How can she resist Ebony?

Sue hesitated, then nodded. "That sounds great!"

Velvet's was already busy when they arrived, the small tables crowded with after-hours service industry workers and night owls. Alexis led their group to a corner booth, somehow managing to intimidate its current occupants into vacating with just a pointed stare.

"Perks of being a regular," she explained as they slid into the newly emptied seats. "First round's on me, in honor of Suzanne's official debut as a proper stripper."

Susan felt a flush of pleasure at the acknowledgment, though part of her bristled at the word 'proper.' As if her latex performances had been somehow less legitimate.

Destiny and Jade fell into a lively discussion about a customer who'd been banned from Sakura-Mai that week, while Ebony excused herself to chat with someone she recognized at the bar. This left Susan alone with Alexis, who was watching her with that penetrating gaze that always made Susan feel exposed.

"So," Alexis said, leaning in closer to be heard over the bar's noise, "how did it really feel? And I don't mean the sanitized version you gave the others."

Susan hesitated, unsure how honest to be. There was something about Alexis that invited confession, that made her want to share the darkest, most confusing aspects of her experience.

"It felt..." she searched for the right words, "liberating. But also... I don't know. There was something almost dirty about it, in a way I didn't expect to enjoy."

Alexis's smile was knowing. "The degradation, you mean. The transaction. Men paying to look at you, to touch you."

Susan nodded, relieved to have her jumbled feelings articulated so precisely. "Yes, exactly. With the latex, there was this barrier, this distance. Tonight felt so much more... direct."

"And you liked it," Alexis observed. It wasn't a question.

"I did," Susan admitted, the confession sending a renewed flicker of heat through her. "More than I probably should have."

Alexis took a sip of her drink, her eyes never leaving Susan's face. "There's no 'should' here, Suzanne. Only what you want, what you need."

"But isn't it supposed to be about the power?" she asked. "That's what you said before – that stripping is about control, about making them pay for what they want but can't have."

"For some girls, sure." Alexis twirled the ice in her glass thoughtfully. "For me, definitely. I like the control, the power of having something they want and making them pay through the nose for even a glimpse." She leaned forward slightly. "But some dancers get off on the opposite – on the feeling of being being a debased whore. On the surrender of it."

The intensity of the words hit Susan between her legs in a surge of heat. "Is that... bad?"

"Not at all. It's just different." Alexis's hand found Susan's knee under the table, a warm, steady presence. "And based on what I saw tonight, what I see in your eyes right now... I think you might be more in that second category."

Susan couldn't meet her gaze, afraid of what Alexis might read in her expression. "I don't know what that says about me."

"It says you're honest with yourself about what turns you on. That's rare, especially for women with your background. Most 'respectable' women would rather die than admit they get wet from feeling objectified."

The crude phrasing made Susan flinch, but she couldn't deny its accuracy. "Is it... normal? To feel that way?"

Alexis laughed, the sound warm and genuine. "Oh, honey. If you knew how many outwardly respectable women secretly crave that kind of degradation... it's practically a cliché. The high-powered executive who wants to be called a slut in bed, the prim housewife who fantasizes about being used by strangers."

There was something both comforting and deeply unsettling about hearing her secret desires normalized this way. "So tomorrow night," Susan ventured, referring obliquely to the **** performance, "should I... lean into that? That feeling?"

"Absolutely." Alexis's expression grew serious. "Look, this guy – whoever he is – already has leverage over you. You can't change that. But you can change how you experience it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if you approach it as this terrible, shameful thing you're being **** to do, you'll be miserable and he'll have all the power." Alexis squeezed her thigh gently. "But if you embrace it, find the pleasure in it, make it yours... you take some of that power back."

"So basically..." Susan struggled to articulate the idea, "you're saying I should... get off on being blackmailed?"

Alexis grinned, her eyes glinting with something dangerous and exciting. "Well, maybe a little. No, don't look at me like I'm crazy. Turn the tables on him. He thinks he's using you? Use him right back. Let him provide the scenario that gives you exactly what you secretly want."

The concept was dizzying in its perversity, and something about it didn't sit quite right with her, but Susan was too tipsy and flushed to argue.

"That's... a lot to process," she said finally.

"Take it from someone who's been in this business a long time," Alexis replied, her tone softening. "The dancers who struggle are the ones who can't reconcile what they do with who they think they are. The ones who thrive are the ones who embrace all parts of themselves – even the parts society says should be kept hidden."

Susan looked at Alexis with new appreciation. Beneath the sarcastic exterior and deliberately provocative comments, there was a wisdom here, a hard-won understanding of human desire and its complexities.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "For helping me. For... not judging."

"Oh, I'm judging," Alexis quipped, her familiar smirk returning. "I'm judging that you've been wasting that body under latex for too long when you could have been making serious cash."

The conversation shifted to lighter topics as Destiny, Ebony, and Jade rejoined them, but Susan's mind kept returning to Alexis's words. The idea of finding pleasure in her **** performance continued to work its way through her thoughts, creating a strange tension of anticipation and anxiety about tomorrow night.

As the evening progressed and the drinks flowed, Susan found herself relaxing into the camaraderie of these women. Destiny and Jade shared outrageous stories from their early days dancing together in Miami. Ebony's hand occasionally brushed against Susan's under the pretense of reaching for drinks or bar snacks, each contact sending a small thrill through her.

And Alexis watched it all with those knowing eyes.

It was well after midnight when they finally decided to call it a night. Standing outside the bar, they exchanged hugs and goodbyes. Destiny and Jade headed off together, sharing an Uber to their neighboring apartments.

"Let me get your number," Ebony said to Susan, pulling out her phone. "In case you want prep help tomorrow. Or after." Her smile held warmth and something more inviting. "Anytime, really."

"And you should have mine too," Alexis said, taking Susan's phone from her hands with casual authority. She entered her information, then handed it back.

Susan glanced down to see Alexis had saved herself as 'Alexis <3'.

"I'll walk you to your car," Alexis offered as Ebony waved goodbye and headed toward the subway. "Which way?"

"Oh, I was just going to grab a cab," Susan replied. The Baxter Building was too recognizable a destination to risk having Alexis see where she was going.

"I'll get it for you. They always stop for me." Alexis winked. Sure enough, just as a taxi was about to pass them by, Alexis raised her hand to flag it down. The cab screeched to a halt, _reversed, _and pulled to the curb. Alexis leaned in and pressed a light kiss to Susan's cheek, her lips lingering just a fraction longer than strictly friendly. "Text me tomorrow after," she murmured. "I want to hear everything."

Susan slid into the taxi, her cheek tingling where Alexis's lips had touched. Tomorrow night's **** performance for Ralph and his friends no longer seemed like just degrading ordeal she'd initially feared. Maybe there was a chance here, a chance to discover something new about herself. Something she wasn't sure she wanted to know, but felt helplessly called to discover.