50 Shades of Pink Page 12

  “You’re soaking wet,” she murmured in approval and stroked my center.

  I inhaled through my nose and gripped the table. My hips wouldn’t obey as I thrust up into her hand.

  “Spread your legs,” she whispered in my ear.

  I obeyed, opening them wide. She rewarded me by inserting her hand inside my underwear and nestling her finger in my feminine folds.

  “Tell me where my fingers are. Give me the words,” Her finger skimmed upward and flicked a spot that made me stiffen and jolt.

  “Pu-pussy,” I bit down on my lip, trying to not squirm with each stroke of her finger.

  “Say the word, ‘cunt’.” Two more fingers joined in, tracing and circling my swollen flesh.

  “Cunt. Put your fingers inside my cu-cunt.” My voice, hoarse with strain was drowned out by the blood rushing to my head and my heart beating loudly in my ears.

  “Good girl.” She licked around my ear and pumped her fingers in me. I cinched my legs around her hand and squeezed her fingers.

  “Let go. Now,” she ordered.

  My climax crashed down on me. My body jerked up and my head grinded the back of the booth as I came. Whimpers fell from my mouth, muffled by Victoria’s mouth, as she kissed me, possessing me from top to bottom. Her fingers moved in time with her searching tongue as I orgasmed long and hard, seeming to go on forever with its intensity.

  When the purple dots in front of my eyes disappeared and I became aware of my surroundings, I flexed my fingers and toes, and shifted on the seat, relieved all my body parts still worked. “Holy smokes,” I giggled and covered my face.

  Victoria removed her hand from in between my legs. “Look at me,” she ordered, sounding out of breath.

  I lowered my hands and pushed down my skirt. She waved her fingers, still damp with my release, under her nose. She then stuck her two fingers in her mouth and licked away my juices.

  I wanted to be disgusted by her show, but I was too turned on. She batted her eyelashes, unashamed, and then wiped her hands with her napkin.

  “I think we’re done here,” she said.

  “Maybe we should stop in the bathroom before we leave.” My inner thighs stuck together, making me grimace.

  “You can go to the bathroom while I take care of the check.” She studied her hands. “I think I’ll wait to freshen up when we’re back at the penthouse.”

  “We’re going to your place?” Did she expect me to spend the night?

  “Yes. What I have planned for us is better in the privacy of my home.”

  “You want to finish what you started here?” I asked, no longer concerned about the bathroom. I wanted to leave so we could do whatever we wanted to one another without anyone watching.

  “I started the game, now the next move is yours.” She leaned over to claim a kiss.

  I averted my face, annoyed by her statement. “It’s not a game between us.”

  She sighed and set her hand on the side of my neck. “Bad choice of words. It’s more than that between us.”

  “Yes, it is.” I curled my hand over hers. “What we have is more than just fun and games.”

  “I know.” She nudged me out of the booth. “Spend the night with me so I can show you how right you are.”

  A server reappeared with the check before I answered. Victoria glanced over the slip of paper and signed her name at the bottom. The amount our dinner cost was over the top, but Victoria didn’t seem to mind. She thanked the server and then took my arm. She didn’t ask me to confirm about going home with her. It had been decided.

  We grabbed our jackets and exited the restaurant. The temperature had dropped and there was a chill in the air. As I buttoned up my jacket, Victoria cursed and moved in front of me.

  A black limo was double parked in front of the restaurant. A man with slicked back dirty blonde hair and a goatee, wearing a long trench coat stood near the limo. He was a few years old than me, and attractive, even with a large nose and small mouth with slightly crooked front teeth as he smiled.

  “Hello, Oliver. How long has it been?” Victoria asked in a resigned tone.

  “Over a year. You look well,” he spoke with a sexy European accent and approached us with his hand stretched out.

  She gave him his hand, which he lifted up to his mouth. His eyes twinkled as he kissed her knuckles.

  “Still the gentleman I see.” She drew her hand away and glanced in my direction. “This is Oliver.”

