Page 9 of Hidden Obsession

My hands gripped the armrest of the chair as I watched the show she put on. I was so fucking hard only a couple of tugs would get me there, but there was no way I was going to jerk off in my brother’s office.

Carefully pulling the stretchy, tight material of the skirt high up her thighs before dropping down to the ground, Maryanne rose, and this time when she started to dip down, with her back to the crowd, she pulled her skirt off.

Slowly.

There was no denying how very aware she was of the attention she was getting, showing off that plump, smackable ass and smooth thighs. I didn’t need sound in the security live stream when she stood and turned. The deep sound of applause as she stood in matching red high-cut panties that outlined her pussy and smooth-as-fuck skin was enough to get me to my feet.

I wanted to go out there, pull her off that fucking stage, and bring her back here, back anywhere I could hide her and protect her and keep her all to myself.

Just as I talked myself down from doing just that, I noticed it. Someone tossed something at her and then again. Some fucking guy was throwing something onto the stage, and I watched the moment it hit her.

Are those… coins?

She flinched, and white-hot heat rushed through my veins as I saw red. A ferocity of something fierce hit me like a goddamn tidal wave. Someone out there was throwing shit at her! She flinched again and again. Some dumbass thought that it was okay to not only do that shit but to do it to her. To my little flower. My chest rose and fell. I caught the way Maryanne looked out, probably searching for the bouncers, the men in charge of keeping her safe who were god only knew where.

Not that I stopped to think about where they could be.

Ruled by pure primal instinct, need to protect what was mine pounded in my veins and flowed through my blood. I opened my brother’s office door, my steps intentional as I headed straight to the main stage. Without looking anywhere, laser-focused on reaching her, I somehow managed to get there before the damn bouncers even noticed what was happening.

The drunk guy was still tossing quarters. Yelling stupid-ass shit as his friends smirked like assholes. They might have been shaking their heads, but they didn’t try to stop him. I headed directly to him, his eyes wide when reached him, and because I was too fucking focused on stopping whatever threat there could be out there that could hurt her, my fist swung back and punched him. Hard.

My knuckles burned, but I swung again and then again. I was like an animal unleashed. I heard something crack, and I wasn’t sure if it was me or him, but I didn’t care. I picked the stupid motherfucker up by the collar of his tacky golf shirt.

“What the fuck, man?!” The man had the nerve to look scared and shocked.

“You think throwing coins is fun? Huh?” I asked, shaking the asshole. Reaching behind me, I grabbed a handful of fucking… were those nickels? I growled. The cheap bastard! I shook my head, my nose flared.

“You like this? Huh?” I tossed them at his stupid, now very red face. I reached for another handful. “You like that? That feel good?” The coins bounced off his stupid face.

“Fuck you,” he grunted, kicking his legs. I felt two people come up behind me, but I knew it wasn’t his friends.

“We got him, Mr. Porter,” Domingo, one of the newer bouncers, said, gently putting a hand on my shoulder. For a beat, I ignored him and leaned forward.

“If I ever see you in here again, I won’t stop at tossing coins in your face. I’m gonna shove them up where the sun don’t shine like my very own goddamn vending machine, and I won’t stop until you start puking them up,” I threatened quietly enough for only his ears and no one else’s. “And then I’m going to skin you alive and let you fucking bleed out like the pig you are and let the fucking animals in the desert take care of you.”

It wasn’t a threat but a fucking promise.

I stepped back and nodded at Domingo, who by the look on his face might have overheard bits and pieces. I turned around and headed straight to the stage, where Maryanne stood shaking, looking at the money on the ground like she was torn between giving up her dignity to bend and pick up every fucking cent or running away.

I didn’t give her time to choose.

I jumped up on the stage, took off my suit jacket, covered her trembling body with it, and picked her up in my arms bridal style.

“Hollis.” Her pretty, red-stained lips wobbled, and I pressed my lips to her forehead.

“I got you, little flower,” I vowed and stomped my way off the stage without looking back.

FIVE

MARYANNE

I had just scolded myself that there wasn’t a man coming to sweep me off my feet to rescue me from the places life took me not an hour ago, and there I was! Swept off my feet, literally, by a man who looked like Prince Charming.

Well, at the very least a knight in shining armor.

Hollis, like he’d asked I call him instead of Mr. Porter, carried me straight to the dressing room and shouted at everyone to get out. No one even questioned him as they walked out wide-eyed.

“Hollis,” I whispered, trying to calm him down, but he shot me a look that made me rethink saying a single word.