Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
I twirl the handle around in my hand as the woman’s cries grow louder. I lower it to her leg, just hovering over her skin letting her feel the heat but not burning her just yet, and it trembles in the restraints. I make my way up her body and across the straitjacket before hovering it over her face.
She cowers away, trying to look to the side, but the strap around her neck is too tight for that kind of movement. I take my free hand and dig my fingers into the leather strap of the ball gag and her cheek, yanking the rubber from her mouth, and her sobs immediately fill the room. “Pl-ease…”
I grip her chin, squeezing it so hard she whimpers, and shove her head back. She blinks rapidly while fresh tears roll down her dirty face. I hold the 666 branding iron right over her left cheek as I speak. “Where is my wife, Whitney?”
ASHTYN
I sit in the dressing room of the strip club. Tonight is particularly busy for a Thursday because it’s a themed mask night. Everyone, even the customers, come in dressed up with masks. Some are even dressed in full costumes.
My cell lights up, sitting on the counter in front of me, and I pick it up to see it’s an incoming call from BOSS LADY.
“Hello?” I sit back in my seat.
“Question.” The woman on the other end greets me.
“Shoot.”
“Monica called in tonight with the flu. Maggie is picking up her shift, but she can’t tomorrow…”
“I’ll take it.” I sit up straight, not even letting her finish asking me to work tomorrow night.
“Perfect. I’ll put you down. Thanks so much, girl.”
“Anytime,” I tell her, and she knows it. She’s changed my life for the best. When I didn’t think anyone would take a chance on a woman who was on the run, she did. She isn’t aware of what I’m running from. Never asked. When I tried to explain, she said I didn’t have to. The fact that I wanted a fresh start was all she needed to know. Something tells me she’s done the same thing.
“Damn, woman. You Daddy’s little girl tonight?” Destiny asks as she walks by me.
I lock my cell and set it down to look up at her in the mirror in front of me when she comes to stand behind my chair. I did my makeup like Harley Quinn.
My red-painted lips smile, and I say, “I’ll be whatever Daddy wants me to be.” Clich?, I know. But it’s fun to get to dress up every night of the week. I get to be someone else. It helps me forget who I once was. Ever since I ran from Carnage, I wear a mask that can never be removed. It’s a hard pill to swallow sometimes.
Bending over, I grab one of the fishnet thigh-highs and pull it up my freshly spray-tanned leg, getting it in place without tearing it before repeating the other. Then I slide on red six-inch fuck-me heels. Picking up the collar off the counter, I look over at Cherry. “Hey, will you put this on me, please?” I ask her.
“Of course.” She gets up, walks over to me, and I grab my dark hair in one hand while she steps behind me, fastening it in place. “Feel okay?” she asks, tugging on it to ensure enough room for me to breathe.
“No,” I answer honestly. It’s bulky and uncomfortable, but I paid a hundred and fifty dollars for it. “I’ll remove it after Benny leaves,” I tell her.
I considered buying a blond wig with pigtails but thought better of it. You already get so hot dancing under the lights that it would just drive me nuts. So, tonight I am a brunette Harley Quinn. I decide to keep it down because when you’re on stage, shaking your ass for cash, men like to see your hair.
I’ve always kept mine really long. It’s naturally dark, but years ago, I dyed it black. It’s so dark that when the light hits it just right, it glows blue.
A bleach-blond enters the dressing room and stops by my chair. “Jake dropped by.”
“Oh.” I sit up straighter, my hands clapping excitedly. “Did he bring gifts?”
Her black-painted lips widen into an evil grin. “He did.” She places her fist out, and I open mine underneath it. She drops two pills into mine before I close it, concealing what’s in it.
“Tell him I said thank you.”
Sadie laughs softly. “You can thank him later. He’ll be back with his friends.” Pushing off the wall, she plops down next to me.
She’s my best friend here at the club. Sometimes I feel guilty about how much I’ve lied to her. I feel like I’m pretending every day. She doesn’t know the real me; if she did, she probably wouldn’t be my friend.
