2. Aeris
Aeris
Of course he’d bitten me when I’d explicitly told him not to.
Disappointing, really. Another arsehole who thought violence and domination were the only way to feel powerful.
Pain and domination were kinks, of course, but only with the right consent and preparation.
Very few men could naturally pull off an air of authority, and Isaac definitely wasn’t one of them.
Frowning, I applied the concealer to my neck, dabbing it in before covering it with glitter as an extra precaution.
“There’s a guy asking for you.”
I turned to find Steph standing in the doorway of my office, her stage outfit nothing more than a few scraps of fabric that showed off her tiny frame.
“I know you’re not even supposed to be working,” she continued, cocking her head to the side so her short blonde hair brushed her shoulder.
“But he’s … insistent.” She was one of my Sirens, entertaining my guests with her sleight-of-hand tricks that were far more impressive when behind a locked door.
She was also very good at taking things that didn’t belong to her, including information.
“How so?” I asked, following her out to the main floor until she pointed out a man, barely old enough to drive, wearing a thousand-pound suit. He caught my eye from across the room, his brows pulled together with annoyance.
“Only wants you and not taking no as an answer.” Steph cocked her hip, lips pursing with so much attitude for someone so small. “He’s giving me the ick.”
“I’ll deal with it,” I said, hoping my smile was reassuring. “Have Fin ready just in case.”
Steph rolled her eyes. “You fired Finley, remember?”
Shit, so I did. He was caught snorting something he shouldn’t have off a member’s erect penis. I didn’t create one of the most exclusive and elite adult clubs on the Isles to allow such open drug use.
“I think Ren’s out back.”
I nodded, moving forward before the Suit’s tension could spread any further.
His impatience was clearly bleeding into the room, souring the mood of everyone unfortunate enough to sit near him.
It wasn’t like I could simply allow him to corrupt my floor, not when people paid my extortionate fees just to be in the company of some of the most beautiful people in the world.
“How can I help you?” I asked when I approached, the Suit taking his time to sweep his lecherous gaze over my body. I hadn’t planned on being on the floor, so while I wore a tight fitted dress, it wasn’t as glamorous as I usually preferred.
“Sit,” he demanded in a barely adult voice, gesturing to the seat beside him instead of the one across the table.
I smiled, lips tight, and obeyed.
“I want to buy you for the night.”
“I’m not for sale.”
A slight pause, his brows pulling together tightly. “What do you mean you’re not for sale? Everyone here is for sale.”
I reached over and toyed with his tie, a deep blue, embroidered with a brand that screamed new money.
“What’s your name?” I asked, working the knot at his throat loose.
He swallowed against my fingers, tipping his head back just enough to help. “Scott.”
“Hi, Scott. I’m Aeris.” I gave the tie a sharp tug, pulling him forward an inch. “When a girl tells you no, you should listen. I can’t be bought, and even if I could, you couldn’t afford me.” I slid the silk free from beneath his collar and laid it on the table beside his beer.
His face flushed a becoming shade of red, but he didn’t pull away. “Of course I can,” he said. “This is a sex club.”
“We don’t sell sex,” I said evenly. “We sell intimacy. Experience. My Sirens will guide your deepest desires in a safe, consented environment.”
“What if I don’t want consent?”
I cocked my head, leaning forward. “Do tell.”
Scott licked his bottom lip, pupils dilating. “What if I want them not to want it?”
I nodded like I understood. “CNC is popular, and under the right—”
“No.” His eyes darted around the room, widening when Rocky appeared with a silver tray holding a single shot. He met my gaze, locking for just a moment as I gently nodded my head and returned my attention to Scott.
“It’s on the house,” I explained, and he grabbed the shot and downed it in one. “Now, where were we?”
Scott waited until we were alone once more before his voice dropped to a near whisper. “I want to rape someone.”
My smile didn’t waiver as I pressed the small knife Rocky had slipped me against Scott’s dick beneath the table. He froze, face quickly contorting with rage.
“Then I suggest you leave very quickly.”
His nostrils flared, eyes darting to the side. “Do you know who I am?” he growled, sitting perfectly still while I held his most prized possession at knife point.
“No, but do you know who I am?” I leaned forward, his sharp inhale letting me know I’d likely sliced skin. “I’m the woman that can destroy you if you so much as look at one of my girls the wrong way.”
The chair toppled dramatically as he surged to his feet, only to find Renley waiting. With his startling heterochromia, skinhead, and permanent scowl, he looked every bit as intimidating as he intended to be.
Scott all but snarled when Renley gripped him, hauling him towards the exit.
He did not go quietly, only squirmed under Renley’s grip and twisted back, calling me several names over his shoulder that I took as compliments.
I turned to the room as he was escorted out, finding more curious looks than concerned.
“Your next drink is on me,” I called, much to the delight of everyone. The piano never stopped playing, the light music enough to ease any tension left from the drama.
Scott was right about one thing—this was a sex club.
But it wasn’t some seedy, transactional den where sex workers had no choice because someone held the money.
Atlantis was a sanctuary for those who wanted to explore their sexuality in a safe, controlled environment.
The main area served as a space to discuss consent and boundaries before members ventured into the themed rooms down the corridor.
The themes shifted regularly, making sure the members continued to pay my extortionate fees.
