AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Asha
The small, chiming ring of the bell that lets me know that someone is waiting downstairs cuts through the low moan of the man strapped to the leather bench, momentarily distracting me.
“Asha—fuck—” he moans again as I deliver one more stroke from the leather flogger in my hand, his hips jerking rhythmically against the padded leather beneath him, as I watch dispassionately.Just in time,I think, glancing at the clock. He had five minutes left before our hour was done, and if he hadn’t come, he’d have had to get dressed and leave while still hard and frustrated.
Not that there was much to stuff back into his boxers. He’d had the smallest cock I’d seen in a long time, and I see a few every night that I work. It made my job—humiliating him while I delivered the punishment he’d paid for—easy.
I give him those last four minutes to relax against the bench while I set the flogger aside—someone else will come in and clean up and sanitize everything before the next client—I undo the leather cuffs holding his wrists and ankles to sides. He shifts, letting out a satisfied, languorous sound as he slowly starts to peel himself away from it, and I turn away, giving him a little privacy. Three more minutes, and I can go and see what it is that I’m needed for downstairs.
“Thank you, Miss Asha,” the man says as he reaches for the robe on the hook near the door, slipping it on. “I’ll see you next week.”
I give him a small, tight smile and a brief nod. He hesitates briefly, as if to say something else, but thankfully, he slips out without another word, closing the door behind him with two minutes to spare. He’ll be headed to the hot tub or sauna next, or maybe just to the showers to clean up and dress before going downstairs to leave a generous tip and book his next session. I’ve never seen him here before, but he was clearly pleased enough to return, which will make Nikolai happy.
The Ashen Rose, the club where I work, is one of the Vasilev family’s handful of sex clubs. That handful includes everything from run-of-the-mill strip clubs to higher-end versions of the same thing, but with girls that offer extras. Then, the Rose itself, which is one of the most luxurious sex dungeons I’ve ever worked in—I went through a few places of employment before being hired here. I’ve stayed ever since, mostly because this place allows me to be employed as a dominatrix, which Ifarprefer to working with a client as a submissive.
Here, unless someoneveryhigh-paying requests me to play that role, I generally refuse, and Nikolai has never said a word about it. Even when his father was thepakhanof the family, there were no issues, primarily since Nikolai has always been more hands-on with the businesses.
A good thing, since that meant when Egor passed, there was no real change in the day-to-day of the employees here.
With the session finished, I slip out of the room and down the hall to my dressing room, closing the door behind me and letting out a long breath, leaning against it for a moment as I close my eyes briefly. A domme session at least means I don’t have to pander to the client—they’re there to be degraded and talked down to—I don’t have to allow myself to be touched in any way, but it’s still exhausting. And I haven’t really taken pleasure in it in years.
There’s a message on my phone from Nikolai, letting me know what that notification from the bell was—he needs me to come down and meet him in the office when I’m finished.At least it’s not a surprise client,I think to myself as I unlace the latex bustier I’d worn for the session, rolling my shoulders and letting out a soft sigh as I feel the compression from the corset release. I have one more scheduled tonight, but occasionally, if someone important shows up unexpectedly, I’ll be asked if I mind taking them as an extra client for the evening. I’ve been here the longest now of all the girls, and Nikolai trusts and relies on me more than anyone else here. There’s an element of personal closeness in that, too, or at least…there was.
Don’t think about that.I set the corset aside, slipping out of the matching pencil skirt and heels, and slipping on a long silk robe. My last client of the night is one I’ve seen before, one who has specific requests, but I have time to dress and get ready before he shows up. I loosen the tight French braid I’d had my hair in, running my fingers through it and letting out another sigh as I massage my fingers over my scalp. I’d give just about anything to go home right now—it’s been a long week, and it’s felt longer than usual. I’m running out of steam faster than I usually do.
The job is starting to take a toll.There was a time when I couldn’t see myself doing anything else, but now, more and more often, I find myself thinking about what might be next. What else I might do, if I managed to save enough to start over.
