When Juliet opened the door, the group of eight men sitting at a table on two couches at the back of the room started calling for them.
Vida and Juliet both grabbed a tray of drinks and walked to the table. Each man grabbed a cup of the foaming champagne, toasting the newly divorced man. He didn’t look heartbroken to Vida as he stared at her breasts and rubbed her ass when she came near to hand him his drink.
Vida moved out of reach, but didn’t say anything, following Juliet’s lead. In the VIP room, the men were allowed to touch more, but they weren’t allowed to touch a woman’s mound or pull his penis out. Other than those rules, the men paid a higher cover charge to be given greater leeway with the women.
Juliet sat down on the couch next to several men at the end of the table. She reluctantly sat down next to the newly divorced man and his friends. For the next hour, Vida sat listening as he complained about his ex-wife while she refilled their drinks.
It was after their third round of drinks that Vida noticed that Colton had come into the room and was talking with the bartender. Ignoring him, she picked up her tray and went back to the table.
“I’ll give you five hundred for a dick shot,” Vida overheard a man tell Juliet. The woman readily agreed, placing a cup of beer between the man legs.
Juliet squatted between his legs, going down with her mouth to the cup. Vida had to give the woman credit; she acted like she was giving him a blowjob using the cup instead of his cock. Grasping the cup between her lips, she took a sip, placing it back between his legs before going back for more. It was highly suggestive. The men got excited watching the woman perform.
“I’ll give you five hundred for a dick shot.” The divorced man, Vida had learned was named Copper, offered with a drunken smile.
“No thanks,” Vida refused. Juliet threw her a disgusted look. The men went back to drinking and Juliet gave a couple more dick shots to the customers.
Vida escaped to the restroom when Copper began tugging on the string to her top. Juliet followed her, slamming the door closed behind them.
“I told you that you needed to pull your own weight. The next time someone wants an extra, you better jump to it. If you’re such a good friend of Jazz’s, give her the fucking money. How much do you think she could use the money you’re throwing away? She’s going to be taking a big hit, losing tonight’s money. We usually score at least three grand.” Vida’s stricken expression didn’t stop her from turning on her heel and leaving Vida in stunned silence.
Vida used the restroom quickly before going back outside. The men were now playing high card. Vida had seen the game before; whoever at the table picked the highest card, the other men at the table would chip in for a lap dance, dick shot or a body shot. Winner called which one he wanted.
The men each took turns picking cards. The one who won the first round chose Juliet to take a body shot off her body.
They cleared their table and Juliet laid down on it with her hands above her head. The men had each put in a hundred. Vida could see the gleam in her eyes at earning the eight hundred dollars. Vida watched one of the men pour a drink on Juliet’s stomach. Going on his knees beside the table, he licked the drink from her wherever the liquid went on her body. Juliet cringed when he used his tongue to lick away the liquid from between her breasts.
Finally, he moved away with cheers from the onlookers. The cards were drawn two more times with the pot getting bigger each time. Conner finally won, his eyes immediately went to Vida.
“Body shot.” The pot was at twelve hundred. Vida saw the threat in Juliet’s eyes if she refused. Standing up, she laid down on the table, raising her hands above her head. Feeling the men’s eyes on her, she heard Colton’s voice at the back of the crowd.
“I’ll take a piece of that action.” Everyone turned to face Colton.
“You’re not part of this party. Get lost.” Laughing, they turned back to Vida.
“Let me take a turn drawing a card, and I’ll double the pot. If I lose,” Colton nodded to Connor, “he can keep the money or decide to take the shot. What have you got to lose?”
Vida could see Copper was undecided, the money and Vida both a temptation.
“You got a deal.” The cards where shuffled and Colton pulled a card. He looked at the card in Connor’s hand, reaching out he then pulled one from the center of the deck, turning it over he exposed a King beating the high card of Copper’s eight of spades.
“You fucking cheated,” one of the men yelled.
