by K. D. Penn
She drove to my side. “You’re acting like you’re my father. In case it’s not obvious, that’s not a good thing.”
“Fuck it. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” I gripped the handles on my scooter hard. Holy Duchess, please don’t let anything happen to her. I can’t take any more losses. “We have twenty more miles before the sector of Lady Polynesia comes up and less than a mile after that for the club. Let’s get there in one piece, Nixie baby.”
“Nah, I don’t want to.” She stuck out her tongue and zoomed off, honking her horn.
I’m going to strangle her, right after I fuck the shit out of her. Maybe I’ll bend her over and take her right in the ass, right on that scooter that I’m going to destroy.
“Worst case scenario, I can swim!”
“You’re insane,” I yelled back.
“Says the guy that gave me his heart key!”
I couldn’t help but grin.
Yeah. I am a little more insane than her. But who else deserved to wear it? Who else would ever deserve to wear it? She is my match in every way possible.
I’d been slowly dying from my snorting quake when she entered my life and saved me. Only the Duchess of Light knows what would have happened to me if I’d remained on the drug. I could have been a danger to my little brothers and sisters. Nix didn’t know me. She said she helped me due to business reasons, but I knew better. She was falling for me as hard and fast as I was falling for her. Therefore, my heart key rested around the right neck. I couldn’t think of anyone more worthy than her.
“Let’s race!” Nix glanced over her shoulders.
“Let’s do something even more fun.”
“What?”
“Look forward to where you are driving and do it at a safer speed.”
“Boring!” She increased her speed. I rushed after her.
Nothing but ocean lay underneath us. It was clear blue and reflected the rays of the sun. A few steel boats cruised under and cast out metal nets. I didn’t see any humans on the deck and assumed the whole fishing unit was run by robots or some sort of remote control where a staff manipulated it at a surface station. That’s how fishing was done back on earth. The robots had dominated the fishing and farming industry. The only people who grew things were enthusiasts who had the land to plant a few vegetable seeds. “You’re fucking insane!”
“Insanely fun! Epic, watch this!” She rose five feet up. I lifted my head as she twirled the scooter and her around in one swift moment.
“Nix, I’m going to kill you!” My nerves flared on edge.
“You’ll have to catch me first.” Clouds of smoke burst in the air as she raced away.
At first I began to scream curses at her, but then I watched her bob her head like her own special music played in her head. I’d never seen her this way, so carefree and relaxed. I loved it.
So I shoved my stress down and did something even crazier . . . I just laughed. It bubbled out of me.
“Catch you, huh?” I chased her, yanking the dial on the scooter all the way down. The metal on my display shook. The engine hummed. My teeth chattered. I unbuckled my pants and opened them. My jeans fell to my ankles. I shoved down my boxer briefs. Cool air tickled my skin. My dick lay limp between my legs.
“Catch this!” My scooter whizzed past as I wiggled my ass at her. Laughter exploded behind me. Even over the humming of my engine, I could hear her hooting with joy.
Less than twenty minutes later we arrived in the sector of Lady Polynesia where club Dynamics was located. The sun had set on this side of the planet. Darkness painted the sky. The Free Path switched back into the aerial highway. Nix and I moved into line with the other floating scooters.
Music played from many of the Hoover crafts—popular pops songs I’d heard too many times about stars and love. It was funny how bands these days couldn’t come up with a more innovative song topic than comparing their love to stars. Currently, the song “Star Gazer” hovered at number one on the charts and had been there for months. Number two was “Love Star”, then “Stars of My Heart.” Number four was the rap song “Star Fucker”, although the radio version was “Star Lover.” I groaned and wished I’d gotten the upgraded scooters with the ViFi Signals that captured sound waves from up to five planets.
Many of the buildings gleamed a shade of bright red and lit up the area around them. Most of them were restaurants and hotels. They extended high up into the sky and bordered the aerial highway on both sides. Although Lady Polynesia was the sector’s official name, many referred to it as the Red Light District. I could see why. It was reminiscent of the red light districts on earth.
