Cervena (12 page)

“Hey.” I smiled for the first time since I’d dragged myself out of bed.

“Hi, Joel. Are you okay?” He frowned as he met my eyes.

“Do I look that bad?”

“Only tired. And worried.”

“Tired, yes. Worried, not so much now I’ve spoken to everyone. I don’t want to talk about work much more, but as I said before, things will go back to normal around here now. The security guards have been rehired—seven of them anyway. I’ll find a couple more to make the numbers up. Everything else will be as it was. There’s one other thing I want to speak to you about, though, before we put it aside for now.” I hadn’t thought about this until I’d seen him a few hours ago, when I’d been shocked by how scared and ashamed he’d looked. And when he’d confirmed he still wanted to be with me it had made my mind up.

“I don’t want you to dance anymore.”

“What? Why? If it’s like it was before, I’ll be okay. I didn’t mind the podium that much.” His expression was one of confusion.

“But you didn’t like it that much either. I’d rather you do something else, both for you and for me. If we’re together, I don’t know if I could handle seeing you dancing for other men night after night. Especially when you’d prefer not to be doing it. I know you jumped at the chance initially because you had nothing. But things are different now. If you want to do something else… well, I thought maybe you could work the bar with the others.”

“You already have four bar staff,” Sasha reminded me.

“Yeah, and no manager. I thought I’d promote Kris. He’s young, but I think he can do it. He did a lot to help Pavel when he was still here. There’s room for another person to learn the ropes. I’ll look for a couple of new dancers to replace you and the others. The only thing is, bar staff don’t earn as much as the dancers, although the tips are good.”

“I don’t care about that. As long as I can earn enough to rent a room somewhere, that’s all that matters. I’d love to work on the bar.” His green eyes shone as he beamed at me.

“You don’t need to find a room. You can keep your studio as long as you don’t mind living here after everything that’s happened.”

“But the studios are for the dancers.”

“They’re for the
staff
,” I corrected. “Most of the dancers came to us because they were in a similar position to you. One or two came from proper homes, but mostly they’d been in care or whatever. That’s why they were offered the studios. Even if I take on two new boys, assuming Andĕl and Fran don’t come back, and give them a studio each, yours will still be free. So stay.”

“Thank you. In that case I’d be happy to stay. And learn to work the bar.”

“Good. So let’s forget about the club now and go to lunch. Or it’s going to be too late and we’ll be having dinner.”

“Will you let me do something?” Sasha picked up his wallet and a new cell phone, and tucked them into his pockets. “I need to give you my phone number.”

“Yes. What is it you want to do?”

“Take
you
out for lunch. My choice and my money. Don’t say no. It’s important to me.”

I nodded and smiled. “Anything you want, Sasha. Let’s go.”

Chapter Eight

I SAW
Sasha as often as I could away from the club during that first week. Nothing happened between us other than a few kisses. I refused to allow them to become something more while my head was often elsewhere. I didn’t want to be halfhearted in what I gave him, but until everything with the club was dealt with, I couldn’t mentally put it aside.

Sasha had taken me to a little Polish restaurant he’d been to with Tomáš that day they went shopping when Sasha had first arrived. The food was tasty and cheap, and the couple who owned it, who’d moved from Kraków five years earlier, couldn’t do enough for us. Sasha spoke to them in their own language and they gave us free drinks to go with our meal. I enjoyed seeing Sasha taking the lead, even in something as simple as ordering food in a restaurant.

Karel signed the contract of sale I’d had drawn up without further argument. His expression indicated he very much regretted what had happened, but he said nothing except to ask, more than once, when the money would arrive in his bank account. He seemed desperate, and I imagined he was still gambling and trying fruitlessly to win back what he’d lost. Whatever he did no longer interested me. He could have quite easily destroyed Červenà, and I had little sympathy for him.

I had “The Full Monty” advertisement removed from the website, and despite a few quiet nights in the club, and some complaints when the dancers refused to remove their jocks and fended off groping hands, things continued to go well. Fran called to let me know he and Andĕl appreciated the offer of their old jobs, but they liked their new place and wanted to stay. So I hired two new dancers who debuted on Saturday night, and both immediately proved popular.

