Desire Protected (3 page)

“
Not finding what you
like?”

He shifted in his seat and found a
tall woman with blonde hair and way too much makeup. He leaned
away, too much perfume as well. “I guess I’m a bit
picky.”

“
A few more of my girls
are about to come out.” She rested her hand on his arm and then
stroked his wool and silk suit. He imagined her calculating what
she could get out of a man who wore
Brioni
. She’d get a bullet in her temple if she was a
trafficker. “Let me know if they’re not what you’re looking for. I
have more.” She pointed to the back doorway. “You can have anything
you desire back there. Just tell one of the guys Bev said you could
have a private viewing.”

“
Thanks.”

“
You’re welcome. I like to
make sure my customers get exactly what they want. There is no
preference we won’t cater to.” As she walked away, she dragged her
touch along his thigh.

His grip constricted around his glass.
This night couldn’t be over soon enough.

Chapter Three

After her worthless day at work, Nadia
sat on her sofa with a large glass of wine and her e-reader.
Instead of focusing on her lengthy list of interviews today at
work, several of which she’d have to redo, she’d opened that damn
app and watched Aidan. After leaving Evanston, he’d gone to work
and stayed there. No matter how many times she checked, his little
blue dot stayed over the same building.

Either she was going crazy or the app
was broken. Asking Sam about it was out of the question since she
was supposed to have deleted the app. She should delete it right
now before she looked at it again. He was with his client. She had
nothing to worry about.

Her phone lay on the table waiting for
her to make the right decision.

She took a sip of her wine, then set
it down and grabbed her phone. One more look at his blue dot and
then she’d delete the app. What harm could it cause after all her
checks today?

She rubbed her palm on her robe, and
then opened the app. After entering his phone number, the map
appeared. It blinked over an entirely different part of Chicago.
She pressed on the little circle and an address for a strip club
appeared.

“
That fucker.” She stared
at the address. “A client meeting, huh.” She tossed her phone and
stomped off to her closet. This she’d have to see for
herself.

Clad in her shortest skirt, tallest
stilettos, and cutest cleavage baring shirt, she strutted into the
club. The bouncers took one look at her and opened the door. Once
inside, she kept to the edge of the room.

The place was quite nice. Dramatic
lighting, set off by nude tones, highlighted the many stages. The
woman dancing on the platform closest to her was talented. She
eased though her steps, stretching and contracting her body.
Dynamics in the music were brought to life with her interpretation.
This wasn’t just some strip club, each of the ladies on stage were
performing.

She examined the room. Many of the
seats were filled with men but many of them were sitting with what
seemed like dates. She observed the bar. Yes, this place attracted
couples and singles. The discovery didn’t make her feel any better
about the situation. What if Ethan had come here with that blonde?
Her stomach rolled.

She searched the room. He had to be
here somewhere. Finally, she spotted him across the room. He
strolled to the two bouncers at a doorway in the back. They said
something to him and then they let him through.

“
Now what?” She looked to
the exit. Countless times he warned her about the risks of his
jobs. It had even kept them apart for a time. She couldn’t imagine
he would be pleased to find her here. But what if he wasn’t here
for a client? She would not lose him because she wasn’t strong
enough. He was worth the risk.

She flipped her hair behind her
shoulders and pushed out her boobs as she made her way to the back
doorway. Again the bouncers took one look at her and let her pass.
Her breathing eased. She had this. It was all about acting like you
belonged. She could pretend long enough to make sure Ethan remained
hers. Who knows, maybe they would even have fun with it. Or maybe
she was giving him another reason to paddle her bottom. She licked
her bottom lip. It was kind of exciting.

A new song blared through the room. It
was the newest dance tune. She shook her shoulders and strutted
down the hallway of doors. The first couple doors were painted the
same dreamy nude shade as the club, but farther down they were all
painted black.

A woman came out of one of the rooms
with a black door. She had long blonde hair. What was with all the
blondes?

“
Well, hello there.” The
woman was probably once beautiful but, with all the makeup and too
much plastic surgery, it was hard to tell. “You better be one of my
new girls or I’ll have one of my guys throw you out. You can’t be
back here without an escort.” She tapped away on her phone. “This
new guy lets anything in a skirt back here.”

“
I’m one of your new
girls.” Nadia shrugged her shoulders.

“
Fine.” She slid her phone
into her pocket. “You can call me Bev.” Her smile disappeared. “I
have a hard-to-please customer tonight, if you can make him happy,
I’ll have a reward for you tonight.” She grabbed Nadia’s arm and
pushed her to the room she’d just left.

“
A customer?”
Shit!
Nadia leaned
back.

“
Don’t be nervous. Get in
there. I’ll be watching, make it good.” She pointed to the cameras
in the hall. “I have these everywhere. Don’t worry about being too
loud. No one will hear you but me and my security crew. Remember,
the only way you get the reward is if you please him.” She squeezed
her arm hard enough that Nadia knew she’d have a bruise.
“Understand?”

Nadia nodded, not knowing what else
she could do. Thankfully, the woman let her go. Nadia grabbed the
door handle and took a deep breath.

“
Time’s a wasting. My deal
won’t be open forever and my deals are quite something.” She
stepped back and crossed her arms.

Maybe this woman would walk away once
she got inside the room with the customer. Nadia tugged at her top.
All she needed to do was get in the room, apologize to the
customer, and then make a run for it. Coming here had been stupid.
If she left quickly, Ethan would never know she’d been
there.

A step inside and she knew she’d made
the wrong decision.

Ethan stood and came at her. “What are
you doing here?”

