by K. A. Linde
Bryna shrugged. “I was plotting revenge.”
“Revenge plots! Count us in,” Avery squeaked.
“I’ll call in reinforcements if necessary, but for now, I have it covered.” At least she would when she figured out how to bring Pace down. The bastard would realize she was not to be messed with.
“Well, we were just asking about Jemma’s party,” Tara said.
“Yeah. Did you want to coordinate, so we arrive together?”
“Excuse me?” Bryna arched an eyebrow.
Avery and Tara exchanged hesitant glances.
“You can totally arrive last, Bri. We don’t want to impose. We’ll let you know what we’re wearing, so you can make a grand entrance,” Tara said quickly. She chewed on her thumbnail and turned to Avery for back up.
“Even better,” Avery said, “we can find out what Jemma is wearing!”
“Plan our own sabotage!”
“Girls,” Bryna said, holding up her hand, “I’m not going to Jemma’s party.”
“You’re not?” they asked in unison.
“No.”
“But her parents are out of town. I heard she even invited guys from Covenant,” Avery told her.
Covenant was another local private school. They were rumored to have the hottest guys, and Harmony girls all flocked to them to find out if it was true. Bryna always thought that the rumor had been spread by people who couldn’t get into Harmony.
“Who needs Covenant when I have all of Los Angeles to myself?”
Avery and Tara shared a confused look, and Bryna sighed dramatically.
“Max got me on the list at a completely exclusive new club. It’s so outrageous that it doesn’t even have a name right now. Everyone is just calling it X.”
“X?” Tara asked.
“Like ecstasy?” Avery guessed.
Bryna laughed. “Let’s hope that’s just the warm-up round.”
Both girls giggled.
“You truly are the queen, Bri,” Avery fawned. Tara nodded enthusiastically.
“I know.” She smiled with approval at her two subjects.
Her English teacher started up his lecture, and Bryna pulled out her phone. She typed out a text message to get her plan set in motion.
Max, get me on the list for X on Saturday night.
“YOU PLANNED THIS WHOLE THING, didn’t you?” Pace asked, barging into her room.
“That’s it. I’m going to get a deadbolt installed on my bedroom door. I don’t even know how you got through that lock!” Bryna cried.
Pace produced a credit card. “Don’t they teach you spoiled rich kids anything?”
“Clearly not,” she drawled sarcastically. “Now, get the fuck out of my room.”
“You think this is all a game? Is that what your fucking text meant?” he demanded.
“Oh, so you did read it.”
She crossed her arms and sank into her hip. At least she was finally getting through to him. Even if she couldn’t keep him out of her fucking room.
“Don’t fuck with me, Bri. My mom is downstairs right now. She just told me that she hasn’t seen me enough, and suddenly, me and the twins are supposed to have a family night.” Pace accusingly glared at Bryna.
Bryna shrugged innocently. “I can’t help what your mom wants you to do.”
“And it all happens on the same night as the biggest house party of the year. It’s not a fucking coincidence!”
Her grin only widened. “Coincidences happen all the time, Pace.”
“Is this just a pathetic attempt to get back at me for talking to your cheer coach?’ he demanded. He looked ready to blow a gasket. “Or are you just pissed because you’re not queen of Harmony anymore?”
“If I’m not queen, then why am I leaving to go to X while you’re staying here to play board games?” she asked with a triumphant smile.
“You think you’re going to leave this house and go to some ecstasy party while I’m stuck here?” Pace crossed his arms and stood in her way. A bulldozer could have been less formidable. “Fuck no.”
“That’s cute.” She fluttered her fingers at him, trying to remain nonplussed. “But I’m not part of whatever family gathering you have planned for tonight. As far as I’m concerned, you’re just some total creeper living in my house, so get the fuck out of my way.”
“Or else what?” he asked.
“Or else I’ll scream. Try to explain that one.” She sent him a seething stare.
He glared back at her, but then he stepped out of the way. “I’m going to get you for this.”
“Whatever, Pace.”
Bryna strode out of her room and down the giant staircase. Her stepmother was standing at the bottom of the stairs. She smiled and waved Bryna over.
“Bryna, dear, have you seen where Pace ran off to? He was supposed to grab a sweater and then be right down. The twins just picked out a movie.”
“Yes. He’s in my room, jerking off.”
Celia jolted at the coarse phrasing. “He’s…what?”
“You’ll have to see for yourself.”
“I’ll check on him in a minute,” she said uncertainly.
Celia focused back on Bryna. She surveyed Bryna up and down in her tight strapless red dress and mile-high strappy fuck-me boots. Her long blonde hair was pulled over one shoulder, and her makeup was dark, smoky, and seductive. She was a walking sexpot.
“You don’t look like you’re staying in for family night in that outfit.” Celia looked like she wanted to say “young lady” at the end of the sentence, but somehow managed to restrain herself.
“That’s because I’m not,” Bryna said, grabbing her black leather moto jacket off of a hook and brushing past her stepmom.
“I know you don’t always like what I have to say, Bryna, but I think if you go out in that outfit you’re going to give boys the wrong idea.”