Milos was one of the whores Karel had taken on. I’d spoken to the remaining two with the intention of firing them, but Milos had begged for some other kind of employment if it was available. He’d been working from a filthy room in a derelict building before Karel hired him. I was skeptical at first, but he was beautiful, with hair the color of straw and bright blue eyes. At nineteen, he was the eldest of the three prostitutes, and his lithe body was made for dancing, but he was too used to exposing all of it. Much to my amusement, he’d pulled out his large uncut dick in my office in his efforts to sell his assets in some other capacity. He’d been delighted to try out as a dancer and move into one of the vacant studios. He immediately proved as popular as Sasha, although in the beginning the other dancers had to keep an eye on him and remind him not to haul out his junk on the podium. It was a close thing on a couple of occasions.

The third of the prostitutes, an eighteen-year-old, hadn’t wanted to dance but had gratefully accepted the money I offered him, as Rosta had. I didn’t know what became of him, but I’d done the best I could for him by offering him an alternative job.

Kris quickly proved himself as bar manager, and Sasha worked hard to learn all the cocktail recipes, and master the art of mixing them with the flair of Tom Cruise in the movie,
Cocktail
. Once or twice in the early stages, he made Kris gasp and splutter when he’d doubled up on the shots in a couple of the recipes, and the bar staff joked that if anyone wanted to drown their sorrows they’d better ask Sasha to serve them. Sasha quickly perfected the mixing and became almost as popular a bartender as he’d been a dancer.

The balance of the bank account I kept for the condos became seriously depleted, but with money rolling in every night at Červenà, I wasn’t too concerned. It would quickly grow again.

Finally, on Sunday, I was able to give more of my attention to Sasha. He’d been quiet during the few hours we’d spent together that week following the lunch in the Polish restaurant, and I worried I’d withdrawn from him too much, or that he’d changed his mind. My previous relationship failures were at the forefront of my mind when I invited him to have lunch with me at the Italian restaurant where we’d gone for our first date. I became convinced if I spoke to him about it, he’d admit it was no longer what he wanted.

“It’s snowing again,” I stated needlessly. As we sat at the same table we’d occupied before, the large flakes outside the window just feet in front of us were impossible to miss.

“Yes.” Sasha gave me a brief smile and speared a stuffed olive with his fork. We’d barely spoken as we waited for our antipasti to arrive.

“Sasha….” I placed my hand on his arm, and he returned his fork to his plate. He met my eyes and waited. “I’m sorry I’ve been distant this week.”

“It’s all right. You’ve had a lot to do, to get things back to normal with the club. You told me you needed to put it first.”

“But I feel as if I’ve pushed you away. This is so new. Our first date here was wonderful, but it was a long time ago. I really enjoyed the meal in the restaurant you took me to, but I didn’t give you my full attention, even then. If things have changed for you, I’ll understand.” I hated how defeatist I sounded, but I couldn’t help it. I withdrew my hand and rested it on the table beside my plate.

“Joel, nothing has changed.” He turned sideways on his chair to face me and his knees bumped my thigh. “I hoped things would get better after you put things right with your business.”

“It wasn’t fair of me to keep you waiting and not tell you what was in my head. I want you, Sasha. There’s no doubt in my mind about that. I’ll have more time for us to spend together from now on.”

Sasha’s eyes lit up as he smiled at me and he spoke in little more than a whisper. “I want you too.”

I glanced around us, noting only two tables close to us were occupied. Four young women surrounded one, and two guys held hands across the other. I twisted in my seat, lifted my hand to cup Sasha’s cheek, and guided him into a kiss. I caressed his parted lips with mine and slipped my tongue into his mouth, just enough to taste the red wine he’d sipped moments earlier. He whimpered softly as we kissed, and I slid my hand from his cheek to the back of his head, gently massaging his scalp through his silky hair. My cock swelled and pushed against the fly of my suit pants. I drew away reluctantly and turned my attention back to my meal. I longed to touch him, and the memory of that one brief episode in the club’s kitchen taunted me, keeping me hard as I plowed through two courses of food and a little too much wine.

“Would you like to order dessert?” The waiter had cleared our plates from the table and returned to take another order. “Or coffee?”

