Knight: A Club Alias Novel

by KD Robichaux

  “Lover,” he says, the new endearment making my breath hitch, “you’re the only one I’ll be—”

  I cut him off, the emotions growing too thick around us. “Shhh, don’t worry about all that now.” I wiggle beneath him. “My feet are falling asleep. I think your big dick is cutting off my circulation,” I tell him with a playful grin, and we spend the next half hour cleaning each other up once again in the hotel shower with its never-ending supply of scalding water.

  “YOU SEEM TO have a very firm grasp of what it takes to be a successful Dominant, Clarice. I’m impressed,” Doc compliments, and I squeeze Brian’s hand, feeling warm from the recollection of our first time.

  “Like I said, I had a great teacher. I don’t know what I would’ve done without her,” I state.

  Doc makes a note. “We’ll save that for your next session. But with the little time we have left for today, let’s move forward in the timeline instead of backward. Brian told me recently that you were there when I contacted him about joining my security team. Can you tell me what you remember about that?”

  “Oh, there was no question in my mind. Once you explained what your team was all about, I told him he should go for it. He was already a little worried about what line of work he’d be able to do once he got out of the military. He was questioning what he should go to school for with his GI bill. I could tell he was stressing about what direction to move in, and your offer seemed to be fate dropping into his lap,” I explain.

  “And about the same time is when you got the other job offer as well,” Brian reminds me.

  “Oh yeah!” I nod, smiling widely. “Like two days after he got your e-mail, I was hunted down by the company I work for now, and it just so happened to be only three hours away from here. It was torturous only getting to see him every few months, since I lived in New York and him in North Carolina, especially since I traveled out of the country so much for work. So we made the decision together. He’d join your team, and I’d take the job within driving distance of him. And even better, it nearly doubled my salary, and I didn’t have to take ‘out of the country’ jobs if I didn’t want to. I don’t have to go where they need me to. There is always a list of shoots where a professional photographer is needed, and we just pick the ones we want to take.”

  “That sounds a lot like your parents’ occupations as flight attendants. Don’t they make their own schedules in a similar way?” Doc asks.

  “Exactly. My apartment is just a mile away from the company’s hub and within minutes of the closest airport, so I can hop on a plane the same day a job is needed and have little worry about travel arrangements. And my parents can hop on a flight and come see me whenever we want. It’s been wonderful these last few years.”

  “You know… all of your work stuff can be done online. And… our airport is only half an hour away,” Brian inserts, and my eyes turn to him in surprise.

  “Ya don’t say,” I murmur, a smile tickling at my lips.

  “I’m just sayin’,” he adds.

  “And I think I’m picking up what you’re throwing down, big guy. “

  “I mean, you’re barely at your apartment anyway. Think of all the money you’d save if you didn’t have to pay all that rent.” He turns an innocent look my way, and I raise a brow.

  “It would be nice not to pay nine-hundred bucks a month for a space I usually use as just a storage unit,” I agree. “Ya gonna help me find a place to be my mothership?”

  His eyes go soft, making those fucking butterflies take off in my vagina again. “I’ve already got a place in mind, lover. And I have a distinct feeling you’re gonna love it.”

  We go quiet after that, our minds filled with the possibilities his unspoken offer has conjured. Finally, it’s Doc who breaks the silence. “Well, it seems you two have quite the conversation to have. Your hour is up, Clarice. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

  “You too, Doc,” I reply, Brian standing and tugging me to my feet. He seems eager to leave, and I can only imagine why.

  Brian

  DID THAT REALLY just happen? Did I seriously just throw caution to the wind and suggest Clarice move in with me? Sure, I didn’t actually say the words, but she knew exactly what I was saying. And she didn’t shut me down. She didn’t change the subject or blow me off. In fact, it was the complete opposite response than what I’m used to from her. I’m still unaccustomed to this openness about our love for each other. So the fact that the suggestion fell from my lips so easily came as a surprise. I hadn’t even realized what I’d told her until she was already obviously considering it.