Perfume drifted to my nostrils. A copper platform floated my way. The vehicle must have been the size of a van. Five naked women stood on the top surface, holding the side bars. A man sat in the front and turned the wheel. The ladies whistled in my direction and wiggled their hips. Their nipples stood erect on those perky breasts. Upside down triangles of silky hair lay between their thick thighs.
White lights slid past the top of the machine. “Come play with us. All currencies accepted.”
“You see something you like?” Anger laced Nix’s voice.
I turned to Nix. A neutral expression spread across her face, but I knew she was pissed. I smirked. “There’s nothing over there for me. I’m just looking.”
She twisted her lips to the side as if she were thinking about it and then said, “Yeah, well, I guess looking is okay. Especially if you’re only looking so that you can see how utterly lacking they all are in comparison to me.”
“I’m glad you approve.” I laughed.
Farther ahead, letters glittered in the sky and spelled out Dynamics. A massive building rested under the flying letters. All black glass covered it. Black glass tended to be the regulation now for strip clubs, brothels, casinos, and drug dens. There couldn’t be any other color but black, to represent darkness and to signal that this place was a business where the Duchess of Light would never venture to. Apparently the Duchess as too pure for these establishments, but had no problem taxing these places to fuel the galaxy’s economy. I hated how the Duchess looked down on them.
“Alright, Nixie baby. That’s our stop.” I gestured to the club and flipped on my right signal. Nix followed. We parked on the roof with all the other vehicles. Two bars zipped out of the sides of our scooters and wrapped around the ignition to keep them secure from any aerial jackers.
“That was fun.” She gripped my ass and squeezed. “Do I get to see this again tonight?”
“After I see yours.” I seized her curvaceous ass and pulled her into a kiss. We stood there for several minutes, sucking on our tongues, biting our lips, and slipping our hands across our bodies. I groaned and stepped back. “We have a job to do.”
“I didn’t forget.” She blushed.
I nipped at her chin. “Then stop making me forget. According to our plan, you’re supposed to be my cousin.”
I scanned the parking lot, but luckily no one was around.
“Well, we’re clearly kissing cousins.” She strolled forward and approached the door before me. I hurried to the doorknob before she could grab it and opened it for her. She blushed again. “Who would have thought my kidnapper and master of chains would turn out to be a gentleman?”
I winked. “I try.”
An electronic bass boomed below. I couldn’t hear the song because we were so far up. Smoke lingered in the dark passageway. A light blinked on and off where it hung from the ceiling. One bald-headed guy stood inside. Small screens sank in the wall behind him. One screen displayed the parking lot.
Fuck. He may have seen our kiss. I hope it doesn’t matter. We’ll have to be more careful.
“Only employees enter the back.” He held up his hand.
“I start as a bouncer tonight. She’s interviewing.”
“Welcome to Dynamics.
Please show me your ID or scanners.” He stood and reached my height.
“I don’t have any scanners in my wrist.” I pulled my identification out of my pocket and showed the one-inch disk to him. He slid a pen over it. My face, name, address, and planetary status showed up on the top screen.
“Epicaderous Brownstone?” Nix covered her mouth with her land, but still, I heard the giggling. The guy chuckled too.
“It’s Epic.” I shrugged. “Give me a break. My mom loved that cartoon The Gods of Septors when she was a little girl. Epicaderous was her favorite.”
“I thought that was a three-legged dog?” The guy’s face scrunched up into a confused look.
“No. He was the leader,” I grumbled.
“So you’re the new bouncer. Are you Ain’s cousin?”
“Yeah.” I motioned to Nix. “I came early to escort her to her audition. She’s my cousin too.”
“Good. The bosses don’t let couples work together.” He scanned Nix’s ID and then pointed to the dimly lit staircase that lowered into the club. “The club is made up of five levels. The bosses are on the third. They’ll be waiting for her by the center stage. Usually they have some gear for her to put on. I think you can pick it out and change in the bathrooms on the side.”
