A Lesson in Blackmail: Black Mountain Academy / a Club Alias Novel

by Robichaux, KD

  “Fuuuck,” I growl, my cock going rock-hard in an instant, so fast I wobble as all the blood from my head apparently drained straight into my dick. And then I curse again as both women’s eyes turn toward my guttural voice, and I watch as the color drains from Ms. Richards’s face.

  Chapter 4

  Evie

  No. No, no, no. This can’t be happening. My head jerks to the left, searching out where the deep curse came from, and I see just the head that belongs to none other than Nate Black as he peeks into the club, still on the stairway. I’m frozen like a deer in headlights as his eyes travel from mine down over my clothing—or lack thereof—to my feet incased in black pointed-toe stilettos.

  His nostrils flare as his gaze moves back up, stopping at my breasts that are wrapped in dark-blue lace, unlined, so my nipples are clearly visible. It travels downward again, over my bare stomach, and stops for a moment at the matching dark-blue panties that are so tiny they’re useless, only there for the barest modicum of modesty.

  It’s when his bottom lip pulls in between his teeth that I finally snap into action, hurriedly pulling my black trench coat back up my arms and over my shoulders and knotting the belt around my waist, not bothering to waste time on the buttons.

  A word hasn’t been spoken since his guttural curse, until finally Dixie, one of the submissives who works here, calls out, “Excuse me, sir. This is a private club. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Her voice is polite but stern, yet Nathaniel ignores her, because why wouldn’t he? Being who he is, he’s been raised to do whatever the hell he wants.

  Instead, he climbs the rest of the way up the steps, his frame coming into view one step up at a time, seeming to grow upward from the very depths of hell itself like a fallen angel, a demon. First, his chest. Step. Then, his waist, his torso encased in a fitted plain black T-shirt, a sharp contrast to the white polo shirt I see him in every day at school. Step. Next, his hips, which he reaches down at the front of to adjust what’s behind his fly. Step. His powerful thighs wrapped in dark jeans, not baggy but not tight either, enough to be comfortable and able to move freely if he needed to get somewhere quickly. Step. Calves I’ve seen before when he was in his tiny swim uniform that look like they were chiseled by fucking Michelangelo himself. Step. And finally, black expensive-looking tennis shoes that seem so wrong in a place like Club Alias, where most of the men wear Italian leather dress shoes or boots.

  He prowls up to me. No other word could be used to describe his gait. He’s so tall and powerful-looking I can’t move as he approaches, my head tilting… tilting… tilting back as he takes the final steps up to me so I can look into his eyes, one slightly hidden behind his dark hair that’s fallen forward over his brow. I watch, fascinated, as the hair moves slightly when he blinks, caught in his thick, dark eyelashes, and then he runs his hand through it, pushing it out of his face and making his giant bicep flex as it comes up next to my head he’s so very close. If I were to look straight ahead, I’d be staring at the middle of his chest. I swallow thickly, the sound of it loud inside my head even over the thump of bass playing low inside the club, since I got here early before it’s even open like the lonely, desperate creature I am.

  I don’t know what to do, much less say. My student just saw me more than halfway naked inside a BDSM club—not that he knows what this place is. That is, unless he heard what Dixie and I were talking about before he made his presence known.

  Oh God.

  My humiliation grows tenfold.

  I can’t breathe. All I can do is stare up into the fiery gaze of the young man who spends every study hall hour making me want to scream in anxious frustration. My entire existence is trembling, vibrating. This is my happy place, my safe place, my haven. And now the sole person who I come here to escape from is here. Right here. Invading my sanctuary.

  “Ms. Richards,” he murmurs, his eyes darting between mine behind my mask.

  I whimper, wanting to cry that he’s caught me here. My mind not even wrapping around what this means. He could ruin everything. He could ruin my entire life if he told anyone.

  “N-Nathaniel,” I finally whisper.

