Chapter 21
Twenty-One
Iarrive back at the manor after my shift at Black Magic Bar, exhausted. I worked a double because the day-shift bartender called in sick. I’d like to spend some time with Nero, but physically, I need to sleep.
We slept together for the first time a week ago, and though I have no idea what our official status is, we’ve spent all our time in the manor fucking like rabbits everywhere and anywhere.
I can’t get enough of him. Each time we’re together, I think, “This is the time I’ll feel satiated” but it never happens.
So rather than go in search of him, I text him that I’m exhausted and going straight to bed. After a quick shower, I put on my pajamas and slip under the covers, drifting to sleep right away.
Not long later, I’m awoken by a woman’s voice calling my name over and over.
Blinking several times, I open my eyes and find myself already out of bed and walking out my bedroom door. Mist surrounding me blocks my sight of what’s around me, but I’m familiar enough with the manor that I know I’m making my way through it. The same way you know things when you’re having a dream, even if they’re not there in front of you.
Wait—is this a dream?
The woman’s voice says my name again, and I continue walking forward, almost not of my own volition. I feel as if I’m in a trance—aware of my surroundings, but unable to break free. I couldn’t stop walking if I wanted to.
I drift through the mist, and it swirls around me until I arrive at a large intricately carved wooden door. My hand reaches out to turn the handle, but it’s locked. I try again, and that’s when my name comes from behind me.
Only this time, it’s not a woman’s voice saying it.
“Cinder, what are you doing?”
The mist disappears, and I feel as if my feet land with a thud on the floor, the dreamlike haze vanishing. My hand drops from the door, and I turn around to see Nero standing there with a concerned gaze.
He eyes me up and down. “What are you doing?”
What am I doing? I look around and realize I’m in a place in the house I’ve never been in before.
“I… I don’t know.”
His forehead creases, and he steps forward, resting his hand on my shoulder. “What were you doing trying to get in that door?” He nods behind me, the coolness of his tone taking me back.
I turn and look at the door again, shaking my head. “I don’t know.”
He gently turns me back to face him. “C’mon. I’ll take you back to your room.”
I get the sense that he doesn’t want me around this door, so I go with him.
“How did you know where I was?” I ask as we make our way down the gloomy hallway.
When he doesn’t immediately answer, I look at him.
“I was watching you sleep, and I got hungry, so I went to the kitchen to grab something. When I came back, you were gone, so I went searching for you.”
A normal person would be freaked out that he likes to watch me sleep. It’s weird that I don’t mind.
“I woke up, or I thought I did anyway. It was like a dream, but not. And this woman kept calling my name.”
“Do you have a history of sleepwalking?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No. Never. It’s weird, it felt like I was being led to that door.”
He clears his throat and circles his head as though he’s trying to work out a kink.
I stop and tug on his shirt. “Nero, where does that door lead?”
His gaze flicks over my face, and he holds the same look he does when he’s hiding something. The same facial expression from that night at the motel parking lot. He’s keeping things from me.
I wonder if it has something to do with the once-a-month Saturday nights. I’m pretty sure it does for no other reason than my gut is telling me it does. I think back to Anabelle and Rapsody telling me to ask Nero about it. He’s been upfront now about his stalking regret and his childhood trauma, so how bad could those Saturday nights be that he’s keeping it from me?
“Does it have something to do with all those expensive vehicles driving through Magnolia Bend on their way here once a month?”
His nostrils flare. “Let’s get back to your room. We’ll discuss it there.”
My stomach bottoms out. So it does. And it’s obvious from his reaction that he’s not looking forward to telling me whatever it is.
I nod, and we walk through the communal part of the house, past the stained-glass raven, and to my bedroom.
Once we’re inside, and he shuts the door, I whirl around. “Tell me. Whatever it is, just tell me.”
He pushes his hands into his jeans pockets and stares at me, scanning me as if he’s trying to memorize me. Does he think whatever he’s going to tell me will change things for me? “That door leads to the basement of the manor.”
I step closer to him. “What’s in the basement, Nero?” I whisper as if I’m saying I can keep his secret.
“The Ritual Room.”
I frown, not understanding. “What’s the Ritual Room?”
He clears his throat and slides his hands out of his pockets, pushing one through his hair. “It’s a sex club that my brothers and I run.”
I blink and blink again. Out of all possible things, the rumors I’ve heard from bar patrons, that was not the answer I expected to hear. “A sex club?”
He nods. “You cannot tell anyone.” His voice is serious, and if I’m honest, there’s a bit of a threat in his tone.
“Of course not.”
“I’m serious, Cinder. I’m not worried about myself, but powerful people attend every month, and if they found out that an outsider knew about it, they wouldn’t hesitate to do what they had to in order to make the problem go away.” His blue eyes burn into mine, and I realize that the threat in his voice is about my safety.
I rest my hand on his chest. “I understand.”
He nods. “My father started it a long time ago, and when he died, Asher took over. As we all came of age, we joined.”
“What happens down there? Is it just a big orgy once a month?”
He smirks. “Sometimes. There’s a theme every month. People do whatever they want down there. That’s the whole point.”
My hand drops from his chest. “And you… you partake in all of this?” The image of him with another woman slams into my mind, and I feel sick inside knowing on that Saturday, he had been with someone else.
“Usually.” He shrugs. “Not lately, though.”
My head tilts. “Why not?”
“Because there’s only one woman these days that I have any interest in being with.”
My shoulders sag in relief. There’s one thing I need clarity about, though. “Why did you seem so nervous to tell me about it? I mean… I’m a stripper. I’m not exactly a saint.”
“It’s one of our family’s most closely guarded secrets for one, and if it were to get out, it wouldn’t affect just me, but my brothers as well. But mostly because I recently told you all this heinous shit from my past. I was afraid that if I piled on one more thing, maybe it would be too much, and you’d want to bail on us.”
