I'll let you guys guess what direction I was going for in this one.

She slipped down the pole, every languid inch of her body running down the cold metal. Pulling her limbs down with the darker tempo of the music and when the beat popped, she flipped her head back. Her hair was a flying bird in the air, arms swirling in a twirl that would make saints faint on the spot.

A man to her right: a handsome one with heavy tattoos and that smile, the one all the women fawned over for sure. He was the one who she'd caught the eyes of.

Anna put a hand out to the girl on her left and whispered she'd be right back. Then she climbed down the stage, a beeline straight to the man. He saw her coming and nudged at his friends and when they saw her and their jaws dropped Anna's pride soared.

Of course Anna was gorgeous, her parents wouldn't have gotten such a high price for her if she wasn't.

Smiling a million dollars, Anna swayed her hips right to him. He yanked her, his fingers digging into her waist as he pressed her too close to his torso.

"That ass has my name on it princess." He whispered in her ear.

Anna tried her hardest not to roll her eyes at the same line every man spluttered out with. Fair enough, on the ledge of her panty line a delicate tattoo read, 'your name.' But she was really fucking tired of it.

"Hands off pretty boy, it's the only rule." Anna winked but her fingers pried firmly at his hands. He sighed and gave her another firm squeeze before letting go with an melodramatic nod. She got to work then, shaking her ass in his face and running the tips of her fingers everywhere but where he wanted.

It was the whole trading chip of a stripper to leave them wanting more, always on the edge of desire and frustration and relaxation. This man was not taking kindly to her tactics though.

She had one hand in his hair, pulling just enough and the other delightfully too high on his waist. Her tits were definitely on one of each of his eyes as she danced to the music.

"Stop." he put a hand on her throat, "teasing." his tongue licked the column of her throat before she could pull away. And when she tried, his hand only held tighter.

Grinning, Anna slid her hand up his arm, pulling her body closer and closer, her blood red lips inches from his neatly trimmed beard. She ran a streak of that lipstick across his cheek until her lips found the shell of his ear. The man seemed to practically purr.

"If you look behind me, on my right shoulder and next to the bar is a man I am sure is staring at you." when his hand on her throat faltered a little all Anna's teeth bore. "His name is James, a former soldier and present advocate for the devil."

Her words had the man practically melting off her but Anna only leaned closer, let her knees rest between his thighs. "A personal bodyguard of mine you could say and though I told you not to touch…" she trailed off.

Anna slid a hand to the tent below her and leaned all her weight down. He grunted and huffed.

"Pay up." she whispered, but he only sneered in her face.

She shrugged and released the poor fucker, slapping her hands together as if touching him had left her hands dirty.

The man looked all shades of pissed. "Filthy bitch. Too fucking useless to even give me blue balls." Anna only winked.

Sad for him really, that streak on his cheek was Anna's personal penmanship for his demise. Sure enough, as she headed to the bathroom James had gotten off his stool and strutted straight to the man.

Leaning on the cracked sink, Anna closed her eyes for a minute. It was four in the morning and she'd been in these heels for the better part of twelve hours. Her feet hurt. Her head hurt, her eyes and every inch of her body ached.

But, she took a breath and fumbled beneath the pipes of the sink and- there, found it. She only spilled three of the slim pills onto her hand, deciding not to let her head get too fuzzy tonight and chucked them to the back of her throat. The effect was instant, her head feeling like the pins weren't there and her hands the opposite.

A shuddering breath and a swipe at the mascara under her eyes, Anna straightened herself again, plastered her filthiest smile on and clicked out the bathroom.

James had taken his spot at the bar again, brooding over a knuckle of whiskey. She froze because with that shadow and the light of blue in his eyes...

It was the pills. It had to be.

He looked like the James she'd named him after. They were always too similar for comfort and Anna would often see little pieces of him but this- "uncanny."

She went over to him, gesturing at Andy across the bar for her regular drink. She only barely missed the seat the first time and knocked into James on her second attempt.

He only exhaled deeply and elbowed her the right way. "Flags and weapons look the same Anna."

Her brain was too fucked to even understand what the fuck he was on about. "James-"

"That's not my name."

"We only live once and all that bullshit. Let me be who I am. To be the best me I can be."

He feigned a chuckle. "Where'd you hear that one?"

She peeled the skin off a peanut, "subway station."

The corner of his mouth curled and she nearly choked on the nut.

"James, you look exactly lik-"

"Anna."

She grinned evilly. "James."

"That's not my name."

She threw a hand on her chest, gasping "James!"

He shook his head and gave up, swigging from the glass. She rolled her eyes, he was never any fun.

"Alright, Thomas."

"Still not-"

"I think it's time I went home."

James leveled an eye at her, "your shift isn't over yet." There he was again.

