I get to my feet and am immediately pulled back down onto Tom. His arms hold me like a vise, and I can feel the hardness in his boxers. “Where are you going,” he asks in a hoarse growl. “We’re just getting started.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Adrian
There is absolutely no reason for me to return to the strip club. Karl already has thirty thousand dollars in the safe to be added to the revenue over a period of time. Nonetheless, I know for certain I’ll be returning to the strip club tomorrow night and probably the next and the next. I’m not one of those guys who believes in love at first sight or anything like that, but I can’t deny this girl has a pretty damned powerful impact on me.
It's not just how she looks. The girl’s personality is… Well, I don’t know how to describe it. At the club, I don’t really pay attention to the girls dancing. They’re all good-looking, I suppose, but I’m there on business and they’re kind of like background color, if that makes any sense. Even so, I notice Sapphire when she dances. I can’t help it. She’s the kind of a girl a man notices. What does it for me is that she looks like a girl who isn’t a stripper?
Don’t get me wrong. She most definitely has the body of a stripper. Her breasts are smaller than a typical stripper’s, but they’re perfectly proportioned to her petite body. It’s not her body that does it. It’s her face. It doesn’t have any of the typical expressions you ordinarily see on a stripper. There’s nothing jaded about her and there’s no, I don’t know, loss of innocence.
I know a girl who strips at another club in Coyote’s city, and she’s an actress. She’s done a lot of independent films, usually in small supporting roles. She doesn’t have the disdainful, jaded look because she’s used to performing and used to doing it nude. I think that girl is a natural exhibitionist. Most of the girls who don’t have typical stripper expressions are just brand new, but Sapphire dances far too effectively to be new at it.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not just the expressions. This girl’s face is beautiful. It’s not just pretty. It’s absolutely beautiful, and there’s something pretty damned powerful about her eyes and her smile. I can’t deny she looks adorable when she gets bashful, too. This sounds stupid, I know, but this girl isn’t fuck material. This girl is girlfriend or even wife material. Okay, don’t get me wrong. This girl is most definitely sexually appealing. I’m not saying I don’t want to sleep with her. I don’t know any guy with a heartbeat who won’t want that. I’m not sure why I’m saying she’s also girlfriend material, I just… I don’t know, she just has something special.
To tell the truth, my hotel room looks damned empty right now. If not for me telling Sapphire to check in when she’s done dancing, I wouldn’t be here. I’d already be at some dive bar searching for a girl to pick up and screw while imagining I’m with Sapphire. I don’t often find myself this attracted to a girl, but I am to this one. God help me, I am.
Alcohol is a pretty good substitute for sex in a pinch. I have a bottle of rye, a gift from Karl. I usually take those home with me but what the hell, right? I need ice, though. I grab the bucket from the counter and step into the hallway.
“No! Stop!”
That’s Sapphire’s voice.
It doesn’t take long for me to figure out what’s going on. I should have known from the beginning. Sometimes men really do order strippers for bachelor parties, but sometimes they order strippers pretending to have a bachelor party so they can trap a girl alone in a room with a bunch of guys.
I don’t waste any time. I kick down the door, and when I see Sapphire in the middle of a bunch of college boys who are naked from the waist down, I get to work.
My first punch knocks the leader of the group out. I know he’s the leader because when I kick down the door, the others look at him. He goes down like a sack of potatoes, and three more punches take care of the two others brave or stupid enough to try to attack me.
The others get real smart, real quick. They back away from Sapphire with their hands up, their eyes big as saucers as they stare at me.
“Get your things,” I say to Sapphire. “You can get dressed in the restroom. I’ll make sure the little men don’t attack you.”
A few of the boys bristle at the insult, but thankfully for them, they’re smart enough to stay where they are. Sapphire sniffles and walks on trembling legs to gather her clothes, then head to the bathroom. The boys watch her, their jaws clenched, but they make no move toward her.
When she’s in the bathroom, I say, “Give me your wallets.”
“Man,” one boy says, “I’m not giving you my wallet.”
I stride toward him, and he juts his lip out at me defiantly until my fist crashes into it. Then he just drops to the floor.
The other boys quickly grab their wallets. “Theirs too,” I say, pointing to the four unconscious boys.
One of the boys grabs their wallets and hands them to me. I take the IDs from each wallet and toss them in a pile on the bed. “Great,” I say, “Thank you. Here’s what’s going to happen now. You’re going to get your shit, your friends included, and you’re going to leave. You’re never going to enter the club again. If you do, I’ll beat you to death.” I lift the IDs and say, “I have your addresses now.”
They move to gather their stuff. One of the boys mutters, “What a waste of two grand.”
“Yep,” I say, “That’s the price tag on stupidity.”
No one says anything after that. They leave, dragging their unconscious friends with them, and when they’re gone, I say, “It’s okay, Sapphire. You can come out now.”
She comes out wearing shorts and a t-shirt, carrying the rest of her stuff in a bag. I take her to my hotel room, and she cries on my shoulder for a solid hour before falling asleep. I lay her on the bed, tuck her in, and sleep on the floor.
When I woke up, Sapphire is still sleeping. I order us room service breakfast and feel guilty about the thoughts running through my head, but not very guilty. Unlike the morons the night before, I’m not going to force myself on her.
CHAPTER FIVE
Sapphire