Lincoln

Chapter 18

18

VIOLET

“What the hell is this place?” I look up at the colossal building before me, all the while trying to navigate my heels over the cobblestone pathway leading up to it.

Streams of cheerful people, mainly women, funnel in through the entrance.

Hannah hooks her arm into mine and we teeter together, watching Ruby sway her sexy ass confidently in front of us. She met someone she knew as we climbed out of our cab—typical. Our infamous party girl knows everyone.

“According to Ruby, this is the place to be on a Saturday night. It’s only been open for two months, but it’s so difficult to get into and you know Ruby.”

“She knows everyone,” we both say at the same time and burst out laughing.

Hannah’s gray eyes meet mine. “Yup, so we got ourselves some tickets, baby, and VIP seats. It’s gonna be wild. Have you not heard of this place at all?”

“Nope. I’ve been busy.”

“Again.” Hannah flicks her blonde locks over her shoulder .

“Yup.”

“Well, tonight we are going to have some fun.” Hannah whoops, alerting Ruby. She turns around, flings her hands in the air, and shakes her boobs at us.

“Hell, yeah,” Ruby hollers. If she’s not careful, her boobs may pop out of her black strapless dress. Or it might flash her panties. It’s that short. She might as well have worn a hairband. I know for a fact Ruby doesn’t own a hemline below the equator.

“Oh, God. It’s going to be one of those nights and I’m tired already,” I confess.

“Well, if you weren’t up fucking a sexy Scotsman all night, you would be okay. So buckle up, baby.” Hannah unhooks her arm from mine.

“Sleep is for losers anyway, and it was totally worth it.” I bump shoulders with hers.

Hannah pulls the hem of her short silver sequined dress down. “Atta girl. It’s been way too long since you got some.”

“Made up for it last night and all day today.” It was the most fun I’ve ever had with a guy.

“Please find me one of those, Violet?” She pouts her big glossy lips at me.

“I’ve only just found one for myself. You can find your own.” Hannah and I step inside the grand entrance and we both tilt our heads back in awe at the big sign above the door, Confessions.

“Was this originally a church?”

“Yes, it was. This place is awesome.” Ruby slaps our asses, making me jolt and Hannah squeal. “I’ve brought you here to repent for all of your sins. Especially you, Violet, following last night’s events.” She slaps my ass again.

I’m grateful we have seats booked. “Wow, it’s crazy busy.” The place is buzzing with beautiful people.

Ruby stops us from entering. “Before we go in. There aren’t a lot of men here, but the ones who are, well, they are supreme. Top shelf.” She chef-kisses her fingertips. “Just remember to have fun and you can thank me later.”

“You are acting more secretive tonight. More than usual.” Hannah pulls her lip gloss out of her black sequin-encrusted clutch and smothers her lips until they look like glass. She’s obsessed with reapplication. She snaps her purse shut and smacks her lips together. “Shall we go in?”

“Hell, yeah.” Ruby whips around in a flash, her deep-red hair swishing as she moves swiftly toward the towering wooden church-style doors leading to the body of the club.

“I hope you brought lots of dollar bills like I told you for tonight. Saturday nights here are all for charity. And I just know how charitable you girls are.” She flings her head back, laughing, and finger-waves across at someone else she knows.

Charity night? At a nightclub?

“What the hell have we gotten ourselves into, Hannah?” I smooth down my deep-purple front-zip dress. It’s riskier and more figure-hugging than I would normally wear, but I bought this ages ago and have never had the courage to wear it. I consider pulling the zipper up further to hide my cleavage but stop myself. Screw it, the girls are getting their monthly airing tonight. I push my boobs together and lower my zipper an inch. After all the soul-deep thoughts Lincoln told me earlier, I have never felt so sexy.

The main doors part for us and we’re hit by a wall of soul-shaking beats. It vibrates through my entire body. It’s going to be a great night.

I look up as we are ushered to our seats through a sea of excitable women, eyeing row upon row of wooden arches above. Both sides of the nightclub are lined with alcoves, all fitted with modern racing-green leather banquette seating .

