My eyebrows shot up as the chocolate melted on my tongue and I moaned, leaning to savor the flavor before sipping from my water. Brock gave me the rest of the piece which was as mouthwatering as the first before answering my question.
“Yeah, they're doing great. A little on edge because of the whole heir clause thing, but that's not really a surprise.” Brock popped a truffle into his mouth as Julien helped himself to a second one.
“The what clause?” I asked. I didn't really want to hear more about their farce of a marriage, but I was curious.
“The heir clause.” Brock glanced at Julien who looked just as confused as I was. “Wow, I thought everyone knew about this.”
“Why don't fill us in?” Julien asked.
“Well, you know how there was this business deal that went along the marriage?” Brock looked from me to Julien. I took my cue from Julien and feigned ignorance. I didn't want Brock wondering where I'd heard it if Julien didn't know. “Anyway, it's a common thing. Families bound in marriage also make business contracts tying everyone together.” He shook his head. “Don't ask me. I don't get it.” He ate another truffle. “So, Britni and Reed's marriage also joined some of the Stirlings assets to my family's assets.”
“Still not getting the whole 'heir clause,'” Julien said.
Unfortunately, I was beginning to think that I did understand.
“Basically, the clause states that they need to have at least one pregnancy in their first year of marriage, and a baby within three.”
“Are you shitting me?”
I was glad Julien said something that drew Brock's attention because I was having a difficult time keeping my expression blank. A forced pregnancy, I’d never heard of such thing. Not in the twenty-first century anyway.
Brock shrugged. “The Stirlings put it in actually. Something about making sure their name was carried on, since Rebecca's a girl and obviously will take her husband's name. I guess Mr. Stirling is the last one in his family line or something like that.”
“So Britni and Reed...”
“Fucking like bunnies would be my guess.” Brock made a face.
I really hadn't wanted to hear that, and I certainly didn't want to be thinking about Reed and Britni having sex. I reached for my wine, tipped it up and drained the glass. Brock didn't notice, but Julien gave me a puzzled look. I didn't mind. I was more concerned with getting those images out of my head.
Reed's body moving over hers.
Her riding him.
His face between her legs.
Her name on his lips when he came.
“Piper?” Brock touched my arm.
“Hm?”
“You okay?”
I nodded and forced a smile. “Fine. I was just thinking about how delicious the food was.” I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
He grinned. “And the night's just getting started.” He slapped Julien on the back. “We need to get my friend here some action. Let's hit a club.”
“Please tell me you mean a dance club,” Julien said.
“Hell no.” Brock laughed. “One of the best things about Vegas is their strip joints.” He glanced at me. “We'll head to Ruby's.”
Ruby's was one of the high-end strip clubs. They catered to high rollers, rich guys like Brock, but they revealed as much as The Diamond Club strippers did. Basically, the only difference was how expensive the dances were and the fact that the guys used fifties and hundreds instead of ones and fives. I really didn't want to go, but I couldn't think of an excuse that didn't sound like I was whining so I kept my fake smile plastered across my face and nodded in agreement. If I was lucky, maybe Brock would think I was bored and we would go somewhere else. At least I wasn't alone in not wanting to go. One look at Julien's face said that he was humoring his friend just as much as I was.
Chapter 6
I'd been in Ruby's once before, but that had been to drop off my application. I'd figured if I was going to take my clothes off, at least I could make decent money doing it. When I'd given it to the busty blonde at the front, she'd given me a quick once over, a polite smile and informed me that she'd file the application but not to hold my breath for a call. Apparently, the girls at Ruby's had to be at least a 36C to be considered. I didn't quite make that cut.
I could feel heat creeping up my cheeks the moment we walked in and I was thankful that the lighting was dim in the audience. Brock was close enough that he would've seen my skin turning red if he'd been looking at me, but his eyes were firmly fixed on the brunette currently gyrating on stage.
We made our way over to a pair of armchairs on the far side of the stage. Brock immediately sat down but Julien gestured toward the other, offering it to me.
“Come here, babe.” Brock tugged me towards him and I gave Julien a smile to let him know that I appreciated the offer.
