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I bang on the window. I scream for him to stop, to please not do this. Tears cloud my vision, and my entire body trembles as I try to get to the front of the private car, but it simply isn’t possible.
“No! Gabriel, please!” I’ve never been sorrier in my life. Never felt more pathetic or alone. He never looks back, and within a minute of him walking up the stairs to the plane, the doors are shut and it moves.
All the while, I’m trapped, watching him leave while Joshua stands to the side, waiting to unlock the car and take me wherever Gabriel told him to.
GABRIEL
Present
“Next, we have Amber,” the woman who’s acting as the emcee of tonight’s auction says as a beautiful woman with flawless brown skin and perky, dark umber-colored nipples, steps into the light. She’s gorgeous, clad in a slightly see-through chemise dress that highlights her hourglass figure and contrasts with her skin perfectly.
It’s hard to focus on anything knowing I need to tell Kiersten about the note. There’s so much I need to tell her. I need more information first, and until I have it, I’m merely living in Kiersten’s world, picking up where we left off and learning about the woman she’s become and this place she’s built in my absence.
I look down at the pamphlet that dictates the night’s events, skimming through the information for Amber. She’s twenty-three. The color codes by her name say she’s experienced bondage and prefers it. She’s looking for a Dominant who’s anexpert in shibari rope tying, and she doesn’t want a full-time arrangement.
We never had anything like this at the club where we first met. I was a lucky bastard to have won her. There was no way to know how well we’d fit together.
With the lights dim, I sit back, watching as Amber’s bidding begins. She’s apparently well-known as a spirited but friendly bidding war starts up between three members, unknown men in masks who slowly bring the price up to three-quarters of a million dollars before one, a man with a tinge of gray at his temples behind his almost ridiculously undersized domino mask, makes the final bid and wins. He’s clearly elated with his purchase, though, his charming smile broadcasting everything to the entire room.
Why wear such a small mask when every other man in this room can more than likely ascertain who you are underneath it? Well, I suppose that when Club X rules require a mask but you don’t want one, you go with as small or revealing a mask as possible.
Joshua’s already given me a rundown of men who come here and who exactly they are. Just as I ran my business, Kiersten runs the club, knowing every dirty and dark secret of the men we do business with. Just in case it’s required. Drinks are served as the lights on the stage dim for a moment and they prepare for the next bid.
I scan the room, looking for anyone who may be out of place, but Joshua’s convinced that whoever placed that note isn’t a member, and every man here is accounted for.
With the lights brightening, there’s a rustling in the room as the men sit up straighter. The next woman approaches the center of the stage, a little more hesitant, her fingers playing at the hem of her chemise. I have to wonder, how would my Kiersten walk onto the stage now? After all these years, as thewoman she is now. Would she still stride as if she sees no one, yet stare into the audience searching for me?
I know, in watching her interact with the members as Madam Lynn, just how much she’s desired by so many of the members, both men and women. Would she still look for me in the crowd?
I’ve certainly noticed how a number of members stare at her collar. A part of me very much wants to publicly claim her, to declare to all of these men that Madam Lynn, the woman who makes all of Club X happen, ismine.It’s not like I don’t have the money, honestly.
The other part, though, is resistant to claim her, thinking back over what Kiersten’s done for the past two decades. I always gave her the option to pursue outside projects when we were together. Despite my nickname for her, she was never just a ‘whore’ to me. And if for a moment I thought she truly believed that’s all she was, I would have banished that word from my vocabulary.
But to know that she’s spent her youth working, driven by what we shared for those precious months, shames me. She did it all alone. She did it all while mourning and with false hope. I should have been here with her.
We could have explored, played, had years of passion and growth together.
We could have had those years.
We’ve lost so much time. Time that we’ll never get back. And I’m the one who made that call.
“Your whiskey, sir,” a waitress says quietly, approaching. She and the other staff are the only people in the room who aren’t wearing club membership bracelets, and that thought reminds me of my own fresh bracelet on my wrist.
“Thank you,” I respond gruffly, accepting the drink. Even with security detailing us since the moment the note was found,at a distance so Kiersten isn’t aware, I don’t intend to drink. I only ordered to fit in with the crowd.
I take the glass, swirling the amber fluid around in the tumbler. Like the years slipping past us, the alcohol spins around, leaving nothing behind in its wake. But like the alcohol itself, it can devastate the body and heart.
A chill ripples down my spine, and I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise up. I set my glass down, looking around the room. Someone’s watching me.
I turn around to see no one there. My gaze moves across the room, searching for the stare that gives me the chills of knowing someone is watching.
There’s no one, though. No one is looking at me. All of the Doms are focused on the brunette on stage.
There’s a lot of subtle posturing going on in the room, men who clearly know who each other are despite the masks and who are playing similar games to what I used to do long ago.
So of course, a few of them are curious about the new mask in the group. They obviously want to know who I am and whether I represent a new challenge to the games they play. If only they knew how very uninterested I am in anyone other than Kiersten.
The chill runs down my spine, but it’s none of them. Their eyes might glance over me, but once they see that I’m not bidding on a particular woman, I’m at least temporarily dismissed from their minds.
