He shakes his head. “According to this stupid ass GPS we went the right way and it’s dead ahead.”
“Surely to God they didn’t move and failed to update their address.”
He looks over at me and lets out a sigh. “Only one way to find out.”
I stare down into the dark pit and swallow hard. “You want to keep walking down there?”
“We can look in the building that the GPS is saying it is and see if there was a club there, see if there are any markings left from signs, anything.”
“Oh Remy…” I swallow again and feel a knot in the pit of my stomach. I’m not afraid of the dark by any means. I’m afraid of what could be lurking in the dark. There is a huge difference. For some reason I get the feeling that something or someone could just be waiting in the shadows to jump out and grab us. It’s just scary and I don’t really like the idea of walking down there voluntarily.
Remy lets out a little chuckle. “We’ve made it this far tonight. You know I won’t let anything hurt you.”
“I know, I just…it’s pitch black down there and you really have no idea what’s down there. Anyone could be hiding in the dark.”
“Not a fan of the dark?”
I shake my head. “It’s not that by any means. I just don’t like the idea that someone could be hiding down there.”
“I doubt someone would be loitering down there just waiting for two unsuspecting passerbys.”
“Alright,” I nod, “but let’s try to hurry. I don’t want to hang out around there if the club has moved.”
He nods and reaches for my hand. “It’ll be alright. I won’t let anything hurt you.”
For some funny and unknown reason, I trust him. I don’t think he would let anything hurt me. Call me crazy but when the fake cop pranked us, Remy used his entire body to shield mine when we thought we were about to be shot. That has to be a sign that he’s a good guy and that I can trust him when he says he won’t let anything harm me. As we walk ahead into the pitch black I can’t keep my stomach from tying into a large knot though, even if I do find comfort in having Remy so close to me.
The buildings are all ran down and vacant, the sidewalk is dirty and littered with trash, there’s even something hanging off one of the phone wires above us. Though I can’t really see what it is, just a black outline against black, I can tell there is something there. Something tells me this isn’t a good side of town and I push myself a little closer to Remy trying to keep the charms on my costume from jingling as much as possible so we don’t alert anyone who could be hiding.
Remy points to the building just to the right of us. “It’s supposed to be right here,” he says, wrapping and arm around me, pulling me closer to his body.
The building is ran down and vacant. There’s not club here, but there was. Faded and worn markings on a blacked out window show the only remains of what used to be Midnight’s. I let out a little sigh. Even though Midnight’s is a popular club none of their social outlets have the correct fucking address. Isn’t that just peachy? I give my head a little shake and sigh.
He laughs a little. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
“Apparently, the joke’s on us tonight,” I laugh.
“We can try calling our friends,” he says, “maybe one of them can lead us to the club.”
I nod, “I completely agree but first can we get out of here, please? It’s creepy. I don’t know why, but I know that I don’t like it here.”
He nods as we turn around and head away from the old, battered club as quickly as we can. We hang a left down a very well lit street and slow our pace feeling a bit safer on this street.
“Well, I guess GPS is useless at this point since we have no fucking clue where we’re going.”
“Let me try calling my friends,” I say, opening up my clutch and digging out my phone. “Maybe they’re sober enough to actually get us to the club.” I try calling Lucy twice, but she doesn’t even answer. I let out a groan and tap Cindy’s name and the big green button to call her. She answers on the fourth ring and I can tell she is completely hammered. “Cindy! Where are you guys? We can’t find Midnight’s.”
She laughs and says that she and Lucy are having a great time with the Lone Ranger and Tonto and that Lucy is in the bathroom with Tonto as she speaks. Her speech is slurred and a little slower. She’ll do well to tell me the name of the club she’s at, let alone how to get fucking get there.
I give Remy a little shake of my head as I mumble that I’ll just see her soon. I end the call and slide my phone back into my clutch. I look at Remy who’s also on the phone and shaking his head. I’m willing to bet that he’s talking to the Lone Ranger since Lucy and Tonto are apparently having a blast in the bathroom.
