16. Grace

Chapter sixteen

Grace

T he car was practically buzzing with energy by the time we reached the club, Anders coming to a halt in front of the valet stand. Erik was exuding a near-manic level of excitement as he jumped out of the car, striding up to the bouncer immediately. Jesse helped me out of the backseat, leading me toward Erik with his hand on my waist. There was a huge line of people waiting to get in, but Erik had bypassed all of them and was busy chatting it up with the bouncer holding a tablet. I felt several pairs of eyes on me, including the bouncer's, who studied me with an appraising look as Erik grinned, slipping him a couple of hundred dollar bills.

"Alright, you four," he muttered, gesturing for us to go inside. Erik smirked and patted the guy's shoulder, leading us into the club. It was packed tonight, and the noise hit me like a slap, the bass reverberating through the walls, making my ribs shake. He pulled us over to the bar, signing quickly to the group.

"Levy, Jesse, with me," Erik announced, then his eyes zeroed in on me. "You have fun, Angel, I've got to take care of something really quick." His eyes glinted with mischief before he turned and headed toward the far wall, where another bouncer stood, guarding a nondescript door. I glanced behind me to see what Anders planned to do, but he must've slipped off into the crowd, leaving me all alone. My nerves prickled, and the confidence Erik had imbued with his presence faded quickly as I considered my options. I approached the bar slowly, but paused when I realized that I didn't have money to pay for a drink.

"What can I get you?" someone asked from behind me, making me jump. I turned to find a handsome man looking down at me, a predatory gleam in his eye. Well, at least, I could get a drink this way.

"Gin," I smiled at him, and he slid his arm around my waist, leading me toward the bar. His arm stayed in place as he ordered, keeping me at his side. I glanced around, trying to spot one of the men I came with, but they all vanished into thin air it seemed.

"Here you go, baby." The man grinned, passing me my drink. I took it and gave him my best attempt at a sultry smile, downing the gin in one shot. His eyes widened in surprise, and I felt a tendril of that confidence return as the burn of liquid courage blazed its way down my throat.

"Dance with me?" I asked, and he nodded, finishing his drink just as quickly. I took his hand and pulled him to the dancefloor, feeling the alcohol spread through my limbs, making me warm and loose. I led him into the crowd until I found a spot where the music blocked out any other noise. Dropping his hand, I started swaying my hips as I found my rhythm. I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt this in charge of my own life. It was a heady feeling, and I could definitely get used to it.

Hands found my waist, my drunk friend gaining some confidence of his own as he pressed up against my back, his hips grinding against mine as I swayed to the music. I wasn't scared of him, not here, in front of all these people. If I needed to, I could daze him enough to slip loose and disappear into the crowd. For now, I let his hands rest on my waist, closing my eyes and losing myself in the bass thrumming in my chest.

A vision flashed through my mind of me with devil horns and a naughty smile on my face. My eyes shot open, and I glanced around, looking for Jesse in the crowd. Another image popped up of me thrown over Anders knee as he spanked me, my dress hiked up to reveal my bare ass. I felt heat rush to my cheeks and lifted my chin, daring them to come over and do something about it. They'd abandoned me first, after all.

Like a demon with his name invoked, Anders materialized in the crowd in front of me. His golden eyes were calculating as he studied me, and I leaned back into the stranger, giving Anders a little smirk. I continued to sway my hips, leaning my head back against my dance partner's chest. This new boldness was a dangerous lure. I'd been given a tiny bit of freedom, and now my body craved more.

My drunk friend was gripping my hips as he pressed his body against mine. He was also getting bolder, and his hands began to drift up toward my breasts. Just as I was about to give him a warning elbow, his hands dropped off my body completely, leaving me adrift on the dance floor. I caught Anders triumphant smirk before he vanished once more into the throng of dancers. Someone grabbed my wrist and spun me around, catching me as I stumbled. I had to crane my neck to meet Jesse's gray eyes as he pulled me close, taking over for my missing dance partner.

What had he done with the other guy? I tried to glance behind Jesse to see if he was just sprawled out on the ground or something, but Jesse caught my chin, dragging it back so I was forced to look up at him.

He tapped my nose with his finger before wiggling it in front of my face. A dark smirk played on his lips, and I resisted the urge to bite his finger. Only someone who looked like a Norse god of surfing could get away with a move like that, making it more teasing than condescending. The hand on my wrist tightened slightly, and Jesse led me off the dancefloor, pulling me toward the door that Erik had disappeared through. He jerked his chin at the bouncer, who nodded and let us inside, leaving me perplexed.

We entered an empty hallway, leading to another door at the far end. My footsteps slowed, my confidence quickly waning in this creepy place. Jesse felt my resistance and turned, arching an eyebrow at me. "What's down there?" I pointed at the door, and he grinned, backing me up into the wall. He sent me a vision of Erik playing poker, and I relaxed a little—at least, until he started tugging at my hair, pulling out the elastic so it fell in messy curls around my face.

I raked a hand through it brusquely, huffing in annoyance. "What are you doing?" I asked, catching his wrist before he could ruffle my hair any further. His smile was devastating, he was so pretty it made my heart hurt a little just to look at him. He got an errant curl with his free hand and tucked it behind my ear, as he caught his bottom lip between his teeth, dimples flashing at me. All rational thought fled my brain at that moment, helped, I was sure, by the shot of gin from earlier. Standing on my tiptoes, I leaned forward and crashed my lips against his. I felt him stiffen against me, and I pulled back immediately, feeling like an idiot.

