Decker's Wood (21 page)

“Wow, presumptuous much? He drugged me!” Andi spluttered.

“And you would have done the same for him,” I echoed Casey’s words.

“I guess if I had sedatives in my medicine cabinet, I might have considered it.” She sighed. I moved around the counter and grabbed her waist, pulling her close. There were still a few people loitering in the store, but I didn’t care. I kissed her cheek, her nose, and finally her mouth.

“I’ve got to get going. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Andi nodded, her eyes looking at me with such intense appreciation and need that I couldn’t help but lean forward and kiss her again. My hand fell from her waist and I gave her ass a small squeeze before pulling away. If I stayed, I would end up kicking everyone out of the store and drag her back upstairs. Reluctantly, I climbed into my car and pulled away from the curb. Regardless of my unwillingness to leave her, I was smiling. I was fucking ecstatic. I was going straight home to email The Bishop. When my cell phone rang, I grabbed it without as much as a glance at the screen.

“Deck,
it’s Ryder. Karl has done it again.” My good mood collapsed into a pile of steaming dog shit. Karl was a friend, Karl was a mess, and Karl had evidently OD’d, again. “He’s in Bellevue and your mom’s here.” My mom had been the last person to pull him from his coke habit and get him into rehab the last time. She would be pissed.

“I’m on my way.” I sighed. I had tried to convince Karl to quit skin flicks, the easy access to drugs and the over-glorified lifestyle was too tempting for him. When he refused, Ryder had pulled him in to work for Kink Harder, knowing his own strict drug checks would keep him in line. I guess he’d gone looking for work elsewhere and had once
again found his vice, cocaine.

ANDI

When Decker turned up on my doorstep the night of Casey’s birthday bash, he looked tired. The usual sparkle in his eyes was dull, the smudges under his eyes didn’t rub off, and his hair seemed even more unkempt than usual.

“I’m okay,” he murmured as I rubbed beneath his tired eyes and brushed his hair away. He’d called me two nights ago from the hospital, and I had almost flipped the fuck out. When he told me about his friend’s overdose and consequent slow rise back into consciousness, my heart had broken for him. They hadn’t thought Karl would recover this time, and when he opened his eyes and asked where the fuck he was, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone except Sarah, Decker’s mom. Decker had passed his phone to me in an attempt to calm Sarah down. Apparently Decker thought I had a calming influence, which was news to me. But after an hour of chatting about her boys, a trip to Egypt her and Joe were planning, and the possibility of doing dinner again in a couple of weeks, she thanked me and admitted I was, in fact, a good listener. She had viewed Karl’s overdose as her own failure, but as I explained, nobody could help Karl if he didn’t want to help himself. Sarah had an ingrained need to fix things, fix people, it was the nurse in her. Decker kissed my palm before lowering my hand from his face. “Let’s go have pre-drinks with Miley and the disciple. I need a night of inebriation.”

*

Tinsel Town was…insane! The place looked like nothing more than an unassuming warehouse from the outside, but inside, the place was like a dystopian underground city. The bar was the center piece of the lower floor, yes lower floor. Three floors above us, people leaned over balconies and guardrails, watching the large cage where three women dressed in silver metallic, glittering body suits danced erotically, which hung above the lower floor of the bar. The bar staff was ridiculously gorgeous, men and women who smiled with enthusiasm and flipped shakers and glasses around their heads with expertise. A large stage sat to one side, a DJ was set up in the center of it, his muscular chest bare, his eyes closed as he moved rhythmically to the sounds and songs he was creating at his fingertips. Practically naked, gorgeous women danced around him, but he somehow managed to ignore them. Every now and again slips of metallic paper and confetti would rain down from the floors above, tangling in clothes and hair. I don’t know how long I stood there and stared with my mouth agape, but when Casey nudged my chin, forcing my mouth closed, and Decker laughed, pulling me forward, I guessed it was a while. I felt majorly overdressed, in a little black dress that ended with a tuff of tulle just shy of my ass and cowboy boots. The women around me were wearing little more than underwear. Casey flashed a card as we approached a roped off area, and the enormous bouncer pulled the rope back, allowing us to enter the VIP area. The only light came from scones along the walls that held blue bulbs. Leather lounge chairs, chaises, bean bags, and bar stools were scattered around the VIP section, and waitresses flitted around, delivering drinks. I was pulled to an empty table surrounded by stools. As I slid onto one, my eyes continued to soak up the vision before me. Decker leaned forward, his breath warm at my ear.

“Do they have anything like this in Texas?”

I shook my head. He knew damn well they didn’t have anything like this in Texas. I was certain there was nowhere else like this in the universe. Decker’s hand fell to my thigh, giving me a gentle squeeze as he leaned into a waitress to give her our order.

