by Jo Leigh
Without saying anything more, he bent down and covered her mouth with his, kissing her sweetly and tenderly. Then, with one more brush of his hand on her face, he turned and walked out.
AS IT TURNED OUT, Nick did not have to test himself to see how he’d handle watching Izzie strip for other men. Because before she ever went onstage, Nick was forced to deal with a couple of punks who didn’t understand the rules of a place as upscale as this one. One of them had made a move on a waitress, another had lunged at a dancer. Nick and Bernie plucked the guys up and dragged them out the front door, where, high on liquid courage, they’d both tried to put up a fight.
Maybe it was the residual anger he’d felt at seeing the blood on Izzie’s fingertips. Or maybe it was the rage that flooded his head at the thought that it could have been Izzie the prick had grabbed, but as soon as the guy threw the first punch, Nick reacted harshly.
He’d had a few fights in his day, both before his military days and during them. And it was painfully easy to take down a drunk. The fight was over almost immediately after it had begun. Bernie dispatched of the drunk’s friend just as quickly and the two of them nodded to each other in appreciation for the backup.
“Thanks, man,” Bernie said.
“Not a problem.”
Bernie shook the bleary patron. “I think this is the same prick who grabbed Rose a month ago.”
Nick’s jaw went rock-hard. If the man hadn’t already been in Bernie’s firm grip, he might have found a reason to throw another punch. But he was a fair fighter and wouldn’t do something so out of bounds.
Unless the guy got free…then all was fair.
The guy didn’t get free, Bernie had a tight grip and had begun chewing him out for harassing Rose. That incident had obviously been a more serious one than Nick had been led to believe, because Bernie hadn’t forgotten a moment of it.
Because things had gotten physical, Nick decided to cover his own ass, as well as the bouncer’s and the club’s, and called the police. He wanted this thing on record, now, when there were plenty of witnesses who’d seen both the assault on the female workers inside, and the provocation in the parking lot.
It was just his bad luck that Mark heard the call to Leather and Lace and decided to respond. Nick saw his brother get out of his unmarked car and saunter over, smiling widely. “Get in a fight without me?”
“Just doing my job,” Nick replied, trying to figure out a way to get Mark to leave without going inside the club. If he was on duty, it wouldn’t have been an issue-his brother was too good a cop to go inside a strip club while on duty. But he knew Mark’s hours. No way was he working this late on a Saturday. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“I heard it on the scanner. Noelle was already in bed-that woman goes to sleep by eight every night now. So I thought I’d head on over and see if you were okay.”
“You know this guy?” one of the officers asked.
“My baby brother,” Mark replied, his dimples flashing.
“By ten minutes,” Nick said, shaking his head.
It took about an hour to clear up matters outside. Nick had stayed near the entrance, far from the stage, but he’d gotten reports from the bouncers about what was going on inside. So he knew when Izzie had performed…and when she was finished.
She’d done her first number and wouldn’t be back on for at least an hour or two. Long enough to get rid of his brother.
“Come on, let me buy you a beer,” Mark said once the last of the police cars pulled away.
“I’m working.”
“Okay, then you buy me a beer.” Not taking no for an answer, he threw his arm across Nick’s shoulder and tugged him into the club. “Come on, I’ve never been in this place.”
“Noelle probably wouldn’t like it.”
“I’m visiting my twin at work. No harm in that, is there?”
“Depends on whether you visited me blindfolded.”
“I’ll keep my back to the stage,” Mark said. “Seriously, we haven’t talked in weeks. I know something’s going on with you.”
His twin was right. They had been…disconnected. Not just because of what had been going on with Nick and Izzie, but also because his brother was about to become a father. Mark had changed. He had different priorities, talked a different language, looked at the world a different way.
Noelle and their baby were his family now. Oh, sure, he loved the rest of the Santoris, but he’d crossed that threshold from son and brother to husband and father.
Nick was the only one of the Santori siblings who had not.
“Let’s sit out here,” Mark said, nodding toward a couple of low, round tables in an outer chamber between the lobby and the main lounge area. They were out of view of the stage.
Nick wasn’t surprised. Mark was a good husband. Like the rest of their brothers.
“All right.” Gesturing to one of the waitresses, he ordered a club soda for himself and a beer for his brother. Returning to the table, he sat down across from his twin. “Can’t be away for too long, though.”
Mark settled back into the leather chair. “Nice.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Good fringe benefits?”
Holding back a smile, Nick just shook his head.
“Hey, I’m married, these days are long gone. Throw me a bone.”
“Throw me one,” Nick replied before thinking better of it. “Tell me what it’s like.”
Mark frowned, obviously confused by the question. “It?”
“Marriage. What’s it like being tied down, committed?”
Those deep dimples that had charmed girls from the time he was two years old flashed in Mark’s cheeks. “It’s the best. Noelle’s everything I ever wanted.”
“Yeah, but how’d you know what you wanted?” Nick muttered as he lifted his drink and downed half of it.
Chuckling, Mark admitted, “I didn’t. I think it was more of a case of meeting her, and knowing that whatever I eventually did figure out I wanted for my life, she’d be part of it. It was always her. Everything else fell into place around her.”
