Private Eye

by Katrina Jackson

  His thumb caressed the soft, rounded curve of her chin as his eyes bored into hers, calm and uncomplicated; somehow completely uncomplicated even though the world around them was absolutely not. Anything could happen tonight and Maya’s stomach wanted to tie itself into knots at the fear of the unknown. But Kenny’s eyes telegraphed a million promises to her. And completely unlike herself, she believed them all.

  Kenny’s phone chirped.

  He sighed and rolled his eyes. Without even looking at his phone, he bent forward to press a gentle kiss to the tip of her nose. It made her smile. He pressed his mouth against hers. She smiled wider. He slipped his tongue past her lips. The kiss was quick, hot and fast and another promise of all that was to come.

  “I’ll be in the other room,” he whispered against her mouth, “whenever you’re ready.”

  She nodded as he released her. She turned and watched him walk out of the room. “Holy shit,” she whispered to herself after he closed the door. She snatched up her phone and began to text Kierra, but decided to text her brother instead.

  What do you do when you like a boy?

  Jerome’s response was immediate.

  How would I know? I’ve been crushing on my lab partner all semester.

  I think we’re best friends now.

  Maya received another message in her sibling group chat from Jerome.

  K, M likes a boy. Help her.

  The bubbles indicating that Kaya was typing popped up quickly, but Maya grew impatient waiting for her response.

  Hurry up, I have places to be.

  Jerome messaged quickly,

  Where you going? You don’t have a life.

  Maya scoffed. “Rude,” she breathed to herself, even though she had to admit that he unfortunately was not wrong.

  Kaya finally responded.

  You’re both absolutely pathetic.

  I’m glad you’re finally admitting that you need my help.

  Jerome beat Maya to the punch.

  I’m just here to get Maya some help.

  Maya could practically see Kaya’s rolled eyes.

  Sure, hon.

  Maya’s eyes flitted to the time at the top of her phone’s screen. She needed to put her shoes on and go.

  Hey, don’t have time for this. Gimme a three sentence crash course on what to do!!

  Jerome,

  No really girl, what is up? You barely leave the house.

  Kaya,

  Clearly she’s going on a date, doofus.

  My god, you’re gonna need a multi-week seminar.

  Cashapp me $29.99 and I’ll happily Cyrano your life.

  Maya snorted a laugh.

  Take the deal, J.

  Jerome,

  Is there room in my budget??

  Maya,

  For this and ONLY this. Now HELP ME, KAYA!

  Kaya,

  I’ve taken a screen shot of that sentence and will be using it for blackmail purposes.

  Okay, here ya go.

  You like a boy… Tell said boy that you like him.

  Maya’s mouth fell open with shock. The group chat went quiet. Finally, Maya typed back,

  Save your money, J. She’s scamming.

  Jerome sent a frown emoji,

  I already paid her.

  Maya rolled her eyes.

  Both of you need to stay in school. Goodnight.

  Kaya got one last text message in,

  Well good luck girl lmao

  Everyone signed off. Maya fought the urge to chew her bottom lip to shreds; she didn’t want to ruin her makeup. She looked at the phone again. She was out of time. What a waste, she thought. She sat on the bed and slipped into her shoes.

  When she walked out into the living area, her phone clutched in both hands, Kenny was pacing, texting furiously. She knew that whatever he was doing was spy stuff and the thought of it only added another knot to her anxious gut. But when he looked up at her and smiled, she decided to let that go and to forget, momentarily, the budding feelings for him that had only seemed to grow over these past few days, weeks, months.

  Tonight, she had a job to do. She would help Kenny and Kierra, Monica, Lane, Asif and Chanté catch Joseph Mehmeti by doing the thing she did best: making a rich man want to have sex with her and convincing him to give her all of his time, attention and money. She could do that in her sleep.

  Maya smiled back at Kenny and took the hand he extended to her. They walked to the elevator and waited. She looked over at him and then she got it, what Kaya was saying.

