When the third song started, she took off her panties in a way that was so effortlessly sexy, and then tossed them in my direction. With a small squeak of surprise, I caught them, and she grinned before giving me a wink then turning back to the job at hand.
Laughing softly, I tossed her panties aside and watched her finish up.
With each passing second, my pulse started to spike higher and higher. I was excited and nervous, and maybe a little nauseated from not having been eating properly lately. I was just so busy that I didn’t have time to remember to eat, and really, I was loving my new body. It had never been what you say overly curvy or even plump, but I had held on to the baby fat from my childhood.
Now, I was slender like I had never been. My face was leaner, giving me more of a cheekbone, not that anyone could see that here. My lacey mask hid that from everyone. But my waist was smaller, my boobs more perky. And my ass, oh, I was in love with my ass these days. All the exercise from dancing and swinging around on those poles had lifted it and given it kind of a Brazilian pop to it that some women paid a fortune to accomplish.
A small commotion to the left of the stage, from the direction of the entrance, pulled my attention away from Kelli—or Ireland, as she was known as on stage. Five of the MC brothers were walking in, laughing and seeming to have the time of their lives as they headed toward the bar. I held my breath, trying to pick Colt out of them.
Matt Reid was the first one I recognized, followed by his brother Tanner. Clutch was in the middle of them, and apparently, the source of why they were cutting up and laughing their asses off. Behind him, I saw the handsome face of Creed, and then Warden.
I slowly released the breath I had been holding. Thank goodness. I wouldn’t have been able to have gone out there if my best friend had been in the crowd. It would have been like undressing for my brother. Gross.
Forcing myself to focus now, I attempted to turn off everything in my head.
Kelli’s song ended and, as she collected the money some of the less brave guys had tossed onto stage rather than stick into her garter or even the top of her boot, the master of ceremonies got the crowd ready for me.
The men who had just been losing their heads and hearts to Kelli, suddenly quietened.
I balled my chilled hands into fists, trying to calm myself enough to take the stage. The anonymity I got from the wig and mask gave me more confidence than I would have ever had without them. Not one of these guys knew that I was the same waitress who took care of them at Aggie’s most days. No one realized that sweet, little Quinn Wilder was the mysterious Luna.
My intro music started as Kelli walked past me. She caught my hand and gave it a comforting squeeze, stopping to watch me take the stage as she always did. For the first song, at least. Normally, she would go out and work the crowds after my first song, chatting up the guys to get them to buy her a drink. Whenever a customer bought a dancer a drink, they got half of the profit from it, because the bartenders charged double for our drinks. She did a few private dances if she was in the mood or needed a little extra cash, but most of the time, she didn’t even bother.
I kept my focus on Kelli until I got lost in the music and my own head. I welcomed the assault of all the problems that kept piling up on top of me. It allowed me to get lost and forget about the crowd.
I let my body move to the music, even as I stressed over bills that I needed to make sure were paid off in the next few days, so that once I did have the money I needed, I could leave without having to worry about them.
I tried to think of how I was going to tell Aggie I was going to quit, but every time I even thought of the woman who had become my second mother, I had to fight back a flood of tears.
Out in the crowd, guys were starting to become more rowdy, and out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Porter shifting toward me.
I blinked back all the thoughts scattering through my head and tried to look at the guys who had moved as close to the stage as they possibly could. Some of them looked familiar, others not so much, but what caught my eye wasn’t the preppy college boys or even the men in suits watching me like I was fresh meat and they were hungry lions.
No, it was the bikers at the bar … or rather, one in particular.
The five had become six, and the sixth was someone I hadn’t been expecting to see again for a long while. Or ever, if I could have helped it.
I was still moving to the music, having memorized my sets so I could do it on autopilot. But as I continued to look at the dangerous man in his leather cut, those jeans that
rode low on his hips, I found my heart pounding just as hard as it always had whenever I saw him. My body was responding, despite everything that had happened, just as it always had.
I couldn’t believe that, after all the weeks I had told myself that I was over this guy, that my stupid heart, and my traitorous body, hadn’t stopped wanting him.
That I still cared about him.
As if in slow motions, I watched as Raider turned. I watched his eyes zero in on me like there was a homing device attached to my chest. Still, I continued to dance, letting men put cash into the grater on my leg, or into the top of my boots. I couldn’t see his eyes from where I was, especially with the lights shining on me, but I could feel them as they traveled over my body, touching every inch, as if mentally caressing me. It felt like he was physically running his fingers over my skin, and my body responded accordingly. Goose flesh popped up along my entire body, and I felt my nipples harden and stiffen.
Memories of how it had been with him that crazy night so many weeks before flashed back to me. I had loved having his hands on me, had been begging for more …
Until the pleasure had turned into pain, and I had come back to my senses.
Raider tilted his head, and even in the dim lighting that surrounded him like a cloak, I could see the instant he turned into the predator I always knew he was.
Someone got adventurous as they tucked their money into my left boot, tracing their fingers up the back of my thigh.
I snapped my head around, glaring at the guy, only then realizing I was halfway through my set and that my top was now off. My boobs were bouncing around, and the guy was drifting his fingers higher.
I stepped back, but he grabbed for me. I stumbled back in my crazy high-heeled boots, landing hard on my ass, a loud squeal of fright leaving me before I could stop myself.