Chapter 3 #2
This was How Not To Get Killed or Kidnapped 101! The hot stranger might have helped me with the drunk dude trying to get handsy, but that didn’t mean the man leading me towards the back of the club didn’t have his own nefarious plans.
“Umm,” I started again a little louder, but this time, I pulled back my hand from his, not that his hold let me go.
The devastatingly handsome man looked behind him and down at me.
I wasn’t sure, what with the lack of light, but I had a feeling his eyes were dark blue.
Darker blue than I had ever seen in my life.
Why does that matter!? Focus before you end up on some cold case episode of Dateline! a voice inside my head shouted.
“What?” he clipped. I blinked. He sounded… angry. At me?
“Where are we going?” I asked. He rolled his eyes, shook his head, and kept walking. “Look, I don’t know who you think you are—“ I pulled my arm back once again, but he simply pulled me in closer.
Not in a harsh way where I could have been hurt. No, the tug was almost gentle as I bumped into him. I opened my mouth to tell him to back up, when he bent at the waist and picked me up, all without missing a beat or suddenly becoming out of breath.
“Excuse me!” I gasped, stupidly wrapping my arm around him, my fingers lightly brushing against the shortly trimmed hairs at the back of his neck.
He glanced at me, and as our eyes connected, my mouth shut.
Everything inside of me felt overwhelming.
The feelings that slammed into me all at once were like witnessing a car accident while simultaneously being inside of it.
I didn’t know which way was up or what was what.
Without me noticing, he opened a door to one of the many private rooms, and suddenly, we were cloaked in nothing but darkness.
The dim light spilling in from the club through the still slightly open door was mostly blocked by his large frame.
Carefully, and with the most tender care, he set me down.
My legs didn’t feel solid as I touched the ground, but I held my body straight, everything inside of me aching the loss of his touch and the nearness of his body.
In the next heartbeat, the door shut and the distinct sound of a lock clicked into place, echoing louder than the blood roaring in my ears.
I didn’t know who this man was, and I was locked in a dark room with him in a place where most men thought they could get away with almost anything as long as they tossed you enough money.
A man who I’d had a crazy visceral physical reaction too from afar.
A man who had threatened another, right in front of me.
I might not have heard his words, but I knew the way he’d done it had been too easily.
Like he was used to casting threats and doling out punishments.
The tips of my fingers skimmed the hem of my skirt as my mind started to come up with different ways to get the hell out of here. Why? a voice asked inside my head.
“You’re scared.” It wasn’t a question but a fact. Though, if I was honest, I wasn’t sure how true that was.
Either way, I didn’t say a word.
I’d been so lost in his gaze and how stunningly handsome he was, shocked by everything I’d felt, I hadn’t paid attention to what room he’d taken us into.
“You don’t have to be scared. Not of me,” he said into the darkness.
“You threatened—“
“He. Touched. You,” he clipped, like each word had cost him. His arms rustled at his sides, and I wondered if his hands had fisted up.
“Part of the job sometimes.” I shrugged. A growly almost animal-like sound rumbled through him. “What do you want?” I asked, trying to sound huffy and blustered, but it came out way too breathy for either of us to believe I was upset.
“What do you think I want, sweet stuff?”
“Sweet stuff?”
“Baby, you looked like the most delectable treat out on that stage.”
“Delect––“ Loud laughter erupted from me.
I couldn’t help it.
I was cute. Pretty with makeup and some great work with boob tape. But delectable? Not even close. I had to wipe the tears from my eyes. “I don’t know about all that, but thanks.”
“Fuck,” he cursed.
“Look, Sargent Handsome, thanks for the save and all, but these rooms are usually reserved for dances, and I don’t think it’s fair for us to block it and stop other people from—“
“Then dance for me,” he requested. I heard heavy footsteps against the plush carpet, then a light turned on in the half of the room I was in. LED lights cast a soft pink light, but he wasn’t close to me anymore.
“Where did you—“
“I’m on the couch.” The sofa groaned under his weight. I tried to make out more than the shadow of him, but it was tough to do. “Dance for me, Jade,” he ordered. I blinked. The request was stern but fair, yet I hesitated.
“What is it?” he asked, like he knew me better than I knew myself somehow.
“There’s no music.” I squinted towards the darkness.
When the soft pink led lights had turned on overhead, it had activated the same pink lit tape on the ground, almost like a movie theater, so you could make out the stairs but not bright enough to put much more of him in focus.