  “I think I really like you,” she whispered.

  She watched as his right ear and cheek turned red. He turned to her and smiled, “I’ve been waiting months to hear you say that.”

  sixteen

  Kenny kept at least one hand on Maya during the entire ride to the club. Their fingers interlaced, his hand on her thigh, and now as they approached the front of the building, his palm pressed flat against the small of her back. He hoped that it helped to calm her the way it calmed him.

  Maya gasped as she looked up at the neon sign lit up, flickering between pink, orange, green and back. The word LICK hovered above a tongue. Based on the smile on Maya’s face, Kenny assumed she liked it.

  She turned to him and smiled, “Do you think they have a gift shop? ‘Cause I need a shirt with that sign on it.”

  He smiled. Okay, he corrected himself mentally, she liked it a lot.

  Kenny was surprised to find that there was a line to get into the club. All of their intel said this was an exclusive experience and yet their driver was leading them past a queue of scantily clad people shivering as they waited to be admitted. His eyes caught on a dark, shiny head. When it turned, Kenny made sure to look away, not wanting to linger on Lamont for any longer than necessary.

  At the door, the driver motioned for them to stop as he whispered with the bouncer. Both men nodded. Their driver turned to Kenny and Maya and nodded again. “I’ll be here when you’re ready to leave.” And then he walked away without another word.

  The bouncer opened the velvet rope and motioned for them to enter.

  “I feel so fancy,” Maya said with a giggle. She winked at the woman at the front of the line. Her mouth gaped.

  The woman turned to Kenny and smiled. “If you two are looking for a third…”

  Kenny smiled back at her, because it seemed like the right thing to do.

  Just inside the door was a set of metal stairs. They climbed it quickly and entered a sedate room with a coat check, two security guards and a black curtain that one guard pulled aside. Beyond that partition, Kenny’s senses were bombarded with… a million different sensations all at once. The track lighting hanging from the ceiling was turned low and cast shadows all over the dancefloor in front of them.

  Maya turned to him. He couldn’t see her face clearly, but he could hear the frown in her voice. “This isn’t what I was expecting,” she said.

  Kenny was just about to respond, when he spotted a man walking toward them. He was tall and bulky and Kenny knew that taking him down without a weapon would be a challenge. He leaned down to brush his lips against Maya’s cheek and whispered, “Incoming,” into her ear.

  She didn’t flinch or look around, she simply smiled up at him as if he’d whispered the most romantic declaration of love to her. God she’s a fucking natural, Kenny thought to himself.

  “Excuse me,” the tall man said loud enough for them to hear over the music.

  Maya jumped, as if she didn’t know he was approaching, and plastered herself to Kenny’s side. He wrapped an arm around her waist.

  The man looked at her and nodded, “Maya,” he said.

  “Y-yes,” she replied.

  “I am here to bring you to Mr. Mehmeti. Please come with me.” He turned on his heels and walked away. They followed him, Maya’s head swiveling to look around her and Kenny’s body tense.

  As they walked, Maya reached back for his hand. Their fingers laced together and he squeezed her palm. Here
we go, that squeeze said. There was no turning back now.

  ***

  Maya was preparing her rant to Kierra as she walked through the lower floor of LICK. Kierra had promised her a bit of wild debauchery but all Maya could see was a regular old dance club with a shitty DJ at that. Her first time in a sex club was very disappointing so far and a waste of her A+ makeup.

  But then the security guard who was built like a bald brick wall led them to an elevator. When the doors opened onto the fourth floor, Maya’s eyes widened in shock and excitement.

  “This is what the fuck I’m talking about,” she breathed as they stepped into a room that looked like a decadent French salon. Couches and chaise lounges were scattered around the room with pillows and silky throws thrown artfully over them. There were two bars – one at each side of the room – and waiters and waitresses, in very small bathing suits, traversing the floor, serving guests.

  “Please follow me,” the guard said.

