The Keyholder

by Claire Thompson

  “You guys are too much.” Eva laughed. “The thought of playing with a Dom, even if it’s a controlled scene with a stranger, is very appealing to me. I wish it were Jack, but…” She glanced down at her jeans and hastily buttoned blouse and sighed. “I’m not really dressed to go out to a fetish club.”

  Nora popped up from the couch. “That’s what girlfriends are for. I have a whole wardrobe of sexy outfits. Let’s go try some stuff on.”

  ~*~

  Have you or Nora heard from Eva? We kind of had a fight and she left the loft nearly an hour ago. She isn’t responding to my texts. I’m worried.

  Jack hit send on his phone and waited for Charles to respond. He could have called, but he wasn’t in the mood to speak directly to anyone. The jumble of emotions assailing him had left him disoriented. He felt like he’d been rear-ended in a car accident, his head slamming against the steering wheel and scrambling his brains. He didn’t know what he felt, or what he should be feeling. He just knew he wanted Eva back. He wanted another chance.

  Eva is with us. We’re headed to Club Decadence. Join us there!

  Did she tell you what happened?

  In general terms, yes. Listen, Jack. She’s ready for more. She’s stronger than you think. If you want her, she’s yours. Don’t shut her out.

  Jack stared at the text for several moments. If you want her, she’s yours.

  Jack stared at the spot where Eva had been kneeling earlier that evening, her slender arms gracefully lifted behind her head, her small, proud breasts, barely covered in sheer black lace, beckoning to him, her knees spread in submissive invitation.

  His phone dinged again. An address not too far from his loft flashed across the screen and then: Dude! You coming? Get your ass down here. Nora’s already got a guy lined up for Eva to scene with. If you hurry, you can take his place, but you gotta move that ass of yours.

  “McQuade, you idiot!” Jack shouted into the empty room. “You’re going to lose that girl!” He leaped from the couch and raced to his bedroom, tearing off his T-shirt as he ran. He replaced it with a black silk button-down shirt. Stripping off his jeans, he pulled on black leather pants and his favorite boots. He grabbed his leather bomber jacket from the hook by the front door and headed out.

  Once outside, he punched in the address of the club on his phone’s GPS, using the pedestrian mode and tapping into the subway routes. The estimated time was twenty minutes by subway, and fifteen if he walked. Only in New York, he thought as he headed down the block with long, determined strides.

  Jack had never been to this particular club, though he knew it was a favorite of Charles and Nora. The place had been closed for renovations for a while, and had only recently reopened. It took him a minute or two to pin down the exact location, though his phone insisted he had arrived at his destination.

  Finally he saw the small placard with the street number and the words Club Decadence painted in raised gold letters against a black background. He headed down a narrow flight of concrete steps to a solid-looking door painted a shiny lacquered red, a large peephole at its center. There was a buzzer beside the door, and he pressed it. A moment later, the door swung inward.

  A tall man in his thirties with a shaved head and multiple piercings in his face looked Jack up and down. “You have a reservation?”

  “Uh, no,” Jack said, then added, “I’m with Charles and Nora Finch.”

  The man smiled. “Ah,” he said, a metal ball glinting at the center of his tongue, “you must be Jack. Charles asked me to look out for you.” He stepped back, gesturing Jack inside. “Cover is forty bucks for non-members.”

  Jack reached for his wallet and extracted two twenties, which he handed to the guy. “Want me to stamp your hand so you can come and go tonight?”

  Jack shook his head. “No, that’s okay.” He wondered then what he was even doing there. He’d been on autopilot since Charles’ text that Eva was going to scene with someone else. The thought propelled him forward once more.

  He moved past the greeter into the club, which opened onto what looked like any bar, except for how the people were dressed. There were a couple of dozen people milling around the room. Most were in some combination of leather and bare skin, many of the women in stiletto heels, some people entirely naked, save for chains and collars. Through an arch toward the back of the room, Jack could see the play area, which contained the usual play stations set up with BDSM equipment and gear. Several scenes appeared to be in progress, though from where he stood, he didn’t see his friends.

