CHAPTER 19

For the third time this evening, I leave my office and take a walk around The Sinful Night Club. I hit up every room as well as The Deck. The only place I don’t go is The Social Room because Thalia’s in there working the hostess podium. While I’d once told her I liked her working the condiment tray because she was almost naked and it was a treat for my eyes, I didn’t like how it was a treat for others.

It’s weird. I didn’t mind fucking her last night in The Silo and people watching us, but when she’s out there working, she’s too stunning by half and she gets hit on a lot.

I don’t like it.

I’m avoiding The Social Room and Thalia because I want to make a point to myself. I’m too wrapped up in this girl and it freaks me out. Since Molly, I knew I’d never trust another again with my heart. So owning a sex club and fucking different women each night has maintained my position on that matter. I’m on the prowl tonight as I want to prove Thalia’s not the only game in town and that there are a lot of other women in this club who would interest me.

I hit The Silo first and note all the rooms are taken. There’s a beautiful girl in the stocks and a line of men waiting to fuck her. That has potential for sure, but nothing else in here is even making my dick stir. The Orgy Room has several potentials, but I only peek my head in for a moment. It’s the same thing each night. Naked bodies tangled and writhing, the sounds of moans and slapping skin and the occasional cry of pleasure when someone climaxes. Lastly, I check out The Waterfall Room, but it’s my least favorite by far. I like fucking in a lot of places but water isn’t one of them, and forget about laying under the waterfall, even though it seems very popular. I don’t want to be busy wiping water out of my eyes when I’m trying to keep my attention on the beautiful woman underneath me. Walking quickly through The Waterfall Room, I step out onto The Deck, which is my second favorite place to fuck.

The Deck is so much more than just an outdoor deck. It’s a place where you can get a drink or a snack at one of the two large cabanas stands outside, but what really sets your teeth on edge when you step out is that the entire deck is made of a thick, clear, acrylic-like flooring that lets you see forty-six stories down. There are also clear acrylic chaises to fuck on. There’s nothing like fucking a woman on her back while seemingly floating in the air. It’s also not for the faint of heart or those with a fear of heights.

The perimeter of the deck has a ten-foot plexiglass wall that is one-way. The people on the Deck can see out, but those in Las Vegas can’t see in. While The Bellagio isn’t the tallest casino in Las Vegas, the way it’s situated on the strip, no building stands over it so privacy is pretty much guaranteed unless a chopper flies over. All the glass is one-way, which provides the necessary cover so we don’t violate public nudity laws. The bottom side of the clear deck is covered with reflective material, which also has a one-way effect, so someone on the ground with binoculars can’t get a free peep show by looking up. A lot of thought went into this deck before we had it built.

I love the adrenaline rush of being so high in the air and looking down at the Las Vegas lights below. Makes my cock extra hard.

There’s a gorgeous woman standing at the outdoor bar, her eyes pinned on me. She’s vaguely familiar, and I’m pretty sure we’ve got carnal knowledge of each other. She raises her glass of wine and tilts her head toward the bar… an invitation to come join her.

I think about it for a split second, but dismiss the idea completely. Giving her an apologetic shake of my head, I move back into The Waterfall Room, through it, and out into the hallway. I have an immediate need to see Thalia… to see if I have a sexual reaction to the sight of her, because nothing I’ve seen so far has interested me. Either I’ve got it bad for just one girl, or my dick is broken. Neither choice is all that great to me.

I head to The Social Room and make myself look everywhere but the hostess stand to judge the clientele. The bar isn’t overly crowded as it’s late, meaning most have moved back into the other rooms. A couple of people are mingling with drinks, but they’ll soon move to a back room where the clothes can come off and orgasms can be made.

Finally, I slide my gaze over to the podium where Thalia is standing, wearing another sexy black dress I’d provided for her and that glorious hair hanging in layered waves over her shoulders and down her back.

And I definitely get a reaction.

Not only does my dick start to thicken, anger suffuses through me. It flashes so hot sweat breaks out on my forehead.

