Sentinel Page 7

  His eyes twinkled. “Because. I feel like I was born to do this, born to be in the Legion. I want to do something that helps people, that protects them, and not spend my life sitting in front of a damn computer.” He reached out and cupped my cheek, surprising me. “I want to protect you, Becky.”

  I opened my mouth, but words wouldn’t come out. I was struck with how earnest and genuine Gary was. Someone like him shouldn’t be tangled up with the Legion, and most of all, with a girl like me, I thought.

  I pulled away from his hand, hastily putting medical supplies back in the kit. “I-I think you’re going to be just fine.”

  “Beck,” he called after me.

  But I hurried away to my bedroom, not liking the feeling that came from my epiphany of the kind of man Gary Holmes was.

  This was all kinds of trouble.

  Chapter Nine

  Gary

  I was cleaning my gun when Becky came out later, dressed like she was going out with her phone in her hand. The sun was just setting behind the tree line and it had been a quiet day. When she’d made a rare appearance to dart into the bathroom for a shower, I tried not to picture her naked under the spray of water. Other than that, I’d only caught a glimpse of her when she stepped out to fix some lunch, though she didn’t even glance my direction.

  Things were awkward between us and I didn’t like it.

  “We have to go.”

  I paused and looked up to see her standing in front of me. “What?”

  She held out her phone. “I have to get to the club.”

  Chuckling, I turned back to my cleaning. “We aren’t going anywhere. Sorry.”

  She clutched her things to her chest. “But you don’t understand. MAS is there, and they’re wreaking havoc on the Gallery.”

  I arched a brow in her direction. “Who the hell is MAS?”

  She sighed. “Moms Against Sin. They’ve been bothering us for months since one of the mom’s husband left her for one of my dancers. Misty called me. They’re picketing outside and blocking the front door.”

  I laughed aloud. Did these things really happen? “Why can’t your security handle them?”

  “Because,” she said, rubbing her temples as if she was trying to ward off a headache. “They’ll only listen to me. Usually I can get them to see reason. I run the Gallery and can show them the girls aren’t mistreated, which is one of their claims. Not to mention it’s a den of sin in their eyes.”

  I scoffed. Surely their own homes weren’t the saintly havens they thought they were. “It could be a trick.”

  “It’s not,” Becky replied, showing me a picture. Sure enough, a mob of angry mom-types dammed up the entrance to the strip club, their signs ranging from quotes about women’s rights to banning stripping altogether.

  “They really don’t have their shit down, do they?”

  “Well, we did have two groups,” Becky offered, tucking the phone in her back pocket. “But they’ve merged on a wide range of topics now.”

  I sat back in the chair, feeling tired even though I hadn’t done much of anything throughout the day. “So, you’re telling me these women have nothing better to do than this?”

  “Nope,” she answered. “And we can’t afford a bad night, especially on a Thursday. That’s one of my busiest times.”

  “I can’t take the chance,” I said, biting the inside of my cheek. The look on her face was tearing me apart, but I’d been given a task and I intended to see it through.

  “Please,” she begged. “Just an hour, that’s all I am asking for. I… I won’t do anything without your approval, but I need to be there. I need to check things out.”

  I arched a brow. “You will listen to me at all times?”

  Becky nodded, her eyes shining now with hope. “At all times, I swear.”

  I sighed, wiping a hand over my face. “Alright, let’s go.” Afterall, it was just for an hour. If she did anything stupid, I’d bring her back here and tie her to a damn chair.

  **

  Twenty minutes later, I pulled up in front of the Gallery, barely able to stop the truck before Becky rolled from it like a soldier hitting the battlefield. The parking lot was empty, devoid of everything, including the gang of unruly moms I’d seen in the picture. I swore as I killed the ignition and followed after her. She’d lied to me. Now I’d have to drag her back to the safehouse and find a chair and rope strong enough to hold her.

  But once I got inside, my plans changed again. They were all there, seated at the tables in front of the stage, their signs and frumpy purses on the floor beside them.

  Misty stopped Becky halfway to the stage, her eyes wide. “They came inside. We couldn’t stop them. The girls, they’re afraid to go on now. The women chant every time one steps on stage.”

  Becky ran a hand through her hair and her face folded in frustration. “They’ve never come inside before. What happened to the ‘den of sin?’”

  “I don’t know,” Misty answered. Then her head titled to the side as she gave Becky unmistakable side-eye. “Where have you been?”

  I stepped forward, attempting to cover for Becky, whose own face flushed with embarrassment. “We’ve been on a special mission for Jack.”

  Misty didn’t look like she believed me, but Becky captured her attention once more.

  “I’ll go talk to them.”

  “I don’t think it’s gonna help this time,” Misty said with a sigh. “They’re pretty adamant that the women are being forced to dance.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Becky growled.

