We come to the end of the entrance, and for a second, I’m momentarily blinded by the bright lights that flash from the ceiling down on us. Savannah reaches out, grabbing my hand again, and tightens her grip. I look up to see that my brother is saying something to us. It’s almost comical as I watch his mouth move, but no words come out. You can’t hear a thing over this music, so I just nod my head and hold onto Savannah’s hand so they don’t leave me behind. I’d hate to get lost in here.

They pull me to the left as we all try to squeeze our way through the mass of people. I find myself calling out sorry as I touch people who are trying to dance even though they are not on the dance floor; they’re just standing around the entrance.

We come to a stop as a man comes up to my brother. I can’t really get a good look at him since Savannah is standing between us. I shuffle from foot to foot, my heels already hurting my feet. Why didn’t I stay home? I could have faked a cold. I don’t know why I thought this would be a good idea. I thought getting out of the house would be fun, but now I’m regretting that decision. I just wanted to spend some time with my brother, but how are we going to talk with all of this noise?

After a few seconds, we start to walk again and make our way up to the bar against the far wall to our left. My brother raises his hand and gives a nod to a guy behind the bar. Surprisingly, the blond-headed guy does the same as he acknowledges my brother. My brother starts to pull Savannah and me through the people to make our way up to the front.

“What do you want?” he yells when he turns to face us.

I don’t hear what Savannah says, but I respond with, “Water.”

Savannah grabs his shirt and pulls him down to her so she can speak into his ear. He nods his head and then throws me a big smile. I narrow my eyes on her knowing that she just told him to get me something alcoholic.

CASE

I stand at the top of the stairs of my club and scan over it, keeping my eyes open for anything that looks like it may be trouble. Anything can happen at a club like this. One where people know that anything goes.

Looking down at my watch, I see it’s eleven o’clock. I reach into the back pocket of my black slacks and pull out my cell phone. I’m just about to pull up Blane’s number when a message pops up from him.

Blane: I’m here, but I didn’t come alone.

I grind my teeth as I type a reply. Lose them!

I don’t care who he has with him; he knows he’s here to work not fucking play around. As I place it back in my pocket of my black slacks, I look around once again, now looking for only one person in particular. Blane. After several seconds, I see him standing at the front of the bar. I’m about to walk toward him when he turns from the bar and passes two women some drinks. He leans down and kisses the blond on the lips before she places the drink to her lips and takes a sip.

The other one, the brunette, doesn’t seem as happy about her drink choice as she looks down at it and makes no attempt to drink it. She has a frown on her face as she reaches down and pulls the top of her black shirt up to try to cover her cleavage. I hate to tell her, but that’s not gonna work.

My gaze looks her over as she stands there. She looks like any other clubgoer tonight—wearing a tight fitting and low-cut shirt to show off her big tits. My eyes lower to her white jean shorts that accentuate her long, lean legs. She turns, giving me her back, and I can see from up here that her ass would bring any man to his knees. She may be on the skinny side, but she still has curves to her. The kind of curves that make a man's mind go straight to the gutter while his cock stands to attention.

I meet women in here every night who throw themselves at men. The ones who not only dress the part of a hooker but act on it as well. But from here, she doesn’t seem that type. And that makes her even sexier to me. I like the ones who seem timid. The ones who make you work a little harder to get in their pants. Men like me may take the easy ones to bed any day, but give us a challenge, and well, it makes my dick hard just thinking about it. What man doesn’t like to conquer a woman who would never look twice at them? A woman can play hard to get as long as she wants, but she will eventually relent. As long as the man plays the right cards—he can have any woman he desires.

Blane gets my attention, and I clear my throat as I readjust my hardening cock behind my zipper. This isn’t the time. I have work to take care of. He leans down and kisses the brunette on the cheek, and I wonder who these two women are to him. He’s never mentioned any women before to me. Then again, we’re not all that close.

CHAPTER TWO

TAYLOR

I take a sip of my Peach Bellini and catch Savannah smiling at me. I hate to admit it, but it’s pretty damn good. I lift it up in the air and mouth a ‘thank you’ to her and my brother. She smiles and I can tell by his features that he starts to laugh at me. He then wraps his arm around her and leans down to give her a desperate kiss. I look away while taking another long sip of my drink. I really hate feeling like the third wheel.

While they make out, I take this time to glance around the club. I don’t go out much, but it seems like any other club. The walls are painted a glossy black that shines each time the strobe lights hit it. I look up at the tall ceilings and see a large mirror over in the top left-hand corner of the club. The lights bouncing off it are somewhat blinding. The lights are set to the music, and they flash with each beat. A black dance floor covers the middle of the club and high-top tables line the walls.

I look over at the security guard standing at the end of the long entrance hallway and next to him is a set of stairs. Hmm, I didn’t see those when we entered. Probably because I was too busy trying to get my eyes to focus on the new surroundings.

A man catches my attention, as he stands halfway up the stairs. I look at him as he scans the club. He’s dressed as dark as the club in all black. Black slacks hang low on narrow hips. A black button-down shirt is expertly tucked into his black pants. But his sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, exposing both forearms. I can tell from here that ink covers both of them.

I take another sip of my Bellini as my eyes take him in, and I realize that he looks dangerous. Mysterious. Someone you wouldn’t want to fuck with. He holds his back straight and his head high. From here, I can tell his body is tight as if he’s just waiting for a fight to break out. I’m sure it happens often in a place like this.

The security guy at the bottom gets my attention as he walks up the stairs and leans in to tell the mysterious man something. He drops his head as he listens to what the guy has to tell him and nods a few times. Then he looks up from his shoes. His eyes land on my brother for a few seconds and then mine. I take another sip of my Bellini as his eyes rake over me in a way that would normally make me feel violated. But, for some reason, it makes heat run up my spine. His eyes hold mine, and there’s no shame in them. I instinctively reach down to pull my shirt up, to try to cover my boobs, and he actually smirks at that.

I try to look away as he stares at me with intensity. Even on the other side of the club, I can feel his eyes burning my skin from where he stands. The way his gaze slowly runs over every inch of my body as if he’s saving it to memory for later.

I don’t get out much. I’ve never been the one to choose a club or a bar over my bed or a book. I’ve never seen a man look so evil and pure like he does in my life. I imagine he is the type of man a woman would talk about to her friends when they reminisce about that one time they took a ride on the wild side. That one time that they had a taste of sin. No man like that has one woman in his life. He has multiple. And for some crazy reason, the way he is watching me now has goosebumps prickling across my skin. My heart is beating so loud in my ears, I no longer hear the music. I should be ashamed. I should turn and look away from him. I should …