  “A pleasure to meet you, Miss Pinke.” He gave me a small bow.

  “You’re not American,” I said, as my way of accepting his greeting.

  “I’m Australian.” His grin widened.

  “How do you know my name?” I wasn’t actually leery of this foreign sounding, handsome man. He had a laid back manner I found inviting.

  “Your association with Victoria has made my employer very interested in you,” he said.

  My suspicion flared. “Who’s your—”

  Victoria lifted her hand, cutting me off. “Is this about me not responding to his invitation to the opening of his new club?”

  He nodded. “He was disappointed you didn’t respond either way. He doesn’t appreciate the lack of communication. I’m here to take you and your guest to see him.”

  I poked Victoria in the side. I hated this vague talk between her and the hot Aussie guy.

  “Miss Pinke and I already have plans for the evening.” She took my hand and stepped to the side. “Tell him to call me and I’ll set aside time in my schedule to see him this week.”

  Oliver lost his grin. “He can’t wait that long. He wants to talk to you about his sister. Tonight.”

  “Sister?” I asked no one in particular.

  She tightened her grip around my hand and shot me a pained look. “He means Colette.”

  “What?” My jaw dropped.

  “You know Oliver’s boss by reputation. He’s Benjamin Duarte, Colette’s older brother,” she said.

  He reached in his coat pocket and took out his phone, eyeing the touch screen. “All he’s asking is for an hour of you time. Please don’t make me go back to him without you.”

  He sounded nervous. Victoria looked unhappy, but not anxious like I had become. She exhaled loudly and rolled her eyes. “Fine, you win. I don’t want your punishment on my conscience. Let’s go.”

  She hurried over to the limo, dragging me behind her, as I tried to make sense of everything I had heard.

  ***

  Victoria and I sat next to each other, not talking. Oliver sat across from us near the front of the limo. He appeared totally relaxed while he typed on his cell.

  “Are you texting your boss and sucking up to him?” I asked, daring him to answer.

  He didn’t act offended by my snotty question. “I’m texting my sister. She works for Mr. Duarte also.”

  “How is Maia doing? Is she Ben’s hostess for tonight?” Victoria asked, much calmer than when we first had entered the limo.

  His face brightened. “She’s doing well. She’ll be happy to see you again.”

  Victoria nodded and looked back out the window, this time with her arms crossed. When I touched her arm, she didn’t acknowledge me. It annoyed me but I stayed silent.

  Thank god the car ride was short. We ended up in the Meatpacking District and stopped on one of the side streets in front of a non-descriptive building with two metal doors and bright lights over a sign that said—Elysium. Two men in almost identical types of trench coats like Oliver wore guarded the front.

  “He’s moving his operations out of Brooklyn?” Victoria asked, and opened the door.

  “Just this one for now,” Oliver said, and motioned for us to leave the car.

  “This is the club?” I scanned the area, unimpressed. No one loitered on the sidewalk and there wasn’t a line to get in.

  “This isn’t the type of club you would have common knowledge of.” Victoria said to me and then addressed Oliver. “I need a minute to explain some things to Lin
dsay.”

  “Sure, but not too long,” he said and walked over to the two men.

  She shepherded me away, far enough to not be overheard. We stood under one of the street lamps, huddled together.

  “I guess it’s not a dance club?” I asked.

  “You’ll figure out what type of club it is when we go inside.” She squeezed my shoulder. “It’s a sex club by membership only. You have to be invited to join or a guest as one of the members.”

  “No way.” A nervous giggle escaped my mouth.

  “Benjamin has his hands in many types of pies. Owning and running sex clubs is one of them. It’s the first time in twelve years he’s allowed to have this type of club in Manhattan.”

  “Are sex clubs illegal? Did a new law pass that wasn’t around twelve years ago making it legal for him to own one now?” I found the idea fascinating more than disturbing.

  Victoria hugged her arms to her chest. “He has enough money and power to get away with almost anything. He’s a respected businessman who also gives a lot of money to charities and causes, especially involving law enforcement and local government groups. The reason he hasn’t opened a club here in over a decade is because a woman died at one of his clubs twelve years ago. He shut it down soon after.”

