Ashley's Bend (25 page)

Lost in my thoughts, I stared up at the stage while Dominic performed his latest lesson. There on stage, he was strapping a beautiful brunette’s legs to a spreader bar. I observed intently as his hands caressed the flesh at her ankles before he attached the leather cuffs. The brunette’s eyes shone with adoration back at Dominic and heated jealousy coursed through my veins. It was a form of torture, a constant reminder of what had occurred between us, and I felt like I wanted to crawl out of my own skin to escape the desperate need I felt to be with him again.
My attention was so absorbed in the display on the stage that I nearly ran into Knox on my way back to the bar.

“He’s just doing it to push you further away,” he said as he nodded his head in the direction of the bar. I sighed as my attention returned to where Dominic was touching the other woman while addressing the audience. Our eyes met and for a brief moment, he said nothing to the audience. We were locked in a moment where neither one of us could take our eyes off of each other. A buzz, an electric force, settled between us had me feeling like Icarus, flying too close to the sun. I knew that I was going to get burned, but like a moth to a flame, he was a beautiful light and I couldn’t help but be pulled into the orbit of his stare. It was probably only seconds of time that passed, but it felt like forever that we just stared at each other, lost in the depths of each other’s eyes.

When Dominic looked away from me and returned his attention back to the girl on stage, I felt a cold chill ripple down my spine. All the heat I felt the few seconds our eyes were locked, fled from my body and I instantly felt the loss. The jealousy returned and I had to grit my teeth together to stop myself from walking over to where Dominic was and stake my claim on him.

“Remember what I said, Ash,” Knox said interrupting my glower of Dominic and his subject.

“I know Knox, push back. I just−don’t know how,” I stressed. I felt defeated and lost as to how I could get Dominic to want me again. The thought of him staying away from me sent a cold chill through me and I shuttered at the atrocious thought.

A tall, muscular man approached Knox and reached out to shake his hand. The man towered over me and was nearly taller than Knox. At first glance, he seemed friendly. Strong biceps peeped out from the sleeves of his yellow polo shirt that contrasted against his bronzed skin as he shook Knox’s hand. His dark hair was clean cut and dark eyelashes brought out the cerulean blue of his eyes.

“Ashley, this is Rownan Kleinfeld. Rownan, this is my friend and newest employee Ashley Carter,” Knox made known as he introduced me to the man.

“Hello, pleased to meet you,” he said with a British accent as he extended his hand out to mine that wasn’t holding the serving tray. His voice was dark, sexy and intriguing. His smile was warm and beautiful. I could feel my cheeks heat and flush under his watchful gaze. Although gorgeous, he still didn’t even come close to comparing to Dominic. I sighed at the thought.

“Rownan is one of the house Dominants, Ashley,” Knox acknowledged.

Wow.
I thought. I would not have guessed that Rownan was a dominant. He seemed too gentle to be someone who liked to have control in the bedroom.

“Hi,” I managed to squeak out. I didn’t know what to say to him or even why Knox was introducing us.

“I uh, better be getting back to work,” I said defensively.

“Ashley, you have been working your ass off all night for this crowd. Why don’t you take a break? I know you like art and Rownan here owns a studio downtown. Maybe you two can chat about that,” he said as he looked between me and Rownan. My gaze went to Dominic who was still on stage with the brunette who was damn near close to writhing right out of the chair if it weren’t for her being bound to it. I couldn’t help but understand how she felt because Dominic inflicted those same emotions in me. I didn’t miss the sneer that Dominic shot our way as he noticed me standing and talking to Knox and Rownan.

When I finally broke free of Dominic’s stare I caught Knox looking at me and over to Dominic who was still staring at us with a scowl on his face. Knox’s smirk was complacent and he chuckled. Turning to me, he leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“Push back.”

He walked away leaving Rownan and me standing awkwardly alone as he went off in search of Kelly no less. They seemed to have grown close in the last several weeks. I knew my best friend was completely smitten with him, but I also knew that Kelly has never settled down to be with just one man for too long. She went through guys faster than I went through a piece of gum.

The only table that was open was one that was close to the stage. Rownan suggested that we have a seat. I was interested in talking to him about his gallery, so I complied and followed him over to have a seat at the table. I have never taken any formal lessons, but art was my passion. I could get lost for hours in my room as I brushed the lucid colors of paint across a blank canvas, manipulating the picture before my eyes. It was freeing and relaxing.

“You have a love for art, eh?” Rownan asked after we sat at the empty table.

“Yes, I want to be a teacher someday,” I replied with a sparkle in my eye. Just talking about art made me happy and I smiled wildly at him. He beamed a beautiful smile at me and his eyebrows rose.

“So what is a gorgeous want-to-be art teacher doing working in a place like this?” he asked as he turned his head to glance around the room.
I frowned as I instantly thought of the devious things that Jared did to cause me to lose my employment. I had not heard a word from Jared since that day, and I couldn’t help but feel like Dominic had something to do with that.

