3. Ally
CHAPTER THREE
ALLY
Ally,
I didn’t want to wake you. I’m playing poker at Club Noir tonight. Meet me there when you wake and we’ll get dinner together after my game.
Dan
I fold the note and return it to my pocket, peering up at the street entrance to Club Noir. I slept most of the day, recovering from my long day in transit yesterday, and woke early evening to find Dan’s letter on the pillow beside me. My skin tingled when I first read the note, thinking about Dan being in the room with me while I slept.
I was tempted to give some reason as to why I can’t attend dinner, but things have to stop being awkward between us. We were friends before anything sexual happened. I want us to be friends again.
Ally
Hey, I’m waiting on the street in front of Club Noir.
Dan
Come inside. My game hasn’t finished.
You know I’m not old enough to get inside.
Tell security you know me. They’ll let you in.
I don’t want to get in trouble. I’ll wait on the street till you’re finished.
I might be a while. Just come inside. No one will care that you’re underage.
I’m waiting outside. End of discussion.
I bury both hands inside my coat pockets, shivering as a cool breeze sweeps by me. Summertime is still here. We’re at the end of August, but there’s a dampness to the evening air along with the dewy smell of approaching rain. It’s just my luck that I’m stuck on the street with bad weather. But I’m not going inside. The last thing I need is for photos to hit the media of me entering a burlesque club.
I don’t even know how Dan is playing poker here. I doubt Club Noir has a gambling license. Which means… Ugh. Honestly, it would not surprise me in the least if Dan is playing underground poker. Even more reason for me to keep clear of this place.
I rock back and forth on my feet, glancing around every few seconds to keep my wits about me. A few people are scattered throughout the street, some entering nearby venues, but overall the night is quiet. Dark too, with only the sign of Club Noir glowing around me.
A drop of rain falls on my forehead. And then another and another until this light pitter-pattering of rain suddenly intensifies, gushing down. Swearing, I run beneath the tiny entrance canopy of Club Noir .
“Are you coming inside, madame?” Crammed beside me is a tall and broad man dressed in a suit, guarding the door.
I clutch my arms for warmth. “Oh, no. My… brother is inside. I’m waiting for him.”
The wind picks up, the rain slanting beneath the canopy. I step back, pressing against the door, but it’s not shelter enough and my coat quickly becomes drenched, the moisture seeping through to my dress beneath.
“Madame, I must insist you come inside.”
“I… uh… okay.”
The suited man opens the door and I shuffle in, out of the dark, wet, and windy night, and into a small entrance room. “Please, make yourself comfortable while you wait.” And with that, he steps back outside, leaving me alone.
I brush the wet hair off my face, shivering as the cold a/c hits my damp skin. Great, just great. How am I supposed to go out to dinner in a wet dress?
I let out a long sigh, scoping out my surroundings. A moment ago, I thought I was about to step inside some seedy establishment, but Club Noir is the opposite. Luxurious and sensual and…it’s like I’m standing inside a boudoir. Everything is silk and velvet. The walls are draped with red curtains and large mirrors framed with gold embellishments. There are plush couches and ottomans.
Ahead of me, a doorway is concealed by a velvet curtain, leading to the club, I assume. Within that doorway is the distant music of a live band—beautifully eerie and mystical music, like something I’d expect to hear at a circus. There are voices, too, and intermittent applause.
Temptation pulls at my chest. I lick my lips, wanting to step forward and peek through the curtain. A nearby thud distracts me. I turn around, expecting to find someone in the room with me.
But I’m all alone.
Thud .
Muffled laughter.
My eyes dart to the source, finding a wooden door near the street entrance. A cloak room, I suppose. Someone’s in there?
I raise a skeptical eyebrow and grab my phone to text Dan, wanting to get out of here as fast as possible.
Ally
It’s raining so I’m waiting for you inside the front entrance.
A third thud draws my attention back to the cloak room. This time, the sound is louder. There’s a moan. The door slides open a fraction, just enough for me to see a man and woman making out.
