Ride (4 page)

Eyes closed, she rode the orgasm, and the cowboy, for what felt like forever, but at the same time, not nearly long enough.

She’d just let a customer make her come. Never had that happened before. Never had she wanted it to happen before. If she didn’t move off him, he’d likely do it again she was wound so tightly right now.

When she finally opened her eyes and, panting, pulled back enough to look at his face, it was to find he had beads of sweat forming on his smooth upper lip. His erection was still pressed between them. She could only imagine what it felt like for him to be that hard and squashed in tight jeans.

She remembered she was here for his pleasure, not her own. Leesa shifted her position so her now-wobbly legs straddled only one of his thighs. Still recovering from the unexpected climax that had rocked her, she reached down and touched his belt with hands that felt weak. After focusing her brain enough to study how it opened, she fiddled a bit and managed to release the buckle, all as he watched. Luckily it hadn’t been as difficult as she’d assumed because she didn’t think she had the concentration or the strength to wrestle with it at the moment.

With hands that trembled, she undid the button and zipper on his jeans and pushed the fly open wide. No longer constrained, his erection sprang up, tenting the fabric of his navy blue boxer shorts. She touched it through the thin layer of cotton, raising her gaze to his face as she did.

Breathing heavily, he stared at her hand as it lightly stroked him. When he realized she was watching him, he raised his eyes to stare into hers. His tongue peeked out and nervously licked his lips as he drew in a shaky breath. She continued to watch him as she reached beneath the elastic band and touched the warm, velvety skin covering his rock-hard erection. She stroked him slowly, gently at first. As his breathing quickened, so did her speed until his eyes closed and she felt his body tense beneath her.

He bit his lip as his hand covered hers. She watched with fascination the sight of their hands joined, clasped around him. Squeezing her fist tighter around his length, he moved their hands together. Slow at first, then faster. His breath increased with the speed of their stroking.

Suddenly he released his grasp. He reached down and grabbed a tissue from the box next to the chair. With teeth clenched and eyes slammed tight, she felt his shaft throb in her hand as he came into the tissue.

Now that the deed was done, Leesa wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself. He, on the other hand, seemed perfectly comfortable with the situation.

Recovering quickly, he opened his eyes and let out a small laugh. He shook his head as he grabbed more tissues and wiped off his hand. When he’d wadded up the whole mess and pitched it into the corner where it landed in a garbage pail she hadn’t noticed before, he turned his attention back to her. Once again she felt the full scrutiny of his intense stare.

“That was—” He shook his head once again, as if at a loss for words. His voice was soft and breathy.

“Yeah, it was.” Her own voice came out pretty breathless too. She swallowed hard and realized she was still perched on his leg and he could probably feel the hot wetness not contained by the G-string. She moved to get up but he grabbed her hand and stopped her.

“Wait. Can I see you again?”

“See me?”

See her how? Was he talking about coming back for another hand job tomorrow? Or maybe for more than just a hand job next time. After what she’d done with him, he probably expected she did that and more with all the customers. Why wouldn’t he make that assumption?

“Yeah.” He nodded. “When do you get done here? Maybe we could meet up afterward for a drink. Or tomorrow. I have a thing I have to be at for a few hours, but I could take you out to lunch, or dinner if you’re not working.”

She felt her brows rise. “You mean like a date?”

“Yup.” He grinned. “I really want to see you again.”

Why? For sex, or did he really like her? There was definitely mutual attraction. She felt it too, but he didn’t even know her. He knew nothing more than what she’d done with him for the past half hour or so.

Maybe he truly wanted to get to know her. Could he really be as nice as he appeared? It all made her head spin. “Um—”

A knock on the door interrupted her answer, not that she had an answer to his question.

“Hey! Times up. One of the other girls needs the room.” The bouncer’s voice sounded through the thin door, knocking her back to reality.

She glanced down at the man beneath her and realized his jeans were still wide open and his boxers exposed. “Okay, Bruno. Give me one minute.”

Leesa rose and this time he let her, mostly because his hands were busy dressing himself. She pulled the edges of her vest together and crossed her arms over her bare breasts, suddenly feeling exposed now that the fantasy moment between them had been shattered by real life.

