8. Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Lili
I spend a few minutes jerking at my restraints, cursing myself for being so stubborn. My stubbornness has always been a double-edged sword, often getting me where I want to go in life, and sometimes leaving me in undesirable predicaments like now.
When Victor pulled that gun on me yesterday morning, I thought for sure I was going to die in my hotel room, and I was horrified that my judgment of him had been so far off base. At the same time, I was at peace and glad that I would finally be done with Phineas.
I have no clue what they have against my husband, but whatever it is, I’m sure it’s valid. Phineas is a monster of epic proportions, and I’ve been on the receiving end of his anger before, as evidenced by the scars on my thighs. The same rage lives inside of Victor, but last night my gut said he would never hurt me.
Now I’m not so sure.
The door opens again, and I prepare to let loose on Victor. But it’s Gracie. She comes off as a quiet girl. Not quite timid, but definitely anxious. There’s something about her I like but can’t quite put my finger on what it is.
“Victor is an asshole,” I say when she stands there staring at me without a word for what feels like an eternity. Silence bugs me and I always want to fill it.
She ignores me and goes about picking up the mess I made. I’m used to having people do things for me, but it wasn’t always that way. Our family started out squarely in the middle class until I was in high school, and my father made it in politics. When I married Phineas, I had to get used to housekeepers, chefs, drivers, and personal assistants. But for some reason, Gracie cleaning up the mess my tantrum caused is sparking guilt I’m not used to.
“If you unchain me, I’ll clean that up.”
She looks at me and shakes her head. “Victor told me not to let you free. I can’t disobey him.”
“Is he your Dom?”
She shrugs. “It’s complicated. He’s one of the club owners. I’m a club submissive.”
“So, you obey all the owners?” I’m curious about the club and the way it works. And I’m annoyed that I didn’t realize it existed until now. I’ve had a curiosity about kink for a long time. Not that Phineas would ever let me go to a place like this.
“Victor wouldn’t want me answering your questions. I’m sorry.”
I shake my head. “It’s fine. I understand. Can we talk about something else? Silence scares me sometimes. Being kidnapped definitely counts as one of those times.”
It’s true. I can’t handle a lot of silence, and silence triggered my freak out last night. Thinking back to throwing food around like a petulant child is embarrassing. But when I’m on my own, there is always music or a podcast playing in my headphones, and I enjoy going to noisy places because silence is almost painful.
When I first got married, I would play music or podcasts on our sound system at home because there were speakers everywhere in the house, but Phineas prefers silence and bought me an expensive pair of noise canceling earbuds that he now insists I use. It works, but it’s not the same as being in a room filled with sound.
“What would you like to talk about?” Gracie asks as she picks up slices of limp tomato off the floor.
“What do you like to do for fun?” I ask.
Gracie smiles, but quickly schools it. “When I’m not here, I write a lot.”
I want to sit up, but the cuffs make moving hard. “What do you write?”
Gracie blushes and shakes her head.
“You can tell me. I won’t make fun or anything, I promise.”
She eyes me skeptically. “I write erotica. Usually of the sapphic variety.”
I raise an eyebrow. Had I read her wrong? I could have sworn she was into Victor.
“And are you… lesbian?” I ask, unsure if it’s considered a polite question.
She moves on to picking up the scattered slices of onion and is quiet for a moment. “Bisexual,” she finally admits.
“Me too,” I say. “But no one knows that about me, so you have to keep it a secret. It would not be good for my family if anyone found out.”
Gracie looks at me with a sad smile. “I understand that. My family not being accepting of who I am is kind of how I ended up here. I had a girlfriend… and a boyfriend. It didn’t end well when my family found out. But like I said, it’s complicated.” She rushes through the end of her explanation, and I get the feeling there is much more to that story and there isn’t a happy ending. My heart aches for her.
I wiggle my wrists. “You don’t need to explain. I’d love to read something you’ve written sometime.”
Gracie blushes now and violently shakes her head. “I’ve never shared my work with anyone.”
“That’s too bad. But I respect it. I’m sure it’s wonderful.”
She’s clearly uncomfortable, so I don’t push.
When she finishes cleaning up the food, she gathers the clothing and puts them on the dresser.
“Do you think Victor will come and let me out soon?” I ask.
Gracie makes a face. “It’s hard to say. You weren’t wrong about him being an asshole. Last week a sub disobeyed him at the beginning of the night and was mouthy when he called her out on it. He was in a bad mood, and he stuck a bar of soap in her mouth and put her on display in the center of his play space and kept her there all night. Didn’t let her free until the rest of us had finished cleaning up.”