There was an in-depth vetting process for entry, and I kept membership intentionally limited for safety, as well as strategy.
Why would I let any John, Dick, or Harry inside these walls when they couldn’t offer me something far more valuable than money?
Catching Steph’s eye from across the room, she met me by the door. “Need anything?”
“Inform Albus that Scott’s membership has been revoked. Permanently.”
“He came in with Jonathan Smithers.”
Of course he did.
Jonathan Smithers was the current mayor’s youngest son, a nepo child that believed he was better than everyone because of his father’s influence. Shame I didn’t give a shit who his father was, especially when I knew many sordid little secrets about our supposedly ‘proper’ mayor.
“Remove him too.” I didn’t want anyone to think Scott’s behaviour was acceptable, and I had zero tolerance when it came to unwanted force.
Steph nodded, darting off to my office while I followed the noise, expecting to find Scott fighting Renley at the reception. Imagine my surprise when I find someone else.
“Ah, if it’s not my favourite detective,” I mused, my receptionist looking over with relief when he turned his anger towards me.
Renley was nowhere to be seen, so I hoped that meant he was dealing with the other issue.
Ideally without his knuckles when there were police on my property. “Do you have an appointment?”
“We both know I don’t need an appointment,” Detective Kane grunted. “I’ve been trying to reach you for over ten minutes, but you seemed too busy kicking out teenagers.”
“They’re of legal age, Detective. You could have checked that yourself if you were so concerned.”
From the tension along his shoulders, he wasn’t impressed with my explanation. “We need to talk.”
“And you couldn’t have called?”
Detective Kane first arrested me almost five years ago, shortly after I opened Atlantis, alleging that I caused and incited prostitution for financial gain.
Of course the case fell apart, because I wasn’t a common pimp.
I may or may not have humiliated him to his peers, so he made it his life’s mission to ruin me.
Which was all well and entertaining, as long as I kept finding it amusing.
“Have you come to accuse me of running an illegal brothel again, Detective?” I purred, smirking at him. “Or do I need to explain yet again that members here at Atlantis are encouraged to explore their desires amongst one another, guided by my Sirens. They are not, and never will be, paid for sex.”
His dark-brown eyes narrowed, his five-o-clock shadow unable to hide the tension along his jaw.
“Now,” I continued, lightly teasing, “if one of my Sirens chose to join in, that would be entirely their decision. Free will and all.”
“I think you’ll want to hear this privately.” His eyes darted to the receptionist, then back to me.
I went to tease again, but there was something about him that gave me pause.
“Follow me.”
I led him behind the reception desk and down a narrow corridor that ran parallel to the main club. It allowed me to conduct meetings in my office without parading guests past overt displays of carnal indulgence. Though I suspected a little release might do the detective some good.
Entering my office, I found Albus frowning down at something on my desk. He looked up, startled when I appeared, pushing his glasses up his nose.
“Aeris, I …” His mouth snapped closed when the detective walked in behind me.
With his buttons fastened all the way to his throat and his shirt neatly tucked into his jeans, Albus’s style looked painfully out of place in a sex club.
The mere thought of getting naked in public probably gave him hives too, but despite that, he was an exceptional assistant.
Plus, he was beautiful. With angled features, green eyes, and dark-brown skin, he definitely fit, despite his aura of awkwardness.
“He’s new,” Kane commented, reaching over to my shelves as if he had every right to touch my things. “What happened to your last assistant? Get bored of working for an urchin like you?”
Albus shot me a concerned look before he grabbed the paperwork in his arms and held it tight to his chest. “I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
I waited until we were alone before I turned to Kane, who was currently flipping through one of my books as if searching for something between the pages.
“You’re not here to talk to me about my assistant,” I said. “And we both know it’s not because you missed my face, either.”
“Then let’s cut to the chase.” He threw down the book, knocking over one of my trinkets in the process. “Are you familiar with an Olivia Summerman?” he asked, his too-thin lips pressed into a hard line.
My smile strained, trying to figure out his angle. “Yes. She works here.”
“We believe she’s been soliciting.”
“Believing and the truth are two different things,” I commented, going over to set my trinket back up where it was supposed to be.
“Olivia is only young. She’s working here while studying.
I very much doubt she’d have the time to solicit herself between waitressing and studying for her Master’s.
And if she was, what has that got to do with me? ”
“Soliciting for the purpose of obtaining sexual services in a street or public place is illegal.”
“I’m well aware of the law, Detective,” I chuckled. “But it’s her body, who are you and I to tell her what she can and can’t do with it?”
“Why am I not surprised a whore like you approves of prostitution,” he sneered, tugging at his jacket.
Arsehole.
There was a time when the word ‘whore’ would’ve made my chest tighten. But that was before I learned the power words could have, that I could reclaim every derogatory term until those names were absolutely powerless.
“Look, I’m not going to argue with you over the morality of it. I’m against sex work when you lose autonomy, but it’s one of the oldest professions.” Glancing at his expression, something cold and heavy settled in my stomach. “Why are you really here?”
Kane’s usual animosity wavered, replaced by a professionalism he’d never used with me before, and something cold spread in my chest.
“I’m sorry …”
I knew that look. That tone. That apology.
“No, don’t say it.”
“Miss Summerman was found dead this morning.”