CHAPTER FOUR
ARACELY
The man before me was offering something I just simply couldn’t deny myself. I’d been working at Edge for nearly a month, and seeing all those tantalizing acts around me, it was inevitable not to be a little curious… and aroused. I’d been wanting to play from the moment I stepped foot into the club, I just didn’t know how to even start to enter this world.
Edge wasn’t a place for games, this was a lifestyle. A relationship of give and take, where both partners were willing to participate. The scenes that I’d witnessed had awoken something dormant in me, something so deep and carnal I didn’t think it could be possible to want it so badly. At first, I thought that Shane had done a number on me. That he’d destroyed me for anyone, forever. But slowly, after speaking with Dara and getting a notion of what this life was about, I realized this was who I was and where I belonged.
Now this man, Eric, he was offering something I wasn’t sure I could handle. Not after everything that had happened in my life. I noticed him a couple weeks ago, he’d been hanging around the bar, not really participating in the scenes. He simply sat here, ordered his drinks, and stared at me. At first, I thought he was a creep, but then I realized there was more to him being here. He seemed to have a purpose as he sat perched night after night at the bar, as if he were looking for someone. I watched as women draped themselves along his side, and one by one they were turned away. He definitely wasn’t discreet, he had a blatant disregard to everyone around him. Everyone, but me.
I’m not going to lie, I enjoyed his attention. He was electrifying. He was tall, broad shouldered, and held a powerful build. He always wore the same leather jacket, his hair looked disheveled, and he had this stoic look on his face. His expression was harsh, unfriendly, a warning in his glare to back off. But when his eyes met mine, his expression would soften, and his eyes would turn this bright blue, completely disarming me. There were times I couldn’t help but steal glances at him. Everything in my body shouted a warning to stay away, but for some reason I wasn’t listening.
“I don’t trust easily,” I whispered.
“I’ll teach you.” He lifted a strand of my hair and curled it around his index finger. The gentle motion made me feel light-headed. “I promise, by the time tonight comes to an end, you’ll trust me completely.”
The earnest tone in his voice gave me chills, yet somehow, I knew he was telling the truth. There was no way I’d be able to leave. My instincts told me to run, but my body was begging to give in.
“Come,” his hand hovered in front of me, and I looked back at Trey who had been watching us the entire time.
“Are you alright, love?” Trey took a step closer and I knew that if I wanted to escape this man, I could just run to Trey. I could ask him for help, for protection. But instead, I nodded.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I breathed.
His eyes dropped, and his shoulders slumped as he turned away from me. I knew I had just broken his spirit, but he wasn’t the one I wanted. He couldn’t do to me what this man offered, that much I knew.
Taking his hand, I let him lead me across the large expanse of the club. Cages hung from the ceiling with kittens purring for their masters. We past one stage and then the next, each filled with erotic scenes, a woman screamed as her master ran an electrical current down her back. It seemed the louder she screamed, the harder he became. An array of moans surrounded us, the sounds of leather slapping against skin, floggers whipping in the air, a shout of pain followed by a moan of pleasure. Everything in this place was meant to arouse the senses.
I focused on the feel of his hand around mine, his warmth and strength. I liked the way it felt, the tingle that he brought forth when he slid his fingers through my own. In a way, his touch eased away my anxiety and gave me a sense of certainty that this is what I wanted, and he was the one I wanted to do it with.
He looked at me over his shoulder, a look of hunger penetrating his gaze. That look made me shiver with a mixture of need and fear of the unknown. What was he going to do to me? Would he hurt me? Would I moan in pleasure? Would he care for me? God, did I yearn for someone to care for me. Even if it was just for a brief moment. He squeezed my hand in reassurance and although he seemed kind, he garnered secrets, dark secrets, one of which he was about to reveal to me.
What the hell am I doing?
This man was a stranger. A man with specific sexual tastes that could break me. Tastes I’d never in the world thought I would ever want to indulge in. I stared at his hand, focused on his touch. It had been so long since I was touched so warmly. So long since I’d felt the heat of another against my skin.