My stomach does a little flip at the realization. Heat sweeps through me, gathering low in my tummy. Lower and lower. Although my dress and coat are soaked from the rain, I’m no longer cold.
I should look away, but I don’t.
My head tilts to the side, trying to gain more of a view. From what little I can see, the guy is handsome and clean-cut. The woman’s hands knot through his dark hair, ruffling it into a mess. His white dress shirt is untucked from his belt and the collar is unbuttoned. Behind them are a bunch of clothing racks. They’re in a cloak room, like I first guessed.
The woman giggles as he kisses her neck. His hands hike up her dress, grabbing her panties and sliding them down her legs. My lips part with anticipation and my groin is suddenly hot. Are they seriously about to have sex in such a public setting ?
Next, the man is unbuckling his belt. My eyes remain pinned to the area, never having seen a man’s dick in real life. The angle doesn’t allow me to see it now either, but I keep watching as he grabs the woman’s thigh—his fingers dig into her flesh, that’s how much he wants her—and wraps it around his waist.
The two of them make a loud moan as his hips thrust against hers. I clench my legs, feeling a slickness between them as I watch these two strangers having sex. Another thrust. Grunting. The man’s jaw clenches like he’s straining, like the pleasure almost hurts. The desire I see in his eyes as he watches her… It makes me… jealous .
Never have I wanted to be another woman so badly in my life. To have a man desire me so deeply that he has to fuck me in public because he can’t wait for privacy.
The man’s breathing becomes more labored as his thrusting intensifies. There’s a glisten of sweat on his forehead. His groaning is so primal, it sends another wave of arousal through me. I touched myself only last night, yet the ache is back between my legs, needing release.
My breath turns heavy as I continue to watch, wondering what sounds the couple will make when they come.
“Ally—”
I gasp, my entire body suddenly stiff and flushed with embarrassment as I turn and see Dan. His gaze switches from me to the couple having sex through the crack in the door. A second later, the tiniest smirk pulls at the left corner of his lips.
The woman murmurs, “Babe, is someone out there?”
The man peers out, seeing me and Dan, yet that doesn’t stop him from working his dick into the woman while sliding the door shut .
“I… uh…” I try to explain myself to Dan, but all that comes out of my mouth is a bunch of stutters.
“Voyeurism, huh?” He chuckles, the soft laugh smug. “Come on, my game hasn’t finished yet. Wanna watch?”
My face burns hotter at the pun in his question. I’m so humiliated and need to shake this moment off that I follow him through the velvet curtains and into the club, ignoring the underage factor.
Just like Club Noir’s entrance, the entertainment area is sensual and classy and is filled with an audience of patrons lounging on couches in front of a stage. I’m no prude, but considering the embarrassment that is still fresh in my system, the strip tease on stage does nothing to calm me down.
“You got caught in the rain. Take my jacket,” Dan offers.
It’s an offer I want to accept. The wet fabric of my coat clinging to my body isn’t pleasant and I’m sure I’ll start shivering again as soon as this embarrassment wears off. But the act of wearing Dan’s jacket feels too intimate. “I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
No. I would love to wear his jacket and be surrounded by his scent, which is exactly why I shake my head.
“Suit yourself.”
Dan places a hand on my upper back, guiding me through the venue. The contact sends a warm shiver down my spine. Unable to function with Dan touching me, especially after he walked in on me watching two people having sex, I shrug his hand off. He glances at me curiously as we walk side by side, examining me, and that damn smirk returns. I can only imagine what he’s thinking right now.
“Through here.” Dan nods to a door, holding it open for me .
I step inside the dark room, finding a single light hanging over a poker green, a card dealer, and a group of suited men sitting at the table with rivulets of cigar smoke swirling around them.
I glare at Dan. “Is this even a legal poker game?”
“Legal enough. Don’t worry, you’re safe with me.”
He brings me up to the table with him and takes a seat.
“Baby sis, you made it.” I recognize the sly tone of my oldest stepbrother’s voice before I see him. He sits to the other side of Dan, spinning a poker chip between two fingers.
