All Hallows Eve, Vol. 3

Chapter 1

One

Yesina tapped her fingers against the bar top as she waited for her drink order to be filled. Delightful Treats, in Cedar Glenwick, was a high-end strip club, and right now it was packed to the brim with regulars and newcomers. The DJ was playing a house mix of Halloween songs as women danced on stage and a few gave lap dances off-stage. The place, usually bare except for the lighting, was now filled with obscene Halloween decorations she hadn’t seen since she was probably five.

The owner had gone above and beyond this year with the Halloween stuff, telling the girls they’d have to wear costumes starting next week, including the waitresses. He’d been pumped about some carnival coming to town. He swore it would bring more clientele through his doors, which made zero sense to Yesina since most carnivals were for children.

She turned to watch the crowd tonight. Her section wasn’t as busy yet, and there was one table still empty.

I wonder if he’ll show tonight.

Three dancers walked past her, heading to one of the VIP rooms in the back. A man in a black business suit followed behind them with a smirk on his face and his eyes glued to the sway of their hips. He had on a shiny watch and a black band around his ring finger, which was on par for the customers who visited Delightful Treats. The ring never stopped them from coming in or from experiencing all the treats the VIP rooms had to offer.

Yesina quickly did the math on what the man was about to spend for at least an hour with those three women. The back rooms were filled with men and women who enjoyed paying top dollar for things they could surely get at home from their significant other. She wasn’t here to judge—in fact, she was rather impressed that those three dancers were about to go home with enough money to not work for the rest of the year if they didn’t want to.

Just think how much you could make if you stopped waiting tables and got on stage to dance.

She turned back toward the bar, silencing the voice in her head. The one that pushed her to take her dance skills to the stage if for no other reason than to get herself out of debt that wasn’t hers. Thanks to her guardian, Joana, she had credit cards and loans in her name she never signed off on. Joana had been responsible for her since she was sixteen and ripped out of the only home she had ever known. She was some friend of the family Yesina had never met before, and she had been money hungry. Whatever money her father had given Joana shriveled up before Yesina turned eighteen, and by then she was already working at Delightful Treats, building her funds up to go back home.

To go back to who she left behind.

“Stop moving, mu?equita. He’s going to mess up the tattoo if you keep squirming.” Ines nipped at her neck, teasing the flesh there while her hands teased her clit underneath the short skirt she wore.

It wasn’t the first time Ines touched her like this, but it was the first time she’d done it in front of other people, and really turned Yesina on.

Her hands were bound to the tattoo table and her shirt was open, revealing her tanned skin and lacy red bra. She squirmed on Ines’ lap, needing more—desperate for a release she’d been denied for two days straight. The bite from the tattoo needle made her move her hips faster, uncaring of anything other than the pleasure she was receiving.

“Mu?equita, Matteo’s brother is going to mess up the design.” Ines whispered, just as her other hand dived in between her open shirt to tease her hardened nipples.

She cried out, jerking forward. Not until she heard Matteo’s brother curse did she settle down and focus on the design he was inking into her skin.

“Sorry,” she mumbled under her breath, peeking at the other people in the tattoo to shop with her. Matteo and Justice were the only two who hadn’t looked away when she looked at them. Their eyes following the movement of Ines’s hands made her want to open her legs and undo her shirt. Let them fully see how well Ines knew her body.

“Soon,” Ines spoke, reading her mind. “Whenever you’re ready. We will all be together. The peace demands a marriage pact, and there’s no better way to do that than to combine all our families.”

Yesina touched the butterfly tattoo on her wrist. The wings were a blend of four colors, purple, pink, blue, and green. Pink was for her, but the rest represented the people she should have been allowed to love.

“How would it work between the four of us?” Yesenia watched Matteo and Justice as they played cards. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t attracted to them, but she didn’t know them the way she knew Ines. She had a better relationship with Matteo, but Justice was always so withdrawn and quiet around her.

“Same way any relationship works. We just have more people to love.” Ines shrugged like it was no big deal, like it would all work itself out in the end.

The memories of a past she held onto made her heart hurt. She’d been a teen with wild fantasies of what her future would look like when she was older. Being single and a waitress at a strip club was not how she saw her life. The need to go home was never far from her mind. But between Joana always needing money for her doctors and medications and the things she owned continuously needing to be replaced, Yesina couldn’t seem to save up enough lately. Besides, the last words her father spoke to her told her she would never be able to. If her mom’s life meant anything to her, Yesina needed to remain in this shithole town until word had gotten back to her or Joana that everything was okay and it was safe.

That had been three years ago.

