Dirty Money

by Michelle Love

  STEELE

  Steele was amazed by the people she tried so hard not to look at as Arsen had instructed. Nearly naked women everywhere on leashes. Some on their hands and knees while others stood. But all seemed to be looking at her and Arsen as they strode through the middle like they owned the place.

  The air was cold and had her nipples as erect as they could get. A good thing she supposed. A scene from the corner of her eye made her head turn just slightly to see a man who stood and looked on as another man fucked the woman he had on a leash, from behind as she looked up at her master.

  The word, degrading, hit her mind like a brick and she looked at the back of Arsen’s head instead. Her stomach was tense, and the butterflies had transformed into pterodactyls.

  The six-inch heels were proving hard to walk in as the cement floor was a little slippery and she glanced down to see a fair amount of fluid was here and there on the floor.

  Bile rose in her throat as she thought of being made to move through the room on hands and knees as some were having to do. It was disgusting. Arsen had been right about how she’d see it.

  The scene changed as they walked into another room. A disco ball was suspended high on the ceiling and hard rock music played loudly. People danced, and it was an odd feeling as the lights flashed off and on.

  Arsen turned to her and pulled her up in his arms and moved them to the hard beat of the music. He whispered, “Okay, so far?”

  “I’m okay, Arsen. This is not what I expected though.”

  He pulled back and turned away from her, pulling her along after him again. Once they made their way out of that room they entered a dark hallway. Then turned and went down another.

  Doors were on each side of the dimly lit halls. Odd sounds leaked out of some of them as they passed by. Some good groans, some not so good groans, and some horrific groans had Steele second guessing coming into the club.

  Arsen finally stopped at a door and used a key to open it. He led her inside and turned to close the door behind them.

  “So, you like this place, Steele?”

  “Um, uh, It’s uh, different. I can’t say I do or don’t like it,” she stammered.

  He pulled the collar off her and smiled.

  “Really? Maybe the full treatment will help you make a decision then.” Arsen turned a knob on the wall near the door and the interior of the dark room lit up.

  “Oh my God, Arsen,” Steele said in a whisper as her eyes traveled over his extensive collection.

  An odd wooden structure was in the middle of the room which she found to be rather large. She pointed at it and before she could ask, he said, “That’s a bondage bed.”

  “It looks medieval. And anything but comfortable.” She walked over to it and almost touched it.

  “Stop!” he said with a sudden sternness to his voice. She stopped, and he walked up to her, then pulled some surgical gloves from a black box under the bed. He put them on her hands. “I don’t want your finger prints on anything in here.”

  “Oh! Smart, Arsen.” She looked around as he put the white gloves on her.

  Two long poles leaned against one of the black walls. A rusty color was running down the tan poles and she knew immediately those were the things Rowan had told her about. She gulped and asked, “Is that blood on those things over there.” She nodded her head towards the poles.

  Without looking at her, he answered, “It is.”

  “You beat women until they bled?” Her mind was spinning.

  “I did.” He still didn’t look at her.

  A block of wood caught her eye next.

  “Is that like a stockade? Like from the old days when people would get locked up in them for committing a crime?”

  “It is.” He finally looked into her eyes.

  “So you would lock women up and then do whatever you wanted to with them?” Her lip was beginning to quiver as she was realizing the man she knew was so much more messed up then she imagined he was.

  “I did, yes.” His eyes were dark and hard as if daring her to tell him he had done anything wrong.

  A leather, full-face mask hung on the wall near a hook and silver handcuffs dangled from them. Along the wall was a line of various items used to flog people. Her heart began to race.

  “There is not one thing in this room which doesn’t bring pain, is there, Arsen?”

  He shook his head slowly.

  “So what do you think of this place now, Steele? Think it’s a place you’d care to frequent? Think it’s a place you belong in?”

  If she wanted to stay in his life, she’d better figure out how to take all he was about.

  “Show me how you take a woman on this hard wood bed, Arsen. Show me how it feels to be in here with you as my Master.”

  He chuckled and his eyes softened.

  “You know stubborn isn’t a strong enough word for you, Steele. I’m not going to be taking you in this room, ever. This is not for you. It’s not a thing you want. Your mind was not made to handle the pain that this lifestyle is about.”

  “Show me how to do what you want, Arsen,” she said and fell to her knees on the cold cement floor. “If this is you and what you want, then teach me. Teach me to take the pain you like to give out.”

  He turned away from her and put his head in his hands. “Get up!” he snapped.

  She did as he said. But her mind was racing with the newfound knowledge he had never really had sex that didn’t involve pain. She had to be disappointing to him.

  “If you won’t take me in here then at least put me in some type of bondage thing you have so many of in here. I know you want to, so just do it. I want you to do it.” She looked around and pointed to a table.

  It looked benign enough.

  “There, that table thing. Do to me what you did to other women on that table, Arsen.”

  He looked at where she was pointing then back at her with an expressionless face.

  “I leaned women over that and flogged them with various things until they begged me to stop. Then I held them down and fucked them on it. Is that what you think you really want?”

