We both moan simultaneously as her tight pussy sucks me in, clenching around my throbbing shaft.
“Fuck,” I hiss as she slowly starts to ride me. I grow harder with every thrust as her hips meet mine. She stares down at me as she bounces up and down, and I need to see all of her.
Grabbing the back of her head, I quickly pull the strings on her mask and let it fall from her face.
Bright green eyes stare back at me and I’m face to face with the girl who haunts my mind.
She freezes on top of me and her eyes grow wide with recognition as she searches my face.
My throat constricts as all the air leaves my lungs and my heart kicks into overdrive.
“Dahlia?”
Dahlia
FUCK, FUCK, SHIT, FUCK.
This cannot be happening right now.
Bursting through the doors into the dressing room, I rush across the room, completely naked. In a haste, I throw on my yoga pants and a loose sweater. Grabbing my bra and underwear, I stuff them into my oversized Louis Vuitton bag and pull on my all-white Nikes.
Of all the strip clubs in New York, he just had to come to the one I work at tonight.
Without a second thought, I grab all of my shit and run out the back door into the parking lot. The moon is bright, hanging in the sky as I jog along the side of the building, forgetting where I parked. Glancing around, I spot my black Maserati a few cars away and break out into a sprint until I reach the driver’s side.
I don’t run from anything, except for him.
From him, I will always run.
I pull on the handle of the door and my hand slips off as it doesn’t open. It sets off the alarm and I jump out of my skin. I’m completely on edge and I’m panicking. Shrugging my bag from my shoulder, I dig through it until I find my keys and quickly press the button, turning off the alarm.
Unlocking the door, I slip inside the sleek car and throw my bag onto the passenger seat as I press the start button and lock the doors again. Adrenaline courses throughout my body and my hands shake as I pull my seatbelt across my chest in a rush.
Just as the seatbelt clicks, someone pounds on the glass beside me. Without looking, I react and reach into my purse, and pull out my Glock 42. Depressing the safety, I rack the slide of the pistol and point it at the dark figure outside of my window with my finger on the trigger.
Taking a deep breath, I steady my hands and hit the button to open the window. As it quickly slides down, I hold my gun out, aiming it at my newest threat.
“What the fuck, Dahlia?” Vincent barks in a nervous tone. “Put that fucking thing away!”
Letting out a rush of air, I quickly hit the safety and hold the gun on my lap. I’m too on edge to not question his actions right now.
Trust no one. Show no weakness.
I jerk my head, shaking Kai’s voice from my mind. Looking up at Vincent, I meet his eyes filled with bewilderment.
Shit. I forgot about him.
“Your shift isn’t over, so where the hell are you going?” he demands, crossing his arms over his chest.
Feeling the color drain from my face, I swallow the lump forming in my throat. “I just really need to go home right now,” I plead. “I don’t feel well at a—”
“Bullshit,” he interrupts, holding up his hand. “Something happened. It was that Wall Street bastard, wasn’t it?”
My grip on my Glock tightens at his mention of Kai. “No, he was fine,” I lie, shaking my head. “I just have a terrible migraine that I can’t get to go away.”
Vincent narrows his eyes at me. “Why were you running out of the club like you had seen a ghost?”
Because I did see a ghost.
“The lights and the sounds were too much, I just needed to get out before I got sick,” I tell him in a hushed voice, letting embarrassment seep into my words.
Vincent leans forward, placing his hands on the side of the car and stares down at me with calculated, questioning eyes. He doesn’t want to believe me, but he has no choice.
“Go sleep it off,” he sighs. “You brought in more than enough money tonight, so take tomorrow off. I need you here and I need you on your game, so get your shit sorted out.”
“Thanks, Vincent.” I nod, giving him a small smile. “You know I won’t let you down.”
He stands upright and straightens out his jacket. “You haven’t yet,” he agrees with a wink. “If I find out something happened though, those fuckers will wish they never stepped foot inside my club.”
I nod as Vincent steps back from the car and waves me forward. With a small smile and a small wave, I close the window as I put the car in reverse. I ease out of the parking spot as Vincent moves to the wall, watching me.
He’s only being protective, but his gaze is unsettling. I’ve seen the way he looks at me and watches me on stage, but he does have a dick, so it doesn’t surprise me.
Most men think with their dicks and let their testosterone run rampant, fueling their thoughts and actions.
Kai was an exception.
With the amount of attention his dick got, he never thought with it. He had a mind of his own and that was what controlled him. Not the sex, not the pussy.
When we were together, it was more than what they had on tape. Kai wanted me and I didn’t want anyone else. He was everything to me. Kai was the glue that held us together. He was my life jacket that kept me afloat when I was drowning. He was my shelter as we weathered the storm together.
Kai was my solace and my protector. He was the air I breathed, and I loved him more than love would ever know.
When we were separated, I had to let that love go with him. There was no place for feelings like that in my life; not for him. So, I hid them, I suppressed them, and I buried my memories of him in the grave with who I used to be.
After him, after the love was lost, I changed. There was no meaning to my life anymore. I didn’t have a guard and there were no walls. What I had wasn’t able to ever be penetrated.
