ChapterFive
Asher
I feel almost human again, I think as I walk out of my bathroom with a towel slung low around my waist. After court, the meeting yesterday, and the unexpected therapy session, I was drained. I only woke up to eat again when I realized someone left a covered plate on my nightstand. Now it’s the middle of the afternoon the following day and I am just getting up to prepare for the meeting with Carla. Carla witnessed that whole breakdown session yesterday and I am not sure how I feel about that. I have no problem admitting I’ve been attracted to her since I met her briefly at Peter’s wedding, but it’s not that simple and even with the previous complications there are even more now. With her being my lawyer, I can’t cross the line with her, I do not want it said that there is a conflict of interest so even though I may want to bend her over and drive into her until she is dehydrated from too many orgasms, I can’t… yet. I reach for the knot on my towel to pull it off when my bedroom door swings open and in walks Carla. She is in mid-sentence, looking down at some paperwork she’s carrying, and freezes when she sees that she has in fact walked into my bedroom and I am almost naked. I can literally feel her eyes travel my body as she takes in everything. At forty-six years old I am still in great shape, partly from genetics, partly from working out, and partly from working on a construction site almost every day. The tattoos on my chest, arms, thighs, and calf are usually kept hidden under my clothes. In fairness, we all have tattoos partly because we are ink junkies and partly due to our culture and heritage, but I swear I can feel her tracing every single one. This is the second time she’s walked into a room where I was without knocking. I move my hand from the knot in my towel and turn to face her fully, this seems to snap her out of her stare fest, and she begins to back up to the door. Unfortunately for her, I am faster. I slowly stalk her until I’ve almost plastered the entire front of my body to the front of hers, she peeks up into my eyes as I look down at her. That’s cute, I think. She’s trying to put more bravado in her eyes than she really has. She may be a beast in the courtroom but here, I’m the beast, and the chain I keep it on is slipping.
“That is the second time you’ve walked into my space without asking for permission Carla. Do you need lessons on how to ask for permission or in obedience?” I ask her while keeping my eyes locked on hers, but when I ask her this question, she drops her eyes to the floor. And just like that, with that small act my dick goes from partially hard to steel rod, it’s tenting my towel and I do nothing to try and hide it. I know the exact moment she sees it since her gasp gives her away.
“Look at me,” I growl out and her eyes snap up to mine. “Good girl, now answer me, do you need lessons?”
“Um. no?” she stutters out and drops her eyes again.
“I said look at me Carla, don’t look away again. No what” I demand.
Her eyes find mine again and for a split second she looks confused and then she says, “no sir” and I am already on the verge of cumming. She is a natural submissive.
“Now if you go back to the hall you can go into the third room on the left and wait for me, I’ll be there as soon as I put some clothes on. Understand?”
“Yes sir,” she says almost in a trance.
“Good girl,” I tell her as I back up so she can turn and walk out of my room. Once she is gone, I have to take a deep breath to try to get my wayward emotions under control. I don’t dare touch my cock for fear of cumming all over myself like an untried boy. Three weeks! Three weeks before I can do all the things running through my mind. I hurry up and get dressed so we can clear my name and I can focus on her. I wonder if she realized what she did when she submitted so naturally, so beautifully to me. Now that I know she has submissive tendencies all bets are off, I think, as I slip into some sweatpants, a t-shirt, and sandals then head to my office to collect Carla before going downstairs.
Carla
What the fuck just happened?I scream in my head as I go to Asher’s office to wait for him. I open the door and stop in my tracks again as I take in the office in front of me. The whole office screams male and architect in equal measures. The office is almost entirely black except for one wall and half of the ceiling which is all glass. One wall is all floating bookshelves, and his desk was held up entirely by suspension wires causing it to float in the middle of the room. In front of the desk are two swinging chairs on either side of a sofa. The other wall was made up entirely by white glass, actually it looks like a puzzle with varying sizes of white glass attached to the wall. I walk over to touch it, but a voice stops me.
“You really have a problem with boundaries, don’t you?” Asher’s voice fills the room.
“I’m sorry, it just looks so interesting.” He stands there and looks at me until I begin to shift from foot to foot. He eventually walks over to the wall.
“Come to me Carla,” he says and without thought or my permission, my feet have me moving immediately. What is this sorcery I think to myself. How did I enter this alternate universe of me doing what he tells me to do? When I reached him, I keep my eyes on anything but him.
