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1
OAKLEE
Sapphire was the kind of club everyone knew about, and only a few people went to. A lot of people, especially in the circles I’d grown up in, whispered about it, talked about how taboo it was.
When my mom had still been alive, she’d frowned at the club whenever we’d driven past it, but it shimmered like a gem in downtown LA, and her disapproval only made me more and more curious about what went on behind those walls and the dark doors.
I was twenty-six now and could handle whatever lurked in the shadows. I took a deep breath and stepped through the doors. The lobby was small, with deep purple walls. From behind another set of doors, sultry music thumped with a deep base.
“Hi,” a woman with bright eyes and long brown hair said, smiling at me. “Are you a first-time visitor?”
“I, uh…” I swallowed hard. “I’m not here for the club. I’m here to see Felix Kane? I have an appointment.”
“Oh, sure,” she said, just as brightly. “Harry will take you through.” She nodded at a muscular bouncer with a brush cut and a serious expression. When I hesitated, she added, “He doesn’t bite, he stops others from biting.” She giggled at her joke, and Harry’s marble façade cracked into a smile.
“This way,” he said and gestured toward the door, which he opened.
The music on the other side poured through and filled the lobby, swallowing me. I stepped into a red room with thick, lush carpets and wallpaper all to match. A round bar curved around the far wall, and three bartenders were busy mixing drinks, bobbing to the music as they worked.
Everywhere, men and women stood together in various stages of undress. Some were fully dressed. Others wore only wearing underwear. No one was naked, which was what I’d expected to see, and I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.
Maybe this club wasn’t as notorious as I’d thought it would be.
Harry led me up a set of stairs that wound around the back of the bar, and as we ascended, the music faded again, so that I could hear the thrum of my own heartbeat and my blood rushing in my ears.
“She’s here to see Felix,” Harry said to another woman behind a desk.
“Who are you?” the woman asked, tilting her head. Her blonde hair hung to her waist, and she wore a button-up shirt.
I’d expected everyone here to be wearing lingerie, or at least clothes that left little to the imagination. This was a sex club, but I hadn’t actually seen any sex. I guess I was pretty naïve.
I was becoming more and more at ease.
“Oaklee Gilbert,” I said. “I’m here to see—”
“Ah, Felix is expecting you,” she said, cutting me off. “Go on in; he’s ready for you.” She smiled at me, and I thanked her before I knocked on the door.
I opened it when I couldn’t hear a call over the music that still thumped in the background.
The room was dark and domineering. It had black carpets, dark gray walls, and purple paintings on the wall framed in gold. The lacquered desk was massive, and in a large black leather chair sat the man I presumed was Felix.
Behind him, large windows stretched across the length of the wall. It looked out over a different part of the club—a part where strippers danced on poles wearing nothing but G-strings and stilettos. Some of them only wore the heels and nothing else.
The sight gave me a rush of energy. Shifters were sexual creatures, and I’d always believed in living life to the fullest, as long as everyone was on board, and it was always consensual. Deep down, I found this place more liberating than I cared to admit.
“Miss Gilbert,” he said and smiled.
Dark hair, brown eyes, stubble on his chin. Felix wasn’t very tall or very muscular when he stood to shake my hand over the table, but when he reached over toward me, his magic pulsed like a live thing around him.
“Hi,” I said. I hesitated before I took his hand. I cleared my throat. “Mr. Kane. Thank you for seeing me.”
“Felix, please,” he said with a warm smile. He ran his hand through his brown hair when he let go of my hand, mussing it up.
His magic rubbed against me like fur. He was some kind of cat shifter—there was no doubt.
I was at the bottom of the shifter food chain. Fox shifters weren’t big and strong, and they couldn’t hold their own in a fight when it came down to brawn. We had other redeeming qualities, but I’d learned to keep my distance from the big guys.
“Sit down, please,” Felix said warmly and took a seat in his leather chair. I took a seat in the chair facing him.