  I look across the booth at the beauty before me. She’s leaned back in her seat, blindly reaching for french fries and munching on them while scrolling on her phone, laughing every once in a while and turning it to face me so I can read the funny memes she comes across. When she stops for a moment, turning the cell sideways, I watch her perfect features go from concentration to smiling widely, until tears fill her eyes and one spills over. I know that look. I know that reaction. Only two things get to her like that.

  “Soldiers coming home, or dog adoption success story?” I ask, reaching out across the table and swiping the tear away, rubbing it between my fingers to absorb it into my skin.

  She sniffles. “Dogs reacting to soldiers returning home.”

  I chuckle. “A double whammy then. You’re such a sap.”

  “Your face is a sap,” she replies snidely.

  “Ooh, sick burn,” I tease. “Hey, devices down.” My arm jets out to tap on her screen, making her squeal.

  “Bri! You’re gonna make me like a frenemy’s post!” she whines, and I shake my head.

  “Why do you follow anyone who you wouldn’t want to like their updates?” I ask, lifting a brow.

  She shakes her head at me, finally meeting my eyes. “It’s called a hate-follow. Duh. You follow them to see what they’re up to so you can totally hate on them in your mind.”

  “And why would you want to do that?” I swear women confuse the fuck out of me sometimes.

  “Because it makes you feel better about your own life, or it pushes you to do better,” she tries to explain, but I still don’t get it.

  “Alrighty then,” I murmur, but thankfully she locks her screen and tosses the phone in her bag, giving me her attention.

  She flips her hair over her shoulder. “Plus, before I got distracted by the ad of the exact Hufflepuff shirt I was thinking about buying not three hours ago, I was checking my e-mails to see when my lease is up on my apartment.”

  My heart thuds in my chest, not expecting this sudden turn in conversation. “And?” I prompt.

  She giggles. “Apparently it’s been up for seven months, and I’ve just been on a month-to-month basis. I didn’t respond to one of the e-mails back then, and so they automatically moved me to month-to-month, and if I want out of the rental, I have to give them one month’s notice. And since I paid first and last month’s rent when I first moved in, it’s all taken care of when I’m ready to move.”

  “Seriously?” My eyes bug out.

  She grins. “Seriously.”

  My mouth opens and closes a few times, unsure how to move this talk along to the part where I ask her if she’d like to move—

  “So when am I moving in, big guy?”

  “THIS IS POTENTIALLY your last session, Clarice. How are you feeling today?” Doc asks the next morning, and I glance over to see her beam that beautiful smile of hers to where he sits across from us in his leather chair.

  The past two days have been nothing but magical, getting to convey my love to Clarice without her shying away. Hearing those three words from her lips aimed at me has been a dream come true. And ever since we discussed her moving in, I’ve been floating on a cloud, no matter how much of a pussy that makes me sound. But I know the men who I surround myself with understand exactly how I feel, since they’re the same way with their women.

  “I’m awesome, Doc,” she replies. “Looks
like you’ll be seeing a lot more of me come next month. And instead of that visitor’s pass for the club, I’m going to need a full membership.”

  “So I guess congratulations are in order.” Doc leans forward, his hand held out for me to clasp and shake before he squeezes my arm in brotherly affection.

  Clarice clears her throat. “Ummm… I’m pretty sure the congratulations should go to me. I’m the one getting a brand-new bomb-ass house and dick on command. No more weeks in between orgasms for me.”

  I snort, and Doc lets out a loud, quick laugh, bringing a grin to Clarice’s face.

  “So, today you wanted me to tell you about how I got introduced to BDSM, correct?” she prompts. That’s my girl, taking control of the situation as always.

  Doc sobers. “Yes. Backtracking to what you told me in session two, you lost your virginity to the man who became your fiancé before his passing,” he says softly. At her nod, he continues. “And according to your recollection, that was the last actual relationship you ever had.”