The last time she talked to her father he’d been short with her, only giving her one-word responses until she broached the topic of traveling and maybe coming home again. He shut it down completely, telling her to stay put, but surely after fourteen years, whatever kept her from home would have been handled already.

“Pa, I don’t want to leave. I have a life here. I have friends, family. What about the peace pact?” Yesina crossed her arms over her chest, annoyed that her father’s goons had not only caught her sneaking out but were now rummaging through her things because she refused to pack—refused to leave her home.”

Her father’s laughter pissed her off. “That marriage pact was never going to happen.” He moved faster than she anticipated, catching her chin in a punishing grip. “That’s where you were sneaking off to tonight, wasn’t it? Martel’s daughter, his son? Or is it both of them?”

She refused to answer, given the storm raging in her father’s eyes. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she knew her father’s moods well enough to avoid egging him on.

“You’re leaving, Yesina. You’re getting far away from here and that family. It’ll be safer this way.”

Yesina wasn’t sure who it was supposed to be safer for, but that night changed the course of her life in more ways than one.

“Yes, that guy is back in your section, again. What’s that make, five straight nights in a row?” The bartender, Lana, smiled as she placed the drink orders on Yesina’s drink tray. “Have you talked to him yet, other than to get his drink order?”

Yesina shook her head and her gaze flashed to the mirror behind the bar. She’d been waiting for him to show up tonight—and every other night she was on shift. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw he was watching her.

He’d been coming in for a couple of months now, each time he was here it was only during her shift—at least according to Lana. But this had been the first week he’d been here every single shift.

Her eyes greedily took in his wide shoulders, full lips, and the way his tattooed fingers tapped against the table in time to whatever the DJ was playing. It amazed her how he seemed to take up all the space in the room and somehow blend in—even with the tattoos on his hands.

He was always in black and today was no different. Black boots, black jeans, and a black, long sleeve shirt that molded to his body and made her palms itch to touch him. She knew he had tattoos under that shirt—had seen something peeking at her under his collar a few times when she took his drink order.

Lana made a whistling sound, bringing her attention back to the bartender. “He is so fine. Though from what I’ve seen and been told, he doesn’t ask any of the girls to dance for him. Nor does he seem to throw money on the stage like the other guys in here. If one of the girls ask him if he wants a lap dance, he shakes his head but still tips the girls. Here.” Lana pulled the drink tray away from Yesina. “Cas is going to deliver these, and you’re going to….”

Lana disappeared before finishing her thought, and Yesina looked back at the mirror, watching him watch her. He seemed aware of everything around him, though he hadn’t taken his hazel eyes off her yet.

“Here,” Lana came back with a drink in hand, “Go give him his usual whiskey neat, and talk to him.”

“About what?” Yesina asked, taking the glass out of her hand.

Lana rolled her eyes. “About clearing the cobwebs out of your?—”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Yesina cut her off, even though her body responded to the idea of her regular breaking her dry spell. It had been six months since the last time someone touched her. Imagining his hands on her body was enough to leave her achy, but would it be enough to give her courage to turn a fantasy into reality?

“I see your mind’s working over the idea. It’s too bad you didn’t take boss man up on getting on stage. You could let your body do the talking for you.” She winked before leaving Yesina alone at the bar.

She chewed her bottom lip, trying to steady her rapid heartbeat. She knew the second she turned around it would be written all over her face what she’d just been talking about and was still thinking about. It wouldn’t worry her if she knew he kept his attention on the stage, but he was always watching her, no matter where she was in the room. She always felt his eyes on her, even now, it was a whispered kissed scorching her skin.

“Yesina,” Lana hissed over the music as she walked by. “Go right now,” she said through gritted teeth.

Yesina rolled her eyes and turned so she wouldn’t have to deal with Lana on her way back, but her feet stalled when her gaze collided with her stranger. He lingered on her lips before his eyes took a slow trip down her body and back up. The uniform all the waitresses wore were black or red shorts that were skintight and short enough that she was glad she decided on laser hair removal when she turned twenty-one.

The shorts were paired with fishnet stockings and black combat boots. Her top doubled as a bikini top in the summer, and she kept her long chestnut hair in two French braids down her back. Considering she was in a strip club, she was fully clothed, but the way her stranger with the skeleton tattooed hands looked at her, it felt like he had stripped her bare and she was standing in the crowded room naked.

But it didn’t bother her, not when she had his attention.

Diamond, one of the club’s elite dancers, waltzed by his table, completely blocking her view of him. Just that quickly it felt like a spell had been lifted. She felt steadier, and her overheated skin cooled as she made her way over to her stranger’s table.

