Grayson Chapter
GRAYSON
“You don’t want hickies, and you won’t wear my collar. We haven’t even been seen together publicly. You talk to other men, Christ, you have them drooling after you, and I’m just supposed to be fine with all of it.” He was livid, and surprised to find himself feeling rejected.
She hadn’t rejected him per se… just everything associated with him. No, not him. Anything signifying their relationship, maybe?
They had yet to make their debut in the club, and he didn’t even think she’d been to the club since her disastrous night with that asshole. He’d been understanding about the collar; she had claustrophobia. And some people just didn’t like hickies. Which was fine.
But how the hell was he supposed to claim her when she was fighting him every step of the way? Grayson looked down at her from the end of the couch.
“Miss Alessandra, if you were alright with heavy necklaces, would you wear one to mark you as mine?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“So it’s just the item, not the idea,” he murmured to himself. He checked his phone. Maybe he could run this past one of the guys. He pointed a finger at Lexi.
“Stay here.”
Lexi leaned up off the couch, looking indignant. He gentled his tone.
“I have to take care of something, and I would appreciate it if you were still here when I get back, Alessandra.”
He smiled when she rolled her eyes and flopped back onto the couch. He glanced at the untouched dessert.
“And eat your present.” He grazed a kiss on her cheek and made his way towards the door. Maybe Rio was in the stock room.
“Grayson?”
He paused with his hand on the doorknob.
“Hm?”
“Would you consider yourself OCD?” Lexi asked, and again he was confused by her train of thought.
“Probably, yeah, why?”
“Just wondering,” she said with a little smile, and turned away from him to pick up the box of cheesecake.
Grayson wasn’t sure where that was headed, but he made sure to lock the door behind him.
As he passed Kris in the little security room, he remembered to ask Lexi what she’d been blushing about.
It seemed trivial maybe, but he wanted to know.
He wanted to be the only one causing her blushes.
Needed to be. And her orgasms. And her moans. And… fuck, he wanted everything.
He dragged a hand through his hair, scowling as he made his way past the kitchens. Everything was probably too much to ask, and he knew it. But that didn’t make him any less resolved to have it.
The chatty volume lowered considerably as people noticed him peering into the kitchen.
No Rio. He gave a quick nod and continued down the hall towards the thundering bass.
Whether people knew who he was or not, his gaze and stride were enough to make anyone move out of his way as he wound down the main hallway.
He nodded to each bouncer and server, and glanced into the rooms with open doors as he passed.
The only area with any type of door was the Punishment Room, which was there specifically for noise reduction. Grayson winced as he heard a howl passing the dark, heavy curtains. He didn’t want to know what was being done to which part of someone’s anatomy this time.
While he occasionally took pleasure in punishing bratty behavior, he’d never been into pain for pain’s sake. His punishments were usually in the form of spanking, or denying his sub an orgasm. With a grin, he imagined denying Miss Alessandra…
A larger crowd caught his eye. They had gathered in and around the Voyeur area, and he glanced around for Rio’s specific hairstyle and heavy chains he normally wore. Grayson muttered a curse; no Rio.
Instead, three girls were criss-crossed over each other, with men behind them, and the crowd around them gyrating to the music as they watched.
He would mention to Javi that they would need to keep the area from turning into a full-on orgy.
It happened once in a while, but it wasn’t the sort of club he wanted to run.
So they would send waiters in with chilled juices and water; spray bottles and mini fans to literally cool the crowd off.
If that didn’t work, Javi would send some of their hottest staff to redirect people into other rooms. He felt a hand graze along his arm, and looked down. Shit. Brittany smiled up at him.
“Sir? I heard you’ve been telling people you have a sub again,” she said.
“Yes,” he said, and wondered what she wanted. It wasn’t like they’d left things on a good note at her apartment. Her brilliant smile at his reply forced his stomach to drop through his shoes. Shit. She thought it was her.
“To be honest with you, Sir, I’ve been seeing someone - a member. Well, he’s not a member anymore, but I’ll stop-”
“My submissive’s name is Lexi,” he interrupted, with perhaps more Dom in his voice than necessary. Brittany’s face went stark white, like she’d been sucker punched. He hated that look. Like he did something to her. Dammit, he’d been nothing but upfront.
“But - the other night. I thought-”
Grayson cut her off. “I told you, Brittany. I’m not your Dom. And I will not be ever again.”
He thought he saw Rio’s back walking away from them down the hall. Placing a hand on each of her shoulders, he shifted her to the side of him.
