The Red Door (The Door Series Book 1)

by Massey, J. L.

  “Why is it ending?”

  I could hear the fear in Ari’s voice. She thought I was running out on them for good. And of course she would, between the way I acted last time and now this time.

  “Not ending, my Ari, just going to have to delay a little more.” I walked over to her and touched her face. She was sitting on the chair holding the remote. I could tell she had been watching the scenes. Her eyes were a little unfocused and glossy. I wondered if she even knew how open her face was when she looked at me. It was the same when she looked at Alex. I had noticed she would let down her guard with those close to her, but when it came to us she was completely open. It almost hurt seeing that much trust. Knowing I could fuck it up at any given moment, but I also knew I would give anything to hold onto it. In my life, trust like this had to be earned, and more times than not, it was with a bullet. Looking at Ari, seeing the fear and concern there now, remembering the hope and joy she had earlier, I knew I was going to have to force myself to be honest and open and trust in both Ari and Alex.

  “Why?”

  I turned around to see Alex wasn’t mad. Not even a little. No, he was pissed.

  Pissed.

  The.

  Fuck.

  Off.

  I was going to have to cover ground pretty fast before he exploded. I knew by the looks of him if he did I would be a bloody mess. I could take him, no problem, I was sure, but over something that was my fault I would not fight back.

  “When we were in the shower earlier, I let my mind wonder to how we came to that point. Going over conversations I had the past few days. When I came to the one I had with Ari, tonight, I realized how stupid I have been.” I heard Ari cry out, but didn’t realize what was happening until I felt pain in my face and followed quickly by another. Alex.

  “You motherfucker! You realized how stupid you’ve been? After we all had sex? You realized it standing naked with us in the shower? Not while I was licking your cum out of Ari or while you were riding her and I was sucking her clit and wrapping my tongue around your cock when it was gliding in and out of her. Not while she screamed your name and came so hard she passed out. I’m going to fucking kill you!” I felt a jab to my ribs and another to my face that I blocked. I pushed off and rolled over onto Alex. I grabbed one hand, but the other wrapped around my throat.

  “You’ll notice I am not fighting you. Don’t put words in my mouth, Alex. What happened in the bedroom was the best sex I’ve ever had. Ever, in my life. That isn’t what I was being stupid about. Let me go and I’ll explain,” I said, but it came out in a raspy whisper. Alex squeezed his hand harder around my throat before he let go.

  “You can talk, but if I don’t like what you say I’m going to finish what I started.”

  “After you hear what I say you’re more than welcome to try.” I turned and walked to the bathroom and rinsed out my mouth. The water came away bloody. My eye was swollen, and the area on the left side of my mouth was busted. My skin across my cheek and down to my chin was red and would turn into a bruise. I looked at my neck and saw the red handprint beginning to form there. I walked back into the living room to see Ari with wide eyes waiting with a baggie of ice and a towel. I walked over to her and put my arms around her pulling her into my body. She felt stiff against me. She shifted and raised up my shirt until I helped take it off. I felt my skin pull and knew my ribs were bruised. I heard Ari hiss and then she stormed off back into the kitchen.

  I sat down on the chair and looked over at Alex.

  “Explain.”

  “When you laid everything out on the table, all I kept thinking of is that it has to be someone who knows the ins and outs of this club. Someone who appeared to have upstanding morals in public but was actually corrupt to the bone. This describes all of the members of The Black Door.”

  “And The Black Door? We didn’t focus there because the information we had told us they had to be members here to be a member there.”

  “True, but that only happened after I took over and brought in new Masters. This is where I’ve been stupid.” I looked over toward Ari. “I didn’t lie to you today. Everything that happens in The Black Door is legal, but I wasn’t thinking outside of the club. These men, the ones who were members when it opened, have secret parties. Hell, they had them before that club was ever opened. It was the reason for opening it. They weren’t much different than the yearly parties we have with all three clubs when they started them, but that slowly changed and they quit inviting anyone except a few members.”

  “What members? Are they still members?”

  “No, not anymore. Only one is still a member.”

  “And who is that? We can start there.”

  “My dad.” Mitch looked off staring into space.

  “Okay, what am I missing here? What’s wrong with these parties? How are they going to tie in with the kidnappings?”

  “I don’t know much, because it was before I came here, but I had overheard a few things said to my dad in confidence, and I picked up some things here and there.”

  “Like what?” Ari sweet voice and the images in my head did not go together. I didn’t want her to hear this.

  “Sweetheart, this isn’t what happens in these clubs. It’s one of the reasons I want to get back to the basic things. I don’t want to change your view of me, or the club, by telling you.”

  “Would it?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Tell us,” she pleaded. “Trust us enough to know we wouldn’t judge you.” Ouch that hurt.

  “Mitch. What’s running through that mind of yours?”

