The Devil's Due (13 page)

I stared back at her, drinking her in like water. She unwound herself from her chair gracefully, all soft curves and strong muscles. I felt a funny feeling in my tummy. I had never seen a woman who looked like her before. She caught the gist of my gaze and smiled, flicking her red tongue over pearly teeth.

“Where’d he find a little girl like you around here?”

“Yeah, you don’t look like a Puerto de Fuego girl,” called out another voice. But I couldn’t tear my eyes from the red lips before me.

“I’m from Flint Springs,” I whispered.

The strippers all looked at each other in understanding. “Ah,” the olive-skinned woman said as she nodded. “I’ve heard the guys talking about that place.” She crossed her arms. “I hear it’s a real shithole.”

I nodded back. “You heard right.”

She threw back her head and laughed. “So you grabbed onto a Devil and rode the hell out? Smart girl.” She pointed across the room. “That’s what Trina over there did.”

I turned and saw a vivacious looking blonde nod at me. The olive-skinned woman laughed again. “Only Trina didn’t ride quite so far. Just down from the Heights.”

Trina arched one perfectly penciled eyebrow. “Yeah, it wasn’t so much of a ride as a fall.”

She shimmied over to brush her hand across Trina’s cheek. She pouted in mock sympathy. “Poor little rich girl’s still getting used to having to work for money.”

Trina stuck out her tongue, “I made more than you last night, Livvy.”

Livvy dropped to a crouch and planted her hands on Trina’s thighs. “Yeah?” She licked her lips, and Trina leaned forward. “We’ll see how tonight goes, little rich girl. I’m working on a new trick.” Livvy leaned forward to flick her tongue along Trina’s cheek.

Trina turned and nipped at Livvy’s ear. “You’re on.” Then, to my shock, the two women kissed.

I watched in awe as their ripe, full lips met and parted, tongues twisting around each other in a delicious dance. Trina giggled and pulled away, hiding her mouth behind her hand. I felt jealous of her and I wasn’t sure why.

Larissa tapped my shoulder. “What size are you, honey?”

I turned back to her and thought for a second. All the clothes I had left behind in Flint Springs were either from the thrift shop, donations from Cora’s church, or were castoffs from Cora herself. I wore what people deigned to give me, or what Darryl would allow. I had no idea what size I was.

“Small?” I guessed.

She sniffed and turned to a rack of costumes that hung near the door. “You dancing?” she asked, scanning the explosion of clothes stuffed haphazardly on the rack.

“Cade said I’m behind the bar.”

She grinned lopsidedly. “Keeping you to himself, I see. We’ll see how long that lasts.”

I wondered what she meant, but didn’t have time to dwell on it. She pulled a lavender top off of the shelf above the costumes. It was stretchy and slinky looking, unlike anything I had ever worn before.

“Fiona left this when she bailed,” Larissa explained, handing it to me. “She was about your size.”

I took it from her and stared for a second. It was complicated and drapey and collapsed every time I tried to find the armholes. I had no idea what hole to put my head in, so I hazarded a guess.

Larissa laughed. “Oh, darlin’, that’s for your arm. Here.”

I stood like a child while she patiently twisted the unfathomable top and tugged it over my head. At once, the clingy, silky fabric fell into a loose cowl that exposed a generous swath of cleavage.

It also exposed the dirty white tatters of my filthy bra. Larissa twisted her lips.

“Well, that ain’t pretty. Hang on.” She turned back to the shelf with a thoughtful expression. She plunged her hand into the tangle and pulled out a beautiful, lace trimmed bra. Little spangles dotted the satiny fabric and twinkled in the light.

“Fiona left this, too.” She handed it to me. “Here, try it on.”

I took the bra from her and stood there.

“See if it fits,” she prodded.

“Uh...” I waited to see if she would turn her back, but she didn’t.

Understanding flickered across her face and she chuckled, crossing her arms. “We’re all gonna see your tits at some point, baby girl. Might as well be now. Just try on the bra.”

