Chapter 10
Istood in the bathroom, wrapped in a fresh towel, while I scrubbed the small hand towel across my freshly toned ash-blonde hair.
All of them had avoided me for the last half day, and it made me feel even more empowered.
The fog slowly faded from the mirror. My lips were swollen as all hell.
I gasped, leaning forward, and in my reflection, my tongue flicked out across them.
They didn’t hurt, but they felt puffy. But that wasn’t the worst part; it was the deep red hickeys that graced my neck, right over my Scent Gland.
Sinclair had left a very visible claim .
. . Yet, I didn’t want to take off running.
The opposite.
A giddiness expanded in my chest as if it were a living thing.
I liked how it felt to be in their arms. I dragged my teeth over my bottom lip.
It was around the time the club got especially busy.
I enjoyed watching idiot men slobber over the women as they took their money. I didn’t think it’d be so gratifying.
After drying my hair the best I could, I tossed the towel into the hamper and shuffled out, my slippers rubbing against the wooden floor.
My clothing lay across the back of the couch.
I tugged everything on quickly, grabbed the folded-up blanket off the edge of the couch, and set it next to my viewing perch to start my entertainment.
Crossing my legs, I propped myself against the glass, staring out.
A blonde dancer took over on the stage, twisting and twirling skillfully.
I’d seen her dance before, but there was a little more twitch to her hip, a little more effort overall.
She kept to the side of the stage, her eyes pinned on someone.
I followed her gaze and sucked in a breath.
Elias commanded the space even where he sat behind a roped-off area, arms spread out in both directions, and he wasn’t alone.
Sinclair was next to him, one leg over the opposite knee.
Two women braced them both. As Elias and Sinclair’s lips moved from their conversation, the girls with Sinclair touched his chest and thigh, familiarity in the movements.
She touched his arm, and I stiffened, gritting my teeth. My palms touched the glass. Watching him not push her off.
My lip trembled.
Gasping for breath, I yanked myself away. After pacing to the other side of the couch, I jumped in place, shaking my arms. But as much as I shook and paced, the itchiness inside me wouldn’t abate.
I need a cig so badly.
The pressure in my throat only intensified, the damned shadow creeping over my thoughts, making me feel close to exploding. I was out of the room on my next breath. Without a set direction, I shuffled down the hall and descended the steps to the first floor.
The Greymonts were primed and ready for a fucking, because of me, and now they were down there, watching other women dance.
A possessive swell rose in my chest, choking me.
My strides lengthened. A group of Betas stood near an entrance, and a woman with a ponytail shooed others inside, her shirt only covered her boobs, leaving her belly exposed.
She had tight spandex shorts on. As the dancers shuffled out, sequins and jewels on their varying two-piece bikinis caught the blue lights.
I clenched my hands, waffling between escaping upstairs where I could feel frumpy alone, or sneaking in to snatch a cigarette from someone.
Heavy smoke filtered out from the main room, making my mouth water.
With the strobing lights, my now-blonde hair, and the flowing alcohol, no one would be able to recognize me.
Decision made, I shuffled closer, and the girl with the high ponytail eyed me, her brows high on her forehead.
“That’s a choice,” she chirped, dragging her attention down my clothes. I could just ask her . . .
Before I said a word, she pressed her hand into my back, forcing me into the room. I gawked at the scene.
“Come on, ladies, go out there and mingle,” she called. A flurry of movement swept me along with the rest of the women. I stood at the center of the room, and the cacophony of music, clinking glasses, and chatter flooded the space.
“Get me a beer, hun,” was accompanied by a smack on my ass. I clenched my teeth so hard, they snapped. He suddenly sat up, his chin lifting.
“You’re an Omega,” he breathed. “I didn’t think the Greymonts would hire another so quickly.” His smile was so wide, it took up most of the space. “Come here, I’ll pay for your time.” He slapped his thigh.
I turned around, giving the man my back. He wasn’t worth my retort. From this vantage, I saw that Sinclair and Elias were not only roped off, but they were on a platform.
Elias now had a woman draped over his side, while another danced in front of him, and a half-empty glass dangled in his hand.
Meanwhile, Sinclair had a hold of a woman’s jaw as she leaned in.
Their lips met, and I couldn’t tear my gaze away, nausea swirling to life.
I struggled to swallow and forced myself to look at them as the woman tilted her head to deepen the kiss.
