I’m so stupid.
“I don’t know what I want,” I say, shrugging as I lower back down to my seat. “Can I go talk to the bartender and ask what she thinks I should get? That’s usually what I do.”
I actually never order drinks, considering my twenty-first birthday is still a few months away. Until him, I had only ever had a drink or two in my life. But his lifestyle requires alcohol—lots of alcohol.
He lights up a cigarette, and I tilt my head. I’ve never seen him smoke, and I’ve never tasted it on him. “Sure. Take Sarah, though. No one will mess with her because they know who she is. They don’t know you yet. Tell Beth to put it on my tab.” He pulls me to him, and he puts his mouth right against my ear. “Don’t even think about doing something to piss me off.”
I’m not sure why he thinks I would, but I suddenly feel the tinge of fear that usually gets lost under the thick veil of false security I’ve had.
Instead of speaking, I kiss his neck, running my lips down to his collarbone, and I move to straddle his lap before I put my lips to his ear.
“Why would I want to piss you off?”
He thrusts up while holding me against him, and I moan lightly from the friction.
“Because it turns you on,” he tells me.
He gauges me and measures me carefully, and then he slides his hands to be on my ass when I don’t speak.
“Fine. Go. But hurry back. Elise is on next, and she’ll be all over me if you’re not here to help me run interference.”
I can’t help but grin, and he nudges me off his lap while cursing and saying something under his breath. Sarah slides over Snake who purposely doesn’t move out of the booth. But Drex motions for me to go the other way, and Sledge evacuates the booth quickly to clear a path for me.
The other club members have all taken seats at the surrounding booths that are apparently only theirs. But within the club, there are numerous cuts on numerous men—all of whom look just as scary as the Death Dealers. For some reason, they’re all looking my way.
“Why is everyone looking at me?” I ask Sarah as she loops her arm through mine and guides me toward the bar.
In her short pair of leather shorts and her slinky, red, transparent top with a red bra underneath, she looks so much more appealing. They should be looking at her.
“Because you look like you just escaped a convent, and you’re the sexy nun they want to fuck. Drex will kill someone if they mess with you. Now why’d you want away from the booth? Something wrong?”
The concern in her eyes is genuine, and we get behind the crowd at the bar to wait our turn with the lone bartender. Sarah has been nothing but sweet to me, so I don’t want to lie to her. I don’t feel like I even have to lie.
“I don’t want to see another girl in Drex’s lap.”
She laughs while shaking her head. “The girls only dance on them for a few seconds. Then they collect their tips and move on to the next man waving cash. Don’t worry. Drex has never and will never take one home, because he’s not the kind of guy who can date a stripper—even for a night. He’s too controlling for all that, and if he wants attention, he demands it that second.”
When I don’t speak, she continues.
“I danced on him numerous times, and he never even knew my name. When Snake introduced me as his woman, Drex told me it was nice to meet me. He had no clue. These girls are faceless to him, other than Elise, and that’s only because she comes to the clubhouse a lot. He can’t stand her, so don’t worry. Not all the guys think that way. Snake fell in love after our lap dance, but he wouldn’t date me until I quit. Most of them don’t share. Just remember that.”
Considering I don’t want to be shared, I see no reason to remember that point of advice.
“Beth!” Sarah yells, and the bartending beauty smiles over at her. “Two vodka and cranberries over here.”
Beth nods and starts fixing them just as a body presses too close to mine. There are a few things that confuse me, and one of them is the fact that I can tell this isn’t Drex without looking.
“So the new girl is off her leash?” a man drawls, his breath too close to my skin.
I look over to see Drex is staring at the stage as the girl I assume is Elise fucks him with her eyes, and I suck in a deep breath.
“I’m not on or off a leash,” I say to the phantom behind me.