He gently guided her to the floor. He turned her around and entered her from behind. “Keep dancing with me, Jody.”
Their hips moved in time to the sexy beat.
“Jody, you have no idea how sexy you are, mmm, especially seeing you like this. Oh Jody … come with me.”
His hot voice brought her right over the edge. She felt his body shudder then he pressed himself against her, his body covering hers. She wanted to protest when she felt his body leave hers. Then he scooped her up into his arms and kissed her so deeply that she melted against him. He carried her to the bed and gently laid her down. He got onto the bed next to her and lay beside her.
“Can you stay here tonight?” she asked as she nuzzled her face against his chest.
“Yes.”
“Then please stay.”
The vulnerability in her voice touched him. He was unable to deny her simple request.
“I will stay.”
“Good.” She rolled off him and snuggled up against him. Within moments she was asleep.
Hunter laid there looking up at the ceiling as he gently stroked her hair. He knew at this moment that Zoltan was right--he was falling in love with Jody. A part of him felt a certain peace, yet another part was terrified. He had seen what love could do to a man. He seen Zoltan devastated when Debby walked out on him. He saw his own father become a shell of a man when mom walked out and left them. He had no intention of letting a woman have that kind of power over him.
He looked down at Jody sleeping peacefully in his arms.
“Shit,” he muttered. He knew no matter how much he didn’t want to fall in love with her, the fact remained--he was in love with her.
He couldn’t think about this anymore. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Eight
“Where the fuck is he?” Melinda screamed out. She was beyond pissed when Hunter ignored her, and when she found out he had left the Alcazar she was seeing red.
She looked around his room then she spotted the laptop on the counter. She quickly went over and looked at it.
“Ahhh!” she yelled. “That fucking little bitch!”
“What’s wrong?” Adonis asked as he stood in the doorway, wearing only a robe.
“That fucking Hunter went to see that little bitch.”
Melinda wrote down Jody’s address then turned Hunter’s computer off.
“Who cares what he does?” Adonis said.
“I care. His cock belongs to me.”
“You can have my cock if you are horny.”
“Mmm, get your hot ass to my room. I will be there in a minute.” Melinda watched Adonis leave. “Nice consolation prize, but still ...”
She wanted Hunter. She had wanted him from the moment she first saw him dance. That time he fucked her to earn Zoltan a day off, wasn’t enough. She wanted him all to herself. His arrogance, the way he didn’t fear her, oh to break a man like that was too damn delicious. She will be damned if some average-looking little bitch was going to take Hunter. She was a firm believer in the old adage if she couldn’t have Hunter then no one could.
“Hunter, you will pay for this. Zoltan!” she yelled out when she entered the courtyard. She wanted to lash out at Hunter, wanted to hurt him, somehow. Zoltan was going to be that way.
“Yes Mistress Melinda,” Zoltan said as he came out of his room with only a sheet covering him.
“I want you to go to my room. You will play with me and Adonis.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Now get your sexy ass to my room. If you are not there in ten minutes you can kiss this job goodbye.”
“Yes, Mistress Melinda.”
“Let’s see how you like that Hunter.” She smiled as she strolled over to her room.
* * * *
Hunter felt wonderful as he left Jody’s and headed back to the Alcazar. She had made him breakfast and left it out on the table before she left for work. He wished she would have woken him up before she left.
“Hunter.” Dai ran up to him.
“What’s wrong? Is your dad okay?”
“Dad is fine, it’s Zoltan.”
“What?” Hunter followed Dai to Zoltan’s room. He was shocked to see Zoltan lying on his bed. He was on his stomach and what appeared to be whip marks covered his back.
“Melinda woke me up and told me to put this ointment on his back. She didn’t want him marked up for the show tomorrow.”
“What happened?” Hunter grabbed the ointment and put some more on his friend’s back.
“It’s nothing,” Zoltan said quietly.
“The hell this is nothing. Did that bitch do this to you?”
“No.”
“Don’t lie to me, Zoltan. Tell me what happened.”
“Adonis got a little rough last night.”
Hunter bolted off the bed and went over to Melinda with his fist clinched. “Adonis did this to him, why?”
“I told him to.”
Hunter glared at her. He has never hit a woman before in his life and it was taking every ounce of willpower not to just flat-out deck her.
“Why would you do this?”
“I wanted to play with you. So I had to settle for Adonis, so I thought Zoltan would make a nice accessory to me and Adonis’ playing.”
“An accessory, you fucking bitch.”
“Now, now, you might want to watch your mouth. Wouldn’t want to get someone fired, would you?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Calm yourself or I will be forced to fire Zoltan, or maybe Dai.”
Melinda played with a piece of paper in her hand. “I know where you went. I suggest you don’t go there again.”
“You can’t tell me what to do when I’m not here.”
“That’s correct. But it would be a shame for Adonis to have to play with her like he played with Zoltan.” Melinda walked over to examine Zoltan’s wounds.
“He touches her and I will kill him!”
