by Roop, Cassy
The look on Dominic’s face was the one that hurt me the most. His eyes showed fear, anger and most of all hurt. I could see the vein in his neck pulsating at a rapid speed. It was almost like our hearts were synced in time, beating at the same rate. It was the last time I would feel connected to him, a part of him, because, I was about to eradicate any connection that we had ever made.
“I have received monetary compensation for favors from both Mr. Michaels and Mr. Tanner.”
“What kind of favors, Ashley?” Officer Russell asked.
“Sexual favors,” I whispered. Everyone started talking at once. Members and staff who had been oblivious to what was happening around them now gathered around when they saw the police officers surrounding us. I could hear all the murmurs of the crowd as they called me a slut and a whore. I didn’t care, they could call me whatever they wanted. Nothing mattered to me anymore. They couldn’t feel any worse about me than I already did about myself.
“That’s bullshit and you know it, Ashley!” Knox yelled. Drake came over and pulled Knox back because he looked like he could charge at me any moment to try to bring me to my senses.
“Why are you doing this, Ashley? Why would you lie about something like this?” Kelly begged me to answer. I couldn’t look her in the eye. I knew her heart was breaking because she knew what the outcome of this would be for Knox.
The one person who mattered to me most in the entire room stood stark still. He didn’t move, didn’t flinch. His eyes were glued to me, but I was afraid to look at him. I knew that if I looked into his eyes, that I would shatter into a million pieces.
I watched him turn away and look to Officer Russell.
“I assure you Officer that I have never paid anyone for any sexual favors. She was more than willing to let me fuck her for free. Actually, I watched her salivate at the mouth to get her hands on my cock,” he said through gritted teeth. His anger was starting to show through the initial shock now, and I knew he was trying to hurt me like I was hurting him.
“Well, I am afraid that I am going to have to place you and Mr. Tanner under arrest pending an investigation.”
“You have the right to remain silent…” Officer Russell said as he forcefully grabbed Dominic and slapped the metal handcuffs on his wrists behind his back. Each click of the cuffs closing around Dominic’s wrists was like another nail into my already broken heart. An officer did the same to Knox and both men didn’t try to struggle.
“Ashley, why the fuck are you doing this? You know this isn’t true!” Knox pleaded.
I couldn’t stop the tears from coursing down my face now. I chanced a look at the man who had grown to be a good friend to me and said the only thing I could.
“I’m sorry.”
“You should be!” Dominic roared, “I trusted you! I let go of everything for you! I fucking fell in love with you, and this is how you repay me? What is it you want, Ashley? Money? I’ll give you every fucking dime I have if you tell them this isn’t true. Don’t fucking do this!”
For the remainder of my time on Earth, I would never forget the look on Dominic’s face as he and Knox were led out of the club in handcuffs. Both men begging me to stop what was happening. My best friend was yelling at me and pulling at my arms to go after the officers carrying away the men we both loved. All I could do was stand in place, there inside The Celtic Knot like a statue made of stone. It was the place where everything began for me. It was where I could finally take hold of my own future and do things for me. It was where I met the man I had desperately, and irrevocably fallen in love with.
It was also where everything ended.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading Ashley’s Bend. I know you are probably angry at me for the ending, but don’t worry, There will be more soon! In the meantime, continue reading for a sneak peak of more of Dominic and Ashley’s story that will continue in book 2 Figure Eight (A Celtic Knot Novel).
The slow, torturous sound of water dripping from the faucet of the sink in the corner of the room, echoed off of the walls making my already fragile state even worse. I was ready to crack, ready to break. I tried to synchronize my rapidly beating heart to match the rhythm of each deafening drip that splashed against the smooth porcelain of the sink. Anything I could try to get my mind off of the reason I was sitting inside this cold, damp, concrete room with my hands fisted in my hair, trying to restrain the rage that coursed through my body.
The bed I was sitting on held an old, dingy pad of nothing. I wouldn’t even give it the definition of the word mattress because in order to be considered as one, one had to actually exist. Mustering all the strength I could find, I pushed myself up off of the bed and started to pace the floor. My hands clenched and unclenched as I tried to get control over the emotions and anger that consumed me.
Not being able to contain my violent, uncontrollable anger anymore, I reared my arm back and pain shot through my hand as my fist collided with the concrete wall. The cracking of my bones after the impact of my punch was nothing compared to the shattered pieces of my heart. The sandpaper texture of the concrete walls caused a trickle of blood to run down from my knuckles and drip on the floor; the blood a reproduction of my soul trying to escape the confines of the brokenness I felt inside.
“You get blood all over the place, Michaels, and your ass is cleaning it up yourself,” Officer Russell said to me as he sat at his desk with his feet propped on top and crossed at the ankles. The corners of his mouth turned up in a sardonic smirk as he looked at me through the metal bars of the jail cell. He rested his head in the hands that were threaded together behind his head, like he didn’t have a care in the world. His relaxed demeanor and smug looking attitude only pissed me off more.
