Tease (Take It Off #2)(44)
Author: Cambria Hebert

I was going to be sick.

I lurched up off the chair and stood there like a startled deer in a pair of headlights.

“Whoa, there,” Roxie said, coming up beside me. “Did he fire you?” she demanded. “I will kick his ass.”

“No,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I’m supposed to go to the VIP room.”

“How long?”

“Fifteen minutes.”

“That’s manageable,” she said, pushing me down into the chair again. She picked up a brush and began to style my hair. I let her because I was too busy freaking out.

“Make sure you bend over right in his face. Men are such pigs. They get off on that.”

I nodded.

“And touch yourself. You can do that from across the room so you don’t have to be so close to him. Touch yourself and then touch him. They love that.”

Ew.

“How can you stand it?” I whispered.

The brush paused halfway through my hair. “I shut my mind off and don’t think about it. Or I think about someone I would actually like to dance for.”

“Who is that for you?” I wondered, knowing for me it was Cam.

“Adam,” she said matter-of-factly.

“His wife moved out.”

She glanced at me through the mirror. “I heard.”

She finished with my hair and then patted my shoulder. “You’re done.”

My hair was waving around my shoulders and the purple pop of color accentuated my eyes. “Here I go.” I got up, adjusting my outfit.

“I’ll see you in a few,” she said.

Cam was standing on the other side of the door when I opened it and walked through.

His eyes swept over me. “You’re doing it.”

“It’s two thousand dollars.”

His eyes widened. “Shit.”

I nodded.

“I brought you something.” He held out a shot glass full of vodka.

I didn’t hesitate to down it in one gulp. It burned the whole way down. “Thanks.”

He moved so fast I didn’t see it coming. One minute he was across the hall and the next he was pinning me against the wall with his body. His lips covered mine in an aggressive kiss that set fire to my blood.

It was over too fast and he spun away, breathing hard.

He was angry.

I didn’t blame him.

I held a hand up to my bruised lips and stared at his back as his shoulders rose and fell.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, then moved off down the hall. Just before I turned the corner, he was on me again, pulling me back so my back was against his chest and I couldn’t see his face. But I could hear his voice just fine.

“Remember that kiss when you’re dancing for him. Don’t see him; see me. And when you come out of that room, I want you to be ready.”

“Be ready?” I said, my voice trembling.

“Be ready because I’m going to make love to you all night long until the only thing you feel is me and you don’t even remember his face.”

“Oh, Cam,” I sighed. “You already are the only man I see.”

He pulled away, going back to the bar and leaving me shaking in the darkened hallway. As I straightened and walked toward the elusive VIP room, I wondered if Cam would still want me when I came out.

17

He was sitting in the shadows.

The room was a small square with black velvet walls, a silver pole that ran from ceiling to floor near the center, and the wall farthest from me was covered with a giant mirror all the way down to the long bed that was draped in fabric and pillows.

A chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling and it cast dim lighting mostly right beneath it and a shadowed glow around the rest of the room.

Ty stood at the door and he inclined his chin, whispering that he would be right there as I went past. I was a little surprised that he didn’t close the door behind me but lowered a black velvet curtain across the opening. I could see his booted feet at the bottom, and I was glad he was right there.

The man sat in a straight-backed chair, which wasn’t beneath the light of the chandelier. Instead, it was pushed back into the shadowed perimeter of the room.

He wore jeans and dark-colored shoes and a dark top. He had a baseball cap on his head and my heart gave a little squeeze because it reminded me of Cam. At least it wasn’t on backward. That may have sent me fleeing from the room.

His hands were at his sides and he sat still, but I could feel his eyes on me as I moved across the room.

“I’m Violet,” I said, keeping my voice low. “You requested my presence and I came.”

Sexy music began pumping over the speakers into the room and I knew my fifteen minutes had begun.

I can do this.

I started at the pole, moving around it, wrapping my leg around it, gyrating against it. Then I moved over to the wall, leaning against it and spreading my legs wide. I squatted down, running my hands up my legs and to the inside of my thighs. Then I pushed up, turning around, keeping my legs spread, and bent over. I felt the little boy shorts ride up my butt, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he enjoyed the view.

After a few minutes, I walked over to him, strutting, swaying my hips, and straddling his lap—still standing—and pressed my chest near his face. Then I stepped back, still in front of him, and reached for the bow at the bottom of the corset.

Slowly, I untied the laces, keeping my feet planted to the floor. I heard some commotion out in the bar and glanced over my shoulder briefly, wondering what was going on.

But then I brushed it off and turned back, still untying the top.

I heard another sound and I looked back at the curtain, noting that Ty’s feet were no longer visible.

Where had he gone?

“Get on the bed,” the man spoke, his voice startling me. I looked directly at his face, but I was unable to make out any kind of features. It was dark and the brim of the hat made it even harder to see him.

I stepped toward the bed, making a big production of climbing across it, keeping my bum in view.

“Lay down,” the man instructed. His voice sounded extraordinarily deep, almost like he was trying to disguise it.

Maybe he didn’t want anyone to know he was here.

I lay down like he asked, looking again for Ty. He still wasn’t there.

“Untie your top. All the way.”

I finished untying it but didn’t pull it open. My heart pounded so heavily that I barely heard his next command.

“Spread your legs.”

This was weird. Is this the way it was supposed to be?