  Dixie speaks up again, clearly picking up that I am not in a good place mentally at the moment. “Sir, again, I’ll ask you to leave once more before I call for security to escort you out.” She lifts her cell, which I see out of my peripheral vision. I’m too scared to pull my eyes off Nate’s, just like you don’t look away from a snake or bear if you come upon one in a forest. You just fucking don’t do it. As long as you keep your eyes on it, you’ll be able to see before it attacks.

  He lifts his hand up to my face, and I fight the urge to flinch. His hand is so big, his fingers so long and powerful, that it looks as if he could crush me without even trying. But as he turns his hand over to run a knuckle along my jaw, the first time he’s ever laid a finger on me, his touch is gentle, feather-light, making the skin along my neck tighten with a chill.

  I’m hypnotized, stunned stupid, unable to move a single inch as his eyes and touch hold me under his spell.

  Move. Slap his hand away. Do something. He’s one of your students! my mind screams at me, but my body refuses to listen, apparently awaiting what he wants, because as soon as the words leave his mouth, it’s like someone disengaged the Pause button I was trapped by.

  “Ms. Richards, would you mind accompanying me outside? Seems we have much to discuss,” he says in a low tone, and my eyes dart to Dixie, who gives me a questioning look.

  I lick my lips, taking in measured breaths now, trying to stay calm during what could be a disaster, a catastrophe, a complete crisis situation concerning my life, my entire existence.

  “Y-yes, Mr. Black,” I reply and watch as his brow lowers over his dark eyes.

  “Very good, Evie,” he rumbles, and the use of my nickname is startling, making me jerk at the same time his praise does something to my body I most definitely do not want to acknowledge. The heated tingle working its way down to my core has nothing to do with his commendation. Nothing.

  As he spins on his heel and starts back to the stairs, my wide eyes turn to look at Dixie, who I’m sure can see the panic in them.

  “Do I need to call one of the guys? Seven is right upstairs, and I’m sure Knight will be here any minute,” she offers, but I shake my head before she even gets the whole question out of her mouth.

  “No, it’s fine. Everything is fine. Please, Dixie, just don’t tell anyone, okay? I cannot lose my membership. I would…. I…. It would just not be a good thing if I didn’t have Club Alias in my life, okay?” I beg, my eyes pleading, and she gives me a nod.

  “You don’t have to worry about that, Eve. I’ve got your back. If you need anything, all you have to do is ask, okay? You sure you want to go with that guy? He looked like he wanted to eat you alive,” she whispers the last part, and my eyes dart between her and Nathaniel’s retreating back.

  I gulp, shifting on my feet. I have no idea what he’s going to say to me, but I know I can’t avoid what just happened. I can’t simply go on about my night and weekend and then show up on Monday pretending he didn’t just see me nearly naked in a nightclub, whether he knows what goes on here or not. But he’s Nathaniel freaking Black. The smartest male I’ve ever met in my life by far. Scary smart. I’m sure he figured it out the moment he stepped foot inside.

  “I’m sure. It’ll be fine. I just need to talk to him about what he saw, and it’ll be fine.” I repeat “fine” a few more times, giving her a weak smile I know looks more like a wince before following Nate down the steps and out the door, onto the sidewalk.

  He turns around, pinning me with his stare, and the force of his blazing expression sends me back a step, where I feel the bricks of the building close behind me. He paces a few steps before doing the same in the opposite direction, never taking his eyes off mine. Three steps down the sidewalk, turn on his heel, three steps up. I don’t know how many times he does it, but I’m sure he doe
s. I’m positive it’s a certain number his OCD forces him to act out before he finally stops in front of me and glances down at my lips, the bottom one getting tugged to hell and back between my teeth. I’m pretty certain that flavor I’m tasting is my own blood I’ve drawn in my panic.

  “Do you want to do this here?” he finally asks, and I break his stare long enough to glance in either direction. No one is out here at the moment, but people will start showing up any minute for our night of adventure.

  “N-No. I don’t think so,” I reply quietly, needing to think five steps ahead, yet my brain hasn’t even caught up to what is happening right now.

  “Back to your house then?” he prompts, and I take a step back, straight into the brick wall that had been a foot behind me.