“Fuck you,” I bit out through clenched teeth. I bit down so hard I could feel my teeth grind together, and my jaw locked as I fought against every fiber of my being that was telling me to lose it, lose all my control.
“Seems to me, fucking got you in trouble in the first place, Nic. I wouldn’t push it if I were you,” Officer Russell said driving a stake even deeper into my already pierced heart. My thoughts drifted back to the night before when all I wanted to do was return to the club and see the one woman who above all others, had stolen my soul completely. It was her that broke through the fortress I built around my heart when no one else was ever able to. I couldn’t wait to get back to her after being in New Orleans for a week. Little did I know that my world was going to come crashing to an abrupt halt.
“Only my friends get to call me Nic, watch your fucking mouth, asshole,” I growled at him. Russell’s use of my nickname made me try to push past my infuriation to come to the realization that I was not the only one who was arrested.
“Where is Knoxville?” I demanded as my barely slightly diminished anger came back full force. Not only had my monumental fuck up landed me in jail on prostitution charges, but my best friend and business partner as well.
“He is being interrogated. Last I heard, your boy is singing like a canary, so don’t be thinking your sorry ass is going to get out of here anytime soon.” Russell beamed as he brought his feet down from on top of his desk and began to twirl a set of keys around his fingers. I knew he was doing it to taunt me, to make me think that he had control over my freedom with something as frivolous as a set of keys. My eyes focused on each revolution of the metal ring of Russell’s goading on his boney, crooked finger before I abruptly focused my attention back to the situation that Knox and I were in.
“That’s bullshit and you know it, Russell. Knox and I are completely innocent so why would he have any need to spill information that isn’t true? Mark my words, when I get this all straightened out, it will be you and your douchebag friend, Asher, who will be on this side of the bars.” I stated matter-of-factly before I did an about face and went to sit back down on the bed.
Maybe I shouldn’t have stopped Asher from hurting her.
No, even I wasn’t that sadistic enough to allow a wom
an to be taken against her will. Why did she do this to me, to us? For the first time in my life, I allowed a woman inside; I allowed myself to feel emotions that I had never felt before. I told myself in the beginning that it was wrong and that everything would come crashing in around me and right I was. Closing my eyes, I couldn’t escape the haunting image of blonde hair and green eyes. Her smile, her laugh all burned into my psyche permanently, and I was unable to escape the pure torture of her memory.
I thought falling in love with a woman was the hardest thing that I have ever been through, but her betrayal was by far worse to deal with. I knew I was risking my heart when I fell in love with Ashley; I didn’t know I would be risking my entire life as well.
A commotion from the other side of the room caught my attention, and I lifted my head to find Madame V speaking to one of the officers in a heated manner. She pointed over to where I was sitting in the dark cell, and I watched as Russell approached his colleague and placed his hand on his shoulder. I strained to try to hear the conversation as I pushed myself up from the bed and walked over to palm the cold metal bars of my cell, wrapping my fingers around them.
Russell said a few words to the other officer and soon Madame V was making her way over to me. It was different to see her out of her dominatrix attire and in worn jeans and a sky blue t-shirt and her long chestnut hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. Victoria Spencer, her given name, looked distraught as she approached me in my steel cage.
“Nic, what the hell is going on? Prostitution charges, really?” she asked as her warm hands folded over mine that were still gripped onto the bars, the concern and confusion written on her face was eminent.
“I’m not sure, Vic, but I need to get out of here to find out. My lawyer is on his way, but you should have access to the club credit account. There should be plenty of funds in it to get Knox and me out of here,” I told her.
“They haven’t posted your bail yet, Nic. Trust me, I have already tried.” She sighed frustratingly.
“Fuck, what is taking so long? Have you talked to Knox?” My questions were rapid firing as my agitation grew more and more.
“No, I came to you first, Nic. How could she have done this to you? I always thought there was something different about her. She doesn’t deserve you, Nic,” Victoria stated with earnest.
The same questions circulated through my mind as I went over the events from the night before. The look on Ashley’s face as she told Russell and the other officers present that I had paid her in return for sexual favors would not erase from my mind. The night constantly played over and over in my head like a movie stuck on repeat. I was angry, hurt, devastated; all the things my mother felt when my father would betray her. I should have stuck to my guns and my instincts and just fucked her and moved on, but only my heart wouldn’t allow it.
“I don’t know, but you bet your sweet ass I am going to get to the bottom of it. I don’t know if she did it for spite, money or what, but it fucking hurt, Vic, she has fucking gutted me,” I admitted.
When the fuck had I turned into such a pansy? Oh yeah, the day she walked into my club.
I leaned my head against the bars that separated Victoria and I, trying to will some relief for the pain I was feeling. My entire body felt like shards of glass were protruding from my skin; each piece of glass was a memory of where she touched me, physically and mentally. The biggest piece was piercing my heart.
“I’m here for you and Knox no matter what, Nic. I will do anything in my power to help you two get out of this. I will testify, whatever you need. Just ask,” she said to me as her hands caressed mine. It felt too intimate, a reminder of what I allowed Ashley to do, and I pulled my hands away to run them frustratingly through my hair.
