Megan gently unfastened her top and when she held up one arm with the glittering bra dangling from it, the men went wild, even though she was almost completely covered.
In a moment of clarity, Jack understood the appeal of burlesque. It wasn't what you could see, it was the anticipation of seeing what you couldn't see.
Megan understood that, without a doubt. She flashed her torso, stretched one arm and then the other and turned away, glancing wickedly over her naked shoulder as the stole slid down to rest on her ass, revealing a slender expanse of nude back. It was sexy, sensual and really hot. And the guys were lapping it up.
Then Pauline moved forward as Megan moved back and they easily slid into When I Take My Morning Promenade, another music hall favorite. This one seemed perfect for Pauline, since it was about fashion and revealing a woman's shape.
Pauline revealed her shape, all right. She carefully took off her top, in much the same way as Megan had, making sure her breasts were swathed in yards of green chiffon. The contrast between the brilliant glitter of the rhinestones, the green of the scarves and the red of Pauline's hair--it was a Titian kind of vision, without a doubt. Jack found himself as entranced by her appearance and her performance as the other men in the room.
She pulled the green stuff taut, wrapping herself in it, and clearly showing the shape of a set of mighty fine breasts. Such a vision inspired long and loud approval, the hoots and encouragement almost drowning out the saucy song.
It got louder as the fabric slipped, and Jack had to laugh to himself as he watched Pauline play her audience like a maestro at the piano.
She swayed and swung her hips, let chiffon drift daringly down her arms as her hands held it to her bare breasts and then finally allowed them a flash of nipple before swinging around and dancing into the shadows at the back of the stage.
Which brought Cora front and center.
And Jack's cock went from mildly interested to forged steel in zero point two seconds flat.
Chapter Four
Cora gulped down nerves as her music began to play. The one thing she'd learned since working at Goggles and Cogs was that she was an excellent dancer, but a pretty crappy singer. So she'd worked a deal with Megan and Pauline. They'd do most of the singing, and she'd do the most revealing dance.
In the light of day-when they were rehearsing--it had seemed like a fair exchange. Now, confronted by a dozen men staring at her body, Jack among them, she really wished she'd taken voice lessons.
But the song began and her arms went into automatic mode, gently positioning the two large turquoise fans in front of her breasts. She did her best to turn off everything in her head except her concentration on the moves.
The girls began the first verse of She Was Only a Bird in a Gilded Cage, and Cora strolled around the stage, letting her audience get used to the fans and the way she was using them. She knew, from several exhausting hours in front of her bedroom mirror, that it took focus and concentration to get them where she wanted and yet leave the impression that any moment a bit of naked goodness would be revealed. The fans were an extension of the dancer, in many ways, not just a method of concealment. Plus she had to strip off her top as well, all while moving in time to the song.
Piece of cake.
Of course, what seemed relatively simple at home suddenly became a challenge of sizeable proportions. But she blessed her training, since her dancer's body remembered the routine she'd developed, drawing on the instincts she'd programmed into it over the years.
Her hips swayed, the ostrich feathers wafted sexily around her body and her top fell to the floor in a glittering cascade of rhinestones.
The chorus sang on, lamenting that her "beauty was sold for an old man's gold...", and Cora swung her fans, turning, teasing, tantalizing the men with brief glimpses of bare skin.
In a daring move she turned her back on them and positioned one fan just above her butt, turning it into a bird's tail feathers. She bent over and fluttered it, shamelessly flaunting her sparkly-thonged ass. It fit the words--"...a beautiful sight to see." In this performance, as in every performance, timing was everything.
There was a groan of delight and a few suggestions followed, none of which she was inclined to consider seriously. She did, however, allow herself a satisfied grin. There was nothing better than knowing your audience was in the palm of your hand.
Although in this instance it was more like up your butt crack...
She turned again, hearing the girls launching into the last verse. It was getting perilously near time when the fans would drop and her assets would get to make their public debut. Their one and--she hoped--only public appearance.
She sucked in a breath, lifted one fan high behind her and moved the other one slowly, letting the feathers do their own trembling dance, lower and lower over her naked chest.
Just as she was about to drop it and bare all, there was a brilliant flash of lightning, a huge crack of thunder--and the lights went out.
"Fuck."
Cora heard Jack's soft oath as she froze, blinded for a second by the flash, and unwilling to go anywhere until she could see again.
"Everyone--please stay where you are. The emergency lights should activate immediately...ah, there we go." Jack was across the room in seconds, finding his way through the murky glow of a small red light high on the wall. "You girls okay? Megan? Pauline? Can you stay here for a few minutes?"
Jack's hand was on Cora's bare shoulder, warm and firm. She wanted him to move it to someplace else. A place that was being seductively tickled by ostrich feathers at this precise moment.
Mentally slapping herself upside the head, she nodded. "We're fine. Go see to the party."
"Okay." He turned, then looked back at Cora. "Don't leave. You hear me? Do not leave." He mouthed the words more than spoke them, but she heard them like he'd screamed them in her ear.
"I hear you."
