5. Stella
Chapter Five
STELLA
Gemini
Your instincts should be trusted completely right now. If something seems too good to be true, it isn’t. Luck is on your side, Gemini. Go for it!
What the actual fuck was I doing?
I should have been out of here ages ago, but I couldn’t help myself.
The way Callahan looked at me with such clear longing and desire made me preen with satisfaction.
It had me wanting to show off and see how he would respond to me.
With every dance he grew more and more restless, like he could barely hold himself back from tackling me to the ground and taking me.
In the years that I’d been dancing, I learned how to shut my brain off and have my body do the talking.
It was necessary in my line of work. Getting attached never ended well.
Sure, a few of the dancers had tried it, but it usually ended with Burt, our robust security guard with a penchant for knocking out teeth, having to grab his Louisville Slugger from the back and teach the unfortunate souls a painful lesson.
I’d seen first-hand how significant others viewed our job, and it wasn’t received well in my experience.
Without fail, inevitably, jealousy won out and left nothing but heartbreak behind.
Which is exactly what happened to Andi. Some Underwood scum took a liking to her and now she was missing.
I’d been so laser focused on my goal of getting her back that I hadn’t stopped to put my needs first. And for some reason, the appearance of this handsome stranger broke through the fog in my mind enough for me to bend my rules.
Just for tonight. Just for this one, small moment.
I could let myself have that much, right?
At first, when I saw him loitering out in the hall looking lost, I thought he would ask for directions to the bathroom.
That’s usually what led people over here.
But then he looked at me in a way that felt like he cut through the endless noise in my head, creating enough space to make me wonder what would happen if I let my guard down.
I didn’t know what to do with that, other than it had me wanting to explore the feeling more.
And it helped that my best ideas happened from following that gut instinct and that think first, consequences later mentality hadn’t steered me wrong yet.
And technically, I was just doing my job. Inviting him into a private room could help pay my bills for the month, and clearly the guy had the money to spend. It had me wondering what he did for work. He hadn’t answered that question, but in fairness, I was grinding on him at the time.
I must have been ovulating because my body was responding to this guy in a way I hadn’t experienced in a long time.
My thighs quivered as my hips made small, purposeful circles.
His hard cock throbbed against my thin thong, and wetness flooded the scrap of fabric.
I knew I was most likely leaving an embarrassing wet spot on him, but I didn’t care.
Normally, I wouldn’t even react to a lap dance. Not anymore. But this stranger and his intense gaze and heady scent struck a chord in me. I wanted him. I liked how he felt beneath me.
His hands came up to my hips with a groan and I smacked them away.
“No touching,” I rasped. But fuck, did I want him to keep touching me.
He released his grip immediately, like he was embarrassed that he forgot the one house rule.
We could touch and initiate contact with whoever we wanted, but they couldn’t touch us. Not without permission. Some of the girls didn’t care, but for myself, it was a boundary I’d never crossed. And never wanted to. Not until now.
The moment his hands released me, a cold tremor replaced where they had been. Maybe I could bend the rules. Just this once.
My fingers dug into the soft couch cushion behind his head. His eyes were hooded, tracking my every movement. Carefully, I dragged my pierced nipples across his chest, relishing the friction of his shirt against their sensitive buds. It shot a zing of pleasure straight to my core.
His sharp jaw was clenched tightly like it was taking all of his energy not to touch me.
Not to thrust up against me. Beads of sweat broke out against his temple as my hips kept moving, feeling every ridge of him.
It was overwhelming. I hadn’t thought about pleasure like this in so long.
Hadn’t thought of anything but Andi. And that one stark reminder sent a wave of ice through my veins.
I stopped moving like I’d been slapped.
“Are you okay?” He asked, voice sounding hoarse. His cock twitched and twitched again, hitting me right on the clit. Fuck. A low flutter sent beads of pleasure straight to my core taking me by surprise.
My hips rolled again like they had a mind of their own seeking that perfect friction that sent shivers down my spine.