“How did I cheat when I didn’t touch the cards?” Colton said calmly. The men backed away from Vida, leaving a space for Colton to stand beside the table where she laid waiting.
Vida thought at first he would let her out of it, but she could see from his angry glare he was determined to teach her a lesson.
Cooper handed him the shot of liquor pouring it onto Vida’s taut stomach, the liquor slid across her flesh. Goosebumps rose and Vida shivered as Colton gazed down on her sprawled on the table. He sank to his knees beside the low table. Any second Vida expected him to call it off, it was only when his tongue began grazing her flesh did she realize he wasn’t going to stop.
His sensuous tongue rose feelings in Vida that she had never felt before, warmth pooled between her legs. Vida flushed in embarrassment as she tried to tear her gaze away from his, but Colton held her gaze with an iron will, daring her to turn away. His tongue lapped at the liquor at the band of her skirt that hung low on her hips, delving slightly beneath the band. Vida’s fingers grasped the edge of the table at her head.
She tried to wiggle her hips away from his enticing touch.
“Lie still,” Colton ordered. Vida stopped moving her stomach, clenching tighter.
He moved upward, tracing the path of the liquor, swallowing every drop as he moved between her breasts. Unable to help herself, Vida arched at the first touch of his tongue on the side of her breast.
“I told you to lie still.” His eyes held hers. His tongue made sure every drop of liquid was found before he moved his tongue to the other breast where droplets glistened. His tongue delved underneath the skimpy top. Vida felt the tip lick her hardened nipple in a brief touch.
Before she could jump away, Colton stood up, lifting Vida back to her feet with his hands on her waist. She almost lost her balance on her high heeled shoes, it didn’t help that her knees felt like jelly.
“Hell yeah, let’s do that again,” Conner yelled. The men sat back down as Conner pulled Vida down to sit on his lap.
“Have a seat,” one of the drunken party goers’ offered Colton.
The cards came back out. Colton won the next hand and with a pot of a grand he chose Juliet to give him a dick shot. Vida turned her eyes away as the woman knelt between Colton’s thighs and took a shot of beer from the cup held against his cock. Vida couldn’t bring herself to watch the erotic woman’s display as she became even bolder, grazing her teeth over Colton jean covered cock.
When she finished, the cards were drawn again. Vida became suspicious when he won for the third time in a row, but the drunken men had long sense lost what rationale they had.
Vida tensed, expecting him to take a body shot off Juliet, but he chose a lap dance from Vida instead. Colton’s challenging stare and Juliet’s jealous one had Vida rising from Copper’s lap.
Moving to Colton, she watched as he leaned back sprawled in his chair waiting for her. Vida began dancing self-consciously in front of him, feeling stiff. His mocking gaze had her trying to listen more closely to the music, forcing her body to relax. The thought of Jazz getting another grand made her feel slighter better as her hips began to sway and she straddled Colton’s thighs. Sitting down on his lap she moved her breasts seductively towards his chest before teasingly moving backwards. She did this several times before she finally allowed her breasts to press flat against his chest, rubbing them provocatively against him. Rising her hips and sinking back down, a bare inch separated her from his covered cock as she ground down
on him, the music reaching its climax. Rising swiftly, she moved away, but Colton grabbed her hand, rising to his own feet.
Motioning to the bouncer Colton turned back to the party of men. As much money as they had wasted tonight, Vida was sure this wouldn’t be the last divorce party they attended.
“Party’s over,” Lou, another bouncer of King’s, brought everyone’s attention to him. “Your driver is downstairs waiting.” The grumbling started, but was quickly cut off by Lou as he moved the men towards the doorway.
“Go get changed. I’ll bring my bike to the front,” Colton said, leaving her in front of the dressing room.
Juliet came in as she was about to get changed with her cut of the night’s money in an envelope. “I tipped the bartender and Lou.”