Cheeks burning red, I opened my mouth to apologize for attacking his face like that. But Jesse captured my lips with his, stealing the words off my tongue.

He had sinfully soft lips, and I wanted to sink into them forever. Jesse tilted my chin up delicately, his tongue tracing the seam of my lips. I parted them obediently, and he deepened the kiss, his hand sinking into my hair and holding me tight. Jesse stole my breath away, his tongue twining with mine. I realized with a jolt that he also had a tongue piercing as my tongue bumped against something small and round on his. His knee slid between my thighs, pressing me flush with the wall. I was completely at his mercy, and I moaned into his mouth as he pushed his thigh against my core.

"This doesn't look like much of a punishment to me," Anders mused, and I yelped in surprise, pulling away from Jesse to see him standing not two feet away, holding two glasses in his hands. Jesse wasn't deterred, his mouth shifting to my neck instead, trailing hot kisses across my skin. I whimpered as he latched onto a sensitive patch of skin under my ear, nipping at it with his teeth. "Jesse has always had a skewed view of punishments though." He sighed.

"Y-you left me," I mumbled, my hips rocking against Jesse's thigh as he pressed it flush between my legs, rubbing it against my clit.

"So you find the first man you can and let him touch you?" Anders replied sharply, his eyes glinting as he watched Jesse's hands catch me around my ribcage, his thumbs skirting the undersides of my breasts. Fuck, it was hard to have a conversation while this was happening. I swallowed, my eyes half-lidded as I blushed under Anders's gaze.

"I ha-had no money. He bought me a drink and kept me entertained while I w-waited for you- ah!" I squirmed as Jesse's teeth grazed my collar bone, desire building in my core as his thumbs teased my nipples through my bra.

"If you need money, you ask us. You want a drink? The bartenders will give you whatever you want, no charge. You want hands on your body, we'll take care of that too." He stepped closer, getting the full view of Jesse pulling my dress and my bra to the side, freeing my breast. His tongue swirled around my nipple before he sealed his lips around it, sucking it into his mouth. I gasped, my head tilting back against the wall.

"There is only one rule, Kitten. No one touches you but us, do you understand?" Anders growled, and I bit my lip to keep from moaning as Jesse's teeth grazed my sensitive nipple. He was so close to us now, Jesse's hair was brushing his neck. I opened my eyes to see him staring directly at me, eyes meeting mine for several seconds before dropping to watch Jesse.

"I- ah - I understand!" I gasped, rocking my hips against Jesse's thigh.

"Good. Now it's time to get to work," he announced, clapping Jesse on the shoulder. Immediately, Jesse's head popped up, and he was tucking my breast back into my dress, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. He pulled away from me, and I almost cried out at the loss of him against me, now desperately hot and wanting. So this was the punishment part, he got me all worked up only to leave me hanging. My eyes narrowed at them both, my cheeks flushed with a heady mix of anger and lust.

"Erik needs you," Anders explained, handing me one of the glasses he was holding. "You're his good luck charm tonight."

I blinked in confusion, looking down at the glass. "I don't understand. Why would he need a good luck charm?" I frowned, and he smirked.

"Just follow Jesse and do as you're told. In that room, you're just a pretty bauble to them. Don't let on that you're anything more than that, got it?" he told me sharply. Jesse caught my free hand, smiling as he tugged me toward the door at the end of the hall. Anders stood, watching us leave, sipping his own drink.

Jesse pressed a kiss to my forehead as he opened the door, giving me a little push so I stumbled inside, the door slamming shut behind me. I flushed scarlet as I looked around the room, noticing all of the eyes on me. There was a poker table set up in the middle of the room, with six seats around it, and one oddly official-looking dealer at the head. None of these men were ones I'd want to get to know. They all looked varying shades of murderous and, currently, that deadly intent was focused on me.

"Getting lonely babe?" Erik's voice drew me like a thirsty man to a fountain, and I found him on the far end of the table, smirking and leaning back in his chair. I nodded like a meek little girlfriend, my bottom lip popping out as I mimicked the girls who would hang off of my brother. "Come here then." He patted his thigh, and I bit the inside of my cheek as I crossed the room to him, letting my hips sway and trying to avoid the glances of the other men. Their eyes crawled over me as I stopped beside Erik's chair, making me shiver. Erik caught my wrist and pulled me down onto his lap, nearly causing me to spill my drink. "That's a good girl. I was just saying that I needed my good luck charm." He smirked, his hand sliding up my thigh.

"You need to shut the fuck up and play the fucking game already," one of the other men snarled, making me flinch. The tension in here was palpable. While I didn't know much about poker, Erik's tiny pile of chips didn't seem like a good sign compared to the other men's piles.

"I guess they want me to hurry up and lose already." Erik grinned, his hand sliding underneath my dress. "But I told them it's just a game, and they should relax. " He winked at me, and my breath hitched as his thumb stroked the damp fabric of my panties. Oh, okay, I saw the game plan now. I leaned into his chest, my free hand stroking an errant strand of hair out of his face as I let a little bit of my light out, bathing the table in a soft glow. The tension immediately evaporated, and Erik's grin notched brighter. He gave my thigh another squeeze and heaved a dramatic sigh.

"Alright Angel, be a good girl and go and sit over there in that chair, I'll be out of here soon enough, I expect." He smirked and helped me to my feet, smacking my ass playfully as I stumbled toward the empty chair he'd pointed to. I sat down daintily, tucking my feet under the chair and taking a sip of my mystery drink, which turned out to be gin. Of course it was, it seemed like Anders knew me better than I knew myself at this point.