He was angry.
I didn’t blame him.
I held a hand up to my bruised lips and stared at his back as his shoulders rose and fell.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, then moved off down the hall. Just before I turned the corner, he was on me again, pulling me back so my back was against his chest and I couldn’t see his face. But I could hear his voice just fine.
“Remember that kiss when you’re dancing for him. Don’t see him; see me. And when you come out of that room, I want you to be ready.”
“Be ready?” I said, my voice trembling.
“Be ready because I’m going to make love to you all night long until the only thing you feel is me and you don’t even remember his face.”
“Oh, Cam,” I sighed. “You already are the only man I see.”
He pulled away, going back to the bar and leaving me shaking in the darkened hallway. As I straightened and walked toward the elusive VIP room, I wondered if Cam would still want me when I came out.
17
He was sitting in the shadows.
The room was a small square with black velvet walls, a silver pole that ran from ceiling to floor near the center, and the wall farthest from me was covered with a giant mirror all the way down to the long bed that was draped in fabric and pillows.
A chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling and it cast dim lighting mostly right beneath it and a shadowed glow around the rest of the room.
Ty stood at the door and he inclined his chin, whispering that he would be right there as I went past. I was a little surprised that he didn’t close the door behind me but lowered a black velvet curtain across the opening. I could see his booted feet at the bottom, and I was glad he was right there.
The man sat in a straight-backed chair, which wasn’t beneath the light of the chandelier. Instead, it was pushed back into the shadowed perimeter of the room.
He wore jeans and dark-colored shoes and a dark top. He had a baseball cap on his head and my heart gave a little squeeze because it reminded me of Cam. At least it wasn’t on backward. That may have sent me fleeing from the room.
His hands were at his sides and he sat still, but I could feel his eyes on me as I moved across the room.
“I’m Violet,” I said, keeping my voice low. “You requested my presence and I came.”
Sexy music began pumping over the speakers into the room and I knew my fifteen minutes had begun.
I can do this.
I started at the pole, moving around it, wrapping my leg around it, gyrating against it. Then I moved over to the wall, leaning against it and spreading my legs wide. I squatted down, running my hands up my legs and to the inside of my thighs. Then I pushed up, turning around, keeping my legs spread, and bent over. I felt the little boy shorts ride up my butt, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he enjoyed the view.
After a few minutes, I walked over to him, strutting, swaying my hips, and straddling his lap—still standing—and pressed my chest near his face. Then I stepped back, still in front of him, and reached for the bow at the bottom of the corset.
Slowly, I untied the laces, keeping my feet planted to the floor. I heard some commotion out in the bar and glanced over my shoulder briefly, wondering what was going on.
But then I brushed it off and turned back, still untying the top.
I heard another sound and I looked back at the curtain, noting that Ty’s feet were no longer visible.
Where had he gone?
“Get on the bed,” the man spoke, his voice startling me. I looked directly at his face, but I was unable to make out any kind of features. It was dark and the brim of the hat made it even harder to see him.
I stepped toward the bed, making a big production of climbing across it, keeping my bum in view.
“Lay down,” the man instructed. His voice sounded extraordinarily deep, almost like he was trying to disguise it.
Maybe he didn’t want anyone to know he was here.
I lay down like he asked, looking again for Ty. He still wasn’t there.
“Untie your top. All the way.”
I finished untying it but didn’t pull it open. My heart pounded so heavily that I barely heard his next command.
“Spread your legs.”
This was weird. Is this the way it was supposed to be?
I hesitated. The man stood. “I said spread your legs.”
I listened, hoping he would sit back down.
He didn’t. He prowled closer, looming over me and staring down.
“Open your top and touch yourself.”
I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t. I would just give him all his money back and then I was going to quit.
I heard a bunch of shouting out front and the sound of glass shattering.
I stiffened and prepared to stand up to flee, but the stranger took advantage of my preoccupation.
He pounced on me, pinning me on the bed and making me cry out.
“No touching!” I insisted.
He laughed.
“Ty!” I screamed.
But Ty wasn’t there.
The man leaned down. “You’re nothing but a little tease,” he spat.
Something about his words bothered me. They struck a chord deep within. “Get. Off.” I growled.
He put a hand over my mouth, silencing me. I began to panic. I tried to buck him off. That was a huge mistake because all my struggling seemed to arouse him. The bulge in his pants grew and grew until it was all I could stare at.
Tears filled my eyes and I shook my head no.
He shook his head yes.
