Beyond Forever

by Kit Rocha

  Oh, she got what he meant. She’d seen Dallas’s eyes light up at the prospect of a nice, belligerent argument, and she’d seen them cloud with frustration when she tried to ignore him. He wanted to be challenged, and he wanted to conquer.

  And if she didn’t get out of here soon, she’d be just as invested in that game as he was.

  “None of that means he trusts me,” she murmured. “I think he’s just trying to find the line.”

  “The line?”

  She plucked the pen from Ace’s hand. “The one where I finally sting him.”

  »»» § «««

  The bar was...still kind of a dump.

  But it was a dump with a stage, good lighting, and a VIP booth, which was where Dallas found himself sitting to celebrate the official launch of the newer, more-debauched Broken Circle.

  The VIP area was nice. The wall behind him sported a pair of massive crossed swords along with a collection of pre-Flare vintage revolvers. Dallas reclined on the end of one of the U-shaped padded vinyl booths where the table wouldn’t block his view of the room—or the room’s view of him. He was as much on display tonight as the girls on the stage, apparently, a fact that he’d only discovered when Lex showed up with his outfit for the night.

  It wasn’t anything he would have bought for himself. The jeans were all right—dark denim ripped in just the right places, not too expensive. But the rest of it...

  The real leather vest, smooth and supple against his skin, bore their new logo emblazoned across the back on a massive patch. The matching belt, with its huge silver buckle, basically demanded that people stare at his dick. He wore a wide, studded leather cuff and heavy chains and even rings—a huge skull for his thumb, two engraved with Celtic knots, and one that slipped onto his pinky and sported a black opal.

  He felt ridiculous. But judging by the wary and awed looks he got from the people trickling through the door, Lex knew what the fuck she was doing.

  He might be more irritated about that if there weren’t so many people trickling through the door.

  “Word’s out, I guess.” Jasper slid into the other side of the booth, a bottle in each hand. “I think I just saw someone with a fucking bar code.”

  “Yeah?” Dallas stretched his arms out along the back of the booth, forcing himself not to forsake his casual pose and crane his neck looking. Dallas O’Kane, Barbarian Bootlegger, wouldn’t give a shit who was here. “Well, if these city motherfuckers want thrills, we better provide them.”

  “Girls seem to be a hit.” Jas nodded toward the stage, where a brunette with mile-long legs spun around the pole sticking up out of one side of it.

  The third act of the night, she earned shouts and whoops as she peeked back over her shoulder with a look that was pure, sexually-charged teasing challenge. Dallas had seen his share of strippers in his day, but he’d never seen anything like what was unfolding on the stage tonight.

  They were good. Not just hot, or skilled at wiggling their asses. Every woman who strutted out onto the stage owned it—and every man who looked at her. Dallas didn’t even know how. There was no one thing he could point to, no specific look or move. Their dances had been wildly different, one projecting sweet playfulness while another flipped knives over her fingers before cutting the clothes from her body.

  This one was working the pole like gravity—and the basic physics of possessing a spine—didn’t apply to her. But just like the first two, every move screamed confidence and power. Look but don’t touch.

  You can enjoy me, but not as much as I’m enjoying myself.

  Lex’s clever fingers were all over every fucking inch of it.

  The song faded out. The girl drifted backstage while Zan hovered nearby, arms crossed over his massive chest, ready to snap some bones if anyone got grabby. So far, there hadn’t been any problems, but the more people drank, the likelier it became.

  Apparently, Jas was thinking the same thing. “We’re gonna need more guys.”

  “Yeah.” Dallas glanced at the bar, where the two new waitresses Lex had hired were having trouble keeping up with the orders, even with Mad and Ace hauling the heavier trays and restocking the liquor. “Good news is, I guess we’ll be able to afford them.”

  “No fucking kidding.”

  The lights dimmed, and another song started, one with a slow, throbbing beat. When the lights swelled again, Lex was strolling across the stage, tracing one finger along the low neckline of her delicate, see-through pink lace top.

