14. Eliza
Eliza
"Adam, I'm not having sex with you for the first time in a sex club," I deadpanned, clinging to the back of his shirt tighter, as my heart raced faster and faster.
I also didn't want to lose him and get lost in this damn place!
Seriously, what the fuck was he thinking?!
A sex club was the very last place I thought he'd take me after our wonderful day today!
The rest of our mall excursion was perfect, and dinner went by so smoothly that it was the damn cherry on top of this perfect sundae.
Then, when I thought we were about to make the drive home, he turned a few corners, drove down a few streets, and stopped at a rather fancy dark building with a neon sign saying 'Barred Out. '
Come to find out, it was one of Adam's many business establishments. Particularly, one of his more mature establishments. I refused to go in, even though he promised the trip would be very quick, but he wasn’t having any of it.
He literally hauled me out of the car, threw me over his shoulder, smacked my fucking ass while laughing at my struggle, and walked in like he owned the damn place!
Okay, he did own the damn place, but I was referring to the way he’d walked in so damn proudly.
What about Asher, you ask?
Well, apparently, there was a kiddie care place attached building.
When I asked Adam about it, he said it was something he came up with, because so many of his employees had children and struggled to find childcare.
I mean, getting past my frustration about him dragging me into the place, I found that rather sweet of him.
Of course, I didn't say jack shit because I was supposed to be mad at him.
Eventually, he put me down once I stopped hitting his back and begged him to. It was so embarrassing to be carted around like a sack of potatoes—people were staring!
So, there we were, me clinging to the back of his shirt like a terrified child while he led us up to the third floor.
His body trembled under my hold, and I had to focus very hard to catch his amused chuckle over the deafening music in the place.
"Little rose, I wouldn't take you in one until our twentieth date or unless you begged me to.
" That made it sound like he had plans on taking me in the club at some point.
"But also, what I've got at my place is more than enough for both of us. "
The fuck did he mean by that!?
Oh God, and why the hell did I just get so heated at those words?
Did he have a sex dungeon at his place? Okay, stupid question because he basically just hinted at that.
Something strong snaked around my waist, forcing me to take a few large strides. Following the arm, I visibly relaxed when I saw who it was attached to. Someone random could've grabbed me for all I knew.
"Breathe, no one will touch you here unless you give them explicit permission," he assured me with a warm and confident smile.
"This is an exclusive club, and everyone gets vetted and signs an agreement before being accepted and granted access.
It's more relaxed on the dance floor, but everyone here is pretty mindful.
So, it's typically harmless touches unless the recipient allows further touching. "
If my faith in humanity was better, then I'd have no problem believing him, but people kept staring at me so intensely.
I wanted to crawl out of my skin and hide in a dark corner somewhere because of it.
On the other hand, they might've been hungering for me, but none of them made any indications of advancing.
There was this edge of control in their eyes, a mutual understanding and respect.
I wasn't some piece of meat, a conquest to be taken. Under their gazes, I felt like an actual person.
Taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin a little as I walked side by side with Adam. It felt a little weird, not gonna lie, to be acting as if I was confident—like I belonged.
"There's my little rose." Adam's praise cooed against my ear, making me shiver from the waves of delight. "God, seeing your thorns come out makes me so proud and crazy for you."
It was a struggle to keep my steps from faltering as I kept up with Adam. The constant ache between my legs became more annoying by the second, and with each step my jeans kept rubbed right up against my throbbing clit.
Slowly, the music faded out the higher we went up the stairs. By the time we reached his office on the third floor, it was nothing but a very soft buzz in the background.
Leading me over to the black leather couches, he settled me down before draping his jacket over me.
Kneeling before me, he cupped my knees and rubbed them softly for a moment.
Then, his head looked up at me with a lopsided smile.
"I just have to attend to something really quickly with the managers here and grab some things," he told me with an apologetic smile.
"I thought it could wait until tomorrow because I didn't want to cut business into our day like this, but it's something important. "
Securing his jacket with one hand, I reached the other out to stroke his cheek. "It's okay," I assured him with an understanding smile. "Just try not to keep me waiting too long?"