“No, thank you. Bring the bill, please.” I pulled out my wallet in readiness to pay for the meal. “We can have coffee at the club,” I added when Sasha appeared surprised. “Or at my place perhaps?”

He smiled and glanced up at me coyly through lowered lashes. “I haven’t seen your place yet.”

“Damn it, you look sexy when you do that,” I muttered. I’d been half-erect throughout lunch and hadn’t been able to get the thought of touching him out of my mind. I looked down, casting my eyes over the gray and white striped shirt he wore, to the waistband of his smart black pants. The bulge of his arousal made my erection swell a little more. I yearned to undress him and explore him, but more than that, I wanted to hold him in my arms, cuddle him and kiss him, let him know how much I’d grown to care for him, despite the length of time we’d been apart.

When the waiter returned, I handed over some cash, including a generous tip, then led Sasha from the restaurant. Neither of us spoke, but it was apparent he was as eager as I was to be alone. We took a taxi to the condos and traveled up to the top floor in the elevator, Sasha’s hand gripped tightly in mine. I fumbled with my keys, almost dropping them as I struggled to unlock the door. I could think of nothing but pulling him into my arms. I ached to feel his body against mine, our lips pressing together, his hands clutching at me.

“Sasha.” I groaned his name as I finally closed the door behind us and slid my arms around him. Covering his mouth with mine, I thrust my tongue in when he parted his lips in response. I held him close but he pulled against my hold and shrugged out of his jacket, allowing it to fall to the floor. Our lips clung as we struggled to remove my overcoat and suit jacket. With fewer layers hampering us, I held him close again and slowed things down. My cock throbbed in my pants, but I ignored it, concentrating instead on the warmth in Sasha’s eyes and the way he folded his arms around my neck, holding on tight. I planted a gentle kiss on the tip of his nose before returning to his lips for a more leisurely caress. Sasha followed my lead, responding gently to my nibbling at his mouth, the teasing flicks of my tongue, and my hands stroking his back. I’d been in so much of a rush at first, desperate to sate my excitement, but now I was able to savor every kiss and touch.

Eventually we drew apart, gazing into each other’s eyes as we fumbled with one another’s shirt buttons. Sasha’s hands shook, as did mine, and we laughed together as we finally shed the garments and tossed them aside. At last I slid my palms over Sasha’s smooth skin as I enfolded him in my arms again. I brought my mouth to his for another, deeper kiss, then pressed my lips to his neck beneath his ear, seeking the spot that made him shiver. Sucking gently, I allowed my teeth to scrape his skin until he moaned and squirmed against me. He moved his hips, and his erection bumped mine through our pants. I stroked down his back to his buttocks and squeezed firmly, encouraging him to grind against me.

Sasha slipped one hand between us and explored my chest, scratching his nails through my chest hair. I groaned as he reached one of my nipples and pinched it into hardness. Kissing my way down his neck to his shoulder, I chuckled when I noticed I’d left a bruise on his pale skin.

“What’s funny?”

“I marked you. Sorry.” I took my hands off his ass and worked them between us.

“I don’t mind.” He continued to caress my chest and pluck at my nipples.

I flipped open the button at the top of his fly. “May I?” I’d touched him before, that one time, but after what had happened to him in my absence, I hesitated to take the next step.

“God, yes.” The huskiness of his voice encouraged me, and I unzipped him, before pushing his pants down over his hips. Cupping his erection through his briefs, I rubbed my thumb over the head. The damp fabric clung to him, and he moaned as I touched him. Abandoning my chest, he lowered his hands to my belt buckle. He brushed my restrained erection repeatedly as he unzipped my fly, and my cock leaked into my underwear. After sliding his hand into my boxer briefs, he curled his fingers around my shaft, making me moan and shiver. It was the first time Sasha had touched me, and I knew I’d come shamefully fast. I hooked my thumbs into his underwear and pulled them down to midthigh. His erection, rigid and slightly curved, slapped against his belly and smeared precome into his narrow treasure trail. I slipped one hand between his legs, cupped his balls, and gave them a gentle tug. He gasped, and rather than push into my touch, he stepped away and dropped to his knees.