Page 25

25

ALISSA

It’s never been like this.

It was never like this before last night, and it’s really never been like this .

Fucking in Maddox’s shop in broad daylight. Well, not broad daylight. It’s winter, and the sun is already setting over the west side of the city, casting a golden glow through the gaps in the curtains covering the windows of the haberdashery.

Maddox frees his cock and thrusts inside me, filling me perfectly and easing the aching emptiness.

“Faster,” I command.

He obeys, drumming into me like a jackhammer. His corded muscles are flexed, his jaw clenched.

He’s close.

“Keep going,” I say.

“Yes, Alissa, yes .” He sighs. “You feel so good. You’re fucking perfect.”

“So are you,” I breathe out.

“I’m so close, Alissa,” he growls. “Are you?”

“Yes, Maddox.”

“Hold on,” he says. “Don’t you dare come until I tell you to.”

I swallow, tensing the muscles in my lower body. “I can’t.”

“You can,” he grits out, “and you will .”

He thrusts, thrusts, thrusts?—

Until he groans, releasing, pulsing inside me.

The orgasm hits me like lightning, jolting through every inch of my body and plummeting back into my pussy.

We stay joined for a few minutes until he pulls out and gathers me into his arms. The last rays of twilight ebb away as the sun sets.

I sigh.

It’s true. I know it now as if it’s been with me forever.

Maddox Hathaway is the love of my life.

* * *

I expected Sunday evening to be a little less busy at Aces Underground, but if possible, it’s even more crowded tonight.

Maddox and I find a spot at a table in the Spades section. Maddox flags down a server. Four, the only male waiter in the Spades section, quickly makes his way to us and bows his head.

“I’ll have a gin and tonic.” He shifts his gaze to me. “Alissa?”

“A dirty vodka martini, please.”

Four nods and whisks off to the bar. I look around. I see the other female Spades waitress, Nine, but she and Four seem to be the only servers in this section.

My heart jumps. Where is May?

I look around the club. “Do the waitstaff ever switch sections?”

Maddox frowns. “I don’t think so. Why?”

“May isn’t here.”

Maddox raises an eyebrow.

I sigh. “ Seven .”

He shrugs. “Tonight might be her night off.”

I gesture around the club. “This place is hopping. Surely they’d want all hands on deck.”

Maddox drums his fingers on the table. “Maybe she’s on a break, Alissa.” He pats my hand. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

My skin prickles, the kind of sensation that makes me want to glance over my shoulder even though I know no one’s there. What if May got in trouble for being with me? I told Rouge that she didn’t speak, but I accidentally said her real name.

I get to my feet. “I’m going to run to the ladies’ room.”

Maddox widens his eyes. “Everything okay, Alissa?”

“Yes. Everything’s fine. Just… Nature calls, you know?”

I see Rouge mingling with some guests in the Hearts section, wearing the same bizarre getup she had on this afternoon when she caught me with May in the private area.

I walk up and awkwardly insert myself into the conversation.

Rouge widens her eyes. “Miss Maravilla,” she says. “Welcome back. You’re looking lovely this evening.”

I look down at the turquoise dress I’m wearing. Maddox drove me home to change and run a brush through my hair before we came here tonight—all I had were my scrubs, and the minimal makeup I wore at the hospital today was wiped off during our semi-public lovemaking session.

“Thank you, Rouge. You look exquisite as well.”

She smiles and runs her hands—I’m just noticing how long and red her fingernails are—over her frilled collar. “Thank you.” She turns back to the two men she was talking to. “As I was saying?—”

I raise a finger. “So sorry to interrupt. I was wondering, is”—I instinctively close my lips to start saying May’s name, but catch myself—“ Seven working tonight? The Seven of Spades?”

Rouge turns to me, her eyes narrowed. “Seven has been placed on a temporary suspension for breaking the rules.”

I drop my jaw. “She didn’t break any rules. I was the one who went into the private area. Who came down here without a member escorting me.”

“I’ve already had a word with Chet about that. He allowed you down because we were outside of operating hours, so it wasn’t quite clear to him what the rules were. But Seven did break the rules. She spoke with you.”

“I told you she didn’t.”

“And it was very valiant of you to protect her,” Rouge says, “but you let slip that you knew her birth name.” She smirks. “And you almost did it again just now. The only way you could know that is if she told you.”

Shit. Rouge did notice.

“I started the conversation,” I say. “She was just being polite, answering me. We exchanged names, that’s all.”

Rouge raises an eyebrow. “Be that is it may, rules are rules. I assure you that Seven will be allowed to return to service when she learns to behave as Aces Underground policy dictates. In the meantime, be assured that she’s being well taken care of.” She gestures to the bar. “Why don’t you get yourself a drink? I’ve already arranged for the club to take care of your bill this evening as a gesture of goodwill, a courtesy for your trouble.”

I breathe in.

I was the one who broke the rules, and I’m being rewarded? I was honestly shocked that Chet even allowed me inside, even as Maddox’s guest, after I came in by myself this afternoon. I open my mouth to protest the free drinks, but before I do so, Rouge gives me a dismissive nod and disappears into the crowd, blending in despite her atrocious attire.

May has been suspended, and it’s all my bloody fault.

At least, I’ve been told that she’s suspended.

I can’t help but worry that she’s met with some far darker fate.

I shake my head to clear it. I’ve been watching too many scary shows on TV of late. Things like that don’t happen in real life.

Do they?

I run my hands through my hair as I walk back to the table where Maddox is sitting. Our drinks have arrived, and he’s gently sipping at his.

He puts his drink down and flashes me a smile. “Feeling better?”

I sit down. “Not at all, Maddox.” I sear my gaze into his. “I fear something awful has happened.”