  “I want some of what you gave other women here, Arsen. I feel left out of a part of you.” She stepped towards him and found him moving back from her.

  “Be glad you’re left out of this part of me. This part of me only wanted to cause pain the way pain had been done to me. You don’t seem to understand. This is about overcoming pain, Steele. Learning to handle the harsh reality that some of us are dished out a hell of a lot more than others are. Learning how to overcome it.” He spun around and pulled his jacket off, hanging it in a closet. He pulled his shirt off next and hung it up.

  Steele’s heart began to pound, thinking he was finally going to give her what she’d asked for.

  “Arsen, it kills me that you were ever hurt.”

  He picked up one of the long poles and carried it over to her. She looked at it and flinched.

  Why would he want to use that?

  Arsen held it out to her.

  “I want you to take this and match it to the faint marks on my back.” He turned, and she held it to the three places on his back where faded scars were.

  That woman who’d been his mistress had hit him with the thing and split his flesh wide open more than just one time. “Arsen, this is horrible.”

  He looked back at her.

  “No, what’s horrible is when I did that to others. When I first met you I told you that you should run and you should’ve. I am a monster, Steele. And now that you’ve seen this and what I have done, you know it’s true.”

  “I don’t think of you as a monster. You had tons of pain inside you. You still do. I can see now why the women asked you to do the things you did to them. I also want to take your pain away and would feel the bite of your strap or whatever you had to endure to take it away from you,” she said then ran her hand over his cheek.

  “That’s not what I want for you, Steele. I don’t want you to feel pain. Shit
! You can’t take it and you shouldn’t have to. Your life wasn’t bad. You have no reason to need to accept pain and learn how to deal with it and I won’t be the one to make you.” He took the pole from her, turned and walked away.

  In that instant it all became crystal clear to Steele. Arsen was never going to be able to stay with her. She turned and ran from the room at full speed. All she could think was she had to get the hell out of that place and away from the man she loved more than she ever could’ve imagined, but he was never going to allow her to be what he needed.

  ARSEN

  The door slammed, and he turned to find Steel had gone. He cursed and ran after her, not sure which way she’d turned in the hallway. He took off the way they had come in, but he knew she might’ve gone the other direction and he hoped she hadn’t done that.

  After searching the two rooms they’d been in, he found nothing. He stopped by the coat check stand and saw her red coat still hanging and he knew she wouldn’t go out without it.

  He made his way back and hoped she was okay because if she found herself in the room at the other end of the hallway she was going to be in over her head.

  Hearing the roars of laughter and shouts from a lot of men, Arsen went into the room where the auctions were held and sure as shit, Steele was on the auction block.

  The daft woman had run right into the one place where she should never have gone. Arsen stayed in the back in the dark shadows as he saw her trying hard not to let her fear show as a man wearing nothing but ass-less chaps held a leash fastened to a black collar around her throat.

  She must’ve been making a lot of fuss and a gag was in her mouth, the straps ran around her head and her hands had been bound as well.

  Oh, the fit she must’ve been throwing for them to do all that to her.

  He flinched when the blonde-haired, older man smacked her on the ass and said, “Whew wee! This one is wild and built to handle what you got to dish out. I tell you what!”

  Steele glared at the man and Arsen winced as the man pinched one of her nipples, making her close her eyes and shake her head. Some man in front yelled, “Two hundred dollars.”

  The auctioneer’s eyebrows raised.

  “You have got to be kidding me. For this feisty piece of prime ass that’s all you got. I’m starting the bidding at five hundred dollars. She’s got it all men. The looks.” He grabbed her by her braid and pulled her head up and ran one finger over her red cheek. “The body.” His hand ran over her breast.

  Arsen stiffened and clenched his fist at his side. Another man shouted. “I’ll give you five hundred for her.”

  Another shouted out, “I’ll give you six. She’s about as wild as they come. I’d love the chance to break her fine ass.” He held a whip in his hand and popped it in the air.

  Steele’s eyes went wide, and she shook her head, making the room full of men laugh. Arsen wasn’t laughing though. He was getting increasingly pissed at how the auctioneer was touching what was his.

  An old man yelled out, “I’ll give you one thousand dollars for her. I could use me another sub and she’d make a fine one.”

  The auctioneer reminded him.

  “This is only for the remainder of this one night, old man. Not forever.”

  The old man cackled then said, “Once she gets a taste of my dick, she’ll beg to become my sub.”

  The auctioneer moved his body behind Steele’s and acted as if he was fucking her from behind. He went so far as to push her shoulders forward and pull her hips back and slammed into the back of her. Only the thin leather strap of her outfit which ran between her legs and his chaps was stopping him from actually getting to her and Arsen had all he could take.

  He strolled up to the very front and smiled at Steele who mumbled behind the gag and begged him with her eyes to save her. Arsen looked at the auctioneer. “How does five thousand sound?”

  The man released Steele and said, “It sounds like you got a hankering for this little filly, sir. Your number please, so we can get our money.”