“Thanks, Juliet.” Juliet gave her a grudging nod before going to her locker to grab her coat, not bothering to change.
At Vida’s questioning gaze, Juliet shrugged. “Connor offered to pay me for a private performance. I have to go; their waiting in the car for me.” Vida watched the woman leave the room, not wanting to think about how Juliet would be spending the rest of her night.
Dressing took Vida several minutes. Grabbing the envelope of cash, she put it in her pocket before going out into the hallway. Vida noticed the light in the hallway was burned out. The darkened hallway gave her the creeps. While King had spared no expense to regularly redecorate the front of the club, the back was old and still had only one source of light, the one that was burnt out.
Carefully making her way, she was almost at the end when she felt someone come up behind her, putting a rough hand over her mouth, jerking her struggling body backwards. She felt herself lifted and carried to the back exit and knew if they got her out the door, that whoever it was would probably have a car waiting. Terror had her struggling harder. The grip on her tightened, making it hard to breathe.
“What the hell!” Vida heard Colton’s voice, relief making her go limp.
Whoever was holding her turned to face Colton. The arm around her waist dropped away and Vida saw a flash of a knife in the dim hallway.
Colton moved forward quickly with King coming up behind him. His hand snapped out, striking the arm holding the knife. It dropped to the floor. Colton jerked Vida away as his fist slammed into the unidentified man behind her.
Freed Vida found herself behind Colton’s back as King moved forward with the knife in his hand. Her assailant turned to run, but King reached him before he could open the door and escape. The man tried to struggle away from King, but King brought the knife down, plunging it into the man’s chest. Throwing the now lifeless body down, King opened the back door, looking outside.
“I don’t see anyone else. Get her out of here.”
Colton took Vida’s hand, leading her away from the man lying in the hallway in a pool of blood. Henri came in the hallway then, his quick glance taking in the situation. Vida was sure it wasn’t the first time he had to clean up King’s mess.
“Find out who it is then get rid of it,” King ordered.
“Okay, boss.” Henri moved past them.
Colton didn’t give her time to ask questions. “Are you all right?” he questioned once they were outside.
“I think so, just a little shaken. Who do you think it was?”
“Probably one of Digger’s men,” King said, coming to stand beside Vida.
“What made you come back?” Vida asked Colton.
“Juliet warned me when she came outside the light was off back there. She thought she saw someone, but wasn’t sure.”
Vida reached into her pocket and pulled out the envelope of money. “Will you give this to Jazz for me?”
“Yes. Vida, you can’t talk about what happened,” King said, taking the envelope.
“I know. I’ll keep my mouth shut,” she promised before climbing onto Colton’s bike.
Juliet might not like her, but she had saved Vida.
Vida grasped Colton around his waist, thankful that both King and him had been there to help. She felt a jolt of fear knowing that Digger wouldn’t stop. Colton owed her nothing, barely knew her, and yet, he hadn’t hesitated to protect her. She acknowledged to herself there was more to the sexy tattoo artist than she had thought possible. He just might be her saving grace.
Chapter 9
Vida came out of the classroom looking for Henry, surprised when she didn’t see him. Colton had dropped her off before class and Henry should have been here to pick her up. Feeling nervous at the strange occurrence, Vida stayed close to the classroom building where there were several students milling around.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Henry sitting on a bench not too far away. Relieved, Vida walked towards him, but stopped at the look on his face, something was definitely wrong. His eyes, which were usually filled with warmth, were filled with fear for her. He was practically screaming at her to run silently. In a glance, she understood why. The pretty young girl sitting next to him with her purse in her hand had a gun pointed at him. She could see the girl’s hand buried in the purse and the outline of the gun through the material pointed at Henry.
Vida started to turn and run, but stopped. She couldn’t leave Henry to their mercy when it was her they wanted. If there was a chance for Henry to walk away, she had to give it to him and take a chance that King would save her.
