Thorned

By Renee Lee Fisher

My life is not what I’d wished for,
And my heart has been hurting for years.

Each night I go through the motions.
Pulling on fishnet thigh highs,
I dress sexy,
I put my long, dark-haired wig in place,
And step deep into my sky high black heels.

Tonight, I become Rissa Rose.

My real name is Larissa.
I am a romantic at heart.
Unfortunately, there is no good men in my life.

My boss, Zane, owns me.
His rules are that you cannot engage
with clients who come into the club.
I work and live there so I can survive.
I have no place else to go.

I perform nightly without any real emotion.
However, one night I looked up and my heart lit up.
Suddenly I am breathless when I first see him.
His name is Thorne.

We don’t often get the lives we wished for,
But sometimes love can help to get us there.
I feel Thorne will not hurt me, but could save me.
I need a painless love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Renee Lee Fisher
• Release date: Apr 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463908396

Renee Lee Fisher

USA TODAY Bestselling Author Renee Lee Fisher has the passion to put the pen to the paper and WRITE/CREATE. She is truly a romance junkie who loves to tell stories. She has written a variety of romantic works from novellas to novels. Her belief is that everyone should Indulge in LOVE.The first four of The Heartbeat Series of six planned Romance Novels. ROCK NOTES, LOVE NOTES, MUSIC NOTES, FIRST BEAT are completed and available. FIRST BASS and FIRST TASTE are yet to come.The Crossing Series (The Knot Hole, The Passage and The Muse) will take you on an endearing time travel romance from present day to centuries past.If you love a Suspense Romance - read Derailed. It is a sweet suspense that stands alone.Looking ahead, there will be many more romantic scenarios to come.Renee resides in Eagleville, PA with her loving husband Michael of many years and her cats Leo and Lincoln. She love to travel often and engage in meeting new people who provide her with future inspiration for stories.

Book preview

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An aching heart needs comfort.

A saddened soul seeks shelter.

LOVE can heal them both.

A painless love is the cure.

If only it was that easy to find.

Even in the darkest hours,

somehow, somewhere, love may just

finds its way to those who need it most.

Believe in the heart that pumps life through us all.

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CHAPTER ONE

I may not have had many belongings, but the very few I did made a comfortable pillow for my head. At twenty-four years old, I thought I would experience a career with a wonderful life laid out ahead. Unfortunately, I have no direction or path. Each day I walked through the city streets maintaining survival.

Settling in for the night on the cold, grassy ground underneath the bridge, I gazed up at the lights illuminating my area as if they were stars, and counted my blessings for another day of survival. I did not have a warm bed, nor a place to call home. No dinner table to sit and dine on a full meal. I would buy a pretzel from the local street vendor and make it last a meal or two. It was hard to live on the streets, but with no place to go, I took my thick, navy-colored wool blanket and laid it over the same area nightly. I had come to designate it as my space, which worked for the moment.

For most people, it was exciting to live in the city. Unfortunately, for me, it was survival on the front avenue close to the river in Philadelphia. The current weather wasn’t harsh on me, but some nights were quite cool. I didn’t think past each day that came. Another night of sleep beneath the stars was a day I survived. The city skyline looked like a beautiful picture to hang in one’s home, but here it was hung in the air just beyond my open walls where I laid my head to try to rest nightly. Most nights I told myself stories of wonder for a better life, creating characters that would swoop in and rescue me. One morning, when the sun rose, there seemed to be truth to my far-fetched tales.

I could see a man standing over me, extending his hand, which was holding what smelled like an onion bagel. The cream cheese was loaded inside. My stomach rumbled and my fingers shook as they reached for the delicious offering. Sitting up, I thanked the man before I devoured it quickly, not coming up for a breath of air. He didn’t leave me, though. He watched me. And when the bagel was all gone, he extended his hand again with a napkin. I wiped the cream cheese attached to just above my lips. The third time he reached down toward me, he extended an empty palm to lift me up.

