by Jackson Kane
“So much for inconspicuous,” I whispered when I got off the stage and met him on the floor. I still couldn’t help feeling a little embarrassed that I kissed him like that.
“These people have short memories.” Remy scanned the crowd with dangerous eyes that made me ache for him. He gently brushed the hair out of the way and slid my glasses back onto my face. “We have some time to kill. I’ll get us some drinks.”
I found myself biting my lip in his brief absence, thinking about the care in which he returned my glasses. Remy had this hold over me that made my head swim like I was under his spell…. What was I thinking? He was magic.
Remy made his way back from the bar with a bottle of something. The guys, even the ones who had been talking to dancers, took the time to pat Remy on the back or give him a thumbs-up as he passed. The girls weren’t too happy about that and glared hatefully at me. I certainly wasn’t making any friends here.
Fine by me. Fuck them.
“Fifty dollars says that you’re mine for the next half hour.” Remy placed a ticket stub on the table.
“Just fifty?” I coyly acted disappointed. “Last time you gave me a hundred.”
“Looks like you’re going to have to earn the rest of it.” He touched the icy bottle to the back of my thigh and spurred me forward.
That cold felt so good after those hot lights.
As we walked upstairs, Remy gave the bouncer stationed there the ticket and an extra fifty. The man told us to have fun then clinked the purple felted rope chain closed behind us then strolled a little further down the stairs so he was out of eyeshot.
The “Private Dance Rooms” were a wall of numbered, crushed red velvet, curtained-off alcoves. Remy pulled back the faded curtain divider of one so that I could walk in. Residual music was loud enough to dance to but also soft enough that we could actually talk to one another.
With a wicked smile, I dropped my purse and shoved Remy onto one of the pillowed benches that lined the wall. I kept just outside of arm’s reach and danced, slowly peeling layers of clothing off. His breathing became subtly heavier. Oh, he was hungry for every square inch of smooth flesh I gave him. With every piece of clothing that fell, I dared him.
“Come here,” my eyelashes called to him.
How bad did he want it?
I wondered which of us would lose control first.
Remy hunched forward. No smile on his lips, just budding determination written all over those strong, tattooed arms. It was spelled out on his every corded muscle. He would have me.
Down to just bra, panties, and heels, I flicked open the button on his jeans and slid my hands up under his shirt. They climbed over hard ridges and valleys, through the course patch of his chest hair before, arms raised, he let me pull his shirt right off. I discarded it and poured over him, blanketing him with kisses. I slid my thighs over his jeans and straddled his lap, facing him. My hands lightly massaged along his ribs before plunging to his waist.
He caught them both as I reached the metal treads of his zipper. “I told you to work for it.”
His deep voice shook me. My restrained arms were wrapped behind my back as he effortlessly drew me closer as my legs reflexively wrapped around his waist. He bit me hard on the shoulder and ground my body into his. The sensation skirted the cusp of pain enough that worry and thrill leapfrogged through me.
It dawned on me that he was actually letting me in. That was a huge deal! If we survived long enough, I’d bear witness to the heights of his potential and the depths of his depravity. What hidden depths was this man truly capable of?
When we fucked before, it was in the moment. Raw. Death loomed just yards away in every direction. It was the desperation of a final embrace. Some warmth before the cold, dark end.
This was another thing entirely.
“Would you like me to show you?” Remy cooed in my ear.
I’d never met a man who could sharpen his smile into a knife like Remy could. Oh God, would I be able to handle all of him? Not just his cock, but his full attention? His love?
“Yes...,” I moaned. I needed to know like I needed air. The darkness inside me wanted him to ruin me. The words I had hoped to be only thinking betrayed me and slipped out between my clenched teeth, “Tear me apart.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Star
To my great sadness, the pressure around my wrists vanished. For the briefest of moments, I was worried that I misjudged Remy and would be left wanting. I immediately felt the scratch of his fingernails closing around the straps of my bra, followed by the strain of fabric being tugged.
