Free Set Loose by Isabel Morin Page A

honestly. Hopefully only Cheryl would know that, though.
    She worked to keep herself from acting too dreamy as she got ready and made sure to stop any goofy smiles before they escaped. Other dancers filtered in and out with none of them seeming any the wiser and she wanted to keep in that way. Especially since she didn’t know what any of it meant. Would it be the first and last time she and Cutter had sex, or could she look forward to more?
    She wasn’t sure how she could stand being around him if he rejected her now. It was bad enough before she knew what sort of magic he was capable of. As high as her expectations had been, he’d blown them out of the water. Just thinking about what he’d done to her made her hot all over again.
    But enough speculating. She’d find out soon enough what he wanted. Right now she had to get ready for another striptease. If history was anything to go by, she could count on Cutter watching her just as avidly as he always did.
    ***
    Cutter moved around the room, his eyes scanning the crowd but only half seeing it. How was he supposed to think of anything but Emily? He could still smell her skin, feel the wet heat of her mouth on him, her legs wrapped around his waist as he plunged into her, more out of control than he’d been since he was a teenager.
    He only hoped it wasn’t a one-time deal. Now that he knew what he’d been missing, nothing on earth was going to keep him away from her if she was still willing. His cock throbbed again, threatening to come back to life. He had to take his mind off of Emily or he’d be damned uncomfortable the rest of the night.
    Then Emily strode out on stage to the tune of Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” and once again he was nailed to the floor, riveted on Emily and good for nothing except lusting after her. She was dressed the way a woman might have been in the late sixties - skimpy tank top and no bra, a long, filmy skirt through which you could see her legs. Her hair was loose and messy. Messy from their wild fucking, a thought that made him want to charge the stage and drag her off. She danced as if losing herself at a concert, one where everyone was shedding their clothes in an orgy of ecstasy.
    Christ, she was good. Looking around, it was clear everyone else thought so, too. Part of him was proud of her dancing, her unerring sense of how to make a dance work with a particular song so that each one was an experience in and of itself. But he had to work to control the possessiveness that made him want to shield her from all those stares. He knew exactly what all those men were imagining and he hated it.
    Now that he’d taken her, her striptease mocked his hold on her, made his own desire seem nothing more or better than what all the other men around him felt. But that couldn’t be right, because he liked her, wanted to look out for her. That must count for something. Not that his cock cared about subtleties of feeling. It wanted only one thing and he agreed with it.
    Emily had tossed her top to the side, baring all that creamy skin, those sweet little breasts. The song changed to the Stones “Little T & A’ and her dancing took on a bawdier feel. Now she looked straight at the audience, a teasing smile on her lips as she danced and shook her tits and ass for them.
    Slowly she eased her skirt over her hips and down those glorious legs.
    To think he’d been inside all that hot, erotic energy. He’d die if he didn’t have her again. Tonight.
    He had to grit his teeth as her set ended and men shoved money into her thong and garters, taking the opportunity to run their grubby hands over her. He tried telling himself it was her job, he’d been watching the same thing for eight months now and this was no different, but it didn’t ease the urge to kick the shit out of every guy in the place.
    He was turning into a fucking cave man. He’d better learn to deal with it, or at least keep his reaction to himself. The crowd responded to her and