My name is Zane. I don’t have much to offer you here, but I can place you in a warm bed, a roof over your head, and give you a job. A beautiful girl like you should not be lying on the ground and barely eating.

He seemed sincere, and I had nothing to lose … but maybe some things to gain. I took his hand, and he pulled me upward. I stood, amazed that this man, dressed in a suit and all clean shaven, had come to offer me so much. Following as he led me toward his sleek, black ride, I didn’t even glance back to where so many nights I laid my head and hoped for a helping hand. I was heading on another adventure, one which had to be better than counting the cars traveling the bridge nightly to drift off to sleep.

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CHAPTER TWO

Twirling her shoulder-length, golden blonde hair in her fingers, Larissa tapped her foot. She was nervous but also excited deep inside. Zane was a godsend. Today was the turnaround in her life that she thought would never come. She had contemplated ending her life a few times, but never had the heart to do it. With no family and being on her own since a teenager, no one would notice her absence or miss her. She lacked the courage to end her more than pathetic existence. She had lived under the bridge for several months, but the heavens must have made her cross paths with Zane who had now decided to help her turn her life around. Whatever he was offering her was better than what she had. In fact, anything was better.

After a short drive and conversation introducing themselves to one another, Zane turned off the car engine. Larissa stared at the shiny sign hanging on the side of the building. It read, ‘Club Indulge,’ and it was easy to understand why. The façade of the building was a dull grey and industrial-looking, but the signage popped in a brightly lit red lettering. A neon beacon for what may lie just beyond the front entrance.

Just watch and see how things are done here. If you’re hardworking and determined, you’ll be a hit in my business. I own everything inside those walls … Everyone and everything, Zane stated sternly, confidence lacing his words.

Okay, sir, thank you very much, Larissa replied.

Hey, I don’t want to have to remind you again. He scowled. Call me Zane, and drop all the sirs, okay? All of my girls call me Zane.

Larissa nodded in understanding, her pale blue eyes never leaving his.

And we need to get you a stage name, Larissa Rhodes won’t cut it. Hmmm … Ah-ha, we’ll call you Rissa Rose. That’s more like it. What do you think, Rissa? Zane asked her as his eyebrows lifted upward, proud that her stage name came to him so quickly.

I like it, too. I think it’s cool, she answered.

They exited the car in the alley next to the building, and walked into the club’s side entrance. Once again, she noticed the sign ‘Club Indulge’ that was illuminated on the wall.

* * *

It was an entirely different world inside. The club must be totally soundproof, because the music couldn’t be heard on the outside, but it was incredibly loud and banging within. The blasts from the speaker could make your heartbeat jump. From the entrance to the stage was the farthest wall, about twenty feet in. It wasn’t a very large room, but the silver-on-black glittery walkway extended from one end to the other in a straight line. Mirrors stretched the entire length, except for the six-foot spread of black velvet curtains toward the end.

Zane noticed her looking in that direction and informed her, That’s the wall that displays my girls. Just beyond that is the backstage area where they get dressed and relax when they are not grinding on the pole.

Other than the two feet it took for the stairs leading to the main floor, there were seats lined all of the way down; they were black with silver flecks of glitter. There was only one gold-hued pole, but a video playing on the wall suggested two or three girls at a time was not unusual play on busy nights. This, a Tuesday in the middle of May, was not one of those times.

Only the solo dancer felt the flesh of her thigh against the metal while she rode the pole between her legs. There was currently limited cliental to show interest. The dancer was upside-down, her perfectly-painted red nails wrapped around the pole to support her average frame. Long, black curls from her hair fell out around her, sweeping the floor below.

She slid down to meet those shiny locks, slithering out on the ground in synchrony with the music. All that was between her and the few men surrounding her was the elevation of the stage, and the thin, shimmering, amethyst-colored fabric spread out across her tits and nether regions. Her barely clothed chest pressed to the floor. A round, jiggling ass rose in the air and bump, bump, bumped with the hook of the loud bass tunes.

