Nikki reached her customers. Young men her age, possibly investment
bankers dressed in expensive suits. They didn’t bother to glance at their
drinks, eyeing her instead as animals do in the wild, seeing something they
want and intend to take.
Their male hunger gave Nikki an acute sense of being
helpless. Her costume ensured it.
She wore the leather half mask that hid enough of her
features to prevent identification, while making her feel somehow captive. The
brazen bustier didn’t protect her at all. Stopping at her navel, it not only
revealed her body jewelry, its half cups supported her breasts while flaunting
her naked nipples. Her tips were erect and hard even though the crowd and her
own heightened breathing made the room’s air steamy. Below the garment and her
gems, Nikki sported thigh-high spike heel boots. Nothing else.
Her naked cunt was available for scrutiny by these two guys
and anyone else. Her slit was moist with lubrication the other girls suggested
she use to make the men believe she was ready for a man’s cock. She wanted it.
Oh God, she did, as long as it was from the right men. Had
Shoshana’s cryptic answer led her to the wrong room? Nikki didn’t see Mitch
anywhere. Or Connor. His film played on the back wall, these images lustier
than the ones she’d viewed previously. Chastised by the strap and spent, the
young woman submitted to the man who’d punished her, her lids fluttering as he
suckled her throat and slipped his hand between her legs, his thumb running up
and down her baby-smooth cleft.
Nikki bit her bottom lip to hold back a wanting moan. Never
had she experienced such carnal need mixed in with true longing. At Ty’s
parties, it was nothing but wild monkey sex, the kind that leaves a woman’s
flesh humming. She remembered none of it, only her intolerable yearning for
someone to love her, to have the emptiness inside drained away for at least a
short while.
The same as now.
She wondered if Connor and Mitch were even at the club. If
so, were they watching her? Shoshana said there were monitors in her office.
Were they all there now, discussing business, teasing each other as friends and
lovers do, not giving her a second thought?
The pain in her gut was so intense, Nikki whimpered. She’d
missed Mitch and Connor like crazy over the years. It would have driven her
insane if not for the fact that she was in New York, far enough away from them
for her to function. Back in Atlanta, the emotional separation was severe and
devastating. Not that she could expect better after treating them so horribly.
Too late to make amends for that with so many years gone by.
She should have contacted them sooner, when things were going well in her
world. They might have accepted her apology then and her reasoning for what
she’d done. Not now. The best she could do was perform well in her job.
She took the scotch and soda from the tray and slapped on
her most seductive smile, honed while entertaining Ty’s clients. “For you,” she
purred, handing the drink to the guy on the right. He had wavy brown hair and
dark-blue eyes, his features handsome enough for him to ditch his chosen
profession and model in a men’s fashion magazine or work here.
“Why thank you, hon.” His accent was all Southern gentleman,
his attention to her nipples no better than a rutting hound dog. “What did you
say your name was?”
Nikki hadn’t offered it. Twice she’d had to ask both of them
what they wanted to drink before either seemed to hear or understand her question.
“Cherry,” she said, heeding the other girls’ advice about using a fake name.
The guy on her left, equally good-looking with sandy-blond
hair and just the right amount of stubble, trailed his fingers down her arm.
“Nice.”
It was. She’d denied carnal need for so long, even a
stranger’s touch made her teeth tingle. Not that Nikki was about to act on it,
remembering Shoshana’s admonishment and her own good sense. Deftly,
John le Carré
Stendhal
Herta Müller
Rosie Goodwin
Lexi Stone
Holley Trent
Nina Croft
Wahida Clark
Brian L. Patton
Sarah Graves