The entire club is a complete contrast. At eye level it’s dark, but the ceiling is lit with strings adorned with thousands of warm-yellow firefly lights and giant LED starbursts. The lights bounce off the stained-glass windows, causing a kaleidoscope of colors overhead. I gasp at its beauty.

I gaze around the enormous space and realize the crowd is at least ninety percent women. I lean near Hannah’s ear so she can hear me over the loud music. “You are never finding a man in here tonight.” I laugh.

She nods her head in agreement as we finally reach our VIP seating right beside the bar.

“We have the best seats in the house, ladies.” Ruby lays her purse on the table and checks the time. “We have about five minutes before the fun begins.”

I do not know what fun she is talking about, but I quickly stand and offer to get our drinks.

The bar is so long it disappears up one side of the club with at least fifty guys serving. Mirrors line the entire bar, making it look even longer. Wooden shelving houses row upon row of brightly colored liquor bottles in every stone alcove. The inner interior designer part of me praises the person who sympathetically designed this. It’s breathtaking.

Facing away from the bar, I’m too busy looking around the dance floor when a voice from behind me asks, “What can I get you?”

I snap my head around. I know that voice. “Lincoln?” I gasp.

His eyes bug out. “Shit. What the hell are you doing here?” He looks concerned.

“What the hell are you doing here and why are you standing behind the bar?”

And what is he wearing? White vest top exposing his bulging biceps and strong bronzed shoulders, baseball cap, and massive baggy jeans that hang low across his hips. He looks like Channing fucking Tatum, but ten times more handsome.

“I work here on Saturdays.” He hangs his head, then lifts it again, turning his baseball cap backward so I can see his face. His jaws tics, once, then twice. He’s so gorgeous.

“What’s with you and these random-ass jobs?” I can’t believe he’s here.

“I don’t get paid for tonight. None of the guys behind the bar do. It’s all for charity and I’ve only been doing this for four weeks. I’m helping out, that’s all.” He bites his lip, then checks the giant clock that’s being projected onto the wall above the bar. Three minutes to the hour. “Shit. You should go.”

“Why?” I frown, confused.

He doesn’t answer and we have a stare-off.

“So you’re staying?” He drums his fingers on the bar top.

“Of course I’m staying. We just got here,” I shrill.

He fills his cheeks with air, then exhales slowly. “Fuck it. What are you drinking?” It’s the most serious I have ever seen him.

I give him my order.

Light-footed, he moves around behind the bar, quickly making our drinks then places them all carefully on the tray and robotically takes my money.

He bites his lip before asking, “Where are you sitting?”

I point over to the girls in our seating booth barely a few yards away, and both Hannah and Ruby are staring with their mouths hanging open at my interaction with Lincoln.

My heart sinks. He’s different tonight and I don’t like it. He grabs my hand when I lift the tray off the bar, making my drinks slosh about.

“Please promise me you won’t judge me or like me any less after tonight. ”

Huh?

“Well, having spent almost twenty-four hours with you in my bed, I feel like I don’t know you at all. You’re acting like an asshole, like you don’t even know me tonight. You just asked me to leave.”

“That’s not why I asked you to leave, Violet.” He shakes his head, his eyes full of sadness.

A loud gong almost makes me drop the tray, and a hive of activity behind the bar breaks out. Whoops, whistles, and claps echo across the cavernous club.

Lincoln begins clearing the top of the bar. His eyes never leave mine.

“Just please promise me you won’t judge, okay?” he begs.

The crowd begins counting down from twenty. The projection clock behind the bar keeps everyone in time.

“You should go back to your table,” he shouts over the jeering and shakes his head again. Two guys, dressed similarly to him, slap him on the back, telling him it’s showtime.

Annoyed with him, I don’t reply as I stomp back to the table where Ruby and Hannah fire dozens of Who is the mystery man? questions at me.

In a daze, I take a sip of my cosmopolitan, unable to work out if I’m mad or sad.

“God, you are so secretive, Violet,” Ruby huffs when I don’t tell her what she wants to know.

“Nothing to tell.”

“Nothing to tell us about the freaking Hollywood-looking movie star behind the bar, no? Not a thing. Nothing to tell, even though you just had a full conversation with him. Did you at least get his number?”