I pop both pills into my mouth and sip on my Red Bull. I’m going to need both to get me through tonight. I worked last night and was up early this morning, running errands all day. I barely got three hours of sleep last night. I’m going to crash hard when I get home later tonight.
“Hey, Sadie, those two guys from last weekend are here talking to Bones,” Cherry tells her when she enters the room.
I look over at Sadie and ask, “The two who each gave you five grand?”
“Yep,” Cherry answers for her.
“God, they were so fucking fine.” Sadie sighs, slumping back in her chair.
I took last weekend off because of James. We live together but are currently in the middle of a breakup. I can’t get the bastard to move out of my place. I told him to pack his shit and go. He cried. Begged me to let him stay. Said he had nowhere else to go after he lost his job. That was six months ago. He prefers to live off me instead of going out and getting one on his own.
“They’re getting the room again. I just saw them walk to the back.” Cherry winks at Sadie.
“Hey, Luna, Benny is here,” Bentley calls out, entering with her G-string and garter belt overflowing with bills from just getting off the main stage.
“Thanks.” Sucking down what’s left of my Red Bull, I give Sadie a wink and walk out into the club. The music is loud, and the lights flash. I’m used to it by now. I’ve been working here for the past two years. I was working at another club here in Vegas when Glass opened. This one was just better all around-bigger and classier and my bosses are amazing.
You have to audition to be an entertainer in Nevada and get a license. Thankfully, when I ran from Carnage, I had help. I was given a new name and identity. Without that, I’m not sure where I’d be.
When I decided to start a new life, a stripper was the only option. You get to be someone else. Stage name, dress-up, and it’s like a girls’ night every night while you take money from men as you drink. If there’s anything better, let me know.
Plus, when you’re running from the Lords, you have to be assumed dead. If not, they will find you. I might have killed Saint, but the others will still be looking for me. And a Lord believes in blood for blood.
I started taking drugs to help me forget…what I gave up. What I ended up losing. And him. It didn’t work. But I realized that it did help me sleep, and in my dreams, I was able to live a different life. One where he wasn’t a Lord, and I wasn’t the coward who shot him. We were able to live happily ever after like you hear in fairy tales.
I walk up the three stairs and over to the round table where the guy sits. Benny always sits in the same section, same table, and orders the same thing to drink. He looks up from his phone to see me, and he swallows.
“Hey, handsome.” I plop down next to him.
Reaching over, he slides his hand between my legs and pulls mine to rest over his jean-clad thighs, across his lap. His lips near my ear, his voice rumbles. “Fuck, you look hot tonight, sweetheart.”
I still cringe whenever someone calls me that. It reminds me of Saint. I don’t know if I killed him, but he still has so much power over me it’s pathetic. At times, I think killing myself would have been easier than living a life without him. I wish he would have just killed me when I asked him. I ended up losing everything anyway.
I muster up a fake smile. “You look pretty good yourself.”
He didn’t dress up, but I didn’t expect him to. He’s a regular. He’s been coming into Glass to see me since opening night. I slept with him three months later for the first time. We’ve never been a couple or anything like that. He comes in regularly and sees me. Every now and then, he rents a suite in one of the hotels on the Strip, and I spend the night with him.
“How long before you go on stage?” he asks, his hand softly running up and over my upper thigh at the top of my thigh-highs.
“Thirty minutes,” I say.
He gives me a kind smile just as a server comes over to us. He orders himself a glass of scotch and me a Red Bull and vodka. I need another energy drink and for this ecstasy to kick in.
Technically, in the state of Nevada, if a strip club serves alcohol, the dancers aren’t allowed to be nude. But if you can serve alcohol, the club is more lucrative. So Glass doesn’t follow the law. But when you have two bosses like I do, they’re bound to bend the rules to their benefit. They’ve either paid someone off or just don’t give a fuck.
THIRTY-THREE
ASHTYN
Forty-five minutes later, I walk off the third stage, pulling the bills from my G-string, and head down the steps off the end and back into the locker room.
“How is it out there?” Cherry asks.