  “Back to my house? You… you were there before? You f-followed me here?” My voice trembles. Not only had Nate invaded my happy place, but he’d also been to my home, my refuge?

  Before I know what’s happening, Nate reaches his big hand inside one of the pockets of my trench coat. When it comes up empty, he tries the other one, and I hold perfectly still, not wanting to force his hand to touch anything he shouldn’t. He pulls out my keys from the second pocket, takes hold of my hand that is fisted at my side, unfurls my fingers, and places the fob in the center of my palm. “Get your car. I’ll follow you back to your house,” he orders, and everything inside me wants to jump into action to follow his instruction, yet I force myself to hold strong.

  “I-I…. What is going on, Nathaniel? Why did you follow me? Why would you drive all this way—”

  He cuts me off with a growl, leaning forward and trapping me against the front of the building, and palms slapping against the bricks on either side of my head and caging me in. It stills my breath he’s so close, so overwhelming, taking up every millimeter of my vision. I see nothing but him, and I want to close my eyes and pretend I’m somewhere else, even though I know that’s a lie I’m just telling myself, because I have no doubt I’ve never been this turned on in my life.

  You should be ashamed of yourself. You freak. He’s a student! Entirely too young for you.

  I shake my head at my thoughts, trying to keep them at bay. I can’t allow myself to shame what I’m feeling, to go back to thinking of myself as a freak.

  “You’re shaking like a leaf, Ms. Richards,” he breathes against my ear before pulling back and looking me in the eyes. “Are you afraid of me?”

  I look into the dark depths before me, seeing what I always see, the young man who likes to taunt me, practically torture me with his very presence every day. But there’s something else in there, something almost… vulnerable, needy, as if begging for my help.

  I decide to be honest. “Not of you, Nathaniel,” I whisper. “Just… just of what you could do.”

  His eyes fall to my lips then meet mine once more. “And what’s that?”

  I swallow, trying to decide what I should say. What if he hasn’t thought of all the things he could do with this information? If I tell him what I fear, it could just give him ideas. But of course, this is Nate Black we’re talking about. I’m sure fifty different scenarios entered his brilliant mind the moment he saw what he walked into. So again, I go with honesty, because that’s just who I am.

  “You… you could ruin my life.” I try to keep my voice strong, but the last word comes out in a whimper, my chin wobbling.

  I hear people approaching from the side of the building where the underground parking lot is located, but Nate doesn’t move. And the people don’t say anything as they enter the club through the door right next to us, probably thinking we’re a couple in the middle of a role-playing scene or something.

  “You’re right, Ms. Richards. I could.” His gaze falls to my lips once more, and he leans in. I close my eyes, bracing myself for his kiss, my heart pounding in my chest so hard it makes my nipples hard beneath the lace of my bra. But the kiss never comes. Instead, I feel the sharp edge of his chiseled jawline against my cheek as he whispers in my ear, “So how about we go back to your house and talk about what you can do to assure that doesn’t happen.” It’s an order more than a question. And I nod in agreement this time instead of questioning him.

  “O-Okay,” I reply quietly, gripping my key fob.

  He takes a step away from me, and I’m confused by my body’s reaction. It’s not relief I feel when he finally gives me space. It’s a sense of loss I don’t understand. As if my security blanket has been taken away from me, leaving me exposed and cold in the night. I shiver, even though the temperature outside is mild, so I tuck the neck of my trench coat closer to my chest.

  “After you, Ms. Richards,” he says, and gestures for me to walk before him in the direction of the parking garage entrance. We don’t say another word to each other on the short walk up the sidewalk and around the corner, and I’m surprised when he follows me down the steps, because one has to have a special pass when you enter through the vehicle entrance for the gate to open. But then I realize he’s not going to his own vehicle. He’s escorting me to mine.

  My doors automatically unlock when I get near it, and as my hand reaches out to grab the handle on my driver side door, Nate beats me to it, pulling it open for me. “Thank you,” I murmur, folding myself inside. And then before I know what’s happening, his big body is in front of me, taking away all of my oxygen he’s so close, his form much too big for my little car. “W-what are you doing?” I squeak, and then I hear the click of my seatbelt being buckled.