I don’t have time to answer because the club plummets into darkness and the crowd goes wild .

UV lighting floods the place, highlighting a wall of men standing all along the top of the bar, their white tops glowing a luminous lilac-blue color.

Heads bowed, baseball caps covering their faces, hands behind their backs, they stand like soldiers waiting to be given their command.

My heart pounds and I don’t know why, but the mood in the room changes when a gritty instrumental harpsichord booms through the speakers. The boys all stomp their right foot in time to the music.

The intro of the song builds and when the beat kicks in, they all march, raise their heads, and salute.

Oh, dear Lord. Is Lincoln going to dance?

I search for him and find him three away from the end of the bar, right beside our table.

Holy shit, I think he is.

The bass booms, making the club vibrate. “If” by Janet Jackson picks up pace, and it springs the guys into action. Half of them jump off the bar and run through the club as the heavy metal intro gets louder. They jump onto the tabletops in every alcove and pick up the routine.

“Why do we not have a dancer?” Ruby screams across the noise.

My eyes are glued to Lincoln, who’s still dancing on top of the bar.

Perfectly synchronized, the guys all move in time, one hand on top of their heads, chins to chests, while they have one hand over their crotches and hip-thrust, then grip their belts and dip up and down. The crowd goes crazy.

They move together in the perfectly practiced routine. Every new hip thrust makes the women scream louder. The guys all raise their heads together as the chorus reaches its peak, then fling their baseball caps into the crowd. Scantily clad women search the air, jump around, and dive to catch one. You would think they were trying to catch a bride’s bouquet.

The crowd fades away and all I can see is Lincoln. Undulating his body in waves, he moves about the bar like a professional hip-hop dancer with hip isolations and body pops. I can’t draw my eyes away from him.

On fast, nimble feet, he spins on his crisp white chunky sneakers and just as he comes to a stop, he rips the neckline of his shirt, pulling it off his body like he’s the goddamn Hulk.

My mouth falls open.

Please tell me he’s taking all his clothes off.

A warm flush of heat starting at my toes rises through my body. I’ve licked those abs and sucked his nipples, and holy hell balls, I’ve sucked his divine dick.

I fan my face with my hand. “Hot as hell,” I mumble to myself.

Hannah and Ruby are too distracted watching the guys to notice how turned on I am.

He drops to his knees and, as if by magic, water pours from the ceiling. The ultraviolet lighting hits it, making it look like streams of diamonds. He flings his head back, letting the water soak his skin, and runs his hands all over his upper body as he slides his knees back and forth, gyrating his hips and pelvis.

I pat the side of my mouth to check I’m not visibly salivating over his droolworthy body.

He shakes his head, and droplets of water spray through the air, making the people nearest the bar scream for more.

He looks up and his eyes catch mine. He looks solemn, as if he’s worried I will be mad at him for doing this. This is why he asked me to leave. He didn’t want me to know .

I throw him my biggest megawatt smile, throw my hands in the air, and cheer as loud as I can. “More.”

Relief washes across his face. As he shows his white teeth in a shit-eating smile, they glow under the ultraviolet lights.

He springs off the bar and sprints toward me.

Ruby and Hannah let out excitable yelps as Lincoln leaps onto our tabletop.

He continues to do a few routine moves along with the other guys, but then they begin to freestyle.

Lincoln drops on all fours and focuses on me. “Hi.” His eyes dance with amusement. “It’s for charity.” He raises his voice over the loud music and crowd. “You okay with this?” His brows crease.

“Hell, yeah.” I can’t nod fast enough. “Now dance for me.”

He leans forward and smacks a kiss against my lips.

Hannah and Ruby point at the projected rules on the back wall, which I didn’t notice before.

Thou shalt not touch (unless instructed and given permission by a dancer).

Thou shalt not kiss, lick, or grope.

Thou shalt not dance on the tabletops (dancers only).

Thou shalt give to charity.

Thou shalt enjoy the show.

“Girls.” Through a wide grin, I shout as loud as I can over the music, so they can hear me. “This is Lincoln.”

Ruby’s legs give way and she drops in shock to her seat, her mouth agape.

