Page 2 of Scent to the Feral Cowboys

A stage is beneath me.

A crowd of watchful eyes surrounds.

Knitting my legs back together again, my toes pointed towards the ceiling, I bent my body over until my feet contacted the floor. I had to practice this move more times than I likedadmitting. It was easy to hit your head, which I’d learned the hard way and at least a dozen times.

More money flew into the air, fluttering down lazily. I was going to make a killing tonight.

The song was reaching its crescendo, the DJ making it pulse ever louder before crashing it back down. I had maybe thirty seconds left to make my final impression. I bent over, touching my toes, then slowly tracing my fingers up my bare legs, suggestively over the front of the thong, up my stomach, and ending the sensual show just at the side of my concealed nipples. As a final cash grab, I hit them with a one-two-punch. First, I moved into a pirouette. Next, I expertly aligned with the pole and gave the crowd a clean développé before pressing the bottom of my heel against the chrome post. The moves were modified ballet, and the patrons always went wild. Tonight was no exception.

As the music faded to black, I lowered my leg. I blew kisses to my audience as I gathered the remaining cash scattered on the stage.

The hooting and hollering followed me as I disappeared behind the heavy, velvet curtains at the stage exit. I immediately began pulling the bills from the thong and sorting the money as I walked slowly towards the communal dressing room.

"Beautiful work tonight, Lucky.” A familiar voice floated to me.

I blinked up to find Crystal blocking the way. I smiled at her. “Thanks, though I think my moves are getting a little stale.”

“Hardly,” she scoffed. “I had a feeling you’d make yourself right at home here. The clients love you. Though, I think a few of the other girls are fighting the green-eyed monster.”

I ignored her comment on my coworkers. I’d figured out early on who I should avoid, who I should placate, and who Icould befriend. The fact that some of the other dancers might be jealous, wasn’t fresh news.

“So, you saw my exhausted, hopeless ass in the alley and instantly knew I had a future here?” I lifted an eyebrow, waiting for Crystal to admit she’d taken in a stray—me—with zero guarantee it wouldn’t scratch the hell out of her.

“You were pretty pathetic.” Crystal laughed and gave a small shrug. “Not so pitiful now though. Look at that stack!” She glanced down, giving a quick head jerk to indicate the wad of bills in my hand. “You’re raking in the money lately.”

“It’ll be a lot smaller once I divvy it up.” I frowned. We didn’t have to pay management a percentage, but tipping out the other staff really put a dent in all our earnings.

“Don’t let them bully you into giving too much. You remember what I said, right?” It was her turn to arch a painted-on eyebrow.

“Yeah, but I think I’m pissing them off sticking to the flat twenty a night if they’ve not done anything to help me.” I bit my lower lip in worry.

“That’s twenty times three bouncers, two bartenders, and a DJ, babe. That’s a buck twenty off the top. If each of us toss them a double, then they’re walking out with two hundred a night, easy. And that’s on top of their hourly wages, which we don’t get. Tish has been here five years and she’s tipping them out less than you. Jade was stupid and paid them too much to start, and she’s been bullied into sticking with it.” Crystal shrugged. “You just got to keep remembering it’s this cat and mouse game with them. Or, like, playing chicken with cars. If they think they can intimidate you into giving them more for doing next to nothing, they’ll keep pushing the envelope until you break. Dog eat dog basically.”

“Not so different from my ballet days,” I smirked at her. “If there’s blood in the water, sharks will attack. I sometimes thought I’d get killed over making first principal dancer so fast.”

“Still don’t miss it?” Crystal had asked this question dozens of times over the last four months I’d been here.

“Not one bit,” I said... and it was almost the truth. I folded the money into one hand and fidgeted with the scent blocking bracelet on my wrist. I’d added a little wooden cross, so if management ever wanted me to remove it, I could cite religious reasons for not doing so. Crystal’s gaze flicked down to it.

“You’re keeping that fresh, right?” She’d been the one to hook me up with the way to block my Omega nature. Which was a God send, because I’d had zero idea how to access the black market in Seattle. Without it, I couldn’t work here. Only Betas were allowed to be exotic dancers or sex workers.

“I soak it every night,” I said with a nod. “Can you smell me?”

She learned forward, nostrils twitching. After a second, she shook her head.

“Not the slightest Omega taint. So, that’s good. We’d both lose our jobs if management found out.” She gave me a wide smile. “Okay, I’m up after Diamond.”

“Doing the feather thing?” I teased.

“If I could get through the damn routine without sneezing.” She rolled her eyes. “Have fun with your private dance. That Alpha was super-hot.”

“And he super wants more than just a dance.” I sighed, wishing I could drop my morals and just fuck my way to millions.

“You know you could?—"

I cut her off. “I could, but I won’t.”

“It’s really not so bad.” She waggled her eyebrows. “It feels a little strange that our club’s Lucky Star never lets anyone get lucky.”