SIX: A Men of the Strip Anthology Read online

  Typical Betty.

  Sin and I both chuckled softly and headed through the club to the back in comfortable silence. The DJ was already behind the booth prepping his music for the evening, as were the cocktail waitresses who sat a nearby table, chatting before they’d be hustling on their feet till the wee hours of the morning. Their eyes sparkled when they saw us, giggles and hums of approval following us as we flashed them nearly identical slick grins

  “Hey, Jag. Hey, Sin.” Multiple voices cooed salaciously.

  We didn’t stop though. As cute as they were, not screwing around with the waitresses was one of Betty’s rules the boys and I actually stuck to. Things could get messy with them being co-workers and none of us had time for that shit.

  Slipping behind the privacy curtain, Sinclair and I treaded through the dark to the dressing room. I could hear Dare going off about something while August howled his usual laugh. Just hearing my brothers put me in a better mood. Wrapping a hand around the knob, I threw the door open and rushed inside with Sin on my tail.

  “Knock, knock, fuckers. Daddy’s home!”

  A few hours later, I was balls deep in a striptease with this sexy little blonde, her pert ass in my grasp as she rolled into me in time with the music. Yeah, I know, not usually how this works, but I sure as hell wasn’t complaining. At some point during my dance—with her friends egging her on, I might add—she’d shifted into my lap to give me a tease of her own. And I let her ‘cause shit, I was buzzed and the little mewls she made when I pressed her against my dick was exactly what I wanted to hear after a long ass week of dealing with Calla’s bullshit.

  “Yo, Jag!” I heard Darius somewhere amidst Tinashe’s voice blasting through the room.

  With my hand in… Fuck, what’s her name? Um… I think it’s Maci, so we’ll just go with that. With my hand threaded in Maci’s hair, I gave her ass a little slap, and peered around her small frame to find Dare. He was right at the edge of the table, that knowing smirk set firmly in place.

  “You got a request. Bachelorette party.”

  I held up two fingers and he nodded, wading back out into the madness to get things started for me.

  “You heard the man, I gotta go,” I said to Maci, and she jutted out her bottom lip.

  “Well, that’s not fair. I was just about to haul you into VIP.”

  “Give me an hour and I’ll do better than VIP.”

  Like my car.

  Maci nodded with a sultry wink as I hoisted her off my lap and set her back on the booth with her friends, stalking off in search of Darius without a glance back. My dick was not fucking happy, but I had a job to do, and money came first. It’s not like we wouldn’t be ramming that pussy in the back of my LC soon enough. I’d told her an hour but chicks like her all operated the same.

  Easy.

  Predictable.

  I could take three hours and she’d still be waiting.

  Dare was looming over a booth covered in pink bachelorette paraphernalia when I sidled up beside him and slipped an arm around his shoulders, scanning the small group of ladies who were clearly a little past the limit. My grin came naturally. This was going to be fun. Then I noticed the woman at the very end. A leg crossed over the other, she was leaned forward on one elbow, cupping a wine glass in her hand. She laughed whenever her friends belted something out, but the smile never touched her eyes. Tense would describe her best, almost as if she felt out of place, and when her bright green eyes suddenly met mine, I was nearly struck stupid.

  Holy fuck.

  She was stunning, with this exotic air to her. Maybe mixed or Hispanic.

  My fucking weakness.

  Dressed far more modestly than her friends, in this plum, long-sleeved number that showed off her legs, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Whatever thoughts I had about fucking Maci in my car just two minutes ago shattered into nothing, because my focus was now solely on her. And she was gaping at me in return, raising every hair on my body at attention, my heart thrashing in my chest. Blinking hastily, her long lashes fluttered about, mouth slightly ajar. Heat rose in her cheeks as my eyes devoured her from head to toe. At my devilish smile, she raked a hand through loose dirty-blonde waves and turned away from me, whispering something to the woman beside her in haste.

  She feels it.

  I know she did.

