Chapter 4

Angelique hadto tighten the corset, but her affirming comments made me feel even better about my choice to change outfits.

“You’re going on stage or participating in our raffle tonight?” Kiki, another girl working tonight, asks.

I see her in the reflection of one of the floor-length mirrors as Angelique is fixing the back of my mask. She said she wanted to blend the ties with my curled hair, so I’m letting her work her magic.

“I didn’t know there was a raffle tonight,” I answer. Angelique nods as she finishes her work and pats the crown of my head. I turn to thank her before looking at Kiki, whose brunette hair is swaying with her movements as she fixes her dress.

“Mhm,” she starts. “It happens every quarter. I thought you knew.”

I knew Black Silk operated a raffle every quarter, but I didn’t think it was tonight. That’s how I met Reeve. Well, not exactly. He was here for the raffle, dragged and vetoed by another veteran member, and then we met as I was serving him drinks. He was just looking and not participating, and that’s how we struck up a conversation for the rest of the night.

I’ve yet to participate in any of the raffles. They’re not too out there with what they entail. We don’t fixate too much on the Dominant and Submissive roles between members and workers for the raffles. River likes focusing more on exploring your sexual desires and deepest secrets. It’s supposed to be a fun time for both the members and workers.

It’s definitely what sets us apart from other clubs.

We have our set rates for different rooms, and if the girl wants to request more while she’s working, then she can. Even at the annual auction, the bids start off however much the girl wants, and then the members can bid for more. River is very pro-know-your-worth.

As a cocktail waitress, I can’t really complain that I’m not getting my fair share of money. I’ve made plenty of tips from just walking around the club offering drinks and water.

“I guess I forgot that River mentioned it,” I respond.

Kiki’s golden sheer dress shines underneath the lights in the lounge as she rounds the corner of the center table to head out to the main floor.

“See you out there,” Kiki calls. Angelique is fixing the pieces of hair that frame her face before she follows Kiki.

I’m the last one here, and I look once more at the surrounding mirrors. I take a deep breath and watch the girl in the mirror straighten her posture and puff out her chest a little. A flash of something glittery catches my attention from the center table. It’s a purple garter with silver glitter. It’ll match the corset perfectly.

Another thought of a possible someone catching it with his teeth and pulling it down my body causes an unsolicited moan to leave my lips.

No, Rosalía. Stop, stop, stop?—

Before another voice of reason can stop me, I snatch the garter off the counter and slip it over my thigh. It’s tight, but the way the light catches each fleck of glitter makes me warm inside. Like a flutter of butterflies at the pit of my belly. And even lower. An ache between my legs.

I’mon the main floor, where I catch the bartender’s eyes, who seems to be calling me over. We usually have two bartenders down here, but there seems to be only one tonight.

Once I reach the counter of the bar, Evan smiles at me. His bright, green eyes are illuminated with the white mask surrounding the top of his face. He’s not wearing a mask covering his whole face tonight, which isn’t too rare in the bartender”s case. The girls are strictly told to wear masks covering most of our faces, eyes, and noses until we get to the private rooms, where we can choose to take them off.

“You’ve got a few orders,” he states with a sing-song voice and nods his head toward the counter where drinks are waiting to be sent to members. I look behind me quickly to see the place starting to get busier by the minute.

Girls are already walking with their chosen club members to various hidden hallways that lead to private rooms. Each hallway is designated for a particular kink that glows the color of the flowers.

“Thanks, E,” I say before grabbing as many of the drinks as I can. They have little umbrella toothpicks in each one with a faint number to tell me which seat it’s for. Just something Evan and I started doing once I started as his drink runner. It got too confusing the busier we got throughout the night, so one day, we came up with this system.

I head to seat 24 and hand the whiskey on the rocks to the member whose eyes are set on Angelique. I make sure to glance at his wrist for the silver vine bracelet.

Angelique’s dance on stage is hypnotizing, and her hips sway to the music. The guy thanks me before giving me a once-over and then takes a sip of the drink. I give him a slight nod before heading to the next two seats who ordered water.

