She might not have much, but she adored the little circle she had created in the underbelly of Vegas. She even loved her fans at the club. They showed her more affection and praise than her husband ever had.
Ugh, and Asher. Asher, my beacon of light, my sword of strength.
How could she leave him? She was in a bad position, no matter how she looked at it. She was in deep with Carson, but not deep enough to exorcise demons from her past.
Sienna decided to burn through her nerves with cleaning her dressing room, except she knocked over more makeup than she straightened when she went to organize her vanity. Her shaking hands could barely line up the perfume bottles.
With her door locked and no one to witness her meltdown, she secretly considered going back home, seeking a divorce, and losing herself in Carson. That was a fairy tale, though, because there was no happy ending for Lila. If she went back, Elon would never grant her a divorce.
Oh, she could get a civil one, but the religious leaders wouldn’t accept it. All this was best-case scenario because she knew damn well if she went back, Elon would beat her to a pulp. She might not even make it out alive to ask for a divorce if she showed her face back there again. Their community would surround the wagons, cover it all up, and no one would know what really happened to her. The culture she came from didn’t need any more bad publicity. They were already viewed as strange since they refused to conform to societal norms. They would never allow anything negative to go public about their community.
Furthermore, she knew her family and neighbors would never suspect what kind of person Elon actually was. Even worse, she was sure her family wouldn’t back her up either. Her mom and dad would never risk being disgraced in front of the community, the church, and their friends. They were devout, followed every commandment, and turned a blind eye to anything that would tarnish their reputation among their fellow worshippers.
She whipped through her clothing rack, pulling hangers out like they were the enemy and shoving them around, color-coordinating her clothes in an OCD fashion.
Stop. This was all dependent on the notion Carson actually wanted more from her. Lots more. Not just more sex.
Sienna only allowed herself to indulge in a few minutes of this kind of happily-ever-after thinking. She wasn’t going to have one. Not that she didn’t believe she deserved one, but she needed to put staying alive over a fairy-tale ending.
She flopped herself onto the chaise in defeat and covered her face with her hands, hiding her tears from the sheer emptiness and isolation of her dressing room.
Deserting any dreams she was having about walking off into the sunset with Carson, Sienna got her head together, dried her wet cheeks, remade her face, and dressed to dance and meet with the girls before the VIP party. She would play her part. Sienna Flower. Sienna was safe at the moment, and she wasn’t giving that up.
With Mike, Asher, and Carson at the club all weekend, she’d be protected, and then when the weekend came to a close, she’d plan to leave.
Sienna pulled out her black lace cat suit for extra courage. She exuded sex and confidence in the second skin made of lace with the tiny little zipper up the front. She made sure to leave the zipper open all the way to the bottom of her cleavage, revealing a luscious valley between her breasts. Her nipples showed faintly through the lace, and peeking out between her thighs was an emerald-green thong covering her special spot. The place Carson had set fire to recently.
Carson, the only man she’d ever bared herself to, either physically and emotionally. For however long it lasted, it was amazing.
After unlocking the dressing room door, Sienna strutted past Petey and out to the main floor where the girls were sitting, looking like a sensual explosion of lace, sequins, color, and skin. They were dressed to kill for the party, and Sienna wasn’t going to let them down. She gave them their instructions on dance rotations, lap dance protocol, and then made a huge announcement.
She strutted over to the group and threw her hands in the air, signaling she had big news. “I’m opening up the club tonight and joining Syd in the first performance!”
Dancing was the kindling to her flame. She would find her strength out on the stage tonight, and would burn bright for the audience.
Sienna wasn’t going to stand still while the rug was pulled out from under her. She didn’t fight so hard to escape and build a new life to allow it to be stolen so easily from her grasp. She was going to have a bang-up, courage-building weekend, and figure everything out on Monday.
She always did. She had climbed through that window so many years ago with only the desire to live her life. That was exactly what she was going to do; otherwise, her escape was all in vain.
CARSON WALKED back into the club after speaking with two of his old partners at the Bureau. They were running background checks on the names or aliases, Sienna Flower and Sam Charles. He didn’t really want to do this with Sienna. He’d hoped to get to know her, but after talking with Mike, he realized there were too many unknowns.
He immediately found Sienna finishing up her meeting with the other dancers, and played it cool. One thing was for sure, she would freak the fuck out if she knew he was looking into anything, let alone her past.
If Carson was going to take a stand in helping to protect her from this Sam dude, he needed to know all the facts. There was something missing as to why the whole lot of them—Asher, Mike, and Sienna—were so freaked by Sam. They kept calling him a stalker, but if that were so, they wouldn’t be delving so deep.
Carson was sure there was more, and he would bet it was rooted in Sienna’s past. The stuff she hadn’t told him, and that Mike had alluded to but wouldn’t share with him. He couldn’t decide if he believed Mike or not about whether he really didn’t know all the details.
Either way, he’d put money on it being a complicated web. One that he was now strung up in, which is exactly why he didn’t do relationships.
Too late now, fucker.
This was the thought running through his head as he walked very nonchalantly toward Sienna, even though her black lace bodysuit had his dick hard and his brain screaming to take her to her dressing room and bend her over the couch.