Her heart thudded, her belly tightened and she had a feeling that if she'd lowered the damn fan right then, her breasts would be wearing the latest fashion in extremely hard nipples. He had that much of an effect on her. The skin he'd touched was tingling and she didn't dare look at her shoulder in case it was bearing his mark.
Yeah, she'd gone over the edge into crazy tonight. She had managed to turn herself on with that stupid dance routine, knowing Jack's eyes were on her. And as the confusion of the power failure continued around her, she peered inside herself and accepted the truth of her situation.
She'd danced for no one but him.
The bachelor party had subsided to the occasional grunted murmur, but overall the participants were conscious enough to realize that they couldn't do much about what was happening.
There were one or two shouts for Cora to take it off--what it was, she decided not to ask. She ignored them and watched Jack, who was beginning to shepherd them toward the end of their evening. None of them had any idea how long the power would be out and this was a time when a business had to act professionally and put safety first.
Opening the doors to the exit, Jack paused as his cell phone rang, took a five second call and then cleared his throat loudly. "Gentlemen, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it seems the storm took out a local transformer. We're looking at three to four hours before the power comes back. At least."
There were groans from the guys.
"I know." Jack held up his hand. "I'm going to ask Jim to call your car come for you. I'm afraid we're going to have to close because you'll understand I can't take any chances with your safety right now. Or my employees either."
Cora held her breath. These were guys intent on having themselves a party, and had been interrupted in the middle of watching three almost naked women dance.
Being told they had to leave...well it could get nasty.
But something about Jack's demeanor seemed reassuring, and she noticed two of them helping another from his chair without too many complaints.
She heaved a sigh of relief as
they all disappeared down the stairs.
"Can we go too, d'you think?" Megan moved, wrapping the fur tightly around herself.
"I want to call Doug." Pauline looked around. "I want to put some clothes on and have him pick me up and take me home." She grinned. "Maybe dance again for Doug. Just for fun this time. Not that tonight hasn't been a weird kind of embarrassing fun, and I've loved sharing it with you guys, you know that. But this isn't anything I'd care to do for a living in front of an audience."
"Amen, sister." Megan reached for her top. "I am going to cherish this, though. I'll take it out and reminisce when I'm old and grey." She jingled the rhinestones. "But I'm also thinkin' this is one sexy little skill I'm going to hang on to for the right man, whenever he gets off his ass and shows up in my life." She shrugged. "I'll leave the fur in Jack's office, okay?"
Cora realized they were both looking to her, for some reason. She wasn't their leader, by any stretch of the imagination, but at this point in time, they'd elected her to the position. She sighed and nodded. "Yeah. Stuff to go back to the costume rental can go in Jack's office. I'll take care of it. After that, we're out of here, I guess. Be careful and watch yourself on those front steps."
Jack reappeared. "Pauline, there's a handsome young lad outside with your transportation. Says his name's Doug and as soon as the power went out he leaped onto his trusty steed and came to your rescue."
Pauline snorted. "Doug wouldn't say any of that if you put a gun to his head. But thanks for the thought." She grinned. "C'mon Meg. We'll drop you off." She started untangling the veils. "Cora, you gonna be okay? We can drop you too if you want."
Jack was picking up empties across the room. She wasn't sure if he could hear or not, but she played it safe. "You're a doll, honey, but I wouldn't ask you guys to go the opposite direction just to drop me off. I'm in Somerville and you're down toward Quincy. Right now with power out and who-knows-how-many traffic lights screwed up, I'm not going to even think about it. I'll finish up, make sure the costume stuff is ready to go back next week, and then get a cab."
"It's late..." Megan looked concerned. "You sure?"
"I'll be fine. Don't worry about a thing." She did her best to radiate relaxed confidence. Which was a big fat bit of fakery, since her insides were jumping up and down and her skin tingling at the thought of being alone with Jack.
"Everyone managing okay?" The man himself appeared behind Cora, as if summoned by her errant thoughts.
"Yeah. Sorry we didn't get to finish the evening, Jack." Megan smiled at him. "But I think the guys enjoyed what there was of it."
"You were all great. Truly. I asked the world of you and you came through." He grinned at all of them. "You earned every penny of your bonus. I'm so grateful. And I won't ever ask it of you again."
They laughed, relaxing in the face of his charm, and Cora knew they were all relieved to know they'd still get paid. It was a worry off everyone's mind.
"So about the props..." He looked around at the white fur, the green veils and the turquoise fans.
The women filled him in on the arrangements they'd made. As he listened, he touched Cora's spine oh-so-casually, a slight brush of his palm--nothing more than that. But it acted on her like a private bolt of lightning. She did her best not to jump out of her panties and realized she was still clutching one fan in a death grip. "I gotta grab a shirt."
She hurried to the ladies' room, leading the other two down the dark passage and into the little lounge area. There were some meager emergency lights high above the sinks, but barely enough to see their clothes in neat piles on the low couch bordering one wall.
Megan and Pauline dressed quickly and Cora slipped her arms into her cotton shirt, leaving the rhinestone panty on and not bothering with her bra. She realized she was blushing. Her lack of clothing was deliberate, a choice made with the clear knowledge of what she planned after her friends had left. She fumbled with buttons.
"Damn."
