Claimed: The Decadence Club

by Alyssa Clark

  I decided, since I was up, I would take the time to explore her apartment. I wanted to see if there were any other details that I could pick up. And since I couldn’t find my clothes, I’d just have to do that in the buff.

  Her kitchen was immaculate and well stocked full of food I stood at her fridge and saw arrangements of bunches of herbs in glass bottles. There were vegetables that I couldn’t name in the drawers and bottles of what I assumed was wine in the door. But nothing I could just pull out and bite into. My stomach clenched and I resisted the urge to go wake her up. I’d figure out food after I finished looking around.

  I spotted a door close to the front of the apartment. At first, I thought it could be a closet, but a quick glance into it proved me wrong. It was tiny bedroom, half the size of the one she used, and not far from being a closet. All that was in there was boxes, several took up a corner each with a black X marked on the side. Curiosity got the better of me, and I went into the little room to investigate. Only one box was open and when I looked inside it was easy enough to deduce what was in the other boxes.

  I found a collar that had a thickness to it, something I doubted would be for an animal. There were metal rings on three sides of it, and I could take a guess at what their uses were for. Did he walk her around on a leash? Was that something she wanted? From the looks of it, if she wore it, she wouldn’t be able to look down.

  I couldn’t understand the reasoning for wanting something like this, but like Angela suggested, it was probably better for me not to try to. I could understand the enjoyment of having a woman wait on you, especially when it was obvious that was something she wanted. I put the collar back into the box, and I pulled out another, only this one had a large red ball on it. It wasn’t a collar, from the circle of bite marks in the red ball I could take a wild guess as to what it was for.

  “It’s a ball gag,” she supplied for me even though I didn’t need her to.

  “You can throw it away,” I said and went back to the box. I pulled out the collar that I found first. “This can go in the garbage, too.”

  “There a reason why you want me to throw them away?” she asked. I couldn’t define her tone, so I looked back at her. She looked small in the doorway. It was almost as if she were afraid of my answer.

  I didn’t drop the shit back in the box, but I turned back to look at her. “I’m assuming that the asshole bought this shit for you?” She nodded, still looking timid. “That collar is like his claim on you, right?” I got another nod. “Well, I don't know if you remember this or not, but I did tell him you were mine. Ain’t no sense and keeping his collar.” I tossed it on the floor with the ball gag, like it was something that disgusted me. I turned back to the box to see if I could figure anything else out of what was in there. “That’s something we can replace. We don’t need any further reminders of him.”

  “What about the gag?” I heard her step into the room. “Are you sure you want to throw that away, too?”

  “It’s not something I’m gonna use on you,” I assured her as I found a pair of heavy leather cuffs. The leather was thick, much like the collar had been, and probably cost a pretty penny. I was willing to bet there were a few thousand bucks in these boxes.

  All of it was for sexual pleasure.

  My curiosity was starting to get the best of me, I could feel it with the way my cock twitched. The fact that she came to find me in here didn’t help. “I like hearing the noises you make,” I told her and glanced over a shoulder at her. “Even when you struggle to stay quiet. So, no,” I could see the flush starting on her face, “not gonna need a ball gag.”

  “Did you…” She sounded excited and paused like she was trying to get control over that. “Did you see anything you wanted to use on me?”

  “Didn’t even get to go through the box,” I shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant about it. “But I’m betting if we unpack some of this shit we can find a thing or two I can use on you. Question is,” I looked around the little room we both stood in, “do you want to do that today?”

  I had my back to her now as I found what I thought was a vibrator. It had a bulb on the top of it and beneath that was a control panel. I switched it on but found that it had to be plugged into work. I wondered what kind of power it had to it if it needed to be plugged in.

  “Please…” Her voice was quiet and something I could only describe as a beg. “Please, Master. I want nothing more for you to use me.”

  I turned back to her, seeing her kneeling in the doorway now. Her eyes were huge and her face flushed. It was a pretty picture to look at, especially since she hadn’t bothered to get any clothes on either.

  “I don’t want you calling me that, I'm not going to use you if you do.” I held the vibrator in my hand and pulled on the wire until the plug came out of the box, too. “What’s my name?”

  “Easton,” she said without hesitation.

  “I don’t want you screaming ‘master’ when I’m making you cum.” I looked down at her, and I felt a thrill of power. “You’re gonna scream Easton when you cum. You gonna beg for shit, you’re gonna say my name. I don’t wanna hear ‘master’ from you at all. Understand?”

  “Yes,” she said with a reverence then she hesitated. “Easton.”

  “Who do you belong to?” I asked because I wanted to hear her say it.

  “You,” she said it again that same reverence without any sort of hesitation. “Easton.”

  “Good to hear you say it.” I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing and how I was going to give her what she wanted. But I got the feeling this was a step in the right direction. From the lust looking back up at me, I was betting she was willing to be patient enough for me to figure it out or at least lead me down the right path.

