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He’s no different. It makes no difference that he’s handsome. He’s the same as all the rest.
“Athena?” He says my name, the word clinging to his lips like sticky caramel, and I feel something inside of me go soft and warm.
Christ, Natalia. It’s not even been that long since you had good dick. Several weeks, sure, but you’ve gone that long before. Control yourself.
“You found me.” I push myself away from the stage, swaying towards him on my impossibly high heels, stopping a little less than arm’s length away as I reach out and touch his chest with just the tip of one manicured–thanks to Ruby–nail. We’re all suffering under the same financial constraints, so the girls look out for each other where they can.
Gone are the days of bi-monthly visits to my home from my favorite nail tech.
“I had a little help.” His hands stay by his sides–points to him for that, at least. A lot of men try for a grope at this point, with a door closed behind them and the privacy of the room. Still, it won’t hurt to remind him of the rules.
“Davik is good at giving directions.” I scrape the tip of my nail a little lower, across that tattooed flesh. “And you should know he’s never that far away. So it’s important that you’re a good boy and stick to the rules. No touching–on your part, at least.” My nail slides a little further down, my fingertip pressing against warm flesh. “No threats. No–”
“He told me the rules.” The man laughs, his blue eyes crinkling ever so slightly at the corners. “Twice, in fact. He must like you a lot.”
There’s a hint of possessiveness to his voice, almost a flicker of jealousy that makes me step back. “He’s in charge of our well-being.” It’s all I can do to keep my voice low and sultry instead of letting it go cold.I might belong to you for the next hour, but that’s all–and that’s with limitations. Don’t go getting any ideas.
“You’re lucky, then. I haven’t noticed that many clubs of this…caliber are all too concerned with the well-being of their girls.” There’s a hint of disdain in his voice, and for all that I feel the same way about theCat’s Meow,it makes me prickle to hear someone else speak about it–and by association, me–in that tone.
“If you find this place so repulsive, why don’t you go somewhere else?” I rake my gaze down him again, letting my own mouth curl into a haughty expression, the one that makes a certain kind of man lose his mind. Whether this man is that type or not remains to be seen. “You look wealthy enough to not need to go slumming on this street.”
He fully smirks at that, his mouth twisting with amusement as his eyes flick down to my breasts and back up again. “I think the reason is self-explanatory,” he says smoothly. “It’s standing in front of me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have paid such a pretty amount to be in here.”
“Well, I’d hate for you to feel you overpaid.” I tip my chin up, giving him a challenging glare.
“With you in front of me? Never.” He steps forward, closer to me, and I unwittingly take a step back before I can stop myself. It’s never a good idea to look put off by a customer, but now I’ve done it, and I think frantically of how to make up for my literal misstep.
I double down on it, stepping back again, closer to the stage, and I throw him a seductive, playful look that sayschase me if you want me.I turn my mistake into a game, and it seems to work, because his icy gaze takes on an almost predatory look as he follows me toward the stage. I step back, and back again, until the cool edge touches the back of my thighs and the man is a hands-breadth away from me.
He’s so close, close enough that I can feel the heat of his skin, the warm puff of his breath between us. He’s not touching me, not yet, at least, but somehow that’s almost worse. If he tried to touch me, I could push him away, reprimand him–even call Davik, if it was bad enough. But this–he’s not doing anything wrong, and yet he’s doingeverythingwrong.
His mouth curls upwards into a smile, full-lipped and inviting, and his eyes twinkle for a moment with wicked amusement as he looks down at me. “You know,” he says slowly, his voice low and rich, “usually by now, I know a girl’s name once I’m this close to her.”
It takes everything in me not to give away how he affects me. I’ve never had to try before. The effort has always been in pretending towanttheir attention, not the other way around. I can feel my throat closing, wanting to swallow convulsively, my fingers itching to grab the edge of the stage; my body draws toward him like a magnet. I have a sudden, erotic vision of him holding my hands above my head and pinning them against the pole,my body pressed back against it, all of that hard, muscled heat pushed against me–
“You know my name,” I breathe. “You were watching me during my stage routine. It’s Athena.”
He smirks, and I feel his hand flex close to me as if he’s struggling not to touch me. I wish, desperately, that I didn’twanthim to. I caught a glimpse of his hands earlier, broad and long-fingered. I can easily imagine one of those hands wrapping around my breast, cupping and squeezing.
“Yourrealname,lyubov,” he murmurs, and something about the roughly-whispered endearment sends a bolt of lust straight between my thighs.
I should want to slap him for being so forward, for calling me something so intimate, but instead, I find myself wanting him to say it again, only this time next to my ear, his lips brushing against it.
I have to get away from him, and in a way that’s not so off-putting that he leaves in a huff, demanding his money back and getting me into trouble.
Quickly, I stiffen, twisting to reach for the pole and vault myself elegantly onto the stage. Now I’m the one overhim, looking down as I turn and arch against the pole, sliding my hands down it as I circle it slowly in a preview of what’s to come. I feel a momentary flash of victory, the power back in my hands, but I see amusement flicker in his eyes, and it’s like a cold dash of water.
He knows what I’m up to, and if there’s one thing I detest–in my old life or in this one–it’s a man who thinks he’s always two steps ahead of me.
“I thought Davik told you the rules.Twice,you said. Maybe you should consider spending some of the money that bought your time in here on a doctor, instead. To check your hearing.” I arch into the pole, sliding my hands upwards as I press it between my breasts, slowly pushing my body along the length of it. He might be making my job difficult, but no one is going to accuse me of not doing it.
“Oh?” He raises an eyebrow. “I think I’ve been very careful to follow thoserules.” His voice lowers, darkening, taking on a heat that seems to skitter over my skin like sparks. “For instance, a moment ago, it was all I could do not to touch you. But I didn’t–like a good boy. Just as you said.”
“You asked my real name.” My belly presses against the pole, and I grip it in both hands, sliding them downwards again. “That’s against the rules. I gave you the only name I use within these four walls.”
“Athena.” There it is again, sticky sweet, as if he enjoys the taste of my name on his tongue. “It’ll have to do for now, since I don’t want to end our time together so quickly.” He circles around the stage as he speaks, and I can feel his eyes on me, dragging over my body with an exquisite slowness that makes me feel tense and shivery. “Do you want my name?”
“No.” The word is more clipped than it should be. In fact, it’s not what I should have said at all. I should have turned towards him, breathedyesas I squirmed on the pole, and made him think that I’m dying to know more about him, that, at this moment, all my thoughts are for him.