  Misty nodded. “We all know it of course. What’s the plan? What are we going to do?”

  Becky eyed the MAS, her wheels turning. We probably couldn’t throw them out forcibly, but hell, I might have tried it just to get rid of the worry in her beautiful eyes. People like them didn’t understand not everyone had the options they did in life, and Becky ran a respectable establishment as far as I could tell.

  Given the tenacity of the self-proclaimed saviors of humanity, she was bound to lose a hell of a lot of money if we couldn’t remedy this situation and quick.

  “I got it.”

  We both looked at her.

  “What?” Misty asked. “What did you come up with?”

  Becky looked at me. “We’ll send him up there.”

  I burst into laughter when I realized she was serious. “What?” There was no way I’d be getting up on that stage and prance around in front of a tired, old group of moms.

  “Just think about it,” Becky said, tugging on my arm. “It’s perfect. They think we force women to dance, but a man? We just have to show them what we do, that we’re just having some fun.”

  I held up my hands. “I’m not doing this.”

  “Please." Becky looked up at me, her eyes pleading. “This is my life and if this group finally gets me shut down, I have nothing.”

  “You have me,” I blurted out, surprised by the fierceness behind my words. It was true though. I wouldn’t be going anywhere, no matter how much she pushed me away.

  Her eyes softened for a split second, and I knew then she felt the same way I did.

  “Do this for me and we will see where it takes us.”

  I grinned as my resolution began to crumble. “Nice way to trap me in.”

  She returned my smile, that sparkle of hope I liked to see returning to her eyes. “Let’s see what you got, Kid.”

  I looked at the stage, the gleaming pole standing out under the harsh white lights. “What do I do?”

  She tugged on my arm. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of the music. All you have to do is take your clothes off, as much as you want. They’ll love it.”

  Swallowing, I let her lead me to the side of the stage, surprised when she pressed a quick kiss to my cheek.

  “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet,” I mumbled, my feet feeling like they were incased in lead. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t some sort of ripped jock. I was too tall to be built like th
at.

  Fuck. I sounded like a woman.

  “We’ve got something special for you,” Becky’s voice drifted over the loudspeaker. “Presenting for the first time in the Gallery, the Kid!”

  Pulsating music filled the air, and I forced myself to walk up on that stage, the lights blinding me to the crowd. I started to remove my leather jacket, showing the tight t-shirt underneath inch by inch, but all I could feel was the sweat trickling down my back. Someone whooped, and for some reason the sound pulled me out of my head just enough that a ridiculous thought occurred to me. What the hell would Jack Carry think if he walked in and saw me doing this? My face tightened in a smile, and the last of my nerves drained away.

  “Take it off!”

  “Oh my god, this is hot! I can’t believe she’s got a guy up there!”

  “Quick, give me some money. I want to see what he’s got in his pants!”

  The snippets of conversation and delighted laughter floated up from the crowd as I finally stripped off my jacket, spinning it around my head before chunking it on stage. The music loosened up my muscles, making me bust moves I didn’t know I had in me.

  Becky had better appreciate this.

  Next came my shirt, but instead of pulling it over my head, I ripped it right down the middle, smiling now at the force of wild female energy radiating toward me. They gave me their full appreciation in catcalls and whistles. But after I lost the last bits of t-shirt, I hit a snag. The problem was, once the pants went, everything would be on full display. I was commando. While I wasn’t ashamed of what I was packing, I didn’t really want to show it all off to a room full of women.

  So instead, I did the next best thing I could think of. I dropped down on all fours and crawled to them, giving them some gyrating motions to make tucking money into the waistband of my pants more exciting. A few of them tried to grab my package, but I dodged their advances, shaking my head to let them know their behavior wasn’t allowed. It only seemed to encourage them.

  Shit. Was that a twenty? No wonder women did this. I hadn’t even taken my pants off yet.

  Standing up, I reached for my belt buckle, slowly moving to the song as I worked on getting it loose. Maybe if Jack kicked me out of the club for this stunt, not to mention letting Becky out of the safehouse, I could get a job as a male stripper.

  Me, a former computer geek, a stripper. The entire thing was hilarious.

  Chapter Ten

  Becky

  Gary was good.

  I watched as he teased the women with his jeans, my heart in my throat while I wondered if he would truly take it all off. The idea had been a stroke of genius really, one I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of before.

  A male performer, on a special night. A ladies night, guys optional. If I could find the right men, I could make a shit ton of money.

  And by the way Gary worked the crowd, I could tell he might be interested in a part time job.

  The thought didn’t sit well with me, though. I was already jealous he was showing off his goods to a bunch of strangers, goods that I had touched, kissed, stroked with my own fingers. No wonder men went crazy when their woman stripped for a living. I understood their jealousy now.