“Appreciate the offer, love, but no thank you.” His voice was smooth. The politeness of it made her wonder what he sounded like when he was turned on, and she tried to shake the image from her mind.

“You know, it would hurt my feelings if you only turned me down, but we never see you entertain anyone.” Diamond ran sharp nail across his chest as she leaned down, and Yesina had to check the need to snatch the woman’s hand away and snap her wrist.

“You’re always by yourself, so we know you’re not here for any meetings and you only ever have one drink. Don’t tell me you’re here for the music?”

His deep chuckle made her body hum as she came around the table. She placed the whiskey down and his eyes snapped to hers. There was a smile teasing his full lips. “It’s not the music I’m here for, love.”

Diamond stood to her full height and walked off. If she said anything, Yesina didn’t hear it. Her attention was fixated on the man in front of her. Up close he seemed larger and the air around him chilled as if there should have been a caution sign around him—not that she’d heed the warning.

“Whiskey?” He nodded toward the drink she still had her hand wrapped around.

“On the house,” she whispered, still holding on to the glass.

“You plan on giving it to me?” he teased.

She immediately dropped her hold on the cup, feeling silly that he rendered her senseless. She wasn’t sure what it was about him that made her flustered. He was the only repeat customer she had that she hadn’t known anything about other than his drink order and his favorite color being black.

Maybe it was the familiarity in his eyes—the way she felt like she had known him once but couldn’t place where.

The silence between them stretched as they stared at each other, and it wasn’t until the DJ called the next dancer that the silence felt awkward. “Enjoy your drink,” she mumbled, abruptly turning—fleeing is what she felt like she was doing—but she didn’t get very far.

A warm hand wrapped around her wrist, slowly tugging her back around. “How about a dance?”

“Excuse me?” Her body felt like it had been lit up from the feel of his skin on her skin. She was vibrating—sure that her feet would be off the floor if not for his hold on her.

“Dance for me,” he repeated.

“I’m not one of the dancers. I’m only a waitress.” She sounded breathless and somehow managed to get closer to him.

When had she moved?

Was it him or her who had closed the distance between them so that she was standing in between his long legs?

“So? I’m sure no one will mind if you dance for me, mu?equita.”

The pet name slipping off of his lips jarred memories of her past—memories of a person she was told to forget about when she was ushered from her childhood home.

“Little doll?” she whispered, feeling this urgent need to connect to her past.

It made her wonder if that was why she was so drawn to this man. He reminded her of a time that had been lost to her.

“Yes,” he murmured, grabbing on to her hips and lifting her off her feet. She let out a gasp as he settled her on his lap. Her legs were spread wide to accommodate the width of him. Everything about him made her feel small, including the way he kept his big hands spreading across her hips.

“The big round brown eyes, the two braids, and the soft-looking skin.” His fingers teased the top of her shorts and her body shook as she clung to him. “Dance for me, mu?equita.” He leaned forward, his lips a breath from hers, and she was ashamed of how quickly she hoped he’d kiss her.

“I think you know exactly why I’ve been coming here—why I keep coming back.”

The way he spoke felt like a lesson in seduction, and she was falling for it.

Maybe it was the way he felt against her.

Maybe it was the way her past had spun up around her in her memories, and this stranger made her feel like a home she never got to enjoy.

Maybe she was just throwing caution to the wind, and this would end with just a dance.

“Why?” she whispered, moving her hips in time with the music.

“Dance for me, and I’ll give voice to what you already know.” He smiled, and it sent her pulse into a tailspin.

Yesina grabbed his hands, pulling them away from her body. If he wanted a dance, he had to follow house rules. No matter how much she wanted him touching her, he couldn’t out here.

“If you want a dance,” her voice shook, “no touching.”

His gaze shifted past her shoulder before coming back to her. “I guess it’s time to go to the back rooms then.” He pulled out of her hold, wrapping one hand around her waist and the other around her braids. He tugged gently and her head fell back, giving him access to her throat. She felt the gentle press of his lips against her pulse, and her fingers curled into his shirt, tugging him closer.

“If we go back there,” he hummed, bringing her gaze back to his, “that means you’re mine for the night to do with as I please.”

Yesina’s heart was in her throat. She knew exactly what happened in those back rooms. She wasn’t one for one-night stands, and maybe in the morning she’d find the energy to be worried about the consequences of her actions, but right now she didn’t care.

She held his stare, feeling oddly calm. “You can have that dance, but tell me your name first.”

He stood, lifting her up as if she weighed nothing. “My name is Justice.”