"What?" Megan looked up as she zipped her jeans.
"I left my top on the stage. I'd better go get it while we still have some power left in these emergency lights."
"Okay hon." Pauline came over and hugged her. "You be careful on the way home. Thanks for taking care of the costume stuff for us."
"I had fun." Cora hugged her back.
"Me too." Megan's arms came around the other two. "Let's not ever do it again."
They laughed, a shared embrace of both relief and mutual acknowledgement of the end of a unique adventure.
"See you tomorrow?" Cora broke the hug.
"You betcha."
"We'll be here."
"Safe trip home, ladies." With a flourish of a bow, Cora grinned at her friends and strode from the ladies room.
Only to run straight into Jack's chest. "Ooof."
"Sorry. You all right?" His hands went to her upper arms, steadying her, holding her against him.
She nodded, her hair brushing against his chest. "Yes. My fault. I was heading back to get my costume top. Not looking I guess."
His hands dropped behind her and slid beneath her shirt, rubbing her spine in a sensual caress. "Upstairs. My office." It was a whisper. "Please?"
She nodded, breathless, and tore herself away from him, nearly stumbling as she heard the ladies' room door open and the two women saying goodnight to Jack.
She fled into the murky shadows of the dance floor, finding the shining mass of rhinestones still glittering on the stage. Picking it up, she paused and wondered if she should just leave. If what she should do was the right thing, and what she wanted to do--was wrong.
But even as she engaged in her mental debate, her feet were taking her out of the club rooms and toward Jack's office. The decision had been made, it would seem. Not by her intellect or her common sense.
But by her heart.
And, to be brutally honest, her physical desires.
She shivered as she put her hand on the door and pushed it open. "Jack?"
*~*~*~*
They were alone. He had made sure everyone was gone, the time seeming to drag painfully as the last of his employees vanished into the night. He'd locked up behind Megan and Pauline and run up the stairs to his office faster than he could have believed, stripping off his coat and cravat along the way.
The light was almost non-existent, but he swore he could hear her steps as she neared his door.
He unbuttoned his shirt and toed off his shoes, his cock stiff and pressing fiercely against the front of his trousers.
Then he heard the door open and her voice, soft and hesitant. "Jack?"
"Here." He crossed to her, pulled her in and let the door swing shut. Unable to wait another damn minute, he pressed her against the wall and bent to her face, finding her mouth with his before she could say a word.
He kissed her hungrily, feeling her warmth against his skin, knowing she was naked and only thin fabric separated their flesh. Her lips were parting, her tongue searching for his, slick and tasting like the finest wine, the best brandy--spicy and unique and with a flavor he knew he'd never forget.
They devoured each other, Cora's hands seizing his shoulders, his neck, grabbing handfuls of hair as she moved his head this way and that, trying to decide which position worked best.
He was doing his own touching, his hands sliding up under her shirt once more, stroking the incredible silk of her back and then down to cup her buttocks. He pressed their bodies together and amazingly she moaned, lifting up and thrusting her groin into his, rubbing his erection against her mound.
She panted into his mouth and tore herself free. "You. Against me. Now." Her fingers scrabbled at his shirt.
Willingly he obeyed, releasing her briefly to shrug free of the offending garment. He returned the favor by stripping her of her blouse.
Now there was nothing to stop her breasts from searing his chest. Nothing to prevent her pebbled nipples from digging in to him, and nothing to stop her from rasping herself against the whorls of hair that
narrowed down to a strip pointing to his cock.
She moaned, muscles moving strongly but sensually beneath the ivory cream of her skin. She rubbed him with every inch of her body, caressing him with breasts and thighs and belly as well as hands and lips and a tongue that seemed desperate to taste him everywhere.
He wanted to fuck her right then--right there. To slam her against the wall, wrench her thighs apart, strip that stupid panty from her pussy and plunge himself into her until they were both lost to anything but the lust exploding between them.
He was so close, so near to doing just that. Then he took a breath and moved away a little. He wanted this night to go on for hours at least. He wanted to prolong the pleasure, explore this woman, play with her and drive her crazy.
Fucking her in the first two minutes wasn't going to do that. He had to back off a little.
She panted and stared at him, her lips shining in the low light, her eyes heavy lidded, her breasts tipped with large dusky areolas. He reached between them and captured one warm globe, his thumb brushing the firm bead at its tip. "God, woman. I want to fuck you so bad I can't think of anything else."
"That's good." She breathed her response, her fingers trailing over his body and finding the snap on his pants. "I want that too."
"But anticipation makes it all the sweeter." He pulled himself away and crossed to his desk. "Let's set the stage." He reached out and flicked on the small speaker station holding his mp3 player. "You never finished your dance."
A soft intro filled the room and Cora laughed. "Dusty?"
"Is there anyone else better for setting the mood?" Dusty Springfield's sensual voice crept into the shadows and filled the air.
"No." Cora shook her head. "You're right. And I have an idea. I will finish my show, Jack. Just for you. Sit down." She placed her hand on his chest and urged him backward until his desk chair was behind him. "Sit. Please. You'll be glad you did. I promise."
Stripping Her Gears Page 4
