Club Alpha: BDSM Romance Boxed Set

by Amy Valenti

  My nipples had already stiffened painfully against the soft material of the inside of my bra, and I squirmed in the lacy panties. It only served to make those little bells jingle-jangle around me, though, making my nervousness even more apparent.

  Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Logan stopping and standing next to Sam, leaning in to whisper to her. Oh god, his hand was touching against the flat of her stomach, so intimately, and it made my insides turn to magma.

  I had to get out of there. Suddenly all the sounds of the world returned to me, flooding my ears with whispers of music and teasing voices and girlish giggles. Sounds of a world I desperately didn’t belong to, and I looked around for somewhere I could go to collect myself.

  My clothes were left in Sam’s car so that we didn’t have to drive back in our skivvies, but all I wanted to do was crawl into my big, comfortable sweater and yoga pants, to wrap myself up and hide from the world.

  To hide from these powerful men that had the world at their fingertips.

  I looked back to Logan and Sam, but my entire body felt on fire as I caught them both looking at me. Oh no. Sam raised her finger, beckoning me toward them, but I felt like a statue. I couldn’t move my limbs. I was filled with marble, stuck in place for the rest of all eternity.

  I could see her sigh as she walked towards me, motioning for Logan not to follow. The way she touched my shoulder and brushed some hair from my face told me I wasn’t going to like what she had to say. She was being too matronly, and Sam didn’t even want kids.

  “Rae, you see that guy that just came in?”

  I prayed that she wouldn’t point to the god, but she did, and he noticed. He was chatting with Logan now, both of them about equal in height.

  My throat went dry and my lips felt parched but I nodded.

  “Well, he’s Logan’s cousin. Daniel Elliot. He’s visiting from New York and Logan wants to show him a good time.”

  I didn’t know what any of this had to do with me.

  I didn’t want to know.

  Samantha continued, “Anyway, I guess he has a thing for brunettes.”

  I opened my mouth to protest but Samantha stopped me.

  “You don’t have to do anything, but listen, they’re offering another grand for you to just go have some drinks with him, entertain him. Logan really thinks you’re… to Daniel’s taste.”

  To Daniel’s taste? What did that even mean? And how on earth was Sam talking about me? I’d seen at least three other women who were drop-dead gorgeous.

  My eyes were wide and I frowned up at Sam.

  “What am I even going to talk about with this guy? We don’t have anything in common.”

  Sam just shrugged her shoulders in that way she always did when I was being a pest.

  “You’ll think of something. C’mon, go do it. You might have fun, even! He’s, like, really cute if you hadn’t noticed.”

  Oh, I’d noticed.

  I’ll be honest, if it’d been anyone else, I wouldn’t even consider the idea of having to have drinks. Well, maybe Logan… But still, that’s all this was. Me, half naked, having drinks with a guy who looked like a Greek God. No big deal, right?

  Oh, such a big deal.

  I just stood there as Sam cordially brought him over, all languishing limbs and flirtatious giggles and I felt even more inferior.

  “Daniel…”

  Oh god, Sam, don’t purr like that.

  “This is my closest friend. You’re really going to like her.”

  Why was she pouting and biting her lip like that?

  I just awkwardly raised my arm and gave a half-hearted wave. Why couldn’t I be more suave like Sam?

  “Hey,” I finally managed, but my voice sounded lower than normal and a little bit breathless. He was even bigger up close. Broad and tall, he positively dwarfed me, especially in my bare feet.

  “I’m sure I will.” He smiled, his mouth filled with pearly white teeth and I stood, transfixed. He was gorgeous. There was no way he wanted to actually spend time with me. How many college students would be clamouring over themselves to get to him? He probably had a dozen girlfriends back home.

  Samantha snapped her fingers at one of the other women and whispered something in her ear, and right away she was whisking us away to one of those private rooms that I’d been doing my very best to avoid. I was grateful I wasn’t in heels so I felt more certain on my feet, but did it even matter? My knees were like jelly, and those little tinkling bells were almost deafening to my ears.

