Fatal Exposure (6 page)

The whole ordeal had been a new low for Ava, and she swore to herself she’d never drink tequila again. Especially when accompanied by the likes of Jarred.

He stared down at her for a moment. His predatory gaze shifted to her lips and then to her breasts. “Just so we’re clear then,” he finally said and turned his back to her. “See you out there,
Ava.
”

****

Kade scanned the room for his target. And Lily. But neither was in sight so he took a seat at his usual table in the back.

The place was mostly empty. Nearby, a man in a business suit sat at the bar talking to the fortysomething bikini-clad bartender who looked like she’d led a hard life. A couple of scraggly looking men in painter’s uniforms were sitting at the stage watching the raven-haired dancer blow bubbles while wearing a school girl skirt and no top. And to the left of the stage were a few young-looking guys, drinking and watching one of their buddies get a lap dance by a blonde with fake lopsided breasts. Kade figured they were students from the local university. Then he spotted Poppy. She pushed through a door and nearly rammed it into one of the ogling boys, but he didn’t seem to notice and neither did she. Her face was red, and she looked pissed as she stormed over to the bartender.

“Lily’s doing it again,” she spewed out. “Can you believe that shit? She’s such a slut.”

Kade’s ears perked up.

“Relax, Pop,” the brassy-haired bartender said while adjusting the strap to her bikini top. “You know Jarred picks a favorite every so often. She’s just his flavor of the month, that’s all. Next week, he’ll be back with you. You can count on it.”

“I bet they’re back there having sex right now.”

So this was the date, huh?

Kade clenched his fists and started to stand. He’d be more than happy to break up anything that was upsetting his target, especially if it had to do with some fucker groping Lily in areas Kade had explored only hours ago.

But before he could approach Poppy, Lily took the stage. He sat back down and drank in the inviting sight. She wore a black lace thong under a tiny see-through teddy and spiky black heels. Kade grew hard just looking at her as she danced slowly and erotically to the beat of the music. Her hips swayed as her painted red fingernails swept over her flat stomach to her neck and back again.

The young men quickly grabbed chairs next to the stage and pulled out their wallets. Lily gave them a cute grin and let the teddy fall to the floor, fully revealing her plump breasts.

They better not touch her
. Kade sat up straight in his chair and prepared to make a move.

“Would you like a dance?” Poppy asked, breaking his concentration. She wore a strip of pink spandex as a skirt around her hips, barely covering her goods. A red feathered boa hung between her breasts.

He wanted to say no, but he needed to say yes since he was so close to pinpointing his target and collecting his money.

And getting the hell away from this woman who was driving him insane.

He gave a quick nod but kept his eyes focused on Lily. Without missing a beat, Poppy straddled his leg. Her hands cradled his cheeks and forced him to look her in the eyes.

“You like Lily?” She nodded toward the stage. The fluff from the boa itched at his nose.

“That her up there?” He played dumb.

“You had your finger inside her yesterday, and you don’t even know her name. What a bad boy you are.” She giggled and ran her hand down his chest. That got his attention. His probable target had been watching him, and he hadn’t had a clue. Maybe she was smarter than he gave her credit for, which wasn’t much. Or maybe he had been too distracted to notice.

“Did you like watching me do that?” he asked, trying to get more info.

“I’d like it better if you did it to me.” She scooped the boa over his neck and attempted to pull him into her bare breasts.

Kade resisted. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Lily tug at her panty strap so the punk kid with the green and white striped polo shirt could stick a dollar under it. “Did what to you?” he asked, absently.

Poppy leaned over him and blocked his view. She brushed her fingers down his stomach, over his penis and back up again. Then she put her lips to his ear. “Anything you want,” she whispered. Kade cleared his throat. He needed to move this interview along. “What’s your real name, Poppy?”

“That is my real name, silly.” She gave him a coy grin and tickled a feather along his forehead. Kade swept it away. “Right. Every dancer here is named after some sort of flower. It’s cute but a little annoying.”

“Fine,” she said, looking irritated. “It’s whatever you want it to be.”

“Do you ladies practice saying that?”

“What do you want from me, buddy?” She pouted her lavender-painted lips at him. “I’m just trying to make some money here.”

Kade took the not so subtle hint and pulled out his wallet. He handed her a five dollar bill. She rolled her almond-shaped green eyes at it and stuck it in her band of a skirt. “What did you give Lily?”

“A hell of a lot more.” He smiled at the memory. Poppy gave him a piercing glare and stepped away, but Kade grabbed her feathered scarf and drew her forward until they were eye to eye.

“What do you want?” she asked him.

“I want Ava Lureau,” he said, finally losing all of his patience.

A look of distaste spread across her face as she jerked the boa out of his grasp. “You’re an asshole,”

she said and walked away.

That wasn’t exactly the response Kade had expected, giving him doubts. He let out a breath and tried to remain calm. If Poppy wasn’t his target then who the hell was?

****

Ava tried not to notice Poppy fondling Kade in the back of the room. She was
not
jealous. The man obviously wanted another night of free sex, just not from her.

“Hey,” the guy in the polo shirt said after sliding a twenty dollar bill under the string she was holding out for him. “Can I get a dance, a private one?” A boyish grin cut across his lips. He was cute. Only a couple years younger than her. Could have been someone she would have dated back home. Well, before Zack came into her life.

“Sure. It’s fifty bucks. You pay the bouncer over there.” She pointed to Jarred who watched her intently from the doorway. “Tips are extra.”

“I’ll pay whatever you want.” His smile widened, showing his perfectly aligned white teeth his parents probably paid a fortune for.

“Okay, sweetie, I’ll meet you back there.” Ava brushed a finger over his nose and left to collect money from a couple more men who were offering. Then she scooped up her teddy and headed off the stage.