“ This is Lincoln?” Hannah points to him while looking at me.

I nod .

“Our girl won the freakin’ lotto.” She throws her hands in the air and cheers.

Lincoln flings his head back, laughing, then he jumps onto his feet and dances for me on top of the table. His eyes lock with mine throughout every second of his routine, and I’m sure I’m panting as he moves his body in ways I can only dream about.

Hannah and Ruby skim their eyes around the room, watching the other guys. I think they are trying to be polite, but their eyes keep moving back to Lincoln.

Yup, my boy’s got game.

His skin glistens in the provocative light, and I wish it was just the two of us. I’m desperate to touch him.

In one swift motion, he sits down on the edge of the table and straddles his legs on either side of me, his delicious abs right in front of my face.

“Take my jeans off.” He shoots me a roguish grin.

“What? Here?” I squeal.

“Yes. Part of the show.” He lies back flat against the table, unbuckles his belt, and pushes his hips in the air.

I’m going to hell doing this to a guy in a church.

I pull his wet baggy pants down over his carved hips and reveal a pair of white and blue Scottish flag boxers.

His cock looks massive in them, and I have to rub my thighs together to stop the warmth burning there.

Clumsily, I remove his wide-legged jeans over his sneakers and throw them onto the leather seating.

Lincoln pushes his hips into the air, his crotch right in my face, and thrusts himself up and down, causing my nipples to pebble against the fabric of my bra.

A guy appears at the end of the table with what looks like a wooden church collection box. He gives Lincoln a fist pump as Hannah and Ruby drop dollar bills into the cut-out slot on top of the offering box.

Unable to move or watch, Hannah finds my clutch and makes my donation for me.

I’d happily pay triple.

Almost at the end, the gritty beats of the song are lowered slightly and the DJ thanks everyone for the donations and informs them this week it’s going to the local charity to help homeless veterans. Lincoln sits up and leans forward. “Two more songs to do. You can donate more later, naughty girl.” His eyes drop to my cleavage. “Does that zipper work?”

“Yes.” I smirk.

“All the way down to the hem?”

“Uh-huh.” I lean forward. “You can zip it off me later. I’m so turned on right now.” I wiggle against the seat, trying to relieve the pressure building. If only we were alone.

“That so?” He licks his lips, his gaze dropping to my mouth.

I tilt my body toward his and he casually rests his elbows on his knees.

“This is the perfect height for you to fuck my cleavage, Lincoln.”

His chest rises and falls and his eyes turn darker. “Aw, fuck. Grab my jeans. You are making me hard, and that’s not appropriate here.” He clenches his eyes shut.

I pass him his wet jeans. “Later.”

“That’s a promise.” He covers his crotch with the denim. “Now behave for the rest of the evening. You’re coming home with me.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?” He raises an eyebrow questioningly.

“Because I have to get back for Pom-pom. You’re coming home with me. ”

His lips curl into a smile. “I finish at eleven.”

My heart leaps with joy at the prospect of him spending another night with me.

“Perfect.”

“You two are so hot together.” Hannah interrupts our moment. “I’m Hannah, by the way.” She shakes his hand as Lincoln continues to cover his hard-for-me cock with the other.

“You are ripped,” Ruby counters as she examines Lincoln’s brawny body. “Can you get us more drinks?” She gives him a flirty finger-wave. “I’m Ruby.”

Lincoln spins around on his ass before he leaps off the table. “Coming right up. Same again?”

Hannah tilts her head, clearly checking out Lincoln’s abs. “Yes, please, sir.”

I give Hannah a nudge, making her jolt.

“Girls. Nice to meet you.” He winks, runs his fingers through his wet hair, and strides toward the bar.

Our eyes follow his otherworldly physique until he’s out of sight. The pair of them whip their heads to face me.

“I honestly did not know he was going to be here.” I raise my glass to my lips.

They fire a dozen questions at me at a million miles per hour. They are relentless.

And the question I hate the most is: “How long is he here for?” Hannah’s big gray eyes narrow.

“Six weeks,” I say.

“Shit,” they both say in unison.

Yeah, shit is right.