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‘As if a little garlic could stop me.’
I turned toward her, slipping my hand along her jaw and pulling her lips to mine. Her mouth opened with a soft moan as I kissed her slowly, savouring every second of her tongue tentatively exploring my own. I loved the way she leaned into my touch, so open now that we had temporarily dismantled the walls between us. My fingers skimmed down her throat, feeling the thrum of her pulse quicken as I nipped at her lower lip.
The clearing of the waiter’s throat broke us apart as he checked if we wanted anything else. There was not a single thing I needed more in that moment than Esther.
We finished the plate, neither of us willing to leave a crumb of the divine treat. By the time we made a move, the sun had sunk below the horizon; the street bathed in the yellow glow of window light.
‘There was something else we used to do in Uni on the rare occasions we escaped our henchmen for long enough. Although we had our accommodation, food, and anything for university paid, we never had that much fun money, so we got creative.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Sneaking into strip clubs and taking a turn before high tailing it with a thong full of cash.’
‘You stripped?’
‘Yeah,’ she said sheepishly. ‘Stupid, right?’
The thought of her on stage, surrounded by men and women panting over her, should have flared jealousy in me, but it had my cock thickening in my pants. ‘I’d have loved to see that.’
‘Really?’
I nodded as we walked, her fingers back in mine. ‘I’d love to see your face as all those people’s eyes were on you. See you move in a way that makes them salivate over you. I can’t guarantee I wouldn’t want to drag you into a private booth afterward, though.’
‘Other people looking at me like that would turn you on?’
‘No. You expressing yourself like that would turn me on. Seeing your reactions would turn me on. Fuck, there isn’t much you could do that wouldn’t turn me on. It’s enough of a battle for me not to get an erection watching you eat fucking potatoes.’
She laughed, a throaty sound that I wanted to thrust into my pocket and take home with me.
‘Should we do it? I’m pretty sure the place below the hotel is a strip joint?’
‘If you want to?’
‘This is going to be my last few days of freedom. I want to do anything that feels crazy.’
A sliver of pain. Was I included in that? Another crazy thing to do while she’s in limbo between her old life and her new one. I shook it off. It could never be anything more. I knew that going into it. With every touch, every smile, and every kiss, it was like I was piling little pieces of my heart up in her arms, expecting that she’d hold on to them when eventually she’d drop them, leaving me shattered. I had to believe that it would be worth it, though. That this short time with her would leave more good than bad behind.
‘Then let’s do it. What will you wear?’
‘I’ll borrow something from one of the other girls. There’s usually a closet of clothes backstage and makeup and such.’
‘What should I do?’
‘Enjoy the show,’ she said with a devilish smirk, ‘and if any of the bouncers get antsy, then create a distraction to let me slip out.’
‘Is it a good idea?’
‘No, but since when were you on the side of good?’
She had a point.
Nerves pricked at my belly as we sidled around the back of the building, looking for a way in. Esther had assured me someone would be out back to smoke, and we could slip in there.
Sure enough, a woman opened the door shortly after we arrived and didn’t question Esther when she confidently thanked her and waltzed right in. I followed, dumbstruck by her absolute brazenness.
The back corridors we found ourselves in were old and dingy, dirt gathering in corners and cobwebs stretching across the upper corners. It wasn’t my first time in the back rooms of strip clubs. Many of them were owned by crime organisations and used to launder money. The McGowans didn’t own any as far as I was aware, but they owned a sex club. Albeit, a much cleaner one than the strip club we’d just walked into. It hid the screams of the people I needed to extract information from well enough in the backrooms of the club.
Esther grabbed my fingers, pulling me along behind her as she peeked into the rooms that we passed. The occupants didn’t seem in the least bit phased they didn’t know who we were, more than one smiling at Esther. Music thrummed louder the deeper we got into the building through the warren of tiny rooms. Finally, she found the one she was looking for, a room that was more like a closet than a changing room. It overflowed with all manner of clothes. From tiny sparkly numbers to dress-up clothes.
