by Shara Azod
She shook her head to erase the thoughts bombarding her troubled mind and imaged her music playing as she strutted around the surface of the stage. Beats filled her head shoving her past to the darkest corner where she locked the painful recollections down tight. Her little drive down memory lane always happened around this time of year. She started to sway.
****
Royce trotted down the back stairs to the clubs rear entrance. After his shower, he’d dozed off waiting for Joy to come home. She wasn’t lying next to him when he work up which meant she was probably still in Shakers. He slipped on some pajama bottoms and left the apartment. This time of year was always hard on her and he used to ask why. She would just stone wall him, changing the subject to avoid giving him any answers. After a while he stopped inquiring. He tapped in the numbers to the electronic lock and listened for the snick that told him the mechanism had disengaged. He wretched the door open and crossed the threshold.
Navigating the dark halls was easy since he knew the place like the back of his hand but it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the gloom. When Joy had first hired him, he ran errands for the club employees. He snickered. Joy probably had no idea what to do with him at that time but she gave him a job anyway and made him go to college. All the while he was allowed to crash on her couch. For the longest he couldn’t understand why she helped him until it dawned on him that he was no different from anybody else. She helped everybody. She never uttered a complaint or expected anything in return but he would listen to the whispers of the people who talked about her. She encouraged some of the dancers to go back to school and she would pay for a semester. Others with families she might buy their groceries for a month, school supplies or clothes for their kids. His woman had a big heart but she preferred not to show it.
She was as beautiful inside as she was out. Joy’s coffee colored skin was smooth and soft as the cotton his grandma wove into material. She kept her body toned with dancing. If he couldn’t find her at the club then she was most likely at the dance studio across town. It was because of her that he started going to the gym. He wanted her to notice him. What started out as friendship morphed into a crush that deepened over time into love. She shot him down whenever he approached her for almost two years.
For some reason she’d kept insisting he date women his own age. The ten year age difference wasn’t a big deal to him but she had to be convinced to take the chance on them. He wore her down though and after dating steady for a year he moved in with her. They’d been living together for five years and although she was comfortable with the way things were he wanted more. He wanted marriage and as usual she was being resistant. For her present this year, he’d wrapped a tiny box and placed it in a larger box to throw her off. The gift was bigger than the small tree he’d put up in the living room window. She wasn’t fond of Christmas but she’d turned him down on Valentine’s Day, her birthday and Halloween. He’d been a little desperate and put the ring in a skull cupcake. She arched a brow and laughed which gave him a hard on. Royce sighed, he’d be the first admit he had it bad for Joy.
The hall opened up to the club’s stage area. Mickey’s booth was covered with flashing lights that diffused the darkness in intervals. He searched the area for Joy and cocked his head when he saw the outline of a body in the shadowy room. Quietly, he moved down the steps, across the floor to the DJ’s podium and slipped past the glass door. Royce slid the knobs up to illuminate the stage with a dim light. Joy opened her eyes and twisted around to stare at him. He waved and pressed a button that started a track from her personalized CD. Music blasted through the speakers and he turned the knob to lower the volume.
Joy gripped the pole with both hands and spun around. Her biceps flexed as she climbed up the slim metal column and curled her legs around it before spiraling down. He leaned forward bracing himself with his fists to peer at her. Every time he watched her reminded him of the first time he saw her on stage. He was eighteen and she dropped down to literally sweep the stage with her ass. He got an instant erection that got impossibly harder through her routine. Watching her thigh muscles bunch reminded him of the way her body responded when he lapped at her pussy. Royce’s mouth went dry, she was the first woman he’d gone down on and he couldn’t get enough of the taste of her since. Another song bled into the first and the words pussy rules the world floated from the speakers. The bass made the tweeters thump. Joy easily changed her rhythm to match the beat. She flexed her hips back and forth and dropped to her hands and knees before making her behind shake. He was definitely an ass man. Royce adjusted his dick, his pants suddenly too tight in the crotch. She flipped landing upside down against the pole and locked her legs around it. Her shirt fell around her breast and her abs tightened as she bent her body pulling herself upright. She dropped her legs and twisted one around the rod before extending the other and let the pole go. Her body spun in place. Fuck watching. Royce left the DJ’s cubicle and marched up the stage stairs.