Bryna sighed and then looked at her stepmom with fake sympathy. “First off, I’m not attracting boys, and second, I think I’m giving them exactly the right idea.”
She wrenched open the front door and left her stepmom standing there in shock. She was sure that Celia wanted to say something more, but thankfully Bryna had stunned her into silence. She didn’t need to hear anymore about what kind of guys her body would attract. She was already well aware, and her stepmother was an idiot if she thought that Bryna didn’t already know what to do with her body.
A limo was waiting for her in the private circle drive in front of her parents’ mansion. When she stepped inside, Avery and Tara were already in the limo.
They both gasped when they saw her.
“You look so fucking hot!” Avery cried.
“Seriously, no guy will be able to resist you,” Tara agreed.
“I just wish we knew who the guy was who has stolen you away,” Avery said excitedly. She nudged Bryna in the side and exchanged an eager look with Tara.
“Yeah, we’ve been waiting for you to spill,” Tara said.
“What?” Bryna asked, reaching for the champagne to cover her shock.
She hadn’t told anyone that she was seeing someone new. Ever since she and Gates had officially broken up, she had been playing up the single life at school, so no one would suspect. Somehow, the rumor was flying around anyway. She suspected Pace’s treachery.
“Oh, come on. We know you’re dating someone. Who is it?” Avery asked. “Is it a Covenant guy? Is that why we’re avoiding Jemma’s party? You’re not ready to be seen together yet?”
Bryna took a sip of the champagne and let the bubbly cool her temper. She needed to squash these rumors and fast. “We’re not going to the party because Max got us on the list at X. I don’t even know why I have to explain this. Plus, I’d never downgrade to a Covenant guy. Don’t insult me.”
“We didn’t—”
“That’s not what we—”
“Save it,” Bri said, holding up her hand. “Let’s toast to X and sweet, sweet revenge tonight.”
The girls
clinked their glasses together and then tossed their drinks back. By the time they got through traffic, they were well into their second bottle of champagne and feeling the buzz. They exited the limo in front of a blank gray building. To anyone else passing by, it just looked like a warehouse, but Bryna knew it was the scandalous nightclub X. The best places in town had no signs and no advertisement. X was no exception. Only the hottest, most select group of people knew this place existed.
Bryna and her friends sauntered right up to the man with the clipboard at the door and were whisked inside within seconds. She silently thanked Max for getting them on the list.
The room was dark with red lighting shining through divided sheer curtains. Gorgeous girls in red-and-black lingerie danced on pedestals. A hip-hop beat thumped loudly in the background. Couples were already making out on the dance floor or fondling each other in the mostly obscure corners. It was raunchy and enticing and everything she wanted in one place. It was not as sophisticated as Allure and not as high school as Luxe.
The girls were escorted to a booth with bottle service. A set of curtains separated them from some hot businessmen. Avery was already making eyes at one of them through the divider. The man slid between the curtains and asked her to dance while Bryna popped open another bottle of Dom.
A gorgeous man glanced her way, and she knew without even offering him a smile that he would come over. Tonight was one to indulge, and while he was undeniably attractive, she didn’t want to indulge too much. She would take her excess with alcohol and drugs, not with her other vices. She and Jude hadn’t drawn any exclusivity lines, but she didn’t want to jeopardize the possibility by fucking around with some other guy.
“Dance?” the man asked, nodding his head toward the floor where Avery had just disappeared.
Bryna considered his offer. She promised herself that she would be careful. Dancing wouldn’t cause any harm. She had no intention of going further. Plus, she couldn’t come out to the hottest nightclub and not get lost in the music for a little while. She was only young once.
“Sure. Why not?” She gave him an irresistible smile and then downed her full glass of champagne.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the booth. Tara followed shortly afterward with another guy from a nearby table. They danced through three songs beside Avery and Tara. Then, Bryna left to get another drink. She grabbed her phone as she poured herself a flute of champagne. She stopped with the drink halfway to her lips when she realized she had missed two calls from Jude.
“Fuck!”
She wasn’t going to be able to hear a fucking thing in the club. Knocking back the drink, she found somewhere quiet and called him back.
“Hey, Bri.”
“Hey!” she called over the noise. “Sorry I missed you. What’s up?”
“I got back into the city, and already, my flight out is delayed until the morning due to horrible East Coast weather, which means that I’m free for the night. I’d like to spend it with you.”
Bryna contemplated what to do. There was no way that Avery and Tara could know that Jude was the guy she had been seeing, and she simply couldn’t introduce Jude to her high school friends. Both things were bound to end up in disaster. Yet she couldn’t exactly abandon Avery and Tara after hyping up X all week. They would be suspicious about why she was leaving, and then they would think she really was jetting off to see her mysterious boyfriend.
She bit her lip and tried to figure a solution to the puzzle. She needed to figure out a way to make this all work without getting caught in the crossfire.
An idea popped into her head, and she smiled devilishly. “ Want to play a game?”
He chuckled seductively. “I’m listening.”
“When we get off the line, I’ll text you the address of the nightclub where I am, and I’ll make sure your name is on the list. I’ve suddenly forgotten who you are. So, come and find a hot blonde in a red dress and seduce her. She might go home with you—if you’re lucky.”
