Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
RORY
“I think there’s more sluts here than I’ve seen at any of the club parties up at Stoney’s clubhouse,” Jade shouts, leaning forward, eyes laughing as she does so.
“I think you’re right.” Rosemary outright laughs and looks at me. “This is your first club party, so I get where you’re coming from. I’ve only been to a couple back in Virginia.”
“I’d only been to one before we moved,” Noelle states, rolling her eyes. “I don’t see what the hype is all about. I mean, they’re men.”
“Men that are hot,” Jade interjects, cheeks blushing.
“This is very true.” Rosemary raises a hand, finger pointed upward, shaking it. “They’re all very hot. It should be a crime for them to all be in the same room together. Especially when there’s a bunch of skanky hoes wanting in on the action.”
“At least our men are faithful,” Noelle quips, her gaze locked in the direction of Cyprus as she sighs. “Sometimes, I still struggle with the reality that he’s mine. I crushed on him for so long it’s hard to believe he wanted me as his.”
I don’t know the full story of what all she’s talking about, but I knew she’d known Cyprus nearly her whole life. Something happened to her brother, and the two of them lost touch for a while. They reconnected when Noelle applied to be the nanny to his little sister without knowing it was for him. The very fact the two of them found each other again is a beautiful thing in my opinion, and I want them to be happy without anything coming between them.
“This is very true,” Rosemary snorts, her eyes darting around, a big smile forming when she finds Kevlar.
I have to admit, I’m a little jealous of what she has with him. Well, I’m a little jealous of all three of them because I want what they have.
You can have that if you want too. A part of me snarks in my head.
I inwardly shake my head, ignoring the voice. There’s no way I can have what they do. There’s too much history there. Too much in the past, and I’ve battled with my inner turmoil enough to know it can’t be beat.
My eyes roam the crowd, spotting Aries nearly instantly. I immediately find it hard to breathe yet again at the sight of him. He’s smiling big and laughing with a few of his brothers, a beer in hand. He’s got his arm braced against the side of the bar.
Aries has to feel my eyes on him for him to look directly in my direction. He doesn’t even bother searching. He knows exactly where to look. The very notion causes flutters in my stomach. Unlike anything I’ve felt before. Okay, that’s not exactly true. I’d felt something earlier when he’d told me about the party, and then the two of us were going to party together.
He gives me a wink and keeps talking with his brothers, though his eyes stay on me.
“You doing okay, Rory?” Jade asks, drawing my attention back to the conversation at hand.
Blinking, I nod and break eye contact with Aries. “Yeah, I’m okay. I guess you could say this is all just a bit overwhelming.”
Sure, I’m used to large crowds, but I’d always been kept away from them all. I would be surrounded by guards who kept me secure unless I was on stage singing. Roger wanted me out there, seen but not gone near. I was to be seen and heard but nothing else.
“I’ve got to agree with you there. This crowd is a bit more than I expected,” Noelle says, lifting a bottle of water to her lips, eyes scanning the crowd. “A lot of skanks, for sure.”
The way she scrunches her nose and shakes her head would be comical if I didn’t look over at what she was looking at.
“Eww.” Okay, I totally didn’t mean to say that out loud, but the sight of two girls topless going at it on one of the tables surrounded by men, some of them members of the club, others not members. It was not something I wanted to watch.
“Ugh, I think I’m going to go find Viper,” Jade remarks, getting to her feet. “I’m pregnant, and this is definitely not what I want to spend the rest of my evening doing.”
“I don’t blame you.” Noelle snorts. “I think I’m gonna head out and go relieve the babysitter.”
“Give Bride hugs for me and tell her we’ll go out for pizza later this week,” Rosemary remarks, also getting to her feet. “I’m thinking it’s time we all go claim our men before these bimbos attempt anything.” She looks at me and jerks her chin toward where our men are. “You gotta show these women right off that you aren’t to be fucked with. Otherwise, they’ll do whatever they want and try to steal your man.”
“He’s not my man.” No matter how much I want him to be.
The memory of him kissing me is still so fresh in my mind. I don’t like the fact that I can’t claim him as mine.
“You might not think he is, but he is,” Jade states. “Whether you agree or not, that man put his claim on you, you’re his, and there’s no denying it.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” I tell her as Rosemary comes to my side, hooks her arm through mine, and tugs.