By the time I’m back at the bar, Evan has one more drink ready for me. It’s a snakebite shot, and I visibly shudder.

“Who the hell ordered this?” I ask Evan, lifting the shot glass toward him as he shakes another order midair.

He shrugs. “No idea, but his voice was very husky, and I almost proposed right there.”

I laugh. “You didn’t get his name?”

“No, I want you to do that,” he winks, and I almost miss it. I give him a look before spinning on my heels and almost bump into someone. The shot almost gets dumped on the nice suit in the process, but I stabilize myself just in time.

“Sorry, sir!” I apologize quickly and look up to meet familiar bright blue eyes. The smile he dons is memorable and there’s no mistaking it’s Reeve Preston. I could spot him miles away, even with his mask on.

His build is wide, his height almost six-five, and although things ended between us, there was no denying the way he still made me feel.

“Rosalía, I didn’t know you were working tonight.” His voice drags into more of a whispered question, and I nod. I’m glad he’s whispering my real name since I tend to go by a nickname for privacy and security with new members I don’t trust yet. I trust Reeve, though, wholeheartedly.

“Didn’t think you’d be stopping by tonight, Reeve,” I respond, sidestepping him for a moment before he catches my elbow softly. His hand is calloused, and his fingers are long enough to wrap around my arm easily.

“Me either. Surprised to see you working tonight. Are you doing the raffle this time?”

Memories of meeting him the last time we had a raffle flood my mind, and I shake my head. “Nope, still not doing it. Are you planning to participate?”

He nods. “Yep. Thought it’d be a nice change. If you were part of the raffle, I’d wish on the luckiest star I got chosen.”

I give him the best smile. “That’s sweet, but that won’t be happening. Maybe in the future.”

We stood there idly, and I could feel the slight increase of awkward tension. The snakebite in my hand seems to be getting warmer by the second, and I don’t want to keep the member waiting.

I lift the glass and gesture toward the main floor. “I’ve gotta–”

“Right.” He smiles. “It was nice seeing you again. Maybe we can–”

Before he can finish, Evan whistles at me and flicks his hand toward the floor. The drink. Right.

“Maybe,” I whisper before giving Reeve one last look. He looks handsome tonight in his suit, but like I realized not so long ago… There wasn’t more to it for me.

I didn’t come to New York to be stuck in the same predicament that I was in with Garrett.

I wanted more, and I deserved more.

As I head toward seat 13, my eyes glance around the club. More girls came for their shift to help with the increased clientele tonight for the raffle. About forty girls work either in the raffle, on the floor, or in the rooms.

The member waiting on his snakebite is staring at the stage, his back to me. His shoulders are broad, and the dress shirt is dark against the bright purple lights above. His brunette hair is swept in gorgeous waves, and I watch slowly as he lifts a hand to run through it. That’s when I notice the dress shirt sleeve rolled up, showcasing delicious muscles and veins.

I swallow, unsure why this is happening. I need to get laid.

I also notice that he’s wearing a silver vine bracelet.

“Here’s your snakebite, sir,” I announce as I round his chair. His thighs are thick as ever, and an image of me attempting to climb him comes to the forefront of my mind.

I blame seeing Reeve. And Frankie, no doubt. Those encounters are turning my mind to mush and making me want some kind of release.

You just want to let go—tonight. The devil practically screams in my left ear.

The man turns his head and watches me slowly as I bend at the waist and bring the shot up close to him. Fuck, he’s handsome. He’s got a growing beard that looks like it’d do some damage in between my legs.

He leans forward, causing his knee to bump into mine. A noise escapes my lips, and he grabs the shot, engulfing my hand in the process.

Calloused, large hands that feel like heaven. He pulls the shot out of my hand, and I have to remember how to use my limbs, making him almost pull me down onto him in the process.

“Easy there, ángel,” he mutters under his breath. It’s husky, with a hint of an accent.