  “Correct,” she states. “Obviously, I went into a deep depression after losing him. I was only twenty-one at the time. Probably way too young to be getting married anyway, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. They let me mourn for a long time, but then my girlfriends started taking me out a lot, to get me out of the house we all shared near campus. I began partying and drinking, going out to clubs and dancing. A year and a half after he died, I finally slept with someone else.” She side-eyes me, but I make sure not to react. I don’t want to discourage her from being open and honest.

  “It didn’t go very well. For me at least,” she adds. “It felt all right, but I didn’t orgasm. And thinking it was a fluke, because I never had any problems getting off with Zachary, we did it again. But still, no O.” She lifts her hands in an I-don’t-know gesture. “Maybe it was the guy. So… I did it with someone else. And then someone else. And then a couple more someone elses.” Her hands drop back into her lap. “Still. No. Orgasm. So that meant it was me, right?”

  She widens her eyes at Doc then at me before sighing, facing forward again. “So one of my roommates suggested I go to her therapist. And this therapist, she was freaking awesome. Basically the female version of you, Doc. After several sessions, attempting to work through the other issues I was trying to bury—and you guys know how that went—I asked if could focus on the sexual issue, since it was the most frustrating out of everything. In my head, if I could solve this small problem, it would give me the confidence to tackle the bigger ones.”

  Doc makes a note. “That’s a rational line of thinking. Please, continue.”

  She sits back on the couch, pulling her feet up beneath her and letting her knees fall sideways over my thigh. “Apparently she’d already been thinking about this, because she had an immediate solution. She asked ‘Clarice, have you ever heard of BDSM or Dominance and submission?’ And I was like, ‘You mean like The Secretary?’” She chuckles, smiling over at me. “She told me that she could see me benefiting from the role of a Dominant during sexy times. Of course, I laughed in her face. I was in no way turned on by the thought of spanking or whipping people. Hurting someone was the last thing that would ever bring me pleasure. After all, I was a fucking Black Widow. Anyone who loved me ended up dead.”

  She snorts, rolling her eyes. “And plus, weren’t submissive men these weak little boys with mommy issues? I’ve always been attracted to alphas, men who embodied everything that was male, without being a misogynistic dickwad, of course.” She lifts her arm behind my head and starts playing with my hair there. “But she assured me, that wasn’t always the case. And I soon learned she was absolutely correct.”

  “So your therapist was the one who introduced you to BDSM?” Doc prompts.

  “Yes, because come to find out, she was also a sex therapist who worked for a club about an hour away from where we lived. And soon, I was taking training courses from her there. And after being partnered with a guy who was definitely not a weak little boy, and experiencing the power I felt when he submitted to me, the big O returned!” she says dramatically, lifting her hands to the ceiling.

  “So you were strictly trained as a Domme?” Doc asks.

  She nods. “Yes.”

  “Yet sometimes you submit to Brian. How did that happen?”

  “Well, I knew from day one that he only submitted to me for my pleasure. He didn’t care either way. He just wanted to be intimate with me. The D/s thing was something I needed to get pleasure. I mean… until a couple nights ago.” She smiles shyly over at me, and I run my finger down the bridge of her nose before kissing her forehead.

  “What happened a couple nights ago?” Doc interrupts.

  She faces him, a blush on her cheeks. “We made love. Just plain vanilla-y goodness. And I had one of the best orgasms of my life,” she admits.

  Doc nods, making a note. “Emotions were high after that session. You were probably feeling the same rush during your lovemaking that you usually feel during a scene using power and control.”

  “Makes sense,” she replies. “Anyway, that was our norm for the next few years, while he was still in the army. He was the perfect sub. Anytime I wanted to play and experiment, he never shied away. He always let me try things at least once, deciding then if he liked it or not and wanted a repeat. But then after he took the job with you, and I started meeting him on his missions, I thought about how unfair it was that he always gave in to anything I wanted to make me happy. Was there anything he wanted to try that would fulfill a fantasy of his?”