Casey looked…bright. His spandex pants were florescent green, his fitted vest had a Scottish themed red and green plaid, and he wore no shirt under the vest. The mop on top of his head had been sprayed with extra hold lacquer into something that resembled a wave. He wore green eye shadow and a dash of glitter on his accented cheeks. Lionel, on the other hand, looked remarkably understated in a grey linen suit. My eyes moved to Decker, who, of course, looked edible. He wore black dress pants with a black button down shirt rolled to the elbow. So simple, yet all I wanted to do was throw him down onto one of the couches and have my wicked way with him. He noticed the sparkle in my eye.

“Later,” he whispered the promise in my ear.

Casey grabbed my hand. “Let’s show these stiffs how to dance.”

I followed him out of the VIP area and onto the dance floor, which seemed to be anywhere around the bar. Unlike the people around us, who were grinding and shaking their bodies against each other, Casey took my hand and began to dance me around just like he had done on the roof of his apartment. He spun me, dipped me, and threw me around like a little dancing doll and I somehow managed to keep up. When we eventually made our way out of the heated furnace of dancing bodies, sweat was dripping down my back and into my dress. Well, that wasn’t particularly sexy. Not until Decker leaned over and licked my neck.

“Salty,” he murmured. When he went to hand me water, I bypassed it for the beer he had ordered and I drank the entire darn thing without so much as pausing. “My girl’s in the mood to party.”

Feeling daring, or perhaps a tiny bit tipsy from the beer, I stood on my toes and whispered in his ear, “Your girl is in the mood to drag you into a dark corner and fuck you.” I drew away and winked. “Later,” I mouthed.

The wicked grin he bestowed upon me had me biting my lower lip with a little trepidation. I kind of hoped he didn’t expect me to indulge in any public displays of sexuality. I didn’t think I could, but the thought of Decker pushing me up against a dark wall, obscuring my body from seeing eyes... Hells bells, my nipples were suddenly drawn to loaded points. I crossed my arms in an attempt to cover them, but Decker had already noticed, his hungry gaze rising from the gentle swell of my chest.

“Tequila for the Texan!” shouted Casey. It broke the lusty haze Decker and I had fallen into. “Lick, sip, suck.” Shots of tequila, a shaker of salt, and lime wedges were emptied from a tray, onto our table. We salted our hand and placed our limes in front of us. With a quick lick, the burning shot went down my throat followed by the soothing suck of lime. My first shot was down. I loved tequila, but it was a sneaky mother. One minute you could be downing shots and dancing like a sexy beast, the next minute you’re on the floor wondering when the hell you lost your shoes and where the hell your pants went. The trick was water. Lots of water. I drank an entire glass before the next shot.

“Hold up,” Decker commanded as we went to salt up.

With a naughty grin he leaned forward and licked just below my collarbone. I moaned, loudly, then thanked god for the loud music. He tipped a little salt over the spot he had just licked, then grabbed a quarter of lime and slipped it between my teeth. “The only way to lick, sip, and suck.” Then he licked away the salt, his hot tongue on my skin was like heaven. He threw down his shot and took the lime from my lips, but quickly discarded it to take my mouth in a ravenous kiss. When he pulled away, I was breathless. I glanced at Casey who was beaming at us. He turned to Lionel with a playful look in his eyes.

“Oh, hell no. You are not licking or sucking anything off me in public,” Lionel refused.

“You can do me Casey,” I cried, the alcohol burning away my brain cells.

“Not a chance, Country,” Decker growled. “I don’t share, not even with gay men.”

Casey pouted.

“Hey, pookie bear,” I called out to Casey over the loud music, and his brow furrowed at my pet name for him. “It’s your birthday, how about we have a little ménage à trois?” Three sets of eyes snapped to mine with a little surprise and whole lot of fear. They all breathed a sigh of relief when the rum and Coke cocktails were delivered to our table. “What? Ya’ll have never heard of this before? I thought all experienced city boys like you would have tried one of these at least once before,” I teased them. When I glanced at Decker, I realized exactly what I had been saying. The Prince of Porn had no doubt engaged in many ménage à trois and probably more. He didn’t say anything though, instead he allowed his hand to slide up my thigh and under my dress to cup my ass. It did the trick; all thoughts of Decker’s porn career slipped right away.

With beer, tequila, and a variety of deadly cocktails under my boots, I was swaying like a high-rise in a strong breeze before long. When I made my way back from the ladies room, a lusty looking blonde had found her way to Decker. Actually, an entire gaggle of women stood around him while a group of mostly handsome men stood to one side. I recognized Fabian, Leah, and Cindy right away.

