Hot Male

by Lillian Grant

  It wasn’t too late to have an aneurism, and death was starting to seem a viable option.

  Chapter 61

  Michael paced up and down the dressing room. He hadn’t danced on stage for weeks and he hadn’t done this number since leaving London. It had been Chad’s idea to make him the star attraction. He wanted to get Maggie’s attention and draw her out. Sam had spoken to Maud and she was hell-bent on helping, but no one could predict how the evening would work out. Involving Maud in anything was dangerous. She could turn the most demure event into an orgy in minutes when she put her mind to it, he was sure.

  The door swung open and Michael spun around. “Chad.”

  “Michael. It’s all set. Everyone’s here and ready to go. Simon’s warming up the crowd, and then the guys will do their set, leaving you to bring the show home. Are you sure you want to do the extra at the end?”

  “I’m positive. Have you seen Sam?”

  “Out front with Meg and the gang. That old lady is some weird cookie.”

  “Ain’t she just. You should think yourself lucky you’ve never been handcuffed naked to a bed and had her remove her teeth and offer to blow you.”

  Chad shuddered. “Oh, gives me flashbacks.”

  “Of what?”

  Chad grinned. “Not the time or place, my man. I better get back to the bar. Good luck.”

  They embraced and Chad rubbed Michael’s back a couple of times before pulling away and leaving the room. Michael checked his outfit in the full-length mirror and got back to pacing. He could hear the crowd yelling over the music. Simon must be almost naked already.

  *

  Meg found herself sitting far too close to the stage, squished between Maud and Sam. Her mother was the other side of the table and three sheets to the wind. She had a sneaking suspicion her dad had spiked her mother’s afternoon cuppa in order to make her compliant enough to even show up. Her mother had been to the club a couple of times before. Once when she was drunk and the other with the ex lady mayoress who she had thought would give her a leg up the social ladder. With her large straw hat and pristine white gloves, her mother really wasn’t the strip club type.

  Sian and Sandra giggled together, and Meg wondered how her mother never even suspected they were more than just friends. Michael’s mother and sister Grace had tagged along and they were a riot. Meg wished she had a mother she could laugh with but she didn’t. She bet Michael’s mother wouldn’t have cared if she knew Michael was having a relationship with two other people. Not that she ever would now because he wasn’t. She hadn’t checked out the bar. She hadn’t. But it seemed Michael was missing. He must have guessed she would be at the bachelorette party and had taken the evening off.

  Laura lifted her vodka and coke and swallowed it in one, waving her hand at a passing waiter for another. She looked the way Meg felt. Meg had hardly seen her best friend since they got back from Ireland. She had been deliberately evasive. Laura had a way of wheedling information out of people even when they never intended to share.

  Meg reached over Sam and patted the morose woman on the arm. “Are you all right?”

  Laura grinned as she accepted a new drink from the waiter. Meg wasn’t sure it was entirely hygienic to be serving drinks dressed in a bow tie, shirt cuffs and a G-string, but she wasn’t the health department. Maud let out a loud whistle, and Meg glanced at the stage as five burly men whipped off their undies. Dicks swung in the breeze. She had no interest in other men or their appendages. She turned her attention back to her best friend who had consumed another drink. “Laura?”

  The woman banged her glass on the table. “I broke up with Chad.”

  “What? Why?”

  “He won’t share. He won’t let me play the field, and you know me. I’ve got a very strong sex drive. I’m a slave to it. If he really loved me he’d let me do what made me happy. I bet Sam would let you have someone else. Wouldn’t you, Sam?”

  Meg could feel the flush creep up her neck and flood her face. Had someone told Laura? Was her secret out?

  Sam shrugged. “Not sure I can answer that. Meg’s not you.”

  “No, she’s not. Meg’s a good girl who never cheats and probably says Hail Marys after sex to make sure she hasn’t ruined her chances with God.”

  When Laura waved at a passing waiter Sam grabbed her arm. “I think you’ve had enough. I could really go off you. Now apologize to Meg.”

  Laura sighed. “Sorry. I’m a bitch, I know. Anyway, you won’t need to put up with me for much longer.”

  Meg frowned. Surely Laura wouldn’t do something stupid. “Why?”

  “I’m going to work in the Caribbean. Sun, surf, sex and no Chad. I sold the bar to him yesterday.”

  Before Meg had a chance to respond, the house lights dimmed and Maud grabbed her arm. “I think you’re going to like this act.”

  Meg glanced at the stage as a single spotlight illuminated a lamppost. The air was filled with the deep throbbing wail of a single electric guitar and Michael stepped into the light dressed in a top hat and tails. He tossed his cane offstage and as Parisienne Walkways thumped from the sound system he grabbed the lamppost and spun around, deep enough to almost brush the stage. Meg clenched her hands in her lap, her nails digging into her palms. The tiny pricks of pain held back the sob threatening to overwhelm her. Michael’s dance was like a train wreck she couldn’t stop watching. Each note throbbed inside her. He moved with grace and raw sex appeal. Clothes slipped from his body in time to the beat. His hands roamed over his skin. Soft skin that she knew would be warm to the touch.

