Attainment (The Temptation Series) (14 page)

She happily welcomes my embrace and drapes her hands around
my neck. “Hi.”

“Hi,” I say back, before taking her mouth with my own.

“Oh, alright you two, hurry up,” Derek complains as the
crowd wolf whistles.

I separate my mouth from hers and whisper into her ear. “As
much as I love to see your tits, my love, please keep your hands below shoulder
level, no one else needs to see them.”

Kissing her cheek quickly while she gives me a puzzled look,
I pull away and climb back on stage. As I turn around, I notice an angered expression
on her face, and her arms now folded across her chest. Before I can jump back
down and ask her what’s wrong. Lucy and Will begin playing the intro to “You’re
the Voice” by John Farnham, and I have no choice but to stand there and wonder
what the fuck is wrong with her.
I just saved her from flashing the crowd.
Surely that’s a good thing.

By the time Derek starts singing the pre-chorus, her frown
has disappeared and she is enjoying the song with her friends. In fact, now
that I’m no longer focussed on her change of character, I become notably aware
that the entire club is fully engrossed in our performance.

It really shouldn’t surprise me, this is, after all, a great
song; an iconic song. And it dawns on me, as I take in the patrons swaying and
singing along, that I should’ve bloody ignored Derek and gone with a live
bagpipe player, it would’ve been perfect.
Fucking Derek!

Winding down the song, and playing the coda till the end, I
smile and sigh with relief that our set is finally over. As much as I adore
playing the guitar—especially for Alexis—I want nothing more than to spend some
time wrapped around her gorgeous body. Not only for the sheer fucking delight
and feel of her in my arms, but also for the intent to shield her from the many
sets of perverted eyes I have spotted around the room.

“Thanks guys,” I say to the band. “She loved it.”

“Glad my percussion talents have assisted in you getting
your dick wet tonight,” Will offers as he pats me on the back. “Now, let’s hope
they do the same for me.”

He jumps off the stage and heads toward Carly’s friend.

“Has Will got a thing goin’ on with Carly’s friend?” I ask.

“Her name is Libby,” Derek answers. “And yeah, kind of...he
hopes to, anyway.”

I inwardly smile to myself, enjoying the fact that Will too,
seems to have taken a liking to someone who doesn’t resemble an eighteen year-old.

“So where are we headed next?” I ask with not much
enthusiasm.

“You’ll see. Come on, pack up your axe. We’re goin’.”

***

After putting my guitar away, I make my way down from the
stage and head toward Alexis. Her back is to me, and her arms are propped on
top of a bar table. She is bent over just a little, and I can’t help but stare
at her legs, especially the one which is gently rubbing up and down the back of
her calf muscle.

As I begin to stalk my prey, I am approached by a couple of
women.

“You were so good up there,” one of them says with a suspect
smile. “How long have you been playing?”

“Yeah,” the other agrees. “You should play professionally or
something.”

Never being one who enjoyed being hit on, especially by
women who have absolutely no idea of what is going on outside of their own little
pick-me bubble, I politely give them the brush-off, thanking them for their
empty compliments and continuing on my way until I am pressed up against Alexis.

“I want you,” I whisper into her ear.

“Really?” she whispers back. “Are you sure you just don’t
want anyone else to want me?” her icy response somewhat sulky.

Confused as to what she is implying—because yes, I sure as
hell ‘don’t want anyone else to want her’—I ask her what’s wrong. “Want to tell
me why you sound pissed off?”

She tries to shrug out of my arms—which are still firmly
wrapped around her waist—I tighten my grip, she isn’t going anywhere.

“The only reason you kissed me before in front of everyone
was because you didn’t want people accidently seeing a little bit of my skin.
And just for your information, I’m wearing Hollywood Fashion Tape, so my ‘tits’
will remain within my dress.”

Not allowing her to dwell on her ridiculousness any further,
I spin her around and get right up into her beautiful face. “Let’s get one
thing straight. I kiss you because I want to fucking kiss you, because I like
it and because you taste good. So don’t think for one second that I have an
ulterior motive,” I growl on a whisper, as I lean in and get just that bit
closer to taste the lips that are warranting this explanation in the first
place. “And, as for your tits, yes, I want them to remain in that dress of
yours. They are for my eyes only, Hunny...unless...you have a problem with
that?”