Placing his hand over mine, he stroked the back of it with his thumb. "Thirty minutes." He sounded and seemed certain enough to ease my doubts. "Feel free to help yourself to anything and everything in my office," he told me while standing up.
Then, leaning down, he kissed my forehead before leaving me to my lonesome self.
Unsure of what to do, I tucked myself into the couch, hugging my knees to my chest. I wasn't exactly thirsty for more alcohol so soon after having a few spiked lemonades with dinner. So, I just sat there in a ball on the couch, and that was my plan until the heavy wooden door crept open.
At first, I thought it was Adam, but then a series of giggles shot that down. The fuck was I supposed to do?! He didn't say anything about me getting barged in on! Nor did he say anything about girls coming in!
Oh my God, what if he came back with a woman? Or what if his employees decided to sneak away for a little quickie in here!?
Gulping, I buckled my nerves down, and reluctantly turned my head to face the cracked door, where three girls had their heads peeping through. "H-hi, uhh Adam's not here right now."
So much for sounding confident.
"Oh, we know, we just wanted to see the cutie Adam's so whipped about." One of the girls giggled with a friendly smile. "And let me just say, you are just a perfect little thing!"
Unsure of how to respond, I offered a friendly smile back with an awkward chuckle. "T-thanks?"
Was that a compliment?
Another girl scoffed at the first, smacking her arm.
"Girl, you're scaring her," she scolded playfully before looking at me with a warm smile.
"Sorry, we're just all a little too curious for our own good.
I'm Sara, by the way, and these two are Amy and Ann.
" Sara gestured at the other two girls with her introduction.
"Yeah, sorry, but we really wanted to meet Adam's mystery woman who he keeps gushing about." The short blond-haired woman, Ann, commented with a cheeky grin. "And I can see why he can't get you off his mind. You really are such a cute and beautiful thing."
All the sudden attention caused a rush of heat to fan over my cheeks. "H-he talks about me?" I couldn't imagine it; it wasn't as if I had a lot about me to mention.
Amy, the darker blonde, instantly prattled on, "Gurl, all the time!
He's always prattling on and on about how cute and dedicated you are to everything!
Everything you do, he talks about. He even gushes about how you walk because your hips sway just right and your tight ass is so cute to watch.
And gurl, don't even get me started on how lovey-dovey he looks when he talks about how he imagines you three as an actual family. "
She kept going, but I couldn't focus on a single word that came out of her mouth after hearing the last bit.
One of the main reasons why I never had an inkling to date, besides being on the run and in hiding, was because I didn't want to worry about my partner and Asher.
I mean, not everyone was keen on taking on a kid that wasn't theirs.
I've heard and read so many horror stories of single parents dating only to have their partner and kid not work out, for mistreatment to happen, or that the blending didn't go well.
Hell, I didn't know how I was going to tell Asher the truth about James when the time came for him to ask questions about his dad.
Also, what if Asher bonded with Adam well enough to the point where he saw him as his dad?
What would I do then? Lie to my kid? I mean, no one knew about Asher's dad, so it's not like anyone could tell him about James.
On the other hand, we could drive a wedge into everything by telling him that Adam wasn't his real father. Then, what would I tell Asher?
Yes, I knew I couldn't keep everything from him forever, but that was an issue for later. I wasn't fond of the fact it would all happen eventually, but who knows, maybe Asher just wouldn't even want to know—I was banking on that idea badly.
But, Asher aside, I also worried about Adam. Yeah, he and Asher got along more than grand, and watching the two really brought me a whole different sense of peace… But what if Adam got tired of Asher in the future and didn't want to deal with him anymore?
Shaking my worries away, I zoned back into reality. "Have you guys worked for Adam long?" Maybe I could pry some secret information from them about my soon-to-be boyfriend.
"Think all of us have been working for him for about like seven or so years? Just about. Discounting the year or so we each subbed for him," Sara answered, after pondering for a moment.