I gasp. That sounds so harsh. But something about the way Gracie talks about it makes it sound like she thought it was hot.
“That sub is into those kinds of punishments,” Gracie adds. “But it was extreme even for her. The only reason no one is pissed at Victor about it is because she didn’t use a safeword and assured the other owners that she was completely fine with what happened.”
“This is all so interesting. I’ve dabbled in BDSM before, but I’ve not seen anything quite like this. I’m extremely curious. Do you write kink in your stories, Gracie?”
The girl turns as red as the tomatoes she picked up off the floor, and I find it arousing.
“Yeah,” she whispers. “It’s one of the things I love about working here. I get a lot of inspiration.”
“It would be a surprise if you didn’t.”
“Of course, I don’t write things exactly as they happen. I just take a bit of inspiration. The guys would kill me if I wrote things exactly as they happened.”
Secrecy seems to be important to this group. Phineas likes secrets too. But his secrets involve the women he’s fucked and the people he’s bribed.
I wonder what secrets Victor has.
“I should get to work, the shop opens soon,” Gracie mutters.
“Thanks for talking to me. Is there any way to turn some music or something on in here?”
Gracie looks at me and then at the corner of the ceiling. My gaze follows hers, and I spot the small speaker mounted there.
“What do you like?” she asks as she picks up the tray with the mess of food now piled on it.
“Anything but country would be great. Or the latest episode of Call Her Daddy. Only because my husband hates that show.”
Gracie laughs. “It’s a great show. I don’t know if the sound system has access to podcasts, but I’ll check.”
When she’s gone, I look around, examining my wrists to see if there is any way I can get the restraints loose.
I need to escape. Phineas is probably going crazy. My goal had been to make a big enough scene that he caught wind of my activity on the strip and confronted me. Then I could publicly humiliate him. To say things haven’t gone according to plan is the understatement of the millennium. I’m scared of what he’ll do to me when I get back home. Even though Victor kidnapped me, he’ll find a way to make it my fault.
Maybe escaping isn’t such a good idea. At least here he can’t hurt me.
A few minutes later, a pop song starts playing at low volume and increases a little after a few seconds.
“Thank you,” I shout, remembering what Gracie said about the mic.
The music lulls me to sleep again, and I have vivid dreams about Victor and his wicked fingernails.
“Wake up,” his voice breaks through the fog sometime later, and I open my eyes to find him standing over me with another plate of food. My stomach growls in anticipation.
“Are you ready to behave now?” he asks, his voice softer than before.
I nod slowly and try to move my arms. My tense muscles protest and I wince.
Victor sets the plate down and undoes the cuffs, gently lowering my arms to my sides allowing me to shake the stiffness out.
He tosses me the silk pajama shirt again, and this time I put it on.
“I see you talked Gracie into giving you some music.”
“Don’t be too mad at her. She’s sweet, and you’re making her uncomfortable with this whole situation.”
Victor glares at me. “I realize that. But Gracie works for me. She isn’t your concern. And stop trying to get her to do things for you.”
When I’m dressed, he hands me the plate and I happily take a bite of the sandwich.
The bread is delicious. Better than any sandwich shop I’ve been to in the city. How have I never heard of this place? They probably like it that way. Something tells me the sandwich shop isn’t their main moneymaker.
“Let’s talk, Spitfire.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“How much do you want to hurt your husband?”
The question causes me to raise an eyebrow as I take a second bite. I don’t answer right away, choosing instead to mull it over while I chew the bite completely and swallow it, then I reach for the water he holds. But he pulls it out of reach and looks at me expectantly.
“I want him to suffer. He’s been cheating on me our entire relationship. I always knew he was a monster, and I let him get away with the abuse for reasons I don’t have to explain. But when we first got married, I didn’t think he would ever be unfaithful to me. He made it seem like I was the love of his life in the early days. As time went on, I realized I was more of a possession than anything else, not to mention I was the only girl his mother approved of. He has an odd relationship with his mother if you haven’t figured that out. What exactly has he done to you?”
Victor shakes his head. “I’m not giving you details. You can’t be trusted yet. But if you’re serious about making him pay, we can arrange that. If you plan to stick by him, though, you should be aware that we won’t hesitate to take you down with him.”
I believe every word coming out of his mouth, and for some reason they make me less scared of him. There is no way I’ll fully trust him again. Not after the stunt he pulled to get me here, but I no longer believe he’s going to kill me.
