To Love and Submit (9 page)

Behind the reception desk, a pretty redhead took their coats and handed Luke a cloakroom ticket. Once Luke had signed them in, the redhead asked Rachel if it was her first time there and when Rachel nodded shyly, the girl welcomed her and said she hoped she enjoyed herself.

Luke then took her arm and led her towards a mirrored door with the words ‘Remember—Safe, Sane and Consensual’! written across it. She could hear the muffled sound of music and voices through the door and waited in excited anticipation for Luke to open it and lead her in.

After he’d pushed open the door and gently taken Rachel’s arm, she found herself in a very large room with a busy bar running along the length of one wall to the left of them. Ahead were numerous seating alcoves arranged in tiers all around the club, some small and intimate, just right for two people, others big enough to seat around eight. In the middle was a large dance floor that was filled with people moving to the thumping, heavy music. The walls were painted black, and dimly lit wrought iron candle chandeliers hung from the high ceiling. The room had an air of kinky decadence and Rachel felt her body tingling with excitement as she continued looking around.

“Hello, Luke, buddy,” said a tall blond-haired man, shaking him by the hand.

“Hello, Harvey. Good to see you.”

“And who’s this delightful little creature?” Harvey smiled, feasting his eyes on Rachel’s cleavage.

Luke laughed. “Hands off, Harvey. As you can see from her collar, she’s spoken for.”

As Luke pulled her away from Harvey, he leant down and whispered, “Stay away from him, Rachel, he’s a dab hand with a single-tailed whip.”

Rachel felt her blood chill as Luke led her farther into the noisy bar, and she tightened her grip on his hand. The room was crowded with people, all in various stages of undress—those who were clothed being mostly in leather, latex or rubber. She almost felt overdressed and was glad she’d chosen the relatively skimpy leather outfit so she didn’t stand out too much.

Two men brushed past them, heading towards the bar. The shorter, rounder man was holding onto a leash attached to the collar of the tall, butch man trailing after him. She grinned.
How funny to see the butch guy as the sub
.

She looked around the large room, buzzing with the sound of voices and music. It didn’t really look that different from any other club, apart from the sexy attire of the occupants. Mesmerised, Rachel scanned the room, taking in as much as she could. She was fascinated that this place existed specially for people who were into BDSM. People like her! She knew now without a shadow of a doubt that this was what she wanted. She felt at home here with these weird and wonderful kinksters.

As they crossed the room, several people smiled a greeting to Luke as they passed. He stopped for a moment and chatted to a tall, well-endowed woman—a Domme by the look of it. She was wearing black leather trousers with a whip tucked into the waistband and a black leather bra.

Quickly averting her eyes, Rachel continued to scan the club.

There was a thin film of smoke hanging in the air, although no one seemed to be smoking, but it added to the sexy, intense atmosphere. Then she recognised the smell of dry ice mingled with an earthy smell of leather. And sex! The whole place was heady, sexy as hell, and Rachel felt her stomach flip in excitement. She loved it.

Luke, having finished his chat with the scary Domme, led her past a large, sweeping staircase with tiny little twinkling white lights buried in each step, leading the way up to what she could only imagine must be the playrooms. She smiled to herself and hoped he would take her up there later, but the smile quickly disappeared when they passed another staircase.

This time the steps were going down and looked intimidating and unwelcoming. The stairs at the top were lit, but the farther down she looked, the darker it became, until the stairs disappeared into complete darkness. Heavy chains hung against the black walls leading down the stairs, and Rachel wondered if it would feel a bit like descending into hell if she ever walked down to the dark dungeons.

Thankfully, Luke continued past the ‘Stairs to Hell’ and over towards the bar. This was better lit than the rest of the room and Rachel was able to catch a glimpse of some of the people standing along it, some on their own, others with subs by their side, clearly identified by their cuffs. They only waited a few seconds before a very tall female bartender approached them. She had the biggest bleached blonde hairdo Rachel had ever seen, backcombed and piled on her head like a bird’s nest. The woman had more makeup on than a pantomime dame and was wearing the biggest, most dangly diamante earrings she’d ever seen. “Hello, Luke darling, long time, no see. How are you?” asked the woman in a deep masculine voice.