Her expression softens, and I feel from within my hold—as
her body becomes less rigid—that her resolve is melting away. Leaning in, I
remove that final torturous centimetre between us and press my lips to hers, kissing
her with as much passion as I’m capable of and holding her head to mine while
dipping her in my arms.

When Alexis is secured to me, wrapped around me, completely
encompassing everything I possess and breathe, I feel nothing but total
satisfaction—she absolutely fulfills me.

“Will you two just get a room,” someone complains, that
someone sounding a bit like Lil. “You have many rooms; hotels full of rooms in
fact, go and use one of those for God’s sake.”

“Shut up, Lil. Leave them alone. They are getting married
soon. Plus, watching them is hot!”

Alexis giggles against my mouth at Jade’s argument with Lil
then locks eyes with me and smiles. “They are right,” she says a little louder.
“We should get a room. Actually, we should get one now.” She pulls away from me
and straightens her dress before threading her fingers through mine. “Okay,
ladies, thanks for everything. We are calling it a night.”

“Oh no you’re not,” Carly interjects with determination not
to be argued with. She storms over to Alexis and prises her hand from mine.

Now, if I really wanted to, I could foil her attempts. The
thing is, I have a little something up my sleeve, and his name is Joey. So
allowing Alexis to go with her friends is no longer an issue. I know he will
protect her and report to me as often as I want him to.

“Fine! Fine! I’m coming,” she groans before turning back and
giving me one last kiss. “Be good.”

I shoot her a half-grin as she’s tugged away. “I’m always
good.”

“Where are you taking me?” Alexis complains to Carly and Jen
as they link their arms through hers.

“Upstairs, we have a surprise for you,” Jen giggles.

I turn to Derek while watching them skip off. “What
surprise?”

“Want a drink?” he asks, ignoring my question and heading
toward the bar.

As I wait for him to come back, I can’t help but feel uneasy
about Alexis’ ‘surprise’. I hate not fucking knowing what is going on.

A well-built—and if I’m completely honest—good looking bloke
in a cop’s uniform, holding a duffle bag, walks past. His shady appearance is
distracting and only adds to my already unsettled frame of mind. Derek returns
and sets my beer down on the bar table, and we both follow the cop with our
eyes as he disappears from the club.

Confusion settles in as I wonder why a police officer has
just strolled through my nightclub, a police office that looks far too pretty
to be a cop. Hearing my phone ring from within my pocket, I pull it out and
answer it, not even bothering to look who it is, my bewildered state of mind
controlling my actions.

“Sir, Alexis has just entered a suite with her friends. Do
you want me to wait outside?” Joey asks.

Agitated and not really paying attention, I tell him he can
leave, and then disconnect the call. Moments later, the fog covering my mind
appears to lift, and I begin to comprehend why I suddenly feel slightly ill.

“Derek, what fucking surprise have they got for Alexis?” I
ask again, hoping to God that cop wasn’t what I thought he was.

The fucker shrugs his shoulders but clearly knows what the hell
is going to happen upstairs.

“That better not have been some cockhead, wannabe dancer,
pretending to be a cop who wants nothing more than to handcuff my fiancé and
place her hands all over his spray-tanned, oily body,” I furiously spit out.

Feeling utterly murderous at the thought of another man
forcing her to touch him and touching her in return, I begin to follow in the
direction the girls headed.

“No you don’t,” Derek says while restraining me.

“Derek, fuck off! Let me go.”

“Dude, it’s just for one night. And anyway, Miss Nude
Australia awaits you in Villa four,” he says as he releases one hand and waves
a room key in my face.

“You’re an idiot, a dead set idiot. If you think for one
second I am going to choose some stripper over rescuing Alexis from some slimy
creep, you are dumber than dog shit. Let me go, now!”

“What’s goin’ on?” Will asks as he steps up to the both of
us, assessing Derek’s armlock hold.

“Pansy here, wants to ditch Nude Australia and act all
caveman in front of Alexis.”

“Speak fucking English,” Will complains.