  “That would’ve been around the same time Seth had the idea to build Club Alias, correct?” Doc questions.

  “Exactly, and since your team would be acting as Dominants at the club, it only sealed the deal in my mind. I needed to submit to Brian, my Knight—” Her hand that had gone lax behind me begins toying with my hair again. “—so he could be complete too. I made the offer, turning it into a game, that when he completed his mission, he would earn my submission. So really, I was still in control. And after the first time, I found I really, really enjoyed it as well.”

  “You’re able to reach orgasm when you are the submissive?” Doc clarifies.

  “Oh yes. I don’t think I would if it were anyone else. But Brian becoming Knight really does something for me.”

  I bury my face in the side of her neck then, breathing her in, and she giggles at the scratch of my beard against her soft skin.

  “Down, boy. We gotta be good so I can earn my cool kids’ card,” she says, leaning away with a grin.

  “Well, with all the information you’ve given me here, I’m very comfortable giving the seal of approval for your membership, Clarice. It seems to me your reasons for being part of a BDSM lifestyle is completely healthy and there aren’t any deeper issues we need to work on before allowing you to enter the club,” Doc says, putting his pad of paper and pen on his side table.

  Her jaw goes slack. “For real?”

  “I mean… unless there’s anything else you need to divulge—”

  “No! No. That’s it. I swear,” she tells him excitedly, her smile beaming over at me.

  “Brian will, of course, act as your sponsor. It’ll be nice to see him actually participating and getting to enjoy the business he helped build,” he says, and I snort.

  And I make Clarice laugh and Doc choke on his spit before we leave when I ask him, “Who’s gay now?”

  Clarice

  “HEY, BRI?” I gallop down the stairs from where I took a call on my cell a few minutes ago in the bedroom. It was about work, so Brian gave me some privacy and went down to the living room to start up Netflix so we could continue binge-watching The Sinner. We’re completely obsessed. “Would you be terribly upset if I took off for just a couple hours?”

  “What’s going on?” he asks.

  “My friend asked if I could go photograph a real estate property that’s about an hour from here. I’m way closer than she is, so she said she’d pay a pretty h
efty amount if I saved her the trouble,” I explain, and he shrugs.

  “Just there, snap some pics, and come back?” he clarifies.

  I nod. “Yep, that’s it. I’ll be back in time for our first night at the club.” My face splits into a grin so wide my cheeks cramp. I’m so freaking excited about tonight, finally getting to see my guy’s club.

  “I don’t mind at all. I have a little bit of paperwork to do anyway. I was just putting it off so we could get to the next episode,” he replies, and lean over him to kiss him sweetly on the lips.

  “Perfect. I’m just going to grab my camera and then I’ll be back by…” I look at my cell to see what time it is now—a little after 4:00 p.m. “Sevenish.”

  “Okay, lover. You gonna eat on the road, or you want me to wait for you?” He trails his finger along my jaw when he stands, tilting my head back and bending down to give me a proper goodbye kiss that leaves me a little breathless.

  I lick my lips to steal his taste. “Wait for me. I’m still full from our late lunch.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he murmurs, making my heart thump before I finally pull myself away to go collect my camera bag from upstairs.

  An hour and fourteen minutes later, I pull onto the property my friend gave me the address for and look around. “Creeeeepy,” I sing aloud, taking in all the warehouses spread as far as the eye can see. Thankfully, a number is painted clearly on each building, and I slowly drive over the gravelly lot in order to find number 7423. The place seems deserted. There are a few cars at other buildings, but I suppose, since it’s after five, everyone has gone home if any of these warehouses are places of business.

  I hop out of the car, my camera bag hooked over my shoulder, and make my way to the regular door at the end of a row of garage style ones. Typing in the code she’d texted me for the key box, it clicks open, and I slide the key out, unlock the door, and immediately flip on the lights. I would absolutely shit myself if I had to be in this spooky ass building in the dark by myself.