I blushed, but bent my head in agreement.

I pulled the top back up over my arms, but left it hanging around my neck so I could remember where the headhole was. I unhooked my dirty white bra and let if fall to my wrist.

“We’ll just go ahead and burn this,” said Larissa, plucking it from my hands.

The minute I was topless, Livvy was in the folding chair next to me. “How old are you?” She stared at my tits with hungry eyes.

“Nineteen,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders into the straps.

“Should have known. Look at you, nipples, still pointing at the sky.” She reached out and brushed a finger across the tip. I stiffened when my body responded to her touch. Her mouth was red and juicy and I wondered how she tasted.

“Let the girl get dressed, Olivia! Goddammit, you’re worse than a man,” Larissa scolded.

“Actually, I’m way better,” Livvy replied archly and waggled her tongue at me. My panties flooded in response. I smiled in spite of myself. She was making me horny just to look at her.

“And here.” Larissa chucked a pair of dark indigo jeans at me. “Bartenders usually wear jeans.”

I pulled on the pair she offered. I was destined to a life of wearing hand-me-downs, I supposed.

I had to jump a little to pull the skin-tight denim over my legs. I sucked in and squeezed them closed.

“These are tight!” I whined as I exhaled.

“Gotta show off that ass, honey. You’re like a little peach back there.”

I blushed to see that Livvy was smiling.

When I had succeeded in wrestling the jeans closed, I turned and looked at myself in the mirror. I couldn’t help but smile and straighten my shoulders.

The t-shirt dress and tattered bra were gone. Now that I was in real clothes, I felt a lot more like I belonged. I shook my platinum hair out of the braid that Cade had done it up in and fluffed up the waves. They fell around my shoulders and framed my face in a wild riot.

“Geez, girl. You got great hair. That your natural color?” Trina called out.

“Yeah,” I said. “Never did have any money to get it dyed.”

“Don’t you touch it,” Trina scolded. “I pay an arm and a leg for my color to look like yours.”

Larissa turned me to face her and waggled a makeup kit. “Let’s doll you up a bit. Not too much—just wanna make those eyes pop.”

I held perfectly still as she dabbed at my lashes with mascara, wiggling the brush deftly. She pursed her lips at her collection before pulling out a purple pen and swiping it across my eyelid. She dabbed a bit of gloss onto my lower lip and then smacked her lips together, indicating that I should do the same.

I turned to look at myself and broke out into a wide grin. I was transformed. I looked like a woman. Better than that, I looked like a woman who could handle herself.

I was no longer the scared girl in her Sunday best, or the waif in the t-shirt dress, or even the pretender in the black leather outfit. This looked like a version of me I could easily become; a role I could slip in and wear like armor.

“Thank you,” I told Larissa sincerely.

She smiled. “The Devils take care of us, but even so, you be careful out there, little peach.”

“Watch that ass,” Livvy chimed in, smacking me lightly across the buttocks. I jumped again as her touch electrified me.

My newfound love of my reflection made me bold. “I know you’ll be,” I answered slyly.

She sat back and crossed her arms. Looking me up and down, she smacked her lips. “Girl I’m gonna eat you for breakfast. I always liked a bit of ripe fruit in the morning.”

Larissa rolled her eyes and handed me a pair of purple flats. “Standing behind the bar is a pain in heels. These are cute.”

I slipped them on. Once again, I was amazed that she had pulled something out of the pile in my size. “They are, thank you.” With a sudden burst of happiness, I leaned forward and pecked a kiss on her soft cheek. She grinned as I left the room.

“Where’s
my
kiss, Peach?” Livvy called out as I shut the door behind me. I shook my head. She was going to get me in trouble if I stayed.

I
hurried down the hallway, scanning the corners for Cade’s broad shoulders.

I found him leaning against the wall with another stripper. Her face was hard to see in the dim light, but I could tell by the way she leaned in to him that she was flirting pretty heavily. Cade was listening closely to what she was saying, nodding every so often.

