27. Into the Night
~ brIDGET ~
I hurried through the lounge, ignored by most—people wearing cloaks and moving quickly wasn’t really noteworthy in this place. Plus, with Ronald’s den having just emptied and some of the other shows finishing at similar times, there were a lot of people milling around trying to figure out what they were going to do next. I knew it was sometime between seven and eight—there were no clocks here and I didn’t want to stop to dig my phone out to be sure. But Ronald had another show at eight, so it was earlier than that.
Valerie had told me in the past that this was when the night started to pick up. But it wouldn’t be until the ten and eleven o’clock shows that the crowds would arrive. Those were the most popular, any day of the week.
I was just grateful that there were a lot more bodies around now, and that none of them cared enough to stop me or enquire why I was fleeing a den.
Mainly because I wouldn’t have known what to say.
Nothing had gone wrong. I hadn’t been threatened—frankly, I would have enjoyed it more if Ronald had come at me. But he didn’t.
So I didn’t know why I was feeling so exposed and so uncomfortable. I’d been looking forward to coming here, and even though Ronald’s “show” hadn’t been what I expected, it also wasn’t traumatic.
I’d watched consenting adults letting other consenting adults push their boundaries. It was the entire point of this place, and something I usually applauded.
But I kept seeing Ronald’s intense gaze, his smug smiles, and I kept feeling that itch at the back of my neck that screamed danger.
Why?
A Dom who was full of his own importance was almost cliché.
A Dom who considered what he did to be important and who got butt-hurt when you didn’t agree was little more than garden-variety arrogant.
Regardless of why my body was quivering like a religious virgin on the altar, the fact of the matter was that I didn’t want to stick around for any more shows. So I only lifted my head to navigate the path through the furniture and people, making a beeline for the exit hallway.
Except, as I broke through the ring of couches and chairs in the center of the large room, a husky, female voice rose to my right.
“So the guys weren’t playing a prank on me. You’re really here?”
I knew that rasp. That voice, molded by fifty years of smoking and too much of any vice or substance you could imagine, belonged to Valerie. The owner of this fine establishment, and not someone I wanted to talk to when I felt like I was about to split my skin.
But it had been a year, and I didn’t want to lose my privilege, just in case. So, I made myself stuff the feelings down and stop, turn on my heel and look for her.
She was a short woman who, at well over sixty, had cut her hair short so she didn’t have to wash it very often. She didn’t usually wear make-up, and lived in black slacks and frilly blouses that looked like they belonged in a Walmart Seniors Department.
She’d aged since I last saw her, but I pretended I didn’t notice.
“Valerie! It’s great to see you.”
I would have hugged her, but she lifted her hand—clutching a vape—and pointed at me with a stern look on her face.
“You come in after a year away and don’t even knock on my door? I’m hurt, Bridge.”
I grimaced. “I’m sorry. I had heard about Ronald and I was kind of obsessed with seeing what he was doing, so I just… I’m sorry.”
“Whatever. So he let you in, I take it? I can’t think of anyone else here that would make you run like your shoes were on fire.”
“I wasn’t running.”
She gave me a skeptical look, but didn’t comment. “What did you think?”
I swallowed. “It was… not what I expected.”
She snorted. “I swear, every word that comes out of your mouth is either barbed, or completely understated. That guy is a mind-fuck. In fact, that’s what we should name his show. I need to get marketing on it.”
I snorted. “It’s actually really good.”
“Don’t sound surprised. It takes more than a pretty face to make a place like this work.” Valerie used that extended arm to slip around my shoulders and turn me away from the exit, and head me towards the nondescript door that would lead us to the back office.
Shit. “I’m sure it does, but I really need to—”
“I’ll let you go in a minute, but I need something from you.”
I blinked. “You do?” She was ushering me towards that door. “Yes. You’re young, right? I need someone to help me with auditions, because I only took the Monster guy because we had a gap, but he’s proving to be the most popular with the under-thirty crowd, and now I’m feeling like I’m losing touch.”
I looked at her. “Monster guy?”
“Yeah, he’s got all those hollow dildo things that he straps on and fucks you like he’s an alien, or something. I don’t know. It’s not my cup of tea, but you know me, I won’t yuck your yum.”
“Right.”
“So, I was going to call you, because you’re young, but not too young—God, I cannot stomach a giggler. And I was thinking if you wanted to come help me with casting next month when we do the next round, I could make it worth your while.”
“That’s a really generous offer, Valerie, but—”
“You don’t even know what the offer is yet.”
“Yeah, but I know you. I know how generous you can be,” I said carefully, praying she wouldn’t get pissed off with me. “I just have a lot going on right now and I’m not sure I’d have time—”
“Please, it’s two days every three months. Even you can swing that. And I’ll give you a month’s notice.”
“I know you would, I’m just—”
“I’ll call you in a couple weeks and we’ll talk about it then,” Valerie said like I hadn’t even spoken.
I opened my mouth, but my brain was short-circuiting because what she described would be fun, but if I was getting hunted I would want to focus… but what if I wasn’t?
“I… okay,” I said helplessly as we reached the door into the back offices. “You give me a call, but I have to go now, okay? I have a date.”
Valerie chuckled, which devolved into a hacking cough. “Sure you do. But I get it. I’m old.”
“No, Val, that’s not—"
“You help me with the recruitment and I’ll forgive you.”
I slumped, shaking my head. “I’m beginning to see why these people never get around you,” I grumbled.
Valerie chuckled again. “Smart girl. So, talk in a couple weeks?”
“Sure.”
I was just relieved to finally be free when she squeezed my shoulder, then let me go. “Then you go have your date. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”
“That doesn’t narrow my options at all,” I muttered, which made her laugh. But she walked away smiling and pushed through that door, leaving me free.
I heaved a sigh of relief and darted back to the exit and out, through the security room, then onto the street.
I’d had to park three blocks away because there was no parking for Vigorí , and no businesses nearby that offered public parking. So, I turned left out the door and started down the street.
My skin was still itching, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been at home. And maybe… maybe it was because of Ronald now? Maybe when I got home I’d feel better? Or maybe Cain would finally have sent me a message.
Or maybe he was hunting me now and had only been waiting for me to get out of the club!
That thought made my breath catch, and I instinctively looked up and over my shoulder just in time to catch the very masculine shadow separating from the corner of the alleyway between Vigorí and the neighboring building, and launching at me—arms extended and man-hands clawed.
“Holy sh—"
I tried to twist and avoid the grip of those long arms, but only managed to turn enough so he grabbed my hair instead of my shoulder, snapping my head back at the same time he lifted me off my feet and turned me, slamming me backwards into the side of the building in the shadows.
I struggled to break free, heart hammering, spitting curses and trying to kick him, but he had me off my feet, my heels against the wall, and his thighs pinning mine so there was nowhere to move to get a swing on him.
I looked into the shadow of his hood, trying desperately to see his face, but the dim glow from the distant streetlight on the next block only silhouetted the edge of his jaw.
Cain? I sucked in a huge breath.
But then he tossed his head back and the hood slipped off, revealing the smiling face of Ronald, teeth gleaming, eyes ablaze.
“I told you I was in,” he whispered, then smiled in the way that made my stomach go cold. Then he glanced over his shoulder, and his smile got broader. “So… you really did come alone. Good girl,” he purred. “And don’t worry, I won’t tell your boyfriend you came looking for me.”