I should have known Dan would be playing with Felix tonight. Dan is the youngest of my four stepbrothers, and even though there’s five years between him and Felix, they’re the closest out of all them. Felix is the one who got Dan into poker, teaching him about the game when he was only fifteen. Dan and Felix have tried to teach me too, but I’ve never been any good.
I give Felix a hug. He always smells like whiskey, and right now is no different. He looks a lot like Dan, but where Dan has more charm to him, Felix is a little intimidating. There’s a sharp and cunning manner about the way he holds himself. His blond hair is always slicked back like something from the 1920s, and ink peeks above his suit collar and over the backs of his hands.
“Good to have you back. How was Paris?” Felix squeezes my waist. His warmth spreads into me, and as soon as he drops his arm, my shoulders clench with a new wave of shivers from the a/c. He gives me a once over, raising a brow. “You get caught in the rain or something? You look cold.”
“I already offered her my jacket,” Dan says. “She wouldn’t take it. ”
“I’ll warm up soon. Finish your game so we can get dinner.” I take my wet coat off and step back from the game, draping it over a chair against the far wall.
The game continues. A female member of the bar staff arrives with a tray of crystal glasses and whiskey. There’s chatter among the men and laughter. But overall, the game has a serious tone, and I can’t help feeling nervous being in this room, being part of this “legal enough” game. Whatever that means. I swear, I am going to kill Dan after this.
As for Felix, I’m not fond of him being involved in this stuff either. His morals are worse than Dan’s but at least he’s secretive about it and keeps me out of his business. He’s not the one who dragged me along tonight.
When I think about it, the two brothers aren’t so different. Dan makes a living off winning poker games, many of them illegal; Felix makes his money through owning an illegal speakeasy here in Manhattan called The Scarlet Mirage.
I’m not supposed to know about the speakeasy. Not even Mom and Josh know about it. They think he sets a fine example for the family name by owning a cocktail lounge. I’m only aware of The Scarlet Mirage because Dan told me a few years back and swore me to secrecy.
Within a minute or two, Dan glances over his shoulder, finding me over by the couch. His gaze trails down my body in concern, and I realize it’s because I’m clinging to myself, shivering in my wet outfit.
“Come here. I need to tell you something.”
“Yeah?” I step beside him and go rigid the second his arm wraps around my waist, pulling me tight to his side.
“Nothing. I just want to keep you warm since you’re too stubborn to take my jacket. ”
When he doesn’t release his hand from my waist, my temperature climbs higher and the shivering stops. I keep thinking about his smirk from when he caught me watching that couple having sex, and how he shouldn’t be touching me after that experience. I shouldn’t have fingered myself in his bed last night, no matter how much seeing Dan again made me in desperate need for an orgasm.
Too caught up in my sordid thoughts, only now do I notice each player has revealed their cards and Dan has won.
Felix pats Dan’s shoulder. “Damn, you’re good, bro.”
The dealer rakes several towers of poker chips toward Dan.
“Seems like you’re my lucky charm.” Dan winks at me. “I might have to start bringing you to more of these games.”
“How much money did you win?” I ask.
“Five hundred grand.”
I clap a hand to my mouth, smiling in disbelief. “Oh my God, Dan.” I knew he was good at poker, but I didn’t know he was this good.
Felix twirls a poker chip between his fingers again. “Don’t be too impressed. He’s only breaking even. Lost five hundred in a game yesterday.”
“You what ?” I scold Dan.
“Win some, lose some,” Dan says without the least of worries. “That’s the fun of it.”
An older man sitting across from Felix raises his voice for Dan to hear, while nodding at me. “Seems like you’re winning a lot more than just money tonight. You’re a lucky man. Your girlfriend is beautiful.”
Felix smothers a laugh by lifting his drink to his mouth. I can feel my cheeks growing hot again over the label .
“She is gorgeous, isn’t she?” Dan says.
I press my lips together. That’s the part Dan chooses to comment on? Not correcting the girlfriend title?
Dan stands from his seat with his hand still at my waist. “Come on, sis, you ready for dinner?”