Trinity turned from the mirror and met my gaze. “I appreciate you stepping in with the handsy guy, but I had it under control. Maybe some of the other dancers want help at that stage, I can’t speak for us all, but I wasn’t at the point I needed rescuing yet.”
“Is there some kind of signal we can work out? I’m protective. Someone messes with ya’ll, I’m gonna want to beat the hell out of them. I can’t do that in most cases, but I can let them know how badly I want to. That usually backs them off.”
“Eye contact. If you approach and I don’t look at you, I’m good. If he’s being so much of an asshole I don’t dare look away from him, I’ll motion for you to come help.”
“That works. How about the rest of you?” Of the human dancers, only the new sweetbutt Mad Dog had enlisted let me know she wanted help with anyone who didn’t back off when she told them to. I’d known the supernaturals could take care of themselves. I’d jumped to Trinity’s aid because she’s human. Turns out, the human women didn’t want rescuing for the mild cases, either.
“I’ll leave ya’ll to finish getting ready. Remember, the lawyer thinks we may get raided on one of my first couple of nights. If the popo storms in, stop what you’re doing, put your hands up, and assure nearby customers everything will be okay. Point out that they’re just here watching people dance, or getting a legal lap dance with no touching, and they haven’t done anything wrong. Follow orders, but don’t talk to law enforcement other than to identify yourself when asked. Any questions, tell them you need your attorney. Mad Dog assures me you all know what to do, but if you have questions, ask me.”
“We’re good,” Jade told me. “We know the drill.”
I nodded to her and left the dressing area to check in with the kitchen.
Chapter Six
Bobcat
I don’t know if things went smoother because it was my second night and I understood the rhythm, or if the customers were just easier to deal with. Either way, Saturday night was rolling along nicely.
Soul and Jade did a dance together that had the entire room salivating. I carried a tray of food out to a bachelor party, and then stopped a few moments to watch them dance. I couldn’t imagine the practice it’d taken for them to learn those moves, much less learn how to do them so seductively.
The dance finished, the music changed, and the girls came out into the audience to dance and twirl around the tables before they moved to the side stages. Everyone had money out, so of course this was when SWAT decided to storm the building.
Dementor and I were the only ones wearing a full cut. A prospect was working the door in his vest identifying him as a prospect. The cops had him cuffed and against a wall right off the bat. I stepped into the light with my hands up and told them, “We’re all going to cooperate. The guns aren’t necessary.”
“You got a weapon?”
“Right hip. Carry permit’s in my wallet.”
I stood still while three SWAT officers took my weapon and wallet, and another put me in cuffs.
“Am I under arrest?”
“Not yet. The cuffs are for your safety and ours until we figure out what’s going on.”
I knew the control room would get our mongoose on the way, but I had no idea how long it would take for her to arrive. The dancers were put in cuffs, most of them topless. Alabama law says nipples and asses have to be covered, but a thin coating of a clear spray is enough to make them legal. Doesn’t matter the shit is clear and doesn’t cover anything — legally, that’s all that’s needed. The cops took pictures of their tits with a flashlight, but I knew everyone was legal because Dementor had doublechecked them before he opened the doors.
Once we were all standing off to the side in cuffs, I noted Crystal, the new human dancer, looked like she was about to cry. I managed to get eye contact with one of the SWAT officers and asked him if it would be possible to let the dancers get dressed.
And that’s when Tess walked in and took charge. It’d been maybe ten minutes — had she stationed herself somewhere close?
“Of course the dancers can put clothes on. Leaving them here like this, with the lights on, is terribly unprofessional. I assume you already know they’ve got the right amount of ridiculous spray so they’re legal? Which one of you letches decided to leave them all standing around mostly naked? They aren’t working right now — you have no right to paw all over their nude bodies if you aren’t paying to do it.”
“We can’t uncuff them,” one of the officers told her. “You’ll get time with your clients once they’re booked.”