The smell of sweat, cheap cologne, and alcohol filled the air. Larissa was sure the smell was standard and would always be so. It wasn’t a bad smell, but it wasn’t particularly good either. However, it was strong nonetheless, the kind of smell that lingered, hanging onto your strands of hair and inside your nose for hours.

Male hands extended toward the stage, dollars waving at the stage dancer, each begging she bring that body in for a closer inspection. Obediently, she crawled on all fours, staring at their monetary bribes. Between her parted lips she took one of the bills … eyeing the paying man hungrily just before the song ended. She stood upright, and through what had to be triple-coated eyelashes, she flashed a blue-eyed wink in the man’s direction before she began to sway her hips. He smiled in response, satisfied that the money he doled out provided him entertainment, a second of private attention.

Pulling Larissa close, Zane spoke loudly in her ears to be heard over the loud music. Hope you’re loving what you’re seeing?

Yes, Zane, I am. I really can do this … I mean that, she replied, nodding her head and pointing toward the stage. One of her hobbies had been dancing, and she was blessed with a flexible body. Just standing there beside Zane, she could imagine herself fully displayed on the pole. Although she had never danced on a pole, she knew that with a little practice, she would soon be sliding her body up and down and all around it. Besides, she was desperate for anything to change her life. However, before she could hit that dance floor or spin on that pole she was in much need of a shower. Her hair was knotted and the clothes she wore were soiled. A simple bath or quick shower would be a luxury for her. Many days she basically washed herself clean in any one of the public bathrooms near the waterfront. Soon, though, after she got the opportunity to clean herself up here at the club, she was aware the next clothing she would be wearing would be next to nothing.

Another song started—a very popular hip-hop tune. Larissa stood speechless, watching a dancer perform like a professional with her moves. One hand reached up from the gentleman standing stage side, freeing her breasts quickly enough to make a high school boy blush; giant nipples rose in the chill of the air. Instantly the patrons’ wallets flapped open in unison around the stage, each eager to pay her the higher dollar bill that would hopefully make her bottoms come off. Most of them seemed like they frequented the area, so they already knew what’s coming next. The dancer sashayed flirtatiously toward the next man near the stage.

A fifty-dollar bill was between his shaky fingers. She slithered out of her panties and tossed them aside before climbing down from the stage and straddling the man, completely nude. With her face to the stage, she slid her ass down into his lap, reached to grab his hands, and forced him to take her breasts into his grip.

He almost appeared to be pained based on his expression when her hand touched his pants. Leaning her head back, the dancer whispered something in his ear before kissing his cheek and climbing off of him, certain to swiftly take the money with her. Larissa hoped she could learn some of those moves. With the ease of someone who had done this often, the dancer jumped back onto the stage and resumed her sexy routine. The man she had just climbed off of shifted uncomfortably, glancing around to see who was looking at him. All eyes were already back on stage, of course, because they didn’t come here to see him.

* * *

After giving Larissa a sample of the show and how far things tended to go, Zane then took her backstage to show her around. The music was quieter there.

Girls, meet Rissa Rose. She’ll be joining the team, Zane announced to the two ladies sitting there. They got up immediately.

Hi, you’re so pretty! My name is Sky, pleasure to meet you, the first girl said.

And I’m Liv, great to meet you. The other girl offered an immediate embrace.

You guys should make her feel comfortable and teach her all she needs to know. Sky, I’ll be charging you with that responsibility. Rissa must be ready to hit the pole in a week. Tomorrow, you’ll take her shopping for clothes, shoes, makeup, and other necessary things. And remember, the less clothing she wears on stage means more money for me. Also, I’m certain what she needs first is … a nice hot shower.

All right, Zane, I’d be happy to, Sky replied.

I’ll leave you girls alone. Rissa, there’s a lot to learn, don’t disappoint me. Zane emphasized his statement with a stern glance.

I won’t, Zane, Larissa answered. She also knew from this moment on her name would be only Rissa. Her real name would be tucked away. There was no place for her to be the Larissa she was as it was now time for her to become the Rissa who Zane had added to his club lineup.

Zane left the girls alone in the room and went back to