Page 30 of Ripple Effect, Vol. 4

“Well, well, London. What have you brought me?”

The bouncers go back to their respective corners at either side of Dorian.

“She wanted to dance for you. She’s …” London glances back at me and to Dorian. “She’s a walk-in. Came in off the streets.”

“Love the mask. It’s very … mysterious. Are you clean?” He emphasizes the last word and sits up, tipping his head as his beady eyes appraise my body.

“I’m sorry?”

“Free of STDs. Have you fucked a lot of men, princess?”

“I … I thought this was just … dancing?” I ask in my most clueless accent.

A burst of laughter kicks his head back and one of the men beside him snorts. “It is. But you have to interview. And the interview process is quite intense.”

“I see.” I shove a stray hair behind my ear. “Yes, I’m clean.”

“Good. Then why don’t you come a little closer, so I can get a good look at you.”

“You can’t see me from where you’re sitting?”

A grin stretches his face and he shakes his head. “You believe this shit?” He nods toward London. “Where’d she come from again?” Without letting her answer, he leans forward and snorts the white powder lined on the table in front of him, tossing the rolled up bill aside. “Look, beauty. I’m not fucking around. Which means you shouldn’t fuck around either. You either come here and show me your tits and ass, or get the fuck out of my face. I like you. I like your spunk. But I like bitches that listen. Like dogs.”

The copper tang in my mouth tells me I’ve chewed the shit out of my tongue, but the second I take one step toward him, one of the men grabs my arm, yanking my purse from my grip.

“Hey!” I wriggle my arm from his grasp as he tosses the purse to London, who holds it to her chest as if trying to preserve a small measure of my privacy. As requested, I round the table to within groping distance of Dorian.

He reaches up into my dress, his finger curling around the thin fabric of my panties and when he brushes my bare skin, a smile lights up his face.

I could kill him now. Jump onto his lap and bite down into his throat like a wild animal. His men would have me laid out and slaughtered before I took the next breath, but he’d be dead.

And so might Rip.

So I chew the inside of my cheek when his knuckle slides up and down my slit.

With a harsh yank and a tearing sound, my body jerks forward, and he pulls his hand out of my dress, lifting the tattered fabric that used to be my panties. Holding it to his nose, he leans back into the couch, sniffing my lingerie as he watches me.

“Dance for me.”

With a harsh swallow, I close my eyes and imagine it’s Rip in front of me. His eyes roaming my body. I can do this if I keep my mind trained on him and his gentle hands that could easily snap Dorian’s neck. A light caress across my breast seizes my muscles, and I open my eyes to Dorian tugging down my dress.

He puts his mouth over my nipple, sucking in a way that’s irritating as hell. Like a calf sucking its mothers tit, the way he bobs his head.

I try to hide the disgust brimming to the surface with his moans. He reaches up my dress again, in front of all his men, rubbing his finger along the crack of my ass.

Even if every muscle in my body is poised to punch him for it, I let him. I let him do this because maybe it’ll be that much sweeter when I watch the life fade from his eyes.

He abandons his play of my breast and lifts my dress up, putting me on display for the men in the room. “What do you say, Malik? Fuckable? Or not fuckable?”

A large black man in the corner rolls his shoulders back and smiles a bright white smile. “Definitely fuckable, boss.”

“You know we’re full nudity, right sweetheart?” Dorian turns his attention back to me. “So you’re good with all these men looking at your tits like they want to eat them.”

Biting the inside of my cheek, I nod.

“I like her. We’ll test her out. If she’s good, maybe I’ll let you take her for a spin.” Lowering my dress, he tosses the panties to Malik who immediately lifts them to his nose and licks his lips. “There’s something to hold you over in the meantime. Pat her down and get her ready.”

I shoot a glance to London and back.