  A waitress in a tight black bustier, fishnet stockings, and not much else, approached him. “Can I get you a drink? We have a variety of fresh juices, soda and tonic water.”

  Jack shook his head. “No thanks.” He moved through the bar toward the play area. Once inside, he scanned the room for Eva. He didn’t see her, but he did see Nora and Charles. They were taking part in a scene at a station with another couple. Both women were bare-breasted, their arms suspended overhead by cuffs. They were positioned face-to-face, each perched on a kind of bench, which as Jack got closer, he realized were horse vaults, like the kind used in gymnastics. Charles stood behind Nora and the other Dom behind his sub, each holding a short-handled single tail whip.

  Jack joined the small crowd watching the scene. Nora’s eyes were closed. She was biting her lower lip and breathing hard through her nostrils. The other woman, who had dark, short hair, olive-toned skin and heavy breasts, had her eyes open, and she squealed each time the whip met its mark.

  Charles noticed Jack and jerked his chin toward him in recognition. Jack nodded back. He understood Charles was focused on the scene, and he bit back his desire to blurt out the question foremost in his mind: Where the hell is Eva?

  He became aware of an electric humming sound and realized it was coming from the horse vaults. Both women were wearing skirts, so he couldn’t see what precisely was causing the hum, but he could guess.

  A man standing beside him murmured, “She’s about to come. Mandy is going to lose it in a second. Look at her face.”

  Jack looked more closely at the other woman. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes squeezed shut, her hands clenched into fists above the cuffs. “Oh, oh, oh, oh!” she cried. “I can’t hold it. I can’t help it!” She began to jerk convulsively on the horse.

  Her partner looked at Charles and shook his head, though he was grinning. “Damn. We lost again.” He lowered his whip and wrapped his arms around his partner from behind as she continued to shudder and moan. After a moment, he reached down and flicked a switch on the side of the horse Jack hadn’t noticed until then. Mandy slumped back, a limp rag doll in her Master’s embrace.

  Charles, too, lowered his whip. He reached around Nora, finding and cupping her pert, lovely breasts. The hum from Nora’s perch continued. Leaning down, Charles murmured something in her ear as he rolled her erect nipples between his fingers. Nora sighed and leaned back against him. All eyes were on her now, though she seemed blissfully unaware of the attention.

  It only took another thirty seconds or so, and then a tremor moved through her body, as if a small earthquake had shaken her from within. “Please, Sir,” she said breathily, “may I come?”

  “Yes, my darling, you may,” Charles replied. Everyone, Jack included, watched enthralled as the lovely sub girl orgasmed in her Dom’s arms.

  When the tremors had subsided, Nora opened her eyes and sighed happily. As the crowd melted away, Charles and the other Dom released the women’s cuffs and lifted their partners from the horse vaults. The phalluses sticking up in the center of each horse glistened with the women’s juices. Another young woman dressed in a bustier and fishnets appeared with a cloth and a spray bottle to clean the station for the next scene.

  Charles draped a robe over his wife’s shoulders and put his arm around her. Nora, her expression still softened with submissive bliss, smiled dreamily at Jack. “You came. I’m so glad.”

  “Where is she?” Jack blurted,
unable to wait another second.

  “She’s in the back dungeon with Sir Gordon,” Nora said, emerging more fully from her trance. “I’m not sure if they’ve started their scene yet.”

  “Sir Gordon?” Jack said, trying to control the overspill of emotions that seeped nonetheless into his tone. “You’re letting her scene with some stranger? Does this guy know what she’s been through?”

  “Letting her?” Nora began, lifting her eyebrows.

  “I got this,” Charles said with a smile to his wife. “I’ll join you in a minute back at the juice bar, okay, baby?”

  Nora started to say something, apparently thought better of it, and just nodded. She walked away with Mandy and Mandy’s Dom. Jack turned to Charles. “Where is this back dungeon? I can’t believe you guys are just letting this happen.”

  Charles faced Jack. “Eva is a grown woman, Jack. She doesn’t belong to me. I don’t tell her when or where or how to scene. That’s up to her.”

  “But,” Jack sputtered, stunned his old friend could be so cavalier, “she’s too fragile for this! He can’t possibly know how damaged she is!”