  Dallas’s fingers dug into the vinyl of the booth, but he refused to show any other reaction. He couldn’t. She might be on the stage, but this was a two-person show, and the Barbarian Bootlegger had to be lazy, casual. Utterly in control of himself and everything around him.

  Even if finally getting a decent look at those more-magnificent-than-he’d-even-imagined tits was making him crazy.

  She turned, and the lights glinted off metal. She wore thin gold chains draped around her neck and hips, and they glittered as she wrapped her fingers around the pole and swung around it once, her movements unhurried.

  When she faced the audience again, she lifted her arms over her head, stretching lazily. With her tousled hair and lightly smudged eye makeup, it made her look like she’d just climbed out of bed.

  Dallas tore his gaze from her long enough to survey the rapt crowd. They were all imagining her climbing out of their beds, soft and sleepy and too-fucking-glorious for this shithole of a sector.

  She was selling them fantasy, and they were knocking it back faster than the liquor.

  The pink lace top hit the floor. Lex was wearing even more glittering chains beneath it, and she toyed with them as she moved. By the time she slipped her thumbs under the top edge of her panties and rolled her hips, Dallas’s fingers were digging dents in the booth and he’d stopped breathing entirely.

  The chains slid over her skin, taunting him with image of a more intimate performance. He’d fuck her with those chains wrapped around her. Hell, he’d add more, until her moan at every thrust competed with the sound of them rattling against his headboard.

  If he got her chained up in his bed, he wouldn’t let her out for days. Weeks.

  Jasper cursed. “What the hell do they teach the girls in Sector Two?”

  “Everything, I’m guessing.” No wonder Ace had warned him. He’d thought those first three girls were dangerous, but their pride and power were tangible things, almost clumsy compared to Lex’s silken promise wrapped around deadly steel. Dallas didn’t even know how she managed to project you want me and you could have me and you could never touch me at the same time—it didn’t make a goddamn bit of sense.

  But the message was unmistakable.

  He chanced a look at Jas, who was staring at the stage torn between impressed awe and bafflement. When the crowd erupted in gasps and whistles, Dallas jerked his attention back to the stage in time to see those tiny pink panties go flying.

  Lex was standing in the middle of the stage, shamelessly, gloriously naked—and Dallas knew in that moment that he was gonna be rich.

  Really. Fucking. Rich.

  She dropped to the floor on her hands and knees, her bare ass in the air, and crawled toward the front of the stage. Stalked, like she was a predator on the prowl, and she knew her prey wouldn’t just go down easy—he’d love every second of whatever she decided to do to him.

  And she was staring right at Dallas.

  Oh, he was so, so fucked.

  She rolled to her back at the edge of the stage with her head tipped over it, hair spilling down nearly to the floor. Her back arched, thrusting her tits up like they were begging for attention. Then she cupped them, squeezing her fingers tight on her nipples as she licked her lips.

  Dallas bit back a groan. But he couldn’t quell the darker feeling rising up in him, prodded on by the appreciative shouts coming from the crowd. His cock was throbbing, but his muscles were tensed to launch him out of his seat at the first sign of movement toward the stage. />
  Lex might be feeding off the crowd’s energy, but he wanted to slap every fucking one of them down and chase them out of the bar so the way her lips parted around a moan of pleasure was for him and him alone.

  Not a very sound business plan. But fuck.

  She rolled upright in a smooth, slow arc and turned to swing her legs over the side of the stage. She slid off of it and sauntered out between the tables, into the audience. Only one asshole had the drunken gall to reach for her, and she knocked his hand away without veering from her path.

  She didn’t stop until she reached the booth where Dallas sat, using every scrap of self-control he had to keep his lazy, amused mask in place. Her fingers slipped into his hair, clenching as she climbed onto his lap.

  Right onto his aching dick.

  “Having fun?” he gritted out. He gripped the back of the booth until his fingers ached to keep from reaching for her, but not even he had the iron will required to keep from arching up against her.

  A low, tortured noise escaped her, caught midway between a gasp and a groan.