  Maya nodded and walked gleefully into the room, craning her neck trying to see all there was to see.

  And then she saw too much.

  When she turned her head to the left her eyes caught on Kierra in a nude lace teddy, a very short black leather skirt and sky-high heels that Maya wasn’t sure her friend could actually walk in. She was leaning back on a couch, her legs spread obscenely wide, Monica and Lane on either side of her talking calmly to one another, each with a hand under her skirt.

  Maya’s mouth gaped. “Girl…” she whispered under her breath.

  Kenny squeezed her hand and leaned down to whisper to her again. “Don’t look at her.”

  She turned to him and frowned. “Everyone’s looking at her. I’d be stupid not to.” When she turned back to Kierra, she caught her roommate’s eyes. She smiled and raised her eyebrows. Kierra smirked and raised one eyebrow before her head fell back and her mouth opened. Maya couldn’t hear the moan from across the room but based on the way every head nearby turned toward her and a number of men reached to adjust their dicks in their pants, Maya could guess that it had been a good one.

  “You will wait here,” the guard said, taking Maya’s attention away from her best friend.

  She nodded and sat down on the empty couch, which had clearly been reserved just for them. Kenny sat down next to her and settled his hand high on her bare thigh. The guard motioned to a waiter who rushed over with a bucket of champagne and two glasses.

  “Courtesy of Mr. Mehmeti. He will be with you shortly,” the guard said to them, turned and walked away.

  “So when does the sex start?” Maya asked as she looked around, nervous excitement coursing through her veins. Most of the people clustered around them had turned to stare, clearly wondering who they were. And besides Kierra, Monica and Lane, the room was generally PG-13, except for the revealing clothing.

  “What?”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “Sex. When does that start? Is someone going to ring a bell and then everyone strips down? What’s the timeline here?”

  Kenny’s mouth gaped. “Maya. Focus.”

  “I am focused. On the sex in the sex club.”

  “We have a job,” he whispered through clenched teeth so that no one nearby could hear.

  She smiled at him and leaned forward to swipe her tongue along the seam of his lips. “Your job is to take down the bad guy. My job is to distract him so you can,” she whispered against his mouth. “Do I have that right?” She asked.

  He swallowed hard and nodded.

  “I thought so,” she said and stood from the couch. She poured herself a glass of champagne, bending over in front of Kenny. He let out a strangled cry as her thighs and the soft globes of her ass were bared to his eyes underneath her very short dress.

  When she sat back down, Kenny’s eyes were on her and so were the eyes of a small cluster of older, elegant women behind them. Maya smiled at them and they smiled back, one of them waving hello. Maya winked in return.

  “Are you wearing underwear, Maya?” Kenny asked.

  “Of course I am,” she said, her eyes shifting to a man lying on another nearby chaise. She watched as he slowly unzipped his pants, his eyes aimed their way.

  “I didn’t see any,” Kenny said.

  “They’re there,” she replied as the man slipped his hand though the zipper. Maya moved one leg onto Kenny’s lap. “Why don’t you find them.”

  His hands were on her thighs, trembling. “I can’t,” he said.

  She shifted her eyes to him. She was surprised to see his face flushed but not surprised when she dropped her eyes to the large bulge in his pants.

  “Why not?”

  “I need to concentrate,” he ground out. “And I can’t concentrate on anything else if I touch you.”

  His words made her feel sexy and powerful. God he’s wonderful, she thought to herself.

  “Babe,” she said and kissed him gently, just the soft pressure of her mouth on his. “I thought you were a professional.”

  “They don’t train us for this kind of situation.”

  “Lane and Monica seem just fine,” she said.

  He rolled his eyes, “They’re different.”

  “How?”

  His brows furrowed. “I don’t like putting you in the middle of this,” he finally admitted. And then she saw the fear in his eyes.

  She put her champagne flute down and softly touched his face. They made eye contact and she smiled at him. “I trust you,” she whispered. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”

  He inhaled sharply and huffed out a breath. Kenny covered her hands with his and leaned forward so their foreheads touched.