  Whatever it was exactly, I don’t know, but do you know how hard it was to concentrate after that? Let’s just say I was not the highlight of the double dance Darius and I gave the bride to be. I’d turn around and there she was, wine glass to her lips, watching me from over the brim, eyes wanton and unapologetic. Calling me like a siren. I wanted to dance for her, wanted her to drink me in with that saucy little guise while I pinned her to the couch and taunted her until she begged…

  “Who’s next?” Dare’s voice boomed, pulling me from my daze.

  “Vida!” The bride bellowed enthusiastically as we backed up off her. “Vida needs one!”

  The rest of the ladies nodded in agreement and with intuition stabbing me in the gut, I immediately found myself asking, “Who’s Vida?”

  “That would be me.” My little vixen lifted her hand as suspected and I almost fist bumped the damn air.

  It was on like motherfucking donkey kong. Darius knew it too; the look on my face said it all. Despite the fact this was supposed to be my gig, he didn’t give me shit about it, occupying the bachelorette and her bridal party while I zeroed in on what was definitely going to be the highlight of my night.

  “Ever had a dance...” It was a question I asked everyone.

  “Never,” she said, cocking my head back in genuine surprise, ‘cause I mean, look at her. Alluring features, curvy as hell, fucking perfect.

  “I don’t mean from just a male stripper. In general.”

  But she came back with the same answer a second time, shaking her head.

  Well, damn.

  This just got a lot more interesting.

  The Hills faded in through the speakers, revving up the electricity buzzing between us in tenfold. It was exact amplifier I needed to give this girl the dance of her life, an experience she’d never be able to erase. The Jag Experience—not for the weak of heart. I was good at what I did, I knew it without a doubt, and I worked it to my advantage. Especially right now.

  “Sit back,” I ordered gently.

  A fierce blush colored her cheeks once more as she complied, melting into the plush obsidian couch. A smirk curled my lips. So beautiful to watch; the prey submitting to the hunter. Caging her legs between my own, I grabbed onto the back of the couch and dipped my head eye level with hers, grinning as she gulped.

  “Close your eyes.”

  Again she obliged, but I didn’t miss how her hands trembled. Bringing a knee up beside her, I rolled my hips right as the chorus set off, looming closer and closer until my lips just barely skated up her neck. The shaky breath she sighed roused me up like gasoline to a flame.

  Let’s rile her up some more, shall we?

  “You can touch, Vida,” I murmured, bringing her hand up to my chest. “Just keep it above the belt, sweetheart. It’s for your own good.”

  Lust-hazed eyes met mine, then dropped between us, enraptured by my every move. Small hands were quick to steal under my tee, trailing up my rigid torso. Every muscle in my body clenched beneath her unabashed touch. I hissed through my teeth, luring her stare to my face as I reached behind myself and pulled my shirt over my head. Eyes from all around were on us, hoots and hollers exploding over the music. Vida bit down on her bottom lip in realization, the enticing gesture a direct connect my cock.

  In one swift movement, I scooped her up in my arms and dropped to my knees where she’d sat, trapping her between the couch and my hard body. Thick thighs locked around me, the hem of her dress rising up an obscene amount. The heat between her legs insanely palpable and fuck was I practically salivating at the mouth for a taste. Pressing her against me, I kept on with my tease, my hands snaking up her wai
st for purchase. Jeweled eyes on mine, she ground into me with the beat too, completely uninhibited, looking one-hundred percent tantalizing and all too fuckable. Captive at my mercy.

  And fuck me if I didn’t want to take her right there, with or without an audience. It would’ve been so simple. Push her panties to the side, dig into her heat. Mark her with my stamp.

  Jesus Christ.

  I felt like a crazed animal. Needed her closer. Needed to feel her on me, underneath me. Wanted those plump lips yielding beneath my own. I didn’t understand what the fuck was happening, but I was running wild with it; questions be damned.

  Thrusting a hand into her hair, I crashed my mouth into hers almost brutally, bubbling a satisfied whimper deep within her.

