Chapter 4
Four
DARIA
I knew what I signed up for. I knew what I might see. Even still, signing a paper acknowledging my understanding of how a sex club works and discovering how it actually works are two different things.
The only light in the dark hall comes from the rooms, if you can even call them that. The glass walls of the first eight rooms don’t offer an ounce of privacy, and Jane and I aren’t the only ones watching. Not all the rooms are occupied, but a throuple fills the first. A man is being pegged by a woman with tight curls that bounce with every hard thrust, and any sounds of surprise are muffled by the cock in his mouth.
Skin heating, I stare for another beat before looking at Jane. Her eyes are wide and she swallows.
“Do you want to go?”
“Fuck no,” she says with a soft laugh. “You?”
“No,” I confess. It’s overwhelming but also...my attention strays back to the throuple. The woman is wearing a leather bra that is mostly just scraps of material. Her breasts spill between the leather, and the clamps pinch around her nipples. My gaze jumps to her face, but there’s not an ounce of pain.
She’s wearing a wicked smile and is relentless as she pounds into her partner.
“Let’s keep moving,” Jane says, tugging my arm. “Otherwise, we’ll forget all about research.”
Right. This is supposed to be research. Technically, observing is part of the research. Most of the products being used tonight were provided by Good Vibes. Including the clamps.
Maybe I’ll experiment with some of those . My nipples are hard beneath the teddy and bra, suggesting the mere idea of them is affecting me.
We pass by the open rooms and come to the first room where the walls are actually walls. The door is propped open, and Jane and I trade looks.
She hesitates.
“They said the products would be back here.” This time, I’m the one dragging her with me. “These rooms aren’t meant for voyeurism.”
Mirrors line the wall, and a half a dozen tables, covered by velvet cloths, hold a variety of toys. The group of guys from earlier brushes past me, and Jane bites her lip, shooting me a questioning look.
“We’ll catch up later,” I tell her.
Her hungry gaze roves over the guy with blond hair, whose finger is stroking over a flogger. She flicks her gaze to mine. “For science,” she says before sauntering over to the group.
They quickly close around her, their wristbands nearly identical to hers. At least they have the same limits. I scoot out of the way as she leads the guys from the room with confidence that even I envy. Okay, Jane. Go get some.
There are a few other people in the room, mostly couples or throuples or—quartets?—whatever. I ignore them and walk to the first table, eyeing the variety of floggers, noting that the one the blond had been eyeing escaped with him and Jane. I reach out and stroke one of them, admiring how soft the leather is.
Not hard and cheap.
Still definitely not my kink.
I leave that table and go to the next as people filter out of the room.
“Guess it’s just us,” a guy two tables over says.
Glancing up from the butt plug section—maybe I should snap a picture for Arnold—I study him for a moment. Confident smirk and posture. A sparkle in his eyes that says the world is meant for him.
An alpha.
I may not be able to smell him, but I know, without a doubt, that’s what he’ll be. Though I’m not against alphas, seeing as I’ve had my heart broken several times over and most brutally by a few alphas, I’m hesitant enough to pause before smiling politely at him. “Guess so.”
Taking it as an invitation to engage, he meanders a little closer. “First time?”
My answer dies in my throat when the air shifts, alerting me to someone’s arrival. No, not just someone. Him. Vicente. Vic. I don’t know how I know, but I do. My spine stiffens, and I suck in a deep breath, then curse myself for forgetting about the no-scent rule. All I can smell is the musky perfume of the club itself.
Vic hesitates at the door. Because of me? Because of the alpha? Speaking of the alpha, he waits for me to respond, probably mistaking my delay for nerves and not total distraction.
I want to turn and look, to take in all those beautiful tattoos, the chiseled jaw, the broad chest, the strong hands that probably know exactly how to handle me, but I resist the urge. I ignore the mirrors, which would show me who I really want to see.
“Yes,” I say, voice a little breathy. “It’s my first time.”
And then Vic walks into the room, the energy shifting in his direction, almost like he’s a black hole coming to destroy everything. My pulse skitters when my awareness places him at my back, a simple table the only barrier between us. When my gaze flies to the mirror, I realize he’s positioned perfectly behind me. All I can see is the faint outline of his body.
The alpha glances at him and nods. “Hey, man.”
Vic doesn’t reply.
“So,” the alpha says to me, not missing a beat. “I saw you eyeing the floggers.” He glances at my wristbands. “Rethinking your limits?”
“No.”
“You sure about that?” he teases. “I saw you stroking them.”
“It’s not?—”
“She said no,” Vic growls.
I shiver at the anger lacing his words. Fuck, that’s hot.
“I’m talking to her, not you,” the alpha fires back.
And then Vic moves, and it takes every ounce of my control not to turn, not to watch him walk around the table until he stands right behind me, mere inches away. A looming shadow. Approaching night, threatening to snuff out the light, so the dark can come out and play. I bite my lip and force myself to stay strong.
Don’t give in. Don’t be the first to break.
“And she said no. Her limits are her limits, and you don’t question them. Or did you forget that part of the briefing?”
Tension vibrates around his body and slithers through mine, his breath breezing over my shoulder—or maybe I’m imagining that part, but he’s so close.
“It’s okay,” I tell the alpha to defuse the situation, and then to my tattooed savior, I say, “I think he gets the message, babe.”
Babe? What the fuck? But the alpha steps back and holds up his hands.
“Sorry, man. Didn’t realize she was already spoken for...unless you two want company?”
“No,” Vic snaps. “She’s mine .”
Good. Fucking. God. Someone, get a fan. That anger on my behalf is hot as shit.
“Let me know if you change your mind,” the alpha says before departing.
Thong soaked from that little display, I control my breaths and focus on the table of toys, ignoring the temptation crowding my back. Vic doesn’t say anything for a moment. I press my lips together. I’m not chasing him.
Minutes tick by with us in the room. Two strangers pulled together by some unexplained magnetism. I start to feel silly for staring at the butt plugs for this long. Vic’s clearly not going to break, and I’m not going to beg, so I guess that means it’s time to move on.
As I take a step away, a hand snakes out and grabs my waist, tugging me back into his hard chest. My heart jumps, and I nearly shriek in surprise, but the air whooshes from my lungs.
His hand grips my neck as his lips brush over my ear. “Where are you going, little doe?”