Luke smiled and pulled Rachel towards him. “I’m good, Chrissie, thanks. This is Rachel. She’s a newbie.”

Chrissie gave her a warm smile and said, “Welcome, Rachel, what would you like to drink?” Rachel grinned at Chrissie, instantly warming to the friendly drag queen.

She was about to tell Chrissie what she’d like when she stopped herself. Luke had said she could only talk with his permission, but Chrissie was asking her a question. What should she do? She looked up at Luke for guidance and he smiled at her and gave her a kiss. “Good girl,” he whispered into her ear, “you remembered. You may tell Chrissie what you’d like to drink.”

Rachel didn’t know whether to feel humiliated by Luke’s words or happy that she had pleased him. Shit, what was going on inside her head? She’d normally never allow a man to tell her whether she could speak or not, but somehow, in here, with Luke, she realised that she didn’t mind.

“I’d like a Coke please,” she said, as graciously as she could without looking up to meet Chrissie’s gaze.

“Hey, lovey,” said Chrissie. “I’m not a Domme so you don’t have to worry about stupid protocols with me.”

Rachel lifted her eyes and met her gaze. “Thanks,” she mouthed, silently.

“How are you feeling?” asked Luke as Chrissie was getting their drinks.

“A bit overwhelmed, Sir,” Rachel admitted, hardly daring to lift her eyes to meet his.

Luke took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you for being honest, that’s important here. Just so you know, I think you’re doing brilliantly.”

“Thank you, Sir.” She felt warmth flow through her at his approval. “I do like it here, though. I know it sounds strange, but I feel a bit like I’ve finally found somewhere I belong.”

Luke gave her arm a squeeze and turned back towards the bar as Chrissie approached with their drinks. Luke handed Rachel her Coke, and leaned over towards Chrissie. “Would you keep an eye on Rachel for a minute?”

Chrissie grinned back at him. “It’ll be my pleasure, lovey.”

Rachel, her brain suddenly comprehending what he’d said, cried out, “You’re not leaving me, are you?”

Luke leaned over and kissed her on the tip of her nose. “I won’t be long,” he said, then turned and walked off, leaving her alone at the bar with Chrissie beaming at her.

“Don’t worry, love,” said Chrissie, “you’re collared so you won’t get bothered, but if you do, I’ll look after you.”

Rachel smiled shakily at her and looked around for Luke. She couldn’t see him anywhere and was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable. She didn’t feel confident enough to be left alone, especially as Harvey kept eyeing her up from a distance. Where the hell was Luke and why had he walked off like that, leaving her alone?

The bar was bustling with people leaning across and pushing her as they tried to get served. Trying to look inconspicuous, she stood silently and listened to snippets of conversation around her.

“It turned out she was a fucking switch!” laughed one guy. “She was about to tie me to the fucking bench and paddle me. Can you believe it?”

“So what did you do?” asked his friend.

“I ordered her to her knees and made her suck my cock before I whipped her arse so she couldn’t sit down for a fucking week. She came so hard she begged me to top her again.”

Rachel shuddered at the thought and looked desperately around for Luke, and when he still didn’t return, her anxiety grew. She picked her glass up and nervously took a large gulp. She decided to distract herself by concentrating on the music, which wasn’t quite as loud by the bar. It was some rock group with a female singer. It sounded quite good, actually.

Then suddenly, above the drone of voices and pulsing beat, she heard a voice behind her, a voice she recognised. “Hello, Rachel. Fancy seeing you here!”

Rachel swung around in shock and was stunned to find herself face to face with Adam Stone. She didn’t notice the glass fall from her hand and smash onto the floor as everything around her became muted and fuzzy. The background noise faded away and suddenly the only people in the room were Mr Stone and she. Her head was buzzing, she couldn’t think straight, other than having an intense awareness that Adam Stone was standing right in front of her.

Slowly, her senses started to return and the fog in her head cleared. She closed her eyes momentarily then reopened them to make sure he really was there. He watched her closely with a hint of a smile on his face, then unexpectedly raised his hand and gently swept a strand of hair away from her face. She couldn’t pull away from his gaze, and it was only when someone brushed against her leg as they cleared up the broken glass that the spell was broken.