  Charles put his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Jack, Eva is much stronger than you think she is. She’s done really good work with her therapist. Nora says she’s ready for this. And if anything was wrong, Nora would feel it, and she’d tell me right away.”

  Jack controlled his temper and forced himself to speak calmly. “No offense to Nora or you, but I’m the one who’s been living with Eva 24/7 for the past month, not you guys. I’m the one who watches her stare out the window when she doesn’t know I’m there. The expression on her face is enough to break your heart, Charles. I’m the one who comforts her in the night when she wakes up screaming and terrified from a nightmare. She can put up all the brave fronts she wants, but I know the truth.”

  Charles started to speak but Jack silenced him with a hand. “No, let me finish. Eva may think she’s ready for this, but she isn’t. Who the fuck is this guy, anyway, do you even know him?”

  “Yes,” Charles said evenly. “We know him quite well, as a matter of fact. He’s experienced and completely trustworthy. They aren’t entering a Master/slave relationship, Jack. They’re just going to enjoy a scene—something easy to start with. I heard them discussing a full body flogging, which is something Eva apparently craves right now. She needs the physical contact. She needs the erotic pain. She refuses to be defined as a victim any longer. Don’t you get that? She’s a mature woman and a sexual being who’s hardwired for what Sir Gordon can offer her. She’d rather be with you, Jack, but you’re too blinded by your own fear to give her what she needs.”

  Jack shook his head. “No, no, you’re wrong. Jesus, Charles, don’t you think I want her? I want her more than I’ve ever wanted another woman. But she’s been brutalized and broken. She needs more time to heal. What that bastard did to her—”

  “No!” Charles interrupted, anger flashing in his eyes. “She’s been hurt, yes. But she’s not broken, Jack. She’s strong, and she’s fighting back by attempting to reclaim her life. You’re not doing her any favors by continuing to treat her like some crushed flower.”

  Stung by Charles’ words, Jack said hoarsely, “Where is she?”

  Charles pointed toward a set of double doors on a side wall. The doors were ajar. “They’re back there. They might be in one of the private scene rooms, in which case, you’ll have to wait until they’re done. But if they’re out in the open, other guests are allowed to watch.”

  Charles smiled, patting Jack’s arm. “I need to tend to Nora right now. But it’s okay, Jack. Really, it is. We wouldn’t have invited Eva to join us if we didn’t think she could handle it. Trust Eva. Trust yourself. Go see what can be yours, if you can find the courage to claim it.”

  Jack blew out a breath and nodded. “Thanks.”

  He headed toward the back room, his heart pounding. He pushed through the doors, his eyes taking a moment to adjust to the light, which was dimmer than the main play area, provided only by wall sconces that mimicked flickering candlelight. There were considerably fewer people in this smaller space, and the room was quiet, save for the sound of leather striking skin, and the moans and soft cries of those on the receiving end.

  There she was.

  Eva.

  Jack moved closer to a small station in a corner of the room. A couple of men stood nearby, watching with hungry expressions. Jack joined them, his heart aching, his cock leaping to immediate attention at the sight of her.

  She was dressed in a white silk gown that clung to her curves and hugged her high, perfect breasts. Her only adornment was a black leather collar around her neck, an O ring at its center. She stood in profile, her wrists bound together with rope, her arms pulled taut overhead and attached to a single chain. The back of the gown was cut very low, giving the man behind her full access to her back and the upper half of her ass. Her eyes were covered with a silk blindfold. Her head was tilted back, her lips parted in the classic pose of a sub who had entered submissive headspace.

  Jack moved closer, aware he might be invading the scene space, but unable to help himself. Did this Sir Gordon guy know what Eva had been through? What did he think of that newly healed scar across her right shoulder blade? Did he know it was from a particularly brutal caning perpetrated by that monster?

  The Dom was using a suede flogger, and Jack had to grudgingly admit he appeared to know what he was doing. He used even, firm strokes, focusing primarily on her ass, though from her reddened skin, it was clear he was covering the area from shoulder to ass.

