Page 40 of Sin and Salvation

I blinked. Brody was standing there, the ring in his horn winking with light. “Gotta escort you out there,” he grunted. “Boss’s orders.”

A distinctly fuzzy feeling rose in my chest. Once, I’d found being followed and escorted everywhere to be suffocating.

But when the guys did it… well, it was like getting a big hug. That they really cared about me, so much that they’d have one of the bikers come and escort me personally.

“Aren’t you the bouncer?” I asked, though I didn’t really want to drive him away.

“Tank’s on it,” Brody said gruffly. We slipped into the club, and he parked himself in the shadows near my stage, arms crossed over his chest. “You need anything, just yell, got it?”

I nodded, and my stomach twisted as I looked at all the demons packed into the club.

It wouldn’t be hard for one to slip in with a hidden weapon, waiting for his time to strike. If one had managed to sneak a weapon in, no matter if I yelled for Brody, he might not be able to get to me in time.

How far was Maxime willing to go to make sure the Black Hearts didn’t keep me?

But I couldn’t hide in the penthouse and do nothing. Even if I liked them… and they liked me… there had been no discussion of whether I was staying long term or not.

I still needed the money, just in case.

Swallowing down all my fears and worries, I fixed a smile on my face and a sway in my hips, striding up the steps to my stage.

I recognized several of the faces parked around it, more than one slouched over a glass of hard liquor. I’d only been here a few days, and already I was getting regulars? It seemed out of the ordinary, but I wasn’t going to look a gift demon in the mouth.

Almost immediately, bills appeared on the polished wood, and I spun around the pole, slowly stripping my bra away for the customer even though my mind was a million miles away.

I chanced a glance at the VIP table at one point, finding it empty. My stomach sank with disappointment, but I brushed the sensation away. Of course the guys couldn’t sit here every night. They had business; I was a mere cog in their operations.

But still… it stung in a way I didn’t expect. Maybe I’d been spoiled by all their attention.

Customers came and went, and I managed to keep the sultry smile on, even though my heart wasn’t in it tonight.

It wasn’t until a new demon sat down that things went south.

I’d never seen him before. He looked like one of the Black Hearts, wearing a leather jacket, messy blond hair tousled like he’d just run his hands through it.

He grinned up at me, sliding his cash on the stage. “How about a private dance, princess?”

I immediately disliked the smugness of his grin, but I couldn’t argue with the wad of cash he’d just put down. Kylaea and Tyri were always taking customers in the private rooms for lap dances. They’d told me it was a lucrative gig.

I pretended I wasn’t nervous at all as I descended the stage, rounding it to touch his arm. “This way,” I said, nodding towards one of the rooms. It was a small alcove, blocked by heavy velvet curtains.

He got up with a swagger, following me to the room.

I drew the curtains shut and he sat in the chair artlessly, sinking into thick cushions and laying an arm across the top. In here, under the low lighting, his smile was no longer kind and had a cruel edge to it.

“Get on with it, then, or you don’t get the rest.” He flashed another stack of bills in his jacket pocket, and I took another breath before climbing onto his lap as gracefully as I could.

I let my mind wander as I writhed against him. Working the pole was one thing; there was a distance between me and the customers, and when the guys were there, it was almost like I was just there for them. The customers were incidental.

But here, in this tiny, enclosed room that suddenly felt way too hot, I felt… wrong. I didn’t want to be anywhere near this guy’s lap, smelling his overpowering cologne, seeing his smirk.

A bead of sweat formed near my temple, and I tried to wipe it away surreptitiously. When the song ended and I practically bolted from his lap, he pulled out the cash. “Let’s have another, there’s a good girl.”

My skin crawled. Weird how when any of the guys said it, I flushed with pleasure, but hearing it from this demon’s mouth made me feel slimy and gross.

Pretend you’re somewhere else.I tried to think of anything else as I climbed back on him, but my thoughts were jolted out of my mental fantasy-land when I felt hands on my hips.

He jerked them forward and down, grinding my pussy against him. “Harder, babe,” he panted, eyes gleaming.

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