Page 44 of Steel

After checking on Lyric one last time, I head to the bedroom and get undressed, lock my gun up and place my knife in the nightstand, then shoot Bailee a goodnight text before falling into bed.

I groan at the warmth encasing my aching length and bury my hand in Bailee’s hair as I thrust my hips up and shove my cock into her mouth. Something teases my senses as she bobs her head, and whatever it is has my dick softening as my brain slowly comes online.

When I peer down, expecting to see Bailee, I clash with Heather’s eyes instead, and I have to fight back the nausea that roils in my gut as my body realizes what’s happening. The hold Ihave on her hair tightens, and without thinking, my other hand reaches into the nightstand to grab the knife.

I yank her off me as I sit up and shove the blade against her neck. “You ever fuckin’ touch me again without my goddamn permission, I’ll shove this blade through your neck and watch you bleed out at my feet. Do you understand me?” She doesn’t answer, and the thought of her doing it again has me shoving the blade farther into her. “I said, do you fuckin’ understand me? Or do I just need to do it now?”

Her eyes water. “I understand, Steel.”

“You don’t touch me. Ever. Not ever again.”

I’m fucking ashamed how my voice shakes, and it pisses me off. I toss her away from me. “Get the fuck out of here before Lyric gets up. Don’t just mean out of this bedroom, Heather. I mean get the hell out of my motherfuckin’ house.”

Numbness fills my mind as pain shoots through me from how tight I’m holding myself. I track her movements, my fingers tightening around the handle of the knife as I wait to strike.

As soon as she clears my door, I jump to my feet and grab my boxers, pulling them on and hurrying out to make sure she leaves.

Why the fuck did I sleep naked with her in the house?

She’s hesitating at Lyric’s door and glances over her shoulder when she hears me pounding down the hall after her. A terrified expression crosses her face before she rushes into the spare room and grabs her bag, nearly running out the front door.

I can only imagine what I look like right now because I feel like a monster intent on destroying anything in my path. Her touch has set off a vicious reaction inside me, and I need to shed some fucking blood to get the poison from under my skin.

Bailee and I aren’t anything, so I don’t know why the hell I’m feeling guilty. We’ve only fooled around a couple times since she’s been back in my life, which doesn’t make us exclusive, sogetting my dick sucked by someone else isn’t fucking around on her.

My body shudders when I think about it, and after making sure Lyric is still sleeping, I jump in the shower. The temperature of the water nearly peels the skin from my body, but I stay in it until my stomach no longer clenches and my body feels clean enough.

The guilt is eating at me, and I think it’s best that I stay away from Sinful Saloon and Bailee for a bit. I don’t have to be around her to keep an eye on her and work on this shit with the Night Skulls. I need to clear my head and find some way to get whatever this is that’s building in my blood out of it, and if I get anywhere near her right now, she’s going to be the one I’m going to let it out on.

Chapter twelve

He’s doing it again,coming and going, in and out of my life, leaving only text messages behind. It’s reminiscent of our past, and I hate it. He assures me he’s working on things with Killer, but he’s not able to get much done with everything going on with his club. There’s something else going on with him, though. I used to be so deeply in love with Steel that I could tell you every single thing about him. Even his tone through text messages. It seems that hasn’t changed.

I’ve asked once or twice, but he’s completely ignored the messages and came back all business. My mind is constantly running over things that I could have done wrong, but I can’t think of anything, which puts me in the same position I was in back then. The one place Irefuseto be again. He’s not worth the hell I put myself through just for some little piece of attention from him.

The club’s been crazy busy, and it’s helped to keep me distracted. My leg isn’t completely healed, but I can stand on it a little more, so Reva has been letting me help out behind the bar. It’s been pretty fun. The girls are a blast and watching themdance is mesmerizing. There’s something sexy as hell about the way they entrance a roomful of people, men and women alike.

Carter, the other bartender who works back here with Reva, is a huge flirt, and he’s not bad to look at either. He’s not ruggedly handsome like Steel, but more of a Hollywood type of handsome, and it definitely appeals to the females who frequent this place. He’s also dating Amberlynn, one of the dancers I recently met, and watching them together would make almost anyone green with envy. Amberlynn may take her clothes off for strange men and women, but you can always tell her eyes and thoughts are on one man and it’s him she’s really dancing for, just as his are on her anytime she’s up on stage.

Speaking of eyes . . .

I surreptitiously glance around, trying to find the ones I feel on me once again, but just like the past week, I can’t single out a pair as being focused on me.

Shivers creep up my spine, but I shove it all away and focus on making a drink for the customer who is still in front of me. I’m sure I’m just being paranoid anyway. I’m in a business where people come to watch women dance in the nude, so it’s a given they’re going to check out others who work in the same place.

I’ve gotten pretty good at remembering the drinks, their prices, and their ingredients in a week’s time. Reva’s proud, and truthfully, I’m proud of myself too. I also love that I found something I enjoy doing just as much as photography.

For the next few hours until closing, I work with Carter and Reva behind the bar while ignoring the eyes that seem to follow me around the place.

I’m heading into the changing rooms with the girls when Farryn freezes and stares at her station with a parted mouth and wide eyes. Wanting to understand what caused such a reaction from her, I follow her line of sight and my brows snap together.Resting against her makeup table is a single black rose with a note in front of it.

The only way this should have gotten back here is by one of the employees, and things like this are always run through the girls before being brought back anyway. Before the Dirty Mavericks took over, there were a lot of issues with people being back here when they weren’t supposed to be and taking things from the girls without permission. That was one of the first things he fixed when they took over.

“What the fuck?” Farryn whispers as she steps closer to get a better look.

“Wait. Don’t touch it without gloves or tweezers or something,” I blurt.

Farryn glances over her shoulder at me. “What?”

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