  Finally, down to a black G-string, he held his top hat in front of his crotch as the music built to a crescendo. When it stopped for a moment, he tugged the tiny scrap of fabric free and threw it aside. The first deep throb of music stirred him to action. He flipped the hat into his right hand and rolled it up onto his head, threw his arms wide and tipped his head back. The previously silent room went into uproar. Meg stared at Michael and despair washed over her. She loved every sexy well-hung inch of him and he wasn’t hers anymore.

  Sian squealed and whistled. “I’d forgotten how gorgeous that man is. He’s hung like a donkey. Makes me wish I was straight.”

  Sandra punched her and Sian pulled the woman in for a kiss. Meg’s mother’s hat toppled off her head as she grabbed Sian’s arm. “What are you doing? Don’t do that, dear. It’s not seemly. Sian. Sian.”

  Grace covered her face with her hands. “I’ve gone blind. Would someone tell our Michael to put his clothes back on?”

  Michael’s mother laughed. “Get away with you. The boy’s not changed a bit since the day he worse diapers.”

  Laura sighed. “Must have been big diapers. Do you think if I asked, Michael would go another round with me? I bet he’d share.”

  Sam shoved his chair back and Meg tried to grab him as he walked off. Maybe he couldn’t bear to be witness to the conversation anymore. She knew she couldn’t sit here and listen to everyone talk about Michael like that. Someone was bound to notice how she felt about him and her secret would be out. She looked back at the stage as the room lights came on. Michael dropped his head and his eyes locked on hers. The heat and passion turned her to mush. He still loved her.

  Maud shuffled in her seat. “I think he’s giving me the glad eye. I might see if he wants a run around the block.”

  Anger overwhelmed panic. He wasn’t a commodity. He was a gorgeous, funny, sexy man. A man she loved. “He’s not giving you the glad eye. He won’t fuck you, Laura, and Sian, you’re gay, so hands off.”

  Sian stared at her. “What do you mean hands off?”

  Meg’s mother stuttered. “Sian’s what? Sian’s what, dear?”

  “Sian’s gay. Sandra’s her lover and Michael Monaghan is mine.”

  Maud batted her eyelashes behind her enormous glasses. “I thought you were with Sam?”

  “I am and we’re both in love with Michael.”

  Meg’s mother let out a squeal and passed ou
t face down on the table. Michael’s mother smiled. “I guess she’s not as happy as she might be.”

  Meg got to her feet and shoved her chair back. She needed to run. She needed to hide.

  Chapter 62

  Michael didn’t hang around to see the chaos. The way Maggie had leapt to her feet after all hell broke loose at the table, he could only assume she had told them something about him. She was fierce when she was angry, and she had been mad as hell, if he was any judge of body language.

  Not wanting to waste time, he ran to the dressing room and burst through the door. Sam was waiting as planned but he seemed nervous as he fumbled with the cuff on his white shirt.

  “Did it work?”

  Michael grinned as he slipped into a fresh G-string, followed by his leather stripper pants. “Aye, I think it did.”

  Sam finished up the last button on his shirt as Michael tugged his pre-buttoned garment over his head. Sam glanced at him. “I’ll be waiting in the wings.”

  “Are you not going?”

  Sam shook his head. “Nope. Off you go, big guy. Go get the girl.”

  “I didn’t think you’d noticed.”

  “Noticed what?”

  “That I was big, but I guess you’ve been peeking.”

  Sam threw a hairbrush at Michael’s head as he ducked out of the room.

  He took a deep breath, ran his fingers through his hair, and straightened his shirt. It was now or never. The concrete floor of the corridor chilled his bare feet as he padded to the door that led to the bar. He shoved it open to be met by a wall of noise. A woman grabbed his arm as he walked by, but he shook her off. He had no time to gab to strangers. Michael Monaghan was on a mission.

  By the time he got to the front of the room, Maggie was on her feet. Maud, resplendent in blue sparkly hot pants, a cherry red bra, and wedding veil, was pulling at her arm. His heart thumped. His lady was perfect in jeans and a T-shirt but in the black dress and sexy heels she was breathtaking. How could he have ever given her up?

  Maud tried harder. “Meg, sit down. You’re making a scene. You know how your mother hates to be shown up in public.”

  Michael smiled when Maud finally noticed he’d arrived. The old lady let Maggie go.

  He touched Maggie’s bare shoulder. Her warm skin sent a jolt to his heart. “Maggie.”

  She turned and threw herself into his arms. He held on tight as she buried her face. Her body quivered and he wasn’t sure if it was fear or love that had her coming undone. He gave her a moment, and then pulled her away from him. “Would you do us the honor of dancing with us?”

  When she looked up at him her beautiful blue eyes were brimming with tears. “Us?”

  He nodded toward the stage where Sam stood waiting. “Aye.”

  She turned her head toward the front of the room and then looked back up at him.

  “You want me to dance … up there … with both of you?”

  “That was the idea. So will you do it? Will you let us show the world the lady we love?”