  “When I took over here things were out of hand. Certain areas pushed the boundaries way too far. I thought the other Doms were sizing me up as a Dom and wanting a pissing contest. This was four years ago so I was only twenty-six then. I hadn’t moved back but came in to help. One night I found a girl in the dungeon. She was bloody, but it was dried blood. It had been there for hours. She had several small cuts on her body. Little slits, scratches that would heal, but she was covered in them. Her bottom, legs, and back were bruised. By bruised, I mean black and blue. To top it all off, she had been used in any place a guy could shove something and it was done repeatedly and not done with ease or care and done enough that you could tell by just looking her over. And if that wasn’t enough, she had both piss and cum all over her. God, I can still smell it, rancid and metallic at the same time. It was my second night as a Master here, and I was busy upstairs. I had trusted that Dad had good security and ran a tight club. Being a member of Elite, I thought that was how all BDSM clubs were ran, but by then Dad had stopped caring how it was ran. I was running around trying to stop mistake after mistake. When I found her I was so…God, it was horrible. I was angry and humiliated on her behalf, not to mention sick. I barely kept myself from puking. I closed the club, sent everyone home, and told them I would contact everyone when it would reopen. I was only a Master, but Dad had already been trying to hand everything over to me. Before I saw her, I had decided it was too much work, but after, I decided I needed to take control just to keep it from happening again. I called Calvin. He called in a favor and a doctor came up to check out this girl.

  “Still to this day, I don’t know her name. She was a little thing, both young and small. I knew she was supposed to be eighteen to get in, but she had to be a fresh eighteen. At least I hope to God they didn’t neglect that rule.” I looked off in space remembering her naked used body. “She was lucky nothing was broken, only badly bruised. She stayed at my house for two days before she woke up. Calvin and the doctor were both there, too. When she woke, she was frantic. We thought it was because there were three of us and none of us small, but no, she was wondering why she was there. Told us she had to get back to her Master. We informed her of all her injuries and the state in which I found her.” I shook my head and looked at Alex.

  “Do you know what she said? She said that she agreed to everything done to her. That she signed a form saying she ag
reed to have all that and more done to her. She said that I was a piss poor Master because I stepped into an incomplete scene. That she was supposed to be fucked by some guys after she passed out. When I asked who she said she didn’t know, it didn’t matter, whoever got there first. I told her that was the same thing as rape and her reply was once again to tell me I was a horrible Master and they were done with The Red Door. That with The Black Door open they wouldn’t have to deal with anyone’s delicate sensibilities. I’ve heard other things over the years, but I knew then that Dad had delved deeper into this life than being a sadist. I have turned a blind eye until now.”

  “A masochist at that age. Interesting. The other club caters to them?”

  “Yes, further on different levels. I’ve been a few times but left as soon as I could. I never wanted to be involved. It leaves me feeling dirty like I have a greasy residue on me. That is one reason I have asked Calvin to step in. He knows where the lines fall. I want to make him a partner.”

  “Who is this Calvin? It’s obvious he holds your trust.” I shook my head, knowing he was trying to get at me again, but also knowing he was using this as a way to hide his hurt.

  “You’re right. I do trust him. I respect him. He was my trainer at Elite, but he taught more than the fundamentals of BDSM. The first day of training I went into a room not knowing for sure what I had signed up for. The room had a black couch on one wall with a black trunk for a table sitting on a red rug and a black bed with black bedding on another wall. There was a huge mirror on the remaining wall. The only decoration was a quote in a black frame hanging on the red wall above the bed. Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. Viktor E. Frankl. I thought I had to deal with some old guy who thought he was the next Yoda. When Calvin walked in, I first realized he wasn’t old, he is actually my age, and then I realized he was self-assured of who he was and in the position he held. He was exactly how I had pictured myself being until I saw it on him and knew that I was nowhere near being that. I went in a cocky, arrogant nineteen-year-old with no respect for anyone. I finished my training a year later, knowing that true respect and happiness had to start within, with me.”

  “Was he more than your trainer?”

  “Yes and no. Have I ever had sex with him? Yes. Outside of training? No. Besides a few times during training, we never so much as shared a heated glance. He does want a sub, but he wants complete submission. I have submitted in training, and I have been a switch, but I would never fully submit.” I looked directly at Alex, hoping he would understand. “I’ve never even wanted to try fully submitting, until now. Calvin is a good friend, and I do trust him completely. It’s a trust he has earned. My past is that, a past. I’ve worked along with the military and other agencies around the world doing odd jobs. Calvin worked with me on most of those jobs. They paid top dollar and now I don’t have to work. Every now and then a job will be thrown my way, but I usually turn it down. Calvin still does odd jobs but less frequent. If he does take one, I’m sure it’s because he’s bored and looking for something to do. They were never easy and always dangerous, but he loves it. I liked the feeling of helping out those who could not be helped otherwise. I told Ari earlier, it isn’t something worth discussing. I need you to accept that and know that part of my life is over. I have retired and now I’m only a lazy club owner.”

  I watched Ari smile and Alex look off working through everything he learned. He glanced back a few times before looking off. I wondered if he had dug into my past. I knew he couldn’t find anything, what I did wasn’t on anyone’s books. My job didn’t exist. My team didn’t exist. Mercenaries—that was the closest thing there was to a name for us, but we didn’t work with anyone, we didn’t answer to anyone, and we sure as fuck weren’t available for hire. We found our own jobs by listening onto secret conversations. When the government couldn’t legally do something that had to be done, we did it. No one asked us, no one called us up and said we need you on a secret mission; we would do it on our own. It could be killing a foreign leader, rescuing a prisoner of war, or robbing a drug lord. When it was done, we would send a foreign account to the person we overheard as a calling card. Sometimes we would be paid, sometimes we wouldn’t. As soon as the money hit the account, it was spilt and sent to several accounts, only to be split again, and again. Leaving no trace.

