AX (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 10) Read online

  When she had gotten home that evening after her make-over, she had opened up all the curtains and turned on all the lights and looked around her home. She may have been an exotic performer, but she earned damn good money, and she had bought and renovated the house all on her own, and for that, she was proud. It had been a couple of years since she had decorated, and she knew that to fully banish the thoughts of Jack and his presence from her home, she would have to give the place a make-over too.

  She had worked tirelessly over the past two months to make that a reality, she had stayed up long hours after her night shifts had finished and spent it with a roller in her hand, painting over each and every wall. She had ripped down the old dusty curtains, and replaced them all, she had thrown out all of her old magazines, clothes and shoes, and anything else she had mindlessly collected since she had moved in. She had rearranged the furniture and made use of the angles of the room, and she had bought as many plants as she could find to make the space feel fresh and alive. And by the time she had finished, she could barely even remember who Jack was, let alone care. And it felt amazing.

  Jill was back and she had given herself and her home a new lease of life. And what made it so great was that she had done it all on her own.

  “Hey girl,” Star said as the door to the changing room bounced open and snapped Jill out of her daydream.

  “Hey,” Jill smiled as she turned to face her friend.

  Star was tall and lean, all platinum blonde hair with a tiny waist and huge boobs. She was wearing low cut jeans and a pink t-shirt which showed off how toned and muscular her abs were, and Jill always marveled at how she was so disciplined when it came to keeping her body so perfectly sculpted.

  “It’s heaving out there,” Star said. “And the crowd looks wild. What time are you heading out?”

  “I’m starting on the stage in half an hour,” Jill said with a pout.

  She didn’t mind the club being busy, in fact, it usually made her even more excited to get up there and do her thing, and she felt a rush of adrenaline.

  “What about you?” Jill turned back to the mirror and began to slick on another coat of her mascara.

  “I’m not on stage until midnight,” Star said. “But I’m going out there as soon as I’m changed.”

  The girls usually could do their own thing. The bikers that owned the club knew them well and trusted them to make the place a success. The place itself had been overhauled over the past year and a half. A lot of crazy things had gone down, and there had been a lot of changes. The girls knew how to keep a lot of secrets close to their chest when it came to the inner workings of the strip club, and they had seen many things go on behind closed doors. But because of their loyalty and commitment, they had slowly become a part of the Forsaken Rider’s family. And even though Jill had always tried to keep the biker lifestyle at arm’s length, there were times when she found herself becoming intrigued by it all.

  She rose to her feet and cocked up her leg as she slipped her little feet into a high pair of black, patent stilettos. They looked razor sharp, as if they could do some serious damage, and that was just the way Jill liked it. She swept her hair up and around onto one shoulder and adjusted her lacey bra and panties that she was hiding underneath her black silk robe.

  “Which costume do you reckon?” she asked Star playfully.

  “None of them, they’re all hideous,” Star laughed.

  And Jill had to admit she was right. But it was Saturday night, and if there was one thing Jill knew about the men of Slate Springs and the rest of the clientele that passed through on a weekend, it was that they wanted a bit of fantasy when it came to the stage performances. She could be the girl next door when she was walking around and chatting to them later, making them feel at ease and getting them to spend plenty of money on drinks.

  “Why not go for the nun?” Star laughed as she pulled her t-shirt off over her head and started to unbutton her jeans. “Then they’ll really love it when you reveal that little lacey number underneath.”

  Jill thought on it for a moment, but she wasn’t in the nun kind of mood. Plus, it felt like too much of an obvious play.

  She stood and looked at the rack of clothes in front of her. She had worn each and every one of the tacky costumes, and she really didn’t want to go back for more.

  “Maybe I won’t wear one at all, like you said…” she mused as she bit her bottom lip. “What’s sexier than a woman in a silk robe and a tiny sheer set of underwear?”

  Star smiled and nodded.

  “Put on the pearls,” she said. “And the long silk gloves.”

  Star raced over to the dressing table and opened the drawers, she rooted around in them and pulled them free.

  “Here you go,” she grinned.

  “A proper striptease,” Jill said knowingly as she started to slip her long, slender fingers into the gloves and roll them up her arms to just above the elbows.

  “Exactly,” Star agreed. “It’s about time this place moved away from the obvious.”

  “Do you think the boys will mind?” Jill asked, thinking of the bikers who would no doubt be in there, watching and waiting. Even though they hired big, burly men to work the doors of the club, there was always a Forsaken Rider present. Especially after what had happened over a year before when a rival gang, The Iron Riders, had stormed the place and one of the Forsaken had been killed. Back then, the strip club had been called Red X and had been run by a pervy guy called Marv. But after a lot of bad blood between the two clubs had gotten out of control, The Iron Riders had attacked at dawn and Tanner, one of the most well-loved members of The Forsaken Riders had been killed, along with Marv. It had been a dark time, and Jill remembered it all. When the place had closed, she had been given paid leave whilst the bikers sorted everything out. And when it reopened months later with a new look and a new name, Jill had been one of the girls to bring it back to life.