“Excuse me. I’m working.” He glanced back at her long enough to see her look had turned from pathetic to venom. That was fast.
“Shouldn’t you be behind a bar?” He walked away, and although he was sure she watched him, he didn’t care.
The last hallway before the kitchen led into the storeroom, where he found Rio at his desk.
Grayson wondered for the hundredth time why Rio didn’t like to use the big office, and took a spare chair while Rio finished up a phone call.
“Oye, Santo. These eses think that just cuz it’s after five, they shouldn’t have to answer when deliveries don’t come,” Rio said after hanging up.
“Which assholes are these?” Grayson asked, amused. Of their group, Rio was the most short-fused, and it never failed to entertain him.
“Those stools you were looking for,” he said, and spun in his chair to look at Grayson. “Apparently one of their delivery trucks broke down. They’ll be here in two days, no delivery charge, and they’re adding in a big container of those mints I like.”
Grayson laughed, and releasing the tension he felt in his shoulders and chest felt good.
“But I thought you were with your chica, what brings you to my den?” Rio asked.
“I can’t figure this out,” Grayson said, and rested his forearms on his knees with a sigh.
“Well,” Rio said, “the two of you get naked, and-”
“Jesus, not that Rio,” Grayson said with a chuckle.
“My Miss Lexi has claustrophobia, and can’t wear a collar. Which is fine,” he said, and stood to pace. “But she also has a client-facing job, and she doesn’t like hickies.”
Rio hmm’d and rocked back in his chair, considering the wall behind Grayson. If it were anyone else he would have thought that Rio wasn’t listening, but he was used to Rio’s processing. He walked down an aisle to leave him to it.
Grayson passed shelves of canned goods for the kitchen, stacks of glassware, and an assortment of electric pieces he didn’t know the purpose of before turning to pace back.
“I don’t know how to mark her right now without asking her to get a tattoo,” he said once he was sitting across from Rio again. Rio raised his eyebrows to ask if that was possibly an option.
“Do you think she would wear a shirt with your face on it?” Rio asked, smiling.
Grayson gave him a stony look.
“A nametag?” Rio suggested, getting into it. “Maybe we could just get her an LED light-up badge with your name?” he started laughing. “Do you think she would be willing to carry around a banner?” Rio was laughing hard enough to rock his chair.
Grayson closed his eyes and hung his head. Was he being ridiculous? Maybe, but that wasn’t making him feel any better about it. Marking his submissives - in whatever way - was an important part of the relationship to him.
Since he was normally busy working at the club, he didn’t expect his sub to sit by his side all night, every night. He wanted her to go have a good time. So long as people would know she was spoken for as soon as they looked at her.
“I’m serious, hermano.”
Rio stopped laughing and sat up in his chair.
“Okay, okay. You’re sure she’s okay with being branded in some way?”
Grayson nodded.
“There’s this woman I’ve used,” Rio said, “she’s in the city, her work is great. Designer jewelry, entiendes?”
Grayson nodded. Maybe he was thinking a pair of earrings-?
“I’m thinking a necklace still, but a wide-set one, you see?
” He flipped over some sheet of paperwork on his desk and sketched it out.
Even though the drawing was terrible, Grayson could see the potential.
It had several thinner chains and was attached on the top of each shoulder with a heavier piece of… whatever. This could work.
“How the hell did you come up with this?” Grayson asked, staring at the drawing.
“The design is African, my grandmother had something like it,” Rio said simply.
“It’s great,” Grayson said. This could be perfect.
“The only drawback I can see,” Rio said, “is that she charges quite a bit. Like over a grand for this necklace alone, plus whatever stones you want to use.” Rio peered at him curiously. “You sure you wanna do this?”
Grayson didn’t hesitate. He nodded.
“I trust your judgment. The stones should be uh…” he brought his phone out for a quick search. What birthstone is June, he asked, and was perplexed there were two: pearl and something called Alexandrite. Alessandra, Alexandrite.
“Does Lexi make you think of pearls?” he asked Rio without lifting his head from the phone.
“Ehh, no.”
“Yeah, me either. There’s this stone called Alexandrite, apparently it’s rare and changes color depending on what light it’s under.”
“Mmm, like a woman who turns from a fierce fighter into a submissive,” Rio mused. Grayson smiled. Rio understood. Lexi was rare and multi-faceted, like this stone.
“Make it happen,” he told Rio, and stood. “Whatever it costs.”