3. Sunlight
Cassius
Taking Faith to the private room and purchasing a platinum membership had been a mistake—a costly one.
And I wasn’t talking about the ten million dollars I’d spent.
After tossing and turning that night, I decided that firing the girl wasn’t my best course of action. Selfishly, it was what I wanted. But as the club’s CEO, I knew it wasn’t in our best interests. If I fired Faith so casually after one night, it would rattle the other girls. They would be looking over their shoulders, feeling insecure, instead of making the fantasies of our patrons a reality.
I couldn’t risk the stability of the club. My brothers and I had dreamed of this for years; I wouldn’t jeopardize our venture.
By all metrics, opening night at Club 444 was a success. Gina had sold every platinum membership. I’d been getting nonstop text messages from our patrons, raving about the club, the girls, the incredible atmosphere, and the experience.
After I left Faith, I locked myself in my office. Brooding, I’d watched the club and our patrons from the security feed. Every single member had enjoyed their night. There had been hot, throbbing sex all around. As the club’s CEO, I recognized a win when I saw one.
On a personal level, the night was an utter disaster.
I believed buying Faith and having my way with her would cleanse the girl from my system. But that didn’t happen. Instead, tasting her sweet flesh had ignited a fire in me that felt out of control. Exploring her nubile virgin body had been an exercise in worship. I’d never tasted someone so pure before. When her sex became coated in wetness for me when Faith moaned and cried out from my ministrations, a fierce, hot pride bloomed in my chest. When I brought her to orgasm, and she screamed my name, I felt like I’d died and been reborn.
It was too much. As someone who thrived on being in control, I recognized when I was dangerously close to losing it. It rarely happened, but last night was an exception. I was on the edge.
So, instead of penetrating my virgin as I’d planned, I decided to take matters into my own hands. When she’d knelt before me, I felt like my dreams were coming true. I wanted Faith so badly that I felt like I might burst. Taking her would have been a mistake—I knew I would lose myself in her. My attraction was too intense. Somehow, it was beyond physical. I hoped coming on her face would free me, give me peace, or stop the craving.
All it had accomplished was making me want her more.
Our interaction had elicited a deep, savage ache inside me, unlike anything I’d ever experienced. When I’d made Faith orgasm, when she’d cried out, I felt high. I eschewed alcohol and drugs; I never wanted to lose control. But that was precisely the feeling that coursed through me when I was with the virgin. Everything felt sharper—my senses, my presence, my desire. I’d never wanted anyone so much.
It didn’t feel safe. My wild, raging desire for Faith didn’t play nicely with all my carefully laid plans.
So I fired her, threw her phone to the floor, and left without a glance backward.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t watching her. I’d followed the security video as she stole from the club, keeping to its shadowy edges. I ensured she returned to her suite and watched her room’s video as she’d slept.
That morning, Faith had agreed to stay. The Madam had told her I still intended to pay for my platinum rights, which I’d already done. Ten million dollars was nothing to me, not if it meant that I could put the entanglement with Faith behind me.
That was my plan: pay her and set her free. That would also free me; I wouldn’t have to feel guilty about anything. Faith would make more money this way than if I hadn’t walked away. She was coming out on top by earning two million dollars from me and two million dollars from her next platinum benefactor. She would be able to take care of her sick brother. She would have enough money to live her life once she left the club.
I never had to think about her again.
I told Gina that I wanted Faith out of my sight. That wouldn’t be entirely possible, but at least she’d been warned. I didn’t want the girl coming near me. I’d had enough of Faith.
For the rest of the weekend, I intended to fuck my way through multiple club employees. Except for Faith, all the virgins had been reserved. So, although I wouldn’t be fulfilling that particular fantasy, I had plenty of others. I would take any girl I wanted, any way I wanted, and I would lose myself in hot, mindless sex. Club 444 offered every fantasy, and I intended to indulge.
Faith’s virginity would be merely a memory by the end of the weekend. Gina said the beautiful virgin had garnered much interest amongst the patrons and that she had a long waiting list. Fine with me. Let one of the other patrons go platinum and take her virginity. I was confident I wouldn’t feel the same way about her once that happened.