“Andi!” Leah exclaimed as I approached.

“Howdy, ya’ll,” I somehow managed to say without slurring too much. My gaze automatically fell back to Decker and the blonde who was standing way too close.

“Ohhhh, I love your dress!” squealed Cindy.

“Thank you.” I smiled.

“Oh my god, we’ve just been invaded by porn stars,” Casey hissed in my ear.

“If it isn’t the not so cute but entirely stunning Andi,” Fabian crooned from beside me. He took my hand and placed a kiss to the back. It was chaste, but it felt too intimate.

“You need to go rescue Decker. That is the soul sucking Melody Mona hanging all over him, and no matter how blatantly rude he is to her, she won’t back off,” whispered Leah.

“Her name is Melody Mona?” I snorted. “Wow, must have taken her weeks to think that one up.” Leah and Cindy smothered their laughter. Rescue Decker, I could do that. Casting Fabian a polite smile, I brushed my long strawberry locks back and strolled towards the table. The men and women hovering seemed to part for me in an almost animated way. I felt like a queen moving fluidly through a room of admirers. But I wasn’t a queen, Casey was, and most of these people were definitely not my admirers. In fact, most of them looked at me like I was a bug under their boot. I felt like I was back in high school all over again, working hard to seek someone’s approval, anyone’s. The difference was I had already had the approval of the ones who mattered. I wasn’t in high school anymore, the braces were gone, highlights had been added, and my confidence wasn’t anywhere near as damaged and fragile as it once was. On one side of Decker stood the buxom blonde who couldn’t take no for an answer. At his other side, stood a tall, dark, handsome man with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. He gave me a wink before stepping aside.

“Decker,” I purred in what I hoped was my most seductive voice. His entire body seemed to relax at the sound of my voice. “It’s later.” The tension was suddenly back, but in an entirely good way.

“That it is,” he murmured as he turned his back on Melody Mona. Seriously? That could not be her real name. Standing, he took my hand and led me away from the small crowd of adult film stars and into the dark recesses of a shadowed corner. It was quieter back here, an air-conditioning duct blew icy air down on my shoulders, and I shivered as Decker pressed my back into the wall. His hands under my ass lifted me, and I wrapped my arms and legs around him. “You are, by far, the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen; beautiful inside and out.” He kissed my cheeks. “Those freckles of yours are maddening. It’s like someone spent hours finding the perfect position to drop a little speck on your beautiful skin, and I find myself wanting to kiss every fucking one of them.” He pressed a few more kisses to my face. “Those lips,” he purred as he bent down and licked my lips, “seeing them wrapped around my dick the other day was like I had died and gone to fucking heaven.” He kissed me, hard, passionate, completely and utterly R rated. As he kissed me, he ground his obvious desire for me into the little slip of lace that separated us. I found myself trying to climb his body in an attempt to get some relief. “I’m not going to fuck you here, Country. I want to, I want you so bad it hurts, but there is no way I’m taking the chance of anyone else seeing what’s mine.” Oh god, his neanderthal-esk declaration had me practically screaming for him to take me now. I could give a rat’s ass who saw us, but as Decker lowered me and straightened my dress, I peered over his shoulder and saw a small audience trying desperately to see what we were up to. Decker took my hand and led me back to the table.

“We’re gonna get going,” he said to Casey.

“While I would ordinarily object to the night ending before someone passes out or at the very least dances on a table, that little performance has me horny as toad on a lily pad. We’re ready to go as well.” Casey took Lionel’s hand and stood. Decker said a few quick goodbyes. He even gifted Leah and Cindy with a chaste kiss to the cheek. I have to admit it bothered me a tiny bit, but the gleam in their eyes as they gave me eager thumbs up made all jealousy disappear. Melody, on the other hand, seemed like she wasn’t going down without a fight.

“Decker, we need to talk about—”

“We have nothing to talk about,” Decker cut her off.

“Actually, we have quite a lot to talk about.” Melody went to argue, glaring daggers at me. ME? I wasn’t the one brushing her off.

“The Bishop—”Melody went to speak again.

“There is no Bishop,” Decker snapped.

“Decker,” the relentless blonde crooned.

“Oh good lord, if she
was bacon she wouldn’t even sizzle,” I groaned.

Casey laughed loudly from beside me.

“Excuse me, but who on earth let a child into the club?” Melody said with a sneer.

I snorted because it was probably about the worse come back I’d ever heard.

“She inspired the slogan, the mind is a terrible thing to waste,” sighed Casey. The insult left his lips with a tone that was almost akin to sympathy. If Melody weren’t rocking a hard case of bitch, I would have felt a little sorry for her.