“You play guitar?” Kit asked with a squeeze of my thigh. It was getting late. A lot of men had found their women for the night and had taken things to the bedrooms or a quiet corner. Kit had barely touched me throughout the night, other than a hand at my back to direct me around the room or a hand on my bare thigh. And it wasn’t to say I hadn’t tried. I was beginning to wonder whether he actually wanted me and if he didn’t, why he was demanding my presence for the entire night.
There was only a small group of us left. A couple of Kit’s men, including Tally, who had taken quite a shine to Kat. Optimus and Chelsea, who were all but screwing on the couch opposite us, and Blizzard and Slider, who had come in after their shift at X-Rated.
Chelsea piped up from her space on Optimus’ lap. “She does! She’s really good too.”
Kit gave me a small shove. “Go get your guitar,” his voice was stern. No space for argument. I rolled my eyes and retrieved my guitar from my room, throwing the strap over my shoulder and strumming at it as I walked down the hallway.
“Play ‘Me And My Broken Heart,’” Chelsea asked solemnly. I didn’t miss the way her eyes flicked to Optimus. The look was meaningful and something played out between them silently.
The song was Chelsea’s number one request, secretly one of my favorites too. There were no objections, everyone sat quietly with their eyes on me. I didn’t play for the men very often. Music was a large piece of my life, but one I kept very separate from my club life.
Kit’s fingers tapped the arm of the couch in time with the song. His eyes never deviated from me. Always watching. Studying. Like there was something he was waiting for.
I closed my eyes. Losing myself in the rhythm of the music was one of my favorite parts of playing. It allowed me to feel the lyrics. If I could sense what the person was trying to express when they wrote the song, it made it all that more powerful, more intimate.
As I hit the pre-chorus of the song, my eyes shot open wide when I heard a harmony coming from one of the men. Mix, one of Kit’s men, began to sing along with me. I watched as he sat forward and started tapping out a drum style beat on the small wooden coffee table in front of him. I grinned as I met Mix’s eyes and we both belted out the chorus. I couldn’t stop smiling when the song was finished and I put my guitar down. Mix reached over and offered me his fist which I bumped and then exploded just like the way Tally had taught me.
“Girl, your voice is incredible,” Mix complimented.
I blushed and sat back on the couch. Kit slipped his arm behind me and cradled my waist, pulling me tightly against his body. The most affection he’d shown all night since our hallway encounter.
“Thanks. I’m at the college here studying music. Mainly writing and playing, but I sometimes sing too.”
“I’ve heard you play before, but nothing like that. It was like you were in another world,” Slider said, staring at me in awe.
“Thanks,” was all I managed, the compliments all making me want to hide away.
Kit’s lips brushed my ear. “Which room’s yours?”
I pointed toward the hallway that led to the club girls’ rooms. We all had individual rooms downstairs, easy for the men when they needed us. The Brothers who lived at the clubhouse were in the rooms upstairs.
“I’ll meet you there in five,” he whispered for my ears only and tapped my side twice. I sat forward and gripped my guitar.
“Night all.”
Slider smiled at me. “You going to bed alone, Harmz? Need someone to keep you warm?” I cringed. Saying no to a Brother was a big no-no, unless we felt like the situation was harmful or we felt unsafe. Target’s little performance the other day didn’t go unnoticed by Optimus, but in the end he had agreed that my refusal was valid.
“She’s fine,” Kit snapped. Slider held up his hands in surrender, the both of us are a little surprised by his sharp tone. Kit turned to me and flicked his head. “Go.”
I nodded quickly and hustled down the hall to my room. Leaving the door ajar, I proceeded to strip off my top and skirt. After watching Kit all night, the way he spoke, and the way he controlled the room and his men, I was more than ready for him to do the same to me.
The sense of need overwhelmed any of my other feelings. It was a strange feeling, one I’d never felt so strongly before. I wanted his body, slick and grinding on top of me, leading me and demanding my submission to him. Kit had driven me crazy, avoiding my advances but continuing to hold me captive for the entire night. Several explanations floated through my mind. Maybe he was just a private man, preferring to take his sexual encounters somewhere away from prying eyes. Or maybe he was just that controlling that he liked the idea of me following him around like a lost puppy while he teased me, knowing I couldn’t leave his side.
I quickly perked my breasts up inside my strapless bra. The matching bra and panties set was a gorgeous scarlet color with an intricate black lace trim. My favorite. I sat at the edge of the bed, my arms behind me, propping me up and my legs crossed.
It didn’t take long for the door to slowly swing open. Kit stood in the doorway, his tall stature allowing him to grip the top of the frame, his shirt lifting to show me a delicious sliver of his tanned and well-sculptured stomach. His eyes sparkled as they finally met my body.