“He is drunk out of his fucking skull,” Remy tells me after he ends the phone call. “And he swears they’re not even at Midnight’s anymore and he can’t remember what club they’re at. Trying to get him to go look at a sign or a coaster was a fucking joke.”
I let out a little laugh. “Okay, so here’s what we are going to do…our friends are out drunk and having the time of their lives, so we are going to do the same fucking thing together. We are going to go into the first club that we see and have the time of our lives.”
He smiles, “I love how you think gypsy. You owe me a dance anyway.”
I laugh, “Well, someone decided to take me into the men’s bathroom instead of dancing with me.”
“And we spilled our last two drinks. That scotch was good too, top shelf, and it went all over the floor.”
I laugh again, trying my hardest not to snort or do something embarrassing. “I remember how good it tasted on your lips.”
He gives me a little wink. “I could taste that whiskey sour on yours.”
“So, you owe me a dance and I owe you a drink?”
He gives his head a little shake. “I owe you a dance and a drink. I was the one who kissed you first.”
I shake my head in protest. “No, I kissed you first. I remember that.”
“I distinctly remember kissing you first.” He smiles, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and turning me to face him. “I made the first move.”
I give my head a shake. He knows full well that I made the first move and kissed him. Because I felt crazy and wasn’t even sure why I wanted to kiss him so badly. “You won’t win this. I kissed you.”
He laughs softly and pushes his hair from my face. “I can’t talk you into letting me win this?”
I shake my head and smirk.
“Then can I talk you into letting me kiss you again?”
I pretend to be thinking about it as he looks at me shocked. Finally, I smile and give him a little nod. Without hesitation he presses his lips gently to mine. I let out a little sigh as I wrap my arms around him tightly, nearly knocking his Zorro hat off his head. He pulls away from me slowly and licks his lips as he lets out a satisfied sigh.
“There,” he says, “now I can say that I kissed you.”
I feel my cheeks warm up as I give him a nod. “Ready to venture and find a club?”
“After the night we’ve had so far it can only get better,” he laughs. “Are you still warm?”
I give him a nod. To be completely honest I hadn’t given being cold a single thought since coming up on the deserted former home of Midnight’s. Kissing was also another deterrent. He pulls the cape around me as he nods towards the street ahead of us.
“Let’s find a club.”
We begin down the street when we see our first piece of good luck all night. A yellow cab that is both empty and in service. Remy glances at me and we both break into a sprint to catch it. When the cab pulls over allowing us to get in we both sigh. Not only is it warm but finally we have someone who knows the city. This walking around aimlessly in high heels sucks. Remy lets me slide in first, giving me a hand with his cape as he hops in after me.
“You have no idea how thankful we are to see you.” He tells the driver
as he shuts the door.
We’re greeted by an angry looking man who glares at us in the rear view mirror. I immediately look at Remy and reach for my door handle. I’m all but ready to bolt from the cab when Remy reaches for my hand and gives it a light, comforting squeeze.
“Where to?” The cabbie growls at us.
I swallow hard and look at Remy, waiting to follow his cue. The cabbie scows at me and I push myself against Remy who lightly drops an arm around me.
“We were just hoping that you could take us to a club in town, any club.” Remy clears his throat. “We’ve been walking most of the night.”
The cab driver pulls out so fast that Remy and I are thrown against the back seat. I look at Remy almost regretting that we even stumbled upon this cab. Remy looks over at me and adjusts his hat. I can tell by the look on his face he’s regretting this cab too. The driver is a little strange and the looks he keeps giving me in the rear view mirror are a making me a little uneasy.
“She’s cute,” the cab driver says, moving his eyes to Remy in the mirror.
“Excuse me?” Remy says, raising his eye brows.
“Your date,” the driver tells him. “She’s cute. Where did you find her?”
My eyes grow wide and I reach for the edges of the cape, yanking it around me tightly as I lean closer to Remy.
