Chapter 20 A Vampire Walks Into a Strip Club #2
“Damn, girl.” Tyler grins when I sidle up to him.
I won’t lie, this is my favorite part of dancing.
The raw, dogged look in someone’s eyes when they look at me after a dance is better than sex sometimes.
In this room, in the club, I’m in control.
Maybe that’s why Dante shook me up so badly.
I didn’t have the upper-hand like I do with Tyler.
I lean into him just before I start and whisper against his ear, “Remember, no touching.”
When I pull back, I see fresh hunger in his expression.
He wants me in the way they all do. In reality, that’s what people come to the club for.
They want to see what they can’t have, what they can’t touch.
All restraint, no pleasure. I can see it in Tyler’s face as he holds himself back, and I can see it in his friends’ faces, too.
They all want to grab, stroke, and feel me.
But they won’t because they can’t, unless I let them.
I’m not a sadist, but even I can’t ignore how good it feels to have power like that.
Now, hold still.
The sound of Dante’s voice breaks into my focus as the ghost of his touch creeps out of the shadows and wraps itself around me like a choking force.
I know it isn’t real, and I know he isn’t here, but I feel the stirring of fear building inside of me.
The confidence I felt moments ago shatters like glass around my feet.
My panic is reflected in Tyler’s expression as I stop mid-dance. I’m suddenly paralyzed by the memory of Dante’s teeth biting down on my wrist. No one but him has noticed. The other guys are too busy watching Allie, cheering as she strips her top off for them. Tyler calls to me, but I wave him off.
“I need a minute,” I mouth, hoping he understands.
Collecting my discarded clothing off the ground, I hurry out.
It takes me a minute to wrestle the pieces back on, but I finally do.
For a single moment, I lean my forehead against the door and focus on breathing.
Music pounds in the background as the chatter of patrons mixes into the swell of cheers and whistles.
It’s chaotic, but I know this chaos, and eventually it steadies me.
I need a glass of water. My mouth is dry, and my body is screaming for hydration. I yield and haul myself over to the bar, squeezing through the body of people on the main floor.
Halfway through, I hear cheering and laughter so loud that it actually drowns out some of the bumping club music.
It’s a little unusual, so I move faster to see what’s going on.
Breaking through the crowd, I see Trace standing idly by the side.
She’s watching someone else behind the bar with a look of pure awe and wonder.
I’m driven forward by curiosity because she never lets anyone work the bar with her.
The people blocking my view reluctantly let me through as I shove my way past them.
The wind leaves my lungs the second my gaze lands on Gray.
Oh my fuck.
He looks startlingly sexy in a button-down shirt left wide open, exposing his bare chest, with part of it tucked into a pair of wide-leg black pants that sit right above his belly button.
I peep a thick silver and black belt at his waist and linger a little too long on the muscles popping in his arms and neck as he moves.
“He’s good, isn’t he?” Trace is at my elbow almost immediately.
I was so caught up on the way he looked, I didn’t even notice what he was doing.
Not only is he mixing drinks, but he’s doing it like he’s had years of practice.
He flips the shaker in his hand with the deftness and precision of a magician doing a card trick.
He rolls a pour with a kind of flare that I’ve never seen Trace do, and she’s one hell of a bartender.
“Yeah,” I say, a little too late in answering her question.
Gray serves the drink, applauded by the onlookers, and then turns to me. The way my body responds to the curve of his smile and the light in his scarlet eyes is something wholly new. I can’t explain it either. I feel magnetized, pulled in by the force of him.
Must be his vampire charm.
“Water?” Trace smacks the bar, snapping me to attention.
“Yes please,” I croak.
Gray slides his arms onto the bar and leans toward me.
Someone got into my hair product and makeup tonight.
He’s pushed his silver-white hair back completely, with just a few strategically placed pieces left hanging around his forehead, and he has a subtle line of black smudged around his eyes.
A little goes a long way in his case. He looks sinful.
“Hello, sweet cheeks.” His voice pours over me like warm chocolate over velvet.
“What’re you doing here?” My rational mind wants to make sense of his presence, but I can hardly bring myself to sound scathing when all I want to do is run the points of my nails down his chest.
“Do I need a reason to see you?” He tilts his head questioningly, still smiling. Part of my brain short circuits.
Holy Mother of Sex, he is fucking gorgeous.
“No.” I lick my lips. “But you can still tell me.”
For a moment, I see his mask slip. He looks like he has a world of regrets weighing him down.
I’m hoping he’ll tell me, that maybe he’ll say something about last night, but we’re swiftly interrupted.
Trace joins us again, and he rolls away from the bar, and me.
Trace hands over a glass of water and then claps a hand on Gray’s shoulder.