I stood up slowly, one hand going to my hair and brushing it away from my face. He dipped his head, continuing to stare at me through dark hooded eyes.
“You giving yourself to me?” He moved inside the room and closed the door. His body filled the small space as he floated closer.
I nodded and he reached out to wrap his large hand around the back of my neck much the same as Target had done to me a couple of days before. My lips parted and a tiny gasp escaped. But this time I wasn’t scared, Target’s grip had been menacing and done purposely to cause me pain, to show me who was boss. Kit’s grasp was possessive and intimate like he was trying to connect us.
He stepped closer, allowing me to finally be within reach of his body. I took full advantage, slipping my hands under his shirt and cut and exploring his body with just my touch. I felt tiny bumps rise on his skin, leaving a trail behind the path of my hands and letting me know he was just as affected by this as I was. His stomach rippled with abs and his skin was silky smooth under my fingers.
“Good. Now we have that established, I’m fucking exhausted and need some damn sleep. Get into bed,” he gruffed, releasing me and walking into my small bathroom. I stood there stunned, staring at the room he’d disappeared into. I heard the tap running and splashing water.
What in the actual fuck just happened?
Kit walked out, shirtless and rubbing at his wet face with a towel. He stopped when he saw me and shot me the sexiest smile I’d ever seen on a man - teeth, dimples and fucking everything.
“Did you get that, babe?” I didn’t know what to do or say so I continued to stand there and stare at him, probably looking like a right idiot. “I’m tired and I called a Church for early in the morning, so I need to get some sleep.”
“I got that part,” I shot sarcastically.
He chuckled, throwing the towel back through the bathroom door and switching off the light inside. “Still confused?”
“A little,” I answered honestly.
He rolled his eyes and sauntered toward me. He cupped my chin and forced my eyes to his. “I refuse to treat you like a club whore, Harmony.”
I flinched at the word whore. I knew what I was, but hearing the derogatory term come from his lips and directed at me made my body cringe.
“Why?” I asked quietly, my body flooded with conflicting emotions. I knew he wanted to fuck me. The evidence was present in the front of his straining jeans. But for whatever reason he was fighting it.
“Because you’re more than that.” He touched his lips to my forehead with a softness that I wouldn’t have expected from him. “Bed, Harmony.”
I still was very confused at what was going on, even as Kit led me to bed, pulling the covers down for me and letting me climb in. The feeling didn’t last long though as he wrapped me in his arms and my head found his chest. I fell asleep, content and listening to his heart beat.
Kit was gone when I woke up the next morning. No surprises there.
Half of me was disappointed, the other half relieved by the feeling of normality.
Walked away, just like the rest.
I took a quick shower and gathered my school stuff and my guitar. I had a performance class today and I was still debating what song I was going to play. I threw my door open only to find Caleb standing there, hand raised and ready to knock.
I let out a small squeak of surprise. “Jesus, Caleb!”
He only grinned at me. “You ready to go? Chelsea’s waiting.”
I sighed. “Oh yes. You’re on babysitting duty.”
“Yeah, but I don’t do diapers,” he quipped with a wink and led the way down the hall.
I trailed behind him, frowning at his back. “I’m not sure if that comment was supposed to be offensive or not.”
“It was.”
“Well, in that case, fuck you, Caleb.” I threw my middle finger up at his back.
“Maybe in a couple months when I’ve got my patch.”
I studied his ass. It was pretty perfect in those dark denim jeans he wore. Maybe I’d take him up on that.
Chelsea was in a good mood on the drive to school. Blabbing on and on about how excited she was about her class today. Apparently it was fitness testing day. To her, that was something to get excited about. To me, all I could think about was what kind of excuses I would’ve made up to get out of it.
I have a cold.
Twisted my ankle in my high heels.
Condom broke and now I think I’m pregnant and it wouldn’t be good to put that much stress on my baby so early on in the pregnancy.
Yup, that last one was a keeper.
“Why are you in such a crap mood today?” Chelsea asked. “Kit’s pecker not big enough?”
“Pecker?” I laughed.
“You know I don’t like the proper term for it.” Her nose wrinkled in disgust. Chelsea had a problem with the word penis. I’m not sure why. I thought it was a lot more normal than the other words she came up with for it.
“Maybe you should stick with cock. Pecker sounds like it’s going to attack me in sharp jabs.” I imitated the motion with my finger.
“Have you even had sex before? That’s what’s supposed to happen,” she jested. Caleb laughed loudly in the front seat and I punched him in the shoulder. “Okay, so what was wrong with it then?”
“I dunno. I didn’t get to see it,” I pouted.
“Say what now? Why?”
“Apparently, he’s more of a cuddler,” I grumbled under my breath earning a long string of laughter from both her and Caleb for the rest of the ride to school.