The room designated for private dances was a little more posh than the rest of the club, which wasn’t saying much. Red carpet covered the floor and ended in the middle of the room where a small stage with a pole extended to the ceiling. Black velvet curtains draped all of the walls from top to bottom, and two leather loveseats sat on either side of the stage.

She adjusted the light to dim and tried to relax. Private dances always made her nervous. Sure, she had a bouncer outside the door if she needed him, but there was always a chance she could get overpowered by some loony pervert.

In this case, it seemed the culprit was just a horny college student, but she still felt uneasy. Thoughts of Poppy putting her hands all over Kade’s body whirled through Ava’s mind. She supposed this was what Poppy felt like when the whole Jarred incident happened.

There. Now they were even. No more feeling guilty.
Yeah, right
.

“Lily.” Kade’s voice filled the room, and Ava spun around to see him walking through the

doorway, the top of his head almost touched the frame.

“What are you doing in here?” An annoying sense of relief overcame her. What did this man have that made her crave his mere presence?

“I saw you come in here. I was curious.” His eyes focused on the stage she was now standing on.

“What are you doing?”

“Somebody’s paying for a private dance. He’ll be here any second.”

His eyes narrowed and his jaw twitched. “He’ll have to find someone else.” He shut the door behind him and locked it.

Her heart fluttered with desire and fear at the same time. “You can’t do that. I’ll be fired and you’ll be arrested.” She covered her breasts with her hands, but that didn’t stop the goose bumps from rising on her skin.

“You were going to quit anyway, and I’m not scared of that pussy of a bouncer.” He walked up to the stage and plucked her hands away from her trembling bosoms, which were just below his eye level.

“Who said I was quitting?”

“Me.” His mouth parted and licked at her already aroused nipple.

A sizzle of fire careened down her core. “Kade, this isn’t a good time.” Her voice shook. “Really, I mean it. Why don’t you go find Poppy again?” Ava said the words but found herself running her fingers through his hair, breathing in his masculine scent. The idea of seeing him with another woman after the night they’d had together left a bitter taste in her mouth. Even if he was a jerk, he was
her
jerk...for as long as he was in town anyway.

“I’m allergic to weeds,” he murmured against her breast and then lightly blew on it. “When am I getting my private dance?” His hands slid up her thighs and wedged underneath the sides of her gstring. “With this thing off.”

The rattling of the door handle broke the sexual tension building up inside her. “Hold on a minute,”

she yelled.

“What’s going on in there, Lily,” Jarred’s voice boomed from the other side of the door.

“I’m having a personal problem.” She smiled at Kade. “Just give me a few minutes.”

Kade snickered and tugged her panties over her thighs and down her legs.

Jarred banged on the door. “Christ, Lil, why didn’t you use the goddamn bathroom for this shit?”

“Sorry. It’ll only take a second.”

Ava couldn’t control her quivering body. Or her mind, for that matter. She was jeopardizing her job, her only means of survival, for a moment of pleasure.
Extreme
pleasure if it was anything like the night before. But still, it was only a temporary fix. Kade would leave soon, and she’d have to deal with the aftermath of what yet another man had left behind.

“I’m going to need a little more time than that.”

He climbed back up her body. His tongue extended to lick her navel and then a spot between her breasts before reaching her lips.

“Sorry. If we’re going to do this, we need to skip the foreplay.” Never in her life did she think she’d say those words. But since meeting Kade, she’d done quite a few surprising things.

He smiled and grabbed her hand, leading her off the stage and to the loveseat.

There was more banging on the door, making Ava feel naughty and more sexually aware than she’d ever felt before. “Unzip your pants and sit down,” she whispered into Kade’s ear.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a fake drawl and then did as he was ordered, adding the extra step of slipping a condom over his hard length. She watched him with enthusiasm. The thumps on the door becoming meager background noise as the sound and sight of him preparing for her held all of her attention.

“Come here,” he said too loudly.

Jarred pounded harder. “Is someone in there with you?”

Ava lowered herself into Kade’s strong arms and straddled his lap. Their time was limited so she grabbed his cock and helped guide it into her wet pussy.

He thrust his hips upward, and tiny pulses of bliss tingled down her thighs and into her belly. The orgasm had already begun and she didn’t want it to stop. Tightening against him, she pushed off his cock and sat back down on him fast and hard. Kade threw his head back against the cushion behind him. His fingers dug into her hips, and she knew he was losing control. She smiled at the power she had over him and continued sliding her body up and down his thick shaft, squeezing and sucking him into her tender walls.

“I’m getting a key, Ava,” Jarred shouted, sounding furious.

Ava braced her hands on Kade’s shoulders as a burning fever built in her womb, coiling and tightening, surging through her thighs to her toes.

“Kade, I’m going to come.”

His grip on her hips loosened, and he brought his hands up to cradle her warm cheeks. “What did he call you?”

Overwhelming liquid heat poured through her, and she clenched down on his cock. Her body reeled from the sensation, but she held back a moan. Exhaling a long pent-up breath, she let herself relax as she nuzzled against his neck.

The euphoria didn’t last long. He grasped a stiffer hold on her face and forced her to look at him. His confused, angry gaze quickly yanked her back to reality.

“What’s wrong?” she asked him but didn’t really want to know.

“Is your name Ava?” His voice cracked.

She nodded. He’d heard Jarred, but she didn’t see any reason at that intimate moment not to tell her lover her real name. “Yes, it’s Ava Lureau,” she whispered and kissed his unresponsive lips. He stared blankly at her for a moment before picking her off his lap and setting her to the side. She watched him as he zipped up his pants and cursed under his breath.