  The history and legacy of The Forsaken Riders was embedded in Slate Springs, and even though she only existed on the periphery of their world and did her best to not find herself caught up in anything dangerous, she did consider the men who came to the club and the ones that she worked with a part of her life, and she cherished them all.

  “Well, if they do,” Star began to answer her question, “I guess you’ll know about it soon enough.”

  Jill smirked and nodded. It had been a while since she had been told off by one of the bikers, and although she did her best to make sure it never happened, sometimes it was unavoidable. But she knew her creativity and courage usually paid off, so she wasn’t about to change her mind now that she had it made up. She wasn’t wearing a tacky costume and that was the end of it. She was going to go with her gut and try something new.

  “You look like an old movie star,” Star said. “I like it. And I’m sure the panting, boozy men will love it too. They’ll be hurling money at you the second you set foot up there.”

  “That’s what I like to hear,” Jill laughed. “All this redecorating has really put a dent in my bank balance.”

  “I bet,” Star smiled.

  The room fell quiet as they both began to finish up the last bits of their preening before they braved the club floor. Jill always preferred to be up on stage, but for some reason, this night was a little different and she just wanted to have a good conversation and not throw herself around. But she was in the wrong career for that. Especially on a Saturday night.

  “How are you feeling now, after everything?” Star asked.

  She hadn’t asked Jill much about what had happened with Jack, but she knew that, essentially, her theory had been right all along.

  “You know what,” Jill said. “I actually feel absolutely fine.”

  And she really did mean it.

  “The past couple of months have been a good opportunity to reconnect with myself and focus on changing my home. Now that’s all over and done with, to be honest, I feel ready for just about anything.”

  “E
ven a new man?” Star raised her eyebrow cheekily.

  “I doubt I’ll ever need a man again,” Jill said confidently. “What can a man give me, except for a headache?”

  “Do you really need me to tell you?” Star winked.

  The girls both burst into laughter and Star wrapped her arm around Jill’s shoulder.

  “I’m starting to wonder if I even need that,” Jill smiled. “More hassle that it’s worth.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Star shook her head. “I’ll ask you again in a month.”

  Jill shrugged and took one last look at herself in the mirror. She was done up to the nines and looked amazing. Her tanned legs looked sculpted and smooth, and so long it was as if they travelled up for miles. Her waist was nipped in by the belt of the robe, and her hair was so long and swishy it tickled right down her back.

  “You ready?” Jill asked Star from the doorway.

  “As ready as ever,” Star grinned.

  The girls opened the door and headed out into the hallway. It was time to do what they did best, after all, it was Saturday night in Slate Springs, and they had a club to take charge of.

  3.

  All eyes were on Jill. She could feel them the second she set foot out of the swing doors that guarded the hallway to the changing rooms, walked past two of the security men and entered the heaving main room of the club. Star had been right, the place really was packed. Just the way she liked it.

  Jill moved slowly but with purpose. If she hadn’t been gearing up to step onto the stage, she would have worked the room alongside Star. Both of them would have taken a side each, slipped up next to some of the more well-heeled members of the crowd and encouraged them to part with their hard-earned cash. It used to be a task Jill hated doing, she felt as if it were dishonest in a way. To flirt with a man just to get him to profit the business for The Forsaken Riders. But since her split with Jack, she found she simply didn’t care anymore. She had seen enough men now to know they were all the same. She had yet to meet one who wasn’t just all talk and no action. They all had their dark sides, their secrets, and their evil ways. The way Jill saw it, she was simply playing them at their own game. And she was the one who was winning.

  She slipped between two drunken truckers who were blocking the walkway to the stage steps and smiled sweetly as she passed. She could play the cutie pie as well as anyone, but if they tried to lay a hand on her without it being welcomed, she knew she could swing a good punch, and it would only be a matter of seconds before the security men would be by her side, wrestling the offender to the ground and taking them out back to give them a good going over. She had seen it happen many times, and before Jack, she hated the violence, but now it seemed as though they all deserved it just that little bit more. She had hardened her heart because she had had to. Not because she had wanted. But now, at least she was stronger inside and out, and she would continue to be that way for as long as it benefitted her.

  She took a deep breath as she reached the foot of the steps. From behind the stage, she could see that some of the bikers were already in for the night, sat up at the long bar, drinking together. She caught one of their eyes and waved. Bull smiled and waved back. It wasn’t often he came into Tanner’s, but when he did, everyone sure knew about it. A section was always cleared and he was always flanked by several other bikers, partly for protection but also just because he was top dog. All The Forsaken Riders wanted to be around Bull. It was just the way it was. He was strong, fair and after one of the old men, Reid, had died, he had taken over the majority of the businesses that were run by the bikers. He was numero uno, and although it was intimidating, it always made Jill feel just a little bit more secure to know he was around.