My body could only remember the beatings given to me by Shane. Every now and then, if I was lucky, instead of a beating I’d get violated instead. The act had become so normal to me, that he’d conditioned me to wait for him, like his “good little girl.” As soon as he’d walked through the door I was expected to be bent over the kitchen table. At times he would simply spank me without a word, leaving me bruised and battered on the floor. Other times, he’d come in, raise my skirt, and stick his dick into me without any warning. Three minutes, that’s all he ever lasted. And I’d grit my teeth from the pain of his girth entering me while dry, the friction was brutal as he got his kicks off.
It was obvious he enjoyed hurting me, my whimpers of pain turning him on. And if I yelled out of shock, he’d cum instantly. After he was done, he’d zip up, slap me on the ass, and leave me there. It was one of the rare moments of peace I had as I’d hear his heavy footsteps head up to the bedroom. Within minutes he was on his back snoring. That’s when I’d lock myself in the bathroom, the painful throb between my legs reminding me of my brutal reality. I had been smart enough to have gotten myself on the pill, I didn’t want to bring a baby into that horrid world. And as I would sink into the hot bath, I’d softly cry as the water would soothe my sore body.
Since I’d left him, I wanted to feel something more. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I wanted to forget. Being a part of Edge was my first step into healing. I realized that not all men were like Shane. Not all men abused, not all men got their kicks off by harming you. There were ways around it, and they cared for their women. As much as the scenes around me aroused me, what interested me were the relationships. I was curious at how such brutal scenes could be played out with such love. Both women and men fully trusted their Dominants and Mistresses. To feel that trust for someone, to give in like that. They were spanked, flogged, broken, yet they loved one another unconditionally. I watched enviously at how delicate the masters were with their subs, especially after a scene. How they held them, protected them. And I wondered if that could be possible. I wanted to know what it would feel like to be held in that way. To be cherished.
I stared at this man’s powerful frame and I faltered for a moment. I was about to put my trust in the hands of this stranger. I was definitely a glutton for severe punishment.
We came to a door in the far back hallway. Micah had brought me to these rooms before, but I’d never actually seen what goes on in them. The sounds that came from within them startled me. They were sounds of pleasure mixed with pain, secrets that unfolded between two people, or three. He froze before me, his shoulders slumped over, his head hanging low as he let go of my hand. I stood there, not really knowing what to do. He was contemplating, I could sense his hesitation. Something was bothering him.
“I-is everything okay?”
He whipped around, grabbing my arms and holding me there. His force surprised me, and instinctively I took a step back. But he didn’t let me go, he simply dragged me towards him.
“I won’t hurt you,” hearing the anguish in his voice only made my uncertainty heighten.
“Do you understand me? I won’t hurt you.”
My eyes met his and I suddenly missed his hand in mine. I wanted to trust him, I just didn’t know how. “I’ve heard that before. The last man who said that to me nearly left me for dead on the kitchen floor.”
He gripped me tighter and I winced, my response was to expect for him to harm me. “I know.”
Those two simple words made me freeze.
He knew?
How could he possibly know?
My eyes flew open and I realized that he’d come here for me. That he had known who I was from the start. Is this how it was going to end. In the hallway of a BDSM club. At the mercy of a murder.
Before I could run, he swept me up into his arms and swung me into the room. Slamming the door shut, he turned us, pressing me against it, his body caging me in. His hand covered my mouth before I could let out the scream that had built inside of me. This was it, this was how it ended.
I struggled against him, clawing at his leather jacket as I fought to get out of his grip.
“Goddammit!” He growled and stepped in closer, grabbing my fists and slamming them up against the door. One hand gripped my wrists tightly, the other covered my mouth. His large framed consuming mine as I shook in rage and fear.
How could I have been so careless? How could I have not figured that he’d been following me? I was so stupid! He was constantly hanging around, always watching, he was waiting. Waiting for the right moment to get me alone, to kill me, or to bring me back. I couldn’t go back. I wasn’t going down without a fight.
“Hold. Still.” He grunted as I tried to knee him in the groin. Instead, the movement allowed him room to shove his thigh between my legs, forcing me to lose my footage. His grip tightened on me and I froze as his forehead dropped to mine.
“I knew this was going to be a bad idea,” he murmured to himself.
Fear racked my body and all I could do was stare into the eyes of my dark future.