Page 7 of Savage Rule

I shimmy down the sidewalk to the beat of the music all around me. I can’t help it. I’m a damn good assassin, but an even better dancer. In another reality, who knows, I could have been killing it on the stage.

With a pep in my step, I head toward my destination.

That is, until I sense someone behind me. Call it killer’s intuition. Maybe it’s the paranoia that clings to me almost as severely as my heartburn and has me constantly looking over my shoulder. Whatever it is, it’s what makes me pause at the window to one of the many bars on the street, and through the reflection, I noticehim.

If he were any other man, I wouldn’t have seen him. But Gunn Sinclair is no ordinary man. At least six foot five, he’s tall and broad as a football player. A black Adonis.

And those dimples… Well, I could spot those a mile away.

Fuck, I think even as my heart does an excited cartwheel in my chest. What in the hell is he doing in the Quarter? Is he following me?

I move farther down, stop again, and confirm. He’s definitely following me.

Every part of me goes on instant red alert—my muscles tense in preparation for a fight as my brain rushes through every possible flight route. Meanwhile, my ovaries begin pumping millions of horny little hormones to prepare me for an entirely different type of ending.

Regardless, I obviously can’t complete my mission until I take care of Gunn first.

Shit.

I continue down the street, every once in a while pausing to verify he’s still there. That’s when I spot Darling Tease Gentlemen’s Club. It’s one of the places I make sure to stop at whenever I’m in town. What can I say? They gave me a name. Makes me feel special even though I’m sure it’s just one of many.

I’m at the entrance in two seconds flat. “Hello, Tommy,” I say to the bouncer.

“Peaches. Nice to see you back.” He nods at me.

“It’s good to be back.”

“Have a good time,” he calls after me as I enter.

Quickly, I walk past a set of red velvet panels, and into the main hall. It’s dark as fuck, the only illumination provided by a few dim sconces over the bar set at the back and a tea candle on every round table in the room.

That all changes when a dancer steps onto the stage and the bulbs around the platform turn on. Although they’re focused on her, because what the hell else would be as interesting to watch in here, they provide enough light for the rest of the place too.

“Hey, Miss Peaches.” Josie, the pretty waitress that has been working here as long as I’ve been coming, greets me. “Your usual table is taken. I didn’t see a reservation for you?”

“That’s because I didn’t make one.” I glance behind me. “It was a last second decision to come in tonight.”

“Ah.” She looks toward the door too. “You expectin’ someone to join you?”

“It would seem so.” I scan the room, searching for a nook to hide in. Then, I peer at the girl on the stage seductively gyrating to Slow Hands by Niall Horan and the she-devil on my shoulder perks up.

I shouldn’t, I send the thought toward my tiny fiend.

Why not?she asks.Play with him. For me. For us!

She’s right. Security is pretty tight here. Even if Gunn came in, they wouldn’t allow him to harm me. At least not while we’reinside the club. Besides, I’ve proven I’m faster than he is. What could it hurt?

Biting my lower lip, feeling quite devilish myself, I say to Josie, “I’m going on stage.”

2

SCARLET

The first time I ever came on this stage was because of a lost bet with another patron. He didn’t think I could drink him under the table, and he was right. Not because I have a low tolerance, mind you, but because I don’t get wasted in public. Too dangerous.

Either way, I always wondered what it would be like to dance for a crowd of horny drunks. It was as fun as it seemed, even if I didn’t actually strip. It’s been a tradition of mine to do it ever since.

I peek around one of the tall panels that separates the wings from the stage, out onto the rapt audience. About ten minutes have passed since I entered the club, enough time that if Gunn was going to come in after me, he’d already have done it.

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