“Enjoy your evening,” he simply states before shutting the door behind me.
Star
As I’m escorted up the stairs, I mentally prepare myself to give the show of a lifetime. The dark room isn’t my favorite, I can’t always see well and know when a man is ready to cop a feel. Jeremiah believes in discretion, so there’s no monitors in any of the rooms. If I was to need to call out for help, I’d be screwed. Once we cross the threshold into one of the private sectors, we’re on our own. I’m at the mercy of whoever has requested me for the evening.
And we cannot say no. I tried once; it took me weeks to recover. I no longer use that word in my vocabulary when it comes to Jeremiah nor his business. His men are a bunch of snitches so I watch every word that exits my mouth. I do nothing more than simply nod and do what is demanded of me.
It’s the only way I get to see Constellation, my little Ella. I named her something that made me think of my sister, Stella, and the many conversations we had as young girls. Constellation is as close to Stella’s name as I could get without raising any suspicions. Jeremiah let me get my way, he doesn't care one way or another about his daughter, she’s nothing more than a pawn in his eyes.
So I paid tribute to my sister the only way I could.
I’d give anything to let her know that her niece bears an accolade of her name. Stella was the only one who held a piece of my heart until my baby girl was born.
Even though Jeremiah knows I have a sister, I never shared her name with him. He only knows of her as ‘sissy’ and I believe he thinks that’s her actual name. And I’m good with that.
My feet stop in their tracks momentarily when I see what room I’m actually being led to by Gray. Jeremiah doesn't usually have me go to this particular room; he likes to keep me more of a mystery. Unapproachable so that I’m more attractable to the business.
I can’t allow Gray to see me pause, so I lift my head up high and walk with what little pride I have left. I go to my safe place inside of my mind. One where I’m playing with Ella at the playground and am happy with hearing and experiencing her little girl giggles. She’s the only thing these days that brings me any sort of comfort whatsoever.
She’s the only reason I haven’t taken my life and ended the misery and suffering I experience each and every day.
There is no escape for me. This is my life whether I like it or not.
When the door swings open, I shuffle past Gray and go to the jukebox that’s sitting in the corner of the room. I find some seductive music and set up an order for it to play in. Hopefully, whoever comes sauntering into the room, is only truly interested in seeing me dance and not wanting to touch the merchandise so to speak. The door closes and I walk over to the pole that is in the middle of the room and begin to dance.
When my caller comes in, I want him to be entranced by my movements, forget about the reason this room exists in the first place. Jeremiah was my first lover, but the fact that he owns me, in his mind at least, means he can share me with whomever he feels will give him some sort of power.
There’s always something menacing behind every action he makes; each decision has thought behind it. I’m a rare commodity to his friends and business associates. For some reason, getting between a woman’s legs means more than common sense to these men. They’re all willing to sell their souls to the devil himself for a taste of the forbidden fruit… i.e., me.
With my mask in place, I move seductively to the beat of the music. It may only be me in here for now, but I’m gonna be ready to play this charade of who I really am versus who I’m supposed to be portraying.
An untouchable woman.
Someone who makes you wake up in a cold sweat filled with need.
That’s all I’m good for these days anyway. Being a man’s illusion of perfection, his conquest, anything he desires as he rubs one out to images of me.
When I finally hear the door open, I allow my eyes to slit open for just a moment; only enough to see who’s flavor of the night I’ll be.
A gasp leaves my mouth when I see the man, who’s become my ultimate fantasy, come walking inside.
I was not expecting him; at least by the time this night is done and over with, I’ll have lived my own fantasy.
Chapter Two
Shamus
I wasn’t mentally prepared for the beauty that’s standing before me. Her dance is one of a siren, calling a sailor into the dead of the night to meet his maker. A seductress like Star is what all sane men fear, she has the ability to make a man forget his mission in life. She’s the type of woman that makes you want to roll out the red carpet everywhere her foot touches so that the earth's dirt doesn’t touch a part of her foot.
This woman, damn, she’s got the ability to light up the room, to make you want something so much better than what you have. Something that’s so far out of your reach,