I had nothing.
I peel out of the parking lot and onto the busy street of the city that never sleeps. My mind is stuck in autopilot as I navigate through the traffic until I pull up to the gated community I live in.
Pat, the guard who works the gatehouse, lets me in with a wave. I drive onto the next street and pull into the driveway of my condo as the garage door opens. Parking the car inside, I don’t unlock my doors or get out until after the garage door is closed.
Slipping out of my shoes, I throw my purse onto the granite top island in the kitchen and ignore the rest of the house, heading straight for the bathroom. I strip out of my clothes on my way, walking into the vast marble room and turn on the water as I step into the shower.
Tipping my head back, I let the hot water soak my hair and run down the rest of my body. Using my loofa and soap, I scrub the sweat and sex from the night off my skin.
I scrub and scrub my body, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t get rid of the feeling of his skin on mine.
He was the ghost from my past, my biggest weakness, and the only love I’d ever known. The moment he said my name and his voice vibrated through my body, I knew it was him. He stared at me with those soft brown eyes, completely shook.
I did the only thing that I could do, and I ran from him, from the ghost that haunts my mind.
I let him go many years ago and there was no place for him in my life anymore.
Kai
SHOVING MY DICK BACK into my pants, I sit on the couch staring at the door she just ran out of. My heart pounds against my ribcage, threatening to break free.
What the fuck just happened?
For the first time in ten years, I wasn’t seeing a ghost. It was Dahlia, in the flesh, and she was right here, in the palm of my hands... and now she’s gone.
Shaking away the shock, I jump to my feet and sprint to the door after her. I lost her once before and I won’t let her go again that easily. Everything has changed; we both have changed.
The door opens up into an empty hallway in the back of the club that customers don’t have access to. Music from the front of the club vibrates through the walls and fills the empty space.
Looking back and forth, no one is coming from either side, so I jet off to the left and sprint down the hall. As I reach the end, I come to a door that leads to the front of the club and another door across from it.
I glance at the door that goes out front, but I know her better than she knows herself. She wouldn’t be caught dead out there right now. She’s spooked and she’s doing what she does best.
Running and hiding.
She’s surviving.
Not giving a fuck, I choose the opposite door and push my way inside. I dare anyone to get in my way right now.
It’s the girl’s dressing room and it’s empty. My eyes scan the room, but the only person I see is my hardened face watching me in the mirrors. I spot a few doors that lead to private changing areas in the corner of the room.
Marching over, I kick each door open, but each one is empty.
She’s fucking gone.
I’ve been waiting too many fucking years for our reunion to have her slip through my fingers again.
I never thought I would see her again.
I quickly exit the room the same way that I entered and step out into the front part of the club. The music is loud in my ears, the lights are bright, flashing around the room and the place is packed, making it impossible to find her.
I know her well enough to know that she’s not here anymore.
“What the fuck were you doing in there?” A deep voice booms from the doorway. Roughly running my hands through my hair, I slowly turn around and find the man from earlier.
“Dahlia,” I demand, walking toward him, stopping a foot or so away. “Where is she?”
He stiffens and frowns. “I don’t know of a ‘Dahlia.’”
“Bullshit,” I grumble, marching closer to him until our toes are touching. He’s fucking lying.
He knows more about her than he’s saying.
That’s enough for me to have him pressed up against the wall, with my hand crushing his trachea.
“You know where she went,” I seethe in his face. “And you’re going to tell me where the fuck that is.”
The man struggles against me, grasping my wrist with both of his sweaty hands as his feet kick around. His face is beet red, turning a faint shade of purple as his body screams for the oxygen I’m depriving him of.
I don’t feel his hands on me until I’m being ripped away from the man. “KAI!” Gus shouts, getting into my face. I swiftly shake my shoulders, stepping up to him as I eye the man on the ground, breathing heavily.
Gus drives the palms of his hands into my chest, shoving me backward. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“He knows where she went.”
Chase crouches down next to the man and helps him to his feet. “I’m so sorry, Vincent,” Chase apologizes, glaring at me from the corner of his eyes. Leaning against the wall, he pushes Chase’s hands away from him. His eyes find mine and he pins them on me.
“Get the fuck out of my club,” he demands. “And stay the fuck away from her.”
A growl escapes my lips as I push my shoulders back, ready to come at him, with my fists clenched.
“Sorry, boss,” I seethe. “I won’t be doing that.”
Gus pushes me back again and a dark grin tugs at the corner of my lips. “The fuck, man?”
“Leave... before I call the police,” Vincent warns.
A chuckle vibrates through my chest. “Please do.” I wave. “I would love to hear their thoughts on your little whore house here.”
“Shut the fuck up already,” Gus growls, pushing me farther away. Chase backs away from Vincent with his hands raised, apologizing profusely.
Vincent’s eyes stay on mine until we’re sucked deep into the crowd of people, floating toward the entrance.
Gus releases his grip on my arm with a shove, pushing me into the brick wall. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT, KAI?” he barks.
Shaking my head, I reach into my pocket and pull out a pack of cigarettes and light one. “You wouldn’t get it.”