“Uh…thanks…” Remy says, unsure of what to say since the comments aren’t all that offensive.
“Do you like to share?”
I look at Remy with wide eyes and wide mouth. Surely to God he’s not talking about sharing me. This dude is just too weird for my taste. “Maybe we should just get out here…” I whisper to Remy softly.
Remy looks towards the driver again. “Share what?”
“The girl,” the driver tells him, “do you like to share her?”
“Dude, look, I don’t know who in the fuck you think you are, but that is not something you say to customers,” Remy says, scolding him. “And no, I do not like to, nor will I share her.”
“She could bring you in a lot of money,” he tells Remy smoothly.
What the fuck kind of driver is this? I look at Remy and shake my head. I am ready to just jump out of this moving cab. This guy is really starting to make me uncomfortable.
“Look, why don’t you just drop us off here?” Remy says, looking out the windows for a moment.
The driver shakes his head. “I’ll take you to a club. You said for me to take you to a club.”
“I think we changed our minds,” Remy tells him.
“I can’t just drop you off in the middle of nowhere,” he tells us, “I wouldn’t want the girl getting hurt.” He wiggles his eye brows in the rear view mirror at me and puckers his lips.
That’s it. If he keeps it up, I am tazing him. Lucy gave it to me for reasons just like this. If he stops this cab and tries anything I’ll do it, so help me. I open my clutch slowly and press the little taser to my palm. Men like this are the reason why women need tools like this.
“Here’s the deal, dude, you’re making us both really uncomfortable and I really don’t like how you’re talking about my date,” Remy says, “if you could please just pull over and drop us off, we can pay you and get out of your way.”
The cab driver laughs and pulls his cab over. “Look, there’s a club right there.”
I breathe a sigh of relief when I see a bright neon sign that reads “Whip It.” I jump from the cab as Remy tosses the driver a wad full of cash, urging him to just keep the change.
I tuck my taser away safely in my purse as the cabbie pulls off at light speed and let out another sigh of relief. I will never make fun of Lucy for giving us shit like this ever again. I have never been so uncomfortable by a person just looking at me.
“I am so sorry,” Remy tells me, placing his hands on my shoulders, “Are you okay?”
I nod, releasing a little breath. “I’m fine, he just made me uncomfortable.”
“He was fucking weird. Who in the hell talks to women like that?”
“Apparently that guy does,” I laugh.
“I’m sorry we’ve had our share of issues tonight,” he tells me.
“It just gives us something to talk about later, right?” I shake my head, chuckling.
“And look,” he says, glancing up, “we’re finally at another club.”
I smile wide. I don’t think I’ve ever been more relieved to see a bar. I glance at the brick building. It’s different, the outside almost reminds me of an old theater with its red carpeting layering the front walk way. The sign reading “Whip It” is in bright red neon, surrounded in black. It definitely seems interesting. At least we can go inside and relax. Remy and I pull our IDs from out and show them to the bouncer who gives us both a questionable look. He looks down at the IDs and then back to us. “Are you sure you two are at the right club?”
Remy and I both shrug as he both tuck our IDs away safely.
“Honestly, we’ve been wandering around half the night and we just want to have a few drinks and dance,” Remy smiles.
The bouncer laughs, “Alright then, you two enjoy that.”
Remy gives him a strange look as we bustle by him and enter the club. The music isn’t exactly my taste and it’s rather dark inside, but it’s better than wandering the streets. Remy looks around and finds the bar. He smiles and reaches for my hand as I continue to look around. The club goers costumes are far more…risqué…than the other club we were at. There’s a lot of leather, pleather, chains, and there are a few people who have their asses hanging out of their pants. I turn to Remy to see that he is arguing with the bartender about our drinks.
“What do you mean this is a dry club?’
I snap my head towards the bartender who has his palms resting on the bar, laughing, and shaking his head. “It’s a dry club, we don’t serve alcohol.”
