He stepped back and I watched as he schooled his face before lowering his gaze to look at her. “No. Everything is fine. I simply offered Paige here a job, which she turned down. Seems she isn’t in as much need as she’d like everyone to believe.”
Like everyone to believe? Besides my sister, her husband, and Teresa, not a damn person knows of my circumstances. Who the hell had told him, of all people, to begin with? I filed that question in the back of my mind for later. At the moment, duty required I perform some damage control. “I apologize if you took offence, sir, but I’m simply not ready to commit to the kind of job you are offering.”
He opened his mouth, glanced at Delilah, closed it, and seemed to mull everything over for a moment. “That’s a shame, beautiful. Perhaps you simply need time to think it over. The offer will continue to stand until the position is filled. Even then, if you are really nice, I might make an exception.”
With that, he stalked away, leaving his beer untouched. I watched him go and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm my shaking body and racing heart. It thudded loudly in my chest, vibrating my entire body.
“Between him and your little run about, you sure know how to pick your company.” Delilah shook her head as she gave me a skeptical look.
“Little run about?” I asked, puzzled by her words.
Delilah nodded, her features stormy. “For claiming to be vanilla, you sure don’t have any problems participating in a swinger.”
She strode off in the opposite direction of Bryce, leaving confusion in her wake. What the hell was a swinger? And why was she so angry at me? I shook my head and grabbed his beer to clean it up in the small sink area behind me. I planned to set it with the used cups and take it to the kitchen in the back for a proper cleaning later. Somehow, I bet the glass would need a hard core scrubbing, just like my wrist did. Remembering that, and aware of how badly it ached, I inspected it. Bruises were already forming on my skin.
“Great. Cause I needed a reminder of his fugly ass.”
Acting as if nothing happened, I kept at it without a hitch until Amy returned from her break. We worked side by side, serving clients and chatting about nothing much at all when I remembered Delilah’s words.
“Amy, what’s a swinger?” I asked as dread pooled in my stomach. Somehow, I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer.
“A swinger? Where did you hear... Well, that’s a stupid question. We are in a BDSM club.” Amy wiped her bangs out of her face and peered at me. “The best way to describe it is an open relationship where the couple mutually decides to exchange partners or engage in activities with another couple who are in agreement. You aren’t all in a relationship together though. The partner exchange or sexual encounters outside the core relationship are sex-based only.”
“Oh God!” The room spun and I clung to the counter, praying I didn’t vomit or pass out.
“What’s wrong?” Amy appeared at my side immediately and pressed a cold beer bottle against my head. Her choice of cooling method caused enough amusement to help me re-center.
I stood there quietly for a moment, taking deep breaths as I went over Delilah’s words in my head. “Delilah said for being vanilla, I didn’t seem to have any problems with being in a swinger. I don’t know what vanilla is either, but I get the gist of what she means now.”
Amy rubbed soothing circles on my back and put the bottle on the counter. “Vanilla is non-kinky sex. Just straight up sex with no spanking, or anything more hardcore. And, well, you know what a swinger is now.”
“Is.. Do you know if...” I couldn’t finish the sentence. Surely to God Teresa wasn’t cheating on me again so soon. We’d only been back together a couple of weeks. She’d promised Ben was a mistake she would never repeat.
“I don’t know if Teresa is cheating on you,” Amy said. “I’m usually here with you, and when I’m not, I meet up with Master during my break for dinner or a quick private session in our room.”
“Your room? The rooms upstairs, right? Those are where people...do things.” I glanced at the stairwell. The memory of Amy pointing there, saying that was the last area she’d seen Teresa earlier assaulted me. “Even if she was in one, I wouldn’t know,” I said, thinking out loud.
“That’s not true. Most of the rooms are open to public so a DM can watch to be sure everything is up to code. Master Kyle can’t risk a rape happening. Or God forbid, someone being unable to say their safe word and suffering serious harm. So there’s monitors up there, who watch to be sure everything is safe enough. That means only a couple of rooms are private, and those belong to the owners of the club only. Lock and key. Only Master Kyle, Master Rick, Mistress Delilah, and Mistress Mary Ann have access to them.”