Remy tensed, and the clasp abruptly exploded.
My eyes went wide. Like a flash of lightning, one hand clenched my neck, dramatically restricting my ability to breathe, while the other tossed the wasted garment across the room.
That need for him became a raging inferno.
I’d have fallen backward had he not had me by the throat. I only played at control, but he could truly do whatever he wanted. I was completely at the mercy of the monster inside him.
We have some time to kill, his words echoed in my head menacingly. Could a damaged man like Remy only be truly sated with brutality, the rending of bone and meat? Or did it crave a carnal pound of flesh as well?
What would happen if he used me all up?
Remy’s free arm cradled my ass and hoisted me up. Together, we careened into the padded wall. I was floating. The pressure on my neck, although intense, still allowed me to draw in a ragged breath. He slammed into me, the plush red wall at my naked back, and crushed me against his brutal body. With my head jutted upward, I could only watch him via the mirror on the ceiling.
He had so much power. I should’ve been terrified but didn’t really know why I wasn’t.
His teeth traced the length of my collarbone, dragging between my breasts to threaten each and every rib on my side with a bite. I was made of glass. Had he bit down hard enough, I might have shattered.
My arms were draped atop his thick, scarred shoulders, but I barely noticed where they were. My eyes locked onto him through the smoke-yellowed mirror above.
Remy kissed around the stem of my breasts but ignored them otherwise. His stubble grazed by the tip of my swollen nipple, which hardened into a cut diamond. He had them so hard, I was certain they would scratch his cheek as he passed. Then he leaned back to take me in fully.
My face reddened, body stretched out, stomach quivering. “More,” I mouthed, unable to spare the air for any actual sound.
He released my throat, and I gasped, flooding my lungs with oxygen as he had me stand on the bench. A great big hand found my chest and pinned me against the wall as he jerked down my damp panties. A thin thread of my juices stuck to his finger as he snapped them down.
Fuck, I was soaked!
I had never been turned on this much before. I was ready for him in a way I didn’t think was even possible.
I wanted to ravage him, but he cruelly kept me at bay, only allowing me to watch. The bastard. His tongue drew circles over my hip bone ever downward.
Just a little further....
Reading my mind, he hovered over my freshly shaved pussy and toyed with me. I could feel every merciless exhale over my sensitive lips as my hips bucked for his touch. Then he pulled away, his eyes running up my body, meeting mine.
“Please,” I mouthed. “Kiss me.”
Those dark orbs of his flashed wickedly as he obliged; then he dug his teeth into my thigh instead.
“Fuck!” My eyes rolled back. Pleasure-tipped pain coursed through my veins with an electric current. My goose bumps had goose bumps. This must be what it was like to grasp live power lines. It made me so wet that if he ate me out now, he’d drown.
His fingers parted my wet lips. My tender hood quivered at the path of his exploring thumb. The very tip slid along the ridge of my inner walls, making promises, only to dash them by pulling away. He bent my lower back toward him so that my body curved like the
letter C—my shoulders, head, and feet touching the wall.
Remy plunged his slick thumb into my mouth as his tongue stabbed at my clit.
I frantically licked and sucked on his thumb, appreciative that he gave me anything at all to do while he turned my pussy inside out. He oscillated his tongue with the tenacity between a death-row last meal and passing disinterest.
My body was on fire!
His thumb was savagely ripped from my mouth just before he carelessly tossed me onto the bench, sending my glasses flying from the impact. I lay there, having no idea what to expect next. That was when he parted the teeth of his fly in the longest unzipping of my life.
At Muse’s, he had broken composure first and ravaged me. It was fast, messy, and thrashing as we generally smashed about. I thought we even dented the car hood! This time, he emanated absolute control. It was almost like I was being fucked by a different man wearing Remy’s handsome skin. There was so much more to him than anyone could possibly know.