I stopped in my tracks and slid to the side of the hallway to watch them. I could see her face lighting up at his every word. His full attention was on her and she was basking in it like a flower in the sunshine.

As I watched them interact, it began to dawn on me that I didn’t know this man at all. He had taken me from my hometown only forty-eight hours ago. I knew nothing about him other than he was amazing in bed. These women knew the real him, the day-to-day him. They had been around him a lot longer than I had.

Why had he picked me? I had no idea why, out of all the women that flung themselves at him, he would decide to pluck little me from my shit town and take me with him into his world.

When it had been just us on the road together, it had been easy to imagine the rest of my life with him. Now I was watching him talk and interact with the rest of his life. And it was a life that didn’t involve me—a life that really had no room for me in it.

I swallowed down the feelings that threatened to overwhelm me. He
had
picked me. He had ridden his motorcycle right to my door and carried me off like some white knight in leather armor. He had rescued me from my evil stepdad, just like a prince in a fairy tale. I had to remember that.

And maybe I needed to remind him of it, too.

I walked up to where they huddled. “Hi,” I said. I stood on my tiptoes, subconsciously trying to match the height of the stripper in her platform heels.

Cade turned to me. His expression was one of confusion for a second. Then recognition spread across his face. He brushed his hand down my arm, then tipped my chin up to him, turning my face this way and that.

“No more t-shirt dress, huh?” he said approvingly.

I smiled. “Maybe I’ll get another one when I get some money. I’ll wear it just for you.”

He laughed softly and kissed my forehead. The stripper cleared her throat. “Cade, she a new dancer?”

Cade turned dutifully towards her. “Lainey, this is Cici.”

I held out my hand and she clasped it as if it were something distasteful. “No, I guess I’m a bartender,” I answered.

Her eyes registered hurt and she turned away without saying goodbye.

“She okay?” I wondered aloud, watching her walk unsteadily down the hall. Every few feet she had to lean against the wall.

“She will be... I hope.” Cade shook his head. “Addict,” he added, as if that explained everything.

I stiffened. “She’s on drugs?”

“Don’t worry about her, we keep an eye out.” Cade took me firmly by the elbows and began to lead me down the hall away from where Cici had wobbled.

I saw we were headed back to the entrance into the club. I slowed down. “So I’m working now? ‘Cause I’m pretty tired...”

Cade slowed with me and sighed. “I know. Me too. But there’s stuff I have to finish. Then we can go home.”

“Home?” My ears perked up. “Where’s home?”

“Not near here,” Cade laughed.

My heart beat in my throat as I tried to picture where a man like Cade would live. I couldn’t imagine him in the city

My mind went back to that story he told me of the time he spent in the mountains. I imagined him in a cabin, with deer heads mounted on the wall—a real man-cave that I could slowly turn into a home.

I would make it cozy, with pretty pillows and fresh flowers on the table every day. I would learn how to bake, I decided, even though it was something I had never attempted before. Not in Darryl’s dirty trailer with the two-burner stove, anyway. But Cade made me want to try it.

My excitement flushed away my exhaustion and I slowed down. “Can we talk a minute?” I wheedled. “Just a minute?”

He looked at me and I smiled winningly at him. He grunted and stopped. “Okay, talk.”

“Not out here?”

His eyes registered understanding and a slow smile crept across his lips. He took my hand and crossed into a darkened hallway. He wove expertly through the gloom until he found an unmarked door. He pushed it open and flicked on the cranky overhead light that sputtered before emitting a weak, jaundiced glow.

We were in an old office of some kind. Yellowing binders drifted up the walls in teetering piles. A heavy wooden desk dominated the small space. It looked completely out of place, since this seemed like nothing more than a glorified storeroom.

Cade leaned up against it and crossed his arms across his chest. I watched the muscles under the tawny skin of his biceps bunch and tighten and I swallowed, trying to tamp down the sudden rush of desire. But it was undeniable.