A FEW MINUTES LATER, Jude had the address to X, and his name was on the list. Bryna occupied herself with dancing, switching up partners to keep any one guy from monopolizing her time. She was giddy and jittery at the same time.
Jude was coming here.
She couldn’t suppress the fluttering in her stomach at the prospect of seeing him in such a way. Not to mention the nerves knowing that she could get caught with him, knowing that anything could go wrong. It was dangerous and thus, unbelievably enticing.
At one point while they were on the dance floor, Tara disappeared. Avery claimed Tara just had to use the restroom, but the guy she had been with was gone too. It took her twenty minutes to surface, and she looked both disheveled and smug. Bryna just laughed at her friend’s poor excuse and moved her hips to the beat of the music.
She had just started another dance with the businessman from next to their booth when she felt eyes on her. It was inexplicable with hundreds of people in the room, but there it was. Someone was watching her. She smiled as if she were on display and started grinding against the stranger.
The feeling grew stronger, but Jude never surfaced. She turned around and threw her arms around the guy in front of her. Her eyes skimmed the dark room to try to figure out where he could be hiding. She didn’t know why he was watching when he could be partaking.
Well, she would have to fight dirty to get him to play. Bryna slid her hand across the guy’s neck, down his chest, and to the waistline of his pants. She swirled her hips in slow circles as she faced away from him once more. She leaned against him and rolled her body back against his. He forcefully gripped her hips in his hands. His head dropped down and nuzzled her neck. She played along, tilting her head back and closing her eyes.
Then, he took it a step further and started kissing against her sensitive skin. Before she could even react to the change, she was wrenched forward, away from the guy, and lips were covering her own. These lips she most definitely recognized.
Her heart thrummed to the beat of the music, but all she could feel was the need rolling off of Jude. She greedily kissed him back. God, she had missed him. It had only been a week, but it had felt like forever.
She completely forgot where she was or what she was doing when the idiot businessman decided to butt in.
“Hey, man, we were dancing.”
Jude broke away from her, gave the guy the best eat-shit-and-die look she had ever seen, and then escorted her away. She didn’t even argue or look back at her friends, who had probably just witnessed what happened.
Before Bryna and Jude even reached the edge of the dance floor, his lips were on hers again. She could barely breathe with all the bodies pressed so tightly around them.
“I think my seduction went from zero to sixty in about two point four seconds,” he said.
“Well, at least you have good taste. I love a Bugatti.”
“Very good taste,” he said, drawing her even closer. “But who said other guys could kiss you?”
Bryna arched an eyebrow. “No one has told me otherwise.”
“Consider yourself told.”
A thrill ran through her body. “No kisses from anyone else then,” she agreed. A thrill ran through her. “What about touching?” She ran her hand down his pants and along the length of his cock.
“I’ll show you just what you can do with that,” he growled.
She tightened her hand around him and smiled. “Show me.”
He smirked defiantly and pulled her off the dance floor.
She pointed in the opposite direction as she moved in close to talk to him. “I have a booth—”
“I’m seducing you, remember?”
He grabbed her ass and then pressed her in front of him. They walked away from the main dance floor and up to a bouncer standing watch over a dark hallway. Jude passed the guy a wad of cash and nodded his head. The velvet rope disappeared, and she was whisked down the hallway.
“How did you know about this?” she whispered a
s she crossed the threshold into a red-lit room.
Couches lined the walls, and a circular divan rested against the back wall. It looked like an empty sex club. She had heard of clubs in the city having these private rooms. She had never been to one before, but Gates had called them dungeons. Some were to watch, and some were to play. This one definitely looked like play.
“Work.”
Bryna’s eyes bulged at that. She didn’t often show her surprise, but had Jude just admitted to being involved in dungeons?
He chuckled softly at the shock on her face and kissed her. “Not me in particular, but I have…coworkers who get involved. I take care of their interests.”
“Well, if that wasn’t as vague as you could possibly be,” she said. “Sounds like you’re a pimp.”
He laughed. “Some days, it feels like that.”
“So, you’ve been here before then?”
“Enough questions,” he demanded.
She clamped her mouth shut and tried to rid herself of all the burning questions she had for him. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have any secrets.
He walked her backward until her boots were touching the divan, slid the hem of her dress up, and smiled smugly when he found her without panties on.
“Like what you see?” she whispered.
“I said no more questions,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. Then, he roughly pushed her onto the divan. “Lie back.”
She did as instructed and stared up at the ceiling. He toed her legs farther apart until she was spread wide for his viewing pleasure. Her core pulsed in anticipation. God, she couldn’t wait for his dick. She would stay up at night, thinking about the way he used it to bring her over the edge, and inevitably, she would then bring herself there, too.
He dropped to his knees before her, and she sat up in surprise. He licked his lips as he stared into her eyes.
“I said, lie back,” he said sternly.
Bryna dropped back onto the cushion. Jude’s lips started where the cuff of her boot covered her knee, and then he kissed his way up to her inner thigh. His tongue flicked along her clit, causing her entire body to jerk. She dug her fingers into the cushion as he went to work, slowly licking and sucking.