Page 11 of Room One Hundred and Four: Shock and Awe

The smile he gives me this time is genuine and it makes his eyes warm and comforting. It also makes me wonder if he has anyone in his corner caring for him. I hope so. He deserves it and he needs it.

“That’s sweet, darlin’.” His eyes travel down over me, snagging on my cleavage for a moment, but it doesn’t make me feel slimy. I’m okay with the way he’s appreciating me with his eyes.

“I wish I had a stage show that I could invite you on. I don’t know how I’d incorporate what you do into rock, but I could probably find a way.”

I laugh, the idea of going out on tour and performing burlesque amusing as fuck. If my parents ever found out, they would freak the hell out. Rock was not music we were allowed to listen to growing up; it was the devil’s music.

Actually, most music was sent straight from the devil other than hymns and gospel.

I shake off the thoughts of my parents and give Langston a huge smile. “It would probably be fun to incorporate some pyrotechnics,” I tease him.

He chuckles and shakes his head. “You’re cute,” his words kind of hang there like he’s waiting for me to fill in a blank.

It takes me a moment to understand, but I stick my hand out when I do. “I’m Navy,” I tell him as he shakes my hand. He doesn’t linger or hold on for too long. As he brings his drink to his lips, I add, “It’s nice to meet you Mr. Phillips.”

His eyes widen and he chokes on his drink a little bit. “No, no, no, Navy. I’m definitely not mister anything,” there’s amusement in his voice. I shrug one shoulder and feel my cheeks heat a little bit. “Please call me Langston.”

“Okay,” I whisper.

There’s a moment of silence between us and I take the opportunity to take a sip of my drink. Before either of us can say anything else, the air around me shifts and I feel a presence behind me.

“You want to move it along rock star,” a gruff voice grits out from behind me and my eyes widen slightly.

Yeah, that’s exactly what I imagined the bikers would sound like.

Langston holds his hands up, but there’s no fear in his voice, “I was just having a conversation with the lady and telling her how much I enjoyed her performance.”

“I’m sure you did,” a different voice says and now I’m more than a little curious about who is behind me. I wasn’t expecting two distinct voices at all.

Maybe I should have because the presence behind me feels like a wall. It’s not creeping me out though and I turn slowly.

My jaw practically drops to the floor when I see the three bikers that I was just thinking about standing there. They’re wearing jeans, t-shirts, and their leather vest things which make them stand out in the room. Granted, that’s not the only thing that makes them stand out.

There’s an air of danger coming from them and they’re definitely some of the biggest men in the room. I suck in a sharp breath of surprise and the man in the middle, the one who was sitting in the middle of the front row while I danced, looks down at me. His crystal blue eyes are swirling with emotion, but one that is easy to read is hunger as he looks at me.

Warmth pools in my belly and I feel my face get hot. Thankfully, I’m wearing some heavy duty make up tonight since I was on stage or else I’m sure that I would be bright red. There’s something about the way he’s looking at me that pierces right through to the deepest part of me. It makes me want to squirm.

“Do you know these guys, Navy?” My head whips toward Langston. I don’t know what he sees in my eyes, but his lips spread into a wide smile, and he gives me a nod. “The twinkle in your eyes tells a story for sure. If they ever don’t treat you right, you just let me know.”

Langston gives the guys at my back one of those macho chin lift things as he stands up and finishes off his drink. He saunters off before I realize that I have no way to contact him even if I wanted to. I guess that’s for the best, he’s not the man for me.

I turn toward the three bikers slowly, trying to calm my racing heart and clear the fog of desire trying to pull me under. I can still feel the adoration of the audience from when I was on stage. It always makes me feel a little dizzy and drunk.

The silence stretches between us, and I take the moment to take the three men in. There’s something so similar about them—the way they’re looking at me with desire written on their faces, their ‘don’t fuck with me vibe’ coming from them, and the violent glint in their eyes. Still, I don’t feel like I’m in danger. Not even a little bit.

All three have dark hair, but they style it differently. The man in the middle has longer hair that kisses his shoulders. The one with the sparkle of mischief in his hazel eyes and a big grin on his face that speaks of trouble has short hair that’s only a little shorter on the sides. The third one, with bulging muscles and brown eyes that make me want to stare into them until I’m lost or found, has the sides of his head shaved and his hair longer on top.

“Hello, Siren,” the man in the middle’s voice is lower than the other two and it’s a trifecta of sexy as hell voices.

I take a big gulp of my drink before putting it down and narrowing my eyes. Weren’t these guys the same ones being pawed by barely dressed women not that long ago? What on earth are they doing here?

“What are you doing here?”

The mischievous one smirks, his eyes roaming over my body in a way that has me starting to pant slightly. “We’re here for you.”

That should send fear coursing through me, but it doesn’t.

The muscular one smirks which is far too sexy for my wellbeing. “We didn’t get the chance to meet you after you danced at the clubhouse for Spark’s birthday.”

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