by Aleah Barley
“Please,” Finn said, not quite sure what he was asking for. “I want you. I need you.” His grip tightened on her warm body. Forget asking, he wanted to grab on to everything she was offering and never let go. “Kiss me,” he ordered.
“Not right now, sugar.” She bent forward slightly. Her lips fluttered against his neck as she ground against him one last time. “I don’t want to start a riot.”
It took everything he had to let her go.
Gina danced back over to the rest of the spectators, swaying and moving, but never getting as close to any other man as she’d gotten to Finn…which was a damn good thing.
Finn was armed, after all. His department-issued gun pressed into the small of his back in anticipation.
If anyone made a wrong move, placing their hands where they didn’t belong, he might be inclined to shoot first and ask questions later.
He could just make out the words echoing through the speakers. A twisted lyric about a wicked woman and the man who got to take her home at night.
All he had to do was bide his time and the dance would be over. Gina would be his for the night, and this time, he wasn’t going to sleep in the bed of the truck by himself.
Nope, he was going to take all those years of pent-up frustration and turn them into something productive.
Finn might be a virgin, but he intended to make his first time good for both of them.
He’d take his time, running his hands over Gina’s body, teasing her flesh until she writhed beneath him calling out his name.
Only when she was finally begging for it—pleading with him to take her hard against the hotel bed—would he finally strip off her shorts and drop down to taste her desire.
He was going to make her scream over and over again, until she couldn’t remember the words, and then he was going to roll on top of her and bury his cock deep within her.
Oh, yeah.
It was going to be fun.
The chorus thundered out a final time with Gina still dancing for everyone’s eyes to see, but Finn no longer felt the need to cover her. She would be in his arms tonight.
When the song finally ended, Gina collected the loose bills that had fallen down onto the stage and vanished back behind the dark velvet curtain that hid the dancers from the audience.
Finn stood up.
Time to go.
He turned to leave and bumped into a pretty blonde woman in a pink outfit that covered all of her important bits while still revealing absolutely everything else. Black liner rimmed her eyes, making them seem too large for her face. Her lips were painted a fiery red color that clashed with her shiny outfit.
“Very nice.” Painted nails reached out to stroke his chest. Her voice was soft and throaty. It was clearly meant to sound erotic, but Finn just thought she needed a lozenge. “If you’re looking for someone to finish that lap dance, I’d be more than happy to oblige.”
“Sorry.” Finn took a step backward, retreating until his legs banged up against the table. “You’re a very pretty woman, but—”
“Is it that you like redheads?” the blonde purred quietly into his ear. “Or just that you like her.”
“Gina’s one of a kind.”
“That’s what I thought.” The blonde shimmied forward, all that firm bare flesh pressing against his body.
It did absolutely nothing for him.
If anything, the erection he’d had since Gina stepped out onstage deflated.
“Get off,” he growled.
“I’m doing you a favor, sexy.” The purr evaporated, replaced by broad Midwestern vowels. “I know some men get off watching their girlfriends dance for other guys, but the club’s not here to cater to your kink. It’s a business. You came in a minute after Gina. If you left after her dance—the boss wouldn’t like it. He might decide to take it out on her.”
This time, when she moved closer to him, he didn’t push her away. “What should I do?”
“Let me give you a dance,” the blonde said. “When I’m done, you can leave. There’s a back door around the other side of the building. It leads to the dressing rooms. Gina’s in the one with the star on the door. There are condoms in the vanity.”
Finn swallowed hard, but he couldn’t stop need from crashing down on him like a tsunami. He’d spent enough time wallowing in his own self-pity. It was time to start living life again. He wanted Gina, and he wasn’t going to deny himself anymore.
“Why are you helping me?” he asked as he settled back down onto the hard wooden chair.
“The way you two were making goo-goo eyes at each other?” The woman laughed. “I might be a stripper, but I still believe in true love. Maybe that’s my kink.”
