Having Kieran stay over these past few days has been surprisingly natural. In the past, the guys I've dated have struggled with my late-night work schedule, but Kieran and I get home around the same time. I've always hated sharing a bed with someone because I get overheated, but Kieran runs cool. Sure, the amount of earth-shaking we've generated has Zahra convinced we're living on a fault line, but otherwise things are going smoothly.

I always thought relationships were supposed to be hard work—so why has this been so easy? I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Kieran is downstairs hanging out with Pumpkin while Zahra's in my bathroom helping me put on my work outfit. Usually I get changed at work, but tonight I decided to wear a very elaborate bondage-inspired black body harness that requires a lot of effort to put on. I bought it because I wanted to do a routine to Rihanna's S&M. It's a big hit at the club, even though I can't take off my panties when I wear it.

"Okay, I think that's the last one," Zahra says, looking me over. "Wait, what are these straps on the butt?"

"Ah, don't worry about those. I bought it at a BDSM shop, so it has a lot of extra loops for clipping on handcuffs and things."

"Oh." Her eyes widen slightly and she raises her brows.

"It came with a mask too, but I never wear it. It feels like too much."

"A mask? What kind of mask?"

I walk over to my closet and rifle around for it, then return with it in hand. It's a leather half-face mask with a few strategically-placed silver rivets and cat ears. I hold it up to my face to show her.

"See? Too much, right?"

"No! The mask totally makes the outfit, you should wear it!"

"You think?" I put it on and look in the mirror. It actually looks pretty great.

"Absolutely. It's hot."

I adjust the mask and smooth my hair beneath it.

Why not?

"Okay, I'll try it."

I pull off the mask and throw it into my bag.

"Do you think this looks Game-of-Thrones-y enough?" she asks, adjusting her outfit.

Zahra is wearing my long blue chiffon dress for her themed party tonight. Her hair is wavy with two small braids in the front. She's wearing a gold pendant necklace. There are patches of light powder beneath her eyes where she's letting her makeup "bake", but at the moment she looks like she's lost a fight with a bag of flour.

"Hmm..." I say, looking her over. "It does kind of feel like it needs something."

"I didn't want to wear a wig or anything but now I'm thinking I should have."

"Actually, I've got an idea..." I go back to my closet and rummage through it, then return with a gold waist corset in hand. "You can wear this on top."

She takes it and wraps it around her waist.

"It's perfect! You're a miracle worker."

I help her secure the hooks and adjust it until it's fitting correctly. Her phone makes a loud chime sound that startles us both.

"Shit!" she says with a panicked voice. It's weird to hear because she rarely curses. She grabs her phone and looks at it for a moment. "He's here early!"

"Omar? How do you know?"

"It's the new video doorbell." After I told her about Vic knowing her name, she insisted on getting a camera for our front door.

She holds out her phone and shows me what seems to be a live video of Omar standing in front of our door. He's wearing a rather elaborate outfit with a long black cape and black fur wrapped around his shoulders.

"I'm still baking!" she says, running off to her room as I follow.

"It's fine, I can get the door while you finish."

"Uh... Sam?" She looks me up and down with her eyebrows raised. I follow her gaze and realize she's got a point; I'm wearing some pretty wild lingerie right now.

"Oh yeah. Okay, I'll put on my dress and-"

"Oh wait, it's okay. I forgot Kieran's here, looks like he's getting it." She shows me the screen again and I see Kieran and Omar talking.

"Great," I say. "I'm going to finish getting ready."

I get halfway across the hall to my room when I hear her whisper-shout my name.

"Saaamm!!"

I turn around and see Zahra gesturing for me to come back into her room.

"What?" I ask softly.

"This is hilarious, you've got to watch this." She turns her phone so that we can both watch and she turns up the volume.

"Sorry, who are you?" Kieran asks Omar.

"This has sound? Can they hear us?" She shakes her head and points back to the screen.

Both men have their chests slightly puffed out.

"I'm Omar. I'm here to pick up my date... who are you?"

"I'm Kieran. I'm staying here for a while."

Zahra snickers and hands me the phone to hold. She grabs a large makeup brush and sweeps it back and forth over the powder on her face.

"I think Omar thinks Kieran is my lover or something," she says softly.

"Can I come in?" Omar says in the video.

"What's with the outfit?" Kieran asks.

"It's for a party."

"Right... Game of Thrones?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"So you're here to pick up your date, huh?" Keiran's voice sounds irritated.

"Alright, I'm gonna go break this up," I say. Zahra laughs and waves me on. I borrow her bathrobe and throw it on before running downstairs.

I see Kieran still standing in the doorway, practically blocking it with his body.

"Kieran," I say, "I can take it from here."

He narrows his eyes at me but steps away from the door.

"Hi Omar. I'm Sam, Zahra's roommate. Come in, she's just finishing up getting ready." I lead Omar to the living room. "Kieran is staying with me for a little while."

Omar's tense shoulders visibly relax and he chuckles slightly.

"Oh, yeah," he says. "Of course."