Because Kenneth is standing with Thalia, and it looks like they’re engaged in an intimate talk that they’re both enjoying. Kenneth’s got an elbow on the top of the podium, one leg crossed over the other. Thalia’s bent over slightly, resting her forearms on the desk portion of the stand, which reveals an obscene amount of cleavage. They’re standing very close to each other, but what enrages me is the looks on their faces. Thalia’s laughing at something Kenneth says, and then she reaches out and gives a playful punch to his chest. Kenneth’s grinning at her with a bit of a predatory sparkle in his eye, and he catches her hand before she pulls it away. He says something to her, and she gives a bashful smile and a shake of her head before pulling her hand free. But then he says something else, and she’s laughing again.

She’s fucking completely comfortable with him. No embarrassment over the fact he fucked her yesterday with me along for the ride. If I had to take a guess at what Kenneth’s doing right now, he’s hitting on her strongly. No doubt wanting to fuck her tonight.

Yes, Thalia and I agreed this was an open relationship and each of us could do whatever we wanted, but apparently, my sense of outrage and the caveman-like possessiveness that’s welled up inside of me doesn’t give a shit about what we said. She’s been in my bed for two nights, and I liked it a lot. While what we did last night with Kenneth was hot as all get out, I don’t want her fucking him without me there.

Possibly never fucking him again.

Fuck, I’m screwed up in the head.

I stalk over to the podium, my long legs eating up the distance quickly. Thalia sees me first, her eyes dancing with humor and her smile wide at whatever Kenneth just said. I’m not sure what my face looks like but her smile slides right off when she sees me. Kenneth sees it, turns toward me, and merely gives a chin lift. “What’s up, man?”

“I need a word with you,” I grit out at Kenneth, the fury evident in my voice. I feel strangely in the right here to be angry, even though I know my display of temper makes me look foolish.

This is confirmed when Kenneth smirks at me before turning to Thalia. “Talk to you later, darling.”

“Bye, Kenneth,” she says softly… with affection… and is that desire?

I turn on my heel and walk out of The Social Room, down the private hall and into my office. Kenneth follows behind. The minute I hear him close the door, I turn on him. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“What do you mean?” he says innocently, but he’s still wearing that smirk.

“You know what I mean,” I growl at him. “Thalia’s off limits to you.”

“She wasn’t last night,” he points out. “And besides, since when do you care about monogamy? I guarantee you don’t have any exclusive agreement with her.”

“That’s beside the point—” I start to say, but Kenneth cuts me off.

“It’s exactly the point,” Kenneth says and the smirk is now gone. His expression turns serious as he takes a step toward me. “Thalia is a nice girl. She’s gorgeous and a dynamite fuck. But she is not your girlfriend, and I’m pretty damn sure she’s nothing more than a dynamite fuck to you as well. So why shouldn’t I take a shot at her?”

“What?” I sneer at him. “Are you offering her monogamy?”

“Fuck no,” Kenneth says, horrified. “I love the single life. I’m just saying unless you tell me your relationship is exclusive with her, you’ve got no right to be proprietary.”

“Christ,” I mutter as I turn away from Kennenth and rake my fingers through my hair in frustration before whipping back on him. “I’m asking you to stand down and stay away from her unless it’s by my invite to join us.”

Kenneth cocks a skeptical eye at me. “You going to tell every guy who’s sniffing around her that?”

“Who’s sniffing around her?” I ask, another flare of anger rushing through me.

“The question is who isn’t?” Kenneth says with a knowing look. “People have taken notice of your interest in her, and the men think her pussy must be magical or something.”

My shoulders sag as my gaze drops to the floor in consternation because I realize I have no right to ask any man to stay away from Thalia. We agreed this was casual and we could see—well, fuck—other people.

“Ford,” Kenneth says softly, and I look back to him. “You asked me to back down and I’m your best friend, so I will. But if you want others to stay away, that’s Thalia’s call, so you better talk to her about this. If you want to be exclusive, just lay it out there to her.”

“I don’t want to be exclusive with anyone,” I snap at him, because I’ve trained myself over the years to not believe in love, trust, and loyalty between a man and a woman. The losses that could result from love are too painful to tolerate.

Kenneth nods in understanding, his eyes sad for me and my unwillingness to open up. While he indeed enjoys the single life, he believes in love. In fact, he had a great love he let get away, so I think it makes him even more empathetic to what I’ve been through and how it’s made me.

Turning toward the door, Kenneth grabs the knob but before opening it, he turns back to me. “She’s not Molly. Maybe you should give her a chance.”

