Chapter 8
8
A re you really going to go to another sex club?
Leslie eyes widened at Alex’s bold topic change. She was silent for a few seconds then said, “I’m curious about the life. I think…I think there’s something in me that is not just drawn to it, but might need it. So yes.”
Her honest words struck something deep in Alex. It was a confirmation that if things had been different, Leslie would be perfect for him in so many ways.
He thought about her exploring the lifestyle. All the bad things that could happen to her. Hell, all the good things that could happen to her.
Could he really let her explore a sex club without him?
The answer came loud and clear.
No.
They couldn’t be more, but if all she wanted was to satisfy her curiosity, he could make sure she was safe while she did it.
One night, he told himself. Tonight.
He kept driving past the exit to Leslie’s place.
“Alex? Where are we going?”
“Who would have thought the chances of me doing Zumba in front of you would be less than the chances of me taking you back to a sex club,” he muttered to himself.
Leslie gasped.
“If you’re serious about going to a sex club again, I can take you, Leslie. I can show you some of what you’re curious about. It can only be tonight, though.”
Silence. The car was filled with stunned silence.
Was Alex being serious?
He was, she realized. And while part of her rejoiced, she was surprised at how part of her questioned whether returning to a sex club with Alex would be a mistake, if only because it would reignite her hopes that she could have more with him. And that, in turn would only lead to more heartache for her.
She dug down deep, imagining how she’d feel when, regardless of what happened tonight between them, he pulled away again and ultimately walked away. Because he would.
It worried her, yes, but when it came down to it, her worry was overshadowed by longing. By an impatience for more enthralling encounters, more fiery exchanges, and an exploration of the explosive chemistry between them.
Regardless that it would end, she wanted more of this dangerous dance, more of him, even if it was terrifyingly exhilarating.
But exactly how far was he willing to dance with her?
Finally, she said, “Are you going to show me or… will you participate with me?”
He gritted his teeth. “That’s not a good idea. But I want to do what’s best for you. I want you to be safe. I want you to learn what you want to learn. I want to be sure you have a good idea of what it is you might want, so that when you meet someone you trust, you can move forward.”
“Someone else,” Leslie said softly. She turned away to stare out the window before turning back to him. “Fine. It can’t be you. Not long term. Not in a relationship. But maybe, just maybe, it can be like you said, just for tonight? Please, Alex?”
God, the look in her eyes and what she was offering him.
For a moment, Alex allowed himself to consider it.
Could he have her just for tonight?
He reasoned that he’d already fooled around with her. He could guide her tonight. He could show her what her body was capable. Teach her not to be ashamed of her desire. Ensure that she was safe.
He wouldn’t fuck her, though; that would be too much for him to walk away from in the end.
But he could give her something, and at the same time, give himself something to remember when the darkness claimed him, like it always did.
“How about I don’t say no, Leslie, but we see how the evening goes? That work?”
Leslie looked frustrated before she nodded. “That works, Alex. So, are we going back to where we were? Because after what happened with David, I’d rather not.”
Alex nodded. “I get it. I know another place.”
“I thought you might. So take me there, Alex. Show me what I’ve been missing.”
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Alex asked as the valet drove his truck into an unmarked garage. In front of them was a decrepit brick building with a graffitied metal door. She had no idea what to expect and that was half the fun given she knew Alex wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.
For years, the draw to BDSM had built within her, starting when she witnessed her neighbor’s intimate encounters with her lover. Still, it wasn’t until Alex came into her life that she’d felt open enough to express herself sexually. That night in Montana, when he’d made her come with the force of a thousand suns by being so rough and demanding…
That had been the start.
Then she’d sexted him, and that sext had turned into phone sex, and the raw demands he’d made had triggered such a deep and visceral arousal she’d about hit the roof as she’d come.
She knew that was just the tip of the iceberg.
If she couldn’t have that with Alex, if he couldn’t be hers, she’d still take whatever he’d give her tonight and cherish it forever.
She took a deep breath, slipped her hand down his arm and intertwined her fingers with his. He jerked slightly and inhaled, as if that simple touched affected him intensely, and she held her breath, wondering if he was going to pull away. Instead, he tightened his grip on hers.
With that reassurance, she said, “I’m sure.”
He led her to the door then held his phone up to what was some kind of scanner. When something audibly clicked, he reached for the door with his free hand and held it open for her. With that clandestine entry, Leslie once again felt the magnitude of her inexperience, and the lure of the forbidden world Alex was comfortable in.