…
Seeing the way Finn had reacted to her lap dance, Gina knew he’d only been a minute or two from coming. His pulse had been wild. His pupils had been dilated. His breath had been getting quicker.
And when his fingers had dug into her hips, capturing her body against his?
Yeah, she hadn’t been the only one moaning for more.
A new song was starting out onstage, and Gina shimmied in time to the music as she walked back to the blonde dancer’s dressing room and changed back into her T-shirt. She left on the hot pants because—frankly—they weren’t any shorter than the shorts she’d been wearing, and they were a hell of a lot cleaner.
She flattened out the money she’d collected on the nearest horizontal surface and counted. There was a little over two hundred dollars. It was more than she’d expected. Giving 50 percent to Harvey wouldn’t leave her enough money for the hotel room she’d been talking about earlier, but she and Finn would be able to eat something other than jerky before filling up the truck’s gas tank.
The dressing room door opened, and Gina’s teeth dug into her bottom lip. Sirens echoed in the back of her head. Danger. Was it the other dancer? Someone stepped inside and closed the door. Was it Harvey? Danger. Danger!
“You were magnificent.” Finn came up behind her, his head dipping to kiss her collarbone. “Absolutely glorious.”
“You liked watching me dance?”
“I always like watching you.” His lips never left her body. Large hands skimmed over her skintight clothing, cupping her breasts and dragging her back against his body. Hot breath pooled against delicate skin, making her shudder in anticipation. His erection was hard against her ass, making all sorts of dirty promises. “Is this okay?”
The fact that he was asking her instead of telling? Yeah, that was more than okay. It was damn sexy.
“I thought you were the one with misgivings.” Her hips swiveled in time to the barely audible music. “Changed your mind already, Father Finn?”
“Don’t call me that,” he ordered. Sharp teeth nipped at her skin, sending a shudder of anticipation down her spine as pain mixed with pleasure, sending her closer to the edge.
Gina sucked in a breath, steadying nerves raw from all the time she’d spent under the stage lights, and turned to face Finn. His eyes were bright, his cheeks flushed with desire. He felt like coming home and smelled like—another woman’s perfume?
Her nostrils flared. “Why do you smell like gardenias?”
“Your friend—the blonde—told me where you were.” Firm lips turned up into a wide smile. “Jealous?”
Just a little. Her cheeks flushed.
Finn laughed. “Don’t be. You’re the only woman I want.”
Right, and that was something else to think about. He was a virgin—a hot, sexy male virgin. Gina didn’t know whether to jump up in down in excitement or run away in terror. It was like being dealt a royal flush her first time at the poker table.
While she was considering her options, Finn wrapped his muscular arms around her waist and lifted her onto the dressing room’s small vanity. Bottles and bobby pins rolled off, crashing into the ground. “Someday, we’re going to do this in a bed,” he promised. “I want to take my time with you. I want to make you scream.”
Then he rea
ched between her legs to stroke her core. Oh, God. Nimble fingers moved back and forth between her legs, making her gasp and moan with appreciation. The stretchy black fabric of her pants lessened the sensation a little, but it wouldn’t stop her from getting off.
When Finn kissed her, it was like coming home. He tasted like sunlight and sex—like everything she’d ever wanted and never thought she could really have. Now that she knew his past, she could sense his inexperience, but that didn’t make him any less bold.
Finn might be a virgin, but he was all man.
The chain around his neck was cool on her skin, the charm heavy. “What is it?” she asked, reaching up to finger the medallion.
“A Saint Michael’s medal. He’s the patron saint of cops. My sister gave it to me when I moved to Las Vegas. It’s supposed to bring me luck.”
“And does it work?”
“Oh, yeah.” His free hand tangled in her curls, drawing her in closer. The sensation was fierce and unexpected; it made her moan in delight.
“I like that noise,” Finn said. “Do it again.”
“Make me.”