She saw the anger in Henry’s face directed at her as she walked towards them, angry that she hadn’t taken the opportunity to run.
When she drew close enough to hear her, the woman spoke.
“That black car over there, get in the backseat.” The woman nodded to an inconspicuous dark car just a few feet away.
Vida nodded and started walking towards the car. As she came closer, the door opened from within and she hesitantly slid into the car. As soon as she shut the door, the car started and drove out into the busy street to be swallowed up in traffic.
“Is she going to let Henry go?” Vida asked, terrified for Henry.
The driver didn’t respond to her question. Vida was frightened and couldn’t stop her legs from trembling. She had no choice other than to lean back into the leather seats as she waited for the ride to end. When the car came to a stop, she became even more frightened when the driver got out and came around to her door. Opening it, he motioned for her to get out of the car.
The driver’s cold expression left no doubt that she was in trouble. When the word trouble hit her mind, she was able to get herself back under control and hide the emotional turmoil that she was going through her. Stripping had taught her to hide her emotions, she needed that skill desperately now or the driver would be packing her into the house kicking and screaming.
Vida stepped out of the car, finding herself looking at a large home in an isolated area. Surrounded by a stone and metal fence, it was clear the owner wanted his privacy. She followed the silent driver into the house as he led her to a large room. As she walked into the room that held an expensive desk, a tall man rose from his chair and walked forward.
“Close the door, send in Briggs and Morgan.” The driver closed the door, leaving Vida alone with the man staring back at her with malevolent eyes. He came closer, circling her as his eyes took in every aspect of her body. She felt as undressed as if she had been on stage at King’s nightclub.
Stopping in front of her, his hand rose, backhanding her with such force her head snapped back, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the floor. Vida held her frightened cry inside, terrified that he would hit her again. Her shaking hand went to her burning cheek, hearing the door opening and closing, she looked towards the door to see Briggs and another man she recognized as Morgan from the club. She had performed lap dances for both of them. Neither of them acted like they had ever seen her before. No help would be coming from their direction.
“Get up, you stupid cunt.”
Vida managed to get her feet under her and shakily rose up. The second time he hit her, she barely managed to stay on her f
eet, which was a mistake because his third hit was with his fist and sent her crashing back down to the floor. This time she was unable to keep her cries silent and she didn’t try to get back up.
“You have been a pain in my ass for the last month. You should have stayed out of my business. Sawyer is mine, therefore she’s my business.” Laughing at his own joke, Digger leaned back against his desk, satisfied she wouldn’t get up again.
“Briggs and Morgan tell me you can shake your tits and ass, so now you’re my business,” he informed her.
“King won’t let you get away with this, I’m under his protection.” Vida stared up at the ugly bastard who stood there as if he had the right to do anything he wanted.
“Fuck King, I’m not afraid of him. Has he managed to get Sawyer back?” Digger laughed sarcastically. “He couldn’t even keep me from taking you from that stupid bodyguard. Take her up to my bedroom, I’ll be up shortly.” He went back behind his desk, sitting down to pick up a ringing cell phone.
Vida felt Briggs take her by the arm, helping her to her feet.
“Wait a minute, Briggs; put her on the chair. Seems like we have company.” Digger put his phone back on the desk. Vida felt herself shoved down onto a chair in the corner of the room. Briggs stayed by her while Morgan stood by Digger. Vida noticed that Digger’s countenance had undergone a change; she thought she caught a small glimpse of worry. The self-satisfied smile from moments before was gone.
Digger’s driver, who no longer looked neat and refined, opened the door. Now, he was holding his ribs and his nose had blood dripping onto his white shirt. The man walking into the room wasn’t any of the men she was expecting.
Colton strode into the room with an air of menace so visible that it frightened even Vida, who had had lived with him the last few weeks, unaware that he could be completely frightening when he was furious.
“Colton, I heard you were out of prison.” The amicable tone coming from Digger had Vida’s eyes turning back to him in surprise.