“There’s no way I can promise anything right now, but I’ll hear what you have to say,” I tell him. “And I have no intention of standing by Phineas. But I do intend to get as much money from him as I can before I leave. So don’t fuck that up for me.”
Victor laughs. “If I have anything to say about it, he won’t have a penny by the time I’m done. But I can’t promise that you’ll have any of it either. However, if you behave and you don’t double cross me, I’ll see that you’re taken care of financially.”
Was he seriously offering me money? I am so confused right now. I already told him I don’t actually need Finn’s money. It’s more about watching him bleed than anything else.
“Victor. Please tell me what’s going on.”
He stands. “I’ll be back tomorrow, and we’ll talk more about our plans. For now, I have some work to do before tonight. There’s a party here later. You’re going to hear noises around you. Don’t worry. We’re just having a good time. And don’t even think about trying to scream. Anyone who hears you will just think you’re having a good time, too.”
There’s a wickedness to his tone, and my curiosity about the party and the club beyond my door is even higher now. “I want to go with you.”
He looks at me incredulously. “Excuse me?”
“I said I want to go with you. To the party.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You can put me on a leash. Chain me up somewhere. I heard about the girl with the bar of soap. I just want to see what this place is all about.”
He looks at the sky and clenches his fists. “I’m going to fucking kill her.”
I wince. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. She was just rambling because I was making her nervous. But please? I want to see what this place is all about.”
He shakes his head. “I can’t promise that. We have strict rules about who can attend our parties. If you behave, I’ll talk to the others, and after things get started, I might come back for you. But you have to agree to obey everything I say. And I do fucking mean everything.”
I nod. “I promise, Victor. Anything.”
He scratches his chin. “OK. If they say yes, I’ll be back in a few hours, or I’ll send Gracie back to fetch you.”
“I like her a lot,” I tell him as he heads for the door.
“She’s a good girl.”
Something in his voice catches my attention. Does he have feelings for Gracie the way Gracie clearly has feelings for him?
It’s hard to tell, but my curiosity is up and now more than ever I want to attend this party.
The door closes behind him, and I climb off the bed, happy to be free for the first time in hours. It’s ridiculous to be excited about a party when I’m being held hostage, but I am.
I use the restroom and run my fingers through my hair. It stayed in its bun from the morning Victor kidnapped me, but it’s starting to look a little rough.
I open the bathroom drawer to retrieve the toiletry kit I remembered from my digging around the room earlier.
After pulling all the pins out, I use the brush to smooth out all the tangles before winding it back into its usual bun. With nothing else to do, I go back to the bedroom and sit on the sofa to finish my sandwich, enjoying the music still softly playing on the speakers.
It’s hard to tell how much time passes, but I have a long nap, do some yoga, touch up my hair once again, and make a second sandwich before there’s another knock at my door.
“Come in,” I call, as if I’m a guest rather than a prisoner here.
Gracie pokes her head in. She’s changed from the casual clothing she’s worn on her previous two visits, to a slinky black dress with a heart-shaped neckline that reveals her cleavage. Her makeup is subtle but perfect for her complexion, and she looks even more gorgeous than she did earlier.
“Master Victor asked me to bring you these.”
She holds up a dress and heels. But there is a distinct lack of undergarments in her offerings.
I take them and hold the dress up, it’s black and similar to the one she’s wearing, with a different neckline and black lace at the hem.
“What about panties?”
Gracie blushes. “He doesn’t let the subs wearing his pin have them usually.”
I laugh. “Does he expect me to act as his sub tonight?”
Gracie backs away holding up her hands in surrender. “I’m staying out of that one. He asked me to bring these to you and said to tell you that you’re to get dressed and wait for him. The rest is between the two of you.”
I nod, feeling empathy for the position she’s in.
“OK. Thank you. I hope to see you out there.”
Gracie doesn’t say anything, just pulls open the door and steps out.
When I’m alone again, I strip out of my silk pajamas and put on the dress and heels. They are a perfect fit, and the dress doesn’t really require a bra, so I’m not missing that. The lack of panties, though, is definitely not my thing.
Ten minutes later, the door opens again, this time with no knock. Victor steps in and I swallow hard. He’s changed into a dark gray suit and has a deep purple shirt underneath with the top two buttons undone.
We stare at each other for a solid ten seconds before he approaches me. It’s then that I notice he’s carrying several items.