She stepped onto the floor and spun his seat so she was nestled between his legs. James raised his chin with a snort. That was the biggest invitation she'd get.

Anna tilted her head, if she stared long enough he stole the real James' face and wore it like a mask. She'd take that, take him whatever way she could.

Dipping a hand down, she felt the bump at his crotch and ran the tips of her stiletto nails down it. His hips jerked and Anna gleamed.

Andy had turned his back and all other girls secretly hissed at her, Anna was the only one he ever tolerated. The one he'd let be rubbed off for a few extra hours in bed.

He hissed when she came close enough to smell the mint and whiskey on his breath and nipped the hairs of his stubble. She ducked down then and rubbed her nose over his throat, keening when the parcel in her hand throbbed a little.

"Up. Get up and follow me." He hissed under his breath and she didn't take a moment to clasp his hand and pull him to the darkest of the booths.

James eagle spread across the surface and caught her as Anna flung herself into his lap. She was on his mouth instantly, pulling and nipping his bottom lip until she was let in to explore. He was warm and soft and familiar, and she fell into the curves of his chest easily.

James hummed in approval when she rolled her hips over his bulge, so she did it again, but this time her fingers tugged those fly-away hairs on his nape. That throbbing pulsed past the leather on her thighs and Anna grinned through the kiss.

They were never gentle, always tugging and clawing at each other for that release. It wasn't as if James couldn't have every woman in the club if he wanted, he was the owner, but they lost each other in the familiarity. She had known him since the war ended and watched as he built this place from the ground, only ever asking to be a part of his journey. She didn't want anything else, didn't need; at least not from him. Anna would never ask another thing from any man ever again.

"I need you early tomorrow." James panted through his teeth and she momentarily went still and groaned.

He picked her lips back up and ran a rough hand down her back. "Kelly quit yesterday and we have no one for the live tomorrow. I swear, it's only temporary."

When he trailed that sweet mouth to her collar it became impossible to think. "How bad-" his devil tongue sliced a path of desire down her chest. "How bad do you want me? James I-"

James knew what she was doing and he couldn't care less. "Not want." he raked his cock up her tortuously. "I need you. Could barely survive without you."

She was lost and nodded a yes to now and whenever. He praised her beauty before stealing the air from her lungs, his tongue doing dangerous things to her mouth and throat. And she couldn't help herself from chasing that friction, flushing the denim seam against her aching core. James met her eagerly, happy to be the giver this time round.

He slapped the bare skin around her thong and humped her up and down his lap. She moaned too loud for decency. All too soon there was a bubble in her stomach and she began panting and falling, her limbs giving over to whatever James could offer her. He undid her with every heave but she needed more of him on every part of her body, the body that betrayed her right then.

With a shudder her head exploded into stars and the only way to hold on was to dig her nails into him, a pain that had him ripping the steady pace and fucking her into oblivion. He grunted but still wasn't there. Only barely hanging on as Anna flew worlds over; but that wouldn't do at all.

"I forgive you. For leaving me, I forgive you James." Though he couldn't makes sense of it, the man beneath her nodded.

She pulled herself up with renewed vigor and James' heart fluttered with anticipation. She took over then, a predator spotting its prey. Her hips drew breathy moans from him, pulling apart his sense of self and yanking them together and when her teeth flew to his throat-

He was undone. Spent and too uncontrolled to stop the sounds or jerking of his hips that nearly knocked Anna's head on the light above them. It rippled through him in ecstasy. He pulled her right to him then, so she was flush with his chest and he could hear her second release barrel through her with the last few thrusts.

Anna lay in his neck, gathering her thoughts from the floor. James was gripping her tight enough she was practically clung to his torso like a monkey. She could feel the humming bird in his chest slowly calm as the breaths in her hair lulled. He was content and Anna was all too happy to sit there, she'd fall asleep in his arms without bother. Even the music seemed satisfied and soft.

The flashing lights had turned to a dim glow for the late nighters and Anna let herself melt. Only for him would she be so content and she knew, Anna just knew this is what it felt like to be truly home. Clustered in his heat where even the scar riddled soldier was happy to dream with his face in her hair.

Anna opened her eyes to darkness. The beeping at the side of her bed seemed to get louder with every second. She flung an arm out and shut the blasted thing up. Sleep left her in a fog for a moment before last night came crashing back.

And Anna couldn't stop the dam from bursting as she wished with all her heart that it could have been real. That James was alive and well. That she wasn't aching for his smile every blasted morning and his voice every night. Anna prayed that somewhere out there he was alive but it was impossible. Impossible because she was Hydra's failed experiment, part of this century and yet it hurt like no torture could ever match. James would only ever be memories in her dreams.

Part two for this one is coming and the inspo came entirely from a TikTok I saw. At least the story line part of it.