  One brush.

  Another.

  And another.

  Tongues exploring, teeth nibbling. Her taste was addictive, sweeter than honey with a hint of wine. I was higher than a fucking kite, drunk on every facet of this woman’s being, and I wanted more.

  To be completely inebriated.

  Consumed.

  5

  Somewhere in the midst of my spectacle, Betty managed to yank me off Vida and drag me all the way to her office by the ear—like an errant kid about to get his ass whooped. I suspect if she could’ve taken the belt to my ass like my momma used to do, she would’ve without question. You see, Betty didn’t quite care for us kissing or making out with clients, in fact she preferred us not to at all—which I’m sure you guessed already from the fifteen minute VIP rule—but Vida was too delicious for me to play by the rules.

  I had to taste her.

  #noregrets

  Regardless of the new one my boss had torn me, all day, every day for the next week, Vida was all I could think about.

  Her eyes.

  Her lips.

  Her tight little body gyrating in my lap.

  Her fucking everything.

  I couldn’t get the woman out of my head, had her ingrained in every thought to the point I thought I was possessed. And we hadn’t gone any further than that kiss. Can you imagine if I’d actually buried my cock inside her?

  Fuck me.

  Not the smartest thing to be thinking about as I rolled my hips against the stage, all but feeling her beneath me. The screams that resounded from the audience only made me go harder, a concept my dick did not appreciate in the slightest when the closest thing in reach was the glimmering floor. Fucker was pounding by the time Sex Therapy faded out and the signature blue lights dimmed low.

  Once the stage was bathed in darkness, I hustled my way behind the ebony curtain, palming down the Vida-induced hard-on I’d given myself for the third time that evening. I didn’t even bother heading back into the dressing room for a break. I needed a drink, something strong as fuck to distract me from all this ridiculousness. Several tables called for me, but I kept on at a steady pace, flashing them grins and a wink along the way to sate them for the moment. They could wait. If there was any hope of me doing my job, I needed my head on straight, or at least straight enough that Vida wasn’t my every thought while another woman stuffed bills under the waistband of my jeans.

  But as I closed in on the bar, I skidded to a stop at the sight not twenty feet away from me.

  Vida.

  Vida in this black strappy cut off top and tight leather knee length skirt that only showed off enough to make my head spin. And don’t get me started on those fuck me heels I could very vividly imagine digging into my back. I was blatantly ogling her—more like drooling if I’m being honest—and when those green orbs met mine, I swear I felt them burn right through me, down to the tips of my toes. Sucking in a deep breath, Vida spun around in a flurry, leaving me with a mouth-watering view of her from behind. Loose dirty-blonde waves hung down to her slim waist, accentuating the pert swell of her ass. An ass I wanted in my hands as she made herself come on top of me with her head thrown back, rivulets of sweat dripping down her body…

  I couldn’t get to her fast enough. My chest brushed her back, hands instinctively falling to her hips as my lips found their way to the shell of her ear.

  “Back for another dance, I see?”

  Vida shivered in my grasp, her fingers clasping the edge of the bar for dear life. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out except for this squeaky little gasp as I traced the curve of her neck with the tip of my nose.

  “Answer me,” I pressed, spinning her around to face me.

  “No.”

  “No, you won’t answer the question or no is the answer to the question?”

  “No is the answer to the question,” she murmured.

  Lies.

  “Somehow, I find that hard to believe, sweetheart.” I smirked, my lips hovering over hers as I trapped her body in my grasp.

  “Monroe! Get your ass back on the dance floor!” That was Betty barking over the music. “I’m not paying you to find your late-night conquest.”

  Flashing her the finger, I kept my eyes on Vida, the smirk on my lips widening in satisfaction as she reddened all the more. There was my confirmation.

  “Like I said, I find that hard to believe, but I won’t make you own up to it…yet. Come find me when you’re ready.”

