Page 20 of Dark Knight

The place was getting more and more packed as we stood there, as though the bouncers had just let a huge wave of people in. Maybe they had. I had no idea how stuff like this worked.

I scooted closer to Dylan, and he didn't seem to miss the movement. His hand curled slightly around my hips instead, and I jolted a little, having forgotten that he was touching me.

"I wanted to chat with you about this woman working here," Dylan's voice was a low boom that seemed to resonate through the music as he nodded in my direction. For the first time, the bartender's eyes moved to me, resting on my face. I looked back, unashamed of who I was or what I looked like.

"She might be a bit too prim and proper for us." She was politely declining. I got it.

"No, that's just the dress I told her to wear." Dylan waved her off, clearly not willing to take no for an answer, at least not yet. "Mind if she gives the cages a try? You have outfits that you let the dancers use in the back, right?"

The woman shrugged, which made her boobs jiggle almost comically. "Sure, go for it. The dancer in cage three should be coming down soon. I'll let her know the new girl is going to take over."

Cages. I hadn't noticed before, but as I followed the direction of the bartender's gaze, I saw that there were cages dotted around the edge of the room with girls dancing in them. They weren't stripping like on the main stage, but they wore outfits that would be considered scandalous by some people.

Dylan turned and spoke over his shoulder as he released his hold on my hips. "Hud, will you take her back to the dressing rooms?"

Hudson's head jerked, and he gave a sharp nod before he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and angled me away from the bar. The two of us wove through the crowd, and Hud ended up moving me in front of him. There were just too many people to walk side by side. They got out of Hudson's way before they even saw me, even though I was walking slightly in front of him with his hands on my shoulders, guiding me.

We walked past a bouncer and through a doorway at the back of the room. The man just nodded at Hudson as we passed. There were a few different doors beyond, and he went to one of them, knocking on it.

"Coming in," he announced.

Half of me expected to hear shrieks, giggles, and squeals of excitement in response to Hudson bursting into a changing room. All we were met with were women who had seen it all, and probably bared it all, who just nodded at the man as we entered.

"Who's this fresh little thing?" one of the women asked.

"Potential dancer." A man of few words, that was Hudson.

"She tryin’ out the cages?"

He nodded before turning to me. "The outfits are over there."

There was a rack along the back wall, sitting between two sets of lockers that had seen better days. The outfits that hung there seemed to be missing most of their material, since it looked like there were just a few scraps of fabric hanging there. I wasn't sure anybody could call them outfits, but I wasn't part of this world.

"I'll wait outside while you get changed." Before I could even respond, Hud was gone.

I picked the first outfit that I could touch, the silver, metallic fabric slipping against my hands like liquid mercury. When I pulled it off the hanger, I must have looked confused because the older woman asked, "Do you know how to put that on, darlin'?"

I smiled politely at her, unsure of what to say other than, "I can probably figure it out."

"If you need help, just holler." She turned and went back to putting some makeup on.

Some of the other women were stealing glances at me as I stripped off my dress, while others overtly stared. They were watching me, evaluating me, deciding if I was worth extending kindness to.

I didn't blame them for it one bit. After all, I didn't even know if I could do something like this, and if I could, would I be able to form friendships with these women? It was all a big question mark right now.

Without wasting any more time, I finished stripping out of my dress and pulled the other one on. There was no way I could wear a bra with this thing, so that came off as well. I stepped into what I assumed was a skirt and pulled it up. The material barely covered my ass.

When it got to the top, I got confused, though. It was obviously backless, but how did it stay up? I tried a couple of different things before finally figuring out that it had a halter neck and the material just stretched enough to cover my breasts.

"You want some tape, darlin'? Don't want to give him a free show. They got to pay for it if they want to see that." The same older woman gave me a wink and a smile.

"That'd be great, thank you." I returned her smile as genuinely as I could, though I still felt overwhelmed by everything.

All the sensory deprivation from the last few weeks seemed to be taking its toll on my mental state. Everything was too bright, too loud, and too intense, but I just had to push through.

She handed me some sections of tape that I stuck to the sides of my breasts before sticking the material there as well. "Thanks," I said as I headed toward the door.

"You got a nice figure, hon. You could make a lot of money," she said as I walked out.

---