I look over at the couches. Arson’s sprawled out on one of them, and Sam is curled up against his chest.
“I don’t understand any of this,” I tell Spider, feeling dazed. I slide off the stool, needing to let off the pent-up energy over everything that just happened.
Tracing the collar around my neck with his thumb, he opens his mouth as if about to say something, but Dragon comes over before he can speak.
Prez’s eyes rake over me, and his mouth quirks when he sees the chain that runs along my belly and the leash Spider is holding. “The beast and his little pet,” he grunts.
Tequila’s back, and she hands him a beer.
Without another look at me, Dragon takes the tankard and touches her under the chin with a wink.
Tequila flashes him a smile, but it doesn’t touch her eyes. When Dragon turns away from her, her jaw is set hard enough to cut glass.
“Spider, get over here,” Dragon says, starting for a table across the room. “Business to discuss.”
“Sure, Prez.” He unwinds the leash from his fist and sets the loop at end on the bar. “When I come back, I expect the leash to be right there.”
Pip comes in from outside and walks over to get a beer. As soon as Tequila pulls it, Spider swipes it.
“Too slow, Prospect,” he says. “Go clean up the pool table.”
Pip looks at the table where Sam had just been and shakes his head. He drags himself off.
Spider presses against me and gives my butt cheek a squeeze. “Behave yourself, Wildcat.”
He follows his commander in chief. With nothing else to do but wait for him, I push myself back onto the stool, glare at the leather loop at the end of the leash, and then drop my forehead onto the bar.
“You look like you could use a good stiff drink,” Tequila says.
“I don’t drink,” I mumble.
“First time for everything.”
I lift my head. My brain is still reeling from what I’ve seen. My clit is still pulsing with need. I can’t believe Spider actually made me watch that whole scene. And then he walked off as if it was nothing.
He’s upended my world yet again, and he just expects me to accept it. Tequila’s words sound so normal, the concept of wetting my whistle such an everyday occurrence, that they feel out of place somehow. I feel like I’m on a rollercoaster of emotions, and it’s giving me whiplash.
I focus on Tequila. Standing in front of me, she doesn’t look as if the man for whom she obviously carries a torch just ripped her heart out by savaging another woman in front of her and then rubbing it in her face. She looks pleasant and approachable, as if it’s all in a day’s work.
“My nerves are shot,” I tell her. “I don’t think alcohol is what I need right now.
I’m not sure what would stop me from feeling like I’m caught in a gale that’s buffeting me every which way. My emotions are all over the place.
“A shot will do you good, then. You can’t go long around these guys without learning to throw back a strong one.” She grabs a bottle and a shot glass from the shelf behind her. “Especially considering what I heard Spider intends to do to you later. This will help you relax.” She fills the glass to the brim. The bottle’s label reads Jack Daniels.
What Spider intends to do to me? My backside clenches, and I swallow hard. There’s no getting out of it. My stomach tightens, even while my skin heats.
“Fine. If you think it’ll help.”
“It will.” She sets the glass down in front of me. “The trick with that stuff is to drink it all down at once. Fast.”
I blow out a breath and take the glass.
“If my parents could see me now.” I stare into the amber liquid morosely. Then I toss it back in one gulp. It sears my throat like fire, and the taste makes me shudder.
“Bleh.” I give myself a shake, sticking out my tongue. “That’s vile.”
But it also warms my insides and makes my body feel strangely loose and floaty. It’s not that different from the feeling of an orgasm.
Tequila laughs at my reaction. “Bottoms up.”
“I’m starting to see why the pastors call that stuff demon rum.”
“Another?” She waves the bottle with a chuckle.
I shake my head and put my forehead on the bar again. “I’m going straight to hell as it is. What is this place doing to me?”