BRIELLE
Ihave officially died and gone to heaven. My body thrums with the last vestiges of the orgasm that ripped through my body like a goddamn tornado. A deep voice works its way through my post-orgasmic cloud. “Clean up your mess.” Fingers press between my lips, wet and tangy. “Good girl. That’s it. Lick them clean.”
I do as I’m told, and when he’s satisfied, Mal pulls his fingers out of my mouth, dragging along the inside of my lower lip. I open my eyes to see Thorin, still watching me. His fingers stroke my neck, my shoulders and down my arms. He slips a finger under the ropes binding my forearms to my calves, checking the tightness, I think. Someone checks the ties on my other side, but I can’t turn my head to see who it is.
“How are your hands and feet?” Thorin asks. “Any numbness or tingling?”
“No, sir,” I reply with a languid grin. His lips quirk at one side, the barest hint of amusement. Satisfied, Thorin cups my jaw and gives me a long, slow, soul-deep kiss. After an orgasm like that, I should be satisfied, but when his tongue strokes alongside mine, tasting me with tortured patience, the heat comes roaring back in my belly. It screams for more. For everything.
I want them to fuck me.
I want them to use my body.
I want to be at their mercy while they fill every last inch of space inside of me.
Suddenly, I’m jolted by a loud alarm, my eyes flying open. Thorin breaks away from our kiss, his eyes wide and concerned. Emergency lights flash by the door as the siren wails.
Oh, Jesus. “Is that a fire alarm?” I ask. I can hear the panic rising in my own voice, matching my racing, anxious heartbeat.
“Fuck,” Thorin growls. “Do. Not. Move,” he tells me sternly, standing and going for his bag.
“Where the fuck would I be able to go?” I call after him. “Unless I roll out of here using my chin to steer, I’m kind of at your mercy!” If I wasn’t terrified of burning to death, tied up in a sex club, I’d be lusting after the sight of his tight, bare ass and thick thighs. But as it is, sexy vibes are officially off the table.
“Get her dress!” Thorin barks at Leo, who has already scooped it up along with my shoes and bag. I watch. Because it’s all I can do. Thorin retrieves two pairs of medical scissors. He hands one pair to Mal, and they both start snipping the ropes binding my legs and arms.
They work quickly, though nothing can feel fast enough when a fiery death may be imminent. Hands slide under the rope, protecting my skin from getting scratched by the scissors. Someone has the decency to cut the ropes that run between my legs, and thank Christ, because before I know it, they have me sitting up.
Someone pulls my dress over my head, getting it situated before yanking up the zipper at my side. Leo kneels in front of me, still nude, and straps my heels back on my feet. He pulls me up by my hands and steers me toward the door. I look over my shoulder and catch Mal watching me, a deep, concerned frown storming up his handsome face as he throws a shirt on and jumps into his slacks.
“Wait—“ I start, not wanting to leave them. Leo throws the door open. People are emerging from the other rooms, just as rumpled, half-dressed, and confused as I feel.
I turn back to Leo, ready to argue, but his expression is gentle, pleading. “We’re right behind you. We’ll meet you outside, okay?” He presses me through the door. “Go now.”
Not that I have a choice. Once he gets me past the doorway, I’m swept away by the other evacuees. Fine, I think, grinding my teeth. I’m not going to push against the crowd and get anyone hurt. They better hurry up and put their fucking pants on.
The summer air hits my skin as I step out onto the sidewalk. The whole building is being evacuated. Singles and couples hurry out the front doors, directed by one of the attendants I recognize from the front desk. I try to stay near the front, but I get told off and directed to move down to the end of the block and across the street.
Huffing, I cross the street and wait at the far corner, watching for three, familiar hulking shapes. Firetrucks line the street in front of the club, their sirens deafening. After the dim light inside, the flashing lights are so intense they make my headache. And then there are more sirens, getting louder and brighter by the second.
I watch as the area is flooded with marked and unmarked Chicago P.D. cruisers, more fire trucks, and several huge black SUVs. They block traffic for two blocks in every direction, a wall of abrasive light and sound. Police officers try to push all the onlookers, myself included, to leave. Apparently, a block from the entrance isn’t far enough.
People trickle out of surrounding buildings, but it’s mostly cleaning staff, thanks to the late hour. I’m desperately trying to stay where I am, hoping the people moving around me are enough cover, but no such luck. One particularly burly cop points at me when I don’t leave right away. “Lady, ya gotta clear the area.”
I’m so baffled. There’s no smoke. No fire. What the hell is wrong? “My—“ I swallow, wondering if the officer knows what that particular building houses. “—friends are inside. I’m not leaving.”
His eyebrows, so bushy they look like black caterpillars, lift but his eyes glance down. It’s only a microsecond. An involuntary glance. But that little look is all it takes to remind me of the state I’m in. Oh. My. Fucking. God.
I stare at the officer, horror flooding my blood stream. My dress is a rumpled mess; wrinkled and not even on my body straight. All those hands in my hair reduced my once-sleek ponytail to a veritable rat’s nest, and worst of all, I’m still wearing the teal rope.
They cut the ropes binding my arms and legs, and snipped the torturous little knot, but underneath my very tight and very thin black dress, a corset of expensive cord still hugs my body. I have zero doubt that the outline is visible through the fabric. Even if it wasn’t, it’s kind of hard to miss the rope hooked around my neck and tied at my collarbone.
I hug my arms around my body, my skin flushing. I wish I had a fucking jacket. The officer sighs, and I guess he decides to take pity on me. “Just—just stay here for a minute. Okay?”
I nod and watch as he jogs away, disappearing into the sea of flashing lights. He reappears a couple of minutes later with a gray bundle in his arms. He shakes it out as he gets closer and holds it out for me to take. It’s a blanket. An itchy, ugly-as-sin blanket, but a blanket just the same. I take it, thanking him as I wrap it around me, covering the collar of rope.
“Eh, don’t thank me. I jacked it from one of the fire trucks,” he says, grinning at the stamped letters on one corner. C.F.D. “Look, I need you to get behind the barriers. I’m sure your friends made it out safely. Give it a few and try their cells. Okay?”
I nod, not willing to admit that I don’t know any of their last names, let alone phone numbers. I take my pilfered blanket and retreat a couple of blocks, still searching the crowd of onlookers for Mal, Thorin, and Leo. A small team of officers go in the front doors, and I hear whispers from some of the people around me.
Bomb squad.
My first thought is: What the actual fuck? My second: Holy shit, they’re in for a surprise. When I think about what they’re going to find inside, I almost want to laugh. The idea of them clearing rooms adorned with whips, paddles, and spanking benches is just too ludicrous. I wait, hoping it will be over quickly, and I can go back inside.
I wait. And wait. And wait. My feet start to ache in my heels, my calves cramping. I’m hungry, tired, thirsty, and sore, but still I wait. I sit down on the curb to give my feet a break, but when I do, a flash of heat races through my body. Fucking Leo with his flogger.
I put my face in my hands, laughter bubbling out of me. This is just… the most ridiculous thing that has ever happened to me. I cross my arms, resting them on my knees as I glance around. The crowd of onlookers is growing. Any chance I had of finding my—no, I correct myself—those men, flew out the window when I left without them. I should have waited. I knew it was a bad idea, I just really wasn’t thinking clearly. Mind-blowing orgasms will do that to a girl, I guess.
Finally, I give up. I’m not going to find them, and they aren’t going to find me. I trudge down a side street, getting some distance from all the commotion. I’m only a couple blocks from my office, and considering the state I’m in, that’s probably a better idea than hailing a cab.