Those black jeans could no longer contain him. He burst out as the denim scooted down his chiseled thighs. Impulsively, I lunged for the bulge in his screamingly taut briefs.
Work for it, his words echoed in my mind, bringing me to a halt. I thought my emerging composure surprised him as I was pretty sure he thought he had me pegged. I lightly glided my fingers over his lower back to his hips, hooked the elastic band, and dragged the briefs to his knees.
Now free from its cotton prison, Remy’s veined, rigid shaft sprang up. He fisted it, driving his hand back and forth down its length just for me as the darkened head bobbed behind his knuckles. He knew I wanted it. He easily read that in the way I bit my bottom lip, but I wouldn’t break.
Fuck me! I screamed internally. I knew if I said it out loud, he would have withdrawn to torture me more. I moaned, closed my eyes, and focused on picking out just his scent. I bathed in it, let it invade every pore of my body and etched itself in that part of the brain specifically devoted to the pheromones of one’s mate.
Both hands grasped my hips. Finally! I swooned as his cock plunged inside of me. My pussy devoured him. I was insatiable! Every muscle in me contracted, flexed. I was a python crushing him, strangling his cock like he had choked me earlier.
He worked his teeth down my neck and collarbone then bit down hard enough on my shoulder that I gasped aloud. Each thrust set every pink, wet cell of this body on fire. Ecstasy on an atomic level.
In a feeble attempt to steady my machine-gun heart, I fisted my hand over my left breast to my shoulder. His bite marks sang across my flesh, declaring to all his ownership.
It felt so fucking amazing.
I screamed and screamed as Remy shoved harder, grinding my body against him. His thrusts and roughness awakened a strength I didn’t know I had that would help me survive in his dark world. Somewhere deep inside, that shadow version of me rejoiced.
All concepts of time eluded me. The experience came in swells, rising and falling. So, too, did my orgasms and the waves of spasms that followed. My pussy pulsated, but that sensation was everywhere! And the heat… God, there was so much heat! Inside and out, I radiated like my soul was a stoked furnace.
Remy’s face tightened in concentration. It was clear he was on the verge of coming. I kicked off the floor and bench to slide off him completely. He almost fought me but then decided to release me and see what I was up to. I swung myself over and slid my lips around his soaked cock.
I took it deep enough to choke on it.
It flexed in my mouth. My tongue lapped his shaft briefly before giving his swollen head my full attention. My mouth was a wellspring of sweet, slick friction and pressure.
Remy came. The base of my tongue felt his seed firing like a shotgun blast down my throat without stopping. Burst after burst, I swallowed every hot, salty drop. Both my hands massaged his spent shaft and balls. I practically purred, greedily wanting everything.
It felt so good.
With a handful of my hair, he pulled his cock from my lips, which culminated in a smacking sound, as I didn’t want to let him go. He sat behind me, his cock softened, but still very much turgid. I laid my head on his hard thigh, careful to give his sensitive member a little space to relax. He brushed the hair from my face so I could lie more comfortably, and a crazy, wonderful feeling washed over me that took me by surprise.
This was home.
Not just the sex, but the hard-won intimacy. I had a place with Remy. Home didn’t have to be a building or town. That sense of belonging didn’t have to come from a community or a biological family. I felt more love, tenderness, and understanding in the strokes of his hand through my hair than with anyone I’d ever known.
Sometimes love was being naked in a dirty strip club with a man you’d just met.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Remy
I sat at the bar and casually watched Star walk the crowd, talking to people.
Tearing things and people down was easier. I was built for that. Saving someone like Star or saving something like the Veins from themselves was intimidating. At first, I didn’t want to admit it. Hell, maybe I was too proud, or maybe I was too scared? But watching the person that Star had become made me absolutely certain…
I couldn’t do any of this without her.