“Sure, it does, you just have to understand in this life, men like ours, they claim what they want and don’t give a shit if you agree with them or not. He’ll wear you down until you finally accept it.”
“What if I don’t accept it?” I ask, glancing at her out of the corner of my eye. “What if he realizes I’m not what he really wants?”
“You can’t do what-ifs, Rory. Just live and be free. You need to leave the past in the past and move forward. You keep looking back, and the one who hurt you wins. Here, he doesn’t exist in this place. Don’t let him control you.” Rosemary lets me go as she finishes and moves to Kevlar, going straight into his arms and snuggling into his side.
Her words play in my head, and I know she’s right. In order to fully be free of Roger, I need to break away from his control. In order to do that, I need to go forward and stop looking back.
I meet Aries’s gaze as he cocks a brow. I make my way to him, knowing that in doing so, I’m giving in to my want as well as my need for him. I just hope by doing so I’m making the right decision and no one gets hurt because of me.
“Hey, Scamp,” Aries says in greeting when I’m close enough for him to draw me the rest of the way to him. “You enjoying yourself?”
“I’m not sure of the answer to that question,” I tell him, being honest. “There’s a lot of women here.”
“Yeah,” he agrees, one arm tightening around my waist, the other going in my hair. “But I’m not worried about any of them. I got the babe I want in my arms already.”
Tilting my head back a bit, I stare at him, seeing the truth in his expression. “You mean that, don’t you?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” he asks cocking a brow. “Think I explained it enough when I had my tongue in your mouth earlier and you could feel my cock against your sweetness.”
Aries shifts, ducking his head down until we’re nose to nose, “You need more reassurance? I could easily give it to you.” His fingers in my hair tighten, holding me in place.
There’s no way I could hide my reaction to him as my lips part. My fingers on his chest clench his shirt, grasping it tightly. “I don’t think I need any more reassurance.”
“You sure about that?” He chuckles, his lips brushing mine as he does so.
“I’m sure.” I try to pull back a bit, but he doesn’t let me move.
“Aries, is that you,” a woman squeals, interrupting the moment.
“Fuck.” Aries growls, lifting his head but he doesn’t release me.
“Oh my God,” the woman squeals again over the music. She rushes in our direction, and throws herself at Aries, knocking me out of the way. “I’ve missed you, baby.”
Baby?
“Tara.” Aries snarls and shoves the woman back, only for her to curl back into him.
“You haven’t been to the club lately, and I’ve been looking for you.”
“Been busy,” he says, once again shoving her back. I start to turn, but he pulls me back into his front, securing me to him. From the tension I can feel in his tightening body, he’s pissed. “Trying to spend time with my ol’ lady, Tara, you need to move the fuck on.”
Ol’ Lady? Did he really call me that?
“Ol’ lady? Since when?” Tara scoffs. “You didn’t have one a month ago when you were fucking me in the back office of the strip club.”
No way she just said that.
“Tara, I suggest you back the fuck off,” Aries warns.
Tara shoots a glare at me and curls her lip as she addresses him again. “I don’t know what’s so special about her. She looks like a rundown rat if you ask me.”
Did she just call me a rundown rat?
“Are you kidding me right now?” It was me that asks her, shifting in front of Aries to face Tara. “Did you really just call me a rundown rat?”
“I just call ‘em as I seem ‘em.” She sneers. “What are you going to do about it?”
“Scamp, leave it be,” Aries growls, a warning in my ear.
“No way, Aries, this bitch wants to call names, then she can take it, considering she’s trying to get your dick like a skanky, bimboing, bumbling hoe that needs her twat checked.” I glance at him over my shoulder, “I hope you’ve had a checkup because you definitely aren’t fuckin’ me if you haven’t.”
“You little bitch.” Tara snarls and draws her hand back, ready to slap me. Only Aries grips her wrists.
“I suggest you get the fuck away from me and my ol’ lady before you get yourself banned from here and the club.”
Aries uses her wrist to shove her back slightly as he moves in front of me. Letting her go, he turns fully to me, eyes glowing with lust as he jerks me to him. “You just earned yourself one hell of a spanking.”