  “From drugs or alcohol? Too many orgasms?” My attempt at humor fell flat based on Victoria’s scowl.

  “No drugs or alcohol was involved. The woman had asthma and her heart stopped.” She blinked and her eyes looked overly bright.

  “Did you go to that club when it was still open?” My stomach twisted at the idea she would be into kinky sex or bondage with strangers.

  Her silence spoke volumes.

  “Ladies, I hate to interrupt, but Mr. Duarte is extremely busy tonight with the opening and has a short amount of time he can meet with you,” Oliver called out.

  Victoria turned with her hands fisted at her sides. I’d never seen her so agitated before. “Do you think I give a shit if he’s busy or not? I’m here out of courtesy.”

  “And because you’re curious,” he volleyed back.

  Mumbling under her breath, she titled her face up to the sky. “Let’s get it over with.”

  Oliver opened one of the front doors and waved us inside. We entered the small, darkened alcove. He came in and took the lead. I followed behind him with Victoria next to me. She didn’t touch me or take my hand.

  We came to another door where a man waited. He opened the door and told us to enjoy ourselves. We walked down the steps. Soft instrumental music with an underlying beat played from the walls as we reached the lower level.

  “Welcome to Elysium, ladies,” Oliver announced, and held out his arm to precede him in the large room with a lit up neon bar near the back surrounded by masses of people in all states of dress and undress. A stage near the far wall showcased two women naked from the waist up, dressed in thongs and knee high boots. They did some type of artistic dance while a shirtless man covered in tattoos, in a black eye mask and in leather pants, undressed a woman old enough to be his mother. When she was naked and blindfolded, he strapped her to a table. Behind him on a board hung various instruments, many of them phallic in nature. A crowd had formed near the front of the stage, watching the scene.

  “Holy…oh wow,” I stayed rooted to my spot, unable to look away.

  “How stereotypical of Benjamin,” Victoria said behind me.

  “This lower level is for the public. The kinkier action is on the second level, and the top level is for those who want to participate and not just observe.” Oliver acted as if this was an everyday event you would see on the street. He hung an arm around my shoulder. “After your meeting with Mr. Duarte, you should stick around so I can give you a tour.”

  Victoria drew me away and to her side. “Take us to Benjamin, now.”

  Oliver’s pout made me laugh. Under different circumstances, I wouldn’t have a problem hanging out with him. I also wouldn’t have minded checking things out, although I might end up bleaching my brain afterward. No one in a million years would believe I’d been inside a sex club.

  Oliver told us to follow him. Victoria towed me along before I could get one last look at the stage where the masked man showed off a phallic shaped cylinder to the audience.

  Women dressed in tight black dresses and bodysuits, carrying drinks on trays greeted Oliver while we walked ahead. He said hello to each server by name. Victoria’s grip on my waist was bruising. When I started to tell her to ease up, she shushed me.

  We walked down another flight of stairs where it was much brighter and quieter then upstairs. The hallway widened and we passed two doors on either side with signs stating, “Women’s Locker Room and “Men’s Locker Room.” We then took a turn and reached a double door that had a gold plate with the word “owner” on it.

  Oliver rapped on the door. A green light flashed overhead. He turned the doorknob and held out his arm for us to go in. Victoria pushed me behind her and stuck her head in. Oliver shook his head and rolled his eyes.

  “Come in, Victoria,” A cultured male voice spoke from within the depths of the room.

  Victoria latched onto my arm and drew me in after her. Oliver came in behind me and shut the door. I took stock of my surroundings. It was a typical type of professional office but with plush leather chairs and a huge monitor against a wall.