I place my palm on his cheek. “You worry too much.”
His head slides along my palm, and he kisses it. “No, just a lot of experience with loss.”
My heart stutters inside, and I wrap my arms around him. When he embraces me back, my body fills with a warm glow.
With my cheek pressed against his chest, I say, “Am I allowed to have fun with you in the Ritual Room?”
He unwraps his arms from around me and pushes me back by the shoulders. “You’d want that?”
I nod.
“The idea of performing sexual acts in front of other people doesn’t freak you out?”
My head tilts. “I’ve been stripping for years. I’ve done VIP parties. It’s nothing I’m not used to, only this would be different because… well, it’s with you.”
His gaze skirts around my face, as if he’s really trying to see how comfortable I am with it. “If you seriously want that, there’s more you should know.”
My breath catches in my throat. I get the feeling that this is the part he was most nervous to tell me. “Okay…” Is he going to finally tell me he was engaged? Oh shit, he didn’t take Maude down there, did he?
“I like to share my partners.” He stills, bringing his thumb to his mouth, waiting for my reaction.
“You want me to have sex with another man? A woman?”
He nods.
God, why does the idea of performing with someone else for his pleasure turn me on so much? I love performing for him. When he’s at TT’s, I get off seeing his shadow in that booth. What would it be like to have him watch me have sex with someone?
“I can be perfectly satisfied keeping things how they are.” He squeezes my shoulders, his eyes imploring. “If it’s not something you’re into, that’s fine. It’s not something we have to explore.”
His eyes look genuine, which makes me want to say yes even more than I already do.
“Nero, that’s something that I’d like to try.”
His eyes light up like the sky on a beautiful summer day. “Really?” I nod, and he palms the back of my head, dragging me in for a kiss. Before our kiss progresses to something more, he pulls away and rests his forehead on mine. “There’s one more thing.”
I lean back to meet his gaze. “What more could there be?”
“Everyone wears masks. There’s a whole system I’ll explain later, but what you need to know about is the initiation.”
I swallow. “Tell me.”
“Everyone has to do it. There are no exceptions.”
“Nero, just tell me.” My voice grows firmer.
“You’ll have to be unmasked, and you’ll have to do whatever I tell you in front of everyone. The whole thing will be recorded to use as leverage if you ever tried to use your knowledge of the club for your own gain or told anyone about it. It’s why my dad started the club in the first place—so he’d have something to lord over all the other one-percenters. That, and intel. There’s a lot that goes down in that club besides just sex. People talk, divulge things they shouldn’t.”
My hand goes to my stomach. “Okay, I can do that.”
He cups my face and lowers himself so our eyes are level with each other. “Are you sure?”
“I am. Nero, I want to do this.”
“Okay, then. Next Saturday, you’ll be initiated in the Ritual Room.” His lids grow heavy, and I know he’s thinking about what might happen down there, as am I.
I press my thighs together, then a thought suddenly occurs to me. “Will Anabelle and Rapsody be down there?”
He nods. “Yeah. Asher and Anabelle keep things pretty private, but Kol and Rapsody have been known to put on a show. Though he’d rip off anyone’s hand who tried to touch her.”
“Will that be weird?” For the first time since this conversation started, I feel unsure of my decision.
He shrugs. “Only if we make it weird. Is it weird when you’re naked in front of Lisa at TT’s?”
Good point. I shake my head.
“There you go. Speaking of…”
“What?”
He drops his hands from my face and steps back. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about, but I didn’t know how to bring it up. Since we’re laying it all out tonight, maybe this is a good time.”
I nod for him to go on.
“I don’t want you to work there anymore. I can’t be there to watch you twenty-four-seven, even though you know I’d like to be.” When I open my mouth to protest, he plows right on. “What if Freddie shows up there? He might be there for Lisa, but he saw you at the motel and might take it out on you.”
“Nero, there’s security there. I’ll be fine.”
He shakes his head. “Security might help if it’s one-on-one. What if he shows up with a gun?”
I hadn’t thought of that. Lisa says Freddie hasn’t tried to contact her since everything went down that night, and she moved to the other hotel, but that doesn’t mean he won’t.
“It has nothing to do with controlling you, I swear. It’s just about keeping you safe. Plus, you’re with me now. You can do whatever you want with your life now that you’re out from under your stepmother’s thumb.”
“Am I?” When Nero frowns and his forehead wrinkles, I add, “With you?”
“Haven’t I made that obvious?” He places his hands on my hips, squeezing. “I thought it was clear that I’m completely obsessed with you.”
I can’t help but smile. “You have, but we haven’t really discussed what that means. Are you my… boyfriend?”
He chuckles and gives me a chaste kiss. “Sure, I’m your boyfriend.”
“Why are you laughing?” I lightly smack his shoulder.
“It just sounds trite compared to what I feel, but you can call me whatever you want, Cinder. I’m just going to call you mine.”
My heart inflates so fast I fear it might explode. “I don’t think you’re trying to control me. You’re justified in your thinking.”
“But…”
“But I need to think about it.”
He shakes his head and laughs. “You don’t have to think about wanting to join a sex club so I can share you, but you do have to think about whether or not you’ll quit TT’s?”
I shrug. “I have to figure out what I want to do. So much has changed so fast for me.”
He nods slowly. “Okay, I can understand that. Do you have any ideas?”
I think back to that motel room when I was teaching Dahlia to dance, and something lights up in my chest. “I do, but I want to make sure I’m heading down the right path. Just give me a bit.”
He smiles. “I can do that.”
Nero kisses me, which leads to him undressing me, which leads to so much more before a very sound sleep.