  Oh, fuck this. Fuck everything. What was the good of this conquering barbarian act if he couldn’t use it to his advantage?

  Dallas locked his hands around her naked waist, nearly groaning at the erotic contrast of the chains against her bare skin. With one smooth movement, he rose and hoisted her up and over his shoulder. He slapped one hand onto her ass to hold her in place and grinned at the crowd. “Enjoy the next act, boys. And try the whiskey.”

  Lex laughed, an exultant sound full of triumph and anticipation that garnered answering laughs from the patrons. It was still ringing through the air when he strode through the staff doors into the back hallway, though it died away as she gripped his vest.

  “Regretting any of your life choices yet?” she purred.

  He lowered her to the ground, biting back another groan as her body slid along his. One of the chains caught on his belt buckle, trapping her against him until he managed to fumble it loose. “You’re gonna be the death of me, woman. Jesus Christ.”

  “I told you I’d get it done.” She didn’t step away. “Did you like it?”

  A sarcastic reply hovered on the tip of his tongue, but when he met her eyes, they were soft and warm and...earnest. Like she was really wondering.

  It had to be an act. No one could own a room the way she had and still wonder. “Of course I did,” he replied gruffly, setting his hands on her shoulders and spinning her around to urge her down the hallway toward some fucking clothes. “People who weren’t even here liked it. Dead men liked it.”

  “Surely dead men are beyond earthly concerns like pussy. Where are we going?”

  “To find you some damn clothes before you bring the building down around our ears.”

  “Why?” She faced him again and scratched her nails down the front of his vest. “You can’t go back right now anyway. We might as well have a little fun.”

  Lex gazed up at him like it was a foregone conclusion, like she’d done her dance and hypnotized his dick and now he was wrapped around her little finger, helpless in the face of her undeniable allure.

  The hallway was dim. The walls were concrete—rough against bare skin, but not dangerous. Dallas backed Lex up against one and planted a hand on either side of her head. “If you got hot and bothered and need a little relief, just ask for it, darling.”

  “Are those the magic words? Pretty please?” Her hand curled around his ridiculous belt buckle. “I won’t beg you to fuck me. I won’t do that for anyone.”

  “Oh, I won’t make you beg. This time.” He caught her wrist and dragged it up the wall, and the chains jingled as they slithered over her skin. “All you gotta do is tell me you want it.”

  “I want it,” she whispered. “I want you.”

  The words burned through him way too hot. He had to tamp down on his reaction in a struggle to reclaim control of the situation.

  She wasn’t the only one who could play dirty.

  He grabbed her other hand and guided it up so he could capture both of her wrists in his left hand. He watched her face as he carefully tightened his fingers, measuring her response as his grip turned forceful. Rough.

  Hitched breaths. Slowly-spreading flush. Naked eagerness, even when he was grinding her wrists into the wall like his conquering barbarian persona come to life. No, especially then.

  Lex didn’t want gentle. So he didn’t give it to her.

  He’d stroked his cock more than once, imagining how her breasts would feel beneath his hands, but the reality shattered the fantasy. Her nipple was deliciously tight against his palm, so he caught it between his fingers and pinched hard.

  The chains around her jingled again as she arched off the wall with a shudder. She lifted one leg, rubbing the inside of her knee against his thigh.

  His hazy plan had involved a slow seduction, but her act had compressed about five hours of foreplay into a four minute song. He edged between her thighs and traced his fingers down the center of her body, groaning as he found the slick heat of her pussy. “Which part of that show got you this wet, darling?”

  She trembled. “What makes you think it was the show?”

  Her body offered almost no resistance as he rocked a finger inside her. He pushed it deep and shuddered with the effort it took not to imagine her clenching tight around his cock. He withdrew and worked a second finger into her, and she sucked in a sharp breath and sank her teeth into her lower lip.

  Her hips moved, tilting to his touch. Opening to him.

  That’s right. Even as he lifted his thumb to start a slow, stroking rhythm across her clit, he couldn’t tear his gaze from her face. Pleasure darkened her eyes. Flushed her cheeks. He had her trapped against the wall, helpless to do anything but roll her hips and ride his thrusting fingers...