Exhaling the thick smoke, I harness my anger and drive my fist into the solid brick.
“Dude.” Chase steps forward. “What the fuck is going on? And since when do you smoke cigarettes?”
Taking a drag, I tilt my head back and blow the smoke into the dark night sky. “Since I lost her.”
Chase and Gus glance at each other and shrug at the same time. “Aliana will be back next week,” Chase treads lightly.
I divert my eyes away from them, staring out into the night. My body knew it was Dahlia before my mind did. As soon as my soul recognized her, Aliana didn’t exist.
Aliana never existed.
“I don’t think he means her,” Gus tells Chase in a hushed voice as they both watch me warily.
They’ve known me for years, but they don’t know the real me. They don’t know what I lived through, what I experienced. They don’t know what I’m capable of and they know nothing of her.
“I need to go home,” I announce out loud, not to anyone in particular. Pushing off the wall, I snub out my cigarette and brush past the two of them.
“Yo,” Gus calls out. “What the fuck?”
I turn around to face them and shake my head. “I can’t talk about it right now.”
Chase nods understandingly and gives me a small smile. “We got your back, bro.”
I nod back at him and find Gus’s narrowed eyes glaring at me.
“Aliana, your fiancée,” he scoffed, emphasizing the last two words, “comes back next week. Get your shit together before then.”
They know nothing.
Without another word, I turn my back to them and walk to my car. I tear out of the parking lot in my black Ferrari and race home, like I can outrun time.
Dahlia already got a head start... now I just have to catch her.
Dahlia
CEMENTED TO MY BED, I lie on my back and stare up at the stark white ceiling as if it holds all the answers to my problems.
Up until two days ago, I had no problems. I floated through life on a cloud made out of money without a single care in the world. I did what I wanted, whenever I wanted. My life knew no restrictions.
But not anymore; everything had changed.
I haven’t moved in two days. My body didn’t need food and my mind wouldn’t shut down long enough for sleep to come.
Kai was back, and I was fucked.
My phone rings for the third time and I let it go to voicemail. I should have turned it off long ago, but I didn’t care enough to.
A text message comes through after my phone stops ringing. I ignore it and continue to stare mindlessly at the ceiling. The messages don’t stop after the first one and my phone begins to light up continuously.
Groaning, I roll over and grab it from the nightstand. Vince was the last person that I talked to and that was two days ago. Sliding my finger, I unlock the screen and tap on my unread messages.
Tierney: Dali... are you okay?
T: where are you??
T: are you alive?
T: Dahlia, wtf, answer your damn phone!!
T: I swear to Christ, if you don’t answer me, I’m coming over.
For fuck’s sake.
She means well, I know it, but goddammit, she’s fucking annoying.
Dahlia: I’m fine. I’ll see you at work tonight.
I hit send and quickly turn off my phone. That should be enough to keep her off my back until tonight. I’ll deal with her and her endless questions when I see her later.
I glance at the clock, noting that later is only a few hours away and roll over onto my back. The ceiling above greets me with silence as I trace the border of the room with my eyes.
The hours tick by and I remain in the same spot, waiting until the last minute to get ready. Getting ready at home consisted of throwing on clothes to
leave the house. Getting ready for work happened at the club.
Dragging myself out of bed, I throw on a pair of leggings and a cropped sweatshirt. Pulling my thick hair up in a ponytail, I slip my feet into my sneakers and head out of my room.
Throwing on my Dior leather jacket, I move through the house on autopilot. I grab my purse and my keys and walk into the garage and the next thing I know, I’m pulling into the parking lot at the club. The drive here was a blur as I was lost in my head, but somehow, I got here in one piece.
It’s already busy by the time I arrive and it’s time to shut it all off.
Kai was never here.
I’ve been numb for two days and now I just need to hide the numbness.
He doesn’t affect me anymore. Weaknesses don’t exist.
Tierney is waiting for me as soon as I walk inside. Ignoring her, I throw my purse down onto my seat and shrug off my jacket. Her eyes burn holes into the side of my head as I scan my face in the mirror and let my hair down.
“Really?” she scoffs as I plug in my curling iron and start sectioning my hair off. “You’re really gonna ignore me like that?”
I secured the last clip in my hair and toss my purse onto the counter as I fall down onto the seat. “I’m not ignoring you.”
Tierney huffs as she crosses her arms over her chest. “You haven’t even looked at me, so if you’re not ignoring me, please tell me what this shit is.”
I glance at her in the mirror as I wrap my hair around the barrel of the curling iron. “I’m here.” I shrug and watch the perfect curl fall onto my chest.
“Right,” she mutters under her breath as she rolls her eyes.
I let out a deep sigh as I continue to work on my hair. “Go ahead,” I offer. “Ask your questions.”
She glances at me, narrowing her eyes.
“You know you want to,” I tease, and her face quickly brightens.
She smiles and drops down onto the chair beside me. “What the fuck happened? Vin wouldn’t tell anyone about what happened, but Andi overheard some shit about a VIP dance going wrong.”
Fuck.
Entangled Chaos (Entangled Duet Book 1) Page 10