He caught her as she slowed and yanked her back against his chest. He skimmed his palms down her torso, savoring the softness of her skin. Royce slid his hands up her ribcage to cup her breasts. He pressed his mouth to side of her neck. Royce spun her around and hiked her so she wrapped her legs around his hips. He slid his hands up her ribcage to cup her breasts. He swiped his tongue along her collarbone, the faint taste of salt exploded across his taste buds. He squeezed the fleshy mounds filling his palms, plucking at her nipples through the thin material of her bra. Light mewls escaped her.
He sucked at the spot behind her ear, and slid a hand down between them to cup her mound.. “Whose pussy is this baby?” He nipped at her earlobe. His dick throbbed, thumping his thigh. Joy was as much a necessity to him as the air he needed to breathe.
“Hmm…Good question.” Her husky reply escalated his need for her. She arched into him pressing her tit into his hand. Taut nipples tickled his palm.
He pinched harder, tugging at the nub. He held her weight and flexed his pelvis rubbing his rod against her slit. Joy had too many clothes on. Royce released her and she settled on her feet, he gripped the bottom of her shirt and snatched it over her head. Gently, she caressed his jaw and traced his mouth with her fingertips. He slid his hands beneath the elastic of her leggings and shoved them down.
Royce dipped his head and kissed the tip of her nose. “Tell me your mine.”
A slow smile spread her lips revealing even white teeth. She stoked his jaw, sliding her palms to the back of his head. Her fingers combed through the hair at his nape. “There is only one person I want to be with.” She went up on her toes and pressed her mouth to his sliding her tongue past the seam of his lips and along his teeth.
He tangled his around hers, sucking it. Joy skated her hands down his neck and gripped his shoulder, her nails dug into his skin. Royce lifted his head and stared in her eyes. “Then marry me. It’s all I want for Christmas.” He hadn’t meant to ask, the words escaped before he could stop himself but he didn’t want to call them back.
Her smile withered, she caressed his back and moved her palms along his triceps. “Let’s not ruin what we have with a piece of paper. I want you every day not just on holidays.” She leaned forward and brushed her lips on his chest pressing minute kisses across his torso. She flicked his nipple with her tongue and grazed her teeth along the nub.
Royce tightened his grip on her hips. He sucked in deep breaths willing his rapid heartbeat to slow down. Slowly he moved down her body kissing her neck, tracing his tongue down the center of her chest between her breasts. He jerked her bra down releasing her and sucked her cocoa colored aureole into his mouth, rubbing his tongue across her hard nubs. She fisted the strands of his hair. He cupped her other tit working his thumb across the tight nipple. Traveling lower, he rolled her legging down her legs as he sank to his knees. The silky material pooled at her ankles. He rubbed his face against her belly before lapping at her belly button. Her whimpers escalated to moans.
Tuggi
ng off her stilettos, he yanked the clothing off freeing her legs. His dick ached and all he wanted to do was sink it her but her pleasure came first. He’d only been with a handful of women. It was Joy who taught him how to truly make love to a woman. Her murmurs were proof he’d learned his lessons well and he made it his goal to make her scream until she couldn’t. He placed her legs over his shoulders and clutched her thighs to keep her exactly where he wanted her. Gently he rose to stand pushing her back up the pole. He used it to keep her steady and braced his feet. Her heels tapped his back. Royce peered up her body at her. Joy reached up above her head grabbing onto the metal column. He dropped his gaze and stared at her pussy inches from his mouth. Her folds glistened with her arousal. He slid his hands along her hips to splay his fingers across her butt cheeks and bent forward.