His hand rose, and he pointed some kind of remote I had never seen for this room to the side, and music slowly started to fill the room.
Soft beats kicked in, and I recognize the song immediately.
Boyfriend by Dove Cameron started to play. It was the song I’d started practicing to at home for a new routine. Just an idea I’d had and started to choreograph to show Kitty. I blinked, and his foot tapped against the carpeted floor.
Coincidence. There was no other explanation.
Fuck it, I thought to myself. Might as well put the new dance into practice.
Whoever my tall, dark, and mysterious stranger, who wasn’t opposed to pushing around assholes and crossed the line, might even let me know what he thought of it.
It wasn’t like I could charge him for the dance now that we were back here because we hadn’t discussed payment and rates.
I started to sway, letting the sultry tone of the song move me.
Back and forth, moving my hips as my hands ran up and down my chest, slowly undoing the way-too-tight cropped white button-up.
I tossed it in his direction, and I knew he’d caught it.
And if the deep inhale was any kind of hint, I’d bet money he’d just sniffed my top.
I was still wearing a white bikini top as I moved towards the darkness, dancing to the music as I closed in.
“Jade.” His voice was thick with warning I didn’t listen to. Both of us in the darkness, I got on his lap, my back to his front as I rubbed and grinded on him. Never, not once, while giving anyone a lap dance had I turned myself on.
Until him.
A nameless, almost faceless man still hidden in the shadows got me all hot and bothered just by sitting.
I tossed my head back and let my hands graze the tops of his thighs before I turned and straddled him.
Open palmed, my hands rested on his shoulders as I danced and moved to the sexy low-tempo song.
When it was over, it melted away into another, one I’d listened to and saved a while ago on a Spotify playlist. Slut Money by Zand had a little more of a bounce, and I danced on him before slithering down to the ground in front of him, slowly moving back to the pink-lit area of the room.
My back arched and my ass bounced as I rolled around.
The entire time, I was thinking about what it would be like to be with a man like the one who sat on the couch with his legs spread as his palms rested calmly on his knees.
Closing my eyes, I kept dancing. One song melted into another as I gave him a show while thinking about what it would be like to be his.
I’d never been anyone’s. Not even with my ex had I felt like I belonged to someone.
When the music died down and no other song started, I opened my eyes.
Kneeling on the white plush carpet, I tried to catch my breath.
It wasn’t lost one me that his big, formidable shadow seemed to lean forward.
Almost like he wanted to get closer but for whatever reason didn’t.
“Such a good girl,” he complimented. I opened my mouth to say something—what, I wasn’t sure—when a knock sounded at the door.
“Jade, need you back on stage,” Dante, one of our bouncers, called.
“Be right there,” I called out. Disappointment that my time with him was done rushed through me. I stood and quickly grabbed the clothes I’d discarded, tossing everything back on and fastening every button and hook. “I have to go.”
“Right,” his deep voice rumbled, and I hated the fact he didn’t insist I stay.
But who was I kidding? Not all of us could be Kitty with a man so obsessed with us he’d literally sit and watch you read!
“Thanks again for—“ His hand clasped mine, but for some reason, I couldn’t get myself to turn to face him. I knew he’d be illuminated under the soft pink lighting, yet I kept my eyes on the ground. It felt like the less I looked at him head on, the safer it was for me and my stupid, hopeless heart.
“You never have to thank me for keeping you safe, my sweet girl.” I felt his body heat radiate onto me as he pressed a little closer.
His head dipped, and my eyes fluttered shut as my skin flared with goose bumps all over my body.
I tried to breathe in, but the shuttered inhale felt choppy as his masculine scent enveloped me.
Something about it was vaguely familiar.
“Umm…”
“The way you move,” he whispered, his lips hovering just above the shell of my ear, “is incredible. I could watch you do that morning, noon, and night and wouldn’t tire of it, Jade.”
“That’s sweet.”
“There’s nothing sweet about me, precious.” His lips brushed against my temple. “When you dance on the stage, will you do me a favor?”
“Sure,” I stupidly agreed.
“Wear something pink for me. I like you in pink.” He let go of my hand. Everything inside of me shouted for me to turn around and look at him, talk to him. Convince him to have a drink together.
But I didn’t.
And it wasn’t until I got home, much later that night, that I realized he’d called me by my name.
Not my stage name.