Which was precisely what I wanted. Because I, Cassius Blackwood, had entirely too much at stake to ever lose my edge.
* * *
I wasat my desk when Rhodes called. “Brother, come down to the pool. It’s a beautiful day. You have got to see the action,” he said. “Trust me when I say you won’t want to miss it.”
He hung up before I could argue.
It was late afternoon, and the sun was tantalizingly high in the sky. New England summers were notoriously short. Rhodes was right—I should stop working and enjoy myself. That was why I’d opened the club, wasn’t it?
I changed into swim trunks, put on my black Yves St. Laurent sunglasses, and headed to the pool deck. As soon as I saw the party going on, I was glad Rhodes had called me. Girls—beautiful, nubile young girls—were everywhere. Many of them were topless; they wore tiny thong bikinis, their banging bodies on proud display in the glistening sunshine. I’d never seen so many gorgeous women in one place.
The patrons were undoubtedly enjoying themselves. Our immaculate pool staff waited on them, serving Caribbean-inspired cocktails, acai bowls, and fresh fruit. Several members were smoking cigars.
Several were also getting blow jobs by club workers.
Rhodes sprawled out on his lounger, sunglasses on, working on his tan. He grinned at me and tipped his flute of Veuve in my direction. “We have got to give Gina a raise. These are the hottest girls I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“They are exceptional.”I peered at the young woman across from me, a redhead. She wore a hot-pink bikini and was sucking a matching daiquiri through a straw very suggestively. “Did you mingle last night?”
Rhodes laughed. “That’s one way to put it. What about you? I didn’t see you around. I figured you’d taken one of the virgins and that I wouldn’t see you for twenty-four hours.”
“I paid for one of the virgins, but I didn’t end up taking her.”I shrugged, feigning indifference. “She wasn’t for me.”
“The blonde?”Rhodes asked. “The one you put the necklace on?”
Unfortunately, my brother didn’t miss much. “Yes, but she’s back on the market.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Is she still available for platinum? She’s the only one left, then. I can’t believe we made forty million dollars last night.”Rhodes sipped champagne. “Except, yes, I can. This club is incredible. I have so many members asking if their friends can join. The waiting list is a mile long.”
“True.”I scanned the crowd. Darren Payne and his platinum employee, Mia, were rubbing against each other by the bar. One of the other virgins, Macy, was getting felt up by another patron, Elias. From what I’d heard, he’d yet to penetrate her.
“You need to keep an eye on those two,”I said, nodding toward Elias and Macy.“He paid platinum for her but hasn’t closed the deal. It looks too… romantic to me. If he wants to have a relationship with her, he must buy out her contract ASAP. I don’t want the girls getting any ideas about being girlfriends or wives.”
“I agree,”Rhodes said. “I’ll talk to Elias. The club isn’t a dating service. It’s about fantasy and freedom.”
The sexy redhead in the pink bikini approached. She was flawless, her perfectly round breasts jutting toward us. She lowered her sunglasses down and peered at me, green eyes sparkling. “Can I get you anything, Mr. Blackwood?”she purred.
“No, thank you,”I said curtly.
Rhodes glanced at me, then back at the redhead. “You can get me something, gorgeous.”
She grinned at him. “Yes?”
“Two glasses of Veuve and meet me in the hot tub.”
“My pleasure!”She skipped off to the bar, her luscious round ass drawing Rhode’s gaze.
He turned back to me. “Why’d you turn down the hot ginger? Didn’t you see her sucking on that straw?”
I shrugged. “Not my type.”
“Why, because she’s not a virgin?”
“No, because she’s not my type.”
“She’s too hot?”Rhodes asked, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Or too friendly?”
“Stop,”I commanded, but I stopped arguing with my brother. Two young women strolled down to the pool deck. One was tall, blonde, and willowy; she was the Dominatrix, Tate. She wore a royal-blue thong bikini with a tiny triangle top. The other girl was shorter, curvier, with long, flaxen hair, her skin pale beneath her modest black two-piece—Faith. She didn’t look in my direction. Instead, she followed Tate to the other side of the pool deck, where they chose side-by-side loungers.