  She stepped up onto the stage and she was instantly aware of the crowd fully turning to face her, some of the men jeered, some of them whistled, some of them shouted obscenities, and some of them just watched and waited, but all of them were entranced and ready for her.

  The DJ quieted the music just for a couple of seconds as he announced, “Put your hands together for Tanner’s very own Jill…” and then the crowd roared and began to clap. Her heart was pounding and her mouth was dry, this was the part she liked the best, just as her nerves began to kick in, before it all began. But in a second, it was over, and she was stepping forward on her super sharp stilettos and making her way to the pole at the front of the stage.

  The spotlight shone down on her, and for a second, she could have been on any stage in the world. Sometimes, she had a daydream that she was about to open the night at The Moulin Rouge, and for those few seconds, she was a Parisian girl living the dream. Not little Jill from Slate Springs, twirling around poles in a strip club in the middle of the desert.

  The music ramped up and Jill closed her eyes. She didn’t need to see anything to know where and how she needed to be, she had done this routine so many times she was an expert at it now. She held onto the pole and knotted her body elegantly around it, draping herself and her lace and silk all the way, as she began to slide up and down.

  As she slowly removed her clothes she felt more and more liberated. It was such a thrill to be so confident in her own skin and to know the power she held over the men watching her. When Jack had hurled his insults at her, basically calling her just a stripper, she knew he had been wrong. She was so much more than that. She had a good head on her shoulders and she was intelligent, just because she chose to dance for a living whilst teasing the people watching, didn’t make her a terrible person. She was taking charge of her own life and doing it her own way, and she was loving every second.

  When the song began to finish, she was already completely undressed, apart from her lacy panties and the long black silk gloves. As she bit the tips of the fingers and began to work them loose from her hands she could hear the praise from the men in the front rows, cheering her on and telling her how beautiful she was. Money was scattered around her feet and as she moved from one side of the stage to the other she managed to dip down seductively as she swept it all up and pushed it sexily into the band of her panties. Men wolf whistled and reached into their wallets for more, and as the song came to its final crescendo, Jill stood center stage and tossed one of the gloves into the crowd as she took a bow, her dainty legs crossed at the ankles.

  She felt like a star. And the buzz was incredible. More green notes came flying her way and as some of the security began to collect it from the back of the stage, Jill blew cute kisses and thanked the crowd.

  As she gathered up her robe and stepped down, she slipped her arms into it and tied it back at her waist. She watched as the security men collected the rest of the money and her things and came to meet her at the side exit.

  “Nice work, Jill,” one of them said. “Good show.”

  Jill smiled and shrugged. She never knew exactly what to say to a compliment like that. If it had come from Star or another one of the girls, it would have been different. But from one of the security guys, she could never take it seriously because she knew where their real appreciation came from.

  He handed her the clothes and the majority of the cash, holding at least three hundred back before he stuffed it into his pocket.

  “Bull’s in,” he said. “He may want more.”

  Jill rolled her eyes as if to say whatever and then pushed through the crowd, trying not to drop any of the cash she was still busy stuffing into her panties as she reached the doors to the changing rooms and disappeared quickly inside.

  The hallway was dark and quiet and she slipped down it silently to the changing room. She always liked this time to herself after she had been on the stage, and she took a deep breath and exhaled even harder as she opened the door and closed it behind her. The room was exactly the same as she and Star had left it. She could see from the purses and shoes littered around the changing room that other girls were working, but by the looks of things, none of them had been back in since Jill and Star had arrived. She had been in such a zone when she had gone out there sh
e hadn’t been able to make out any faces in the crowd, so she had no idea who else was working the same shift.

  She sighed as she sat down at her spot in front of the mirror and began to remove the money from her underwear. Saturdays were always a good night to be on stage, but she could tell her takings were lighter than usual.

  “Fucking prick,” she whispered.

  She could never argue with the security guards because that wasn’t a boat any of the girls wanted to rock, but she knew deep down they were skimming money they shouldn’t be. Whatever he had taken and said was for Bull, she was pretty sure he’d help himself to a generous cut. And it made her blood boil.

  She counted the cash quickly twice and smoothed out the bills before rolling them up tight and wrapping one of her hair ties around it to keep them all in place. From her ten minutes out on stage she had earned three hundred dollars. Not bad, but not great either. If the big meat head security guard hadn’t swept in, maybe she would have got about four hundred and fifty, but she would never be certain now. She opened her purse and hid the wad of cash right down at the bottom before going over to the lockers that lined the back wall and opened up hers and shoved her bag inside. She closed the door and twiddled with the combination and then she turned back to face the room. It was a mess, but what could she expect. Six girls all trying to get ready in such a relatively small space was always going to end up looking like a bomb had hit it. She gathered up the clothes she had worn on stage and folded them neatly and placed them on the bench underneath her locker and then she reached up to her peg and took down the dress she had brought with her for the rest of the evening. She would hit the stage again later and hopefully, double what she had made from her first dance, but in the meantime, she had a room to work and men to exploit. She was going to have to ramp it up a notch to make up for the poor takings from her first show.