19. Tease

Chapter 19

Tease

Titus

M ajestic spots me in the downstairs lounge of Opulence as soon as she leaves the VIP room she was in with a john. 1 She waves, her long, jeweled nails sparkling in the purple light. Excitement bubbles in my chest, giddiness even. No doubt she’s going to try to climb into my lap, maybe even make the same offer as last time. I lean back in my chair and spread my knees while making eye contact with her so she knows the invitation is open.

Her hips sway as she strides across the floor in high heels, her shoulders tall and proud. She’s truly mastered the art of seduction. It’s not over-the-top or try-hard. It’s a smooth, sexy kind of confidence that draws you in, making people ready to crawl on their hands and knees just to be near her, let alone with her.

But that’s not why I’m lighting up with eagerness.

Sinclair is sitting on a velvet settee with another working girl. They’ve been talking animatedly for at least half an hour. I hope she’s getting some good information, but I’m antsy for other reasons.

I crave her attention like a drug, and I need a fix.

Especially after she seemed almost excited about coming with me tonight . . .

“I knew you’d be back,” Majestic taunts as she gets closer. I force my gaze to stay on her even though all I want to do is see if Sinclair is looking.

I blatantly trail my eyes down her lingerie-clad body, which makes her wet her bottom lip, and smile. I don’t feel even a little bad for leading her on. I’ve done much worse for far less.

She bends over, popping her ass out, and puts her hands on the back of my chair. I tongue my molars with the hint of a cocky smirk when she leans in face-to-face.

“You don’t know why I came,” I counter.

Her eyes drop to my lap, and she looks back up at me through her lashes. “But I know why you’ll stay.”

“Hmm,” I say with a flirty sense of doubt, encouraging her to try to prove her point.

One of her arms slinks around my neck as she drops into my lap. I don’t hear what she says because I’m counting down in my head.

Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . I finally allow myself to glance toward Sinclair.

My stomach swoops as I find her intently watching my interaction with Majestic. Her face is cold, but her eyes are simmering. We lock gazes, then I slide my hand from the armrest onto Majestic’s thigh. Sinclair clocks the movement, and I catch the slightest twitch of her lip, as if fighting back a sneer.

My pulse picks up when Sinclair’s eyes narrow and her jaw ticks as Majestic leans in close to whisper something in my ear before trailing her lips down my neck.

Every little reaction is a hit, making me crave more and more, needing something stronger, harder .

I get exactly that when Majestic drags her hand across my chest and down my abs. Sinclair shoots to her feet and storms down the hall.

The alpha in me ignites. There are few things an alpha loves more than hunting down pretty prey.

“Sorry, Maj, you were wrong about tonight.” I pick her up and deposit her in my seat when I stand up to leave.

“You goddamn tease,” she scoffs playfully.

I head across the room, and she calls after me, “I hope she’s worth it.”

She definitely is .

It’s easy for me to follow Sinclair’s scent, even with the dozens of conflicting ones. My heartbeat steadily increases the deeper into the dark hallway I go. I’d be worried about losing sight of her in a place like this, but I know she can handle herself. Opulence is a picnic after the Doll House.

My skin starts tingling when I know I’m closing in. The curtain to the VIP room she must have dipped into is still slightly swaying.

Hand clutching the curtain, my heartbeat thunders wildly as I slowly pull it back. Her vivid blue eyes are the first thing I see. Even with the red glow from the lights in the room, they stand out like a laser sight locking onto a target.

Breathtaking.

Heart-stopping.

She’s standing in front of a dance pole set directly into the floor. Behind her there’s a V-shaped upholstered bench built into the corner of mirrored walls.

I step inside. “Omega.”

“Alpha.” She tries to drawl the word in the same bored tone she usually does, but instead it comes out sounding breathy, almost a question.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were jealous.” I take a step toward her in the center of the room.

She lifts her chin. “Good thing you know better.”

Another step.

“Hmm,” I muse, unconvinced, with another foot forward. She backs up into the pole.

Even though there’s less than two feet between us, I still take another step. Her breath hitches, spine flattening along the pole.

She has to tilt her head back as I peer down at her. Her tongue flicks out to brush along her bottom lip as she watches me swallow deeply, full of hunger. My body hums being this close to her, so close to having her.

As if thinking the same thing, she reminds me of a fact I couldn’t possibly forget. “You can’t touch me.” Her voice is a mix of desire and relief, light and husky at the same time.

My gaze blazes a path from her eyes to her breasts and back up. Cocking my head to the side, I admit, “Oh, there are so many things I want to do to you other than just touch.”

Her lips part and heat sinks into her gaze, like she wants to descend into hell with me.

It feels like time slows down as I raise my hand and carefully brush her hair off her shoulder, being cautious not to touch her skin.

She sucks in a breath.

My own lungs seize.

My fingers itch to wrap the silky strands in my fist, to pull her neck back and lick a path up the column of her neck. My body burns for so much more than this featherlight touch.

She could bring me to ashes.

Giving in, I twist a lock around two of my fingers and—

The vibrations of the phone in my pocket shatter the spell. I clear my throat and step back as if just realizing where I am and pick up the call.

“Hey.” My voice is gruff and thick.

Bishop’s on the other line. His direct tone immediately puts me on guard. “Yo, I don’t know what’s going on, but security personnel are swarming this place.”

“What do you mean?” At the stress in my voice, Sinclair gives me a worried look.

“ I don’t know ,” Bishop says, agitated, and I know it’s not at me, but the situation. “They won’t tell us anything, just—just stay there, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” I say without hesitation.

“I’ll let you know as soon as we know anything,” he promises, then hangs up.

Immediately, Sinclair asks, “What’s wrong?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know, but we’re not going home.”

“There’s only one bed,” Sinclair says when we walk into the staff room.

“Yep,” I say flatly, feeling all sorts of off-balance after Bishop’s call interrupted us right before . . . Right before what ?

What would have happened? What even could happen? Nothing. I still don’t have permission to touch her, and that wasn’t going to magically change.

Sinclair seems equally thrown off. She can’t look me in the eye, and now this comment about the bed.

“Is there not a room with two beds?” She almost sounds a little panicked.

“It’s a brothel, not a hotel. I doubt they have much use for separate beds,” I snip.

“Yeah. Right.” She sighs and sits on the corner of the mattress.

I flop down in a chair opposite her. “If it wasn’t the weekend, there would probably be another staff room open.”

“Hmm,” she hums in acknowledgment, followed by awkward silence.

I’m not one to have a problem with silence, never the first one to break it, but for some reason, right now, it’s making me want to crawl out of my skin. So, I say the first idiotic that pops into my head.

“You know, I was in this very room when you video called me from Ecker’s phone.”

“Oh?” She looks at me from the corner of her eyes, like she feels guilty but is trying to play it cool.

“Yeah, I was sitting right where you are.”

Her cheeks pinken, and I know I’m either going to love or hate whatever she says next.

1. “One Of The Girls” (with JENNIE, Lily-Rose Depp) by The Weeknd, JENNIE, Lily-Rose Depp