“Did you hear me, Cass?”Rhodes snapped his fingers next to my face.
“Huh?”I glanced at him, but my attention returned to Faith as she spread out her towel. Her diamond V pendant glittered in the sunlight, contrasting with the black of her bikini top. She arranged herself on the lounger, her luscious body on display for all to see. Several patrons noticed her, their hungry gazes raking up and down her smooth, perfect skin. My blood started to run hot. I remembered the taste of her sweet sex, the way she’d cried out when she came?—
“Cass, seriously? The blonde isn’t for you?”Rhodes laughed, shaking his head.
“That’s what I said,”I grumbled.
“Then why can’t you take your eyes off her?”
“Why don’t you go find Strawberry Shortcake and stop pestering me?”I growled.
“Will do.”He saluted me and ambled off. The perky redhead in the hot tub smiled at him and held out two flutes of champagne.
I turned my attention back to Faith.
She was supposed to stay out of my sight, but I couldn’t punish her for joining the other girls by the pool. Gina had instructed them to entertain the patrons on the glorious, sunny afternoon. As long as she stayed away, she wasn’t technically violating my order.
If Faith saw me, she didn’t let on. She and Tate took turns spraying sunscreen on each other. A server approached them and took their order. Moments later, Tate sipped a mimosa, and Faith accepted a glass of water. Faith chatted with her new friend, her pale skin sparkling in the sunlight and her tawny hair reflecting the sun’s rays.
I couldn’t tear my gaze away.
As the afternoon wore on, I stayed in my lounger and watched the scene unfold. The cocktails flowed freely. Many of the girls took their tops off to sunbathe. Patrons were smoking cigars, tanning, and relaxing. Several of them enjoyed club employee services at the poolside. In other words, they were getting blow jobs, hand jobs, or both. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, smiling, laughing, and enjoying the freedom and sexiness of the beautiful, luxurious setting.
More patrons approached girls, chatting and swimming. My brother and the redhead were making out in the hot tub—I didn’t watch. Instead, I stayed in my spot, observing Faith behind the safety of my sunglasses. She didn’t acknowledge me. Instead, she pulled a book out of her tote and started reading as Tate scanned the crowd, smiling and blowing kisses to her many admirers.
Fuck,I thought. This girl. Who primly reads a book at a sex club pool party?
As more drinks flowed and the sun streaked across the sky, the music changed from breezy pop to a popular hip-hop song. The beat got more intense. Many of the girls got up and danced, shaking their asses. The remaining few who still wore tops removed them. It was a visual feast of gorgeous young women, sexily moving in time to the music.
It was an invitation—a seductive one. The patrons joined them, and the atmosphere became electric. Couples started pairing off. It happened swiftly; it seemed inevitable. The primal, pulsing sensation of sex electrified the air. The dancing became a tangle of limbs. It seemed to catch on like the sexiness was contagious. People were kissing, then groping, then fucking on the lounge chairs, in the pool, in the hot tub. One patron bent his girl over so her ass was in the air, hammering her from behind. Her cries echoed out over the infinity pool. Everywhere around me, people were shattering with powerful orgasms.
How much sex could you have in one weekend?
It seemed I was about to find out.
Faith and Tate had stayed where they were, watching the pairings unfold with amusement. But they weren’t alone for long. Two handsome, muscled patrons in swim trunks approached their loungers. The girls smiled up at them; Faith even put her book away to chat with her suitor. He sat down on her chaise, too close for my liking.
My blood started to run hot again. Spots danced in front of my eyes.
The member leaned over Faith, trailing his fingers up her side to her necklace, which he also fingered.
I was across the pool deck before I knew what I was doing.
“Get your fucking hands off my virgin,”I seethed.
The man whipped his head around. “Cassius? Sorry, man.”He hopped up off the lounger. “I thought?—”
“It doesn’t matter what you thought,”I said, my voice ice. “She’s fucking mine.”
I held out my hand for Faith, and she took it, although she looked bewildered. “Come with me, Faith. Now.”