I sat on Brock's lap, leaning back against him as he wrapped his arm around my waist. I wasn't enjoying the show, but even when I was annoyed at Brock, my body responded to his affections. The heat from his arm burned through my dress, spreading warmth across my skin.
I glanced over at Julien and saw him looking at me. He gave me an awkward smile and then turned back to the stage where the brunette was down to her g-string. I couldn't say for sure, but it looked to me like Julien wasn't enjoying the show as much as most men would be. Then a thought occurred to me and I took another peak at him to see if it could possibly be true. Maybe the reason the whole threesome thing had freaked him out hadn't been embarrassment on my behalf but was rather because Julien was gay and no one knew.
When the next act came onstage, I found myself watching him out of the corner of my eye. A couple times, he looked my way and I wondered if he wasn't looking at me but rather at Brock. It would make sense that he'd stay in the closet. As 'open-minded' as some of the wealthy families claimed to be, I doubted they'd approve of a gay son. It might have even been the reasoning behind his black sheep reputation. Better to be the rebel child.
I was still contemplating my theory when Brock flagged one of the dancers to come over. She was a red-head, like me, but the resemblance stopped there. She was a good four inches taller and top-heavy. Based on the rest of her build, there was no way those things were natural, but they still seemed to mesmerize Brock and the other men.
“A dance for my friend,” Brock called out over the music.
Julien turned pale and he shot me a look of horror.
“Brock, come on,” I spoke quietly in my boyfriend's ear. “I don't think he wants a dance.”
“Of course he wants a dance,” Brock said, not bothering to keep his voice down. He dug into his pocket and pulled out several folded up bills. “Here you go, sweet thing. Make my buddy here happy.”
Based on the woman's smile, I was pretty sure Brock had given her at least twice her normal rate. When she began to move, Julien's entire body tensed. His eyes were on her, but he didn't appear to be enjoying himself. The closer she got to him, the more uncomfortable he looked.
“Get up close and personal with that rack, Julien,” Brock teased. “Those things probably cost a pretty penny.”
The red-head ran her hands over her breasts as she leaned over Julien, her pale nipples brushing against his lips. I was just about to intervene when I saw Julien reach down and adjust himself. Apparently he was enjoying the show. When his eyes darted over to me, I could see guilt in them and understood. Julien wasn't gay. He was trying to be a gentleman. He knew I didn't want to be here and he felt bad that he liked what was going on. I gave him a small smile, hoping he'd take that as permission to enjoy himself. If Brock had already spent the money, Julien might as well have some fun.
The stripper straddled Julien's lap and began grinding down on him. Her mouth was moving and I wondered what she was saying to him. The music was too loud for me to hear any of it.
“You don't really get to see it from this side, do you?” Brock asked, his mouth against my ear. The hand on my waist slid a bit higher until his fingers were brushing the underside of my breast.
I shifted away from his hand on the pretense of answering his question. “Not really. I don't go out and watch the other girls dance.”
“I liked watching you dance with Rosa at the bachelor party.” One of Brock's hands settled on my knee.
I flushed at the memory. I'd been pissed at Reed and had taken things further than I usually did. Rosa and I hadn't kissed and we'd kept our hands above the waist, but we'd done a little touching.
“I kept wishing you guys would take it further,” Brock confessed.
I could feel him hardening against my ass. The hand on my knee slid up my thigh.
“You have an amazing body and I'd love to see it with another woman.” He pressed his mouth against my throat and I felt a chaste kiss turn into something open and wet. When he started to suck, I turned so that our lips were just a few centimeters apart.
“No hickeys. I have to work tomorrow.”
He nodded, but I saw something dark in his eyes. He didn't like being told he couldn't do something. He cupped the back of my head and pulled me toward him. His tongue pushed between my lips, and his lips were hard and demanding against mine. I leaned into the kiss, not minding the bit of PDA considering where we were.
Then the hand on my hip moved up to my breast. I kept kissing him as I removed his hand, putting it back on my leg. His fingers flexed against my thigh and started to move higher, inching under my skirt.