Star was incredible. My eyes watched her flutter from table to table, becoming more and more comfortable as the night progressed. Anyone else who was dealt her hand this past week would’ve folded, but not her. I’d never seen someone adapt to a strange and dangerous situation as quickly as her. I could see that she was still nervous and afraid, and that was all right.
Because no matter what any posturing alpha-male jerkoff says, everyone felt fear. Fear was important to keep you alive.
If you heed it as a warning, it could keep you above ground. But most of the time, the weak-willed, including some of those same alpha-male, tough guys, were paralyzed by it. Fear seeped into your pores like thick, black tar and weighed you down from the inside.
I’d seen hard men arrested or killed because fear crippled them. If you didn’t get past it, then you were at the mercy of some asshole who could—like me.
Fear didn’t stop Star. She worked through it. That was why I admired her so much.
Star knew the difference between a warning and cowardice. After we had recovered from our fuck, I broke down every step of the plan with her. She was nervous but confident. I had faith in her. I had to. She was the only person I could trust.
I needed her now more than ever.
Sex with her was… unreal, but if that was all she was good for, I wouldn’t have protected her from Top and Rio. Hell, if I hadn’t seen that spark in her early on, she probably wouldn’t have made it out of that gas station alive, let alone Muse’s Place.
She would have been another victim of circumstance.
I watched her casually stroll toward me through the mirror behind the bar as if I was just another john she was soliciting for a dance.
Her fingers casually brushed across my shoulders. “Looks like Deadeye got your brother’s message. I think Lorenzo and his guys just walked in,” she whispered apprehensively as her lips grazed my ear. The scent of her hair made me wish we had more time in the private room upstairs. I’d developed an insatiable appetite for her.
I could eat her for days and still go hungry.
“How many?” I scanned the entrance, but only caught the last of Lorenzo’s guys get patted down. The rest had already spread out. I guess I did a good job describing Lorenzo and his team to her earlier, because she’d spotted them very quickly.
“Looks like four in all.” Her legs crossed while she sat beside me as she played up my seduction. It was disingenuous enough to show that this was just work for her.
“Lorenzo will approach me alone, but his guys will stay close and watch, probably near the stage. You think you can keep them distracted?”
“Ew!... but yeah.” She faked a little laugh as she checked out Lorenzo
’s team. “I’ll schedule another dance.”
“You should go because he’ll see me soon. Keep an eye out for any more that filter in, and let Ginger know that a friend of Gino’s is at the bar.” Before she turned away, I grabbed Star’s hand, ran my thumb over her knuckles, and beheld her. “Be careful.”
Star squeezed my hand and nodded with a hint of a smile creasing her face. Then she was gone.
I scolded myself for my cowardice at becoming too protective. All that would do was draw unnecessary attention to us. Even the thought of her getting hurt was a bloody spike in my side that hurt more than my cracked ribs. She could take care of herself. Placing that kind of trust in someone was so damn difficult for me, but I had to get over it.
Lorenzo finally spotted me and sauntered over, eyeing Star as she passed him. It wasn’t a look of recognition, just idly checking her out like a piece of meat. My knuckles went white with the mere thought of him brushing against her as they crossed paths.
Had he so much as touched her….
Be smarter than that. I pushed the anger from my mind, exhaled, and focused on the task at hand. The gun in my waistband that Star smuggled in for me ached to scream lead into him. I was in control.
“Poet.” Lorenzo cleared his throat and took the stool next to mine at the bar.
I closed the book I was pretending to read and threw up two fingers to the bartender. I bumped out a smoke from my pack and offered him one.
Lorenzo took it and dropped it on the bar to have for later.
“Ya know, I figured you more as a café guy than a strip club guy.” Lorenzo ran his tongue across the inside of his bottom row of teeth as if to get the taste of the statement out of his mouth. He slid my book around to read the title before disdainfully pushing it away. “Riveting stuff.”
“I take it you’re not one for the classics?” I shoved the paperback in my back pocket as I had every intention of finishing it.