“
Ah.” She pushed the door
closed behind her and stayed put. “I’m ah…”

“
How did you get in
here?”

“
I took a cab. You’re
busy. I’ll just get back in a cab and go home.” She turned
around.

He stepped in behind her and placed
his hand on the door above her head. “Don’t make another move.” He
kicked her feet apart and pressed his body to hers.

She stared at the door. An ache rushed
from her chest to the back of her throat, and then she heard a tiny
little click.

He pulled her hair back and brought
his lips to her ear. “They can still see us but our voices are
blocked for thirty seconds.”

She had no idea what to say to him.
Many times they discussed how dangerous it would be for her to get
caught up in his business. “I’m sorry.” What a pathetic thing to
say. She knew better.

“
You followed me
here?”

“
I did.” Her stupid
jealousy had gotten her here. She felt like a child. Maybe she
should be punished like one. She tapped her head on the
door.

“
We’ll have a long talk
about this when we get home.”

“
I understand, Sir.” Her
voice came out crackly.

“
How did you find my
room?”

“
I may have told this
second blonde woman I just started working here.” She wanted to
crawl under the table.

“
You did what?” His tone
had gotten awfully low. “What do you mean second
blonde?”

“
Shit.” She tapped her
head on the door again. Then she remembered the cameras. “I’m
supposed to be in here making you happy.”

“
You’ve
failed.”

“
Hey!” She turned around
and he plastered himself to her.

“
You have no idea the kind
of danger you’re in this very minute.”

“
From you? Yeah, I have an
idea.”

“
I’m the least of your
worries. I’m working tonight.”

She sucked in a deep breath. Her
heartbeat raced. “I’m so sorry.” Not only had she betrayed her
promise to Ethan, but she’d put both their lives in
danger.

He put his hand around her throat and
squeezed. “Shhh.” He stroked along the back of her neck. His touch
may have been gentle but his palm pushed her head back, bringing
her gaze to his. “Follow my lead and I’ll get you out of here, but
first I will make good use of our time.” His beautiful hazel eyes
turned dark as night.

“
Okay.” She trusted him
and believed with her whole heart he’d get her out of this
situation. A tiny click signaled the end to their
privacy.

“
Are you sure about that?”
He hauled her back to the couch where he’d been sitting and pulled
her over his lap.

“
What are you doing?” She
kicked her legs.

“
You need to make me
happy, wouldn’t want you getting fired on your first day.” He
flipped up her skirt and yanked down her panties.

“
Wouldn’t you rather have
a lap dance or something?” She twisted her upper body but he pushed
her back down and whacked her ass.

“
I like my playthings
submissive and you’re not doing a good job of making me happy.” He
rubbed over the sting. “You’ll have to be punished now.”

“
I’m so
screwed.”

“
If you’re lucky.” He
squeezed both cheeks, and then spanked her ass
repeatedly.

“
Ouch!” A burning ache
simmered at the surface. Underneath, her body felt like it was
boiling over. Searing heat woke tenderness all over from the tips
of her breasts and straight to her clit but it was her center that
craved his attention.

The ugly blonde woman stormed into the
room. “How’s it going in here?”

Nadia froze and Ethan cupped her ass.
She wanted to think he was covering her, not that she deserved
it.

“
Will this one do? Or
would you like to see one of my other girls?”

“
She’s fine. I like it
when they struggle a little.” He tugged on her hair and she arched
back to relieve the pain.

“
When you’re done with
her, I can bring you one of the others. We have quite a menu here.
No matter your taste. One of the others may be more pliable to your
preferences than this one.” As she walked out, she pointed to the
cameras in the corners. “Remember, girl. Someone is always
watching. You better please your daddy.”

****

Once she was gone, Ethan returned to
spanking her ass. Over and over he smacked the softest parts of her
bottom. He rubbed over both cheeks, spreading the fire. “You want
me to touch your pussy, don’t you?” Hell, it was all he could think
about.

“
Oh, yes. Please, Sir.”
She spread her legs apart.

“
I don’t think so.” He
wacked her one last time. Playing with her ass any more would put
him in danger of forgetting why he was there. It was time to get
Nadia out of the building and somewhere safe. He flipped her skirt
back down. “Maybe if you take that pretty rosy ass out to the main
part of the club and dance, I might reconsider. Come on now, up you
go.” He prayed Nadia worked with him. If they played their cards
right, he’d have her back in the main part of the club where she
could make her exit.

“
Thank you for giving me
another chance, Sir.” She stood on shaky legs and pulled up her
panties.

“
You’re doing fine.” He
caressed her cheek. She was the most precious thing in the world to
him. It would kill him if his work ever touched her again. He’d
have to determine the cause of her jealousy and do what he could to
diminish any worries she had. That was a task for later. Right now,
he needed to get her out of there. “I am looking forward to seeing
you dance.” He opened the door and pulled her behind
him.

“
Not so fast, Mr. Fancy.”
Bev stood in the hall and pointed a gun at them. “I’ve seen your
type before. You will not steal this girl from me. If you want her,
you’ll have to pay for her like all the others. I won’t allow you
to make any sideline deals. All transactions go through
me.”

“
I want to see her dance.”
He kept a hold on Nadia. “Surely you don’t want to stop me from
seeing the merchandise.” He took a quick glance at the gun. The
slide was locked back. There was no way of knowing if she knew how
to get the gun ready to fire.

“
I have plenty of girls
available for sale. This one is new and clearly doesn’t understand
our protocol. Let me get her in the back, and then you and I can
talk about how we do things around here.” She crooked her finger at
Nadia. “Come on, girl.”