  He didn’t touch me, didn’t even brush against me in his cotton button-down shirt. It looked so damned soft, such a contrast to the hulking and gruff looking man beneath it. I stole a glance of him from the corner of my eye, and oh god I had to look away. He was even hotter up close. Well, not that I was that close. He still had at least a foot of height on me, and I tried not to brush against him. That part was hard, because he was buff and broad and gorgeous.

  Did I mention that part already?

  I don’t rightly know how I made it down that hall without tripping up, without stumbling all over my feet as I tried to covertly sneak glances at him.

  One of the doors was open, and I heard a loud ‘crack’ fill the air. I couldn’t help but look, my wide eyes darting upon the quick sound and then the sudden moan that followed.

  I nearly stopped and ran the hell out of there until I felt his hand reach out, brushing against my bare waist and resting on my hips.

  My stomach fluttered and my breath hitched at his gentle touch. He looked like a guy that would be strong, maybe brutish, but that wasn’t what his light fingertips told me. I was so dizzied from the sensation that I didn’t realize we’d reached the last room at the hall. It felt like the walk had been an eternity, and I’d promised I wouldn’t let my face register my surprise when I saw whatever was happening before that closed door.

  But I’m some poor nobody from a small town, and I swear that room was bigger than my entire first house. It had a huge bed in the middle of it, but chairs and sofas everywhere. You could host an entire house party just in this one room and no one would complain. A fireplace warmed it to a more comfortable temperature, and a gleaming, black hot tub sat in the corner, surrounded by red gossamer curtains.

  The room was all red and gold and silver and black, so sleek and rich looking, and Daniel had to encourage me into it with his guiding hand. He’d not talked the entire time the other woman was with us, but she looked up at him expectantly.

  “Do you have a preference for drink, Sir?” she asked politely, but she couldn’t hide that little rivulet of envy that ran beneath.

  He shook his head and gave her a smile that was both cordial and seductive. He told her some scotch whiskey that I didn’t recognize, but the year was 1978 so I figured it had to be expensive. I knew that much.

  She nodded and gently closed the door behind her, with a promise to be back. The short conversation had given me enough time to come to my senses, and yet still I stood so near to him, unsure of what I should do. Uncertain of what he wanted me to do.

  He didn’t leave me wondering for long, though. He looked down on me and removed his hand with a tickle of his fingers over my spine.

  “You can take a seat on the couch,” he said, and I paused before walking to the one in front of the couch. It was pretty uncomfortable to sit on a couch this fancy without pants on, though.

  I didn’t know what had happened on it.

  I folded up one of my legs beneath me, sitting on it and feeling the bells dig into my flesh as I looked up at him. But he didn’t move from the door, not yet. He was taking off his shoes, making himself comfortable, and his hair spilled over his face all shiny and golden. The room only had mood lighting, I guessed, and the fire added a strange glow to everything.

  Maybe it was just how tired I was, how long this night had been, but it felt like this was all a dream. It was almost like I was drunk, the world seeming to move in this strange, disconnected and hazy manner. I didn�
��t mind it, but I was terrified of screwing this all up. I had to entertain him, and I licked over my lips, forgetting about my lipstick until I tasted that fake texture.

  “So Sam tells me you’re from New York?” I asked, hoping that was a good starting place. He stood up straight and went to respond when there was a knock on the door. Damn she was efficient. My heart was throbbing in my chest and I prayed to God I could just sink into the couch and disappear. I was so out of my element. He was way too much for me, way too gorgeous. I was going to make a fool of myself.

  But at the same time, I was so… hopeful. Things had been so rough for me lately and I’d not had any interest in dating, and a woman has some needs. Not even to have sex, or to orgasm even. Those needs were just base, and I could handle them on my own.

  There were just some things that I couldn’t do by myself. Flirt. Touch. Kiss.

