Beautiful Beast (Gypsy Heroes)

I walk up to table twenty-three. He is wearing a smile that could light up a Christmas tree.

‘Hey.’

‘You were great on stage,’ he says.

‘Thank you. Would you like a dance?’ I ask.

‘Sure, I’ll buy a private dance off you,’ he says, another bulb on the Christmas tree lighting up.

Shit, what bad timing! My first big spender and I’m in a horrible hurry. From across the club I can feel Jake’s animosity searing my back. I realize now I shouldn’t have come. I should have passed table twenty-three onto another dancer.

Jake

What the fuck! I cannot believe my fucking eyes. Not only did I have to sit through a roomful of horny men staring at her nearly naked body—now the fat bastard is standing up and following her. She’s going to go into one of those VIP rooms and give him a private dance. Frustration claws at my heart. I grit my teeth. I have never wanted to be shackled to anyone, no matter how enticing the chains. But damn her. I cannot even bear the thought of any other man in a room with her, looking at her.

I want her to belong to me. And only me.

From the corner of my eyes I see Brianna walking toward me. She is smiling. I don’t smile back. The thoughts in my head seethe so bitter and dark that I lose control. I stand up and begin to stride toward Lily and her punter. I see Brianna’s experienced eye sizing up the situation. She stops smiling and picks up her speed—not so she would make a scene, though.

I grab Lily’s hand. Her first reaction is interesting. It is one of pure repulsion. Then her gaze collides with mine and the expression is replaced by a mixture of joy, lust, and anger.

The man turns to look at me. ‘Excuse me,’ he says pompously, as if it is I who has trod on his property. I’ve collected money from men like him before. Without their fancy lawyers they are sniveling, pathetic messes. They’d give up their mothers to avoid a scratch.

Fortunately for him, Brianna reaches us at that same instant. She is so smooth I have to admire her anew.

‘Mr. Walsh,’ she coos. ‘Jewel has a personal emergency that she has to take care of, but I have found two beauties to dance for you instead. Obviously, your champagne is on the house.’

Mr. Walsh accepts with ill grace. He has no idea how close he was to being floored. Brianna leads him away quickly.

Hiding the black lust in my heart I look down at the brazen little hussy coldly. ‘I believe this dance is mine.’

‘Yes, my lord,’ she says sarcastically.

I am still furious, but her scent drifts over me like a sweet cloud and lust writhes hot in my blood as my cock hardens too fast and painfully.

Lily

The walls and ceiling of the VIP room are mirrored. It is empty except for a small, round, low table, a large upholstered red and gilt chair, and another much smaller black one that the dancers use as a prop. He kicks the door shut, his heel slamming into the wood, and stands there, tall, proud. Pure alpha. Great! I am alone in the VIP room with one pissed off gangster.

In a silky, dangerous voice, ‘Did you enjoy that?’

Nervously, ‘What?’

‘Taunting me.’

‘I wasn’t.’

‘You looked right into my eyes. You knew I was waiting for you.’

I lick my lips. ‘This is my job.’

He walks over to the red chair and lowers himself into it. He takes two blue chips out of his jacket and puts them on the table. Blue chips are a hundred pounds each. Then he looks up at me.

In a voice like the crack of a whiplash, ‘Now strip.’

I feel my ch

eeks start to burn. Doing a dance for someone that you fancy like crazy is totally different. The adrenaline rush is undeniable. It surges inside me. I finally understand why the other girls wear tampons all the time.