  “We can do this,” she said.

  “We,” he whispered back.

  She raised his head and smiled at him. “We,” she said again with a smile.

  As the smile spread along his mouth, Maya watched his eyes light up with something soft that chased the look of fear away.

  “Now touch me quick, the sex is finally kicking off,” she laughed.

  He furrowed his brow and looked around. On the nearby couches their unexpected audience had begun to shift clothes to the side or were in the process of taking them off all together.

  “You did this,” Kenny said with a smile.

  “I am very good at my job,” she smirked. “And you know I love an audience.”

  When he turned back to her, she raised her eyebrows at him in challenge.

  He smiled at her and then his eyes darted around. “Keep your eyes open,” he said, reaching for the strap of her dress. He pushed it over her shoulder with her bra strap. His fingers traced the skin across her chest and then dipped down into her dress. He pulled her breast free and began to roll her nipple between his fingers.

  She whimpered.

  He dipped his head and swiped his tongue across her nipple and then began to gently pinch the sensitive flesh.

  She groaned and her eyes drifted closed.

  “Maya,” he said in a hard tone that made her clit jump.

  She opened her eyes.

  “You watch my back and I’ll watch yours.”

  She frowned and let out a harsh breath of air. But she did as he said, alternating her gaze between his face and the room behind him. There was so much to see, people touching themselves and each other, some watching them, some in their own little world. But she didn’t care about any of it; none of it was as interesting as Kenny’s intense stare or his fingers on her. So she only looked away when he did. As soon as she verified there were no more human walls headed their way she hurried back to his eyes.

  She could feel her sex weeping at his touch. It wasn’t enough. Maya spread her legs and licked her lips. His eyes settled on her mouth. “Touch me,” she whispered.

  His eyes darted to her legs and the hem of her tiny dress. He looked up, scanning the room.

  She could have jumped when his hand landed on her knee. He squeezed her there and then began the slowest path up her leg toward her pussy.

  “F
aster,” she breathed.

  He turned to follow the movement of a waiter and laughed. “It’s my turn to tease you.”

  She growled, “Didn’t take long for you to get cocky.” Her eyes darted to his lap. His erection was a large mound and her mouth watered.

  “Maya.”

  Her eyes flew to his. “I was just looking for a second,” she said and then shifted to check in on the room behind him.

  His fingers touched the crotch of her underwear.

  “Huh,” he said. “You are wearing underwear.”

  “Not for long,” she mumbled.

  He huffed a laugh.

  She didn’t know what he thought was funny and she would have said that except he began to rub her clit through the wet patch at her crotch.

  “Fuck,” she said, fighting to keep her eyes open. And a good thing she succeeded, because she saw the moment the elevator doors opened and the human wall returned, Joseph Mehmeti behind him.

  “Incoming,” she breathed and then let her head fall back.

  “Him?”

  “Yes,” she hissed and settled her eyes on him. “Please, make me come before he gets here. I might have a hard time concentrating now.” She could see Mehmeti walking leisurely toward them but she didn’t care about him right now.

  He laughed. “How the tables have turned,” he whispered and then did as she asked.

  His touch transformed in an instant from light and airy to hard and needy. Maya’s body shivered with an onslaught of so many emotions as he pinched her nipple with one hand and slipped two fingers around the scrap of fabric and inside of her wet sex quickly. He turned his hand, sawing his fingers in and out of her, rubbing along her most sensitive spot and then settled his thumb to rub her clit.

  “Fuck are you ambidextrous?”

  He laughed and maybe he answered but she was too overcome. Her head fell back and she opened her mouth to let out a loud moan as her body shivered and her sex clenched and gushed around Kenny’s fingers.

  The orgasm made her back arch and the rest of the room disappeared around them. That was probably a bad thing considering an Albanian mobster was stalking toward them. But in that moment, Maya truly did not care.