“So if I go up there...” My gaze locked on the stairs like they held the key to my salvation or damnation. I supposed, in a way, they did.
“No one will stop you. No one will even think twice about it. By using the rooms, the people involved in scenes are consenting to viewers watching them. You can’t go on a scene without invitation, or interrupt one, but you can look.” She fidgeted for a moment. “You are due for a break, you know.”
I swallowed back the fear threatening to overtake me and gave her a nod. “I have to know. I have to at least check. Maybe she won’t even be up there. And if she is, maybe she’s just watching. Worse comes to worst, if she’s up there and participating...” I didn’t know how to finish that sentence.
“If she’s up there and participating, then it’s best you know now so you can get out of that toxic relationship. And unless she finds a Dom willing to sponsor her, she’ll never see the inside of The Black Cuff again,” Amy said, her words laced with finality.
I untied my apron and tossed it under the counter, then took a deep breath. Amy gave me an encouraging smile and a quick hug. “I’d go with you, but I have to man the counter.”
“I know. The fact you would helps me, though.” I returned her hug, albeit a bit more tightly than the one she gave me, then made my way across the floor to the steps. Just one foot in front of the other. That mentality enabled me to walk the entirety of the floor, and up the flight of stairs. I paused on the landing and clutched the edge of the safety railing as someone’s high-pitched moan filled the hall. Was that Teresa?
The crack of a whip split the air and I jumped at the sudden sound. An answering scream of pleasure corresponded with it and my stomach threatened a revolt once more. I ignored it and made my way toward the sound. It wasn’t hard to find the room with the scene. Between the loud cracks, the screams, and the watchers, I wouldn’t have been able to walk past if it I tried.
I stared at the backs of those standing between myself and the room and tried to gather my bravery. What was I going to do if my girlfriend was in there, in a compromising position with someone else? Amy said I couldn’t interrupt or enter a scene, which meant I would be limited to helplessly watching.
But at least I’ll know. At least I’ll be able to clock out early and sit her crap on the curb... Again.
With one last, fortifying breath, I stepped around the people and looked into the room. Relief made my knees weak as I took in the view of two men in the middle of a scene. One was cuffed up on a St. Andrew’s cross, his back to us. The other was Heath with a flogger clutched in his hand as he worked his sub over. His mass of wavy hair and broad shoulders were unmistakable. I didn’t know he was gay.
I realized I was focusing on trivial things in order to put off checking the other rooms. This was the loudest scene, but I doubted it was the only one. As I started to turn away, a man I didn’t recognize glanced at me, then turned his attention on me completely.
Oh no, please don’t let him hit on me. If he does, with the state I’m in, I’ll probably tell him to take his itty bitty winkie and shove it up his own ass for giggles.
“You’re Teresa’s partner, right?” he asked, and there was absolutely no flirtation in his tone or body language.
I hesitated for a second in
surprise. “Yes.”
“She’s down at the end of the hall. I just saw her. If you hurry, you’ll probably still be able to catch the scene before it ends.”
Every part of my being wailed in protest, but I offered him a smile. “Thanks.”
I speed walked down the hall, not because I wanted to see the scene, but because I knew if I didn’t keep moving, I’d throw up from nerves on the spot. Or possibly faint. Either way, it wasn’t something I wanted to do.
Even before I reached the room he’d indicated, the sound of moans tormented my ears. I knew those moans. I’d heard them a thousand times before, caused by my own hands. My tongue. My carefully executed use of foreplay.
I turned the corner and nothing in the world could have prepared me for what met my eyes. Teresa writhed in pleasure, riding the cock of a man. Her hands were in cuffs behind her back, and nipple clamps dangled from her pert breasts. She had her eyes closed and her head thrown back as she emitted the throaty moans one could hear further down the hall. It wasn’t just my girlfriend—make that ex-girlfriend—that stunned me. It was who she was doing the scene with.
