I still hear the music from the club; it’s just a little more muted. But now, I also hear laughing and moaning. It’s coming from upstairs. And it sets my teeth on edge.

I mount the steps, pausing at the top to look left and right. The stairs don’t dump directly into the balcony. There’s a small anteroom before it, and I can see another open doorway. It leads into a private bathroom. I can see the vanity mirror and sink.

The next song that comes on is sexy as hell, Don’t Tell ‘Em. Under different circumstances, I’d love to have this playing when I’m with Tommi. But not tonight. Not like this.

I ease around the rail that tops the steps and press against the wall to get a sidelong glance into the balcony room. My jaw drops open and hangs there, stunned wide.

There’s a stage up here as well. A smaller version of the one downstairs. And Tommi is on it. Her ass is pressed to the pole, back arched, eyes closed. Her fingers are threaded into the hair of a brunette. Looks like she’s licking one of Tommi’s nipples. Tonin is on a couch to the left of the stage, watching the show as the blonde who I must’ve seen from downstairs sucks his cock. His palm is on the back of her head, pumping it up and down, as he eyes Tommi and the other girl on the stage.

So this is what he likes. This is what he has her do for him. While I hate the thought of him seeing her, of him possibly making her do stuff like this against her will, I almost hope this is what gets him off, that he never lays a hand on her otherwise. Just watches other women do it. Maybe this is what she does to get what she needs from him, whatever that is. Because I know there’s something. Right now, Tonin is saving her from…something. But who’s going to save her from him? Or from herself?

I can’t stop my eyes from drifting back to the stage. The brunette is making her way down Tommi’s stomach, her hands plastered to the round ass that I so often admire. Tommi’s eyes are still closed, her body swaying slightly to the sensual tune, but not necessarily like she’s enjoying what’s happening. She looks to me like she’s checked out, like she’s somewhere else. Thinking of something else. I wonder again if this is what Tonin makes her do. Maybe it’s what she has to do to keep him from putting his dick in her. Hell, if that’s the case, I don’t blame her. I’d let a hot chick lick on me all day long if it saved me from Tonin. Of course, I’d let a hot chick lick on me all day anyway, but that’s not the point.

The brunette pulls Tommi’s lacy panties from one hip and I let my eyes wander back up a flat, golden stomach to pale-white, creamy breasts that are absolutely perfect in every way. They’re plump and high and topped with dusky pink nipples that are just the right size. At the moment, they’re hard as damn rocks, too.

My cock stirs in my jeans and I think to myself that I should go back downstairs. Tonin would be mad as hell if he found me up here creeping on his party, but I can’t tear my eyes away from Tommi. She’s the sexiest, most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Her skin is flawless, her body exquisite. Every long, tall inch of it.

I pull my gaze away from her tits to find her face. Her eyes are open now. And focused on me.

CHAPTER NINETEEN- TOMMI

In my mind, Sig is so real. With the thump of the music drowning out reality, I can feel his hands on my body, his mouth at my breast, his hair between my fingers. In my fantasy, in the quiet of my mind, I can be anywhere, with anybody. And I chose Sig. Whether I meant to or not, he’s on my mind more often than not lately.

Heat and moisture spread from my nipples down my stomach to my navel. Fingers tug at my panties and I want more than anything to lose myself to sensation. To him.

Only this isn’t real. Not what’s in my head. It’s just a dream, a foggy place where I go to escape whatever is happening to me. I’ve done it most of my life and it’s always worked. Until tonight. I know when I open my eyes, I won’t see Sig. I’ll be alone in a room full of people, in a room full of people who don’t even know me, who only want something from me that I don’t want to give.

Reluctantly, my lids drift up and lock onto a pair of eyes that look onyx in the shadows, eyes that I’ve been dreaming about since I first saw them sparkle in the sunshine. For a few seconds, I can’t be sure I’m not still in my dream world.

Is Sig really standing in the doorway, watching me? I don’t know.

His gaze devours me, delves into my soul, through the windows of my pupils. I can feel him touching me there, like I can feel his stare touching me everywhere else.

Like a caress, I watch his eyes fall to my lips. I wet them because they burn for him, for his kiss. I see his perusal skim my throat and chest and stray to my breasts. My nipples tingle into sharp points, aching for the man who stands across the room. My stomach muscles contract when the dark orbs tease them. And when they go lower, as though stripping me barer than I already am, I feel the gush of warmth between my legs.

I gasp, teetering between what’s real and what’s imagined. It’s when Sig’s eyes return to mine, blazing with a fire that singes my nerve ends, that I realize he’s here. He’s really here, standing in the doorway, watching as another woman touches me so that Lance can get off. What he doesn’t know is that his is the only touch that I crave–Sig’s.

I jerk my eyes away. I have to fight the urge to cover myself because I can’t draw Lance’s attention to Sig or this night will go sideways in a hurry. Instead, I tug on Felicia’s head and bring her back up to stand in front of me. “I need to go to the bathroom,” I tell her.

With a sexy smile, she nods and whirls away to grab the pole with one hand and swing her body around it, always the performer. I hold up one finger to Lance, who just lays his head back and closes his eyes as Amber bobs up and down on him.

Trying not to act self-conscious, I walk across the room in only my heels and panties, my head held high. I remind myself that nobody knows me. Not really. They might think they do, that they can judge me, but they can’t. They have no idea what my life is like, what’s involved and why I do the things that I do. God forbid they ever have to find out, that they ever have to face the limited options I’ve had to face. And make the choices that I’ve made.

My cheeks burn as I brush past Sig in the hall and hurry to the bathroom. I know he will follow me. I can see the anger on his face. He’s too mad to think about self-preservation, which is why I have to preserve for him.