With his shirt buttoned and tucked into his buckled jeans once again, the cowboy stood, hat held in front of him by both hands. “So, about our date…”

Leesa glanced at the door, knowing their time was very limited. That was probably for the best. Where the hell could this thing with him go? She knew the answer to that. Nowhere.

“I’m sorry. I don’t date customers.” She turned to go when she felt his hand on her elbow. She paused and waited.

“Oh. Okay. Um, then here. This is for you.”

Looking back, she saw he held a folded bill in his hand. He thrust it toward her. Her gut took a plunge. She shook her head. “Your friends are paying for the lap dance.” The rest, she suddenly didn’t want money for.

“I know. They told me they were paying, but this is a tip. From me.”

Leesa swallowed hard. She had done it for the extra cash. Hadn’t she? Then why didn’t she want his money? Because taking it for what she’d done over and above the bought-and-paid-for lap dance made her something she never even imagined she’d become. Even if in another time and another place she probably would have done it with this guy simply because she liked him.

With lids lowered to hide the tears welling in her eyes she grabbed the bill. “Thanks.” Then she left the room and him behind her and didn’t look back.

She was vaguely aware of one of the new girls working the pole up on stage. She was conscious enough of her surroundings to be relieved she wouldn’t have to perform again too soon since the rest of the girls on the shift had finally arrived. Hopefully she could hide until he and his friends had left. She walked straight to the locker room and found Holly there.

Holly’s face lit up when she saw her. “Well? How did it go?”

“Fine.” She kept her head buried in her locker, pretending she was putting her tips in her purse when really she just needed time to regain her composure.

“His friend gave me the money for your lap dance since you disappeared in back with the birthday boy so quick.”

Leesa looked up and took the money Holly offered her. “Thanks.”

“Did you, you know, earn any extra while you were there?”

Leesa knew exactly what Holly was asking. “Yeah. I did.”

Of course Holly would have yelled at her if she told her she didn’t set a price in advance, didn’t ask for payment up front, didn’t even ask for money she’d been so…what? Wrapped up in enjoying him?

She glanced down at the folded bill. It was a twenty. She felt like laughing and crying at the same time. She’d sold her soul for twenty dollars and because of that, she somehow felt that she’d never ever be the same.

Holly’s hand touched her shoulder. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She lied.

“He wasn’t an ass or anything, was he? I really thought he looked sweet.”

Leesa could hear the concern in Holly’s voice. That concern just about did Leesa in. Coupled with the fact that he truly was sweet, the kind of guy she’d probably fall for if she hadn’t just serviced him sexually for cash, the tears fell in earnest now.

Still hiding her face, Leesa shook her head. “No, you were right. He was a nice guy. Really. I’m fine. Just tired. I’m going to splash some water on my face and try to wake up before I need to go on again.”

“Okay, sweetie. Take your time. Let the latecomers entertain the crowd for a bit, then I’ll go up. Take all the time you need.”

“Thanks.” Leesa slammed her locker door and headed straight for the private, single-stall bathroom next to Jerry’s office instead of the public ladies’ room out front. His door wasn’t closed all the way.

She tiptoed past, not in the mood for him to call her inside and yell at her for bothering him during his meeting before. Through the crack it looked like he was alone now and talking on the phone.

“Yeah, she busted into the office and saw both him and the cash.”

She stopped dead in her tracks.

Jerry had kept his voice low when he’d spoken, which was something he rarely did, so it caught her attention and made her listen closer, as did what he was saying. He had to be talking about her. She stepped off to the side of the door, out of sight but within hearing.

“Come on, Johnny. Do you really think that’s necessary? She’s just a stupid bitch. Who’s she gonna tell?”

Leesa swallowed hard. What or rather who had she seen that she wasn’t supposed to have? What was bad enough to make Jerry’s brother, Johnny, ask him to do something even a lowlife like Jerry didn’t want to do?

“No, you’re still in charge. I’m just saying, I think knocking her off is a little drastic considering—”

Her stomach lurched. Knocking her off? Was her life in danger just because she’d made a silly error in judgment and walked in on what was obviously some illegal business deal?