  I was a fool to think he’d want to do any of those things with me, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think that he invited me in here to just chat with me and drink. I watched as he opened the door, his muscles shifting beneath his cotton shirt and making me swoon.

  He and Logan were actually pretty similar. I would have guessed they were brothers over cousins. Daniel’s hair was just blonder, his face and body a bit broader, but they were both about equal in height and they both had the same killer eyes, those blue I-see-through-you eyes.

  Daniel accepted the bottle and two glasses with an amount of grace I wouldn’t expect him to have, then he shut the door with his hip. Moving over to the table, he set it all down and went to the mini-fridge in the corner to grab some ice. There was a bar tucked away in the corner I hadn’t noticed, and what I guessed to be a bathroom just behind it.

  “I was born here,” Daniel replied to my original question, and it took me a second to remember I’d asked if he was from New York. “My father moved us both to New York once my mother left him.”

  I couldn’t help that I frowned and said, “I’m sorry.” It was instinct, just something you say when someone expresses a loss no matter how ancient.

  But instead of annoyance, he smiled and walked back over to me, padding lightly in his socked feet.

  “It was a long time ago,” he said in that deep, rich voice. It made me quake, how his smile caressed and wrapped his words, but that baritone was so deep and touched me lower.

  I squirmed under his gaze. It really did feel like he could so easily peek into my mind, read all my fears and reluctance and hopes and dreams, and I’ll be honest, right then all of those things revolved around him. Everything else had slipped away and I was very much in the present. In that room. With a guy I would have had on posters all over my room when I was twelve.

  He put two ice cubes in each glass, following it with the rich, amber liquid.

  It was beautiful watching his strong hands make such delicate little motions, not spilling a drop before recapping the liquor. He handed me a drink but didn’t sit down as he held out his glass in a toast.

  “To tonight,” he said with a dark grin.

  I didn’t know how he could be vaguer, and my glass clinked against his. My smile was half-forced, and I licked around my mouth once more.

  “To tonight,” I agreed.

  To tonight and whatever I’d just gotten myself into for some extra money.

  ~~

  I knew that his scotch must have cost a lot, but that didn’t stop me from nodding every time he offered me more. I’d relaxed back on the couch and his arm was around me casually, as if it weren’t a big deal. I could smell the soft scent of his soap lingering between us and the alcohol was making it a bit easier to talk. To feel more like myself.

  Not that I had to talk a lot. He had told me stories about his childhood, about his school, about how hard it was for him to get over his dad leaving his mother. And he wasn’t a bad guy. I mean, I kind of figured he had to be. You don’t get the looks, the money, and the personality but somehow he nailed it.

  It wasn’t fair to the rest of us poor schlubs without looks, money or personality.

  But every time he smiled, his eyes twinkled with this strange light, and when I asked for more scotch he turned to me. His hand cupped my cheek, my delicate face so easily palmed in it, and his thumb rubbed near my eye.

  “I think you’ve had enough, Rachael,” he said with a smile, and I melted.

  That smile was more intoxicating than anything I’d ever seen, and I didn’t even mind the fact that it still felt he was staring into my soul, knowing me better than I ever could. The scotch had helped ease me into that, though I still felt I had my wits about me.

  I went to argue, but I didn’t want that smile of his to disappear.

  And I’ll be honest, I didn’t want him to retreat his hand from my face. I nuzzled into it, but I shocked even myself by kissing the fleshy pad beneath his thumb. It was a sweet, lingering thing, but I recoiled as if it were sudden and being enacted upon me.

  What was I doing?

  It wasn’t my fault, I argued internally. It was the atmosphere of this room, of the way he was looking at me, at the way my body felt so warm and in needing of some affection. This was the first time in as long as I could remember when I wasn’t entirely stressed out, and I didn’t want it to end.

  “I’m sorry,” I muttered breathlessly, shifting back on the couch, away from his warmth.

  I saw his chest rise and fall, breath higher in his chest as he looked upon me, his eyes tracing down my pale body, over that red pushup bra and down over the lacy panties that I’m sure were more than a little damp.

