Duke

D
uke nodded
his thanks to the bartender and took a swig off his bottle of beer. As he enjoyed the smooth flavor and the cool hit to his dry throat, he surveyed the club. A sexy blond caught his eye, and he grinned. She would be his prey tonight. Now what line to use? He took his time watching her as she danced. A dress that was skintight and hardly covered anything teased him as she swung her hips. Her pale skin reflected the colored lights overhead, and the way she whipped her hair about as she pulsed to the beat of the music called to his baser instincts.

Duke polished off the beer and set the bottle on the counter. He started forward but then paused as a crowd of men swarmed around the beauty. Their enthusiasm to get to her almost knocked the girlfriend she danced with to the floor. Duke frowned. He wasn’t interested in the black woman at all, but a man didn’t treat a woman that way.

In a few hurried strides, Duke reached the dance floor and wrapped an arm around the curvier woman’s middle to whip her to the side. He threw out the other arm to allow the idiot coming at her to smash into his hand. Even though he didn’t add any force to the hit, he was pretty sure it stung.

The man swung around, glaring. “Hey!”

Duke grinned. “Watch where you’re going, bud. There are delicate ladies present.”

In his hold, the black beauty wiggled. Duke glanced down to find he held her far too close to her heavy breasts. Before he could acknowledge his mistake and apologize, a high heel came down on his toes.

“You’ve got two seconds to take your hands off me.” Big brown eyes blazed in anger at him, and her chin rose.

Duke didn’t react to the pain but released her. “I apologize, but I never expected to be punished for my gallantry.”

“Galen—you can’t be serious.” She laughed, shaking her head. He had a fleeting thought that if he were in to black women, she’d be a perfect choice. Curvy with big breasts, a round ass, and an interesting attitude. He almost laughed along with her as he wondered if she was as sassy as his cousin-in-law Shada. No, Duke decided, this one might be more like his other cousin-in-law, Talicia. She’d just as soon throw a punch as say hello. Or was he wrong?

Duke’s grin grew bigger. “I
am
serious, but enough about me, why don’t you introduce me to your friend?”

He pointed with his chin to the blond, who was every bit his type. His pulling her friend away had allowed the swarm of men to surround her, but Duke had enough confidence not to let that bother him. He didn’t give up easily on what he wanted. These guys would fall by the way side as soon as he made his move.

“What’s her name?” Duke asked.

The brown eyes rolled. “None of your business.”

She turned her back on him, and he got another look at her ass.
Very
nice. She wore a dress that accentuated her curves without being as sleazy as her friend’s outfit. If only her ass were on the blond, he would have everything he needed.

The two women danced together again, and Duke bided his time until they left the dance floor to get a drink. He eased into place beside the blond, cutting out a slower man. “I’m Duke. What’s your name, beautiful?”

She cut coy eyes up at him. “Adele Ames. Duke what?”

He ignored the question. He wasn’t ready to share his last name. People got the wrong idea if they recognized the name. Sure, he could use his cousin’s fame and fortune to his advantage, but he preferred his own game. Besides, he usually got whatever he went after anyway, so it didn’t matter.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you here before,” Duke said. “I’m sure I would have remembered.”

Adele giggled. “I come here like every other weekend.”

Tonight was his first night at this particular club, but he saw no reason not to lie. While he and Adele chatted, he was aware of the dark looks tossed his way from her friend. He winked at her and let his gaze sweep lower to her full breasts. When he looked up again, her anger radiated, almost scorching his skin. His amusement escalated.

Duke turned his back on the fiery gaze and focused on Adele. “Can I buy you a drink?”

“That depends. What do you do?” Adele said.

“Does it matter?”

The two women looked at each other and then back at him. Adele waggled a finger in front of his face. “Of course it matters. I don’t want to waste my time with a man who’s not right for me.”

“Ah, so my job tells you if I’m the right man?”

“Yes, you have to be able to afford me. I don’t like cheap men who nitpick over every dime.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and rested a hand on her hip. Standing straighter, she pushed her breasts out. Duke was sure to show his appreciation for such a stance. Adele was pleased, but the friend roasted him with a scowl.

Curiosity came over him. “What’s
your
name?”

She wrinkled her nose and eyeballed him from his feet to his head. “What do you care? You’re trying to get into my friend’s panties, aren’t you? I mean you’ll fail, but I’m just pointing it out.”

He laid a hand over his chest. “Your words cut…uh…?”

She sighed. “Takiyah. I’m sure you’ll forget it in a minute. Anyway, why don’t you go find someone else to bother? Trust me, Adele doesn’t want you.”

“Because I’m a waiter?”

Adele made a noise of disappointment. “A waiter? Damn it, and you’re so cute. What a waste.”

Takiyah smirked. “Told you. Now run along.”

Adele dismissed him from her world and wiggled her hips out to the dance floor. Duke stayed where he was next to Takiyah. He leaned on the bar as he watched Adele move. Soon there wasn’t much to see of her other than the top of her head because of the crowd.

“Crap, I better go rescue her again.”