He licked at her juices following the seam of sensitive folds with his tongue before darting between the shaved lips of her pussy. He plunged into her channels, and her ass quivered in hands. In and out of her channel, causing her to moan and flex her hips. Joy ground her cleft against his mouth. Cream coated his lips even as he lapped at her like the hound that he was. His nose brushed her clit and she shuddered. He blew over the moist tissue and her legs trembled. Royce sucked the tiny bundle of nerves between his lips and rolled it over his tongue. Mewls echoed across the room and she slammed her thighs against is ears. Joy rolled her pelvis. She tried to pull herself up to get away from his caresses. He locked an arm around her thigh and continued his assault tugging on her clitoris. Gently biting down, she rocked her hips. He curled his tongue around her clit to soothe the sting.
“Yes, God yes.” She cried out.
The scent of her desire filled his nostrils. His back muscles strained under her weight as she shook. Nectar flowed as she came. Contrasting flavors of salty and sweet swept across his tongue. He pried her thighs from around his head and licked his lips. She slid down the pole. Royce caught her around the waist and pressed his cock between her thighs.
“You need to lose the jammies baby.” She snapped the elastic around his hips.
“Not really. All you have to do in reach down and bring big boy out to play.” He chuckled.
She wiped the moisture from his mouth. “That’s not hard at all.” Joy leaned forward and slid her hand down is sleeper bottoms. She wrapped her palm around his rod and he lost his sight for a minute. “Fuck me.” She whispered against his lips.
“Tell me how you want it?” He held her gaze.
“Hard and fast, lover.” She slid her palm up and down his shaft.
Joy guided his rod to her past her nether lips to her passage. She rested her hands on his flanks and hefted her legs up to enfold them around his hips. He thrust forward, ramming his cock balls deep in one drive. She curled her arms under his body, clutching his shoulders. Royce pulled out to the tip of his cock and plunged in again. She threw her head back. Her knees squeezed his sides. He drove his dick into her sheath again. The metal rod squeaked under their weight. Pressure built and his muscles tensed. Joy raked her nails down his back. The sting of her scratches combined with the delight of feeling her pussy clench around his cock with every thrust sent coils of bliss curling through him. She flexed her pelvis up meeting his lunges. The spotlight directed on them burned his ass and back, sweat dotted his skin. Grunts escaped through his lips. His nuts drew up and he gave into the urge to hammer into her pussy. The walls of her passage surged around his dick. Bolts of energy jumped along his nerves and his stomach clenched.
“Fuck yes!” She yelled.
Warmth seeped through his cock as she orgasmed. Caught in her wake he came, and everything momentarily went black. He blinked a few times to clear his vison. Royce held her as he took a couple steps back. The legs of his pajamas got caught underfoot and were pulled down his legs. He heaved a few breathes before speaking. “We are going to bed.”
“Did you think I’d argue with that?” She widened her eyes at him. “Shower first though.”
“Scratch that, it been a while since we had sex in the shower. We can sleep later.”
“Lead on lover.” Joy laughed. “Do you plan on carrying me up the stairs?”
“I’m debating. It feels really good where I’m at right now.” There were times when he never wanted to let her go.
“Let me down you nut.”
He released her. She padded across the platform picking up their clothes and stopped at the mouth of the hallway. “Last one up cooks breakfast in the morning.” She took off running. Her generous ass jiggling as she moved.
He glanced at the DJ Booth. Music was still playing and the lights were on. He didn’t mind serving her in bed. “More like lunch.” He yelled as he hiked up his sleep bottoms and trotted to the cubicle to turn off everything before heading up to their apartment.
Chapter Three
Heated air blew through the vent and flowed across Joy’s face. Her breath caught as warmth filled her lungs. She leaned forward in her chair and cocked a brow at Toy. Was she hearing the girl right? “Since you started dancing…in a matter of weeks you’ve become one of my most popular strippers. Are you sure you want me to put you on schedule for only one day?”
