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“Ooh, shit, yeah.” Mimi’s eyes go wide, and slowly her face transitions into the Cheshire cat. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Um, hello, I’m don’t think that’s a good idea.” Neither woman is paying me any attention. “Guys, I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“He works tomorrow night at the club. If we start now, she can come up with a routine and I know Millie can put something together for her,” Naya rattles on, and begins planning everything. Mimi pipes in with song and costume and I recognize I’m not getting out of this.
And if I’m completely honest, I don’t know if I want to.
Maybe it’s time to push the limits with Kohen, and make him see me as a woman.
* * *
The room isdark and smokey as I step out onto the stage. I see the bodies sitting and standing around the stage, waiting for the lights to come up and reveal the newest dancer.
Me.
My heart pounds heavily in chest, not just from nerves but the anticipation of what I’m about to do. I can’t believe I let the girls talk me into this, but nothing else has worked. Kohen has kept me at arm’s length since our kiss, and no matter how many times I’ve tried to talk myself out of Naya and Mimi rationalizing, they aren’t wrong.
I’ve been with the Jackals long enough to know he didn’t have to kiss me to claim me off limits. He sure as hell didn’t have to drape his cut over me, either.
He wants me.
I know he does.
I see it every time he looks at me. Feel it every time he touches me. Hear it in the way he says my name or calls me his Wildcat.
After tonight, when he sees me on this stage, I want to ruin his excuses. Ruin him. I want to show him I’m not the little girl he thinks I am and make him crazy with need. I want him to see me for what I am.
A grown woman with wants and needs of my own. And I want—no, Ineedhim.
Own it.Millie’s words echo in my head with each step I take.
And I will. Every single moment, because he’s never going to let me step place into this place again. He may never let me speak to the girls again when he learns of their part in this whole thing. I step on my cue, tugging on the arm length gloves and take a deep breath.
If Kohen recognizes me.
Mimi and Yaya went all out on my makeup and hair. I hardly recognized the woman staring back at me when they finished. They painted me up to the nines, and the sheer red dress I designed, and Millie sewed, barely covering the pièce de résistance. A barely there black ensemble that crisscrossed over my chest, around my waist, and in between my legs. I felt powerful and, for the first time in my life… sexy.
As the music cues, the strum of the bass fills my body, causing my hips to sway with heat and fever. The back lights turn red behind me, emphasizing the shadow of my body as I move. I feed off the anonymity of the moment and slowly, but sensually tug off the gloves, tossing them with the music transitions.
I step toward the pole, and turn toward the crowd, before sliding down, bending at the knees, my legs spread wide and the men around me whoop and catcall. I close my eyes, ignoring them all, and let myself get lost in the feeling coursing through my body. I picture the one face I want watching me at this moment.
Somewhere in the crowd, he’s here and thrills me to no end.
The music transitions again, and I push off the pole to crawl across the stage. The sheer fabric of my costume brushes against my hot skin, and I gasp, imagining Kohen’s hands on me.
Running my hands along my body, I rise to my knees and unlatch the back of my dress at the base of my neck. The front of my dress falls, but I vaguely hear the groan of the audience to see me still covered. I smirk, hoping like hell Kohen’s one of them.
It’s still dark on stage, but I can’t help wondering if he’s figured out who exactly is performing. The girls and I had a bet about how long I’d be up here before he had enough and yanked me off stage.
Rising, I let the sheer fabric fall to my feet and I carefully step out of it before kicking it off the stage. My body moves and pulses, remembering the years of training I had as a child and the hours I spent with Mimi and Yaya learning the way of the pole. I tease and taunt with my hands, bending and twisting in various moves. I let myself get lost in the moment… in the music.
The music crescendos and I know I’m almost to the end. Like I practiced, I make my way toward the pole at the end of the stage and wrap a leg around the cool metal. I extend the lines of my body and spin. I’m vaguely aware of the way energy around me shifts and begin my ascent, wrapping myself around the pole with grace.
If Kohen hasn’t figured out it’s me, he’s about to know for sure. I spin again, anticipating the revelation about to happen. Smiling inwardly, I drop down the pole to catch it with the bend of my knee. I squeeze it hard, stopping at the exact moment the spotlight comes up on me. With one last toss of my head, I let myself hang and listen to the crowd shout and cheer for my performance.
But there’s only one reaction I crave.
His.