My mouth drops and I cock my head to the side. How in the hell can a club be dry? Remy looks as confused as I am as he begins trying to reason with the bartender about giving us drinks.
“Look, we’ve had a hell of a night. All we want is one drink, a few dances, and to stop walking around clueless in this city.” Remy tells him leaning onto the bar.
The bartender laughs and shakes his head again. “You might get in from the city but you won’t get any scotch or whiskey. We’re a dry club. We don’t even have a fully stocked bar.”
I furrow my eyebrows. Something is off…way off. What kind of club is dry? I begin looking around again, this time taking in more of my surroundings. There’s men all around us. Nothing but men. Not one other single female. I’m the only woman in the bar.
My mouth drops and I see that the club goers aren’t in Halloween costumes…no, not by a long shot. All the men in the club are in outfits that someone in the BDSM lifestyle could wear. I suck in a little gasp and continue moving my eyes around. There’s a man bound to a large X shaped device, face first, while he’s being whipped with a flogger. There’s another man in a high stand as another man whips him. And all around the club, in the darkest little corners, there are couples either playing or being watched.
I grab onto Remy’s arm and give it a pull, “Remy…” I breathe softly. “Remy…” My voice trails as I try to get his attention. Somehow, we have wandered straight into a BDSM club…on an all-male night.
Remy glances over at me and I can tell he’s upset by the still laughing bartender. “What’s wrong?”
“Remy, I don’t think we belong here,” I tell him, urging him to look behind us. “I don’t think this is the place for us.”
Remy looks into the club and his eyes grow wide. His head snaps back to the bartender who is damn near losing his mind from laughing so hard. “Why the fuck didn’t you say something man?”
The bartender laughs and shrugs. “Don’t worry, it happens all the time.”
“We are so sorry,” I say, “we’ve had kind of…” my voice trails and I let out a sigh. “A string of bad luck. We were separated from
our friends who are too drunk to tell us what club they’re at. We’re not from here and have no idea where to go. GPS took us to Midnight’s old building. We had a fake cop prank us and scare us half to the death. Our cab driver was insane and told my date he could get a lot of money for me. And, I left my purse in the men’s bathroom at our last club and we had to back track to get the thing.”
The bartender laughs, “You two have had a hell of a night!”
“So you see, the horrible cab driver dropped us off here when he insisted on getting away from him,” I admit, “we thought it was a normal club, we knew it would be warm and we just wanted a drink and to have fun before everything closes.”
“Wait, how did you leave your purse in the men’s bathroom?”
Both Remy and I look at the bartender with wide eyes.
He laughs again and nods. “Nice, very nice. Look, I’ll tell you what, have a seat, and I can get you two some warm drinks. Maybe some coffee or cider? Whatever you’d like on the house. You can have a seat and relax and I can get you some addresses to some great clubs nearby.”
I look at Remy and smile. Finally, something else seems to be going right for us tonight. I look at the bartender and then glance over my shoulder. “Won’t anyone care?”
The bartender shakes his head. “No, they’re in their own little zone to be honest. I’m Chance, by the way.”
“I’m Ember, this is Remy.”
“Nice to meet you,” he tells us, “go ahead, have a seat, I’ll pour you some fresh coffee.”
Remy pulls out a stool for me and offers me a hand as I have a seat. I smile and watch him for a minute as he hops onto his own seat and takes off his hat, tossing it on the counter for a moment. He glances at me and smirks. He is quite handsome. I don’t throw that term around often either. In the light of the bar, I can see just how beautiful his eyes are. I can see how knee weakening his “I dare you” smile is. I’ve never been one to like facial scruff but it looks so ruggedly handsome on him it seems fitting. He has very chiseled features that I’m getting to really see for the first time.
He looks down a moment and I can see that his cheeks are growing a little pink. I smile and move my head to make him look at me. “You really are handsome,” I tell him.
Take Me Home Tonight (Wild Nights Book 1) Page 6