  Eva was perfectly still, her breathing deep and even, the bliss fairly radiating from her like an aura. Jack’s hands itched with the need to wield that flogger. He should be the one giving this to Eva, not some stranger.

  A brief fantasy of pushing the man aside and wresting the flogger from him played in Jack’s mind, but he wouldn’t give in to it. He had no right. Eva had offered herself first to him, and he’d been too afraid, too unwilling to trust either Eva or himself, to seize what he now understood his heart longed for. He wanted to turn away. To walk, no, to run, out of the room and away from this scene of another man giving such evident pleasure to Eva, but he remained rooted to the spot, unable to look away.

  It seemed like an hour passed, but Jack knew in reality it was only a few minutes before the man lowered the flogger. Eva didn’t stir. The man put his arms around her from behind and cupped her breasts. Jack clenched his fists at his sides to keep from slamming them into the guy’s head, and bit his lip to keep from shouting. The man’s hands moved familiarly down the front of Eva’s body as he murmured something in her ear.

  Eva shook her head. “No,” she said quietly but resolutely. “I’m not ready for that. I’m sorry.”

  To his credit, the man dropped his arms and stepped back. “Next time,” he said.

  There won’t be a next time, dickhead, Jack thought uncharitably. In truth, Sir Gordon was behaving admirably. Another guy in his position might easily have copped another feel of those delicious breasts, or placed his hand between her long, lovely legs, but Sir Gordon did not. Instead, he unwound the rope that held Eva’s wrists bound overhead. Then he untied the blindfold and lifted it from her face.

  Jack held his breath as Eva blinked. As if she knew he was there, her head swiveled slowly toward him. As she focused on him, her mouth opened in a small O, her eyes widening. And then her lips lifted into the smile of an angel.

  “Jack,” she said.

  “Eva.”

  Stepping forward, he took her into his arms.

  Chapter 14

  “By all means. Clearly she belongs to you,” Sir Gordon said to Jack.

  Eva had to struggle to process the brief conversation that had just taken place between the two men while Jack held her close. Emerging from the haze of post-flogging bliss, combined with the pure joy of being wrapped in Jack’s arms, Eva turned to her scene partner and said with sincerity, “Thank you f
or the flogging, Sir Gordon. It was wonderful, Sir, truly.”

  “Trust me,” he replied, his eyes moving appreciatively over her, “the pleasure was all mine.” His tone became brisker as he continued, “But your Master’s wish to provide the aftercare is my command.” He bowed with an exaggerated wave of his hand toward Jack, but his smile was genuine.

  Your Master. Though Eva knew this wasn’t yet true, she definitely liked how it sounded, and tried out the words in her mind: Master Jack. She glanced at Jack, who appeared grave but pleased, as if Sir Gordon were according him his due.

  Jack led Eva to a small side room off the dungeon Sir Gordon had indicated was a recovery room. While the flogging had been intense, Eva’s pain tolerance was quite high, and her emotional investment in Sir Gordon nearly nonexistent. As a result, she didn’t particularly feel the need for aftercare, but the thought of letting Jack soothe and comfort her was a delicious one, and she went willingly with him.

  The small room contained a loveseat and a wingback chair, along with large pillows set on the ground against one of the walls. The floor was thickly carpeted, the lighting muted. Soft, ambient music played from a small speaker.

  Jack led her to the loveseat and pulled her onto his lap. His legs were muscular beneath her, and he wrapped his arms comfortingly around her from behind. She leaned back against him with a contented sigh.

  “Are you thirsty?” Jack’s voice startled Eva from a drifting peace.

  She opened her eyes and sat upright. On an end table beside the sofa were several bottles of water, along with hand towels and various tubes and jars Eva guessed contained soothing salves.

  “I am, actually. Thanks.”

  Jack lifted her gently from his lap and placed her beside him on the sofa. He reached for a bottle and twisted off the cap before handing it to her. Eva drank deeply. When she was done, Jack set the bottle down on the table.

  “Turn so I can see your back,” he instructed, and Eva obeyed. His touch was light as he moved his fingers over her skin. “He did a thorough job,” he remarked in what seemed to Eva a carefully neutral tone.