“Don’t scream,” he ordered low. “Or I’ll make it hurt.”
Oh. My. God.
He pulled his hand away to part the corset covering my chest. I belted out an ear-piercing scream and struggled anew.
“You stupid bitch,” he roared and backhanded me across the face.
I saw stars. Then I felt the air brush against my naked chest.
“Harlow!” someone roared, and then the stranger was gone and this sick thudding sound filled my ears.
I scrambled off the bed, staring across the room.
Cam was beating the man, ramming his fist into his face over and over again.
“Cam!” I cried. His fist stopped in midair and he dropped the man to the floor. His eyes took in my rumpled appearance and partially exposed chest.
He crossed the room in two great strides, pulling the corset around me and then tucking me against his chest. I couldn’t help but cry. I was humiliated. I was hurt. I was violated.
There was a groan and Cam stiffened. He tried to pull away, but I clutched at him. “It’s okay,” he murmured, his arms coming around me once more.
I glanced up just as the stranger pulled back a curtain that was behind his chair to reveal an emergency exit. He shoved open the door and raced out into the night.
Cam moved to go after him.
“No!” I cried. “Let him go.” I wouldn’t be able to take it if Cam got hurt trying to protect me.
“Fuck!” he yelled to no one in particular.
He looked down at my face, touched where the skin burned and stung, and he cussed again when I winced. “Come on,” he said, taking my hand and towing me out behind the bar. He grabbed his black leather jacket and held it out. I slipped my arms inside. It smelled like the beach, like him.
He zipped it up around my body, covering me and then he leaned forward and kissed my forehead. I wanted to cry all over again. Then he filled a plastic baggy with ice from the ice machine, wrapped it in his T-shirt, and then ever so easily held it to my face.
“Where else did he hurt you?”
More shattering glass had me looking out into the bar where I suddenly understood why Ty had disappeared. A massive bar fight had broken out. Beer bottles were flying, people were punching and yelling, and one guy was wielding a chair.
The bouncers were pulling people apart and flinging them toward the door. I heard Roxie scream and I ca
lled out her name, rushing toward the fight.
“No you don’t,” Cam said, pulling me back.
“Roxie,” I told him.
“She’s fine.” He pointed.
She was in the center of it all, but Adam stood beside her, and anyone that came close got disposed of rather easily.
“What’s going on?”
“Craig,” Cam spat, like that explained it all.
“I thought the police cleared him.”
“Well, he was awful pissed off, showing up and yelling at Roxie for having him arrested by the cops. He lunged for her. Someone intercepted him. The result was a massive bar fight, a huge mess, and you being left alone in the VIP room with a fucking attempted rapist.”
His words left me cold. Like I had ice water running through my veins. I glanced back toward Roxie, who was making her way across the empty stage with Adam at her back, shielding her body with his. When she disappeared backstage, Adam reappeared and gave a signal to the DJ.
The music cut off and the DJ came over the speakers. “The Mad Hatter is now closed. Get the hell out before the cops get here to haul you away.”
For the most part, the fighting stopped. What little continued, the bouncers took care of in short notice and tossed the men out into the parking lot. I wondered where my attacker was, if he was still out there lurking.
As the crowd thinned, I noticed a guy, with longish dark hair and a sleeve of tattoos up his right arm, sprawled across the floor. Adam stood over his body, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring down.
Police sirens sounded in the distance and I was grateful they were almost here.
Before the cops arrived on the scene, Adam drew back his large booted foot and kicked the man in the ribs. He groaned.
I figured it was Craig.
Adam seemed to sense us staring and he looked at me, his gaze sharpening. “What the hell happened to you?”
I opened my mouth to tell him I was fine, but Cam spoke over me. “Fucking pervert tried to rape her.”
Adam’s body jerked like he was shot. I tried not to listen to the words that flung out of his mouth like swords. I wondered where he learned words like that.
The police arrived, escorted Craig to the back of a cop car, and interviewed all the people who were still lingering and had information.
Roxie looked like a Mack truck ran her over by the time she told the cops about how Craig had burst in there tonight and tried to start a fight and do her physical harm. She was pressing charges and if those didn’t stick, she was getting a restraining order. I hoped Craig was looking at jail time.
Roxie didn’t seem as relieved as me, but I figured once the shock wore off she would be.