“Have they been arrested?” She looked at me. “Anyone read you your rights?”
“I was told the cuffs are for my safety and theirs, but I’m not under arrest.”
She turned to the SWAT leader, and he sighed. “You know it’s standard protocol during the execution of a search warrant.”
“And what are you searching for?”
“Evidence of prostitution and/or drugs.”
“Another fishing expedition, then. They have a new manager and you thought maybe you’d get lucky?”
Someone walked Enigma and an old guy out of the lap dance room hallway, along with Kitty and a huge redneck dude who looked like a pro wrestler. Or, as they say in Alabama, a wrassler. The old dude wasn’t in cuffs, the wrassler was. Both dancers were cuffed.
“Got one for the wagon,” the officer told the man Tess had been talking to. “Bench warrant.”
“Nothing else?”
He shook his head, likely meaning they hadn’t caught them doing anything illegal.
Instead of being allowed to get dressed, the girls were taken to a lap dance room once it’d been searched, and they were watched over by a female officer. The cops said their search warrant covered the dressing room, and the girls might try to hide evidence of drugs or drug paraphernalia if allowed access to get dressed.
We stood forty-five minutes before SWAT finally uncuffed us. Two customers had drugs on them, but LEO didn’t find drugs in the offices, in the girls’ belongings, or on any employee.
The head SWAT guy was clearly pissed. “Every other titty bar in town,” he told Tess, “we find drugs in at least half the dancers’ belongings, and a third or more of the kitchen and wait staff. How come we never do here? Who tipped you off?”
Tess looked to me, and I told him, “No one tipped us off. We don’t allow illegal drugs on the premises, nor will we put up with an employee who isn’t functioning at one hundred percent. I come from the Chattanooga chapter, and we go out of our way to work with local law enforcement. It’s my hope I can do the same here. If you ever have any reservations about activity happening in or around Blaze, I hope you’ll see us as a partner against crime, instead of criminals who must be policed. I won’t tolerate drugs being sold within a block of the business.”
“It isn’t your place to police the streets.”
“I’m a concerned citizen and business owner, and I want to be sure customers feel safe when they visit.”
He shook his head and looked to another officer. “Get the three under arrest to the wagon and read them their rights again, just to be safe. Uncuff everyone else.”
Customers had been cuffed, searched, sniffed by dogs, and had their IDs checked, but then they’d been uncuffed and allowed to sit off to the side. I went to the bachelor party first and told them we’d replace their platters with fresh food, and offered to take a hundred dollars off their tab. Thankfully, they thought it was cool that they were ‘almost arrested’, and this made it even more of a kickass party.
Tess went into my office and sat, but I needed to soothe customers and get everything moving again before I could find out what she needed with me.
Also, watching her go face to face with the SWAT team had made me want to rip her clothes off, throw her over a table, and fuck her senseless.
It’d made me want to do more than that. It’d made me want to get to know her. I wanted to know what made her tick.
A
nd yet, her scent screamed for me to tear her to pieces before she tried to do the same to me. The cat didn’t like having a mongoose in close proximity.
I worked nonstop for at least half an hour before I felt comfortable going into my office and closing the door on the activity.
“Thanks for getting here so fast. Did you camp out close by or something?”
“Or something. You handled yourself well. We’ll need photographic evidence of the damage to the back door so we can bill the city. Anything else we should bill them for?”
“Nothing worth trying to document. Food spoilage, some broken dishes. I took about five hundred dollars total off the tabs of people who complained, and replaced meals for everyone. I can get you that documentation. I assume the girls know to report any issues with their personal belongings, but I haven’t heard anything yet.”
She grinned, and it looked a little evil. “They broke some makeup last year and then were shocked at how expensive it was. My guess is they were super careful when they went through the bags. I’ll talk to the girls and we’ll take pictures of any damage if something was fucked up. Do you have any questions for me?”