  And with that, I left her at the bar, speechless, mouth agape. I didn’t want to peel myself away from her, but Betty was watching me like a hawk, and with two of the boys being out of commission for a while, we were somewhat drowning on really busy nights. Knowing Vida was here, though—to see me nonetheless—ensured I was most definitely going to be far more distracted than I was when the evening started.

  August was on stage working his fireman routine while Dare and Gio riled up a 21st birthday party, leaving me to wander the floor from table to table. I’m not sure how much time had passed since walking away from the bar, but at some point during a highly entertaining lap dance, I felt a tap at my shoulder. Glancing back toward the source, a very flushed Vida awaited me, offering nothing more than a coy and slightly tipsy smile.

  “I’m ready,” she said without regard for the woman I straddled.

  This girl…

  I gave her a deliberate once-over and shook my head, trying to hide an appeased smile. “Go check if the room is vacant. I’ll be right there.”

  Once again, her smile was the only answer she proffered as she swiveled around and disappeared through the club, my eyes glued to her ass. Every vision that’d consumed me over the last week came flooding back with a quickness. I could hardly wait to get my hands on her. As soon as one song faded into the next, I finished off the stay-at-home-mom beneath me with a bang and hustled my way to VIP faster than I had in the three years I’d worked here. She was there waiting beside the bouncer who simply nodded and stood aside to let us by.

  “So you did come back for another dance,” I mused aloud as I led us down the short hallway and pushed open the door.

  “No, but now that I’m here and I’ve had a few drinks, I figured why the hell not.”

  The sassiness in her tone sprung me into action before I could think. I was on her faster than either one of us anticipated, pressing her face-front against the entryway.

  “You know I’m not buying that. Tell me why we’re here.”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged, her breath hitching as I trailed my hands along her curves.

  “Lie to yourself, Vida. You know exactly why you’re here. Tell me.”

  “I want more.”

  “More of what?”

  “Of you,” her voice shook slightly, “last weekend left me—“

  “Crazy?” I hedged.

  At her nod, a feral growl escaped me. My fingers pulled the zipper of her skirt, guiding the tight fabric down her legs until she was no longer confined. Black strappy panties with a little bow greeted me and I nearly fucking lost it, spinning her around with a quickness to scoop her up and shove her back into the door.

  “I got one tiny taste of you. One,” I bit her neck, “and it left me fucking starving
. What the hell did you do to me?”

  “Whatever you did to me,” she breathed out, tossing her head to one side, granting me better access to that delicate slope.

  My lips were there in a nanosecond, stamping wet, sloppy kisses with nips of my teeth in between as I walked us to the couch. Dropping down onto the plush cushion with her in my lap, I ravished her mouth like a man starved, one hand in her hair, the other taking hold of her ass. She matched me tit for tat through her own assault of feverish kisses that had my dick anxiously twitching beneath my jeans.

  “I don’t usually do anything like this.” Vida murmured suddenly, prompting me to pull away and look her dead in the eye.

  The expression I saw there was entirely serious and honestly, it didn’t surprise me one bit. I think I’d known it all along because as gorgeous as she was, Vida didn’t strike me as the type of woman who went out looking for a one night stand often, if ever at all.

  So what was this about then?

  “Then why are we here?” I asked again, trying and miserably failing not to drag my hands over her body.

  “I told you, because I need more. I need you…”

  “Vida, I—”

  “Don’t.” She set a finger to my lips. “I know it’s insane but God, I can’t stop thinking about you, about how you’d feel inside me. That kiss was out of this world explosive and it awoke a side of me I’ve subdued for so long. Please, Jag, just a little taste…”

  How the fuck was I supposed to say no to that? That kiss was out of this world explosive…

  "You're serious?" My query came out in a rush.

  "Very," she said with conviction, and that was literally all I needed before I was digging into my pocket for a condom.

  I wasn't about to ask unnecessary questions. She wanted to fuck? We were gonna fuck. I didn't need her to explain why.

  Sex was sex.

  We all wanted it.

  We all needed it.

  It didn't need to be as complicated as our generation often made it out to be.