  I was also betting this was something I was going to enjoy learning.

  17

  "So," I said and started adjusting the dry cleaning bag on my shoulder. "I'm not canned?"

  My question was answered with an icy glare. "No. I can't force you to have good sense. I can't punish you for making a bad decision on your own that doesn't actively affect my business" Angela took a moment to purse her lips and look as if she were carefully considering her words. It was obvious she was pissed though. She didn't bother to hide that. "It's just your health," she shrugged nonchalantly. "Why should I give a damn about that?"

  "It was just a punch." I rolled my eyes. With all the shit she did to other people I was beginning to doubt that she'd ever actually been in a fight. It's probably unlikely she'd ever been on the receiving end of her whip. That Clarke guy didn't look like the type to bend her over his knee either. "I've been hit with worse."

  She stomped her foot and growled at me, "That's not the point."

  "What is the point then?"

  "Any time a situation occurs like that on my property you are to see a doctor," she snapped at me like she was talking to one of her submissive employees. The fact that I wasn't reacting accordingly only seemed to infuriate her more.

  "In the event," I started slowly, trying to reel in her temper. I doubted she would put her hands on me, but I knew without a doubt that was something she wanted to do. "That something happens like that again, I will do the smart thing."

  "Good."

  "I won't get hit," I finished with a smirk.

  There was a string of curses that came out of her that didn’t entirely meet with the look she usually presented to everyone. “Had I known that you were going to be such a pain in the ass,” she huffed then pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t even get anything out of this.”

  “Yeah? Well, don’t take this out on the lawyer.” I felt like I had to step in for the guy. I didn’t know what their relationship was like, but I was betting she was probably a handful to deal with. “I need him in good shape while I’m working here, I can see that already.”

  She frowned at me then pulled out a phone. “What happens between your lawyer and me, stays between us. That’s not something you can keep
me from doing.” She shook her head and typed at her phone. “Mr. Franklin has put in measures for when Mr. Morton is released from the hospital. Matt thinks there’s a good chance that he might try to press charges even with everything they found in the car lot.”

  “What do you want me to do?” That sobered me a lot. The picking I was doing with her went to the wayside, and I felt things getting serious. “Is there shit I can do?”

  “Right now,” she said evenly, “I’m going to make sure that Mr. Lau does the bulk of keeping his eyes on the rooms. If anything occurs in there, it seems like it would be a better idea for him to handle it. Not that I don’t appreciate your eye for a damsel in distress,” she snorted like she was making a joke.

  I guess it was my turn to feel irritated. “What the fuck are you going to get me to do?”

  “Just watch the floor,” she murmured as she kept typing. “I think what I want to do is maybe set up some sort of communication system between you, Mr. Lau, and myself.” I hazarded a glance at her phone, and I could see she was shopping. “It may be a good idea to hire another bouncer, too.”

  “You gonna cut my hours?” I didn’t mean to sound pissed about it, but it wasn’t something I was prepared for.

  “No,” she didn’t look at me, “but I’m sure now with your submissive you would like another day off, wouldn’t you?”

  I couldn’t argue that. Only I narrowed my eyes at her. “If you’re gonna do that, I need you to do me a favor.”

  “Oh please, do tell,” she sounded amused. “How can I do my employee a favor?”

  “That day off you give me, give me access to your back room,” I didn’t need to elaborate on what I was talking about. I could see the interest in her eyes. “She likes being watched. I want to do what I can to please her, but I don’t know people like you do.”

  “Well,” she looked intrigued, “I don’t object to that. Granted, all you needed to do was ask. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind giving you access to any of the rooms. There will be times when the back den is closed off.” She smiled a little. “I think you can see we were putting in plans to expand and I can’t have anyone back there while construction is going on. This has grown into something bigger than I first thought. So, even if I hire another bouncer, it's not likely that I would need to cut your hours as you seem to think I would.”

  That was a relief. I rolled my shoulders and nodded. “Are you gonna close up that spot you got there completely?”

  “No,” she said as she put her phone away, apparently deciding to concentrate on our conversation. “Now that you mention Ms. Sullivan’s tastes though it seems like it might be a good idea to keep it quartered off as a private room with the option to have an audience.” She hummed then and turned away from me, apparently losing me in favor of the idea she had. “I could charge more to rent it out.”

  “Great,” I grunted and went to the bathroom to change. There were about forty-five minutes before the club opened, but I might as well get the monkey suit on. Get ready for the grind to start.

  I had my slacks up and my shirt still opened when Angela poked her head into the men’s room, still not caring for privacy. I glowered at her. “Mrs. Cawfield will be joining us tonight, by the way. I hope you gave her some kind of heads up as to what kind of club this is. I wouldn’t want her to have any sort of heart attack when she gets here.”