I thought my performance went pretty well. I decided to play something slow, going with one of my all-time favorites ‘Tears in Heaven’ by Eric Clapton. It was the first song I learned to play on the guitar and was forever my go-to song when someone asked me to play. It was sweet, soulful and simply beautiful. It’s the type of song that you can hear once and it will always stay with you.
Caleb was waiting for me outside the door to my class. Chelsea had finished an hour earlier and he’d already shot her back to the clubhouse.
I smiled at him as I walked out. “Hey.”
He threw me an acknowledging chin lift, but his eyes followed a few of the girls who walked out behind me. They giggled and whispered to each other, offering him flirting glances and eyeing me strangely as I walked up to talk to him.
There was another reason I hated the idea of having a tail for the week. I didn’t like the attention that it brought. I knew some students already had a fair idea of where I lived and what I did. It wasn’t as though I tried to hide it. Boys had asked me out before. Turning them down was a lot easier when I explained who would come after them if I said yes.
I wasn’t ashamed of the life I led. Not at all. Girls went to college and spent their years sleeping around and hooking up with guys all the time. They went to parties every weekend and went home with a new piece of ass. A lot of the time it was normal – just another part of college life.
I, on the other hand, had a clubhouse full of men. Yes, I slept with them, and yes, I partied a lot. But those men protected me. They supported me, and not only with money. And, for the most part, they cared about my well-being. How many college girls could say they have a group people that were willing to have someone follow you night and day, just to make sure that you were safe?
I didn’t give a rat’s ass what they thought of me. They weren’t my friends. Their opinions of me held no significance. They could all take their dirty looks and snide whispers and shove them where the sun don’t shine.
The clubhouse was reasonably empty when we got back. Caleb took off to catch up on the stuff he should’ve been doing while he was waiting at school for me and Chelsea. Even though Optimus had put orders on him to be with us, that didn’t mean he could slack on his other shit.
Ah, the life of a prospect.
Most of the men had gone out. Caleb informed us that Optimus wanted to show Kit and his boys some of the businesses they had running. One was in Huntsville, about a half an hour away, close to where we went to school. It was a huge nightclub. The club had opened it only six months ago and things were booming. It was popular and the club paid good money for well-known DJ’s to come in and do their stuff.
The club also owned a couple of other places around town, bars, and a diner, along with X-Rated. They preferred to be silent owners though, hiring people they trusted to manage the sites and do the work. A lot of people in the town of Athens, where the club was based, didn’t like the Brothers. They thought they were thugs. Gang members who rode motorcycles. In Huntsville, they were more like small-time celebrities.
I couldn’t say much about the inner workings of the club. That was all kept for members only and never discussed with club girls. We didn’t exactly get pillow talk. What I did know was that a generous amount of the club’s money came from legal businesses. There were a lot of other things that went on in the background, but these guys weren’t your average criminals. They were good at what they did and they were also good at keeping their mouths shut about it.
There was a knock on my door just as I’d sat down to relax for a bit and watch a movie. Sometimes it was hard to find down time here. I took it when I could.
“Come in,” I called. Part of me hoped it was Kit standing on the other side of the door. Even though we hadn’t had sex and he had barely touched me, I found I enjoyed his company. It was strange to have someone just want to sit and talk to me at a party. The men usually demanded my attention in other ways.
It was refreshing.
Target stood in the doorway with a cocky smile. “Hey, Harmony.”
I bit back the urge to tell him to go find someone else to spread their legs. But since his little performance the other day, we hadn’t had any problems.
“Hey.”
He walked in and closed the door behind him. “I just wanted to come say sorry about shit.” He walked right up and stood next to the bed where I was sitting. I didn’t have a lot of faith in his words, so I stayed seated in the middle of my bed, watching him cautiously. “Come here.”
I paused for a moment before following his instructions and moving to the edge of the bed. He placed a hand on my shoulder, effectively stopping me from standing and it was then I realized he wasn’t here to say sorry. He just had an itch and he was going to make me scratch it, even though he knew I still wanted nothing to do with him. Looking up into his eyes, I saw something there that I didn’t like. It was almost as though he was trying to cover a sneer with a polite smile. It sent shivers through my body. The kind you get when you watch a scary movie and you know something bad is about to happen.
He released my shoulders and my eyes followed as he unzipped his pants and pulled his cock into his hand. It was already hard. He tugged on it a few times before wrapping his hand around my hair and gripping tightly.
“Suck on it like a good little girl.”
It wasn’t very often during my time at the clubhouse that I had felt apprehensive about being sexual with any of the Brothers. Target was the only one of the men who made me feel like I was doing something wrong. I didn’t want to touch him, but I also didn’t want to piss him off. The grip he had on my hair was painful. It burned and made my eyes start to water.
I never heard the door click open, but what I couldn’t miss was the voice that boomed loudly in my small room.
“The fuck do you think you’re doing?”