"I need to go finish getting ready for work. She'll be down in a minute." I start up the stairs and Kieran follows me along. When we get to my room, he closes the door behind me.

"I think Omar thought you were Zahr's lover or something," I say with a giggle. "He looked like he was ready to beat your ass."

"Let him try," he says with a chuckle. "You're not going to this party?"

"No, it's Zahra's thing. I told you I was I'm working tonight."

"I thought maybe you lied." His voice is soft, almost apologetic.

I turn to him with a confused look.

"Lied? Why would I lie about having to work?"

"Because you wanted to go out with somebody else and didn't want me to know."

I raise my eyebrow and put a hand on my hip.

"You thought Omar was here for me?"

"Well you pulled out that dress for a costume party, then this guy shows up..."

"Aww..." I tease, wrapping my arms around his waist. "Was somebody jealous?"

"If you were gonna ditch me on my night off to hang out with that dude?" He huffs and rests his palms on my ass. "Yeah, maybe."

I give him a quick kiss.

"Well no, but I am ditching you to go to work. And I'm running late, so I have to finish getting ready." I pull away and grab my dress from the hanger. I slip off Zahra's robe and Kieran's jaw drops.

"Holy fuck, that's what you're wearing tonight?"

"Yep."

"Well, I think it's about time I came to see you dance," he says with a grin. I laugh and wriggle into my dress.

"You can if you like, but you should take your own car. You're probably not going to want to stick around all night."

"I don't know about that, but I can drive myself."

"Trust me, it gets boring being at the club by yourself."

"I'll bring friends then."

I've only met a couple of Kieran's friends, but I'm curious to meet more of the kind of people who casually hang out with the Demon King.

*****

I listen to the girls chatter as I touch up my makeup and put on the rest of my outfit. I've got a black fishnet top and a black mini skirt over the strappy lingerie, plus a pair of knee-high black velvet boots.

"Oh my god, girl, I call dibs on the guy in the black silk shirt!" Quinn calls as she peers through the curtain to the main room.

"Yeah, good luck with that," another dancer replies. "You're gonna have to fight everyone else for him. That man gorgeous."

"Don't bother," another says. "He's turned three girls down for lap dances already. He's either gay or he's with one of the girls he brought with him."

"No way. Those ladies are gay as fuck."

"I hope so. I wouldn't mind giving him a dance for free."

I decide to get up and take a look myself.

"Who are we talking about?" I ask.

"Mister tall, dark, and handsome," Quinn says, pointing to a man sitting at the main stage next to two women.

Sure enough, it's Kieran. His hair is down and he's wearing tight black slacks and a black silk shirt with a subtle leopard pattern to it. He's drinking a martini and chatting with a beautiful full-figured Asian woman in a sleek black mini-dress. The other woman with them is a friendly-looking brunette in a simple white button-up and slacks.

I guess these are the friends he brought along?

I return to my chair to continue getting ready, trying not to overthink it.

"Fifty bucks says I get him to pony up for a dance," a girl in a hot pink dress says.

"I'll put fifty on Miss Scarlet," Tia says beside me, giving me a wink. She only knows me by my stage name—a reference to my red hair. I don't know if Tia is her real name either, but most of us use stage names to avoid any creeps trying to find out where we live.

"Sorry, I'm with T," Quinn says, still peeking through the curtain. "Scarlet is on the main stage in fifteen minutes, and everyone loves her. She makes bank every night."

"Well sorry gals," I say, "but he is here for me. We're... I dunno... sort of a thing."

"Ohhhh shittt!" Tia squeals.

"If he's here, he's free game," the girl in the pink says, adjusting her breasts in the mirror. "Sorry, but if your boyfriend wants a dance, I'm gonna give him one."

She pushes through the curtains and steps out onto the main floor.

"What a bitch," Tia says. "You want to watch his reaction? I'm betting he rejects her."

She runs over to the curtain and peers out.

"I..." I start to reply, but I can't decide if I actually want to.

What if he says yes? I can't really be jealous, can I? I mean, I give lap dances professionally. If I had a problem with him getting one, would that make me a hypocrite?

"Oh my god, this is awesome! Come watch."

I stand up and take a look for myself. Kieran is leaning away from her, his arms crossed over his chest. He's smirking and shaking his head from side to side. She looks irritated and rests a hand on her hip.

I wish I could read lips to figure out what they're saying.

After a moment of back and forth between them, she leans in and whispers something in his ear. I kind of want to tear her hair out right now, but I just take a deep breath in and watch as he leans in to whisper back to her.

Whatever he says makes her immediately stand up straight with a huff. She crosses her arms and stomps away toward the bar.

Tia bursts into laughter.

"That was so good!" she cheers. "He seems like a keeper. Has he come to see you dance before?"

I step back to the mirror and grab the mask out of my bag.

"Nope. This is the first time."

"Ooh! Exciting!"

I slip the mask over my head and smooth my hair underneath it.

"Holy shit, you're wearing that? He's gonna lose his mind."

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