“Carly has arranged a stripper for Alexis. I’ve arranged one
for Bryce. Bryce doesn’t want to go. The dickhead doesn’t want Alexis to go
either. I am currently stopping him from ruining everything. Wanna help me
out?”

I apply a compression poke to Derek’s L11 pressure point,
right in the crook of his elbow joint. This is my warning. If he doesn’t let me
go in the next second, I will do some serious damage.

“Argh! Fuck, Bryce. Will, a little help please.”

Will steps in and restrains my hands.

“You arseholes! That dancer pretty-boy cop is about to rub
his cock all over our women. How you can be alright with that is beyond me.”

“What pretty-boy cop?” Will queries, stepping back and
looking confused. “You mean that one who walked past just before, that big,
dark, handsome, police officer is a stripper?”

Derek tilts his head to the side in an assessment of Will. “Are
you gay, Man? I don’t care if you are, each to their own.”

“No, I’m not gay. I’m actually this close...” he says
holding up his thumb and pointer finger in Derek’s face, “...this bloody close to
having Libby touch
my
cock. And I’ll be damned if that dancing
cop-bloke gets his touched before mine. Let him go, Derek.”

“You’re weak. Both of you are fucking weak,” Derek spits out
as he lets me go.

“What room are they in?” I ask, picking up my pace and heading
for the exit.

“Don’t know,” Derek calls back with a shit-eating grin.

I stop, turn fully around, and start for him. “Tell me what
room they are in or you’ll have no teeth left. And I can tell you, a lead
singer without teeth will sound pretty fucking hilarious.”

He studies my face for a second. “You’re joking.”

“Am I? Let me ask you something. You’ve seen how Carly
reacts to men, men with big muscles in particular. Imagine how she is going to
react to body-builder, stripper-jerk. You sure you’re alright with that,
alright with her dragging her hands across his chest, clenching his biceps, his
arse, and feeling his sweaty junk?”

“She won’t touch his junk,” he affirms with not much
conviction.

“You sure? Perhaps she likes Police Officers more than
Firemen.”

I watch him lose a battle of cockiness. “Shit! Motherfucking
Shit!”

“Which room?” I ask for the last time.

“Presidential suite two,” he surrenders.

Not wasting a second longer, I sprint for the elevator,
Derek and Will not far behind me.

***

“If I walk in and see that naked fucker at full mast,
thrusting it in Alexis’ face, I will kill you,” I glare at Derek as I swipe my
card through the security lock on the Presidential Suite’s door.

Will laughs “You’re a fool, Man,” he says sympathetically as
he pats Derek on the back. “I can’t believe you thought you’d get away with
this.”

“I’m glad you find this funny, Will. You just wait until you
find a woman that you can’t get out of your head. A woman you will go to the
ends of the earth to be with and protect. A woman that becomes your sole reason
for breathing. You just wait, Mate. Your day will come, and when it does, I
will laugh right back at you,” I say as I open the door.

“You’re a poetic fucker, aren’t you?” Derek teases.

I’m at the point of performing my own chokehold on my best
friend, just to knock him out and shut him the hell up, when the sound of
“SexyBack” by Justin Timberlake sounds from within the suite.

“Fuck!” I growl, turning to my idiot best friend. Before
taking off in the direction of the music and squealing women, I shove Derek so
hard that his back hits the wall.

He laughs at me and starts singing along with JT.

With my heart thumping in my chest over what horrid sight I
think I’m about to see, I reluctantly turn the corner. Firstly, I lay my eyes
on the massive oily bastard, who is straddling Alexis’ lap as if he is some fucking
rodeo star. She is sitting on a single chair in the middle of the room with her
friends standing around in a circle, clapping, dancing, and raising their
champagne filled glasses in the air. It really is quite ridiculous and bloody
nauseating.

My vision goes back to Alexis who—thank God—has her eyes
closed and her hands covering her face, clearly not wanting the dickhead
treating her like a horse. My heartbeat calms a little, and all I want to do
now is rescue her from her apparent distress.

“Hey! Get out!” Carly yells, pointing in my direction. “No
grooms allowed...unless...” she wiggles playfully, “...you want to start
removing your clothes.”

“You...” I point to her, “...You and I are gonna have some
words later. “And you...” I point to the hairless, Chippendale wannabe. “Back
the fuck off.”