Chapter Six

Adira took a deep breath and straightened her black dress. It wasn't high fashion, but it should work. Hopefully. A few minutes before five, she slipped inside the club and moved into the shadows. The lights were dimmed, allowing the flickering LED candles to barely break through the shadows. Music pumped through speakers. The stage had two arms extended, with a pole on each side. A stripper was on each one, both wearing G-string panties and nipple tassels, doing all sorts of acrobats on the poles.

She wasn't a prude. In fact, she practiced self-gratification whenever she had the urge and even watched a porno once. She always wondered why women were maligned because they chose to have sex while the men who watched or paid for it had no such stigma. The tables on the floor were packed, as were the chairs lining the stages. Dollar bills were held up, hoping to tempt the dancers to move closer. Everything she imagined a seedy strip joint to be was exactly what she saw.

The bar ran along the right of the club, and two bartenders were kept hopping with customers as well as the orders from servers. Off to the left-hand side she noticed the VIP section. A small divider placed between each alcove offered a semblance of privacy with a comfy lounger. A server walked between them, placing drink orders on a tablet. A few of the men had a private dancer, and watched the women, with their dicks in hand. Her attention was snagged by the penises she saw. She'd never seen one in real life.

Maybe the old version of her would've been uncomfortable with the blatant show of sexuality surrounding her, but that was before she decided to leave her pious life behind. Before her eyes had been opened by hypocrisy.

She spotted Ares near the bar. His dark hair was short on the sides and taller up top. Tattoos lined both sides of his neck. Small plugs were in both earlobes. He was unlike any man she'd ever met. Captivating. Sexy. Hot. So different from her ex-fiancé. Abel had the All-American, boy-next-door looks she thought she liked. Yet, one look at Ares had changed her beliefs.

He talked with one of the bartenders, so she made her way toward him. He had wanted her to see if she could tolerate and accept this place, and as she drew closer, she made her decision. The bartender glanced over, giving a nod toward her with his chin as he murmured something to Ares. He spun, grinning when he saw her.

"You made it," he said.

"Yes."

Stepping closer to her, he folded his arms across his chest. "You haven't run yet."

"I'm not going to run," she said, a bit breathless from his nearness. That's what this man did to her. Robbed her of breath.

"Good," he murmured. "So, what do you think?"

"I think this place is pretty amazing."

One of his eyebrows shot up. "Not the response I expected, but am glad to hear. I take it you want the job?"

"I do," she said.

"Perfect." He held out his hand, and she glanced at it before placing hers in his. He threaded their fingers together. "Come, there's someone I want you to meet."

He pulled her along, toward the VIP section, up the stairs to the last partitioned alcove. The music wasn't quite as loud up here, much to her surprise. A man sat there, sprawled across the love seat with his legs splayed. He had his arms resting on the back, loosely holding a bottle of beer in one while he watched the dancers below. His sandy-blonde hair hung to his shoulders. A trimmed mustache and beard lined his strong jaw. Tattoos seemed to be on every available surface. Arms, hands, neck. He even had something tribal around his temple, disappearing into his hairline. She bet the rest of his body was covered. The movement of their arrival had his head snapping around. In the dim light, their gazes met. Everything came to a screeching halt as she found herself falling into the dark depths of his eyes.

"Hunter, I'd like you to meet Adira."

Hunter looked her up and down, and heat burned in every place his gaze touched upon. She flushed, a little confused. A little turned on. She thought only Ares had the ability to make her tremble, but the hungry look burning in Hunter's eyes proved otherwise.

"This gruff man, sweetheart, is my partner in crime, Hunter Rion."

Hunter stood and held out his hand for hers. She looked at Ares, not sure what to do, and he placed the hand he held in Hunter's. Gently, he tugged her to his side, tilting his head as he studied her. The moment stretched endless as he stared into her eyes.

"No need to be scared," he murmured, brushing some hair behind her ear.

"I-I'm not."

He chuckled. "Little liar."

She shook her head. "I'm not lying. I'm not scared. I'm … confused."

"About what?"

She looked between the two men. So alike, and yet so different, but both stared at her with a hunger burning in their eyes. It shocked her to realize she found Ares and Hunter equally attractive, and remembered a video featuring two men and a woman. At the time, she refused to admit it intrigued her. Maybe it was time to acknowledge her own sexuality might be more than vanilla.

"What are you thinking about, baby girl?" Hunter asked. He ran a finger softly across her cheek.

That she didn't want to answer, so she deflected. "What do you want from me?"

Hunter and Ares looked at one another and she had the feeling they were mentally talking to each other. Then they seemed to come to some type of agreement as a unit and turned to face her.

"Come, sit," Hunter said, scooting over to give her room. Tugging on her hand until she had no choice but to obey.