“Hey, babe, you all right?” Carson wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered in her ear.
She leaned into him and very quietly said, “Thanks for giving me a minute. You didn’t have to stay.”
“Yeah, I did. I had to make sure you were okay and see you before you went onstage. Want to go back and start our date over in your dressing room?” he said jokingly, trying to defuse the tension. He looked her up and down, knowing his eyes were filled with want, telling her exactly what he wanted to do, betraying every single one of his very secret naughty thoughts.
Sienna shook her head. “I’d love to, but I can’t. I’m going to open up the club in a half hour with Sydney. I feel like getting onstage early tonight, so she and I need a few minutes to make a plan.”
“Well, it’s good thing I stayed. I wouldn’t want to miss that. And to be honest, I don’t think I could be alone with you in that outfit. Wow, stunning doesn’t even begin to cut it.” His eyes continued to roam, finally settling on her gorgeous face.
He needed to keep the status quo until he could figure out what was really happening here. Fucking hell, he knew damn well he wasn’t going to leave anything as it was. He’d fallen for the stripper all those weeks ago silently watching her, and now after a few dates and one time deep inside her, he was willing to chuck it all. Toss all his beliefs and notions into the garbage can.
Carson grabbed a seat at the back bar. There was no way he could be up front tonight with Sienna in that outfit. He didn’t know what it was called, but his cock was like a rock just from the little glint of her green panties through the black lace.
Knowing she was totally bald down there as he watched her gyrate and climb the pole, and wanting to inhale her all the while, would surely have him close to coming in his pants. Something he h
adn’t done since he was fifteen, and he wasn’t about to start now. Plus, he wanted to make sure he was able to duck out and take any calls that might come through regarding what he now considered his own personal case.
The bartender had just fixed him a scotch when Sienna hit the stage. She and Sydney moved in perfect unison on the two poles at the front, as though they had rehearsed it a million times.
The luscious women onstage made the hard-core rap mash-up with an eighties dance number an afterthought. Of course, the music was fucking perfect, providing just the right amount of sensuality and dance beat as they worked the crowd into a sensual haze.
Carson sipped his scotch, but kept his eyes on the prize. Sienna inched the zipper a tad lower on her suit, swinging her gorgeous, fuckable body from side to side. He wanted to tear the whole damn zipper with his mouth and run his tongue all over her, every inch of shiny and smooth skin, marking her as his.
Sienna’s hair moved with her, and all he could think about was her underneath him, all lush and on the verge of orgasm. He was pretty sure the rest of the men, and probably some of the women, in the room were thinking the same thoughts, but he’d already had her once and he didn’t plan on sharing.
He wanted her again and again until he couldn’t move. He could die doing her. It would be a good way to go, wrapped in sheer perfection.
What the hell is going on with this woman? All I can think about is being inside in her, body and mind.
He had to get himself in check. There was a lot he didn’t know, and he couldn’t allow the lure of Sienna’s curves to distract him.
Yeah, right.
About twenty seconds into the performance, Carson totally forgot Sydney was on the stage. He was so deep into Sienna’s moves and his own personal fantasies, he didn’t feel his phone vibrating in his pocket. The music was hitting a crescendo and Sienna was back up the pole, giving the entire audience the most amazing view of her cleavage as she leaned to the side of the pole and wrapped herself farther down its the length. Her cleavage was only for him, he told himself.
Her legs were twisted around the metal pole, and he could only think about how they were wrapped tight around him the night before, and how they would be again in a few hours if he had anything to do with it.
As the number came to an end, Carson couldn’t think of anything else other than the pole being his cock rubbing up and down Sienna’s body.
The dance ended and Sienna blew her usual kisses at the crowd. Then at the very end, she looked directly at Carson and winked while blowing one kiss his way. That was his cue. He was up and out of his seat, heading to her dressing room. God help anyone who tried to stop him. They better know the score by now, and let him make his way back to his woman.
Christ, his dick ached. He felt even worse for the dumb idiots who had to go home sporting that wood. He got the prize at the end of the night.
He felt on top of the world moving toward the other end of the club when his phone started to vibrate again. He pulled it out and realized he’d missed a call while Sienna was dancing. Good thing his old partner, Ray, called him back.
Sadly, he had to pick up, but he figured Sienna would need a few minutes to cool down and change her clothes. He nodded at Petey, motioning to his phone while he ducked out the back door.
“Hey, Ray, what you got, man?” He leaned up against the building, propping one bent leg behind him to provide him some leverage. For what, he didn’t know.
“Well, the Sam Charles guy is simple. Amateur porn maker from Jersey, been making the rounds around the country stalking a few of the big adult clubs and recruiting dancers to make it big in his films. For the most part, all of the club owners have thrown him out on his ass. Now, he’s decided to set his sights on Sienna. Figures if she signs on, the others will follow.”
