I shift my eyes. “I’mnot,” I say with emphasis. “I’m just…I mean, I’ve literally been here for about fifteen minutes, and I don’t know anybody.”
He takes a couple of steps toward me. “But youdoknow me, Ava. You know Pearl. You know Stephen. We got a little community, all of us, even if it is just via the internet.”
I mean, it iskind oftrue. After realizing who they were, I’m pretty familiar with Pearl and Stephen. We’ve carried on comment threads that go for days on some of Lucky’s posts. So maybe I am just a little uptight and need to loosen up.
Closing the distance between us, Lucky picks up both of my hands and holds them at the level of his chest. “The Jazz Manor is anescape. There are no rules here, and we live large. I want you to make the most of that. I want you to feel free to do anything and everything you feel like doing. If there’s anything you want this week, you let me know, and I’m gonna make it happen.” He angles his head closer to my face and narrows his eyes playfully. “And why am I gonna do that?”
My eyes shift again. “Because…”
“Because Lucky loves ya.” He flashes his full, white grin. “Ain’t I been saying that to you foryears?”
Miraculously, hearing him saythat—something Ihaveheard him say for years—while standing right in front of me, tenderly holding my hands, I am immediately at total ease.
Although, that could be the Sazerac that I downed in record time.
Nevertheless, my posture relaxes, and I offer him a genuine smile. “You have always said that.”
“Well, I mean it.” He lifts his shoulders and skims his gaze across the room before meeting mine again. “That’s why you’re here. I want to do something for you after all you’ve done for me.”
I nod agreeably. “Okay.”
“Oh-kay,” he echoes, giving my hands a small shake before lifting them to his lips and kissing both of them.
As if on cue, there’s a knock at the door. “I gotcha some clothes, Luck!” Piper calls.
At that, Lucky drops my hands and strides back across the room to open the door.
“Perfect,” he murmurs, eyeing the dress and accessories gathered in Piper’s arms. “Thanks, doll.” He kisses Piper’s cheek, and she leans into the kiss with a smitten, closed-lip smile. He strides toward the door and turns at the last minute. “Meet us back in the big room when you’re done, and then we’re going to get the party started.”
I arch an eyebrow as he marches out the door and closes it behind him.
So, the spectacle down the hall in thebig roomwasn’t the party.
I obviously hadno cluewhat I was signing up for by coming here.
Six
Lucky
“Woo-hoooo!”Pearl squeals as I hold her hand above her head and lead her through a slow spin. She removes her hand from my shoulder to pick up one end of her feather boa and swing it in a circle. I draw her back to me with my hand on the small of her back and gently dip her backward. “Wheeeee!”
Pearl’s pure delight in dancing at the jazz club on Bourbon Street causes me to chuckle as she throws her head back, but I use the opportunity to look at Ava. She’s seated at my reserved table in the corner with Stephen and Meyer, mostly keeping to herself while they gab, laugh, and throw wild hand gestures in the air. She looks at them intermittently, politely smiling and laughing lightly, then goes back to turning her hazel eyes down while she sips her pink martini.
The makeover Piper gave her earlier is top-notch. Her brunette hair is done in long, sultry waves, parted on the side. Every so often, it falls over one of her eyes making her look seductive and mysterious for all of two seconds before she pushes it back behind her ear. Her lips are painted deep ruby, eyes smoky and rimmed in black, and her complexion is fair and flawless. The gold flapper-style dress is covered in layers of long, beaded fringe at a diagonal angle, and it accentuates the slight curves of her wisp-like figure. From this distance across the club, I can see under the table where her legs are crossed, and I notice she opted out of the garters and stockings. It’s just her bare legs peeking out. The sight of them makes me want to drag her to one of the long, ancient, shadowy hallways, push her back against the aged brick wall, and slide my hand between her thighs so I can find out what type of undergarments she opted for instead.
If she opted for any at all.
As timid and shy as Ava is, I have a hunch that she’s got a secret naughty streak. All she needs is a little nudge in the right direction, and she’ll come undone.
For me.
Just as I lift Pearl up from the dip, Ava shields her mouth as a yawn stretches her lips wide. My mind floods with images of her opening up like that for me just before she wraps that pretty mouth around the length of my cock.
The band draws the song to a close, and I pull Pearl close to me again and kiss her cheek. “I gotta say, Pearl,” I say loudly into her ear above the cheering, whistling crowd, “you’ve got some moves I can't even keep up with.”
Pearl chortles and bumps her hip against mine as we stroll back to the table. “You flatter me, Lucky, but I’ll take it.” She throws her arms in the air. “I haven’t had this much fun in decades!”
I squeeze my arm around her waist, pulling her close and kissing her cheek again before offering my hand so she can slide into the bench at the table. “I honestly haven’t either.”