She’s never this friendly with anyone, especially not men.
“Where have you been hiding this guy?” she asks. “He’s amazing!”
Gray crosses his arms and bobs his head a little. “Millie’s been helping me get back on my feet.”
“No kidding! Millie’s a good girl. One of the best.” Trace throws a wink my way. Subtle.
“A very good girl,” he agrees, but Trace seems to ignore the implication. She jumps right back into work, taking an order. Grateful for the chill from the ice, I sip at the water and chase away the horny thoughts playing out in my mind.
“Since you’re here, can we talk?” I ask him before he’s pulled back into the bar tricks.
Gray gives Trace a look, and she shoves him away with a playful grin. They look like they’ve been bonding this whole time. If it isn’t vampire charm, then it’s pure charisma.
“Lead the way.” Gray rounds the bar and puts a hand on the small of my back, stuck to my side as we wind our way over to the VIP set.
I pass my room, knowing Allie is probably still inside by herself, and dip into an empty one.
For all the tips she makes from Tyler and his guys, I hope it’s more than enough to make up for ditching early.
“Very private,” Gray comments as he strides in, taking in the furniture and the pole at the center. He points at it, and glances back. “Do I get the privilege of watching you work?”
“You wish.” I roll my eyes and scoff. “I don’t do anything for free around here. I’m on the clock.”
“Oh, well, in that case.” Gray produces a fat stack of cash from his pocket and waves it with a grin. “I do owe you for the clothes.”
I sputter, nearly dropping my water. “Holy shit! How long were you out there?”
“A couple of hours.” He shrugs.
“And Trace let you keep it?” I’m sure I sound wild, but I’m honestly shocked.
“All of it. Every tip I made out there is mine.” He extends his arm, offering me the money. With one hand, I stop him.
“Just… hang onto it for now. I don’t exactly have any pockets.
” I gesture to my outfit, which was probably a bad move on my part.
He rakes his eyes over me slowly. I don’t want to admit what that does to my stomach or my lower half, especially not when we’re alone in one of the lounges.
I might be too tempted to test how unwilling he is to get further involved with me.
“Why are you here?” I draw him back to the conversation with a sterner tone.
His eyes snap back up. “To keep an eye on you, of course.”
“Why? Because of last night?” I’m glad for the ambient darkness, otherwise he would see how red my face is.
“Precisely.” He nods.
“And you just so happen to know some fancy bar etiquette? That’s convenient.” I raise a brow questioningly.
“Please,” he drawls, tucking his hands, and the money, into his pockets. “I was around at the start of Prohibition. My nights were spent in shady speakeasies. You learn a thing or two when you really want a meal.”
I shiver at the thought of that. Being a bartender, you meet a lot of people. I’m sure it made it easy for him to find someone to drink after a long night of partying with illegal booze.
“I appreciate the consideration.” I really do. He was here after I’d been bitten, and he was here now. That means more to me than I can admit.
“Of course, I have to confess that I’m here for another reason.”
I perk. “What’s that?”
He shifts to the couch and sits cross-legged with arms sprawled out behind him.
The shirt widens, exposing his chest even moreso.
I see the curve of his pecs dip into the shadows, highlighted by the low green light of the room.
My fingers are itching to trace those lines, to dip along the arcs of his abdomen and into the band of his pants so I can finally, finally feel the shape of him.
“We’re going to a party,” he says jovially. “After you’re off the clock, of course.”
“And before that?” I ask, a little nervous knowing his next answer before he even breathes it.
“Well, you are working, and I do have money.” He tilts his head toward the pole. “Why not show me what exactly it is you do here?”
“Is that really a good idea?” Water from the glass is dripping down my fingers, falling to splash on my toes. The cold feels fine now that I’m suddenly so damn hot.
“We’ll just call this a teachable moment.” He flashes me his fangs and I feel my resolve thin to nothing. If he was out at the bar, he definitely saw the girls on stage, so I’m sure he has some understanding of what it is I actually do.
But because I am a victim of my own desires, I set the cup down on a nearby side table and step up onto the raised platform.
I close my eyes as my hands wrap around the pole, suddenly feeling the same overwhelming feeling of panic I felt earlier in the room next door to us.
I shudder a breath, and try to steady myself.
“You’re safe with me, Millie,” I hear Gray say.
Hearing that and believing him, makes the panic melt away.
His steady gaze and patient expression remind me again that I’m in control with him.
He won’t do anything that I don’t want him to do, and I trust that feeling.
With the soft, rhythmic bump of the music in the background guiding me, I step into it and move in such a way that eventually, the room falls away.
It’s just me, the music, and my red-eyed vampire.