Carson grunted and strummed his empty, idle fingers against the wall behind him. “Hmm, that’s interesting, but I doubt Sienna is going to do that. She doesn’t even do lap dances, so I’m pretty sure she isn’t going to star in a film featuring her having sex. At the end of the day, it sounds crazy, but she’s kind of innocent, untouched—”
Ray cut him off, which was a relief considering he really didn’t want to reveal his true feelings to himself, let alone to Ray. “Yeah, that’s the thing, Carson. Sienna is a bit of a mystery. I don’t know what’s going on with her. Sienna Flower didn’t exist until she arrived on the scene about seven years ago. I know that’s not such a red flag. A lot of these dancers use stage names, but Sienna Flower is the name Asher lists on an unofficial partnership agreement I dug up from his files. Why would he put Sienna Flower and not her real name for legal tax purposes? The only explanation would be that Sienna files under that name, but Sienna Flower hasn’t filed taxes. Ever.” He released an audible sigh.
Carson listened, tightening his grip on the phone as Ray revealed more of what he’d learned.
“There’s no paper trail for Sienna,” Ray went on. “No registration as an LLC or assumed name paperwork, no tax returns, or even a driver’s license. Which again, wouldn’t be a big deal except for the fact that Asher had put the name Sienna Flower on the agreement. I would think he would put her real name or the one she uses for financial filings on that; legally that makes sense. I did notice Asher has a small corporation named SF, LLC, listed for talent appraisal, to which he pays a pretty big sum each month and then fairly quickly cashes out. My hackles are up on this one, Carson, but I’m going to need some time.”
Carson’s head was swimming with possibilities, but he didn’t want Ray fishing around and mucking it up. He was certain Ray was thinking there was something big-time illegal going on, but Carson had only one nagging feeling in his gut.
The dates. The timeline of Sienna’s appearance coincided with the case he was working, but there was no way. No fucking way these two people could intersect.
“Let me work on it a bit, Ray. I may be able to connect a few dots, buddy, and not call in every favor you owe me just yet. I’ll give you an update in a few days. Thanks, man.” He pried himself from the wall and turned back toward the door.
Until he made certain that the two cases were absolutely not related, Carson didn’t want anyone near the facts. Now he was sorry he’d called Ray. He hoped the little shit didn’t get nosy, because his clients were under his privacy policy.
Forget them. He really hoped Sienna wasn’t who he was beginning to think she was. There was no way it was possible. The woman he was looking for was a devout religious fanatic, and Sienna was a stripper. She took her clothes off for money, and never filed a tax return.
Carson let out a long breath as he went back inside the club and made his way back to Sienna’s dressing room. He had to push the call to the back of his mind and think on it later, because as soon as he got close to Sienna, he started getting hard again. He couldn’t think now, nor did he want to. If this all ended up being related, he was in deep shit.
He didn’t know Sienna well, but he was pretty sure if she and the woman he was looking for were one and the same, there was a good reason. And he was pretty sure that reason wouldn’t make him happy to return her to her family.
SIENNA WAS in a great mood after dancing. She felt in control again; commanding the crowd did that to her. She hoped Carson would come back after her performance, but he seemed to still be giving her space. Did she make a mistake in shutting him out earlier?
Lost in her head over why he wasn’t back to see her yet, Sienna heard a little knock on the door. Thank God.
Carson walked in confidently, as always, and immediately swept her in his arms, brushed his lips across her cheek, finally coming to rest on her own. He landed a deep, passionate kiss on her, only breaking away to say, “You looked fucking fabulous out there. I couldn’t help but think how envious every other dude would be of me if they knew I was the one taking you home.”
Sienna kept telling herself to let this whole thing go between them, but then he said something like what he ju
st did, and her plans were out the window. Even though his words were lust filled and fueled from her dancing, there was something underneath them. A feeling that said they were more than dirty talk, they were words of promise. A promise she could never make good on.
She couldn’t be weak at the moment, or could she? With Sam Charles in the picture, she needed to assess her plan and safety, but for the moment, she let herself feel good in Carson’s arms.
Of course she would let him take her home. Nothing wrong with making a few more lasting memories, especially since she was moving on. And soon.
Sienna had one more dance at her regular time, and then she could leave. After a little quiet time kissing, touching, and taking in Carson, she needed to get ready to go back onstage.
She assumed Carson would stay and watch her dance, but he said he needed to go make a few calls related to work. Strange. He never did that before, but she figured she had been occupying a lot of his time, so he must be a bit behind.
After devouring her mouth again, Carson promised he’d be back to pick her up. His hand slipped alongside her breast, his thumb lightly rubbing her nipple with the promise of more later.
Instantly, Sienna was out of breath, and any thought of something being off with Carson was long gone.
“See you soon,” was all she could get out before Carson walked down the hall.
He’s so hot. Smoking hot.
CARSON HATED to leave Sienna. Only the present mission could sway him from staying and watching Sienna play out all his sexual desires and urges onstage. If he didn’t need to prove himself wrong, assure himself Sienna and the woman he’d been fruitlessly searching for weren’t the same, he would be at the Tunnel.
But first, he had to attend to a few details. Namely, he had to put his mind to rest and get back to the club, so he could take Sienna home and fuck her. Not fuck her, bury himself deep inside her, be one with her, take everything she had to give, and fulfill his every want with her goodness.
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