“No, I’ll take care of it. I’ll have Bruno do it after the shift… Come on, man! I have a club to run. If we take her out before the shift’s over I’ll be short a girl—”

Leesa didn’t wait to hear the rest. She backed up as quickly and silently as she could and then, when she was a good distance from his office, she turned and ran. At her locker, she pulled her knee-length jacket on over what was left of her costume, changed her shoes and shoved the rest of her clothes into her oversized purse.

Holly was still there changing for her next number. She stopped lacing up her boots and frowned at Leesa. “What’s the matter, hon?”

Panicked, Leesa didn’t know what to tell her. She needed to buy some time and save herself, but she also felt like she had to keep Holly out of it and safe. “I can’t tell you. Holly, I need you to do something for both me and for you. Okay?”

Frowning, Holly nodded. “Okay.”

Leesa glanced nervously back toward Jerry’s office. “If anyone—Jerry, Bruno, anyone—asks where I am, tell them I’m in the ladies’ room out front. Tell them I have cramps, or I don’t know, chronic diarrhea. Something that will keep them from looking for me for a while. All right?”

She couldn’t fight the feeling that if she didn’t leave now, she might never have the chance.

“All right. It’s better if I don’t know why, isn’t it?” Holly’s expression told Leesa she’d been around the seedy side of this world enough to know to stay out of it.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Okay, hon. I’ll do what I can to give you some time.” Holly pulled her into a hug. They both knew this could be the last time they saw each other.

“Thanks. I gotta go.” Leesa’s panic and fear squelched the tears that surely would have been falling otherwise. Adrenaline was a powerful drug.

Holly released her from the embrace. “Good luck.”

And with that Leesa left. For where, she didn’t know. Only that it had to be far from here.

Chapter Four

“Hey, man. Time to get up.” Those distant words eventually penetrated the hazy, peaceful darkness of sleep.

Chase became aware of something, or rather someone, annoyingly poking him in the arm. Seconds later his brain registered his hangover from hell. It didn’t really hit him until he rolled over and felt his stomach rebel. He cracked one lid open and the beam of sunlight hitting him in the eye felt like a knife cutting through his skull.

“Ugh. What time is it?”

“It’s just after noon.” Garret supplied the answer in a voice that sounded far too chipper considering Chase’s current state.

He winced at the horrid taste in his mouth and considered if drinking some water would make him feel better or worse. With his brain working in slow motion, it took Chase a moment to process fully what Garret had told him. “Noon? I never sleep this late.”

Fully dressed and looking ready for a bright new day, Garret grinned at Chase without one ounce of sympathy. “You also usually don’t roll back to our room wasted at four thirty in the morning and then proceed to do shots of tequila.”

“I did shots?” And if so, he would never have done them alone. Why the hell did Garret seem so awake when Chase felt like death warmed over?

Leaning against the dresser across the room, arms crossed, Garret nodded. “Oh yeah, you did. But what I find most interesting is that as drunk as you were, you still wouldn’t tell me what went on with you and that stripper in the back room.”

The memory of the events from the night before cut through the fog clouding his brain. Not only did all that had happened in the back room clearly fill his hazy mind, so did a sudden realization.

Chase’s suspicions rose even if his body hadn’t quite been able to do so yet. The reason Garret wasn’t hung over was suddenly clear to Chase. “Did you stay sober last night and get me drunk just to get information out of me?”

Garret grinned. “Oh, come on. Would I do that?”

“Yes.” Chase sat up and immediately regretted it as what felt like a lightning bolt pierced his skull. He pressed one hand to his stomach as it gave an angry lurch. “I could kill you. I feel like shit and we have that fan thing in like two hours.”

As painful as it was, he still managed to shoot Garret a nasty look.

“It’s your own fault. If you would’ve just told me what happened with the hottie in the back room, I wouldn’t have had to ply you with alcohol. And FYI, I am so trusting you with all of my secrets from now on, because you, man, are like a vault. You never cracked. Not even once. You threw up, but you never spilled the beans.”