“I am just trying to save up the money for tuition to the art school,” I explained not wanting to reveal the real reasons why I was there. I looked away from Rownan to find Dominic staring holes through us as he worked quickly to finish up the lesson on stage. His jaw was set in a firm line and his brows furrowed together creating a vehement look upon his gorgeous features.

“Did you hear me, Love?” Rownan asked and I felt embarrassed that I hadn’t been paying attention to him because my thoughts were being consumed by the captivating man on stage.

“Huh, what? I’m sorry,” I said sheepishly as I bowed my head and looked at him through hooded eyes. I flushed crimson. There is no way he could know that I was daydreaming about Dominic, could he?

“I said that I have a person who does lessons at the studio two days a week. They have already started sessions, but I can ask her if you could be squeezed in.”

My eyes brightened and my mouth split into a huge grin.

“Seriously? You would do that? That would be fantastic!” I exclaimed as excitement overtook me.
Maybe my dream wasn’t too far out of reach after all. Rownan handed me one of the bar napkins and a pen from the pocket of his polo shirt and asked for my number so that he could get back to me with the information about the classes. I was clueless to everything that was going on around me due to the excitement that Rownan had delivered to me as I buzzed with excitement in my chair. The thought of actually getting to do something that I loved to do elated me.

I stood up knowing that I needed to get back to work. Rownan followed and I was so giddy with excitement that I walked right up to Rownan and threw my arms around his middle pressing my cheek to his chest. The breath rushed out of him in a whoosh in response to my sudden assault on him and he chuckled.

“Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me.” I said as I squeezed him tightly from my excitement. I was so caught up in the idea of envisioning a career in the art industry for me that I didn’t even hear Dominic approach us from behind.

“
Ashley,”
he barked and it took me by such surprise that I leaped out of Rownan’s embrace and I turned around to look at him. His eyes were even darker than normal and he looked completely pissed off. I shrunk into myself with embarrassment at being caught hugging Rownan and I wanted to offer my apologies, but Dominic left no time for it.

“Come with me,
now
,” was all he said before turning from me and storming off. I was both worried and embarrassed by his near chastisement so I shrugged and whispered
thank
you
to Rownan before scurrying off after Dominic. I saw Knox leaning up against the doorway that led down to The Hall part of the club as he chatted with Kelly. He noticed Dominic storming his way through and me as I tried to keep up with his quick pace. Dominic brushed past him without saying a word or even looking in his direction. He must have been really angry if he didn’t even acknowledge his friend.

Knox chuckled as I approached. When I got closer to him, he winked at me.

“You pushed back.”

Angry didn’t even begin to describe the way I felt seeing Ashley talking to Rownan. I know it was meant to be innocent, but the way he kept leaning in toward her and the smile that she gave back to him had my blood boiling like a pressure cooker. I could feel the buildup of pressure in my system to the point I felt like I was going to blow my fucking lid off.

I hurried as fast as I could to finish up the lesson. It was hard for me to keep my concentration on the brunette I had on stage when I saw Rownan looking at Ashley as if he were going to devour her.

No. Fuck, no.

No one was going to have her but me. My cock twitched in my pants at the thought of taking her. I hadn’t touched her since that day in my office. I had fisted my own cock in the shower so many times since then at the memory of her warm moist heat as her pussy walls contracted around my dick. Being fucking hard as a rock and pissed off to no end at the same time had me finishing up the lesson in record time. I knew the audience must have caught on to my abrupt completion of the lesson, not going into details like I normally did, but the only thing I could think about was getting to Ashley.

I watched as Ashley’s eyes glimmered with excitement as she smiled at Rownan. What the fuck were they talking about? Was she agreeing to some dom/sub relationship with him? He better fucking hope not. The straw that finally broke the camel’s back was when they stood up and I watched Ashley damn near jump into his arms, wrapping hers around him. I bounded off the stage as fast as I could with unmitigated fury coursing through my veins.

“Ashley,” I barked out as I approached them. She flinched and jumped back out of Rownan’s arms.

“Come with me,
now
,” I demanded before turning to walk away not giving her a choice but to follow me. I was so fucking pissed that I could spit nails and my jaw was clenched so tight, I felt pain radiate through my teeth. My cock painfully strained against the zipper of my jeans begging for it to be released, begging to be inside of
her.
I turned and made my way down The Hall and approached the Rapture Room. I didn’t have to turn around to see if she was behind me, I knew that she was because I could feel her presence behind me. Just knowing that she was at my backside had my already explicit thoughts going into hyper drive over what I wanted to do to her.

I produced the key from my pocket and unlocked the door before walking inside before Ashley. I wanted, no, I needed her to know who was in charge. I could still feel her presence behind me even though she still had not said one word to me.

“Shut the fucking door, Ashley,” I ordered with my back still facing her. When I heard the click of the door shutting, I turned around and was on her with such force that we both slammed against the door. I felt the breath rush from her lungs as it blew past my ear. I didn’t relent in my grip as I held her by her wrists pinned against the door.