  A smile teased her lips. “You’ve got a silver tongue, Mr. Monaghan.”

  “So I’ve been told.” He dipped his head and kissed her neck. Brushing her earlobe with his lips, he whispered, “It has brought many a lady undone but now it’s all yours, if you still want it.”

  She turned her head and he found her lips with his own, drowning in the heady kiss of the only woman he had ever loved. He knew the shudder he felt ripple through her was lust, and it spiked his own desire. However, now would not be the opportune moment to get an erection. He pulled back. “So, what will it be? On stage to tell the world we’re together, or hiding at the table placating your ma, assuming she ever comes out of her coma?”

  “Are you sure you want me back?”

  “I never wanted to give you up, darlin’. The choice was always yours to make. I just did what I thought you wanted me to do.”

  “I want you. I love you.”

  “I love you too.” He kissed her all too briefly. “So, what will it be? Shall we sit here and see what kind of stripper our man makes, or should we put him out of his misery?”

  “Our man.” She giggled. “I like that.”

  *

  She grabbed Michael’s hand. “Let’s go. Let’s show the world.”

  Mrs. Riley lifted her head. “Maggie. Maggie. What are you doing with him? Put him down, dear. You don’t know where he’s been.”

  Meg clasped his hand tighter. “I know exactly where he’s been and where he’s going. I’m going to dance with Michael and Sam.”

  “What, dear? Why?”

  “Because I love him. I love them both. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

  Ignoring Laura begging to know what the fuck was going on, Sian’s enthusiastic yells of encouragement, Michael’s mother’s tut-tut as her mother begged Meg not to do it because strippers were common and she would never survive the humiliation of it all, she let Michael escort her to stand in front of the stage. She waited as he leapt onto the timber planking with ease. When both men offered her a hand, she allowed them to lift her up to join them.

  Sam gave her a kiss on the cheek, and she smiled. As the first few notes of Icehouse’s Hey Little Girl filled the air, Sam stepped closer and whispered, “Just one thing. He likes to be naked but I prefer you leave my G-string on.”

  “You want me to undress both of you?”

  Michael chuckled. “It’s a strip club, darlin’.”

  “What about me?”

  Michael shook his head. “No one’s seeing you naked, Maggie. We don’t share. Sam knows the routine so just follow our lead.”

  With that, he pulled her into his arms and swept her around the stage. The music filled her body. Nothing existed beyond Sam and Michael. She danced to perfection and Sam’s grin was infectious as they swapped her between them. Her hands trembled as she removed Michael’s shirt. However, she had no such fear by the time he was down to his G-string. He did the cha-cha with her. Sam strutted his stuff at the front of the stage, close enough to the ladies to have them begging for more but not so close they could touch. As the song came to an end, Meg slipped behind Michael and tugged his G-string free. The last notes tailed off as Michael dipped her and gave a lingering kiss to the sound of stamping feet and yells of “more.”

  He righted her, and she turned in his arms and kissed Sam hard. When she tried to move away, Michael pulled her back against him. Something rigid dug into her arse. “Don’t move, darlin’, or I’ll be arrested for indecency.”

  Sam raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got a boner, haven’t you?”

  “I’ve been going without of late and you two really know how to turn a guy on.”

  “You’re disgusting.”

  Michael chuckled as he wrapped his arms tighter around Meg. She turned her head and gave him a searing kiss.

  “You keep doing that, darlin’, and we’ll never be able to move.”

  Sam groaned. “What about me?”

  Michael grabbed the back of Sam’s head and tugged his face closer. Meg was spellbound as the men locked lips. The kiss was brief but intoxicating, sending heat pounding through her veins and moisture pooling between her thighs.

  They pulled apart and Sam glared at Michael. “How many times do I have to tell you no tongues?”

  Michael chuckled. “If you’re good, I’ll jack you off later.”

  Sam grinned. “And if you behave, I just might let you.”

  Meg moaned at the image that conjured in her mind. Both men stared at her. “I think we should all go to Michael’s apartment.”

  “You want to bounce on my big bed, darlin’?” He winked.

  Sam slapped him across the shoulder. “Is that what you’re calling it? That’s disgusting.”

  Meg squealed. “I don’t give a fuck what he calls it. I need to get out of here, now.”

  Michael lifted her into his arms, and Sam stayed between Michael and the audience as he carried her offstage and into a future she could never have
imagined in her wildest dreams.

  The End

  About the Author

  Born and bred in the UK, Lillian Grant’s whole life was turned on its head when, at the tender age of eighteen, she met and fell instantly in love with her darling husband. She knew the minute she met him she was going to marry him and, fortunately, he came to the same conclusion less than six months later.

  She has travelled the world with her husband and currently calls Australia home. It didn’t take her long to turn native. She became an Australian citizen and dropped the British accent. However, her wanderlust didn’t stop with moving to the other side of the world. With her husband and two sons she has moved from state to state, always ready for a new adventure. Her stories reflect her love for travel and exotic locations, along with a quirky British sense of humor. Well, you can’t give up all of your heritage now, can you?