“Trinity had only been back from next door about fifteen minutes. Why didn’t they time it so they could ask why she was at the hotel next door while she was supposed to be working?”
Her brows drew together, she leaned back in her chair, uncrossed her beautiful, lean legs, and crossed them the other direction. Her burgundy high heels perfectly matched her burgundy suit.
“We probably need to have a sit-down about that arrangement. Might not hurt for me to have a walk-through of the spa again, too. I regularly visit the BDSM section in the back, but I haven’t been through the main building since before the unpleasantness.”
I felt my brows go up, and I wasn’t inclined to hide my shock. The spa had both submissive and Dominant pro women taking clients, but only Dominant men, which meant Tess had to be submissive. This didn’t compute with the woman sitting in front of me. “So either you’re lesbian and a Top, or straight and a submissive. I don’t get either a lesbian or submissive vibe off you.”
She gave me another evil grin. “You clearly know nothing about mongoose proclivities.”
“You saying I need to know about them?”
She tilted her head. “Probably not. Blaze doesn’t open again until Tuesday evening. That gives us a few days to figure out whether we need to make changes. I’ll give Mad Dog a heads up that ya’ll may want to discuss it during church tomorrow. You’ll need to get an Alabama driver’s license, and this means you’ll need a new carry license.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t sell my house in Georgia, and I’ll be going back at least once a month so I can spend Sunday through Tuesday at home before returning in time to open Blaze Tuesday evening. My bills are still going to my address there, and the Chattanooga rocker stays on my cut. This is temporary.”
“So you don’t get a vote in Birmingham? How will that work?”
The deal was I got a vote on anything directly related to me, and that included votes pertaining to Blaze. They needed warm bodies, and I wasn’t going to step into a situation I didn’t get an equal vote in. But that wasn’t information outsiders needed to know, so I shrugged and stood.
“I need to get back to the floor. I’ll hit IHOP after we close. You’re welcome to join me.”
She stood, met my gaze, and I smelled arousal. Hot, spicy, tempting, need.
I met her gaze and inhaled deeply. “Really?”
She stood without losing eye contact. “They tie me up before they light into me at the spa. My mongoose wants someone to be able to handle her, but she’ll fight tooth and nail to keep from being fucked. I need someone who can best her, but there aren’t a lot of people up for the challenge.”
She turned to leave, and I said, “Wait. You’re saying you want to be raped?”
Tess stopped walking, but didn’t turn to face me. “No. I’m saying it won’t be rape if you’re the one doing it. The technical term is consensual non-consent, and I’m consenting.”
“Yeah. I think I might need that in writing or on video. Barring that, you and I will need to build up a helluva lot of trust before that happens. You gonna get all pissed if I insist on walking you out to your car?”
“Not at all. I know you can smell the fact I’m carrying a gun, but I’d just as soon not have to use it, and walking out with you is the best way to keep that eventuality from happening.”
I’m used to the new workin’ girls we hire in Chattanooga trying to come on to me. The veterans know I’ll let them know if I need them, but it takes a while for new hires to realize I’m there for them whether they screw my brains out or not. I’ve learned how to keep my body from reacting unless I want it to, but Tess damn near broke through my control.
I walked her to her Maserati Quattroporte, and the black metallic paint gleamed under the light.
“Nice. Six cylinder or eight?”
“Eight, and all-wheel drive.” She put her back to it and met my gaze. “It handles nearly as good as me.” She took a deep breath. “You want me to back off?”
I stepped into her space without touching her and looked down. “You’re a damned attorney. Don’t pretend you don’t understand the risk I’d take in fulfilling your request.”
“It takes balls to date me.”
I chuckled. “No doubt. I figured you’d be the type not to fuck around with clients.”
She shrugged. “The MC is my client. I don’t personally represent you. Also, you said you aren’t here for good. Temporary.”
I closed my eyes and breathed in again. She was putting herself out there, letting me know she wanted me but didn’t want to keep me. Bobcats aren’t monogamous, and I doubted mongooses were either.