Takiyah started forward, but he caught her arm. She looked pointedly at the touch, and he ignored it. “Here’s my card. Tell her to call me.”

She blew out a breath. “A waiter with a card? She’s not going to call you. Do you even have any self-respect? Adele doesn’t date waiters. She’s into men with money. We come here to let go of the stress and have fun. There are plenty of other cute little white girls for you to play with here.”

He grasped her hand and pushed the card into it. “You can both come by the restaurant. I’ll treat you to lunch or dinner, your choice.”

Despite her protests, she looked down at the card. “Marquette’s. I heard they burned down.”

“The grand reopening is this week. You’ll come?”

She stuffed the card into his pants pocket, and he felt the stirrings of his cock with her hand so close. “Don’t hold your breath.”

D
uke signaled
for another beer as he watched Takiyah push through the throng of men. He then scanned the club for a woman that looked like Adele but had the attitude of Takiyah. Nothing caught his eye, and he resolved to try another night. A few more beers, and he would head out. Might as well make it an early night as he had work in the morning, and he didn’t need Creed riding his ass. He chuckled. Not more than usual anyway.

A little later on, Duke started to feel a bit unsteady on his feet. He downed the last beer and slapped the bottle on the bar. As he made his way to the door, he noticed Takiyah and Adele ahead of him. Grinning, he followed after them. Maybe he would try one more time. Women usually gave in to him after a little prodding. They might call him a dick and an asshole, but he didn’t care about name-calling. All of them fell into his arms in the end.

Out on the street, a sharp wind blew in his face. The cooler temperature cleared his head, which had started to get fuzzy. A few steps ahead, Adele stumbled into Takiyah and hooked her hand around her friend’s arm.

“I told you not to drink so much,” Takiyah said.

“Why not?” Adele slurred and waved her other arm through air for no apparent reason. “It’s fun. You should try it, Takiyah. Let go sometimes.”

“How can I let go when I have to take care of your skinny ass who can’t hold her liquor?”

Adele giggled.

Duke sped up a little but then slowed when two men approached the ladies. The group stopped walking, and Duke slipped into a shadow, leaning against a parked car. His background and training taught him to assess a situation before charging in. Of course, when there was a threat involved, even then it didn’t stop him from acting. Not when it came to a lady.

His caution turned to amusement when the spitfire Takiyah got in the one guy’s face and cursed at him for coming on too strong to Adele. Didn’t she realize this man had her by at least a hundred pounds? Duke judged Takiyah to be about five seven or eight, still pretty short to his six three. She didn’t seem to notice that while she carried a few extra pounds in all the right places, she wouldn’t be a threat if the guy decided to forget she was a woman.

“I told you she’s not interested,” Takiyah snapped. “Damn, is every wraparound fool out here tonight?”

Duke snorted. “Is she lumping me in with them, and what the hell is a wraparound fool?”

Takiyah grabbed Adele’s arm, and the two of them turned to continue walking. The humiliated man decided to get stupid and grabbed her arm. “You’re not going anywhere after talking to me like that!”

Duke waited a beat to see what she would do. He expected a punch or a kick to back up that mouth. Fear flitted across her features, and then it was gone. He figured it was his imagination given the darkness of the night and their distance from him. Still, he wasn’t taking any chances.

“Get your hands off me.” Takiyah jerked on the hold to no avail.

“Why don’t you shut your mouth?” the man growled. “I was talking to your friend, not you. What are you jealous of all the attention she gets? Maybe you should hang out with uglier friends, you know women that look like you.”

Takiyah’s mouth fell open, and her hand shot out to smack him. The man ducked away, and she caught just a bit of his chin. Duke imagined she’d hurt herself more than the idiot. The man didn’t let the hit go. He raised his fist, and Adele screamed. Duke thrust himself between Takiyah and her attacker in time to catch the fist in his palm.

“What do you think you’re doing with that?” Duke sized the guy up now that they were face to face. Comparable muscle build and height, this man was used to getting his way because of his size. From the anger simmering in his eyes, he didn’t mind getting physical. “You were planning to hit a woman, a beautiful one at that?”

Duke tsked, shaking his head, and the man sneered. He jerked his fist out of Duke’s hold. “Stupid cunt hit me first.”

Duke didn’t think twice. He punched him, hard in the mouth. The man went down, and his eyes rolled back in his head. Size didn’t matter, he guessed with a chuckle and then looked up at the other guy. The man’s friend held up both hands in surrender and backed up a few steps.

“Get out of here.” Duke swung around to the ladies, and instead of the squeals of delight he expected, Takiyah cast him a cold look and marched her friend off down the street. He scratched the back of his head watching them go. “Damn, can’t win for losing.”

He fell back far enough to stay out of sight and followed the ladies until they reached Takiyah’s car. Once they were safely on their way, he turned back the way he came. Maybe he should drop by the restaurant and hang out there until morning. Stay with Creed? Certainly not Damen. Ah well, one day he would settle down and get his own place, and perhaps a wife. Not yet though. There was always tomorrow or the next night.