  “Logan told me you’ve never been to a party before,” Daniel said softly, his words masculine and reassuring.

  “Well, Thursday I was here,” I protested, not wanting to look so naïve, even as I instantly deflated at his next words.

  “I mean a real party.”

  I shook my head, looking pathetic.

  “It’s okay,” he responded, but his arm stretched out, the back of his fingers brushing against my stomach.

  I looked up at him and my mouth dropped open. I wanted so badly for him to touch me, but I was terrified of what it meant. For me. For him.

  I was afraid if we went further, I’d just disappoint him.

  That seemed to be the last thing on his mind, though. His handsome face with the broad jaw and sparkling eyes spoke to mischief. Interest.

  My breath caught in my chest and I stared at him. He seemed so… hungry. I didn’t understand it. I’d never had a guy look at me like this, and I knew he wasn’t drunk. The glasses he poured up didn’t have a lot of liquor, and he was way bigger than me anyways.

  I was only to the point of getting those warm, fuzzy alcohol-induced smiles. He had to barely even be feeling it. His strong hand reached out, touching my cheek with such surprising tenderness.

  “Tell me, Rachael. What types of things do you like to do?” He paused a heartbeat before adding on, “With your boyfriends, I mean?”

  I was sure he could feel my blood turning molten under his palm as I blushed.

  My eyes skipped away from his but my breath was so high in my chest I could barely catch it.

  “What sorts of things?” How do I even answer that? That was… private.

  He licked over his lips, and my gaze was drawn back to his face, focusing on that warm muscle sliding between that perfect bow. He inhaled.

  “C’mon, Rachael. I know you’re not stupid. You know what this is about.”

  I swallowed and my lower lip trembled. But then, I felt his thumb press against it so gently, stilling it. Making me aware of his presence. Of his tender touch. Of every little swirl of his fingerprint pressed to my over sensitive lip.

  “I like…” Oh god, this was even harder than I’d ever thought it could be. I was usually so much smoother than this, I had to be. I could barely get the words out, but his devious smile, the way he looked so excited at my words pushed me forward.

  “To kiss.”

  His smile turned to a smirk
, and his thumb ran down my chin before his hand left me completely. He stood up from the couch and I startled, standing to my feet and hearing those little bells jangle. How long had we been in there? This room, like all the others, had no windows or clocks and I felt like I was in a haze.

  He took a step away, turning his back on me and I followed. Did I really mess it up that bad? My chest felt tight as I reached out and grabbed his arm, surprised still at how large and hard it was. Like metal.

  “I didn’t figure Sam would have hired a virgin,” he retorted, but when he looked over his shoulder at me it was filled with daring and mischievousness. He was egging me on, trying to push me to admit all those things I swore those perfect eyes could already know.

  I trembled as I stared up at him, my fingers still on his hard bicep.

  “I’m not a virgin,” I protested, and his smile broadened.

  “And you liked it?” he goaded.

  “Of course!” I spat back, though really it wasn’t that great. I would have rathered a night with my vibrator than with him. We had dated for a couple of months before deciding to go through with it, but quickly after that things fell apart between us. I guess we just had different expectations for what an ‘adult’ relationship would be.

  He easily removed my hands from his bicep as he turned about, looming over me. For a second I didn’t know what he was going to do, if he was going to call me on my lie, but suddenly his mouth was on mine and stars exploded all around me.

  I didn’t know what to do with my hands, but he grabbed them, tugging them towards his hips, pressing them there as if to keep them in place. I felt so tiny and delicate against his ferocity, but that wasn’t all bad, either.

  It was actually really nice.

  I won’t lie, he was kissing me more than I was kissing him, his tongue working its way into my mouth as I stood there, just trying not to die. I’d never kissed anyone half so hot as him, and you’d think that’d be enough to make me want to work harder, but it felt like my world was imploding in on itself and I didn’t know how to react.