enough not to be grabbing ass already. It was damn near the most a woman could hope for, especially out of Wilson Trent's old sector.
"They don't seem so bad," Noelle observed, shifting closer to Jasper nonetheless. She looked unusually fierce in leather and chains, but the dark style and dramatic makeup suited her every bit as much as her usual ruffles and lace. She'd braided her hair up off her neck, leaving Jasper's ink winding across her skin in elegant, deadly warning.
There was a lot of ink on display tonight, including Dallas's. Spiked bands clasped his wrists below his O'Kane cuffs, but his arms were left bare by his heavy leather vest, and he draped one across the booth behind Lex as their three visitors drifted closer. "They're careful," Dallas corrected, "which just means they're not idiots."
Jasper huffed out a laugh. "Or they're careful idiots."
Dallas snorted. "Six said these were the brightest of the bunch, but that's like saying they're the softest rocks. The one on the left is Cain. I'd bet on him being the brains of the operation."
The man was tall, dark, with a look of deceptively relaxed concentration on his smooth brown face. It reminded her of Bren, the way he watched the world, registering everything and filing it away for later.
"The other two are Riff and Elvis." Dallas's lips twitched. "One of them's a musician. And it ain't Elvis."
Lex had seen enough musicians in her time to spot Riff, with his long black hair and scowl. Which left Elvis as the pretty boy, the one licking his lips and eyeballing the women like he was making a fucking grocery list for later. "He thinks highly of himself, doesn't he?"
"Presumably. He wants to run things, and that takes a certain amount of arrogance."
Lex leaned her head back against his arm. "You would know, honey."
"Damn straight."
Elvis turned toward their corner, and Dallas tensed as the man's gaze slid over Lex and Noelle in turn. He mostly kept the expectant lust from his face as he approached, but Lex could see it in his eyes. Hear it in his voice. "Dallas. Jasper. Quite a party."
Dallas settled a hand on Lex's shoulder as he nodded to the chairs on the opposite side of the table. "Oh, we're just getting started. Take a seat."
He did, sprawling out to take up as much space as possible. Cain was the last to sit, choosing the chair that would leave him with his back against the wall.
Lex liked him already.
She offered him a smile as she slid a whiskey shot closer to him. "Cain, right?"
He nodded and accepted the tiny glass, but didn't drink. His gaze flicked briefly to her collar--and no lower. "And you'd be Lex?"
"I would." She glanced at the other two men. "Noelle and I were sorry to miss the trip into your sector. Introduce us to your friends?"
Cain opened his mouth only to close it as Elvis leaned forward and swiped the shot of whiskey. He knocked it back without fuss and grinned. "This is Riff, and I'm Elvis. I guess that kind of makes me a king."
Riff's derisive snort was the only sound he made. Lex longed to echo it as she placed a drink in front of him before sliding another shot to rest near Cain's hand.
Since he hadn't gotten whatever he was clearly after, Elvis tried again. "I've always wanted to meet the infamous Lex Parrino. I caught your show once. Never forgot it, either."
He said it with a leer that left everyone at the table uncomfortably sure he'd spent more than a few nights jerking off to the memory of her dancing. Dallas tensed to the point of anger beside her. Before he could explode, Cain stepped into the awkward pause. "That would make you Miss Cunningham," he told Noelle, managing not to stare at her tits, either.
"Noelle," she corrected with a smile sweet enough to ruin the effect of the wardrobe. "Just Noelle. I'm an O'Kane."
His gaze flickered to Jasper. "Right. I met your man the other night."
"Jas is my right hand," Dallas said in his best lazy voice, relaxed and easy despite the strain Lex could feel in every muscle of his body. "Bren's my left. You'll meet him later."
Riff stirred but said nothing. Elvis transferred his leer to Noelle. "I'm more interested in this little lady here. Not every sector has their own Eden royalty. I heard Jas plucked her out of her daddy's house in the middle of the night and taught