My phone buzzed again with a text from security.
Client in penthouse wants to know when you’ll be up.
I had to delete my response twice before sending,Presently. Thanks.It wasn’t Dean’s fault the client was high maintenance.
I swiped my key to access the elevator. Victoria had special fobs made that were fashioned to look like antique keys, and we wore them as a necklaces that didn’t detract from our costumes with a clunky badge. As technology improved, she also added a bluetooth panic button with an audio link to security built into the key should things go awry.
Every detail here was meticulously considered to bring about fantasies for our clients that felt real, but since this person had scheduled so last minute, they would simply be getting the penthouse as is—which meant it was essentially identical to the penthouse suite of a very high-end hotel.
The elevator stopped and the doors slid open silently. My black Louboutin stilettos, a gift from one of my regulars, clicked on the marble foyer floor as I walked confidently towards the living room where I could see not one but two men sitting.
I sighed. This night just kept getting better.
They looked up as I drew near, and I instantly recognized the blonde man, but deliberately let my eyes slide over him as though I didn’t, addressing the other man instead.
“Good evening. I’m afraid I only have one client scheduled, but there’s a very comfortable private lounge downstairs where your friend may wait until the end of the session.”
The man I’d spoken to looked mortified and glanced back and forth to the other guy as though waiting for me to realize my mistake. I was well aware the other gentleman was Alex Chase, one of the most famous actors on the planet, and he probably wouldn’t be here if the session wasn’t for him…but my job was all about power dynamics. If I recognized him, then he started with the upper hand.
“Session is with me, sweetheart,” Alex Chase said. He relaxed back on the couch as though this explained everything. From his expression, I should have been honored by this statement.
He was America’s silver screen darling. If there was a wholesome, heartthrob role to be played, he was your guy. It seemed there were some darker depths to his good-boy image. There usually were.
I shifted my gaze to him, arching an eyebrow the tiniest bit to indicate my displeasure at his use of an endearment, but didn’t bother to correct it. If he immediately got a rise out of me, he got the upper hand as well.
He was so attractive the impact of looking at him was visceral. On screen, he was jaw-droppingly handsome, but in person he was something else entirely. It didn’t seem fair that a human could be that good looking. His blonde hair was artfully disheveled and a short beard dusted his impossibly chiseled jaw, framing his full mouth…but it was his eyes that threw me. They were a piercing, icy blue that made me think of the wild northern seas.
It wasn’t my fault I was attracted to him, but he was most definitely not for me, client or not. Who would want the drama of being with someone that famous?
He gave me a dazzling smile and extended his right hand. “Alex. Pleased to meet you, Elena.”
I hadn’t offered my name, but of course he knew it since he’d selected me based upon my profile.
I took his hand and shook it. His grip was firm, but not uncomfortably so, and his palm was dry and warm, all signs of confidence. Those objective observations failed to explain the electric rush I felt from touching him. A mere handshake with him felt more intimate than any of the things I’d done at work that day.
His easy smile didn’t waver, but those ridiculously blue eyes shifted with awareness.
Damn it, he knows I’m attracted to him.
It was an effort to remember to correct him. “LadyElena.”
I wasn’t just establishing dominance by insisting on my title. I’d only progressed from the title of “Mistress” to “Lady” a few months earlier, a title that marked me as being in the uppermost echelon of even the most elite women in my profession. Only a handful of still active dominatrixes held the title of Lady. It had taken me five years to accomplish, faster than anyone else had managed it by about a decade. I wasverydedicated to my craft.
I handed Alex Chase a list from the end table. “Since it’s your first time at the dungeon, you may want to review the rules.”
Many first-time clients had mistaken ideas about what went on here. We could bring just about any fantasy to life, but we weren’t a full-blown brothel. There was no sex allowed, no kissing, no penetration of any kind, and no exchange of bodily fluids. To the uninitiated, that could seem incredibly limiting, but once people shifted their understanding of sexuality, they often found their experiences were being limited by the absolute focus on those acts.
Alex Chase took the list and made a spectacle of studying it.
I looked back to the guy in the suit, who was also handsome in a more understated way. Black hair and thick brows framed dark, soulful eyes. Where Alex Chase was dressed casually in a black tee shirt and jeans, this man was in a designer power suit. From the bulging muscle tone I could see even under a suit as I introduced myself to him, I assumed he was personal security.
“Would you prefer to wait downstairs?” I asked.
Alex Chase chuckled. “Rami needs to stay.”
I would normally have been more patient in an interview, but was tired and really wanted to move things along. “Ah, I understand. You want him to watch. Is it voyeurism or a cuckold fantasy maybe…or something else?”
Alex Chase said, “Something else.” He gave me a delighted smile.