  “Don’t worry, little mouse. Just making sure you’re safe,” he tells me, and his deep voice and the amusement in his tone make me shiver.

  “Th-thank you,” is all I can say as he slides himself back out, bracing one hand on the top of my door and the other on the roof as he stays bent to look me in the eyes.

  He gives me a small smile that does little to ease my anxiety. It’s more like the cat that got the canary, a dark and nerve-wracking but sultry edge to his expression as he watches me. “Be careful driving. I’ll be behind you,” he orders, and I nod.

  “All right,” I whisper.

  “I overheard you say you were meeting someone here. It would only be polite to let them know your plans for the night changed.”

  My chin wobbles. Hot tears prickle the backs of my eyes. He’s ruining everything. My one night that gets me through the rest of the week. My dose of submission that allows me to function and make decisions every other day. And the added knowledge that he did overhear Dixie and me talking just makes everything ten times worse. He now knows things about me I never wanted anyone else to learn, much less a student, far less my boss’s son.

  I don’t realize a tear has escaped until I feel his gentle finger wiping it away from my cheekbone.

  “Ah, don’t look so sad, Ms. Richards. I’m sure we can work something out.”

  I don’t know what to make of his words. Are they a threat… or a promise?

  I guess I’ll find out soon enough, because he steps back and closes my door, tapping the roof of my car like he does my desk every day after his parting words. And like always, it makes me nearly jump out of my skin. I blow out a breath and start the car, seeing him nod at me through the window before he turns and makes his way up the stairs to the sidewalk.

  I send Lancelot a text apologizing, telling him I won’t be able to make it tonight. He sends one back immediately saying he’ll miss me but not to worry about it. I’m sure he has a line of submissives waiting for the chance to experience his flogging expertise.

  The thought makes me bitter. If it weren’t for Nathaniel Black IV, then I would be excitedly awaiting my Dom’s arrival inside the club. Instead, I’m putting my car in reverse, backing out of the parking space, and heading home to see just how thoroughly Nate plans to ruin my life.

  Chapter 5

  Nate

  Seeing her exit the parking garage, I pull away from the curb and fall in line behind her, no longer needing to keep a distance and make sure my prese
nce stays hidden. She knows I’m following her, back to her house, back to where she spends her nights after she gets off work every day after I’ve spent an hour making her squirm.

  Does she think of me once she gets home? Does she obsess over me the way I do her, never escaping my face even when I’m not around? Does she think of me when she lets those other men… do things to her, things that make her come over and over again?

  My hands tighten on the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white, and my nostrils flare with rage and jealousy. It’s ridiculous, I know, to be jealous over Evelyn being with other guys when I’ve been with just as many if not more girls. What’s fucking me up is imagining this new reality, when I’d thought she was so innocent, pure, even virginal. How many times had I thought about taking her virginity while I’d fucked my fist? How many times had I pictured pulling out of her and seeing my cum mixed with her blood? Now I know that will never happen, and instead, Ms. Richards is….

  No, I refuse to think of her as a freak. She’s no more a freak than I am. She just obviously has needs that have to be fulfilled in a not-so-traditional way. A way that seems to be the opposite of mine, and the perfect match at the same time. She desires to be mastered? To submit and give herself over to someone and allow them to bring pleasure to her willing body repeatedly… until she can barely walk?

  She’s exactly what I never knew I could even dream of. Someone who would take my dominance happily, want it, crave it, get off on it over and over.

  But I’ve never let that side of me loose before.

  She’s part of a club where… experts? Professionals? I mean, they spoke of a guy they called Master. And they said it with no type of humor or sarcasm in their voices. He was someone they respected, admired, wanted to be under. I’ve never even allowed myself to be rough with a girl, afraid I’d hurt her, not wanting to let the monster I keep trapped inside me escape and wreak havoc, even though every urge inside me had been to give myself over to it.