  “If she’s here before the customers get in it shouldn’t be a problem,” I grunted at her as I started to work on my buttons. “Don’t try to win her over to work here. I don’t need to deal with two hard-ass bitches while I’m at work.”

  “If she’s interested, I just might do that.” She gave me a smirk. “If she can put you in your place then I might have to see what I can do to sign her on.”

  “I got four months left on parole, woman,” I snapped back at her. “If you do that shit I might get arrested again.” Because I’d have to throttle her for doing that. I liked Suzanne, but I didn’t want to fucking work with her. I had to deal with her once a month, I didn’t know if I would like her if I had to deal with her more than that.

  “The idea is already there.” She closed the door, and I could hear her through it. “Going to have to sell me hard on not doing it.”

  “Let me get with your man,” I stuffed my shirt tails into my slacks and went to the door. “How much money you want to bet he’d like to string you up for a change? Bet if he has a little help he’d have you in your place.”

  She was halfway through the break room to the door that led to the main room of the club, she had paused as if my words had struck a chord with her. She gave me a glare that I was sure would’ve sent Tabitha cowering. “You aren’t allowed to talk to Matt unless he’s dealing with anything legal,” she ground out at me.

  Yeah. I got her where I wanted her.

  I gave her a smirk and leaned against the door frame. “You keep Suzanne business, and I’ll keep Clarke business. Do we have a deal, Boss?”

  Her features twitched, and she turned back to me. “We have a deal. I hope you’re comfortable here, Mr. Davis. Because you’re going to make it damn hard for me to let you walk out.”

  I snorted and smirked at her, “Well, if it makes you feel better, I’ll be here to ‘till you fire me.”

  “That’s good to know.” She turned back to make her trek back out into the club. “Because I get this feeling like I’ll need your help as we grow.”

  “You watch my back, Boss,” I straightened up the button down and adjusted my slacks so the creases looked right, And I’ll watch yours.”

  Our banter ended with that, and I took the rest of my time getting ready for work before I clocked in. I was relieved, even knowing Suzanne was going to be visiting. But there was something to the knowledge that Angela wasn’t going to make any sort of attempt to recruit her.

  Shit was starting to look up.

  Epilogue

  “It’s not a handout,” Tabitha argued in a tone that I was going to have to beat her for later. “It’s getting you out of this shit hole.” We were standing in my apartment, and she was trying her hardest to win me over to the idea of moving in with her. It’d been two months, close to three. I wasn’t ready for that, yet. I didn’t have a good excuse for why I wasn’t. “You might as well be living with me already, the only difference is you are still paying rent on this place. Think of the money you could be saving.”

  “Stop,” I growled in a warning as I packed a bag of clothes for the week. “I’m not moving in with you.”

  She made a noise of irritation. “What’s your reasoning behind telling me no?”

  I gritted my teeth to keep from snapping at her. I took a deep breath and leveled a look at her. “I don’t want to be dependent on you. Just because your place is better for the shit you want doesn’t mean I’m going to come mooch off of you just so I have a decent place to beat your ass in.”

  Her arms folded over her chest and I was beginning to miss the meek thing that I first met. Now after a few months of getting to know one another, she was getting a little bit of sass. On purpose. Something I should have realized when I figured she was enjoying her punishment a little too much.

  “Split the rent with me then,” she snapped back because she really was asking for it. “God knows that’s one less thing for me to stress out about. We can split the rent and utilities fifty-fifty.”

  I paused in the middle of shoving underwear into my bag, really the only bit of clothing that was important. Jeans and shirts were just shit I wore between going to work and going to her apartment. I had been considering the ways to correct her when I have to think about what she’s saying.

  Splitting it down the middle?

  I turned to look at her. “And what about when I need my own space?”

  Her mouth opened as if she had a retort then she faltered. She didn’t think about that. Her face flushed and I turned to go into the bathroom. I hadn’t shaved in a while and the beard I was sporting needed a trim. I didn’t want
to go full-on mountain man with this look, but I was enjoying the growth.

  “You could lock me in the room,” it was said softly, and at first, I didn’t know if I heard her right.

  “What?”

  “Tie me up.” She came up behind me, and I could see her expression reflected in the mirror. “However you want and leave me in the room.”

  We had adapted her spare room into a space where we could play. I’d taken up a day a week with Angela leading the way. But I liked having a private place, even knowing she had a thing for exhibitionism, I didn’t. So I was more than willing to restrain her and spank her while others watched, but when it came to fucking of any kind, I saved that for when we got home. As often as I could, sometimes I’d get caught up in the moment and there’d be no holding back.

  I paused again because this place was my apartment, a place I kept my shit. I didn’t think of it as home. “Fuck me,” I grumbled. I thought of her apartment as home. I don’t know when I’d started thinking about it like that, but it was obvious to me now. This place wasn’t home anymore.