“Sounds good.” I got ready to walk down there with her.
He blocked my way. “No guys but the bosses are allowed during the audition. Not even relatives.”
Then I don’t want her to go.
I didn’t like us being separated until I was more familiar with the club and the people who owned it. I almost dragged her out of there, but knew it would just piss her off. Maybe I should keep her out of this hit and convince her to play a smaller role. I glanced at her and she shrugged. As usual, no fear swam through those green eyes. A mask of confidence clamped on to her face. And in that instance, I remembered I couldn’t keep Nix out of the plan no matter how much I desired to keep her safe. She made her own rules and only followed them, not mine or any others.
“You still want to do the audition?”
“Of course.” She tossed me an odd look.
“Okay.”
She grabbed my heart key that lay between her cleavage, outlined the edge of it with her thumb, and walked to the stairs. “Wish me luck, Epicaderous.”
I’d remember that later when I had her legs spread across my bed.
CHAPTER 16
Phoenix
Seriously? Had Epic really considered the idea that I might not still want to do the audition? Because what—he couldn’t go with me?
Epic was turning out to be nothing like I thought he would be. Beneath his hard exterior was an intelligent, caring, loving, and sort of needy man. But damn, if his skills between the sheets and his magnificent body didn’t make up for that one failing. Or even his heart, for that matter. By giving me his heart key last night he’d managed to slip into mine. Maybe I was insane like he said, but I was beginning to believe that a relationship between us might just be possible.
I made my way through the dimly lit club to the third floor. As soon as I stepped through the beaded doorway I saw two men leaning against a bar facing what was definitely center stage. I mean it was huge and smack-dab in the middle of the room.
Showtime! Oh joy!
I plastered on my best flirty smile and swung my hips with purpose. Both men’s heads roamed openly over the curves of my body, but I didn’t care. In this case, that was a good thing. They looked nothing like Epic. They must have been half his size, but both had muscular bodies that were showcased in their red plastic shirts. Mustaches rested above the top of their lips and curled up at the ends, just like Pappy’s did. I supposed it must be the current style amongst a certain type of man—the type that liked to pay for their women. Neither of them had a chiseled face like Epic, but they didn’t possess grotesque faces either—just kind of plain.
I stood directly in front of them. “Hi, I’m Nix. I’m here to audition. I was told you might have something for me to wear before we start?”
They both looked like they took decent care of themselves, but they were also complete skeezes. Being so close to them kind of made me feel a little nauseous. It was like I could read their lecherous thoughts about me on their douche bag faces.
“Nice to meet you, Nix,” Tweedle Dee said as his much-too-bright teeth glinted in the lights. “There’ll be two parts to the audition. First, we need to see what you can do on the main stage, and if you please us, visually speaking, then we get to test out your lap-dancing skills.”
I narrowed my eyes as Tweedle Dum snickered, and yet I somehow managed to keep my smile in place. I was fairly certain that the lap dance portion of my audition had been a recent development. They’d probably added it as soon as I walked in the door.
I had a tendency to attract the worst kind of men, even in a place like this. “Yeah, sure, so what about the costume?”
Tweedle Dee spoke up again. “Just strip off what you’re wearing. That’ll be fine.”
“Is this a fully nude club? I thought it was—”
“We’re not going to waste the supplies such as pasties if you’re not worth it. If we hire you, which depends on if you perform well today, then we’ll provide you with a costume of our choosing.”
I ground my teeth together. In a world like this; it was the survival of the fittest. And if I didn’t put my foot down now, I might as well just lie down and spread my legs for both of them. I wasn’t stupid. They were trying to see how far they could push me. They both were hoping I might be one of the clueless girls who walked into their club and thought everyone had to give them sexual favors in exchange for their job. I might not get the job, but I wasn’t about to become a prostitute either.