His head fell back against the couch with a groan straining past his lips. “Fuuuuckkk,” he ground out, his hips beginning to move with me.
I should have stopped him. I should have stopped myself.
But it was too good.
This was wrong on so many levels, but I’d stopped caring. I deserved to feel good for once, dammit. Didn’t I?
For months, I’d done nothing but exist. And if I were being honest, I wasn’t really living much even before Andi went missing.
But here? Now?
I felt a sense of freedom and recklessness thrumming through my veins. It was a welcome change from the constant dread and guilt I was so used to feeling every single fucking day.
His cock throbbed against my clit as I rocked my body up and down, grinding on him.
A whimper escaped his throat and my body started moving faster, needing more, more, more.
“Oh, fuck. Baby,” his eyes were blown wide and his jaw clenched as he watched me. This electric feeling pulsated between us and then I felt his large hands on my ass, pulling me to him. This time, I didn’t stop him. His fingers pressed into me, helping me to move with him.
I moaned, unable to stop myself. And then a crescendo of heat pooled deep in my core, crashing over my body in a wave of pleasure. I was coming hard, eyes screwed tight and breath scattered.
“Look at me,” Callahan said.
And I did. His green eyes locked onto mine and my mouth fell open as I rode him. His hips thrust up against me and a warm, wetness coated my panties, as he groaned loudly. Both of us were panting hard now, our movements slowing to a steady rhythm.
I couldn’t believe I just did that.
The two of us stared in disbelief at each other and an overwhelming feeling of panic gripped my chest. I scrambled off his lap, noticing there was a large wet spot where I had just been sitting. We both had come.
He went to reach for me, but I pulled away, heart beating so fast I thought it might burst.
“Thanks!” I exclaimed quickly, rushing to the exit.
“Wait—” he called out. But I didn’t stop.
I ran.
What had I been thinking, getting off on a client like that?
I wasn’t thinking. I was acting. Following my instincts, and clearly those instincts needed to be put in time out if that’s what it was going to have me do.
My heels clacked loudly against the floor as I found my way into the dressing room.
It was packed with costume changes and makeup applications galore.
I nearly got sprayed in the eyes by hairspray, dodging it just in time to scoot past and find my aunt’s office.
It was blissfully vacant, and for the second time in the span of a week I found myself curled up on her couch trying to collect my emotions.
My body was still thrumming with need, wondering how Callahan would have felt shoved inside me, while the rational side of my brain was screaming at me for even imagining it.
I was getting myself all worked up over nothing, well, not nothing.
Compromising on my boundaries for the sake of an orgasm seemed like something I needed to examine.
But lots of girls who worked here did exactly what I had without a problem.
The fear that I would develop feelings and end up just like my sister had a chokehold on me though, and one I couldn’t shake.
Maybe it was time I bought myself a new vibrator.
One I actually used. That’s all it had to be.
Just a lack of personal care. I’d been so focused on everything else, I hadn’t taken care of my own needs, and that spilled over into my decision-making tonight.
And the first hot guy I’d taken interest in got the business end of my desperation.
How embarrassing. At least I’d made over a thousand, so I couldn’t be too upset at myself.
A girl had to eat, and I had bills to pay and a vibrator to purchase so this situation could never happen again.
If I stayed hidden away in here for the rest of the night, I could avoid accidentally running into Callahan again.
He said he came with his friend, so it would be best if I actively avoiding them all together.
Besides, I made more than enough tonight that I could afford to camp out.
Dee Dee didn’t mind if we took personal time anyways.
She had enough dancers to cater to her clientele.
I could just wait for my shift to end and then go grab breakfast with Helena like we normally did.
It was for the best. This way I couldn’t get myself in trouble again because clearly, I couldn’t trust my judgement around that broody, handsome man that made me come so hard I saw stars. Fuck, he had felt good. Too good.
But I would probably never see the guy again anyways. I didn’t know why that thought made me as sad as it did though. I was better off alone.