Bryce turned his attention from her breast to meet my gaze, and recognition filled his eyes. A smirk tugged at his cruel mouth and he dug his fingers into Teresa’s hips just a little harder, then slammed her down on his dick. She screamed and he tilted his head back. His eyelids fluttered shut and it was plain he was coming.
I couldn’t move. My body, my mind, my very soul were frozen to the core. Time after time, I tried to get my feet to obey me and carry me away from the nightmare before me. At least with Ben, I’d never witnessed her affair. I’d only seen the texts when she mistakenly left her phone at home and asked me to get on it and open her contacts to read her a boss's number.
Teresa slumped on him and turned her face toward me. When her gaze landed on me, her eyes widened and her mouth flew open in shock. “Paige!”
She struggled to get off of Bryce, but he tightened his grip on her hips. “I didn’t say you could go, pet . We have an agreement.” He smiled at me, and the gesture screamed sadistic. “She’s mine now. Tell her, pet.”
She glanced at him then returned her attention to me. “I’ve accepted a job with Bry...Master. He’s going to take care of me from now on. All I have to do is fuck him whenever he wants, however he wants.”
“You have no idea what you’ve done,” I said, finally managing to speak. “Goodbye, Teresa. And this time, I won’t come pick you up when he gets fed up with your shit too.”
I turned and ran before either of them could say anything. I ran the length of the hallway, down the stairs, and out the door. I vaguely registered someone calling my name, but I didn’t give a damn who. I ran all the way home, and there I cried until the tears wouldn’t come anymore.
Chapter Seven
I closed the office door behind me and sat my bag down, then kicked off my heels. As much as I wanted to cry again, now was not the time for it. Work called, and the club bustled already, even though The Black Cuff had only been open a half hour. Then again, tonight was auction night.
I mulled that thought over as I pulled off my suit jacket. The Abduction Auctions were held once a month, which meant I’d been working here a month already. My days were turning into a series of sleep, wake up, eat, job hunt all day, tend bar at night, repeat. I’d managed to refrain from drinking last night, despite the pain I still suffered over Teresa’s betrayal.
God only knew I’d craved a drink so bad my mouth watered still at the thought. I wanted to drink until the pain went away. Suck down the burning liquid until numbness encompassed me on every level.
At least Teresa had the decency to not even try showing up.
A knock sounded on the door, then my sister opened it and peeked in. “Hey, you decent?”
“Never,” I responded, though I didn’t experience the usual humor I felt at the joke.
Brandi entered the room completely and shut the door behind her. She watched me change from my pencil skirt into a pair of slacks, and as I pulled on socks, she finally spoke again. “How did the interview go?”
“They told me the same thing everyone else does. Thanks for coming, but you’re too experienced for this job. We don’t feel comfortable hiring someone like you for an entry-level position. Blah blah fuckity blah. In short, I didn’t even get the courtesy of don’t call us, we’ll call you. It was just a flat out no.” I clenched my hands and stared at the carpet, fighting back tears for the millionth time this month, it seemed. “Why did they even bother calling me in for a job interview? My work experience was printed clearly on my resume. If they thought me over qualified, they could have assessed that without ever giving me false hope.”
Brandi padded across the room and enveloped me in a hug. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. You’re just hitting a rough patch right now. A really, really shitty, prolonged, as in longest patch in the history of man, kind of rough patch.”
Despite myself, I snorted in amusement. “Thanks. That totally doesn’t help.”
“Did too.” She pulled away and grinned at me.
“Did not,” I countered.
“It kinda helped. It made you laugh,” she pointed out.
Instead of deigning to respond, I pulled my sneakers on. I needed to get out on the floor as soon as possible. I hoped against hope I wouldn’t see Bryce and Teresa, but I had no control over it if I did.
“I’m sorry about your girlfriend.” My sister’s voice turned soft. “I tell you what, though, it’s taking everything I’ve got not to give Delilah an earful.”