“Not going to happen, boys.” I smirked as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum’s faces both fell into identical frowns. “This isn’t my first time to a show. I’ll dance for you. You can look, but there isn’t going to be any touching of any kind.”
Tweedle Dee started to open his mouth, but I raised my hand abruptly to silence him. “And before you kick me out, I’d like to say one thing first. I may not be jonesing to be one of your probably many whores, but I can guarantee you that I’ll make your club a lot of money. Now if you let me audition for you the proper way, I’ll let you be the judge of my money-making skills and not my dick-sucking skills.”
Both men stared at me in shock for a moment before Tweedle Dee broke the silence. “Alright. But you better be good or I’m having Joey throw you out of here head first.”
I grinned with triumph. “Oh, I’ll be good, baby. The best you’ve ever seen.”
Tweedle Dee snorted. “Yeah, we’ll see.”
I made my way over to the stage and pulled myself up onto it, deciding not to bother entering from the back—it was pointless really. “So—music and lighting? Or am I just supposed to make do without them like the costume?”
Tweedle Dee made his way over to the empty DJ booth and climbed into it. “I’ll give you some music, just to be fair.” He chuckled to himself.
“Yeah, fair.” I grumbled under my breath before smiling brightly up at him. “Alright, well, how about—”
Tweedle Dee waved his hand at me. “I didn’t say you’d get to pick the music, just that you’d have some.” Tweedle Dum laughed openly as I narrowed my eyes at Tweedle Dee. With a flick of his wrist, music suddenly began to blare from speakers that were placed around the club but out of view. Nice.
I took a moment to let the music begin to roll over me, to seep into my system through my pores. When I danced, I always let the music be my partner. It led me with a steady hand and told me exactly what to do. It never let me down.
A steady deep bass thumped, causing my pulse to beat in time with it. I rolled my neck and listened as the singer’s hypnotic voice spoke directly to my soul.
“Every day I’ve tried to resurrect myself, from ashes of my life of yesterday, but each time’s been a little harder trying to arise, that now I feel I’m really down to stay.”
It was an early Chameleon song, and I immediately recognized the sultry tone as Epic’s, now that I knew it so intimately. His voice was a thing of beauty and the pain that it held wound itself around my heart and squeezed. I began to move slowly, letting Epic’s sweet tones caress my skin lovingly, which caused goose bumps to erupt across my flesh.
“Every day I’ve tried to re-invent myself, for who I think I am I cannot be, but as I metamorphosis and shed my painful past, I lose my too few friends and family.”
Yes, I’d heard the song before, and I’d loved it, but I’d never really listened to the lyrics, like really listened. Of course what I knew now about Epic changed the meaning of the words for me, and sadness washed over me. He was so full of deep-seated emotional angst. I could only hope that one day I could heal him the way he was slowly beginning to heal me. It was in that moment that I decided I’d spend the rest of my life trying.
I gyrated slowly as I let my dress slip from my body, my nipples were tight little buds as I pictured myself dancing for Epic in a room all by ourselves as he sang his heart-wrenching song for me and me alone. Suddenly the chorus broke out and I followed my urge to grip the pole in the center of the stage. I began to swing around, doing various acts of aerial gymnastics.
“I can’t seeeee—What will beeee-come of me?”
Epic’s voice screeched with pain as I danced for him. Because that’s what I was doing, I was dancing for him, and I’d never stop. The chorus dropped off and the music flowed back into the slower melody of another verse.
“Every day I’ve tried to repossess myself, from overwhelming anger in my soul, but though there’s light at tunnel’s end, it’s so damn far away, that now I feel I’ll never reach that goal.”
I slid to the ground and thrust my pelvis in the air, imagining the burnt sienna color Epic’s eyes would be if he were standing close enough to touch me. And, oh, how I wanted him to touch me. I writhed on the ground, running my hands over my own body, pretending that soon my touch would be replaced by Epic’s firmer one.