“It’s a promise.” He nipped at her bottom lip, sending a fresh burst of sensation sizzling along her spine.
He was a natural.
Tugging at his shirt, Gina pulled it off over his head. She reached for the waist of his jeans.
“Bad girl.” Finn grabbed at her hand, pinning it to the vanity. “This afternoon—” He groaned. “Earlier, it was all about my pleasure.”
“And now? Is it my turn? Are you going to make me quiver in delight and then walk away unsatisfied?”
“Well…” He cleared his throat with a cough. “Not exactly.”
Even better. Gina wouldn’t turn down an orgasm—or two—but she wanted more. She needed the connection that came from feeling him move deep inside her.
His hand never stopped moving, stroking her, touching her. His thumb skimmed her thigh, drawing up the edge of her hot pants, and his fingers dipped under the elastic.
His body rocked forward, and the first long finger entered her.
“Finn,” she gasped his name. “Oh, Finn—”
“That’s what I wanted to hear.” He lifted her again, manhandling her across the small dressing room and moving her onto the faded futon. A second finger pushed inside her, filling her, making her moan with pleasure. “You’re wearing too many clothes,” he complained.
Kneeling in front of her, Finn stripped off her pants with firm, capable hands. Her T-shirt disappeared a second later, followed quickly by the black lace underneath.
When Gina was finally naked, Finn rolled off the futon. His jeans rustled and hit the ground, followed quickly by his briefs.
There was a moment’s silence.
Gina pushed herself up onto her elbows to get a better view. Shoulder muscles bunched and stretched as Finn reached across to tug open the vanity’s top drawer. A foil-wrapped packet appeared between his fingers and was placed carefully on the floor beside them.
Nice to know he had a plan.
Her eyes flickered shut, and Gina lost herself in wave after wave of sensation as rough, callused fingers rubbed against her skin. His thumb flicked across her pebbled nipple once, twice. A tiny gasp escaped her lips.
“I could spend hours exploring your body,” Finn said. She could feel every word against her bare belly. His other hand dipped down to the apex of her thighs, his fingers pressing back into her, as if that was where they belonged.
“We don’t have hours.”
“No,” he agreed. “We don’t.”
His lips met hers again, and her mouth opened wider to give him access. The clean scent of soap surrounded her.
His fingers disappeared, and for a long moment, Gina felt empty. Then she heard the sound of foil tearing. “Do you need help?”
“I taught sex ed for a semester.” Finn chuckled. “We practiced on cucumbers.”
Then he rolled over on top of her, spreading her legs out wide beneath him and settling into position between her thighs. His hips rocked forward gently. “Ready?”
Gina moaned hungrily.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Finn laughed before burying himself in her core.
It was just sex, Gina tried to remind herself, but sex had never felt like this before.
Her legs wrapped around his waist, drawing him in closer, and their bodies started to move together. The strains of “Cherry Bomb” pounded through the closed door, and Finn’s hips began to buck in time to music.
Damn. Her heart was doing the cha-cha in her chest. For a moment, all she could see was Finn’s face above her, and then her eyes rolled back in her head. “Harder,” she urged him on. “Faster.”
A hand slipped beneath her back, dragging her down an inch. The angle changed, and suddenly Gina was seeing stars. Muscles convulsed deep inside her, and she came screaming his name.
A moment later, Finn followed her over the edge, biting down hard on her neck as he emptied himself inside her.
Finn’s forehead lowered to rest against hers. It was such a small thing, but still… Gina’s heart sped up again as an aftershock hit her. Finn. It was Finn on top of her. He was the one who’d come inside her a moment earlier. No one else.
Just Finn.
Chapter Thirteen
Knock. Knock. Someone banged loudly on the door, interrupting the afterglow.
“Damn.” Gina wriggled out from under Finn’s large body.
For a moment, she’d let herself forget where they were—in the cramped backstage dressing room of a Midwestern strip club—and now she was going to pay for it.