Then it was my turn to talk to the police. I couldn’t give them a very good description of the man who attacked me because I never actually saw his face clearly. All I saw were flashes of a strong jaw, stubble, and lips that might have been nice if they weren’t spewing out sick words. As I talked, I realized… there was something about him that was vaguely familiar. Something that I didn’t catch right away because I’d been so scared and freaked out.
What’s more was the scent of his cologne lingered on me… wrapping around my senses and invading my feeling of relief that he was gone. It was an older scent, something that had been out for several years, a popular men’s brand. I knew it well because it came out while I was still in high school, and I swear every guy at school went out and bought it. The hallways smelled just like it the entire year.
The police kept asking questions, and I repeated what happened, the exact words he said, and what I was feeling/doing while he said them. Cam remained eerily silent through my story and that gave me a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.
When I was done talking, the only thing he said was directed at the police. “When are you going to catch this rapist?”
“He didn’t rape me.” Why did he keep saying that? It was making me sick. And really, I didn’t know if he planned to rape me or not. I really hadn’t known at all what he was going to do. Although, whatever it was, it wasn’t good.
“We’re going to do everything we can to catch this guy. If you see him or think he might be close by, please call 9-1-1 immediately,” the officer replied in a no-nonsense tone.
“Let’s go,” Cam said, placing his hand on the small of my back.
“Shouldn’t we stay? Help clean up?”
Adam overheard and approached, his feet crunching over broken glass as he walked. “I’ll just call in the cleaning service I use. I’ll get them here tomorrow morning and then we’ll open up at four tomorrow evening. Business as usual.”
I took a breath. “I’m going to have to give my notice. I’m just not cut out to be a stripper. I can stay on until you find a replacement but, I—I don’t think I can dance anymore.”
Adam held up a hand. “You’re not quitting.”
When I opened my mouth to protest, he just kept right on talking. Like a train on a track, he sped over my words.
“You don’t have to dance. You can just wait tables.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “But you’re going to have to wear skimpy clothes while you do it. Can you handle that?”
I nodded. “Definitely.”
“Good. I’m sorry about what happened tonight. Ty should have been there at the door. That shouldn’t have happened.”
“It’s okay. I’m sure Ty was just trying to help out here.”
Adam’s lips drew into a thin line. “That asshole even so much as steps foot in the parking lot of this place and he’s going to wish he was still in jail.”
“Which one?” I asked, wondering if we were talking about my attacker or Roxie’s.
“Both of them,” Adam and Cam answered at the exact same time.
The testosterone in here was getting a bit thick.
“So is it okay for me to leave, then?” I asked Adam, deciding that a change of subject was probably best. Roxie approached as I spoke, looking as tired as I felt.
“Of course. If you don’t feel up to coming in tomorrow night, just call. I understand. You went through a lot tonight.”
“What happened!” Roxie gasped. “Did you get caught up in the fight?”
I shot Cam a glare, just daring him to use the R word again. He seemed to get my message and kept his mouth shut. “I was in the VIP room. Things didn’t go well.”
“What do you mean?” she said, taking in my appearance and the fact I was wearing Cam’s jacket over my clothes.
“I’ll explain later.”
She nodded.
I glanced at Cam. “Are you still staying at our place?” I asked, wondering if he changed his mind.
“Definitely,” he replied.
“Thank God,” Roxie muttered, mirroring my own thoughts exactly. “I feel like the walking dead.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t sleep?” Adam said, looking at Roxie with genuine concern.
“Because it’s not your problem.”
His lips thinned again. “I’ll drive you home. And then I’m sleeping on the couch.”
I thought she might argue, but she didn’t. Instead, she nodded and went over to the bar and sat down. I went into the back to grab my duffle, too tired to bother changing, instead just leaving Cam’s jacket over my outfit. Cam stood in the doorway and watched me like he was afraid to let me out of his sight.
On the way to the door, Adam called my name and strode across the room, extending a white envelope to me. “What’s this?”
“It’s your two grand.”
I looked at the envelope like it was a rattlesnake. “You don’t have to pay me that.”
He snorted. “He paid it before he went into the VIP room. This money is yours. I know it doesn’t make up for what happened, but I know you could use it.”
I swallowed, reaching out and taking the money. “Thank you,” I murmured, stuffing the envelope into my bag. It felt like blood money. I felt dirty accepting
it. But he was right; I did need it, especially now that I wasn’t going to be stripping anymore.
I drove home, leaving the radio off, not needing the added noise to my already loud thoughts. Cam followed close behind on his bike, almost as if I were some celebrity with a police escort or a bodyguard.
Tease Page 19