Ares pulled a chair closer to her.

"Where are you from, baby girl?" Hunter asked.

"Um, Kansas," she replied. "My friend Livia is from Cardinal so when I needed to leave, I mean move, this is where I came."

"And why did you need to move?"

"I…" She trailed off, too embarrassed to answer. To explain she was a na?ve little fool.

Ares lifted her chin with his finger. "Are you going to answer Hunter?"

She cast her gaze downward in mortification. "I'd rather not. I just met you both."

"Look at me, sweetheart," Ares ordered, and she glanced back up. "Tell us."

Would she lose the job if she didn't? Why were they bugging her about her past? What good could it possibly do, what purpose could it serve? Her parents and ex-fiancé weren't who she thought they were.

"My father is a minister," she finally answered. "My mother is a Sunday school teacher. My fiancé was my father's successor, whenever he decided to retire."

Hunter tensed. "You're engaged?"

She shook her head. "Not anymore." She gave a self-deprecating snort of derision. "Not when I overheard my father encouraging Abel, my ex, to basically cheat on me because that's what he does with my mother."

"Oh, fuck," Ares muttered.

"Wait, it gets better. I went to tell my mother, and she told me I should be happy, that I wouldn't have to worry about a roof over my head if I had babies. She told me to turn a blind eye, much like she does, and to find pleasure with lovers. Again, like she does."

"That must have been painful to hear," Hunter consoled.

"It made me sick," she admitted. "Made me feel like an idiot. I don't understand how the people I've always looked up to, that I loved , could be so awful. I had to get away and Livia was the first person I thought of."

Hunter lifted her chin. "Listen to me. You are not an idiot. That rests solely on their shoulders."

"We know a thing or two about shitty parents," Ares added. "Hunter and I met in the foster care system. His parents had been meth heads. My parents forgot about me most of the time as they drank and gambled their way through life."

Compassion seared through her. Guess her lying parents were the lesser of three evils. She placed her hand over his.

"There are three types of people," she said. "The ones who put you in difficult times. The ones who leave you there. And the ones who help you rise above."

"Which one are you, Adira? Will you put us there, or help us out?"

She searched his face, trying to figure out what he's really asking. "I want to say I'd help, but I don't really know who I am anymore. Maybe I should be asking you."

Ares and Hunter shared another one of those looks. It made her almost believe they were speaking telepathically.

She cleared her throat. "I want this job for a couple of different reasons. One is that my parents would never think to look for me here."

"Why are you afraid your parents will try to find you?" Ares asked. "You're an adult. You can go anywhere you wish."

"I know," she replied. "But I don't want to talk to them until I get past my anger."

Hunter placed his big hand on her thigh. "What are the other reasons? Why are you really here?"

Confusion filled her. "I told you, I— "

"No," he interrupted. "I meant that you knew what this place was before you came in for a job. Why did you want to work here?"

She had no idea how to articulate her motives, so she sifted through her emotions. Pain. Betrayal. Frustration. She finally settled on resentment. "I was told to never drink. Never do drugs. Never date except if it was with a good man who respected me. Never have sex unless it was with my husband. Always be a good girl. And then I overhear my father tell the man I was engaged to marry to knock me up and then find a side piece. My fiancé, who was supposed to love me, called me a cold fish because I obeyed the rules. But I obeyed the rules for them! I was a good little girl when all along I was surrounded by assholes. They had the audacity to shove it down my throat when they were far from pious. Well, I'm done with being the good girl. Drinking. Drugs. Sex. If they can sin then so can I, and I plan to experience everything I shied away from."

Her chest heaved, the outpouring of emotions leaving her shaky. Her hatred was a poison, but she had no idea how to purge it all. Maybe she never would. All she knew was that she never wanted to see those people ever again.

"Then we'll help you," Hunter said. "We've been looking for a woman just like you. A woman we can share and have fun with."

Her gaze flew to his, and then over to Ares. "We?"

"We," Ares confirmed. "This isn't bullshit I'm serving you. I don't mix business with pleasure."

"I don't want you to break your own rule for me."

He cupped her face and ran a thumb over her bottom lip. "You don't understand. We want to help you fulfill all those things you said you wanted to do."

"But you just met me."

Ares smiled. "Would you feel better if we dated? Went to dinner? To the movies? Had a drink in a bar? Building up to eventually be in the same position we are now? Wasting a whole shit ton of time?"

Adira thought about Abel's courtship. How they did those exact things, except substitute bowling for a bar. She'd done all the things a proper woman should do, and look what it got her. A broken heart. Broken trust. Self-recrimination. Looking at Ares and Hunter, she made a decision.

"I don't want to live with more regrets."

Ares smiled. "Fuck, ya, you don't."

