Yes, Alpha

by Merel Pierce

  “What I’m looking for is a little more complex than that.”

  “You didn’t really answer the question.”

  “You’re very tenacious,” he mused. “I like that. No, Meghan. You wouldn’t be made to do anything you didn’t agree to. Ever. Meet me, let me explain it to you fully.”

  “Meet you where?”

  “Why don’t you let me take you to dinner?” He’d been thinking about her for the past few days, more than he cared to admit. The Omega had piqued his interest, and sex with her wasn’t the only thing he found himself wanting. There was so much more he wanted to know about her.

  “No. I want this to be… simple.”

  “You’re certain?” He couldn’t hide the hint of disappointment in his voice, and for a moment he thought she might be reconsidering her answer. But when she spoke again, she quashed that particular hope.

  “I’m sure.”

  “Well,” Daniel sighed in defeat, gracefully declining to argue his case. He wasn’t used to women saying no to him, but he’d take what he could get of her. “How about the club, then? It’s a secure location and it’s monitored. You wouldn’t have to worry about me taking advantage.” He was practically purring by the last word.

  “In what, one of those playrooms?”

  “There are offices for contract negotiations between members,” he informed her. “Discussions are recorded and monitored, to make certain both parties are entering into the agreement willingly.”

  “I’d have to sign a contract?” She sounded incredulous, now. “I’m not looking for a business arrangement or a mate.”

  “The contract is designed to protect both people. If I were ever to step over the line you would have clear and concise proof to present if you wished to press charges. That aside, the contract only applies to our interactions within the club. Nowhere else.”

  “What if I decide I don’t want to do this?”

  “Then you don’t do it.”

  “Simple as that? I can walk away anytime?”

  “Anytime, sweetheart.”

  She was quiet, seeming to consider her options. Daniel was vaguely concerned that she might change her mind, and in near desperation, began to purr. “Meet me, Meghan.” His velvet rumble had her sucking in a sharp breath. “Will you meet me?” he supplicated, softening the edge of the prior command by asking. A heartbeat passed in silence.

  “Ok.”

  He closed his eyes, grinning broadly as he sat back in his chair.

  “When?”

  “Tomorrow, 8 p.m.” He supplied. “I’ll have a car pick you up at the gas station down the street, if you like?” Of course he’d asked the driver where she lived. How could he not have? When the Beta explained that she’d made him drop her off down the street, Daniel was both amused and a little proud. She was being careful, his little Omega. She was a smart girl.

  “The gas station then.”

  “Fabulous. I’m looking forward to it. Oh, and Meghan?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Wear your own clothes this time.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Saturday was spent doing an unnatural amount of primping and panicking. By the time 7:30 p.m. rolled around, she was an anxious mess. At 7:45 p.m. her alarm went off, reminding her that it was time to go. Meghan rushed to the bedroom to look over her reflection for the millionth time in the full-length mirror, angling this way and that as she checked her appearance.

  Meghan didn’t have much in the way of sexy clothing. Daniel had been embarrassingly right in his assumption about her sense of style. It was a fact that frustrated her endlessly when it had come time to get ready. The clothes strewn over her bedroom floor were a testament to her lack of preparedness for anything akin to a date, let alone something like this.

  In the end, she’d settled on a royal purple vintage 50s inspired dress with a sweetheart neckline and flirty mid-thigh length skirt. Most of her shoes were kitten heels, just as he’d suspected. To spite him, she’d chosen one of only a few pairs of wedge heels that she owned. Black and classic in their simplicity, they matched the mood her dress inspired. She kept everything simple. Her makeup consisted of mascara, winged black eyeliner, and pink gloss. She left her hair loose in its natural mermaid like waves.

  Overall, she didn’t think she looked bad, she just didn’t think she looked like the type of girl that belonged in a sex club. But, she’d done what he had asked. She’d worn her own clothes. With an unhappy grunt, she gave up. “This is as good as it’s gonna get.” She slid her cell phone into the wristlet hanging from her arm and retrieved her keys. Soon enough, she was down the stairs and out of her apartment building, trotting towards the gas station at a measured pace.

  Her ride was already there, and as she approached, the driver exited the car and opened the rear passenger door for her. “Good evening, Miss.”

  “Evening!” She tucked her skirt as she plopped onto the leather seat, giving the driver a flustered smile. “Thank you.”

  “Yes, Miss.”

  The ride to the club was spent in silence. Meghan couldn’t help wondering if the man had been instructed not to speak to her or if he was simply used to being invisible to his passengers. The thought of the latter made her want to attempt conversation, but she didn’t want to put him in an awkward position if he’d been instructed not to speak. So, Meghan was quiet.