“Then don’t see the little bitch again. Now, enough of this unpleasantness. Looks like Zoltan will not be working tonight. You better be extra hot tonight, Hunter.” Melinda loved that look of anger on Hunter’s face. She made her point. She knew how to control him.
Hunter punched the wall when Melinda left.
“Don’t worry about it, Hunter,” Zoltan said.
Hunter went back over to his friend. “Are you alright?”
“I will be.”
Hunter looked up at Dai. That look on his face tore at Hunter’s heart.
“You two can go. I will be alright. I just want to sleep for a little while.”
“But Zoltan …” Dai started to say.
“Dai, tell your father I said hi and that I have fifty bucks riding on him to win you guys’ chess game.”
“I can’t leave you like this.”
“Go on, I want to sleep and I can’t with you two in the room.”
Dai checked Zoltan’s whip marks, then left the room.
“I’m sorry, Zoltan, I didn’t know she would do this to you,” Hunter said.
“I told you not to worry about it. Now get your butt out of my room.”
“You need anything …”
“Don’t worry. I will let you know.”
Hunter went to his room then spotted the laptop on the counter. “Goddamn it.” Now he knew how Melinda found out where he was. How could he have been so careless? He was wrapped up in seeing Jody he forgotten to clear off the Web search history.
He went to his closet and pulled out an envelope. His next heist was some rich asshole who liked to keep all his wife’s jewelry in their house. The security was state of the art. It would be hard to figure out a way to get inside the house. He would figure it out. He had to. There was several million dollars worth of jewelry in that safe at any given time. He could easily get two to three million from his buyers. With that kind of money, Dai and Zoltan could leave this place.
He had a lot to plan out. Eve
rything would have to be perfect.
* * * *
Jody chuckled seeing Linda walking kind of stiffly to her desk. “Well, I would say Maxim gave you what you wanted.”
“And then some. Oh my God …” Linda slowly sat down. “My pussy is so sore. Maxim’s cock stretched the heck out of me. Not to mention my body aches from his whip.”
“Did he leave marks on you?”
“No, believe it or not.”
“I bet you are not playing with him again.”
“Hell, yeah I am. I have never been fucked that vigorously or violently before. I really liked it.”
“You little freak,” Jody chuckled.
“How did it go with Zoltan?”
“I didn’t touch him.”
“What? You are freaking kidding me. Oh man, Zoltan is so flipping hot, how could you have not touched him?”
“I wanted to be with Hunter.”
Linda looked at Jody for a moment. “What’s with that look?”
“Hunter came to my apartment last night.”
“No shit.” Linda leaned in closer. “Details girl, details.”
“I was so shocked to see him standing there at my door …”
“Well …”
“We made love, then I left him sleeping in my bed when I went to work.”
“Oh no …” Linda sat back in her chair.
“What?”
“You love him.”
Jody didn’t say anything.
“Oh girl, I told you not to fall in love with a dancer.”
“It’s not like I wanted to.”
“Then you do love him.”
“I’m trying to talk myself out of admitting that I do have feelings for Hunter.”
“Damn girl.” Linda looked around to make sure no one was listening. “You left him alone in your apartment?”
“Yeah.”
“How did he know where you lived? Did you tell him?”
“I didn’t tell him.”
“Then how did he know where you live? He must have looked it up online or something. I hope your stuff is still in your apartment when you get home.”
“Hunter wouldn’t steal my stuff.”
“How do you know he wouldn’t?”
“He knows I’m a cop. You know just a little while ago you told me I should live more. You dragged me to that club and now you are …”
“I just don’t want you to get hurt. The men who work at those pleasure clubs are not relationship material. I guess I’m saying be careful. Hunter may try to con you out of all your money or steal your stuff. Hell, he may even be a nice guy for all I know. It’s just that I have heard of quite a few women being conned out of all their stuff by men like him.”
“Do you think I’m that easily fooled?”
“No … I’m not saying that.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“Derek hurt you really badly, and I just don’t want to see you hurt like that again.”
“Derek was a lying, cheating bastard. He fucked every woman he came in contact with and lied his fucking head off. He said he loved me then ran off with the first young slut that fucked him better than I did. Derek was a lawyer and is far sleazier than any pleasure dancer that I have seen. Besides, do you honestly believe that I wanted to fall in love with Hunter? No, I didn’t.”
“Hey, I’m sorry …” Linda could see Jody trying to quiet her tears.
“Miss Davis, here is the info you wanted,” a young female clerk said as she approached the desk.
“Thank you.” Jody took a deep breath and collected herself. “It’s all right, Linda. Besides we have to focus on catching that damn thief.”
“Zoltan Alazina?” Linda said as she read the name on the file. “The dancer?”
“Yeah.”
“Why did you want a file made up on him?”
“When I went to his room and we got to talking, the way he acted when I told him about being a cop bugged me, especially when I mentioned Black Velvet.”
“Ah … you don’t think Zoltan is Black Velvet do you?”
“That silhouette Black Velvet had …”
“What are you talking about?”