  “When will we be meeting Calvin?” Hmm. Not what I thought he was thinking of then.

  “He said he would be here in a few days, but I’m going to try to get him to hurry up. I want all of us working on these records as much as we can. I can’t tell you more than I just have a gut feeling, and it has never failed me. Whoever this is who is working out of the club, is a member of The Black Door. I want Calvin to run it, so having him go over footage while we go over records will not only help us, but also tell him what changes he needs to make. For now, if we can compile a list of members who were here when the kidnappings happened and see who was also a member of The Black Door we might find a trail to follow. I figured we can do this and watch the club on the surveillance feed.”

  “What about your dad?” Ari asked.

  “If it is my dad, then we need to move carefully. He comes across as an easy guy, but he’s not. He follows politics, backs several different politicians anonymously, and keeps his friends in high places.” I stood up and started a pot of coffee. It was going to be a long night.

  Aurora

  I woke alone and in bed. I remembered looking at the clock, while checking the live feed at one this morning, but I must have dozed off after that. I went to get up and noticed I was completely naked. Whoever put me in bed must have undressed me, too. I felt the bed and noticed it was cold. Looking past the curtain, I noticed I was once again alone in this apartment. I went and grabbed the robe from the bathroom thinking of how much I was beginning to hate this place. There weren’t enough clothes for Mitch to stay here all the time. I didn’t know where he lived or where Alex was staying but planned on knowing by the end of the day. Looking through the fridge and cabinets, I saw that we devoured most everything last night while we researched. I looked around and saw that all the papers were gone, but the dirty glasses and plates were still lying around. I gathered everything up and washed it all, wondering what I could eat.

  I heard the door open and turned around to see a tall gorgeous man walk in. He stood way over six feet. He didn’t look like a wrestler like Mitch did, but he still had more muscles than most of the meatheads at the gym. He also looked like he had way more brains, too. He stood there waiting for me to get done with my perusal. When my eyes finally made it back to his, I noticed his smile, but he still didn’t say anything. I knew he wanted to see how I would react to a strange man coming in while I was pretty much naked. I gave him another cursory glance, noting the red hair and the red and white bag with the golden arches, but no drinks.

  “I’m starting coffee now, if you don’t have anything in that bag for me to eat, I suggest you run and grab me some, Calvin.” I turned around, started the coffee, and set down the mugs.

  “I have four sausage biscuits. I planned on eating them all, but I guess one is worth a cup of coffee, Aurora.”

  I turned around and smiled at him. He was a good-looking man and I felt at ease with him, which was weird because I had never met him and I was naked under my robe.

  “You were going to eat all four?”

  “Yes.” He walked over and set the bag down on the table.

  “Is that normal… umm… for you?”

  He gave me a smile that was pure sex. “I’m a big man. The things I do burn lots of energy and make me work up a big appetite.”

  “So, you’ve already burned a lot of energy this morning?” I asked on a whisper, knowing what he did to burn that energy. He walked over to me and stood about a foot away. He looked me up and down much more slowly. Starting at my feet and moving up pausing minutely on the tie of my
robe then on the v where the top of my breast showed. He leaned toward me, and I scooted back into the counter. He leaned in, against me, and let me feel all of him, and there was a lot to feel. I heard something move behind me, but I was too busy noticing his green yellow eyes to pay much attention. His arm shifted behind me, but I was still focused on his eyes.

  “Not yet.” He turned and had his filled cup of coffee in his hand, walking back to the table like he didn’t do a thing. I stood there catching my breath and thought about everything.

  “Oh Calvin, you are good.” I laughed at him and realized he was shocked to see me laughing. “I think you and I will get along fine.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Tell me. Are you testing the water to see how far I would go? You’re an attractive man, and you know it. Or are you wondering if I would cross the line behind Mitch’s back? Or was this to see how timid I am and to see if I’m cut out for this lifestyle?” He looked at me and didn’t say anything. “I’m going out on a limb here, and I’m going to say it’s all three. I could get mad at you for testing me, but the fact is that I appreciate that you would do this to protect him.” I watched him smile at me and poured my coffee adding cream and two sugars.

  “Have you seen Mitch or Alex this morning?”

  “No. I came to the club last night to let Mitch know I was here, but he was occupied. He was surprised this morning when he called me to ask me to come up and I was already here. He told me he had to run out for a minute, but that you were here and I could let myself in.”

  “So, you’ve not met Alex?” I asked as I sat at the table.

  “No.” He watched my face waiting to see if I would reveal anything.

  “Good. I’m sure you’ll meet him soon. I think you and I will get along well as long as you don’t pull that shit on Alex. He needs time to get used to all the changes going on and neither Mitch nor I would appreciate you screwing that up.”