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I loved my job

I was proud of e achieved It was a group effort, and Bleeding Hearts was the hottest burlesque joint in New York Of course, others had tried to replicate e had, but they all fell short

We had the best dancers, prettiest faces, and irls were loyal to us

“You’re a cruel woman” came from the shadows at the side of the bar

And althoughsht

There he was, sitting in the dark His face lit up with every strobing light, and one look at that neatly trihis way up h my head

His body filled up the sray long-sleeved Henley, which, of course, was pushed up, revealing his tattooed forearms

No

Forearm porn? Really?

I internally sulked

Why was he torturing me?

He couldn’t knohat he was doing to me Could he?

His eyes crinkled in the corners with his smile and those dimples…

Fuck

He looked like Hades himself

Dark and te, like sex was just a part of who he was A quality he couldn’t get rid of, even if he tried

I sed down the flurry of ehin his presence always did strange things to me It was almost as if I lost myself and became his

“Just doing my job,” I said with remarkable composure

When he licked his full bottom lip, looked around in a bored aze went down to the ink on his neck I’d seen him bare more times than I could count I could tell you where every scar was, describe the way his ab ed unsymmetrically I had kissed every square inch of this physique

As much as I was his, Viktor Nikulin was mine

The bruises on his face did nothing tothe attention of h to notice hi else

“Hoas your lunch with Frenchie?” The question was asked low, dangerous-like

Oh no We are not going there

Nuh uh

He knew he ruined it before it even began I wanted to say so caaped a htly