  “Twenty-one,” Arsen said and took the leash the auctioneer handed him. “Thank you.”

  The crowd of men moaned and gave Arsen dirty looks as he led Steel off the auction block then threw her over his shoulder, smacking her ass one time. He took her all the way back to his private room before he took the gag and binds off her. She took in a deep breath and threw her arms around him.

  “Arsen, that was horrible.” She let him go and placed her hand on a small red bump on the outside of her thigh. “That man popped his whip, and it hit me as I realized once I got into that room I needed out of there fast.”

  He pulled her back into his arms and shushed her.

  “You’re okay now. I have you, Baby.”

  “I’m sorry I left the room. I was an idiot!”

  “Look, that’s over now. Let’s get those poles and break them down and get them out of here. I think you’ve seen quite enough of Club Fierce.” Arsen let her go and moved to unscrew the poles to make them manageable.

  Steele pulled the black collar off and found the red one and put it on. She held her hands out to take the poles into her hands.

  “Take my leash and do not let me go. I’ll carry these.”

  Arsen handed her the six pieces of wood and chuckled.

  “At least I don’t ever have to hear you ask to come here again.”

  “No, you will never hear those words come from my mouth ever again. That’s a promise. If you wish to leave this behind you, I’m all for that.”

  “Good.” He took her leash and led her away from what had been his life.

  He looked around the room just before he closed the door for what would be the last time if he had anything to do with it. Ghosts of the three women who had been his subs flittered through his mind and he found himself saying out loud, “I’m sorry girls. I’m really sorry and I hope you can forgive me.”

  He closed the door and had to swallow the lump which had formed in his throat. Arsen hadn’t allowed himself to think about the dead women and with their memory came a flood of emotions. And Arsen was not one to allow many emotions.

  STEELE

  Sliding into the back of the Suburban, Steele opened the little fridge and grabbed the first bottle of liquor her hand landed on. One long drink she took then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as Arsen watched her with a smile on his handsome face.

  “That was rough on you.”

  She nodded and stayed on her knees on the floor of the car as he sat on the seat. Paul closed the door and Steele untied the belt of her leather coat. Pulling it off, she laid it out on the floor and got on her hands and knees and wiggled her finger at Arsen.

  He looked at her for a second, obviously taking her all in. Arsen moved off the leather seat and came to her. Moving her to lie on her back. He ran his hand over her forehead, pushing some of her hair back off her face.

  “Thank you, Steele.” His lips brushed hers softly, and she moaned and ran her hand to the back of his neck.

  She needed him. For reasons she didn’t understand she needed to feel him inside her. Show her she was his in every way. What she’d seen was fresh in her head and worrisome. She needed to know he wanted her. Nearly plain old vanilla, her.

  His tongue ran around hers and he pressed his body to hers. She arched up to him and said, “Arsen, please take me.”

  He reached between them and unbuckled the one strap that was keeping him from getting to her. His fingers found her wet and he unbuttoned and unzipped his slacks and pushed himself into her.

  She moaned in his ear as he thrust into her.

  “Fuck me, Arsen. Make me come all over you hot, huge cock.”

  Steele knew he didn’t tell her she could talk and a small part of her wanted to test him. See if he was going to really be her master.

  Arsen plunged deep into her and pulled one of her legs back. He held his body up and watched his dick slam into her over and over. Steele found him fascinating as she watc
hed his reaction to their bodies coming together.

  He looked at her.

  “You like it? You like my cock buried inside you?”

  She nodded and moaned then put one finger in her mouth and wet it. She reached down and touched her clit and moaned as she stroked it. She was pushing him and was waiting for him to tell her something.

  “Fuck me harder, Baby,” she groaned.

  He pounded into her harder as she rubbed herself and moaned loudly. She knew he didn’t allow much noise made, and made as much as she could. He pulled out of her just before she was about to come.

  “Did I make you mad, Master,” she said with a sly smile.

  “Really, Steele.” He leveled his dark eyes on hers. Then he grabbed her and turned her over and slammed into her from behind as he pushed her face and chest to the floor. “Is this what you want from me?”

  He pounded her like any other piece of ass he’d fucked, Steele thought. Her breath was coming out in spurts and she was thinking that was exactly what she wanted. She wanted to feel him do to her what he’d done to all the others. Fuck them and care nothing for them. Then he stopped again and pulled out of her.

  She lifted herself off the floor and turned around to find him setting back on his haunches. His hands over his face and he was shaking.

  “Arsen?”

  Steele reached out and placed her hands on his and gently pulled them away to find tears streaming down his face. She pulled him to her and hugged him as he cried.

  “I’ll never lay my eyes on their beautiful faces again. I’ll never run my hands over their exquisite bodies again. I will never get to tell them how sorry I am for hurting them both physically and mentally.”

  She had no idea he’d break like this. Selfish is what she felt like. She was so busy wanting him to do to her what he’d done to the others, she never thought about how it might affect him.