  He dropped his jeans another inch and I froze as the crest of his white ass appeared, a tan line unmistakable. Oh no, he wasn’t going to do it. I can’t let him do this.

  Looking over at the DJ, I sliced my hand in front of my throat before Gary dropped his pants another inch. I couldn’t handle the thought of seeing him fully naked up there.

  “Let him take it off,” Misty said next to me. “What’s the harm.”

  I looked at her, seeing the lust in her eyes and wanting to claw them out. “Because, it’s gone on long enough. We’ve made our point. Get ready, you’re on next.”

  She eyed me, her lips drawn in a teasing smile. “Sure, that’s exactly what I was thinking. Good God, Becky, jealous much?”

  I ignored her, feeling marginally better when the music crested and Gary bowed before heading off the stage. The applause was deafening. I pushed away from the booth, hurrying in the direction of his retreat. I didn’t want him to run into Misty backstage.

  I didn’t want her touching my man.

  The thought hit me full force. I was beyond a little jealous. I wanted Gary all to myself. I wanted to claim him, mark him somehow, so that every other woman would know he was mine and mine alone.

  I found him just off the stage, shoving his arms into his jacket.

  “Wow,” I said, hoping that my new revelation wasn’t written all over my face. “That was amazing.”

  He chuckled, shreds of his shirt clutched in one hand and money in the other. “Don’t think I’ll quit my day job just yet. It’s intimidating up there.”

  “Well, you did well,” I said. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how much you’ve helped me.”

  His arm snaked around my waist, pulling me into him so quickly that I had to steady myself against his bare chest.

  “Let’s start with a kiss,” he said, his eyes on mine, as if he was waiting for me to protest.

  But I wasn’t going to. Instead, I stood on my tip toes and brushed my lips against his, tasting the saltness of his sweat on them. My body hummed with anticipation as I remembered what had happened between us. It seemed like a lifetime ago now. Why was I denying myself this? Why was I pushing him away?

  He was, above all things, a guy I should want to keep around. What other man would have gone up on that stage for me? If that wasn’t a sign of things to come, I didn’t know what was.

  He groaned and pressed me to his body, letting me feel his arousal. “I want you,” he said, kissing along my jawline. “So fucking bad.”

  I gasped as his tongue found my ear, swirling around it before he took my lobe and sucked.

  It was like I had been struck by lightning. “Oh.”

  “Let me love you, Beck,” he continued, his voice in my ear. “Let me show you.”

  He stood hesitating, uncertainty clouding his eyes, as if he was waiting for me to turn him down and walk away.

  As if I could walk away. “The office,” I managed to squeak out. I couldn’t make it back to the cabin.

  I needed him now.

  He swore and grabbed my hand, allowing me to lead him to the dingy space that would have to do for now. I barely got the door shut before he was on me, his hands tearing at my shirt. I moaned under his touch, my hands already on his jeans, my own jeans soaking wet with need for him.

  I’d never wanted someone so badly before.

  “The whole time,” he was saying, his hands tweaking my nipples through my bra. “I was thinking about you.”

  “I know,” I said, pushing at his jeans. “Get them off. Please.”

  “Yes ma’am,” he said, chuckling. I watched as he pushed them down his legs, his cock standing at attention. For me. He wanted me.

  “Now your turn,” he said, carefully undoing the button on my jeans. I shifted my hips for him to push them down, whimpering as his finger slipped between my folds, finding the hard nub begging for his touch. “You’re so fucking wet for me.”

  “Only for you,” I whispered, grabbing his swollen member and stroking it slowly. He groaned against my neck, his fingers picking up the pace, urging me to let go. Misty’s dance music pumped through the walls, and I rotated my hips in time with it as my body tensed.

  I was going to lose it, for Gary.

  “I’m going to fuck you so hard,” he was saying, nibbling my neck. “Until you scream my name.”

  Oh god. My knees buckled at the thought and I cried out, letting the wave of my own orgasm wash over me. Gary didn’t waste any time, grabbing my hips and pushing into my entrance, filling me to the core. My back was against the wall, his body spearing me there, and I wrapped my arms around his neck to bring his mouth to mine for a hungry kiss.

  We both wanted this.

  He thrust inside me, the force of his movements rattling the pictures on the wa
lls. I didn’t care. When his mouth found my erect nipple through my bra, I cried out his name, sobbing as another orgasm squeezed him deep inside me.

  Now I understood.

  “Come for me again, Beck,” he urged, his thrusts becoming erratic. “Let me feel you.”

  “Gary,” I sobbed, throwing my head back against the wall. My body was drained, my heart bursting with emotions I didn’t know had been inside me, and all I wanted was to stay suspended in this moment forever.