When he’s standing in front of me, he holds the first one up. A delicate black collar with a silver ring at the throat, and a leash attached to it. I didn’t think he would take me seriously about that. But I turn without a word and let him put it on.
“You don’t leave my side. And if I have to handle something that you can’t follow me for, Gracie knows to take over holding your leash for me.”
That poor girl is going to hate me by the time this ordeal is over.
Next, he pins a small broach to my dress. It’s a black diamond in the shape of a club, like on a playing card. He’s wearing a similar one on the lapel of his suit. Now I know what Gracie meant by subs who wear his pin. I wonder how many there are.
Finally, he holds up a masquerade mask with purple and black embellishments.
“I don’t know how likely it is that someone will recognize you, but just in case, wear this.”
It’s oddly thoughtful of him. Then again, he probably doesn’t want word to get back to my husband that I’m here.
I’m not sure how that would happen, but Phineas has a lot of connections, so I wouldn’t be surprised. Something tells me a lot of powerful people are members here, and some of them are bound to have done business with him.
When I’ve tied the mask in place, he tugs on my leash. “Let’s go.”
As we get to the door, he stops and looks at me. “If someone asks you what your name is, you tell them it’s Victoria.”
I look at him with a ‘you can’t be serious’ expression on my face, but it’s clear that he is, so I simply nod.
He narrows his eyes. “And you call me Sir or Master Victor. And if you are introduced to any of the other owners, you will address them as Sir as well.”
My mouth falls open. “But I’m not your sub.”
“Tonight, you are. Or I can just leave you here. Now, which will it be? Are you going to be my good little whore tonight or spend the evening here alone?”
It takes every ounce of effort in me, but I swallow my pride because there is no way I’m sitting in this room when I’m presented with an opportunity for a bit of freedom. “Yes, Sir. I’ll be good.”
Victor tugs my leash again as he opens the door and leads me down the long hallway. We end up in a social area that is flanked by four archways that lead into other play spaces. An ornate carving of each of the four suits of cards is in the center of each arch. It’s over the top on the Vegas imagery, especially for a place off strip and as elegant as this, but I still like it.
Not surprisingly, we head for the arch with the club symbol.
“This is where I spend most of my time,” Victor explains as we stand in the entry. “Each of the other four owners has a space they curate as well.”
I glance behind me at the other three archways. “Four?” I question.
Victor points at the diamond. “Yes, four. It used to just be three. But when Tobias and Owen joined forces and married Bellamy, we brought Tobias in as another owner and business partner. He and Owen share the diamond room.”
I’m curious about the relationship between Bellamy and her two husbands. I don’t like the one that I have, so I can’t imagine having two.
“Can I see the other spaces?” I ask.
Victor nods and tugs on my leash, pulling me into the nearest of the three rooms. As we tour the other three spaces, I’m struck by how beautiful everything is. This is not what I imagined a BDSM club would look like. This is high-end luxury. My suspicion that this club has many rich and powerful members is all but confirmed.
When we finish our tour, Victor leads me back to his area, and I have to hold in my gasp as we step into the space.
It is an assault on the senses. Sweat, sex, and the faint smell of candle wax drift through the air. A woman cries out in anguish, but when I find the source of the cry, her face is pure bliss as a man whips her with a thin rod that looks painful.
Everywhere I turn, people are playing with pain and intense sensation. The energy in the room matches what it was like in the hotel suite with Victor. I do my best to put that out of my mind. But it is not a night I will soon forget.
He leads me through the room, and I can sense all eyes on us. Even people who are deep into their scenes glance our way. They know he’s one of the owners, and they’re curious about the woman he has on a leash. It’s odd to be the center of attention. Whenever I’m out with Phineas, I’m expected to fade into the background so he can shine. But here, I’m part of the spectacle. They’re paying as much attention to me as they are to him. And it’s intoxicating.
He sits on a chair that looks to have been made for royalty, and I have the good sense to kneel next to it when he gives a subtle glance at the floor.
“It would seem you’re a natural,” he murmurs in my ear before sitting up straight again.
I blush, not sure of how to respond, so I don’t. I just take in all the sights and sounds of this room. Some of what I see shocks me at first, but after a moment to process and take it in, I find it all very arousing and beautiful. Before last night, you wouldn’t have gotten me to believe I could engage in kinks like this, especially given the ways Finn likes to hurt me, but the visceral rawness and primal nature of this play space appeals to me very much, and I feel safe here despite the cries of pain I hear coming from the various stations. If it weren’t for the fact that I am being held hostage, I would be right at home here.