Chapter 7
Anton
‘Do you partake of these facilities?’ I ask her in as even a tone as I can manage, my eyes still trained on the equipment in front of us.
She’s quiet behind me for a moment. ‘I don’t think that’s relevant to this discussion,’ she says finally.
‘It’s a simple question. You’re pitching me your club, and I’m wondering if you stand behind its offering.’
‘Of course I stand behind it.’ She takes a step forward so she’s next to me, and I glance over at her. Her face is an impassive mask.
‘So you do partake.’
This time, it’s not a question.
‘Not all business owners have to use their products. Our FD, Zach, was married when we founded this place.’
‘That’s not an answer.’
‘It’s not something I feel the need to discuss with prospective members.’
I turn to face her, so I can give her my full attention. Those blue eyes of hers look up at me with studied aloofness.
‘There are only two reasons, as far as I can see, that you wouldn’t allow yourself to enjoy the charms of this place.
One, you’re in a monogamous relationship.
’ I swallow the distaste that particular relationship state holds for me currently.
‘Two, it’s not your bag. But you’re not a silent partner.
You’re the first face new members see. You just asked me about my fetishes, for Christ’s sake.
So there’s no way you’re as prim and proper as you look. ’
Her mouth twists as she studies me. I can tell she’s unimpressed by my doggedness, but tough shit. I stand by it being a fair question, and I’m used to pushing until people give me answers.
She spins on her heels. ‘I do partake, if you must know. It’s simply not relevant to you. Let me show you the bedrooms.’
As she click-clacks away from me, I sweep my eyes over that arse again.
I wonder what she’s like when she’s here at night.
She’s so buttoned up. Does she go for it?
Scream her head off on those crosses? Or is she discreet, zeroing in on the person or people who can give her what she wants and tugging them off to a quiet room?
‘Why is it not relevant?’ I insist. I pull on the handle of the heavy door she’s stopped in front of and hold it open so she can walk through it. ‘We’re both adults. We’re both going to be here in the evenings, assuming you extend me a membership. Doesn’t it follow that we might fraternise?’
She heads down the corridor and opens a door. ‘Here’s one of the private rooms. You can book these in advance, otherwise it’s first come, first served.’
I put my hands in my pockets and raise a quizzical eyebrow at her as I saunter past her into the room. It’s opulent. Intimate.
Midnight-blue painted walls.
Enormous bed made up with a black sheet and black scatter pillows.
No cover.
Leather headboard.
Cuffs on chains suspended from the ceiling and from either side of the headboard.
More attached to the floor at the end of the bed.
An open doorway reveals a bathroom. There’s a large lacquered cabinet against one wall and a few bowls of condoms and lube. Silk gowns hang from a peg on the wall, but otherwise it looks fairly innocuous.
Cuffs aside, of course.
Still, it’s atmospheric, and it’s obviously set up for a single purpose, so it’s impossible not to feel the tension ratchet up when in here alone with this woman.
‘I asked you a question, which you ignored. Again.’ I turn to her, jangling my keys in my pocket.
‘And don’t try to fob me off about you not fraternising with clients, because everyone in this club is a client of yours, so if you do “partake”, as you’ve admitted, then by default you’re fucking your clients.
We’re all consenting adults, so what’s the problem? ’
I take a step closer to her, and she backs up so she’s practically up against the wall.
‘The problem is that who I do or don’t fuck is none of your business, whether or not we frequent the same club,’ she says. Her tone is icily professional, but her face is defiant, and it really makes me want to put her over my knee.
‘So I wouldn’t make the shortlist?’ I push. ‘Why? Because I genuinely can’t work it out. Unless you’re not attracted to me, of course, but that’s bullshit, because you’ve been eye-fucking me for the past twenty minutes.’
She opens her mouth in what looks like outrage, but I keep going.
‘So the only other reasons I can think of are that you don’t share my kinks, or you’re scared.
And it’s not the former, because I saw how your entire body reacted when I told you what I like doing to women, so it must be the latter. Am I right?’
A glance downwards tells me that, beneath her demure Miss Moneypenny blouse and discreet bra, her nipples have hardened.
Interesting.
Once again, she’s far less opaque than she’d like to think.
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ she huffs. ‘Of course I’m not scared. But I choose who I fuck, and I don’t want to fuck you, nor do I have to explain myself to you.’
‘Course you don’t,’ I lie smoothly, because she does, and she will.
‘But I’m bewildered as to why you’d deny yourself an experience you so clearly want, just to piss me off.
Surely Alchemy is all about exploring new horizons?
Pushing your boundaries? Or do you deny yourself even when you’re here?
Do you stay like your little camellia,’—I nod at her brooch—‘all buttoned-up and perfect and tasteful? I doubt it very much.’
‘My sex life is none of your business.’ She pushes off the wall and comes to stand next to me. ‘What I do here is none of your business. Neither is who I do it with.’
I stick out my lower lip in faux defeat.
‘It’s just a shame. Because you’re precisely the kind of woman I hoped to find here, Genevieve.
And I know how good I can make it for you.
I’d fuck you over that ottoman thing out there, so everyone could see how fucking beautiful you are when you let go.
Or, if you’re feeling shy, we could come in here.
Alone, or with whoever else you want. Depends on how many cocks you can take in one night.
‘But make no mistake about it. If I got you on this bed I would be fucking relentless until I’d made you fall apart over and fucking over.’
She’s staring at me, and boy is she magnificent. Her face is flushed with disbelief and arousal, her tits are heaving as she tries to catch her breath, and she keeps licking her lips, a fact I’m sure she’s unaware of.
She pulls herself up to her full height and holds out her hand, which I take with amusement.
‘Mr Wolff. Alchemy is pleased to extend an offer of membership to you. We’ll email you over the signing documents and full NDA.
But.’ She squeezes tight around my hand.
‘This will be the last time you get to touch me. You will not get to lay a hand, or any other body part, on me, no matter how often our visits here may coincide. Got it?’
I allow myself a full grin, because she is fucking spectacular. ‘You may think that, Genevieve,’ I say. ‘But I don’t like your chances. Because I want you. And I’m used to getting what I want.’