Page 10 of Seeking Vengeance
The woman on the left side, where he was, drew his attention immediately.
Jesus, he thought, as his brain soaked in the image before him. The dancer had the same color hair as Nicki. The same lean, lithe build.The same motherfucking tattoos.
She remained on his side of the stage, one of three biker chicks dancing seductively to ball-pounding heavy metal and screaming guitar. Mirrored shades. Lace thongs. High-heeled boots that went up to the thighs. The black leather jackets opened slightly, provocatively, giving a peek at the satiny black lace beneath. He watched, his mouth slightly open, as he found himself wishing he were a shiny silver pole, just like probably every other guy in the place.
How the hell had she gotten her leg all the way up there like that? And that—that—was some serious muscle control there.
Sean couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Her moves were fluid, graceful. Her body, while lush, was extremely toned, which Sean found very attractive. There was something about the way her sculpted strength flexed and danced beneath all that soft, glistening skin that had him harder than iron. Standing still, she was hot. Moving, she was nothing short of a supernova.
And then—oh,fuck me—the dancers were slinking down the stairs for highlighted lap dances.
Sean was all too aware of the surge in male interest around him as the men started reaching for their wallets. A possessive, almost-primal growl rolled through his chest as he saw dozens of hungry eyes expectantly glued to Nicki.
Like hell.
* * *
Nicki’s eyesscanned the crowd, slightly unfocused, catching vague physical outlines and smudges of color. She never looked at their faces—never. It made it too personal, too real. If she didn’t look into their eyes, then they weren’t real people, and she wasn’t really doing this. It was just a job, a means to an end. To find the rats, you had to spend some time in the sewer.
Most of the time, she picked well, but there were other times she was not quite so adept. Like that psycho the night before. He’d seemed so normal, just another guy out for a little naughty fun. Medium-brown hair, average build, casually but well dressed. He seemed safe enough.
At least until he touched her. Then, suddenly, he seemed much bigger, much stronger than he’d first appeared, and she saw the touch of madness in his eyes. That was when her blood began to run cold and her skin crawled. The man grabbed her ass hard and ground into her, his rancid breath nearly suffocating her as he told her all the things he was going to do to her.
There was nothing she could do about it then, not without blowing her cover. She thought security would be on the guy right away, but they weren’t. They told the boss later that they hadn’t realized the extent of the situation. Nick was there within seconds of seeing her face though, pushing through the crowd to get to her, and Nicki heard the sickening crunch, even before the guy’s strangled scream. That caught the security guys’ attention, and they took care of things from there, but the damage had been done.
Afterward, when they were called into the manager’s office, she played her part well, pretending it was difficult to speak coherently. Not that it mattered in the end. The night manager seemed more concerned with the fallout than anything else. Nick was banned from the premises for disorderly conduct, and she was reprimanded for inciting the situation and not following proper procedure.
Assholes.
The owner, at least, took the situation more seriously. He sought her out and spoke with her before her shift. Unlike the night manager, he seemed like a decent guy. He apologized for what had happened and for not being there personally to handle the matter. He also said that Nick was welcome anytime, just not while she was performing. The security guys were reamed out for not being on top of things, and she was assured they would be watching more closely from now on.
Those assurances had eased her anxiety somewhat, but she’d learned a long time ago that a man’s word wasn’t worth shit. Nicki wasn’t sure what had happened with the douche-bag manager, but he wasn’t anywhere to be found tonight. Maybe he’d been fired—or reassigned to weeknights, which was like a demotion of sorts. There was some small measure of satisfaction in that.
Hoping tonight would not be a repeat, she locked herself somewhere safe inside her own mind and let her body go, telling herself that it was just a job, nothing more. This was a necessary evil, part of the role she had to play to get what she’d come here for. She’d done a lot worse for a lot less in her lifetime. But even as the lights and the music changed, signaling the interactive portion of the show, another tiny part of her soul died. Again. She wondered how much more she had left.
The sight of a crisp hundred-dollar bill raised in the air caught her attention. It almost made what she was about to do worthwhile. Almost. She didn’t need the money anymore, but growing up in the streets, having to struggle for everything, was deeply ingrained in her psyche. She took a deep breath and reminded herself why she was here.
God, how she hated this. Just like most of the other women who worked here. Some were putting themselves through school. Others were trying to feed and clothe their kids. One or two actually liked it, but they were definitely the exceptions.
I won’t be doing this forever, she reminded herself. Only as long as she had to and not a minute more.
This, too, would soon pass, and she’d be off to whatever was next. Hopefully, it would be something that wouldn’t warrant scrubbing herself in the shower for a good thirty minutes in scalding water afterward even though she knew the dirtiness she felt couldn’t be washed away.
Maybe, after this, she’d disappear for a while, someplace out in the middle of nowhere, where she could be alone and chuck her finger at the rest of the world. Until then, she would shut the hell up and make the best of what she had.
Nicki pasted on the sexy smirk that had become second nature and got herself back into character, fighting her inner revulsion and summoning the courage for what she needed to do. Quick glances left, right, and center told her that security was in place, watching. She snagged the hundo out of the air and turned her back to him, suggestively swaying her ass before him. For a hundred bucks, she’d give him a good show.
She put both hands on her cheeks and undulated for all it was worth, circling seductively with the music. If nothing else, her job made her take über-good care of her body. Jason, the owner, was pretty decent about it too. He had an arrangement with the local fitness place that allowed the girls to work out there for a discounted rate. That was a good thing. BodyWorks was a great place, but it wasn’t cheap, especially on a week-by-week basis.
She brought her hands to the edges of her leather jacket and began to peel it away, slowly revealing shoulders, upper arms, and then upper back. Her breasts were barely covered by satiny black lace that concealed very little. The silver and black links of the choker chain she wore accentuated the smooth light-peachy skin. A matching belly chain wove around her bare stomach, dangling provocatively toward the area covered by her skimpy black lace thong, clearly revealing the spiraling hip tat as she unlaced her leathers and slithered out of them.
Only then did she turn around and straddle her fan, sliding her barely covered sex along his muscular thighs. Her arms grasped at rock-hard biceps until she was snug against a massive iron arousal. At least he was built. It didn’t justify what she did, but it did make it more palatable as well as easier to fantasize. That was the only way this could work. If she allowed herself to see them for who and what they really were, she could never fake the desire needed to pull off a successful lap dance. Fat, sweaty guys doused in cheap cologne were the worst.
But this guy was really smacked together. Every point of contact revealed more hard, solid male muscle. He smelled good too. In fact, the scent was rather unique. And familiar. In a rush of excitement and dread, Nicki actuallylookedinto the face of the man she was practically dry-humping. Luminous blue eyes bored into hers. His expression so hard and fierce that it could have been carved from marble.
Him.
* * *
