Page 8 of Tease Me (Dark Odyssey 1)

Chapter Three

Mia

My eyes bulgeand a little gasp escapes my lips. Like when I heard the salary, I’m struggling to ascertain whether I heard him right.

“What?” The words barely leave my mouth in a breathless rasp.

“Strip. Take your clothes off for me, Mia.”

Okay… so I did hear right.

I absolutely fucking did, and now I feel like I’ve really hit the bottom. Take my clothes off? What the fuck?

“Why do I have to do that?” I’m breathing hard and trying to steady myself.

“Criteria. Like I said our waitresses are a main attraction at the club. They set the scene and the tone. Sometimes they have to serve our customers naked. Sometimes they have to do other things. Special sexual requests.”

Oh God Chloe, what did you get me into?

What the hell made my best friend think I’d be up for this?

God… even as I think about why, I get my answer. She knows. She knows what my life is like. She knows what I’ve been through. I tell her everything. She knows and knows I need this and beggars can’t be choosers. But is this really the best I can do?

I’m pretty sure those special sexual requests mean I’d be little more than a prostitute on any given night. Is that what I want?

“I…” my voice trails off and I find it again. “Special sexual requests…”

“Yes.”

“That’s part of the job?” My breath hitches.

“Possibly. Mia… at The Dark Odyssey, you will never do anything you aren’t comfortable with. Everything that happens within these walls is always consensual. No one will ever force you to do anything you don’t want to do. We are just liberal and accepting of different tastes and lifestyles. That being said, there is an expectation here of what is normal and considered part of the job and what is not.”

Right… okay. So that being said, what should I do?

What should I do?

“Well?” he presses and looks me over with a stare so scandalous my whole body blushes.

I let out a little breath, set my purse down and try to think of why I would do this.

The pay. Dad. The money… Dad needs help. We need help. I … need help.

After next month there’s no more money left. There was barely enough money to make this month’s payment. All the money is gone and there’s no more coming from anywhere. No more. I thought I’d have a job by now. I really did.

Not getting help in whatever form it comes could mean death. Hector Ramirez and his crew of criminals won’t hesitate to kill all of us if we can’t pay him. Death. That’s how serious things have become. Death is the result of what could happen.

This is nothing. Taking off my clothes and doing what this man is telling me to do is nothing. It shouldn’t be.

The reminder is enough to give me the nudge I need. I take off my blazer and although it’s not cold, the sudden exposure of my skin makes me chilly. I’m wearing a little summer dress with spaghetti straps. I liked the way it carried a smart casual appearance with the blazer. Without it I feel like I could be walking around in the park and when those arctic eyes land on my breasts again, it’s like I’m already naked.

It’s okay. I can do this. It’s just a job. A job.

A job, and the sexiest man I’ve ever met in my life just asked me to take off my clothes.

Sexy doesn’t mean he won’t hurt me. What kind of man just asks you to strip off on the first meeting? And the way that he asked too, as if it were normal, can’t be … well, normal. It’s not.

With shaking hands I look away from him and push the straps of my dress down my shoulders. By the time I get to the little zipper on the side, I freeze because I can’t believe I’m doing this. I’m taking off my clothes.

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