by Evelyn Vox
She was even wearing contacts.
Still, I saw that devilish gleam from behind them and any doubts I’d had about her identity were gone.
“Wow,” I said, stepping back to appreciate the full view.
Like me, she’d gone for simple and dark. Black leggings, a corset-top, and finger-less biker gloves. She grinned, her lips the same shade of violet as her hair.
“You saw all the fanfare last time,” she said, waving the bartender over. “I often run around the club wearing a different face. It’s more fun that way.”
She made the sign for ‘two’ with her index and middle finger, and the bartender slapped two shot glasses on the bar. He filled them with vodka and I flinched, my stomach roiling.
“I’m not sure I want a drink.”
She slid the overflowing glass towards me. “Trust me, Lexie, you do.”
I shrugged, and accepted the shot. Vanessa raised her glass towards me in cheers.
“Welcome to our wicked little club,” she grinned before downing her shot.
The liquor burned all the way down. I winced and Vanessa laughed.
“One more for the road?”
The one shot was already going straight to my head. I worried a second one would be too much. I shook my head no, making a show of feeling the first one still.
“Suit yourself.” Vanessa shrugged and got another one.
I watched her movements, so graceful and efficient, as she downed the liquor. I noticed she hadn’t paid for any of these shots, but I guessed she wouldn’t have to, seeing as how she owned the place.
“You ready?” she asked, getting to her feet.
Her tall, spiky boots gave her more height than I’d recalled from the last time I saw her. I was still taller than her as I rose and nodded. Flurries of nerves danced in my body. I had no idea what to expect. I followed Vanessa to the elevator.
A horrible, sinking feeling whooshed inside when I saw her press the button with the eye on it.
“We’re going to the stage?” My voice shook a little.
“Yes.”
“Seems like a lot of the action happens there.”
“Oh, certainly, but there’s much more,” she said, gesturing to all the other buttons and symbols.
I’d been so occupied the last times I was here, I never really noticed all the different ones. Honestly, I hadn’t even noticed they had insignias on them.
“What do they all mean?”
“Financial Domination.” She pointed to a dollar sign. “Ladies only.” The symbol for woman and then the symbol for man, “Men only.” She kept rattling off levels, ones for those seeking domination, those seeking submission, ones for spanking and whipping and more kinks than I knew how to process.
“Short of underage and non-consent,” she said with pride, “we have something for everyone here.”
“And which level do you like?” I asked, stunned by my boldness.
But I had to know. What did the purveyor of all this hedonism get off to? Vanessa grinned, a demoness in the flesh, and pointed to the top button. It was unmarked.
“That’s my level,” she said, “and what happens there, stays there.”
I thought back to the night she showed up at the club, with two men in chains, and had a feeling that level was more depraved than most.
But, then again, we were all depraved here.
“Are you ready?” she asked as the doors opened.
It was now or never. Time to see what my husband was really getting up to. Could a person ever be ready for something like that?
“Yes.”
I got out of the elevator and followed her down the long hallway. Down to that door with all the eyes, where the dark murmurs of the crowd beckoned.
I considered it a miracle I managed to stay steady on my feet. My legs were jelly and my knees wobblier than a newborn colt’s. But I was determined, resolved, to see for myself. Vanessa put a manicured hand on my forearm, her dark purple nails flashing.
“Come,” she said, guiding me towards the front of the stage. “I want you to have no doubts about what you’re seeing.”
I glanced up at the stage and saw a man, alone. Waiting for something. Or someone. As we got nearer, my stomach jumped when Brian’s features came into clarity. I almost snorted because he was in assless chaps. That was so Brian—way too on-the-nose and classless. Just like our Hamptons house before the remodel.
Of course, he’d be wearing assless chaps to a sex club.
I didn’t consider the functionality of his wardrobe choice until the woman wearing a strap-on strutted onstage. Then I took in the spanking bench waiting next to Brian. Watched as he bent over it, and the woman slapped the big, fat dildo on his bare ass.
The woman looked vaguely familiar—had we seen her at the club one of those nights? Was she there watching on my birthday or…no…she was the woman who grinned at Derek the first night we were here. The tall woman with a strange, alien-esque beauty to her. Her dark red hair gleamed under the lights.
Brian always did have a thing for leggy red-heads.
What was her name again?
“Saskia,” Vanessa supplied, like she’d read my mind, “has been playing exclusively with your husband for some time now.”
I couldn’t tear my eyes away long enough to answer her.
“Who’s my little bitch?” Saskia said, her long black nails raking down Brian’s back.
“I am, Mistress Saskia.”
Memory jolted me and I recalled Brian telling me she was the one who showed him around the club. He’d known her from day one. Had he been playing with her, like this, all this time? I knew he was playing at the club, but I never expected this.
“They say it can be very pleasurable for the man,” Vanessa whispered. “It’s a shame there’s such a stigma around it.”
Saskia lined up the bulbous head of the dildo against Brian’s ass and thrust. He moaned. His eyes rolled up into his head and his hands gripped the feet of the bench.