“Yeah, just until after the new year. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and I know you went out of your way to help me but something has come up and I must take care of it. I don’t care what days you schedule me, I’ll work around them but it can only be one day a week for the next month.” Toy rushed through the words and glanced around the office looking at everything but at her.
“You are cutting your earning potential down to zilch. These are some of Shakers busiest days.” She stressed her point.
“I know. I’ll work Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve and any other two days you want Maybe one of the girls wants to spend the holidays with their kids.”
Toy bent to grab her purse from the floor. She hesitated, looking up at Joy. “Can I ask you a question?”
Joy shrugged. “Sure, what would you like to know?”
“Two things actually.” The young woman rose.
“Alright,” Joy nodded.
“Why did you choose to strip? Open a club?”
She crossed her legs and settled in her seat. “I built Shakers up to what it is because of that pole. Some may look down on what I do but this career made a way for me to handle business. Dancing on that pole allowed me to finish school, travel, and help folks. My life isn’t ideal for some but it is perfect for me and honestly there was a time when I didn’t think I would ever get comfortable in my own skin. I did some truly stupid things when I was young and found myself at a crossroads. I could have kept on the path I was on and probably would have been dead within a few years. I chose to fight for my existence and promised myself that I would help anyone who appeared to be in a similar situation.” Joy met her gaze. “You tell me Toy, are you happy in your skin?”
“I was once.” Toy briefly met her gaze before lowering her eyes, “one more thing.”
“That’s more than a few questions.”
“I know.”
“Shoot.” Joy watched the girl, trying to gauge her expression.
The young stripper kept her features blank. “Professor is Royce’s friend right?” She hitched the purse strap on her shoulder.
“Yeah, he trained Royce. He was one of my best bouncers and was my head of security for a couple of years. The man is an enigma, he doesn’t talk much and I never know when he might come around. And never try to guess what he might be thinking, you’ll just get a headache. But when he does it’s like he never left.” Joy snorted. “The guy is like a wayward brother to me. Why?”
“I was just wondering.” Toy walked out the office.
“I’ll see you out.” Joy rose and followed her.
“Where is Royce?”
They ambled through the club. “He had some errands to run. I’ll text you the new schedule.” Joy unlocked the back door’s deadbolt. She wrapped her palm around the k
nob, “if you need to talk, I’m here to listen.”
The girl’s face lit up in a wide smile. “You have no idea how much you have already helped me.”
She pushed the metal barrier open. A brisk wind whistled through the opening. Toy stepped to the side. Suddenly the door was thrust wider, Palmer appeared on the threshold. He grabbed Toy, swinging her around to face Joy. The pimp rammed the muzzle of a gun against the girl’s temple.
The heavy door slammed shut and a deathly quiet settled through the space. Joy stared at Palmer, looking him up and down with disdain. Briefly she thought of Royce and sighed. Nothing good could come out this situation and hell if she was backing down. Her lover wouldn’t be happy with her decision but she couldn’t let Toy get hurt. She closed her eyes and chuckled. Maybe she should have married Royce.
“Bitch what the fuck you laughing at?” Palmer yelled.
She opened her eyes. The pimp wasn’t looking good. His chapped lips were so dry they had a white outline. Dark circles made his eyes look sunken. Sweat peppered his forehead and his usually slicked back processed hair was in disarray like he’d run his fingers through the strands several times. Was he sampling his shit? The drugs he offered to the prostitutes that worked for him. She stared into his eyes and saw a burning hatred. The feeling was mutual.
“You dare to come into my fucking house! Leave Palmer, go play with your little girls, grown folks are talking.”
He straightened his spine throwing his shoulders back. He jerked Toy up against his body. “Bitch bow your head when you’re addressing me. You haven’t earned the privilege to look me in the eye.”
“Do I look like one of your ho’s? Even if I was in the game, mother fucker you couldn’t afford the nail polish I use to paint my toenails with. Let Toy go, you got a problem with me. Handle it like the man you think you are and come at me.”