T.C. held up his hands. “Well, here I thought you were just a bunch of angry toddlers. Well, good luck, kids.”
We stood up and left the booth, passing T.C.’s cohorts outside the curtain. They walked back in as we walked out. Once we were beyond the rope that divided us from the booths, we all looked at one another.
“I’m kind of sad that it went so well,” Colette said. “I wanted some action.”
“Well, going after Connor won’t be that easy,” I said. “Be careful what you wish for.”
“That’s it for work, right?” Avery said. “Because I have to hit that dance floor.”
“The fun stops tomorrow,” Nathan said. “So let’s live it up tonight!”
Everyone cheered and Nathan quickly hunted someone down to secure one of the V.I.P. booths for us to use. Liquor was brought in after we flashed our very convincing fake IDs, and Kyle, Brayden, Nathan, and Nikita stayed behind, while Avery, Alistair, Colette, Jaxon, Sicily, Cherri and I left to head down to the dance floor.
“There’s gotta be someone here who wants an attractive, younger man,” Sicily said as we walked down the stairs. “D, you gotta wingman for me.”
“Alright,” I said. I hooked Sicily’s collar, found a gorgeous woman standing with her friends and working on a drink, and shoved Sicily straight into her.
“Deon!” Cherri yelped.
Her drink popped out of her hand and went spilling all over her dress, and Sicily looked up, horrified. “Uh, oh my fucking god,” Sicily said. “I told my friend I thought you were hot, and he thought the best plan of action was to shove me into you.”
The woman blinked a couple of times down at him, then a smile crossed her face. “You owe me a new drink then.”
Sicily snagged a couple of napkins like a pro from a nearby table and held them out to her. “I’ve got plenty up in my booth, if you wanna join me.”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
Everyone apart from me stared in shock as Sicily led the beautiful blond up the flight of stairs and out of sight.
“I hate that it worked,” Avery said.
I just shrugged. “He’s like a cat, that one. You present him with an opportunity, even if it’s razor thin, he’ll make the most out of it.”
“I’ve noticed that about him, actually,” Colette said. “It’s so weird.”
“Well, Sicily’s pretty weird,” Alistair said.
Avery grabbed Alistair’s hand. “Whatever. Let’s go dance!”
Avery and Alistair, and Colette and Jaxon threaded into the crowd and Cherri grabbed my hand and dragged me in as well. Guys immediately started to size her up, so I was throwing glares in all directions as we got further in. Eventually, however, we found a good spot, and Cherri turned to face me. She grabbed my face and turned my attention to her, and her eyes had a seduction behind them.
“Just focus on me,” Cherri said.
It was like she was a witch with insane, supernatural powers. “Yes ma’am.”
The first song we danced to was upbeat and had Cherri swaying her hips back and forth. Her hair flicked around her head, and she laughed and sang along. I wasn’t much of a dancer myself, but grooving along with Cherri felt worth it. The pumps she was wearing gave her ass an incredible lift, and the clothes she was wearing clung to her form like a glove. She held my gaze and sucked me deeper and deeper in, and soon there could have been twice as many people standing on that dance floor and I wouldn’t have known. Cherri was all I could see.
All I cared to see.
After about ten minutes, the music changed to a moody, deep purple, and the music slowed way down. The crowd shifted almost as a unit, closing in on their partners for the smooth, slow song. I slid my hands around Cherri’s waist and set them low on her back and she pulled herself against me. Her hands pressed to my chest and she looked up into my eyes, and I couldn’t resist the urge anymore. I ducked down and brought my lips to hers. Cherri waved her hips forward, sliding against my midsection, teasing me. My lips left hers and slid around to latch onto a spot on her neck.
“Deon,” she sang into my ear, and it sent a rush of chills down my spine.
When I came back to her lips, it was with more passion, sliding my tongue in her mouth and breathing in her intoxicating scent. I wanted so much more of her than I was allowed to take standing in the middle of a public club.
Cherri pulled back, and her eyes fluttered to me. “Wanna give my keys to Colette and get out of here?”
Everything in me tingled at the resonance in her voice. “Like, you have no idea.”
28
Cherri
Colette was beyond understanding when I searched her out from the crowd and gave her my keys to drive my car home. “You’ve just been reunited!” she screeched. “Get it girl!”
We exchanged a cheek kiss, and then I sifted my way back through the throngs of people to where Deon was standing at the edge of the dancefloor. I grabbed his hand and pulled him out into the steamy night. My whole body was already hot and it doubled outside in the summer night. I held up a hand to flag down a taxi, but then Deon pulled on my hand.
“I’ve got a better idea,” he said. “Come on.”
We walked away from the curb and made our way down the street away from the club. We crossed the street and continued down the block, and Deon finally stopped in front of one of downtown Postings’ fancier hotels. He pulled on the door and guided me inside, and my heart leapt with excitement. Deon kissed me, then left me standing in the lobby so that he could approach the desk. I was a little surprised to see him pull out a wallet and brandish a credit card, because it didn’t seem like he would have access to those resources yet, but then I remembered a moment between Nathan and I before I went to go and visit with Venom.
“You look tired. Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Nathan said. “I’ve just been getting everything set up for Deon.”
“What do you mean?” I said.
“I’ve gotta make sure my brother is set when he gets back. There’s a whole life he didn’t get to live that I hope he can from now on.”
Nathan worked with Deon’s parole officer to get his warrant revoked, bought him a brand new car for his birthday, and made sure he had keys to both the main house and Nathan’s house on the Loche estate. It wasn’t a major jump to think that Nathan made sure Deon was set financially as well. If I knew Nathan at all, and I’m pretty sure I did, he probably loaded a card with hundreds of thousands of dollars and told Deon it was his share of their family funds. The fact that neither of them told me that was actually a little enlightening and encouraging. If they had brotherly things, they were developing a trust in one another, and that was good.
After about ten minutes, Deon came back with some paperwork and a couple of keycards in hand. He had a huge smile on his face and snickered when he got to me. “I don’t think I’ve ever indulged in something like this before. It was weird.”
“Yeah, getting used to being rich is strange,” I said.
He closed in on me and placed a hand on my head and pulled me up into a kiss. “It’s worth it for this though.” His voice got low and unbelievably enticing. “Don’t expect me to be as quick to fire as I was last time.”