I don’t say anything in response. Kenneth gives a sigh of frustration and walks out of my office.

At least I can be assured he won’t go after her, but not sure what to do about her sudden popularity among the men in the club. I have no standing to say anything to them, not to mention it would be bad for business.

I stare at the door Kenneth just walked through for a long time, and then it hits me.

I may not be able to say anything to them, but I’m her employer and she works exclusively for me. I can sure as hell say something to her.

Walking to my desk, I pick up the phone and buzz the podium. Thalia answers, knowing it’s me because it will show her from what extension the call is coming from. She cuts right to the point. “Are you done beating your chest?”

Ignoring her remark, I say, “Come to my office. We need to talk.”

“Right away, sir,” she says and from her tone, there’s no doubt she’s not happy about me pulling Kenneth away from her.

Well, tough shit.

I take a seat behind my desk after taking off my suit coat and loosening the knot to my tie. It only takes moments before there’s a soft knock on my door. Thalia walks in confidently, her expression frozen into a mask of impassiveness so I have no clue what she’s thinking. But it doesn’t matter since I’m the boss.

“It’s come to my attention that you have a few men interested in you here at the club,” I say lightly.

Thalia just shrugs. “I guess.”

“You’re not to have sex with any of them while you’re in my employment and fulfilling the terms of our deal,” I say in the most businesslike tone I can muster.

Her whiskey eyes go dark, and she glares at me. “I notice you didn’t offer the reciprocal to me. That you won’t sleep with any of the other women here.”

“That’s because I’m the boss and they’re my rules,” I say, and even as the words come out, I know they are way fucking wrong.

They feel wrong to me, and yet I don’t take them back.

Thalia pushes out of her chair, leans over, and slaps her hands on my desk. “You are the boss as it pertains to any work I do here at The Sinful Night Club, but you don’t have any say over what I do with my body on my own time. I can fuck who I want, when I want.”

“And who do you want to fuck?” I growl at her as I stand up, placing my hands on my desk and leaning in toward her.

The fight drains out of her eyes immediately over my question, her eyes dropping to stare at the desk. She takes in a deep breath. Without looking at me, she admits almost shamefully, “I don’t want to fuck anyone but you.”

A wave of relief hits me followed by almost a giddiness that she only wants me. I put my hand under her chin and lift her face so she looks at me. “So then why are you so angry about me asking you to stay away from other men?”

Her eyes fire up again, and she jerks back from me. “Because, you ass, you didn’t ask. You told. And without offering me the same, it screams of ownership, and I don’t like that at all. It sucks I only want you, and I hate myself for it, but there you have it.”

Something that feels like a wrecking ball punches into my chest, robbing me of my breath for a moment. While I was mired in these stupid fucking feelings of jealousy, it never hit me once that perhaps Thalia wanted to only be with me. I mean… she did take Kenneth’s dick last night and she was flirting with him today, but…

Coming around the desk, I walk up to her as she watches me warily. I take her hands in mine, give them a squeeze, and say, “How about for the duration of our deal… you and I agree to sleep with each other exclusively unless we both agree on inviting someone into our bed?”

Thalia’s eyes soften. The smile she gives me is one of relief. “That is something I can agree to, I believe.”

Leaning in, I give her a soft kiss before pulling back. With total transparency, I tell her, “I’m sorry I was a jackass. I handled it badly.”

“Forgiven,” she says with a smile. “But just out of curiosity, will you be inviting anyone else into our bed?”

My hands release hers and take hold of the hem of her dress. Leaning in, I press a kiss to her neck before pulling back and telling her, “We’ve got three weeks left in our arrangement. I think you and I can come up with plenty of ways to entertain ourselves without involving others, but if we get bored, we can talk about it.”

She smiles, draping her arms over my shoulders. With a glance down at my lips, she whispers, “Then let’s seal the deal.”

I’m all for that. She’s inferring it will be done with a kiss, but I have something a little more wicked in mind.

In one swift move, I pull her dress over her hips and swing her around so her back is to my desk. She gasps when I pick her up and deposit her there before dropping to my knees.

“What are you doing?” she rasps out as I roughly shove her legs apart and pull the crotch of her panties aside.

“Sealing the deal,” I tell her without even looking up.

Then I put my mouth on her, giving her that kiss she wanted, just in a different place.