Then he slammed his mouth onto hers. She'd been kissed before, but nothing compared to the electricity that surged between them. He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips and as soon as she opened for him, the kiss deepened. She knotted her hands in his shirt, holding on tightly. He groaned low in his throat, trying to pull her closer. In that moment, no one else existed in the world, at least until Hunter touched her back. Locked between them, Hunter moved her hair to nibble on her shoulder. This was right where she wanted to be. Right where she felt wanted, and a sense of belonging. Never mind she just met these two men, or that she might be jumping into an out-of-control fire. It felt right, at least it felt right for now. She held no illusion that Ares and Hunter offered anything more than a good time, for however long the time lasted.

Ares broke the kiss, and Adira sucked in a ragged breath. Her gaze was heavy-lidded. The handsome man in front of her cupped her face, his thumb tracing her bottom lip before pushing the digit into her mouth.

"Suck it," he growled.

Her belly clenched, even as her core tightened with need. She liked the command. Liked being told what to do. She closed her lips around the finger and sucked it like a straw. Adira kept her gaze on him, watching to see if he wanted something else.

"When it's time, this is how I want you to suck my cock," he murmured.

Her eyes widened as her pussy clenched. No one had ever said something so blatantly sexual to her before, and it shocked her that she liked it. He eased his thumb out of her mouth, and a string of thick saliva accompanied it until the tension snapped.

He stood and pulled her up in the circle of his arms. Hunter joined them, sliding her backpack off and sandwiching her. His breath stirred the hair around her ear as his hand curved around her hip, sliding down the smooth lines of her dress until he reached the hem. Slowly pulling up the material until he could slip his fingers under the elastic of her panties to touch her slick folds. Gasping, she closed her eyes as a riot of emotions washed through her. Excitement. Lust. Hunger.

"Keep those pretty eyes on me," Ares ordered.

She snapped them open and stared into his as Hunter touched her clit, the sensation thrillingly odd. Her breath hitched in her throat, and her heart pounded in her chest unsure if it was pleasure or fear. These men were so far out of her league it made her head spin. What was a minister's daughter doing in a nest of vipers? What did they see in her?

"Are you a virgin?" Hunter whispered in her ear.

Her mouth bone dry, she nodded.

"Good."

She couldn't help the involuntary roll of her hips. Seeking what she didn't really know. It wasn't that she was ignorant of what happened between men and women. She'd read romance novels, always wondering what it would feel like to be possessed by a strong, powerful man, and now she knew. This was what she'd been missing with Abel. Raw, uninhibited desire that made her forget they were in a strip club. She wanted more. She wanted it all.

"I feel your innocence, baby girl," Hunter breathed in her ear. His touch ran along her opening. "Who do you want to take this cherry, hmm? Do you want Ares? Me? What if I broke your hymen now, with my fingers? Would you regret it? Wanna save it for your next fiancé?"

Her virginity was a symbol of the life she'd run from. Being a virgin was what her father sold, and it sickened her that she would've lived a lie if he'd had any say. She'd have married Abel and had his babies, thinking her husband was the best man in the world while he fucked around behind her back. Cheating. Lying. Making a fool out of her.

"Do it," she whispered, tensing. Nothing had ever been in her. Not a vibrator, or fingers, or even a tampon. She knew it was going to hurt.

He kissed the back of her head, and then pressed two fingers into her. Something tore and she tried rearing back to get away, but of course he was there. The burning, painful pinch chased away the pleasure. Hunter used his thumb to stimulate her clit, and little by little, the pain ebbed. Desire started to build again, and any uncomfortable pressure faded away.

"That's a good girl," he said softly. "Now, find what you need to do to get yourself off. Learn what stimulates your body."

Ares took hold of her hips and began to move her on Hunter's hand. She stared into his eyes as he taught her what to do. If this was the Devil taking her soul, she happily conceded it.

"That's right, baby girl," Hunter drawled. "Take anything you want. Make yourself come."

Ares leaned forward and captured her lips as one of his hands slid up to cup her breasts. He pinched the hardened bud of her nipple, and the quick bite of pain turned her on even more. Harder, unyielding, Hunter fucked her with his fingers. The tension in her body snapped and threw her over. A kaleidoscope of colors burst under her lids, and she shuddered between the men.

"Fuck, that's hot," Hunter said. "You're so damn receptive. So fucking beautiful when you come."

As the tremors leveled out, Ares pulled back from the kiss, giving her lips a little lick. Hunter's fingers retreated and when she glanced at them through lowered lashes, she saw blood on them. The evidence of her virginity. Her panties and dress slid back into place, as if nothing had happened.

Except it did.

"You've just been claimed, sweetheart," Ares told her. "You're ours now."

She didn't have to think about it, nodding her agreement. She was theirs.

For now.