He looked so different. He wasn’t wearing the usual sharp, handmade business suit she was getting used to. Instead he was wearing black leather trousers and a tight-fitting black T-shirt that showed off his muscled torso and strong tattooed arms. He seemed bigger somehow, taller and more rugged, and even more damned gorgeous than ever.

She drew in a breath as she took in his dark, silver-streaked hair, which looked longer now that it wasn’t so immaculately styled. It was ruffled and shaggy, but that only made him look even more dangerous and sexy. His blue eyes were just as commanding and sharp as they had been earlier that day when he’d watched her squirm over her unfortunate Internet search. He looked like a mean, hard Dom and her legs almost buckled under her as desire swept through her entire body.

“What are you doing here?” she finally managed to whisper. The people who had been queuing around her a second ago had strangely disappeared farther down the bar and it felt as if they were the only people there.

“I was about to ask you the same question,” he said, with a knowing smile.

“I came with a friend,” she said, trying to regain some control of her faculties.

“Oh? Who’s that then?” asked Mr Stone, his eyes now laughing.

“Luke,” she answered, looking around for him. Where the hell had he got to? “What about you? What are you doing here?”

“Me?” He laughed. “I own this place.”

No way!
Bloody hell, she was in a private BDSM club owned by Adam Stone. Could this get any more bizarre? It seemed that it could, because just then Luke returned and shook hands with Mr Stone.

“Adam. Here she is, as requested.” Luke grinned, winking at Rachel. “Delivered safe and sound.”

“Thanks, Luke, I appreciate your help.” Mr Stone slapped Luke on the back and turned to face Rachel with a triumphant smile on his face.

“Believe me”—Luke laughed—“it was an absolute pleasure, and by the way she passed all the taxi tests. She’s a true subbie, all right.”

That was when the penny dropped. Anger seared through Rachel as she realised she had been well and truly played. “You did this?” she hissed at Adam Stone through gritted teeth. “You bastard!”

Suddenly, the warm feeling of belonging she had felt earlier vanished, leaving her cold and frightened. She was alone in a BDSM nightclub owned by her boss who had used the most devious tactics to lure her there. Shit, how could she have fallen for it? She knew Adam Stone had been up to something with all his underhand remarks, but this? She’d been lied to and manipulated, and she had been stupid and gullible enough to go along with it.

“Rachel, let me explain,” said Mr Stone, clearly not seeing what the fuss was all about. He actually had the audacity to look surprised by her reaction.

“Fuck you, Adam Stone,” she screamed, and pushed past him and Luke. “And you too, Luke. I
trusted
you!”

She stormed through the bar, pushing the crowd roughly aside as she desperately made her bid for freedom. She needed to get away from there—away from all those people and, most of all, away from Adam Stone.

She ran towards the main entrance and into the reception area. Shit, Luke had her cloakroom ticket and her purse and keys were in her pockets. Before she had time to think about what to do, Mr Stone came charging through the door, looking like he might like to kill her at that precise moment.

“Get back in there.
Now
!”

If she hadn’t been so angry, she might actually have found that sexy, but she was in no mood for his arrogant demands and pushed open the heavy wooden door then ran out into the dark night.

“Rachel!” Mr Stone was coming after her, damn him, but she didn’t know what to do or where to run. Panic gripped her—she was alone, without her phone or any money, and she didn’t have a clue where she was. Desperate, she started running—she didn’t care in which direction, her only goal was to get away from Adam Stone.

After a minute or so, she stopped for a second, trying to get her bearings. She turned and ran towards the car park, but it was so dark she couldn’t see where she was going and ran straight into a pair of strong arms that grabbed her and held her tight.

“Get off me,” she screamed, kicking her legs out.

“Rachel, for God’s sake, don’t be so stupid,” shouted Mr Stone. “Where exactly are you going to run to? We’re miles from anywhere and you don’t have any money. Think about it.”

Rachel hesitated. He had a point. “Look”—his voice was calmer now—“come back inside and listen to what I’ve got to say, and if you still want to leave after that, I’ll call you a taxi myself. Okay?”

“Okay,” she said, meekly, as any remaining fighting spirit drained out of her, leaving her wondering what the hell this was going to lead to.