The lips that had just marked my neck.
I whirled, offering the scene my back while I gripped my throat. What was wrong with me?
Sinclair’s piercing focus on the woman soured my stomach.
My pulse thundered in my ear.
“Your scent spiked, you good?” the Alpha, who had continued to talk while my back was to him, said.
I inhaled sharply and turned, with a syrupy-sweet smile.
“Do you have a cigarette?”
His smile widened impossibly further, and he patted his lap. Fuck it. I plopped my ass on his thigh, breathing in his pheromones. He smelled the same as other Alphas—the same as them, but then why couldn’t I stop obsessing, like I had a schoolgirl crush?
The Alpha I sat on leaned to the side, and the movement jostled me, so I was pressed against his bulge.
I had no doubt that wasn’t accidental, but anything I was about to say disappeared when he held the cigarette out for me.
I reached for it, and he drew it back. I glared at him, knowing what he was doing, but he only smiled.
Leaning forward, I took the filter tip between my lips, and he brandished a lighter.
I sucked in, and the taste of mint filled my mouth. My eyes shut of their own accord, and the restlessness faded. I slumped against the Alpha. He withdrew it from my lips, so I could exhale a plume of smoke.
I’d missed this. The urge to look at them clawed at me. All it would take was a slight twitch of my head and I’d have them within sight, but I didn’t want to ruin my mood. Seeing Sinclair kissing the woman had messed with my head; I didn’t need to see Elias kissing someone, too.
“Stop being stingy,” I said, leaving my lips parted. He chuckled and held it to me again. I took another deep inhale. As soon as he pulled away, he took a drag.
“We’re kissing, eh?” His eyebrow twitched up and down exaggeratedly. When he jostled me, half my ass was on his hard bulge.
The swell of desire . . . didn’t come.
It pissed me off, because, if it was them, I’d feel it. Just imagining sitting on Elias’ lap made slick gather. The Alpha stiffened, his cock throbbing under me, and he tilted his head back with a groan.
“Fuck, I love the smell of Omegas,” he muttered.
“Or is it that you just enjoy fucking?” I replied dryly.
He let out a booming laugh, exactly when one of the songs ended. A girl diagonal from me scowled, but then she turned to gyrate her ass on a client’s lap.
The sound of loud metal falling and clanging around came from behind me. A looming sense of dread weighed in my stomach.
“You!” The too-familiar voice was drowned out by the blare of music returning. The shout was enough to send me into action.
“Thanks for the cigarette.” I plucked it from his mouth and put it in mine. I was halfway off him when he was suddenly barreled over. The only reason I didn’t fall on my ass was an arm curling around my waist. I was hoisted against a wide chest.
“What the—” I exhaled smoke into Elias’ face. “Let me go,” I hissed around the cigarette.
“Shut up,” he growled. I was struck silent, sputtering while I struggled to process the bludgeoning going on before me. Sinclair was dragging away the bloodied man I’d been sitting on.
Sinclair’s arms bulged with effort, and blood dripped from the corner of his lip where the other Alpha had managed to hit him.
A swarm of bouncers descended, while dancers and patrons moved away from Sinclair’s laser focus as he rammed his fist into the Alpha’s face.
More blood sprayed across Sinclair in an arc.
Then Elias had me out of the entrance and in the hall, while I writhed for freedom.
“Stop,” he snarled. We passed a braless woman, her breasts bouncing as she hurried toward the madness instead of away from it. Another group of women, who had been in the middle of working in the private lounges, huddled in the hall. “Out of my fucking way.”
They simultaneously flinched, a horrified look spreading across every single face as they flattened against the wall, not peeling their attention from us. I didn’t miss the way they eyed me and then bounced back to gawking at Elias.
He cut to the right, and I tossed my elbow into his stomach. With a snarl, he shoved me against the wall, his hand banding around my throat. I grabbed his wrist, digging my fingers into his skin, grappling with him.
White spots danced in my vision.
Elias’ irises had expanded, and his lips were curled up in a sneer, baring his teeth. I kicked my knee up and hit him between the legs.
He grunted and seemed to snap out of whatever rage-fueled possession he’d been under. His palm softened, and then his heaving chest was smashed against my cheek. I dragged in multiple hard breaths, getting hold of my pained lungs.
“You made”—hard breath—“me drop, my fucking cigarette,” I snarled, smacking his side.