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She didn’t really care.Yasmin wanted nothing from the man, except to be left alone.He was not really interested in Michael, thank the gods.But every now and then, he turned up and made demands.He seemed unstable and his behavior was erratic at best.The text message he’d sent two nights ago was worrying her.
You better have some cash next time I see you, bitch.
It was the first of the month, and Yasmin had bills to pay.She was already behind on rent, and that was the first thing she had to pay when she got off work.Then there were the basics like electricity and food, and her Aunt’s medical bills.The older woman had developed a rare form of cancer that even Shifters were susceptible too.Paying for her chemo, even with discounts from her insurance, was a hefty chunk of change.
But it was worth it.Yasmin owed Aunt Lisa so much, and she loved the woman.Always had.She needed help getting to and from the treatment center, which Yasmin had managed to book around Michael’s preschool arrivals and dismissals.Thank goodness she’d found one for the precocious little boy.Already reading and writing, she was often awed by his incredible brain.
School, medicine, rent, food, utilities.They were all on her mind, and they all cost money.Tyler was not going to be happy, but what could she do?Her job paid well, and the fact she only had to work three or four nights a week to earn what would take her weeks at an ordinary job, was a huge bonus.
The Stripe Clubwas only a fifteen minute taxi ride, but she’d never splurge on that.She was still young and healthy, and besides Yasmin used the time to clear her head.She walked, same as she did every other night, to her job, thankful to even have it.
Summer was slow and sweaty in the city, but evenings were okay.As long as it wasn’t humid.The special program she’d gotten Michael into was year round, and kept her little boy occupied while she worked and took care of her Aunt Lisa.A horn blared over the noise from the crowded streets as evening settled over New York.Summer was busy with restaurant goers and shoppers, sightseers, and folks just trying to earn a buck.She dropped a dollar into the cup of a man playing the saxophone and he winked as she walked by.
Yasmin smiled.There was something so magical about the possibility that was New York.Not everyone succeeded when they got there, but she supposed that depended on your version of success.A million years ago, or so it seemed, she’d wanted to be a dancer on Broadway or off.But like so many others, she’d given that up when her life took another turn.Pride and warmth filled her as her thoughts turned to Mikey.
She would never regret having her son.Michael James was her whole reason for being.Yasmin loved him with a ferocity she’d never felt.Dancing at The Stripe Club had not been her dream, but she was good at it, and she still got to perform.
There was a lot more to it than simply taking off her clothes, something Shifters were never shy about.Interpreting music through her movements, Yasmin was her own choreographer.Her dances had even inspired some of the others, male and female, to ask her for help with their own performances.It was oddly fulfilling for her, to instruct and demonstrate.
Dancing was one of the most difficult tests of physical endurance.People had no idea how hard it was to hold certain stances while still moving and undressing to a rhythmic beat.Erotic, she thought and scoffed.Everyone undressed.It was downright comic if you thought about it.
But people loved to sensationalize things that were considered taboo.Labeling what she did as erotic was the same as calling it sinful, dirty, and naughty.If it was so bad, then it was even stranger that anyone, Sunday school teachers, for fuck’s sake, could take pole dancing classes at their local health clubs if they wanted too.
If it was good enough for all the Martha Stewarts of the world to shake their tushes for health reasons, then Yasmin could damn well earn her living doing it and not think twice.It kept her in shape, kept her dancing, and paid her bills.Mostly.Well, when she wasn’t being shaken down by her creepy ex.
Ugh.Not him again.
She pushed all thoughts of Tyler out of her mind as she took the stairs that led toThe Strip Club.The cast members had a separate entrance, and Yasmin pushed the door open with a genuine smile for Tiny, the bouncer.The Rhino Shifter was one enormous guy, but he was friendly and kind.
“Hello there, Princess Yasmin,” he teased, and she patted his arm.
“Good evening, Tiny,” she returned with a smile.
Chills ran up her spine as they did every time she walked into this place, and she knew why.Her stomach tensed, but she’d been playacting for so long that it was old hat.
Yasmin walked to her locker and stuffed in her bag, closing the thing before heading to the dressing room she shared with several other dancers.There were no cameras in there, just the corridor.Without meaning to, her eyes flashed to the one in the upper right corner before she disappeared behind the door.She knew he was watching, Could feel his gorgeous icy blue eyes on her as surely as if he was standing there.
Her boss, Konstantin Petrov, was checking in on her, as he always seemed to.The tall, muscular Tiger was covered in tribal tats.He had inky black hair and the lightest blue eyes she’d ever seen.She only spoke to him once when she’d interviewed for the job.
He hadn’t said a single word beyond ‘you’re hired’that day, and he’d hardly spoken to her since.But he watched her.Always.And Yasmin knew it.Why she didn’t confront him was something she didn’t want to look too closely at.She had other priorities.Like Mikey.
My sweet, smart, beautiful little cub,she thought with a smile.
Dressed in her performance costume, which consisted of a short, pleated skirt, a sleeveless, button-down shirt and tie on top of a hot pink, spaghetti thin g-string and matching bra, and a pair of white pleather, thigh high boots, Yasmin walked to her designated stage for the night.Stage 6 was located in one of the many offset corners of the club.The floor plan was pretty open, but it veered off into several semi-secluded corners where different music and performers could be found.
There were also rooms for private dances, but Yasmin never performed for a private audience.That was too personal for her.On the stage, separated from a crowd, she could lose herself in the dance.It was the only time she’d ever felt free, and the Lioness inside her couldn’t agree more.
Yasmin could be anyone when she danced.Every performance told a story, shared an emotion, and left her feeling freer than she had when she’d arrived.New York didn’t offer many places for her kind to run, but here, she didn’t even need to switch into her fur to be free.She could simply dance and was looking forward to it.
Until a large hand slapped down on her forearm and pulled her away from the stage stairs she was about to mount.
“What the---”
“Where’s my money, whore?”
“Why don’t you get a fucking job, you pathetic loser,” she snarled, her inner beast reacting before she could silence her.
Fuck.Oh fuck!
