AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cooper rang the bell to announce last call and that the club would close in thirty minutes. It was just enough time to finish scenes, achieve one last orgasm, and move out. Maxi was strict about not letting members linger. Police raided bars and clubs, private or not. The deal she made with her family’s influence prevented raids if she adhered to the strict closing time. Dylan knew that, so her job was to wrangle everyone and push them out the door. There were times she had to physically steal a whip from a Mistress’s hand, taking the brunt of it when it struck down, to stop a scene and remove the member from the premises.
She made her rounds from room to room, telling people to wrap it up. A tingle rose within Dylan as she stepped in front of Lady C’s alcove. The vision of Ari blindfolded and fastened to an antique wingback chair made her stop in her tracks. Thoughts of doing the same but having her naked legs spread, sitting on a vibrating plug, crossed her mind. What she wouldn’t give to have her finger on the button that would force Ari to endure orgasm after orgasm. She shook her head out of her reverie and turned her attention to Mrs. Cartwright, who seemed to have intimate knowledge of her thoughts. With a wink aimed at Dylan, she unhooked Ari from the chair and released her from bondage—for the evening, anyway.
While holding the door open for the members to leave, Dylan waited for Mrs. Cartwright to appear. After the last guests had left, Mrs. Cartwright strolled toward the exit and pulled Dylan outside with her. The door closed behind them.
She leaned into Dylan’s ear. “I have no clue what Maxi will charge me, but I’ll absorb the costs—this time. Dylan, you put this girl in a position she should have never been in. She shakes just from a blindfold being put over her eyes. I can’t imagine what will happen to this poor girl if you don’t fix this. Whatever this is.”
Without thinking, Dylan said, “I think I’m in love with her.”
Dylan’s confession seemed to anger the woman as her face hardened. She leaned toward her and pointed in the direction from which they came. “Love has no place in there, and you know it.”
“I said I’d pay for it. Please. Whatever it costs, I’m good for it.”
“It might take more than money, Dylan. Deal with this!” Mrs. Cartwright stomped away, anger seeping from her pores as she reached the elevator. She had every right to be upset, especially from a woman whose husband advocated for people just like Ari. They both believed that someone had every right to make a living with sex work if they wanted to, but it was another thing altogether if forced into the life. Dylan knew she had to deal with this, and she had to do it quickly.
Chapter 15
When the closing bell finally rang on the last night of her first week on the floor, Ari was ecstatic. She knew she’d have time to rest for two days and needed it. Even though Maxi had asked her to work on her days off, offering a substantial bonus, she declined. She had hoped being on the floor would have allowed her time to snoop around, listen in on conversations. It hadn’t. Various women had selected her throughout the week, only to be restrained to a chair or a bench for the entire night. While it was great not being forced into a sexual tryst, she learned nothing new and had nothing to give Terry when they were to meet the next day.
As soon as her Mistress for the evening released her, she hurried off the floor, wanting to finish whatever nightly duty they assigned her. Just as she skated past the bar, she skidded to a halt as Maxi seemed to appear out of nowhere. “Just the woman I wanted to see.”
As expected, Ari dropped to her knees with the cold, hard ground beneath her. She craned her neck, looking up toward the Mistress. “Yes, Ma’am?”
“I know you mentioned plans for your days off, but for some unique and probably orchestrated reason, you are the most requested woman in the club. It thrills me to see a new girl pleasing the customers; therefore, I recommended your services to The Twins. They’re beautiful Mistresses who love teasing little angels like you.”
As Maxi spoke, certain words stood out to her, making her wonder if her week of being tied up was intentional rather than coincidental, preventing her from exploring Adytum. Also, she noticed Maxi’s devious tone when mentioning The Twins. Ari declined for the third time. This time, her stern tone was adamant. “I’m sorry, Ma’am. I cannot change them.”
“It’s your decision, of course, Miss Delgado. Are you sure Franklin here might not convince you?” Maxi pulled a few bills from her bustier, fanned them out, and flashed them as if they would entice Ari to change her plans.
“Thank you for the offer, but I still need to decline, Ma’am.”
In a huff, Maxi stormed away. Thanks to this, Ari hurried back and picked up where she left off. Inside the employee’s den, she scanned the cleaning details and half-expected to find herself assigned to washing soiled bed sheets again. To her surprise, it wasn’t the horrible laundry duty. They assigned her to clean the offices.
As soon as she reached Maxi’s office, her brow raised as she peeked into the empty room. As she dusted, her eyes roamed around the desk, noting every detail and hoping to find something useful for her report. In case there were cameras, she pretended to trip. Ari’s hands dropped to the desk, and she shuffled the papers as she did. Under the top layer was a list of recognizable names of celebrities and politicians scribbled down. She swept it up, tucked it carefully away, and prayed the cameras didn’t notice. Just then, her eyes caught sight of something else. Without thinking, she dusted away the paper to find a rough drawing, a blueprint of sorts for what looked like the hotel tucked into the edge of the blotter pad. Her eyes widened as she noticed rooms not visible to the naked eye.
When she heard Maxi’s voice coming closer, she leaped up and grabbed a trash can, emptying it as if doing her job. The door opened. Maxi entered, with Lady Katrina following behind.
Ari shot a bright smile, then slipped past them. “All cleaned up, Ma’am. Have a good evening.”
Around three in the afternoon, Ari waited in the streetside café for Terry. She chose a location close to her place. Now that she had something he wanted, she could dictate the plans with Terry, and forced him to her side of town, avoiding the chaotic downtown rush hour. The hazard of her overnight shifts meant she was up and moving around when the city bustled the most. What she loved about this café was they brewed the coffee at the table, leaving the entire pot for those people who spent hours on end either studying or working. Their meeting was at four, so she used the extra time for research. From her mental notes, she looked up the names and jotted down tidbits of information.
At the stroke of four, Terry arrived and settled into the chair across from her, ready for their meeting. He turned over the unused cup and poured himself a hefty helping of coffee. “This is quite the place. Maybe I need to make this my regular hangout.”
“I’m sure you prefer the fast-paced life of downtown.” She’d cut to the chase, preferring to keep a professional relationship with him rather than strike up an idle conversation. “I’m in, but so far, there has been nothing remotely nonconsensual. They even offered me another shift with the owner, stating it was up to me whether I took it or not. There wasn’t any pressure other than offering bonus pay, which seemed reasonable to me.”
“Nothing? And you are allowing them to use you–”
She cut him off, not letting him get the satisfaction of turning this into an erotic dive into her sex life. “I work the room, just like every other employee. Now, the only thing I found that might be a start was a list of members.”
He bounced in his seat, reaching his hand out for the list. “Let’s see it.”
“It’s not like I could walk out of the club with a stack of papers in my hands. Do you really think they’d allow that? I remembered a few names, so I made a list of them. Trust me, there are a lot more members than this. I’ve even added a few who I have seen with my own eyes.”
What Terry said was exactly what she didn’t want to hear, “So, there’s no proof then. Only your word against ...”
Again, Ari defended herself. “Isn’t all of this going to be my word against theirs? I mean, I can’t go around taking pictures of them. Besides, if this was a non-consent issue, it would be mine against theirs, anyway. That’s how these disputes play out. In rape cases, there is always a question of who is telling the truth. Wouldn’t you agree?”
At the mention of the word most people avoided, Terry squirmed in his seat. Sexual assault had become a problem within the city, and among the worst of the victims were sex workers. While she had found nothing to substantiate Terry’s claims about Adytum, there had been little time to go predator hunting. And she wasn’t about to mention anything about Dylan demanding she not use a safe word during her training.
