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“I want answers as much as anyone. I’ll play nice.”
“It’s not exactly how I thought I’d hear them, but you saying those words still gives me the shivers, Smokey,” Moose says. “Little goosebumps, all up and down my back, my booty, my arms, everywhere. Now, follow me.”
He leads us to a back door, one guarded by two men who make the bouncer out front look as big and threatening as a chihuahua. Moose whispers something to one man, who nods and then opens the door for us. As we enter, the two of them give me a look that feels more probing than a cavity check.
After a long hallway, the room we enter is dark, ostentatious sex; leather and crimson velvet drape the expansive space, and every surface gleams with a polish that reflects the sparse candlelight flickering around us. I feel like I’m in The Wizard of Oz and I’ve just peeked behind the curtain, except, instead of seeing the wizard as some old man, there’s two really well-dressed people — a man and a woman, who both look like they live perpetually on the edge of fucking.
We're ushered to an ornate table where the two of them sit, their gazes casually dissecting us as we approach. One is a woman with a silver streak running through her black hair, her eyes sharp as razors, a body barely concealed beneath elegant clothes — leather, lace, and a bowtie. Beside her is a man with a thick beard peppered in gray who strokes his chin thoughtfully as he looks me up and down.
Though the people who escorted us into this room quickly leave, I still feel eyes on us from the shadows. We’re not alone, and those who are observing us are definitely armed.
"Moose," the man greets us with an icy smile, his voice smooth as silk. "It’s been a while."
Moose nods, and I can see the faintest hint of tension at the corners of his eyes.
"This is Alexandra," he says, gesturing to her before turning to me, "and Smokey."
No equal introductions come; they stare at us with eyes that seem to dissect and undress us equally.
From the darkness, I hear guns being cocked.
Then the woman stands, fists clenched, eyes blazing.
“It’s astounding to me you would even dare come back here after the way you left things. How is it you thought you could return, and we’d let you live?”
Chapter Thirteen
Alexandra
Dixon tenses beside me, his body like a gun ready to fire; a single spark will ignite him and someone — likely many someones — in his way will die. My heart is in my throat and my eyes dart wildly around the room, looking for somewhere to run and hide. I’ve been in fights before, I know how to handle myself, but this is above and beyond anything I’ve seen. My life is balanced on a razor’s edge, and the only thing keeping me from falling is the asshole next to me and the giant, sexually rapacious teddy bear named Moose.
I am definitely going to die. Die in the back of a seedy sex club while a bunch of sweaty weirdos frolic and fuck in the front room.
I hope they don’t include this in my obituary.
Just as the tension seems ready to explode in blood and gunfire, Moose clears his throat and stands, slowly, his arms spread in supplication.
“Look, I am so sorry about that, you two. I really didn’t mean to ghost you both, especially after the night that we shared. Well, two nights and a day. It was seriously so moving. You know, my body still breaks out in goosebumps when I think about the connection we shared, about how you both know how to smack an ass right, and that morning where we devoured caviar and blinis off our bare bodies… but you know how life on the road is. I had cargo that I had to get to Tallahassee and, well, I got the cargo there in time and then I wound up having a celebratory cosmopolitan in the seedier part of town. Hell, what am I saying? All of Tallahassee is seedy, and that’s why I love it. Anyway, I met this guy named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a recruiter for a guy named Esteban and a hell of a kisser. He was interested in me on both counts. You would not guess who this Esteban was and what he was involved in, because, darling, it was like nothing I’d ever even dreamed about.”
Beside me, I feel Dixon relax, and I give him a confused look. In fact, everyone in the room seems to settle in, and I have no fucking clue what is going on. Dixon whispers to me, “Don’t question it. Just let him do his thing..”
Moose continues. “They called Esteban ‘the Panther’ and let me tell you, he certainly earned his nickname.”
“We’re familiar,” both the man and the woman say at once.
“Oh, so you know what I’m talking about. Just graceful, lethal, and, honestly, at least three times as sexy as an actual panther. When he’s done with you, you feel you’ve just survived a mauling. We connected, I got swept up in his life like a buoy in a hurricane, and my cell got destroyed during a naked lucha libre tournament with some of the highest of Florida’s high society. That one rapper — the bald one with the sexy voice who is always talking about how worldwide his interests are — was there. He beat me in the finals. And, well, if you’re familiar with Esteban, you know what the winner of his tournament gets to claim from the competitors, so I was busy for a while.”
“It hurt our feelings when you didn’t call, Moose. After everything we shared, to be left feeling so neglected…” the man says. “It hurt. It really fucking hurt.”
Moose moves suddenly, leaving our place at the table to walk to the other man, who now has tears in his eyes. He embraces him, and the man releases a long sigh, resting his head on Moose’s broad shoulder. “I’m not that man anymore. I am so sorry about the lack of communication. But I am here now to ask for your forgiveness and your help for some friends of mine.”
“Anything for you,” the man whispers. “Anything.”
“I promise I’ll make it up to you both. Starting now.”
Moose releases him and then turns to embrace the woman. They exchange a long hug and a kiss before Moose returns to his place by our side. Glances pass between Moose and the man and woman, and something animalistic has replaced the tension in the air. I’m now acutely aware of just how close I’m sitting to Dixon and the heat coming off his body. He and I trade a look, and the same question blares in his eyes as rings in my head: are they really about to fuck?
Moose turns to Dixon and me, and from the look in his eyes, my fear is about to become real. “Dixon, Alexandra, I want to…”