“Well, he’s certainly enjoying it, in any case,” she said.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Vanessa was enjoying this, too. A little bit too much. I wondered how much of a sadist she was, deep down. I remembered Derek once telling me his appetite was nothing compared to Vanessa’s.
I stood at the front of the crowd, watching another woman fuck my husband in the ass, accompanied by my ex-lover’s twin, in a sex club. Suddenly, the absurdity of my reality slammed into me. I couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled up and poured out of my mouth.
It was loud enough that the pair on stage paused to look. Brian’s eyes flashed towards me, and I knew from the horror on his face that despite the mask, he recognized me.
“Lexie?!” His voice was strained, heavy with lust, but also sharp with a hint of panic.
I shook my head. I turned and walked out of the room, my laughter following me.
“Lexie!”
Brian bellowed my name, but I didn’t look back.
Part Three: Perfect Shot
Chapter Thirty-One
VANESSA
It was quite the spectacle, watching poor little Brian Hale screaming Lexie’s name like he was auditioning for the part of Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire. I snickered at the comparison. God, I was so bad. I sometimes wondered if I’d ever get tired of manipulating people.
I didn’t think so.
Did I read his application and pin him for the perfect target for Saskia? Did I know he’d fall for her like a skydiver jumping from a plane? I’d had a hunch. And, let’s just say, my instincts are very good. Though, I will admit, I never expected Saskia to grow so attached to him in return. But that was reality and that was people—both were full of surprises.
If they weren’t, this whole drama of life would be rather boring, wouldn’t it?
Backstage, Saskia stalked towards me, her face the perfect picture of iciness. She was such a glorious bitch.
I loved it.
“
You know, Vanessa,” she said, those cold blue eyes landing on me, “if you’ve made me lose my favorite toy I’ll be very upset.”
I leaned my shoulder against hers as we watched the man-in-question scrambling to get dressed.
“Please, you’ll be thanking me when he starts showing up every night. I did you a favor.”
And him. And Lexie. But most of all, Derek.
Sometimes people just needed a push in the right direction. The moment I saw them together, I knew. I could see that forbidden four-letter word plastered across both their faces when they looked at each other.
So, did I cross a line when I pushed them like chess pieces? Or was I helping them claim what they really wanted?
I wasn’t so bad, really.
I just had a few problems with control.
Namely, that I needed to control everything and everyone. But hey, I’d done pretty well for myself, and I had my obsession with control to thank for it. We all had our vices, right?
“You had an ulterior motive for this, didn’t you?” Saskia asked when Brian ran out the door after his wife.
“You know we’ll be announcing the deal with Landon Rhys soon,” I said. “I can’t afford to be distracted. My brother, heartsick and needing me to bail him out of prison because he’s drinking the pain away, is not something I want to be dealing with in the coming months.”
I put everything I had into this deal with Rhys. I’d done bad, awful things to get him to agree to it. I manipulated people in ways that even I wasn’t fully comfortable with. But I was determined to pioneer the clean energy revolution. Fusion power would be my legacy. If I had to step on a few people to get there, so be it.
Still, it meant I was about to go head to head with some very nasty people. People who would rather see the world burn like a lump of coal than shine like a star. When that happened, I really did not need to be keeping tabs on Derek.
“You brother,” Saskia snorted. “He’s always been such a fucking softie.”
“Hush, you,” I scolded my friend.
“Well, I just hope you know what you’re doing. If he ever finds out, he’ll be pissed.”
“Saskia, please,” I scoffed, “I always know what I’m doing.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
DEREK
I was listening to the rain pelt the roof when someone banged on my door. Aries barked like a lunatic and I glanced at the time. It was well after midnight. Not that I was asleep. Giving up sleep came with the territory of giving up drinking. And since my little stint in lock-up, I hadn’t had a drop of alcohol.
Or a wink of sleep.
Still, it wasn’t every day I got knocks on my door at midnight. It occurred to me that I should be on guard. I glanced towards the baseball bat near the doorway, and just left it there. If someone was here to murder me, well, they could give it their best shot. And if I lost, then, so be it.
I didn’t bother checking the peep hole before I swung the door open. Whatever I was expecting, it wasn’t Alexandra. I blinked a few times. Was this a dream? Did I say ‘yes’ to the bottle I was eyeing earlier instead of ‘no’, like I remembered? That had to be the only explanation.
Because, otherwise, here she was. Standing, soaking to the bone with rain, and shivering on my doorstep.
“Hi, Derek,” she said, meekly.
Her two dogs huddled at her feet, and that’s how I knew this wasn’t a fantasy concocted by my drunken brain—I’d never have fantasized about her muts being here too.
“Alexandra,” I breathed, my voice weak.
I stared at her. At the black outfit she was wearing. I took in the way the sheer top clung to her and the nipples that had pearled into hard, stiff buds beneath the fabric of her bra.
Mine!
I shuddered under the force of the beast. It had been dead and silent for weeks. Now, it roared to life with staggering force. I stepped aside to let her in. Aries rushed up to her dogs, nosing them, and the three bounded off to play, happy barks accompanying them into the kitchen.
