Club Princess - Nicole James Page 0,30
gonna love it.” I drag him that way.
A bored attendant takes our tickets at the entrance, and we go in. Immediately inside the clown’s mouth is a rotating barrel we must walk through.
“Whoa,” Memphis says.
I start to lose my balance, and grab his arm, and we both almost go down. We make it through, laughing, and then climb a rickety metal staircase. It shakes and tilts, and I clutch the cold handrails, chipped paint rough under my skin.
I fall back against Memphis, and his tight arm encircles my waist.
“I’ve got you.”
Flashing strobe lights make it all the more disorientating. Recorded clown laughter with an underlying sound of machinery clanking and grinding, echoes through the tight passages we navigate like mice in a maze. Occasionally the air is rent by screams and laughter of other patrons.
We come to some twisting disks we must walk across, and then make it to the funhouse mirrors that distort our reflections.
The metal floor under foot is sticky with spilled drinks. Popcorn crunches beneath my shoes. A clown face springs out from the wall, and I scream. Evil laughter echoes as I dash on, Memphis right behind me, laughing.
We walk down another passage, and find ourselves in a room of mirrors, searching for the exit as the floor fills with fog from a smoke machine.
Finally, we burst outside into the fresh air, laughing and coughing.
“Want to go again?” I ask, grinning up at Memphis.
“Hell, no,” he replies, heaving in the fresh air. “Once is enough. That was trippy.”
He drapes his arm around my shoulder, and I burrow against him, holding onto his waist. It feels natural and good, and I want to stay this way all the way back to the bike.
Of course we don’t. As soon as the crowd thins out, he drops his arm, and I move away.
The ride back to the motel is chilly as the dewy air rolls over us.
We pull in, and dismount, and suddenly I feel like a virgin teenager. Maybe its because I know what’s coming this time. I know how good it was between us, and I’m already dying to fall on him the moment the door closes, but a part of me wants to play it cool. Perhaps because I’ve been hurt before, perhaps because I’m doing what I swore I wouldn’t do—I’m starting to get attached. Memphis is no longer just a hot-as-hell stranger. With every tiny piece of him that I get him to reveal, I’m getting closer.
Only problem is, I’m not sure I’m anything more to him than a task he’s been given, and that gets my back up.
We enter, and I can’t stop the words that come out with more bite than I intend. “So what happens after you deliver the MC princess home?”
He frowns. “Where the hell did that come from?”
I shrug, feeling like a bitch, but I suddenly can’t let it slide. “Where will you go?”
“I don’t know. Depends on what the club needs. Seems I’m always getting called in for something. Might be Nevada, might be New Mexico, hell I don’t know.”
“I see.”
He cocks his head to the side. “What’s changed?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean we were havin’ a good time. Now you seem pissed.”
I shake my head, and look away. “I’m not.”
“You sure about that?”
I take a breath, and close my eyes, deciding not to let my neurotic crazy thoughts ruin what time we have together. I open my eyes, and smile at him. “I’m fine. But I could be better.”
He cocks a brow suspiciously.
I walk to him, and loop my arms around his neck.
His hands land on my waist, but he studies me with a wary look.
I press my lips to his, tilting my head to the side and deepening the kiss. He goes with it, lifting me up with his hands on my ass, and taking me to the bed. He comes down on top of me, his weight feeling reassuring and thrilling at the same time.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Memphis—
I kiss Lola like a man quenching his thirst; more is never enough. I eat at her mouth with soft, little kisses that I press gently against her lips, then deep, probing ones that barely let her up for air. I can’t decide which she likes better.
I want to drag this out all night, taking my time with her, because I know with every mile we ride we’re that much closer to the end of this, and I don’t want it to end.
I pull back and stand, then grab her