Management wasn’t going to be happy to find her entertaining a customer without getting paid. And sex on the property? That would have her tossed out in the cold in no time. It was enough to cost the club its license if the wrong person decided to perform an inspection.
“You need to hide,” she growled at Finn.
“Excuse me?”
“Hide.” She tossed his clothes at him, then scrambled back into her T-shirt. The room was so small; she could make out every lemon-scented inch. “Under the futon. Now.”
“Not funny.”
“You’re awfully cocky for a man who left his gun in the car.”
“I’ve got my gun,” Finn said quietly.
“You want to use it?”
There was a moment’s pause, and then the detective finally did as he was told, wriggling underneath the futon as Gina pulled the black hot pants back up over her hips. “Come in.”
The door popped open, and Harvey sauntered in with a smile on his face. “My newest star.”
“You liked my dancing?”
“I’m gay, sweetheart. But the customers liked your dancing, and that’s what’s important. Of course, the way you and the quarterback were eye fucking on the floor didn’t hurt, either. That was seriously hot.” He grabbed the money off the vanity, counting it out carefully. “This all of it?”
“Every penny.”
He took half and stuffed it into his pocket. “I’ve had two requests for you to work the VIP room. You can get started tonight if you’d like.”
It was like a giant vacuum had sucked all the air from the room. Either that or Gina just forgot how to breathe. Her lungs were screaming. Her heart was fluttering like a trapped bird. None of it made any difference.
Just the mention of the VIP room had her spiraling backward in time, sending her back to that last night at the Beavertail, when Rick had come up behind her. He’d pressed her down against one of the VIP room’s padded benches, forcing a clammy hand up under her shirt while he kept talking, spewing his bile. “Mine,” he’d said. “You’re mine, and I’m never going to let you go.”
She couldn’t go through that again. “No! I—” The words choked her, killing the last of her afterglow. “I’d better do it tomorrow.”
“Humph.” Harvey’s lips pressed together in a thin line. He clearly wasn’t pleased to miss out on his cut. He too
k a step forward. “Are you sure you won’t change your mind?”
Every instinct Gina had was screaming at her to push Harvey to the side and make a break for the door. But she couldn’t do it. Leaving Finn trapped under the futon was out of the question.
She forced herself to take a deep breath.
It didn’t help.
Hell. She wasn’t going to get killed in some shoot-out between the mob and a dirty cop. She wasn’t even going to be put down in the dust by one of the men sent to retrieve the stolen evidence.
She was going to die in a strip club with perspiration still cooling her cheeks from one last dance. Icy fingers of fear clutched at her heart. Heart attack. Stroke. Aneurysm. The coroner would be mystified as to cause of death. They wouldn’t know that it was due to pure panic, brought on by circumstance and memory.
“I suppose you need to finish getting dressed.” Harvey sniffed. “I need to tell Mindy to air out this room. It smells musty.”
When he finally left, Gina collapsed against the wall, sucking in air. “We need to get out of here. Now.” She didn’t wait for Finn to answer. She ran.
By the time Gina got to the parking lot, she was still gasping. Every breath she took scraped against her lungs like sandpaper. Her entire body was shaking, but at least she was still alive.
Her knees swayed, but she concentrated on taking in air. It was going to be okay. Everything would be okay.
A large hand reached out of the darkness to grab her arm, and she jerked away in terror.
“Easy, cupcake,” Finn said. She felt like collapsing against his broad chest and letting him carry her to the truck.
Instead, she forced herself to straighten up and pull away. “We need to get out of here.”
“Agreed.” Finn’s clothes were back in place. His high-tops ghosted across the ground as they made their way back to the truck. He held the passenger side door open for her as she slid back into the cab that smelled like chocolate and jerky, fumbling for the bottle of water she’d left in the cup holder.
The door slammed shut, and he walked around to get in on the driver’s side. “You got a destination in mind?”