But I won’t be starting a new life tonight, and Nikolai is waiting for me.
He’s in the office when I knock and push the door open, going through a small stack of what are likely new-client applications. The Ashen Rose is member-only, and membership is prohibitively expensive. Occasionally, it’s possible to get a guest pass to the club, but only with a background check and a contract signed, making the guests liable for the behavior of anyone else they bring with them. Membership here is a status symbol as much as anything else.
“Asha.” Nikolai smiles at me, using my stage name. He knows my real name, of course, but I can’t remember the last time I heard him use it. It’s as much a means of keeping some professional distance between us as anything else, especially now.
He’s as handsome as always, in his shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows and the first two buttons of his shirt undone, his jacket and tie draped over a nearby chair, his hair slightly mussed from running his fingers through it.He has a habit of doing that,I think inadvertently, and I feel a slight pang in my chest at the reminder that it’s only one of the handful of intimate things that I know about him. The kind of thing that someone can’t help but pick up when they’ve become closer than just employer and employee with someone—even more than client and submissive, a role I was happy to play for him.
There were nights we spent together outside of the walls of this club, nights where we enjoyed each other without any of the power dynamics or kink—nights where I had, once upon a time, hoped that there might be something more to our relationship for brief moments when I forgot the difference in who we were.
But it was, of course, never going to happen.
Nikolai was always the heir to the Vasilev Bratva, and I was never going to be apakhan’swife. My lack of innocence and inferior pedigree aside, I wasn’t made for the life of a mob boss’s wife. For one thing, that sort of woman needs to be malleable, and that’s never been a word that could be applied to me.
“You called?” I flash him a smile, settling into one of the chairs across from the desk and tucking the heavy silk robe around my legs.
“I did.” Nikolai glances up at me, and I feel a familiar flutter in my chest at those grey-blue eyes catching mine. I’ve seen plenty of expressions in those eyes—everything from stormy to soft—though I came to terms with the fact that our days together were over after he told me about his sudden engagement, I can’t help that he still makes my heart race a little.
It’s hard to get over someone you once cared for. I knew that better than most, even before Nikolai. And it’s harder still to stop wanting someone. It doesn’t help that so little arouses any kind of desire in me these days. Working in a place like this has a way of dulling the senses when it comes to sex, and it takes something special to make mewant. Nikolai and I had that chemistry.
“Another client?” I glance at the stack of applications. “Someone specific you want me to take on?”
“Always perceptive.” Nikolai chuckles, nudging the paperwork aside. “There’s a new organization in town.” He taps the fingers of one hand against the desk, looking pensive. “I’m concerned about it—I’m hearing things about them that make me think they’re upstarts, looking to get a foothold in a city that has very little room for new blood. And I’m not fond of the rumors I’m hearing about the leader.”
“What’s his name?” I try to summon some genuine curiosity, but I can’t. He’ll likely be the same as any other man who walks in these doors with either a power fantasy or the opposite—a need to shrug off the burden of power and be at someone else’s mercy for an hour or two. I can’t imagine there will be anything markedly different about him, anything to arouse either my interest or my desire.
“Matvei Kotov.” Nikolai opens a drawer and pulls out a file. “I approved his application, since I don’t want to make an enemy of him immediately. But—” he pauses, letting out a breath. “You need to be careful, Asha.”
“Me?” I raise an eyebrow. Nikolai leads differently than his father had—Egor wouldn’t have been concerned with making enemies, but he also wouldn’t have worried as much as Nikolai does about the handling of the girls who work for him. No one was ever allowed to bereallyharmed, of course, but Egor would have allowed the boundaries to be pushed if there was a benefit in it for him.
“I’d like you to be the one who takes him on when he comes in.” Nikolai pushes the file towards me. “You’re the most capable of making sure he doesn’t get out of hand while still pleasing him, and you might even learn something helpful for me.” He gives me another small smile. “If you’re willing, of course.”