I closed the door behind her and watched as she dripped onto my carpet.
“What are you doing here?”
Mascara ran down her cheeks, and I wasn’t sure if it was from the rain or tears. She sniffled and shivered.
I moved, grabbed a blanket from the sofa and handed it to her. “Where’s your jacket?”
“I left it at the Club.”
I stiffened. So. She’d been going to Club Midnight without me. I tried to fight the bitter sting of betrayal at that. Tried, and failed, as my hands curled to fists and I glared at her. Her eyes darkened with desire, that familiar flame exploding between us. I loosed a breath around all the tension that just filled the room.
“It’s not like that,” she explained, raising a hand in front of her. “I—it’s hard to explain.”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. If only to keep them from reaching for her. Being near her and not being able to touch her caused me physical pain.
“What are you doing here?” I growled, sounding angrier than I’d intended.
But god-fucking-damn-it, if she didn’t get out of here soon, I wouldn’t be able to control myself. The beast was screeching, demanding my attention, and refusing to be ignored. Already, my cock twitched. My need for her was potent, palpable.
If she didn’t want it, she’d better get out now.
“I—I,” she stammered, sucking in a breath as she watched me rage. “I know I hurt you when I chose Brian.” She looked away. “I’ll understand if you’ve had a change of heart, if you tell me you never want to see me again, but…”
Alexandra trembled as she spoke. She was terrified. Truly terrified that I’d turn her away.
As if I could deny her anything.
“But, if you’ll still have me, I—oh!”
I closed the distance between us, scooped her into my arms, and cut her off with a furious, bruising kiss. I didn’t care that her clothes were wet. I pressed her body as hard against mine as I could. My tongue invaded her mouth, claiming its territory again. She moaned, deeply, and I pushed her until she was backed up against the wall.
Our hands scrambled at each other’s clothes. I ripped her shirt apart and she clawed at my belt. My erection throbbed as I pulled her pants down her long legs. My mouth kissed every spare bit of skin I could find. I tugged her bra down, her breasts overflowing the cups, and devoured one after the other.
Her legs wrapped around my waist, and I held her up as I pinned her against the wall. My cock found the heat of her pussy and plunged inside. We both moaned. Alexandra clawed at my back as I buried myself inside my Goddess. Fuck. Fuck. She was everything—ecstasy, happiness, home.
I bit her lower lip and growled, my hand wrapping around her neck. It was only then I noticed what she wore there. How had I missed it?
My collar.
Warmth exploded in my chest, even as the pleasure of being in her, surrounded by her scent and presence, threatened to consume me.
“Will I still have you?” I laughed, making sure those sea-green eyes were looking into mine. “It’s never been a choice. I’ve loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you, Princess, and I’m never letting you go again.”
She gasped, whether from pleasure or emotion, I wasn’t sure. But her body tensed around me, her walls tightening deliciously around my girth. I pumped inside her, faster and faster, until she was screaming my name as she came. I groaned to feel of her convulsing around me.
Alexandra’s head rocked back against the wall as I continued to thrust. She caught my face in both her hands, and stared me down, her full-lips spreading into a wide smile.
“I love you, Derek,” she whispered.
My hips bucked as I spilled myself inside her with a soft curse. She took me off-guard with that omission. I didn’t expect her to say it back. I’d never had a woman tell me she loved me before. I just assumed my obsession was one-sided. I rested my forehead against hers, panting. She pulled my lips to hers, as if she
could prove the truth of her words with that kiss.
I could kiss her like this and be here like this, with her, forever.
My cock stirred inside her and I pulled my head back. I grinned at her, flashing my canines, and she shuddered.
“You love me, huh?” I said, lifting her off the wall, still hard inside her, and walked us towards the bedroom.
She nodded, and it was so fucking adorable I just had to nip her lower lip.
“More than peanut butter and chocolate?”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” she said, giggling.
Alexandra squealed when I collapsed onto my back on the bed, holding her hips as she began to ride me.
“Show me just how much you love me, Princess.”
Alexandra laughed and rolled her eyes, like she couldn’t stop herself. The beast surged, and I smacked her ass before I flipped her over, retaking control.
“You’ve been very bad, Alexandra,” I whispered in her ear. “Should I punish you?”
“God, yes.”
LEXIE
Derek and I fucked all night long. And again that morning. Though, much of it had been soft and sweet, and, dare-I-say-it, not fucking, but love-making.
Love.
I smiled as I watched him look for something to wear. My eyes were glued to that muscular ass, and I was thinking I’d like to take a bite of it when he turned. Gray eyes sparked at me, and he was on me again. He crawled over my body on the bed, stopping between my legs, and let his hot breath tease my aching clit.
Right when I thought he was going to lick me, he laughed darkly and plopped down next to me on the bed. I scowled and gave his chest a playful slap that I’d hoped would set him off. I was rewarded when those eyes blazed with the dark promise of retribution.
But instead, he pulled me close to him.
“So, what happened?”
Right. I’d never really gotten around to giving him an explanation. There hadn’t been much talking last night. My face must’ve revealed my train of thought.