Somehow, that made a lot of sense to Nick. Because even though he’d been thinking of dozens of reasons why he and Izzie couldn’t make it work-the primary one being that she didn’t want it to-he couldn’t help hoping it would. Because, as Mark had said, he suspected she was the one. That whatever else happened in his life, whatever direction he went in, whatever he chose, he’d want her to be a part of it.
Surprisingly, his brother didn’t press him about why he was asking so many questions. Probably not because he didn’t care-or didn’t suspect there was a reason behind them. But because he knew Nick well enough to know that pushing for answers usually only made him clam up tighter.
Nick appreciated the courtesy. And realized yet again just how much he’d missed his twin.
“Hey Nick, we got a live one at the bar,” a woman said.
Glancing over, Nick saw one of the waitresses, who was rolling her eyes. “Serious?”
“Not yet. But he could be if he’s not handled right.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.” Addressing his brother, he added, “Is there a full moon out tonight? The crazies are out.”
Mark stood. “Yeah, including me. I must be crazy to be out here with you instead of home in bed with my wife.”
Feeling better than he had in the hours since Izzie’s accident with the chair, Nick reached out and grabbed his brother for a quick hug. Mark’s eyes widened. He was the demonstrative one, not Nick. “What’s that for?”
Nick shook his head. “I don’t know. Give it to your wife.”
“I’ve got plenty of my own to give,” Mark said with a grin. “But thanks just the same.”
The rest of the evening went by quickly, with more of the same insanity to deal with. Nick hadn’t been kidding-the crazies were out tonight, and a lot of them
had decided to show up at the club. The bouncers had had to forcibly eject more guys in this one evening than he’d seen them eject in the past month.
The only positive thing about keeping so busy was that Nick missed the Crimson Rose’s final performance of the evening, too. He hadn’t even realized she was on until he heard the thunderous applause, whoops and whistles of her audience. But at that point, he’d been outside, doing a sweep of parking lot to make sure none of their uninvited patrons had decided to come back.
Fortunately, they hadn’t. But there were still other issues to deal with, like his conversation with Harry about Izzie’s broken chair. She had called it an accident…and it might have been one. But he wasn’t taking any chances. He and Harry had talked about adding security cameras to the basement area of the club, to hook into the system already covering the upstairs. Izzie’s accident had confirmed the idea for both of them.
Just in case.
Saying goodbye to Harry, he headed downstairs, glancing at his watch. It was after two, the club was closed, everyone drifting out. But he knew she’d have waited. She wouldn’t have left without seeing him. Partly because she’d want to see his reaction to her act. Partly because she knew he’d kill her if she’d walked out to her car alone.
“Iz?” he asked, knocking lightly on her dressing room door.
She opened it immediately. “Hi.” She was nibbling on her bottom lip and her hands were clenched in front of her. Rather than being dressed to go home, she wore just a slinky robe. Thankfully, though, the mask and hairpieces were gone.
“You doing okay?”
She nodded, then looked at him through half-lowered eyelids. “Um, so? What’d you think?”
He reached for her and drew her into his arms. “I didn’t see you dance.”
“What?”
“Sorry, other stuff was going on.”
“I heard there were some problems.”
“Yep.”
She fisted her hands and put them on her hips. The pose did really nice things, like pulling her short pink robe apart at the neck to reveal the lush, upper curves of her breasts.
“You’re telling me you just happened to have to deal with various crises during the exact times I was on stage? And that was simply coincidence?”
She might not believe it, but it was true. At least, he thought it was. He guessed he could have done the parking lot sweep a few minutes earlier or later. He hadn’t evaluated his decision before. But now, looking back…well, maybe something inside him had made sure he didn’t have to see other men looking at the beautiful body of the woman he considered his.
“You’re sure you’re going to be all right with this?” Her chin went up. “I won’t be able to handle it if you go all Cro-Magnon man and try to drag me by the hair back to your cave.”
“You woman. Me man,” he said, slipping his hands down and parting her robe further. He nuzzled into her neck, breathing in her essence, realizing twenty-four hours had been far too long to go without making love to her. “Me got heap big appetite.”
She swatted at his shoulder. But she didn’t back up. “You’re such a dork.”
Nick had never been called that, or anything like it, in his entire life. Ass maybe. Jerk. Cold-hearted pig, on one occasion. But never a dork. And it surprised a laugh out of him.
She delighted him. Simply brought every good feeling that existed inside him out into the open.
“God, I love being with you,” he muttered, unable to help revealing a little bit of what he was feeling.
“I know, I feel the same way.”
She didn’t admit that easily, the words had come haltingly out of her mouth. Which made Nick value them that much more.
He moved his mouth down, sampling her collarbone.
“Did you put that lock on my door yourself?” she whispered as she tilted her head farther, silently begging for more.
He nodded, continue to kiss and lick, lower now, to the curves of her breasts, beautifully bare under the robe.
“Let’s use it.”
“My thoughts exactly,” he murmured.