I ripped my gaze off my shoes to stare at her in surprise. “Why? It’s not her fault Teresa cheated on me. She seemed to honestly think I knew and condoned what Teresa was doing.”
“Not for tipping you off,” Brandi said. “It’s her fault you ever started dating that bitch again to begin with. If she’d treated you better than a one night stand, I don’t think you would have felt desperate enough to take Teresa back.”
“Wait, what?” A headache began to form as I tried to piece together what she was saying.
“I saw you and Delilah the first night you worked here. I saw her going into your apartment with you. She was cuddling you and everything.” My sister frowned and glanced at the door. “I also noticed how she avoided the shit out of you afterward. I guess you were good enough for a one night stand, but since you aren’t into the scene, you aren’t even worth saying hi to after she’s done.”
“It wasn’t like that!” I protested, jumping to my feet. “Delilah didn’t do anything with me that night. I was the one that tried pressuring her, and she turned me down. She has been avoiding me because I made a total ass out of myself.”
“If she didn’t want to do anything with you, then why did she meet up with you and go to your place?” Brandi scowled at me, daring me to refute her.
“We ran into each other by accident. She took me home because she found me drunk in an alley,” I shouted.
My sister froze and we both stared at each other. The urge to duck and cover had me inching to put the desk between us. Explosion in three...two...
“What the fuck, Paige? What were you thinking?” Her voice came out so loud I prayed the room was soundproof.
I shrugged and floundered for an answer. When I didn’t give one fast enough, she stalked over, crowding me into a corner. My baby sister never looked as scary before as she did in this moment.
“How could you do that to yourself? You know what drinking does to you. It nearly ruined your life. How you kept your shit together enough to flourish at your job is a mystery to me, but you destroyed yourself. Everyone around you suffered from it. That’s all life is to you, isn’t it? Me, me, me.” She poked a finger against my chest as she glared at me. “I’ve busted my ass looking out for you; being there for you. Almost two years of sobriety and you throw it away for what? Because you ran into your ex-girlfriend and her new man at a bar?”
Anger boiled up insid
e of me at her words. I clenched my fists as my rage exploded out in the form of words. “You think that’s all? Not every fucking thing else? Teresa cheating on me broke my fucking heart. But then losing Goldie Girl made that heart ache look like a fucking cake walk. I’d had that dog twelve years. She was my birthday present from Grandpa when I was fifteen. You know how much I loved her!”
I slammed my hand on the desk and the stinging on my palm helped keep the tears at bay. “What about losing my job? Does that not count for shit either? How about Bryce sexually harassing me just before we left for the bar? And if you didn’t want me to drink, why the fuck would you take me to a damn bar?” I screamed the last words at her, using them as a way to soundly throw the fault back on her shoulders.
She took a step back, and the hurt radiated plainly on her face. “You didn’t tell me about Bryce,” she said, her voice deadly quiet.
“Why the fuck would I? As far as I knew, that was the way you people did shit around here. Walk up, pin them against a wall, and yell ‘Surprise’ before fucking them.” I narrowed my eyes at her and crossed my arms over my chest.
“Always so quick to judge. But God forbid anyone judge you. Your decision to drink is yours alone. You can’t place that blame on me. Neither Amy nor I were drinking beer, going ‘Look, Paige. Look at what we can do. Ha ha.’ We had sodas, just the same as you. You could have told me you were that stressed out. You could have done something else. You didn’t have to fucking drink!”
“Well apparently I can’t make good decisions,” I retorted. “Apparently all I can do is fuck things up until there’s nothing left for me.”
“Apparently so,” Brandi said. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she stared at me, and there was so much disapproval in her eyes it killed me.
“If I’m such a fuck up, maybe someone else should make the decisions for me,” I snarled. “Like you do with Kyle. Maybe I just need to hand the reins over, and be some pacifist little whipped pussy who just does what she’s told.” It was a low blow, but I didn’t care anymore.
The Abduction Agreement (Mistress May I Book 1) Page 6