He guided her through the door and down a narrow hallway before they came to another door, this one massive and made of gleaming wood. Apparently, having to pass through at least two doors was de rigueur for sex clubs. Once again, Alex used his phone to gain entry, then gallantly Alex opened the second door for her as well. Unlike the first club they’d visited, Leslie was immediately hit with the vision of naked bodies dancing and fucking in random areas around the dimly lit area dotted with couches, small tables, and yes, even large gilded cages. It was so blatant, so unnerving, that all she could do was look from one group to another, and marvel how others meandered around fully clothed while others had sex like it was nothing to them.
“You okay?” Alex asked.
She nodded. “Yes. It’s just so…blatant.”
He chuckled. “That it is. But not everyone likes that. Some people visit the back rooms exclusively. There’s even another entrance, where one can access the back rooms without having to walk through this area. But I thought you might enjoy seeing all the place had to offer.”
“Yes,” she said quickly. “I don’t want you go easy with me, Alex. Not ever. But especially not tonight.”
His eyes flared as he stared down at her and for a minute, that’s all they were, two people surrounded by public sex all around them but unable to see anything but each other. When Leslie felt herself about to drown in her desire for him, she blinked and looked away. Deliberately, she focused on seeing not the people around them, but the details of the club.
She was expecting something like the sex club they’d visited earlier--modern and slick, but it wasn’t like that. Instead, the club exuded a timeless sophistication she never would have expected based on the decrepit exterior. Styled like a 1920s speak-easy, dimmed chandeliers dripping in strands of diamonds hung from the gold-plated ceilings. The brick walls were covered with ornate mirrors which reflected the patrons sitting at tables or on red velvet chaises. Candles heavy with dripped wax covered low tables along with crystal champagne flutes and lady’s designer hand clutches. The shelves of a bar crafted from the same deep colored wood as the door they just walked through glistened with hand blown bottles of liquors and liqueurs. At the large red marble bar top, a gorgeous woman, topless but for a crisp black apron and wearing a shiny black top hat, served drinks. Further into the room from behind gold velvet drapes came the faint sound of moans and cries.
Likely the private rooms Alex had just spoken of. Like the ones David had mansplained to her earlier that night.
Alex’s voice was like honey in her ear, “Let’s start with a drink for you.”
Leslie squeezed Alex’s fingers and smiled softly when he returned the gesture.
He pulled out an elegant barstool for her and helped her to perch atop it. For a second, she wished he’d led her to a table. Leslie wanted above all to give off the impression of a sophisticated woman, a worldly woman, graceful and poised, not a little kid whose toes didn’t touch the ground. He didn't take the barstool next to hers, but instead remained standing, turning into her, guarding over her, the warmth of his chest emanating like a furnace.
She liked that she was the focus of his attention even when so much was going on around him.
When the half-naked waitress came to them, supple hips shaking from side to side, Alex, to Leslie’s surprise, ordered for her. “She’ll have a gin gimlet, bruised,” he said.
For some reason, even though she’d never tried the drink before, him ordering for her didn’t bug her the way it had when David had done it for her. In fact, the confident and unwavering timber of his voice as he ordered for her made her shiver with pleasure.
"And what does the gentleman want?”
For a moment, the waitress’s charged words swirled around them. Alex’s hungry gaze swept over Leslie, as if cataloging what she had to offer him: salt from her sweat, aroma from her fruity shampoo, sweetness from her red painted lips, musk from her wet panties—and yes, they’d been damp since the moment she’d seen Alex earlier. In the end, eyes on Leslie’s, he said, “Club soda.”
She smiled, remembering what he’d told her at the King George. That even if he was off duty, he wouldn’t drink if she was in his care.
"You ordered for me," she said.
"Did it upset you?" he asked.
She didn’t voice what she was thinking. That him taking charge in that way only made it easier to imagine other ways he would assert his dominance. Like when she was gagged and on her knees before him...
The mental image made her breath catch in her throat.
Rattled, she looked away.
"No," she answered honestly.
Alex gently turned Leslie's chin to face him. She liked the calluses on his fingers, the slight scrape against her sensitive skin.
"Good," he said, his voice like honey. "That's very good, baby."
His praise made Leslie’s nipples hard, something she suspected Alex didn’t miss even as he caught her bottom lip with his thumb and tugged it down just slightly before releasing it. He turned away as their drinks arrived and Leslie thought she noticed a weak link in his supreme self-control. He gripped his glass of club soda with white knuckles. At the evidence that he wasn’t in control as much as she thought, she felt a surge of satisfaction, of power. It was when his desire for her broke through that calm, diligent exterior, when he seemed seconds away from taking her against whatever wall was closest, that she wanted him most.