“Why is he blindfolded during a striptease?” Ari asked, puzzled.
“’Cause I called Shane and told him we were doing a swap,” Rachel told her proudly.
“I can’t believe he went for that,” Lia grumbled.
“He’s kissing your butt right now, Lia. I just told him that you insisted,” Rachel said smugly. Lia didn’t respond, just muttered something before turning back toward Ari.
“I’m trying to calm myself down, Rachel. You’re not helping in the least.”
“Oh, c’mon, you’re a gorgeous sex goddess who makes him drool. I think you’ll be fine,” her friend replied with a roll of her eyes.
“It’s not Rafe I’m worried about. I’m a bit terrified to shake my ass in front of his two hundred friends.”
“Believe me, girl. They’re all going to be wishing they could switch places with him. Hell, I’m thinking of switching teams. You are rocking that outfit.”
“OK, I can do this. Thank you,” Ari told her before adjusting her br**sts, which were perilously close to falling from the skimpy top. Then she stepped inside the cake and the DJ immediately started playing appropriately sleazy music.
“Good luck,” Rachel called right before the contraption was wheeled out. Ari wondered how she’d gotten herself into this mess. Trapped in another contraption. Her heart thundered as the crowd exploded in cheers. She couldn’t see a thing, and she didn’t know whether she’d be able to do this or not.
Taking a deep breath, she waited for her cue. She was committed now. She didn’t have a choice but to follow through.
Chapter Forty-Five
Rafe
“Come on, Shane! This is stupid.”
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but it will happen.”
Rafe looked into his best friend’s eyes, trying to determine how serious he was. When Shane didn’t back down even a little, Rafe knew this would be a battle to the very end. Though he was frustrated and more than a little bit sick of this bachelor party, he figured it would be better to get the event over with.
When it came time to deal with Shane, Rafe wouldn’t hold anything back! That guy had gone beyond cruising for a bruising.
As Rafe sat down and felt ropes binding his arms to the chair, he closed his eyes and held on to the fact that the very next night, he’d be married to Ari and the two of them would be far away from all this nonsense.
“What in the hell are you doing?” Rafe’s eyes popped open as he felt strong hands holding his legs against the bars of the chair and wrapping rope around them. He’d thought having his arms tied up was ridiculous, but he’d never agreed to being bound up so tightly, and on the legs, too.
“Just go with the flow.”
“Like hell I will. This is no longer amusing. Untie me at once,” Rafe demanded, letting his friend know he was finished. His tolerance for Shane had run out and he was leaving.
“Sorry, buddy — lights out.”
Before Rafe could say a word, a cloth was stuffed in his mouth and quickly fastened around the back of his head. He was shooting a deadly glare at Shane before a dark cloth covered his vision. He was seriously going to kill Shane when this was all over.
Struggling against his binds, Rafe would have sworn out loud when the sultry music started and all the men whistled, but the gag prevented him from doing so. Dammit! He knew a stripper was coming. He had no desire to look at, touch, or come near a half-naked stranger. Why would he? Ari was waiting for him, and she was the only woman he needed. Who held a candle to her anyway?
When he felt a set of fingernails scrape along his neck, then undo the top button of his shirt, his struggles against his binds became frantic. When he got out of this, he was going to land a right hook straight at Shane’s nose.
But he wasn’t getting loose— his “friends” had tied him down too securely. Since struggling was getting him nowhere, he went completely still. He’d just wait them out.
As the woman straddled his lap, then rocked forward, her br**sts pushing into his chest, Rafe felt the beginning stirrings of desire licking at his groin. Mortification filled him. He hadn’t so much as looked at another woman since meeting Ari. Why in the hell would he desire a stripper?
It had to be the amount of booze he’d drunk during the evening, or maybe the blindfold. He tried tuning out the whistling men, the feel of the stripper grinding against him, and the smell of her sweet perfume. He pictured Ari in his mind, and without knowing it a smile appeared on his previously pursed and angry lips.
Wait. He knew that scent, knew it better than anyone. This wasn’t just any stripper — this was Ari. He didn’t know how she’d managed it, but she was here and giving him the best damn lap dance he could ever hope for.
The feel of her br**sts pushing against his chest, her nails scraping his skin — it was all familiar, and it all turned him on beyond anything imaginable.
He groaned as she kissed his upper lip, wishing he weren’t gagged so he could sink his tongue inside her mouth. At his groan, her body stiffened.
The realization hit him that she didn’t know he knew who she was. Good. They’d tied him down, made him go through this ridiculous scheme, and tormented him — now it was his turn to torment his tormentors.
Throwing his head back he moaned a bit louder through the gag, and pushed his h*ps up, letting her feel his arousal. His moan quickly turned to a squeak as her nails dug into his chest.
His kitten had claws and they were definitely showing.
The crowd roared as they watched the scene before them, and that’s when Rafe realized that Ari was most likely scantily dressed in a room full of horny men. His enjoyment was squashed flat.
As the blindfold came off and he looked into the fiery eyes of his very pissed-off fiancée, he glared right back.
“How could you be turned on by a stripper?” she snapped, still straddling his lap.
His eyes pointed down at the gag in his mouth, and it took her a moment to realize what he wanted her to do.
Finally, she got it and untied the knots. As soon as it was off, he looked angrily Shane’s way, and saw that he was deriving way too much pleasure from the situation. Rafe definitely owed his best friend a solid right hook.
“Everyone out now!” Rafe roared.
One look at his face and the men decided not to argue. It had been all fun and games up to that point, but they could see that Rafe’s mood was murderous.