He didn’t let her go, he simply reached back and flipped the lock, then dipped down lower to lick his way down her to her pert nipple. Flicking it with his tongue, he waited until she was quivering to cover it with his mouth and suckle her.
“Mmm…more.”
Nick stroked her sides, his thumbs meeting near her belly button and scraping lower to tease the top edge of her pretty pink panties. With one last sweet suck on her breast he moved down her, following the path his hands had taken.
Izzie moaned softly, swaying on her feet. Nick kept her steady as he kissed his way down the front of her body. The soft robe brushed his face. So did her soft skin.
“Do you know what I wanted to do to you the first time I came into this room?”
She tangled her hands in his hair as he dropped lower, kneeling on the floor in front of her. “I think I have an idea.”
He pressed his face in her belly, licking at that tender bit of skin right above her pelvic bone, slowly pushing her panties down as he dipped lower.
“Did it involve that nice, big, flat surface in front of the mirror?” she asked.
Smart girl. “Uh-huh.” Gently holding her hips, he flicked at the panties, watching appreciatively as she shimmied out of them. The robe fell, too. Under the bright light bulbs ringing the mirror, he was able to see every glorious inch of her. But he wanted to see more-didn’t want his view blocked even by her pretty brown curls. So he turned her and edged her back until her bottom brushed the edge of the vanity top.
“Wait,” he said, suddenly remembering her accident. Wrapping his hand around the edge of the vanity counter, he tugged at it sharply, testing the shelf’s sturdiness. It remained firmly in place, well secured into the wall.
“Good,” she murmured. Rising on her tiptoes, she slid onto the vanity, parting her legs just the way he wanted her to.
Someone had brought her another chair, and Nick grabbed it, sitting on it directly in front of her. Reaching for her knees, he slowly pushed them apart, watching a pink flush rise through her entire body.
She made no effort to resist. Confident. Sensual. Incredibly seductive. She knew what he wanted and she wanted it, too.
He pushed her legs further, until he could see the glisten of moisture on the sensitive slit between her legs. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?” he asked.
It was a rhetorical question. She couldn’t possibly know how beautiful she looked to him, wanton and aroused, opening herself up so he could pleasure them both.
He couldn’t wait any longer. With a low groan of need, Nick dropped his face to that sweet, warm spot. He lapped at her in one slow, long lick, feeling her thighs quiver beside his face.
Izzie tilted up for him, inviting him further, and he sampled her again. “You taste just as good without the cannoli, Cookie,” he mumbled.
She managed a choppy laugh. “Don’t call me Cookie.”
“Can’t help it.” He nibbled his way up to catch her erect clit between his lips. He played with it even as he scraped his fingers across her swollen sex. She was drenched and ready to take whatever he wanted to give her. Wanting that warm, wet flesh wrapped around part of him while he continued to savor her with his mouth, he slipped a finger inside her.
“Mmm,” she groaned. “More. More of everything.”
He complied. Licking harder and sucking deeper, he slid another finger into her, then slowly moved them in and out, timing his strokes to her helpless moans.
With one more swirl of his tongue on her most sensitive spot, Izzie cried out and climaxed. He wanted to be part of that climax, to experience the spasms of her body as she clenched and shook. Standing, he tugged his shirt up and off, then unfastened his belt and pants and pushed them down, out of the way.
When he looked up again, Izzie had sli
d down to stand before him. He frowned. “I wasn’t nearly done.”
Her eyes sparkled. “Neither was I.” Then, with an Eve-like smile on her face, she turned around, facing away from him, until they were both looking in the mirror. She slowly bent forward, putting her hands flat on the vanity, curving that sweet ass back in pure, unspoken invitation.
His pulse roared. “You’re sure…”
“Oh, I’m very sure,” she promised him. She was still smiling, her eyes still glittered in avarice and hunger. “It’s your turn to take me, Nick.”
Remembering the way he’d begged her to take him the other night at his place, he nodded in lazy agreement. “Oh, honey, you can’t imagine how much I want to take you like this.”
Making love to her face to face-watching her incredible eyes widen with pleasure, and her sweet mouth fall open on every long sigh-was amazing. He knew he’d never tire of doing it.
But the idea of taking her like this-with raw, hot passion-excited him beyond reason. He’d be able to see her expressions in the mirror, be able to plunge deeper than ever before until he imprinted himself somewhere deep inside her. Deep enough that, perhaps, she might never want to let him go.
“Nick,” she begged, “please.” She arched again, those long, dancer’s legs putting her curvy butt directly in line with his cock. She backed into him, as he moved forward to her.
He held her full hips in both hands, bending a little so he could see her sweet entrance and ease his way into it. She hissed and arched, trying to take him deeper, but powerless. His hands held her firmly, he was setting the pace.
And he planned to go slowly, wanting to savor every second of the experience.
“Give it to me,” she begged, watching him with desperation.
He smiled at her in the mirror and thrust forward a tiny bit. Rewarded by her gasp and the flare of her eyes, he pulled out again. This time, she didn’t beg for more, she simply licked her lips and watched, trusting him to make it good.