  When the car rolled to a stop outside the front entrance some twenty minutes later, she started to wring her hands. There were a lot of people waiting in line, and she wasn’t looking forward to braving it alone. When the Beta driver opened her door and handed her out, though, she discovered it wouldn’t be an issue.

  A burly looking Alpha in a suit met her at the sidewalk, extending a hand to motion her forward. “Meghan?”

  “Um, yeah.”

  “Mr. Thomas is already inside, I’m here to escort you to your meeting.”

  “You work for the club?”

  “Yes. Please, come this way.”

  He walked her right to the front of the line, opening the velvet rope to allow her through. There were grunts and protests from some of the patrons waiting nearby, but Meghan just dipped her chin and let her hair shield her from their looks of jealousy.

  She hurried to stay close to the large male, afraid of getting separated in the club before they reached her destination. He led them through the lobby and down a hall she hadn’t noticed on her first visit. Unlike the passageway for the playroom, this hall was well lit. The only similarity it shared with the playroom hall was that both walls were lined with doors, though these featured square windows that revealed the brightly lit rooms beyond.

  Each room contained a table and four chairs, and a computer cart where a printer and laptop computer lived. The rooms all appeared to be empty. That was, until they reached the end of the hall and the Alpha opened a door to her left, revealing Daniel Thomas. Her escort motioned her inward, giving her a tight little smile. “The meeting rooms are under surveillance at all times,” he informed her evenly. “We will be watching, and if any inappropriate behavior takes place, or you feel uncomfortable, all you have to do is say so and we will be here within moments to assist you.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Do you have any questions, Miss?”

  ***

  “No.” She sent a bashful look his way as he rose from the table nearby. “I’m ok, thank you.”

  “Good luck with your negotiations, Miss.”

  She crossed the threshold at the Alpha’s bidding, turning to watch as the stranger shut the door behind her and walked away. She glanced down at the knob briefly, and Daniel could practically read her mind.

  “There’s no lock, it isn’t allowed in meeting rooms.”

  As he approached, the girl turned slowly to face him. He paused a respectable distance away out of consideration for the fact that she seemed nervous, but drank in the sight of her with such blatant admiration that it didn’t take long for her to start fidgeting.

&nb
sp; “Good evening, Meghan.”

  “Hi.”

  “You look lovely. Thank you for taking my request to heart,” he murmured appreciatively. To say she looked lovely was a gross understatement. She was gorgeous. Her true beauty shone now as it had been unable to before. The consummate girl next door, she wouldn’t normally have been his type. But there was something about her he was inexplicably drawn to, that he wanted more of. He had no intention of fighting it. “I much prefer the real you to the trussed-up version. Though both are quite appetizing.”

  “Uh, thanks?” She blushed the prettiest shade of pink under his praise, tucking her hair behind her ear in an almost shy gesture. “So. Are we going to talk about this?”

  He chuckled and shrugged a shoulder, pulling out a nearby chair for her. “Succinct,” he noted out loud. “Yes, let’s get started.”

  When she’d seated herself, he moved away, retrieving the computer from the cart. He then lowered himself into a chair across from her and turned on the machine.

  “There are some disclaimers and general literature for you to read through and initial, and a few surveys for you to take that will help guide the conversation.” He clicked the mouse pad a few times, then turned the computer and slid it across the table to her. “Let’s start there. Take your time.”

  She glanced down at the screen. Scrolling through the first three pages, she gave the club’s liability waivers, rules, and security policies a once over, before going back to the beginning to read it in earnest. He could tell when she’d reached the end of the disclaimer, as it required a signature be made on the touch screen. He watched her closely as she progressed to the next section, curious what her reaction would be.

  The next part of the document was the survey he’d been speaking of. Essentially, it was a list of all manner of sexually explicit activities from mild to taboo, along with check boxes for yes, no, curious, and a blank section under each to write specific stipulations or circumstances relating to said item. Meghan frowned.

  “What is it?”

  “I just…” She paused, waving a hand helplessly as she tried to find the words. “This seems a lot like a movie I saw once, you know? It’s kind of cliché, isn’t it?”

  He smiled. “I suppose it seems that way, but there’s a reason we do this.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Protection. Our rules are clearly defined for one another. This way, there are boundaries in place before we even begin. It removes some of the uncertainty that might otherwise be experienced.”

  She shifted in her seat, glancing towards the camera in the corner self-consciously. “Well, what if I don’t know how I feel about something on the list?”

  “If you aren’t certain, mark it as ‘curious.’ Then specify the exact circumstances under which you may or may not consider it.”

  “What if I change my mind later?”

  “Then you would say so, and we would talk it through together. If you don’t wish to proceed on that particular track, then we won’t.”

  “Hmph.”