Evan was right.

“I’m fine,” I answer, pulling my hand to my side and straightening my posture. The lights overhead are spotlights and move away from above him to shine directly over me. I squint a little until they move back to another part of the club.

His eyes are on mine, gliding over my body. But not in an uncomfortable way. It’s a slow drag of his irises from top to bottom before settling on my face again. Everything in me heats up.

All this for a man in a damn mask.

My fingers find the garter for a moment and play with it, making his eyes follow along. That’s when he adjusts his position on the leather chair. I can’t help but focus on his midsection, then lower. And lower. To his crotch. My eyes widen, watching for a moment before I glance back up to his face.

You know when guys wear sweatpants, and you just know they’re big? Well, you can tell in dress pants as well. And with the way he’s sitting, I can see the perfect outline of his crotch against the fabric. I can’t imagine how big he’d really be if he’s aroused.

Stop thinking about a member’s cock size, Rosa.

I mumble nonsense under my breath before taking a step back. He pulls the shot to his lips before throwing his head back and taking it. He doesn’t wince at all from the bitter whiskey.

“I can take that if you’re done,” I say quickly, reaching my hand out.

His eyes stay on mine as he presses the shot glass into my palm. “Thank you, ángel.”

My ovaries are not doing well with this man and his husky voice calling me angel. I give him a nod before making my way back to the bar as quickly as I can. I slump into a barstool and let out a heavy sigh.

Evan is talking to another girl before heading back to me. He taps the counter, and I give him a side-eye.

“I’m guessing you didn’t get his name?”

I shake my head. “He called me angel.”

“What?”

I nod. “In Spanish.”

Evan smirks and leans over to pat my arm. “You should ask him if he’s willing to get a room.”

“What?!” My eyes almost bug out of their sockets. “Evan!”

“I’m just kidding, Rosemary,” he calls me by my club nickname before continuing. “Take your time! The members will always be here. Well, I hope that one is.”

“Who knows,” I say with a shrug.

I glance over my shoulder to where the mystery Snakebite member is. He’s not in his seat anymore, but it’s not like anyone can take it for themselves. You’re given a specific seat anytime you come to the club, so he’s lucky number 13 for the remainder of the night.

“Earth to Rosemary,” Evan calls out, snapping his fingers near my ear. I whip my head back to him, and I stick my tongue out.

“He can’t tonight. He ordered liquor, remember?”

He laughs. “I’m still shocked you’re not participating in the raffle tonight even if he isn’t.”

“I don’t feel—” I try to say, but he lifts a finger to hush me. It also seems to hush the nagging thoughts of what I’m scared to admit is happening to me.

The more these thoughts grow, the less I feel like the confident and secure Rosalía that could push them away. It’s all so new that I don’t even know how to navigate what’s going on.

“Do I need to pull you away and talk? I don’t want to see any of my work friends struggling with something that can lead to something serious.”

My lips twitch into a smile, but it’s forced. “I’m fine, E. Really. It’s nothing to worry about. I’m just bloated, that’s all.”

“I’m always here if you need to talk.” He reminds me.

The truth is at the tip of my tongue, almost turning sour where I want to spit it out. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I want to talk about it. I almost did with Clementine this weekend.

I think I have an eating disorder. Crazy, right?

But I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s vacation. I wanted to hint it to Frankie even, see what he thought. I felt like I could talk to him even more than my own best friend or father.

My thoughts seem to drift more toward him, and I sigh. Evan is still watching me before he pats my hand and then heads to work on more drinks.

I swivel on the barstool to watch the club. The raffle is about to start at the stroke of midnight. I glance at seat 13 once more, and he’s back. As if he can feel my stare, he turns his head slowly and I hop off the barstool to head to another section.

Fuck, I need to stop staring. And the only way is to get out of his line of sight.

The voice of a girl who usually sets up the stage for events like this fills the speakers around the club, and she takes center stage to start the raffle. I sulk in a dark corner and stand to watch the night unfold.