  A petite woman, with long jet black hair falling to her waist, in a strapless black dress and black flats stood in front of a man towering over her. She held a book, a type of ledger he flipped through. The man was pale with white, blonde hair. He had the clearest blue eyes and long eyelashes, with an angular face and a bony chin. He was more on the leaner side, close to gaunt. He had an air around him you wanted to keep staring at. I wouldn’t call him handsome, but he had a sleek stylish look, almost as if he was from an earlier time period. He was dressed in a charcoal suit. Even his shirt was the same shade, except for a maroon tie.

  He lifted one of his long, manicured fingers to his mouth and licked it before he set it down on a page and flipped it. A sterling silver ring with some sort of black jewel in the middle on his pinky finger winked from the light overhead.

  “Thank you for coming. We have a lot to talk about in a short time.” He shut the book. Cupping the woman behind the head, he kissed her forehead. He said something and she nodded. She bowed her head, and clutching the book to her chest, she turned.

  I bit down on my lip to stop from gasping. The woman, of Asian descent, would have been blinding beautiful, if not for the long, jagged scar traveling from the corner of her right eye down to her jaw. Her right eye drooped along with the side of her mouth. She kept her eyes locked on the floor.

  “You’re looking well, Maia,” Victoria said in a kind tone.

  The demure woman lifted her head and peered at Victoria under her lashes. “Thank you.”

  Benjamin set his hands on Maia’s shoulders. She rested back against him, her gaze still locked on Victoria. He whispered something in her ear and she nodded, the normal side of her mouth lifting.

  “It’s almost the top of the hour. Go with your brother and carry out the inspection for me,” he said to the scarred woman.

  “Brother?” I asked Victoria.

  “Maia is my step-sister,” Oliver said, moving to my side. He then held out a hand, and she walked toward him with a delighted expression.

  The two siblings, who were as different as night and day left the room, leaving me and Victoria alone with this enigma of a man who was part respectable businessman, part underworld ruler. He didn’t necessarily rub me the wrong way, but he wasn’t someone I’d feel at home with.

  Victoria didn’t appear uncomfortable, but she didn’t go out of her way to greet him as a friend or even as an acquaintance.

  After Oliver and Maia left, Benjamin finally addressed me. His blue eyes flared, searching my face as I was on display for his benefit. “You have no idea what you’ve stumbled into.”

  “You can bl
ame your sister for that,” Victoria piped up.

  “Does this child know what she’s involved in?” he asked.

  “I’m not a child.” I lifted my chin, daring him to argue with me.

  He gave me a taunting grin. “You’re far from an old soul like Victoria and I.”

  Victoria sighed. “Cut it out, Benjamin. I’m here like you wanted, so let’s talk.”

  “You should have responded to my invitation to my gala tonight.” He motioned for us to take a seat. Victoria drew me down next to her on a couch, keeping her hand around mine.

  He unbuttoned his jacket and perched his elbows on the arms of the chair, tapping two fingers on his chin. “Would either of you like something to drink?”

  “No, we’re fine,” Victoria said, speaking for both of us. I didn’t correct her assumption. I’d rather bear witness to the discussion than participate.

  He nodded in acceptance. “I should warn you I invited Colette also. She should be here soon, but I’ll make sure your paths don’t cross.”

  “I appreciate that, but then again you don’t want your ‘gala’ ruined.” Frost had entered Victoria’s voice.

  He didn’t appear affected by her chilly reception. He settled back in his seat, unintimidated. “It took a lot of patience and constraint on my part to finally open Elysium.”

  “The one to blame for your misfortune is your sister,” Victoria said. “But you haven’t suffered too much, so don’t even try playing that card.”

  He cleared his throat. “I could say the same goes for you.”

  She dug her nails deep in the side of my hand. I swallowed back a moan of pain, refusing to show anything to this man who’d use it against me or Victoria.

  “My condolences on your uncle. I hear he doesn’t have much longer on this earth. You must be beside yourself over your future loss,” he said in what sounded like sympathy, but it was too flat, as if he was just mentioning it to be polite.

  “Keeping tabs on me and my family?” Victoria asked, revealing nothing on her face to his insensitive statement.

  “Always. You’re very important to me,” he replied in a monotone voice.