  “Finish the survey, Meghan,” he urged warmly. “You’ll be able to compare our interests when you are done. Then, we can discuss whatever concerns you may have.”

  “Fine.” With a little sigh, she resigned herself to clicking through the pages and pages of subject matter, occasionally wrinkling her nose or sending a scandalized look his direction. This he tolerated with a patient, charming smile. He’d expected no less.

  Chapter Twelve

  While a no strings attached sort of relationship had seemed like the ideal way to banish her loneliness, this ordeal was turning out to be far more complicated than she’d originally anticipated. Nonetheless, she continued to wade through the seemingly endless pages of questions he’d sat before her.

  All in all, it took her nearly half an hour to go through the entire list, and she was feeling more than a little intimidated by the time she hit the ‘next section’ button at the bottom of the page. An hourglass flipped over at the center of the screen as it worked to load the next section which turned out to be a side-by-side comparison of Daniel’s responses next to hers.

  Propping her chin in one palm, she started scrolling all over again, making note of his answers and how they compared to her own. When she was finished, she paused, glancing up at him over the top of the computer. “You answered ‘yes’ way more than I did.”

  “That’s because I have more experience than you.”

  “Do you have to have all those things?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “That’s good,” she muttered as she went back to scrolling. “Because there’s no way I’m doing some of these.”

  He chuckled, amusement bleeding into his expression as he watched her. She glared up at him from beneath her lashes, a knit brow signaling her disapproval. “I’m serious. Some of this is just… obscene.”

  “Oh, no doubt.”

  “Ok, I’m done comparing. Now what?”

  “I’d like to come sit next to you, so we can address your concerns and questions. Is that all right?”

  “Uh, ok?”

  He stood, rounding the table with the easy grace of a predator. He paused to remove his suit jacket, draping it over the back of the chair before taking a seat beside her. The shifting air brought his scent to her, and she was already sniffing discretely as he situated himself and unbuttoned the sleeves of his dress shirt. She watched with keen interest as he rolled the cuffs, exposing masculine forearms to the elbow.

  “Do you always wear suits or slacks?”

  He made an amused noise. “Not always, but most often.” He grinned at her as he shifted the computer so that it sat between them on the table. “Now, let’s see what we’ve got here.

  ***

  Though she was initially bashful talking about some of the items on the list with him, he made a great effort to make it all seem surprisingly normal and comfortable. In the end she only had a handful of hard limits, much to his pleasure. No gags, no spanking with anything but a hand, no public sex, no other participants, no breaking of the skin, no bathroom play, no clamps on her genitalia or breasts, no pictures. Her limits were more than fair.

  In truth, he was surprised she hadn’t said no to more than she had. Of course, there were still far more ‘curious’ than ‘yes’ answers on her list. Nonetheless, Daniel was happy with the results. By the time they’d finally made it through the entire thing, all of her ‘maybe’ answers had been addressed in depth. She’d chosen her safe word, Applebury, which was apparently the street she’d grown up on, and something she wasn’t likely to say by accident. As they skimmed through the last few pages, though, the girl became increasingly fidgety and restless. The faint scent of pheromones betrayed the reason. Sitting so close to him was difficult for her, especially when they were discussing sex.

  “Are we almost done?”

  He cocked his head, a brow angling in silent question. “Feeling impatient, are we?” She rolled her eyes, and her refusal to meet his gaze told him he was right.

  “I just… I didn’t know this would take so long.”

  “Hmm.” he advanced to the next page. “Well, anything worth having is worth waiting for.”

  “Oh, come on!”

  “You might regret being in such a hurry once I get you alone, sweetheart. But by all means, keep rushing,” he teased, a low rumble vibrating his chest as he flashed her a grin. “Please.”

  He jerked his chin towards the screen, and when she followed the not-so-subtle suggestion, she saw a signature box. “Finally,” she grumbled under her breath, leaning forward to read through the final page hastily before lifting a finger and scrawling her signature across the line before she lost her nerve. She sat back, watching as he did the same.

  “Are we done?” Meghan asked softly, watching him nervously as he finalized the document and hit ‘submit.’

  “Almost.”

  He pulled up the file screen and chose the print option, changing the nu
mber of copies to two, before hitting the ‘print’ button. Nearby on the computer cart, the printer whirred to life and began spitting out papers, which Daniel promptly got up to retrieve. He sifted and sorted as they came out, returning to her with two separate, neatly stacked piles. The first, he extended to her.

  “Your copy.”

  She glanced down at the still warm papers he deposited in her hand only briefly before folding them up as small as she could and cramming them into a now overstuffed wristlet. Her expression told him the papers had made it real for her. She’d just signed her submission over to an Alpha she didn’t know. The amount of bravery and trust it took for her to do that didn’t escape him. It was an intoxicating feeling.