“I almost caught that damn thief, remember? He was wearing a black body suit and his body was in great shape. Zoltan has a great body. Plus, Zoltan has a motive.”
“What motive?”
“He has a daughter and from what I gathered from him when we were talking he doesn’t intend on being a dancer forever. All of this coupled with the way he acted when he found out I was the cop on the Black Velvet case. I really need to check this out.”
“I can’t see Zoltan being a thief. He is too gentle.”
“How do you know he is gentle?”
“His demeanor, and I have fucked him before, remember?”
“I still have to check it out. It’s probably nothing.” Jody stood up and grabbed her jacket.
“Where are you going?”
“To check out the place Zoltan’s daughter lives.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“Of course.”
Jody and Linda drove across town to Allison’s home. There were moving vans outside and men loading up furniture.
“Looks like they are moving,” Linda said.
“Yep, looks that way.” Jody got out of the car and went to find the woman named Allison.
“Look at all these kids,” Linda said.
“Can I help you?” Allison asked as she approached the women.
“Hello Miss …”
“Call me Allison.”
“All right Allison …” Jody showed Allison her badge. “I need to ask you a couple of questions.”
“Certainly.”
“I need to know a little about Zoltan’s daughter Jenna.”
“Why?”
“I’m investigating a case and Zoltan maybe a part of it.”
“What do you want to know?”
“When did Jenna move in here with you?”
“When she was a year old.”
“Why?”
“Zoltan’s wife Debby left them, and Zoltan needed someone to watch Jenna while he worked.”
“He worked at the Alcazar at that time?”
“Yes, he and Hunter got hired at the same time.”
“I see you have a lot of children living with you.”
“I take in orphans and children whose parents have abandoned them.”
“Damn …” Linda muttered. She knew where Jody was going.
“How do you manage to feed and clothe all of them?”
“Hunter and Zoltan help out, plus I had some savings.”
“Where are you moving?”
“This old house was costing more to repair each year so I decided to buy another one.”
“You must have a lot of savings.”
“Like I told you, Zoltan and Hunter help me out quite a lot. They do make pretty good money at the Alcazar.”
“I’m sure they do.” Jody spotted the little girl who looked like Zoltan.
“That is Jenna. She just turned six.”
The little girl went up to Allison. “Is daddy coming? You said daddy was going to help us move.”
“Your daddy should be here soon. Now why don’t you finish packing up your stuffed animals.”
“Yes Ma’am,” Jenna hurried off.
“She looks like a female version of Zoltan,” Linda said.
“Yes, she does. She is just as sweet as her father is, too. So I have a hard time believing Zoltan has done anything against the law.”
“We are just investigating, that’s all.”
“I really must finish packing, so if you are finished …”
“That’s all for now. Thank you for your time.” Jody handed her one of her cards. “I may get in touch with you again.” Jody and Linda left.
Allison sat on one of the boxes. She was worried about Zoltan.
“Daddy, daddy, daddy,” Jenna screeched as she raced past
Allison and straight into Zoltan’s open arms.
Hunter hurried over to Allison. “What’s wrong?”
“Two female cops were here asking questions about Zoltan.”
“What? Why?”
“I was hoping maybe you could tell me.”
“Zoltan hasn’t done anything. So don’t worry.”
“He hasn’t, but …” she looked up into Hunter’s blue eyes. “Where did you come up with the money for the new house, Hunter?”
“Let’s not talk about this now.” He smiled his most charming smile at her. “We have a lot to do. The kids are excited about seeing their new rooms.”
“Here …” she handed Hunter Jody’s card.
“What’s this?”
“The name of the cop asking about Zoltan.”
Hunter hid his reaction to seeing Jody’s name. “You better keep this.” He handed her the card back. “Now tell me what I can do.”
“You can start loading boxes up into the truck.”
“All right.” He grabbed a couple of boxes and made his way to the truck. Shit, Jody couldn’t possibly think that Zoltan was Black Velvet. For the first time since he started stealing, he was afraid. He knew Jody would investigate further and when she learned just how much Allison’s new house had cost and the fact that it was paid in full … shit … damn it … she was going to go full steam ahead with her investigation of Zoltan. He mulled it over in his mind as he helped put the boxes in the trucks. There was no way to pin the robberies on Zoltan. There couldn’t be.
“Lost in thought?” Zoltan asked.
“Allison told you about Jody, didn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“I won’t let anything happen to you. I swear it.”
“I’m not worried about me. It’s you I’m worried about. You have to stop now, Hunter. No more robberies.”
“I have to do this next one. I will ensure you and Dai can quit dancing if you wanted to.”
“No Hunter, I won’t let you take any more risks for me and I’m sure I speak for Dai, as well.”
“You are the one she is investigating. I have to steer her away from you.”
“Daddy, come on,” Jenna screeched.
“We will talk about this later,” Zoltan said as he grabbed Jenna’s hand and let her lead him away.
Hunter had to find out what Jody knew. If there was any way that she could pin the Black Velvet robberies on Zoltan. He had to know.
Black Velvet Page 7