I opened my eyes, met her gaze, and let my body react. My dick went hard, my pulse sped. Yeah, the idea of rough sex with this woman did it for me. She’d submit because she had no choice, once she went into a room with me.
And that part, I’d insist upon. We were going to use a dungeon room at the spa, and she was going to agree to some guidelines before we went in.
Her arousal spiked when she scented mine, and I stepped back. We were creating an upward spiral, but I wasn’t interested in forcing her to have sex here, in the parking lot.
“I’ll text you my home address. Stop by when you can.”
I shook my head. “Do not text me anything that isn’t business related. I’ll give Mad Dog and Squatch a heads-up, but no one else needs to know. Do you have our encrypted app?”
She nodded, and I told her, “If you need to talk about something personal, call me on it.”
“You’re trying to protect me. Why?”
“I have a feeling you rarely need help taking care of yourself, but I’m protective. Maybe I’ve been around the wolves too long. If you want to spend time with me, you’ll have to figure out how to deal with it.”
“You’re right, of course. From a legal perspective, the club is my client and not you personally, but we should still exercise discretion.”
Right, because this was going to be a short fling. No one outside the club’s leadership needed to know about it.
“You eating with me? It makes sense for us to have breakfast after you’ve kept us out of jail. No one should think anything of it.”
She looked at her phone and put it back in her purse. “I’d love to, but I need to get to bed before the sun rises. I’ll see you soon, since we’ll need to meet to discuss what to do about the girls who go next door. Also, it’ll be a good time to talk about the new DA, and where I think she’ll focus her attention.”
Chapter Seven
Bobcat
I woke early enough to shower, put clothes on, and stumble into church. Mad Dog sat at the head of the table with Squatch at his right. Dementor was to his left, and going around the table it was Mr. Clean, me, and Gears. Six people including me, since one of their members was in jail. Two more
brothers were coming up from Mobile soon, and I hoped we could get McGyver down here temporarily.
Once the old business was taken care of, Mad Dog brought up the raid on Blaze. When everyone was up to speed, he said, “Tess wants to meet with us. Says we need to take a look at the process we use to let the girls go next door and earn extra money. I’m tempted to put a stop to it for a month or two, until we figure out what the new DA is up to.”
“But the girls depend on that income,” Clean added. “If we stop it for a while, we need to find a way to let them supplement the dancing pay.” He glanced at Mad Dog and then looked around the room. “We’re short at the spa — more customers than we have girls to service. I wouldn’t be opposed to letting them handle some shifts there, if they’re so inclined.”
“That might work for Trinity, but I’m not sure it will for the others,” said Dementor. “Kitty and Jade don’t walk next door with just anyone — only the ones they want to fuck. They won’t have that option at the spa. Plus, Soul demands triple what the others charge, and I don’t think she’ll be able to get away with that at the spa.”
“Soul lets people get rough with her,” Mad Dog noted. “If we put her in the dungeon section and she’ll allow a decent amount of frequently-asked-for options, she can charge in the same neighborhood, if not more.”
“And if our dancers decide they’d rather work at the spa than Blaze, once they see how much they can earn?” I asked.
“He has a point,” said Gears. “For most of them, they’d rather say they’re a dancer than a whore, even if they’re whoring themselves out on their shifts. Once they work for a whorehouse and take the step, they may be okay with staying there.”
The girls were allowed one trip every three hours. When we weren’t busy, two or three girls could be gone at a time, but when we were slammed, only one could be away. A light on the wall above the dressing room door showed whether the girls could accept an offer or not, so they could tell at a glance without having to ask. Going next door two to three times a night... I did the math in my head and told them, “If we stop them for a month, the club loses around fifty grand. Trinity and Soul will lose around fifteen grand a month, and the other girls will be short in the neighborhood of ten to twelve thousand each.”
Bobcat (Rolling Thunder MC Birmingham Book 2) Page 5