shrugged, and Kate was comforted by how much her friend saw in people.
'Her latest is to use the girls and Dix is really upset. I feel bad for him, you know? Holy shit, you could bounce quarters off his ass.' Kate nodded her head back to the stage where pirate boy had pulled off his skin-tight pantaloons and made a slow, sensual circle with his hips. 'Chris tal mighty, I'm having impure thoughts about a boy I'm probably old enough to have babysat for.'
'That hip action is impressive,' Leah said, rapt.
They were both silent a while as they watched the grace and blatant sexuality the pirate guy brought out of his body. A flex, a shimmy, it was more than just shaking his cock. He owned it, owned his sexual lure, clearly revelled in the power he had over this room of women. The cocky smile, the coy look through his hair as he glanced back over his shoulder — the man was all about that moment on stage and while it was fun to giggle, there was a definite depth of pleasure emanating from him. Pleasure at being happy in his skin. Leah needed that with Bingo, er, Brandon. And truth be told, Kate knew she had to figure out how to get that with Dix. How to move past this current Pickle-sized hurdle and embrace their future. They'd worked through her reluctance regarding dating a co-worker and now they had even bigger things to deal with.
'What's his plan then? Has she said things about you to the kids?' Leah broke away from the scene on the stage for a moment to look at Kate.
'She hadn't before this latest little stunt. But... oh wow, a threesome.' Three of the dancers got on stage and did a sort of unified grinding thing. So totally homoerotic and what girl didn't like that? 'Whew, guh, wow. All hunks all the time. Yannow, I can watch men crawl all over each other all day long.'
Leah snorted a laugh and they clinked their glasses together as they continued to watch the show and the roiling wall of women who grabbed any male who came within grasp.
'Oh holy shit, that thing . . .' Leah's voice wandered off as they both watched pirate boy jump up on a table and pour two bottles of water over his body. In the lights his skin glistened blue as the water sluiced down over a very defined chest and belly. 'He's so wet. I should be disgusted but I'm not. I feel dirty.'
They both laughed. Kate's sides already ached from all the laughing they'd done since arriving in Las Vegas. They'd both needed this trip.
Uh huh. Really dirty. He has nipple rings. That's really fucking hot but only in context. Like on guys like him. On Dix, it would make me laugh. A tat? Now that would be hot.' Kate shifted, squeezing her thighs together a bit.
'We need to get the pictures with them afterwards.' Leah's statement was decisive and Kate nodded. Leah loved strippers of all kinds and she was Kate's best friend. What sort of friend would refuse a photo op with the fine young pirate? She snickered. Yeah, right. It was all about Leah.
'I can see you blaming this all on me if photographic evidence leaks out,' Leah said.
'Hey, I will not hesitate to throw you under the bus. Remember when those Borg things came at us at the Star Trek Experience at the Hilton? Bitch, please, you're Borg meat and you'll slow 'em down so I can get away. If Dix sees a pic of me looking all stunned by that flat hard field of twenty-two-year-old stripper ass? It's all you. You made me and shit. I'm a pawn, an innocent.'
'Cold. So very cold.'
'Totes.'
'Back to Pickles.' Leah made a circular motion with her hand, telling Kate to get on with it.
'So until her arrival at the lake house she hadn't said anything to the girls, but I think that might change. I don't want to put him in the middle. That's the one thing I've always promised myself. I demand he give me all of himself, yes. But they come first. He's a father first and I respect that. It's one of the things that makes him so sexy. He loves his daughters and they love him. They trust him, Leah. They simply know he will be there for them and he is. I can't get in the middle of that. She's trying to put me there and I know it's hurting him. I don't want to be the source of that sort of conflict for him. It hurts me that Eve would tiy to use those girls to harm him. That's just so fucked up.'
Leah took a deep breath. 'She's a douchenozzle. And we hate her. But you can't let her win. Katherine, this woman cannot best you. She's a complete and total idiot. You're Katherine Edwards and she's Pickles. And from what you've said, Dix's daughters love their dad, he loves them and they're certainly old enough to spot bullshit. Why let her do this?'
'Whoa! Wow, is he double-jointed?' Kate blinked as she and Leah goggled at the stripper on the stage. He fell into the splits and did some back bendy deal. All emphasising a body he had to spend hours every day on. And still, Dix was the man who brought her nipples to a point and her cunt wet and hot.
'He's um, wow. I think he needs a spanking for getting too close to that woman there. Is that allowed?'
Kate smirked as Leah's eyes widened when emo boy came out and fell to his knees again. Type indeed. Types made the fuckin' world go 'round and thank heaven for 'em.
'He's obsessed with moving in together. I keep telling him we can wait.' Kate took another sip of her drink as she watched the scene on stage unfold
.
'Why? You're being dumb. Wow, just, wow. Look at granny go! She's gonna grab a hank of that long stripper mane and paw his wangdoodle too. I hope I'm still as horny when I'm her age.' Leah nodded towards the very elderly woman one of the long-haired blond strippers made the mistake of thinking was safe and got too near.
'Teach him to assume just because a gal is up there in years that she's not spry enough to check to see if that bulge is peen or tube socks. And I'm not dumb. I'm practical.
Leah stood up quickly, grabbing Kate's arm and heading stage left. 'Show's over, picture time.' Kate laughed. 'You gonna see if it's peen?'
Leah rolled her eyes. 'Pffft! I'm not touching strange, sweaty, random cock. I could get a cold sore.'
They'd been at Studio 54 the first night they arrived and had been in line in front of two extremely drunk dudes from New Jersey who claimed to be stockbrokers. Later, inside, they'd stumbled upon one of them making out with a woman who had practically unhinged her jaw and was licking his tonsils. It had been a stunning sight and they'd both stood and stared for long moments, dumbfounded by sharing such a face-eating kiss with a stranger. Leah had finally summed it up in her veiy Leah way by saying, 'He could totally get a cold sore.'
'Here's my thing,' Kate said as they stood in line for fifteen-dollar Polaroids, 'I like sweat on a man. Clean sweat. Like when he's been working in the yard or working out. Or after sex when the sex is mixed with the sweat and layered on his skin.' She shivered, thinking about that spot on Dix, just where his neck met his shoulder. Nothing tasted better than a long lick up to his ear after they'd fucked.
Leah snapped her fingers. 'Snap of out of it. Jeez you two. I have to work with him and it's just weird imagining the two of you going at it.'
'Whatever! Anyway, but random sweat on a stripper who has just had eleventy billion women grind their cooters on them? Ew.' Leah's lip curled. 'Gross. Oh, we're next.'