“Thanks, I appreciate that, Vic, more than you know.”
Russell walked up right then and gave Victoria a strange look. I couldn’t quite figure out what it was and all too quickly it went away, leaving me slightly curious.
“Time for you to go, Miss. Your visit is over.”
“I meant what I said, Nic,” Victoria said right before she turned to leave me in my confined cage. I went back over to the bed and laid back trying to see if I could get some rest while I waited for my lawyer to show.
She was bound and completely at my mercy. My hands sifted through her long silky blonde hair before I fisted it in my hands to force her to look up at me. The green emerald pools that stared back at me shined with arousal, want and desperation. Her mouth was parted, and I could see the rapid rise and fall of her chest as she struggled to bring air into her lungs. A drop of sweat rolled down her chest to land between the valley of her swollen breasts and I quickly lapped it up with my tongue to trace the trail it left on her skin. The salty taste of her smooth alabaster skin was intoxicating, and I wanted more.
Walking her backwards, I pushed her down into the wooden chair beside the bed and quickly tied her legs to the side of it, leaving her dripping wet pussy open and waiting for me. I bound her arms to the back of the chair, giving myself complete control of her delectable body. The evidence of her arousal was already seeping onto the wood of the chair, and I grew jealous of such an inanimate object for getting a taste of her first. Her skin was flushed and the soft mewls of desire she was experiencing had my cock pressing hard into my jeans begging for a release.
Kneeling in front of her, I ran the palms of my hands up and down her thighs, stroking the polished velvet skin before tracing my fingers into the moist folds of her core. Her head fell back, and she sighed just from the relief she felt that I was touching her where she ached for me most. Inserting two fingers inside, I began to stroke the walls of her pussy aiming for that very sensitive spot that I knew would drive her wild. Her breathing became panicked as she sought desperately for her release. I had never seen anything more gorgeous in my life than my girl begging me to pleasure her. I found myself wanting to give her that pleasure. For once in my life, I cared about another person enough to want them to be happy and satisfied instead of my own selfish wants and needs.
Suddenly, I felt the cold slap of metal clamps on my wrists, and I looked up to find her no longer bound by the ropes I confined her in, but instead her hands were placed over the handcuffs that now circumvented my wrists. I looked up at her in confusion, not understanding what was happening. She removed her hands from the cuffs and quickly stood up to tower over me.
“Who is in control, now?” she said before she walked away from me leaving me cuffed and kneeling on the floor.
“Dominic...”
“Dominic...”
I sat straight up from the bed trying to calm my breathing while I worked to focus my eyes on my surroundings. My back felt stiff and achy from falling asleep on the disgusting excuse for a bed, and I reached around to rub it, trying to relieve the discomfort.
Where the hell am I? Right...jail.
“Dominic…”
I tilted my chin up to find the source of the voice calling my name to see my lawyer, Toby Johnson, standing on the other side of my cell.
Damn it’s about time.
“Good, you’re awake. I’ve been calling your name for several minutes trying to grab your attention.”
“Sorry, man, I must have dozed off. What took you so long to get here?” I asked him in a not so gentle manner.
Toby was a tall blonde haired guy who was close to my age. We met when I opened The Celtic Knot in Reno, Nevada and he had worked for me ever since. He may not look like a rough and tough lawyer with his pretty boy appearance, but he was one of the best in his field, and I had no doubt that he would help rectify the situation that Knox and I were in. His slightly wrinkled dress shirt and slacks told me that he got ready in a rush.
“I was in Sacramento, I had to catch the fucking red eye to get here. What the hell is going on, Dominic? We have never had an issue like this before with any of the clubs,” Toby stated matter-of-factly.
Well, I never let myself be vulnerable to a woman before, ei
ther. I thought to myself as I sat on the bed stewing in my own personal hell.
“I don’t know what the fuck is going on, Toby. I...I just don’t know,” I sighed in frustration.
“Do you even know the woman who has accused you and The Celtic Knot of being involved in prostitution?”
Did I really know her? I had become obsessed with her, even fell in love with her, but did I really know her? All I knew is that she left a marriage from a man who had cheated on her, and that was the reason that she walked into my club those few months ago, and I have been consumed by and transfixed by her ever since. My stomach turned as I thought about her betrayal all over again, but what really had me feeling sick was the fact that I still loved her, even after what she did to me. My nails dug into the palms of my hands as I clenched my fists tightly at the thought.
“Yeah, I know her,” I admitted.
“Why the hell would she make false accusations against you then, Dominic? Was she one of your contracts, or a one-time thing looking to get something out of you rejecting her like you do all the others?” Toby questioned as he paced back and forth in front of my cell. He had his hands in his pockets and his gaze toward the floor as if trying to come up with a solution to get me out of the mess I was in.
“What would make her want to do this to you then?”
“Maybe she realized just what kind of man he really is…” Officer Russell said interrupting our conversation.
“Shut the fuck up, Russell,” I growled
“Dominic, don’t stoop to his level,” Toby warned me, but it was really hard not to want to punch the smug look off of Russell’s face.