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My chuckle rumbles through her. “Whatever you want.”
“That’s right…” She trails off on a yawn. “Whatever I want.”
I’m the exact man to give it to her. No one else will ever touch her again, not while I’m around. Mine.
EPILOGUE
ISABELLA
The dress is barely there, an amalgamation of crystals and floss. Not really, but the image is appropriate.
Something I never would have worn before this but the fabric is as easy to slip over my shoulders as the mask I wear now. The twin to the one on Ricardo’s face, his profile strong and stubborn from my perch on his lap. His fingers stroke a concert along my spine, both of our attention trained on the woman onstage, dancing out an intricate number. She writhes her body in time with the music, and I feel the base beating in my blood, too. Feel the sweat dripping from the long, limber lines of my legs and arms as I work the pole.
She’s talented. More so than several of the others and I know her name, her face, her dreams. I know Crystal wants to be a professional dancer on Broadway, but cash is tight these days, as they are for most everyone. She wants to take classes at night to get some sort of advanced degree for when her body can no longer do the moves.
This is the calm before the storm for all of us because she’s got the talent to go all the way. She just needs the financial boost.
Not that I’ve spoken to Ricardo about it, but we’re in a good position. Pretty damn good. An anonymous “watcher in the audience” might give Crystal a cash tip to get her out of The Painted Hippo and on her way.
“You’re thinking very loudly,” he mutters against my ear.
Hot breath tickles my skin, and I shiver, my nipples hardening for anyone close enough in the dim interior to see. I don’t mind. I like them to see.
“Why do you care how loudly I think?” I reply. “We’re only here to kill time.”
“And to show you off.” His words wend in a growl and a nip to my earlobe.
We have a meeting set for an hour from now, and rather than staying at the apartment we rented only a few blocks over from downtown, we came to the club to watch a show. Just to get out of the house rather than staying in and fucking each other like animals. The way it’s been for the past few months.
Will I ever get tired of him?
I wonder at the answer to that, a resounding no, as though my body is utterly surprised. I expected it to say yes because I’ve gotten tired of so many lovers over the years. Not Ricardo.
I thought the heat and the fire came from the wait, two years of having to be patient and watch him from far away.
Apparently not.
It’s been six months since we placed the finishing touches on the club and only two since we acquired another club in an adjacent town. Ricardo stepped aside as much as he was able to let me handle negotiations for that one.
Setting me up, or so I like to think, for a lifetime of them.
I’ve gotten pretty damn good.
“I have no problem with you showing me off,” I reply.
“You like it. Little vixen.”
The past few months have been nothing but a whirlwind for us as a couple and for our families.
It’s not like we’ve actually gotten the hang of this relationship thing, but we’re taking one day at a time and finding our footing. We've been super busy with work and trying to get the pieces back together from our near destruction. But every step forward brings new opportunities for me to learn and to grow. We’re paving new inroads through this city and several others, and this meeting with a new branch of distributors will give us not only a better indication of their skills but a chance for me to test mine.
Ricardo and I weren’t quite ready to go coast to coast with our brand yet, but— I swallow over a chuckle, and his tender stroking pauses briefly before it resumes.
I shift to stare at him over my shoulder.
“Do you know how hot you look when you’re acting all responsible?” he purrs. The following wink has my skin tightening. “I swear, if there were people around, then I’d take you on the stage and fuck you until you cry.”
I snap my lips shut to keep from laughing out loud. “Since when did having an audience stop us?”