  And he still wasn’t sure which of them had the power. Because every gasp, every moan, every flutter of her goddamn eyelashes entranced him.

  The moans melted into low cries that only got louder when she twisted in his grip, trying to free her hands, and he held her tight. Her whole body was shaking now, tense and taut. She whispered something—he couldn’t make out the words, but the husky, pleading tone of her voice was enough to shake his control as her tension exploded.

  She came hard, convulsing around his fingers until he had to grit his teeth against the need to tear open his pants and thrust into her. He leaned into her instead, closing his teeth on her jaw with a growl of satisfaction.

  Panting, she turned her face and nuzzled his ear. “Holy fuck.”

  “Nah, nothing holy here. Just us sinners.” He eased his fingers from her body and stroked her trembling thigh. “Feeling better?”

  “Getting there.” Her lips brushed his earlobe, followed by her tongue.

  Control threatened to veer away from him again. With supreme effort, Dallas released her hands and pushed back from the wall. “Then go get dressed.”

  For a moment, she just lounged against the wall, looking disheveled and fuck-drunk. Then she smiled and brushed past him. “Yes, sir.”

  He told himself not to watch her go. But it felt even stupider to stand there staring at the concrete like he wasn’t hard enough to hump the fucking wall. He turned and watched her saunter away, her hips swinging and her ass begging for his hands.

  “Hey, O’Kane?”

  “Yeah?”

  She didn’t stop or turn around, just called back over her shoulder, “I knew it would be that good.”

  Lex turned the corner, and Dallas sagged back against the wall and rubbed a hand over his face. So much for regaining his power in the situation. He’d pinned her to the wall and stripped away her defenses—at least, that had been the plan.

  But there had been no vulnerability in her pleasure. No weakness in her submission. She’d strolled away sated and pleased with the world, and he was stuck with an aching erection and the sensation of being balanced on a precarious ledge.

  Two things had become
abundantly clear tonight.

  One—by the end of the month, he was going to be rolling in cash.

  Two—he had to keep his dick out of Lex and his hands off her. Everything about her was a trap, and it didn’t matter that she wasn’t trying to ensnare him. He’d do it himself, drunk on the challenge she represented, chasing after her until he lost sight of the goal he’d set the day he first landed in the sectors.

  A man could only achieve one impossible dream at a time. And something told him becoming the richest man in all eight sectors would be a walk in the park compared to gaining the upper hand over Lex.

  The Legend

  The couch in Nessa’s office was a pretty damn good place to sleep. It was more comfortable than Lex’s bed at her apartment, there was a shower in the bathroom attached to the office, and crashing there was a hell of a lot closer than dragging her ass all the way back to Three after dancing into the wee hours of the morning.

  Not that she couldn’t handle the dancing. After a year of working at the Broken Circle, the muscles in her arms and legs no longer burned at the end of a few sets, and she could carry trays all night in her platform heels and still spare a smile for the regular customers.

  Something slammed out in the warehouse again, and Lex groaned. For the first time, she regretted not accepting the newly renovated room Dallas had offered her. She’d told him that just because she liked dancing in the club, it didn’t mean she was ready to throw in with the O’Kanes. But the truth was that something about the offer felt off. It was a nice room, nicer than she’d expected—and as far away from Dallas’s bedroom as possible. Thanks, but no thanks. Nessa’s couch had seemed like the perfect solution, and it was.

  But right now, she just wanted to get some fucking sleep.

  She reached over the edge of the couch and fumbled around until she found her shoe, then pounded the bottom of it against the wall. “Shut up, I’m trying to sleep in here!”

  The reply drifted in, harried and exasperated. “Fuck you!”

  Jasper McCray was a solid second-in-command, eternally loyal to Dallas O’Kane, and way too mouthy for his own good sometimes. Lex snatched up her tank top and hauled it over her head as she stomped barefoot out into the large main room. “You want to say that again to my face?”