Page 16 of Becoming Brandy

Bigger than that? She hadn’t gone to college. She’d started working as a stripper when she was eighteen, and a call girl only two years after that. She hadn’t gone to any training schools or taken lessons.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she said.

He threw his arms down in disgust. “Then what are we doing here?” He turned to go.

“Wait! I’ve got it. I can do acrobatics!” She nearly clapped her hands in delight at thinking of the answer, before stopping herself. Tork wouldn’t like ditzy.

“What is acrobatics?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.

Brandy smiled. “Give me access to this room’s simulator and I’ll show you.”

Taking a deep breath, Brandy stepped up to the long ribbon of fabric and looped her arm around it.

Tork had given her access to the simulator room and left, saying he’d be back in twenty and not to take any longer than that. Once alone, she worked fast, using the room to order up an outfit, high ceilings, and a long piece of silken fabric. She’d done it all so quickly she’d even had time to do her hair and makeup. Her mama always said there was nothing a little mascara and lipstick couldn’t fix. No wonder Brandy had become a hooker.

When the wall of the room opened and Tork reappeared, she was ready. Sparkles danced off her gold and turquoise leotard, which clung to her curves. She knew her long legs were one of her best features, and this outfit showed them off to perfection. She watched his eyes trace up the length of them.

“What’s all this?” He appeared more astonished than upset.

She smiled. “Just you wait.”

When she pressed her finger to the boom box she’d ordered up, the music began to pulse out into the room. She’d picked You Give Love a Bad Name, by Bon Jovi. God, she was a sucker for hair bands and the men in them. That was probably why she was so enamored with Rahan. And why she was attracted to Tork. She could feel his eyes on her as she stepped up to the silk and wrapped her arm around it.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he tried to seem uninterested. Smiling, she knew this routine would hold his interest.

Brandy let the music surge around her as she inched her way up the silk.

She’d learned to do this in Vegas when she did a stint as a performer by day and an escort by night. The performances were at a shitty hotel down the strip from the good ones, but she’d loved every minute. The lights and music would mingle around her as she contorted her body, rolling herself down the silk and then climbing back up again. There was nothing more beautiful than a woman wrapping and unwrapping herself, like the world’s most exciting striptease. And she didn’t even have to get naked.

Now, in the room with Tork, she didn’t think about all that. She didn’t think about much, letting her body feel the routine. One arm extended out as a leg wrapped around the silk and held it tight. Then she let go, letting the fabric twirl her down before stopping herself upside down, her arms extended and her hair dangling to the floor. Her eyes met Tork’s. Even though he was upside down, she could see he was enjoying himself. She winked before crawling sensually up the silk again.

By the time the song was over and the music finished, Brandy was out of breath and filled with elation. She hadn’t done a routine since one of Charis’s first nights and that disastrous party with Rahan. It felt good to be back up again.

Dropping down, she stood before Tork, panting a little and regarding him expectantly.

He did not look happy.

“Didn’t you like it?” she asked, pushing the hair out of her face.

Shaking his head, he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you think this is a game?”

Brandy put her hands on her hips. “Of course not. I just thought—”

“What you thought was my brother would like a circus act, is that it? A man who keeps his own people enslaved, and you think he’d like … whatever that was.” He gestured at the fabric angrily.

All her hope deflated. “A lot of men like it.”

“Human men? Or men like Wrek maybe. Not Drake.” Tork turned his head, lighting a cigarette. He puffed on it in frustration.

“Then you tell me,” she said. “You tell me what Drake likes.”

“You want to know?” He squinted at her through the smoke.

“I’m asking, aren’t I?” She was mad. Nothing she did was right, and this whole situation was a nightmare. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”

“You want to know what Drake likes?” Tork took a last long drag on his cigarette before stubbing it out on the ground. “Drake likes this.”

He crossed the gap between them in three long strides. One hand slipped behind her head as the other wrapped around her back. Then he pulled her in and kissed her.

At first, she was mad at the suddenness of it. At his lack of concern for her consent. But all that melted away as he kissed her. She had known her body wanted Tork, but nothing could’ve prepared her for what it would do when she was in his arms.

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