Taken by my mate; Second Chance
Chapter 7 - Show Stopper

EVADIENE

I started out behind the bar like usual. None of the clients that liked to do business while I was dancing came out until after the sun went down.Frankly, I wasn’t sure whether to be flattered that most of the biggest deals in the city went on in the front row while I was on stage or not, but a man name Sal seemed to think I was good luck in his endeavours.

I knew more about what happened in the dark corners of the city than I probably should have, and I know a big part of those big tips was shut up money. Ambrose had guessed as much when I told him about the place, but for some reason his worry didn’t discourage me from wanting to go, even as he started pointing out the crime rate in that area around my shifts. I liked that he worried about me, and I liked that he didn’t try to controlme for it.

I was drying out a cup, my thin fingers able to reach the towel to the bottom, when Sparks came up behind me.

“Did youvolunteerto do bar tonight?” She gasped.

I shrugged. “I didn’t sleep well. I’ll prob a switch later after some coffee.”

She laughed. “You’ll probably have to when Sal comes in. You know he’s hot for you.”

I didn’t hide my feelings of disgust. “He’s like 50, and smells like tar and cigars.”

She laughed again. “But he basically owns the East side. He could buy you anything you want.”

I rolled my eyes, grabbing the next cup. “I can buy all the shit I want. If I wanted to get dicked around by old men I’d go back to working for the tax agency.”

She cackled another catty laugh. “If the tax man pays as well as Sal I’ll come with you.”

I waved her off. The doors would be opening soon and she needed to stretch. I knew I would end up dancing, I always did. The praise was addicting and I didn’t like disappointing people. Until I quit, my boss needed me to keep the clientele happy, and regardless of anything between myself and Ambrose I had planned to leave by the end of the year.

The thought use to excite me but now, thinking of him, it made me sad. By that point though, I would have known him a while and hoped that I would know what we had between us. I could ask him to come with me, or he could beg me to stay. Though I wasn’t sure staying was something I would consider, for him anything was possible.

The running lights switched off and the music started. Show time.

—

SPENCER/AMBROSE

I didn’t want to make her nervous, but I wanted to see her. My wolf, Emrys, warned me that this was a bad idea, to see our mate in this scene, but I was dying to know. She told me her shows were never nude because she preferred to use the pole for tricks. She had even mentioned winning a contest fairly recently but told me it would probably take a few drinks for her to reveal that performance. I had found it already of course, easily finding it after learning where she worked and finding out her stage name, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t be jealous.

When I walked in I didn’t see her on the floors, so I found an area off to the side to sit. It was annoying white and clean inside. Like professional cleaners came in and bleached the whole place every night. It was nice to know where she worked was clean, but it also gave me an unsettled feeling to wonder why that would be necessary.

I settled into my seat, barely looking around the club more than I had to, and momentarily got distracted by my phone until the announcer clicked their mic back on.

“All right everybody, up next, give it up for Nova!” The DJ boomed over the mic and a song with heavy bass began playing.

Evadiene strut down the stage in her bare feet wearing a black silk robe eyeing the people around in the front with a smile. Someone waved her over to the edge, and one look at the hand covered in gold rings was introduction enough to East side’s finest.

She squat down like a catcher, heals together, and leaned to hear him. Whatever he said she faked a blush, covering her cheeks and waving a bashful hand. Evadiene nodded, standing straight legged and flashing her butt out towards them.

My wolf began growling in my chest and I covered my mouth to stifle it. Yes I was very jealous and angry, and I very much wanted to get her out of this place, but I contained myself. I pushed the growl down and tried to focus on her emotions.

She felt… bored. There was a small amount of enjoyment when she started showing her strength around the pole but whenever she saw those men it dipped. After a few minutes people started chanting the word ‘climb’ over and over. With that she began to spin, held up by her legs wrapping around the pole, with her torso bending back to tie her hair up.

She climbed, hand over hand and using the balls of her feet, causing her butt to stick out. When she reached the top she rung a bell and people started depositing money in tip pots around the stage and on wait staff trays. She wrapped her thighs and legs around the pole again, leaning back over the man she had spoken to, slowly tipping her body to relocate her legs wrapped around it above her head and letting the robe fall gracefully as she did.

Mine,my wolf roared in my head and I barely had the strength to keep my ass in the seat.

The low grumble apparently travelled up, and as she spun around, completely upside down, her eyes caught mine. Her green eyes opened widely and her legs loosened just enough for her to drop a few feet. She covered up the mistake by playing it off like a ‘gotcha’ moment before twisting herself around to face her stomach towards the stage.

After spinning for a lap she lowered herself suddenly, stopping herself maybe ten feet before the stage. She continued to lower herself while spinning, though now did it while gripping the pole tightly with her entire body, upside down, the warm metal running between her breasts. She glanced at me at first cautiously, but as I smiled at her so too did her smile return.

When she was close enough to the stage she gripped the pole with her hands and rolled her body away from it, landing in a near split at the front of the stage. Someone there, the man beside the one she had spoken to, tucked a bill a little too far into her underwear and my glass to the drink I had forgotten I ordered smashed in my hand. I was lucky for the loud music that drowned out the sound, and shook the liquid off the best I could.

She tapped his hand away, then immediately apologized rubbing the hand better, and I hated more than anything that she had to. They were clearly thugs, looking to make a deal while their partners were distracted and happy about the show. The man didn’t seem to mind, and in fact adored the extra attention. My wolf wanted me to run up and claim her on that stage so no one would dare touch her like that again.

The number she was wearing did little to aid in my restraint against Emry’s demands. He could vividly imagine us walking across the dark room, the man who had touched her unaware of our presence before we slammed his head off the stage. The man beside him wouldn’t be much better off. We knew he had asked her to make the other one feelspecialto put him in the mood to bargain. Once we had their attention we would take our mate’s soft skin into our arms, taste the sweat on her neck and mark her as ours. Fuck, if Emrys had his way he’d have them all watch us mate her before beating the shit out of them for ever thinking she could be theirs.

She finished her set undisturbed, waving as she left the stage and blew a kiss to me in the corner. I was happy she wasn’t mad at me for coming, and proud of myself for keeping my emotions in check, even if it made me feel like a coward for not standing up for her. I sat back in my seat and wondered if I should wait to see if she came back out, or step outside for some air. I wasn’t sure what their schedules were like, if the girls that danced also worked the floor, or if they did more than one performance a night. I had never been brave enough to ask Evadiene too many specifics about her work, not wanting to make her feel like I was prying or trying to control her.

My eyes wandered back to my phone women I cared nothing about came to the stage, and denied a few of them that were taking drink orders when they offered me a dance.

They wouldn’t do it for me anyway, I only had eyes for one girl.

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