Stripped(38)

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“Watching you.”

“How dare you come here to spy on me! Have you done this before?”

“I’m not spying, Abby. Why do you mind me seeing what every other man in the world can?”

“First of all, do not use my name here --”

“Oh, is that the one thing I get to myself? That none of these assholes know your name?”

She sighed, looking away. Chris leaned toward her as he spoke, and she realized how angry he was.

“Do you know what it feels like to watch you rubbing all over other men? To see them touching you everywhere?”

“This is my job. You’ve known from the beginning.”Abby crossed her arms over her chest self-consciously.

“Fine.” Chris sat back, his eyes still alight with anger. He looked past her, gesturing, and Abby stared, open-mouthed, as Roxy approached. Chris’ eyes were still locked on Abby as he held a folded bill out to Roxy.

“Um…” Roxy looked uncomfortably at Abby.

“Go ahead,” Abby said, quavering inside.

“It’s the middle of the song,” Roxy told Chris. “Want to wait for the next one so you get a full dance?”

“No. Now.”

Abby kept her face impassive as the young dancer moved against Chris. She straddled his lap, pushing her breasts into his face. A sick feeling rose inside Abby as she watched. She was rattled by how much it bothered her to see another woman’s hands on Chris. Her heart sped up as Roxy’s face trailed down his stomach, and then went lower.

Abby closed her eyes, unable to watch as Roxy licked him through his jeans. She wanted to cry and scream at the same time. When she looked back, Roxy’s fingers were trailing across his cheek into his hair, and it was too much.

She turned, tears blurring the faces around her as she walked to the wall to creep backstage before customers tried to flag her down. She only made it partway before she bristled at the feel of hands on her hips, turning her.

“Tell me that didn’t bother you,” Chris said roughly, pushing her against the wall. Abby looked back at him defiantly as he trapped her with a hand on either side of her. “Tell me. Say it had no effect.”

“You know how it felt!” she cried, pushing against his chest. Though she knew she should force him away from her, she wanted to pull him closer.

“Say it, Abby,” he said in her ear.

“I was jealous, okay? That’s what you wanted and you got it! Are you happy now?”

A hand reached across Chris’ shoulder and Abby looked around him at Joe.

“No, he’s not bothering me. He’s okay,” she said. Joe looked at her quizzically.

“We need to go somewhere else,” she said to Chris. “Come on.”

She led him into one of the bed rooms, and as soon as she closed the door behind them he pressed her against it, his body warm and hard against her.

“I’m really mad at you!” she cried. “What the hell was that? Why would you deliberately make me jealous?”

“If you don’t want to share me, don’t make me share you,” he said. His mouth dipped to her neck, and she closed her eyes, powerless as he kissed her.

“Chris…God. You’re not sharing me. I feel nothing for any of the men I dance for.”

“I felt nothing for the woman who just danced for me. Does it make you any less jealous?”

She answered him with a kiss, wanting him with an intensity that burned through her entire body. Her emotions still ran high from seeing him with Roxy, but her desire overrode everything else. She smelled beer on men all the time at the club, but the intimacy of tasting it on Chris was a first.

He picked her up suddenly, covering the few steps to the bed quickly and dropping her there beneath him.

“What are you doing to me?” he murmured into her neck. “I haven’t been able to look at another woman since I met you.”

Abby moaned at the feel of his erection pressing into her. She pushed her hips back into him, molding her body against his. He kissed her slow and deep, and she sank her fingers into his shoulders.

“I want you,” she said lightly against his ear, tugging at his shirt to remove it. He stilled against her suddenly.

“No…I’ve had too much to drink, and this isn’t the place for the first time.”

“Why not?”

“You’re working, and there’s not enough time. I can’t fuck you properly here.”

“I didn’t know there was a proper way to do it.”

“That’s because you’ve never been fucked properly. And when you are, you’ll feel very improper.”

Abby licked her lips, desire and anticipation still coursing through her. She knew that now, in the heat of the moment, was the only chance. They would both change their minds when their sanity returned. For once, she wasn’t thinking, and it felt good.