“Eyes Carla,” he says softly. And my eyes find his immediately. “Watch” and I do. He places his hand on one of the tiles and the whole thing lights up. The tiles are different colors and I realize it’s a giant computer screen, the whole wall is a computer screen, and I am in awe.
“Who created this?”
“My brother Jabarri. I told him what I wanted, and he made it happen. Watch this,” he walked over to the middle screen and touched a corner and it moved out from the wall and tilted to a 45-degree angle and 3D projections pops up of a new building he must be designing. Asher comes over with weird-looking gloves on, moves his hands and the projection of the building begins to turn in the same direction. The whole setup is amazing, I have never seen anything like this before in my life.
“Alright Ms. St. Claire, everyone is waiting for us downstairs,” he says as the panel goes back to the wall and the whole display powers down.
When we get downstairs, the entire family is there, along with Cole, waiting for us. So, we find seats and get down to business. Asher’s brother has the laptop and is able to pull up the footage from the night of the murder. Also, Cole provided the list of members and guests not only from that night but in general. It’s a lot to go through but with all of us chipping in we should be able to get through it relatively quickly. I got the report from the original ME, but we are still waiting on the exam from an independent Medical Examiner As we are going through everything, there is a knock on the door. When the new guests walk in everything stops as all the attention turns to them. Yeah, I understand—I felt the same way the first time I saw them, but they are amazing at what they do. Eliza and Emerson are twin sisters who are multi-racial, but one looks white and the other black, they are former secret service agents. Eliza is a former counter-assault team member and Emerson is a former counter-sniper team member. They know how to blend in, stand out, get info and fuck someone up if needed. I just happened to luck up meeting them when I helped represent them in a court case against a former commander who sexually harassed Eliza. Once she won her case both she and her sister resigned and went into business for themselves. Today they are looking like two badass assassins. Tall and thick, with hazel brown eyes, and hair to their butts, they have the tendency to turn more than one head.
“Hey E2! Come in and let me introduce you to your client and his family,” I tell them as I pull them in for hugs. After the introductions are made, we get back to work getting Eliza and Emerson caught up on the case and what we need from them. We worked straight through lunch without noticing until the smell from the kitchen caused multiple stomach growls to erupt simultaneously. Jaasiel whipped together his version of a quick meal and before we know it, we’d eaten it all and everyone is headed to their respective housing. The twins don’t live in Mississippi, and Peter was gracious enough to put them up in his hotel free of charge for the duration of their time here. I have never worked on a case like this. Asher’s family is amazing and will definitely make sure he doesn’t spend another minute in jail.
Asher
Cole finally got me the information I needed for Antonia; and we not only sent a floral arrangement but a sizeable monetary gift to help her family cover any expenses they may have incurred. Even though I wanted to attend the services, I thought it best if I didn’t, considering I have been charged with her murder. I waited a couple of hours after the ceremony to visit her grave. Antonia played an integral role in this part of my life and I would not miss an opportunity to pay my respects and say goodbye.
I met her when I did an internship with an architecture company and she worked in the human resource department. We kept our relationship professional while I was there learning how to become an architect but once I realized I couldn’t create the things I wanted to I became increasingly frustrated until I quit and began working with my brothers. I ran into her one evening at a club I overheard some clients talking about. I’d never been to one of these clubs before and it was a little overwhelming, but she took me under her wing and showed me the ropes. After that first night I was hooked and I went back as often as I could. Toni made me realize what I was missing in my life, and that was control. So, I began training and quickly learned that I am a Total Power Exchange Dom, but I have yet to meet a woman who can fulfill my needs outside of the bedroom.
Although Toni and I had a strong sexual connection, it was obvious it would never go further than that, at least on my part. She made it known she was interested in taking our relationship outside of the club and bedroom, but there was something holding me back and I trust my instincts. Once she convinced me to open my own club, I made sure to get a vasectomy, I had no intention of having any children I didn’t want and getting trapped by some random woman looking for a come up. Toni was my first member and she was integral in the setup of the club and walking me through making the membership exclusive and limited. She knew a lot of people in high positions, not just in our city but throughout our state too. There were many days I wondered how she knew the people she did and so much about the lifestyle, but I never asked and she never volunteered. After a while she started coming less and less until she stopped showing up all together, and the construction company took off keeping all of us busy. I hired a manager and only visited the club occasionally.
When Josh met Savvy, she brought change into our dynamic, forcing us to finally take a look at our lives after devoting so many years to our company. I found myself at the club more often. I made some long overdue changes, hired a new manager and started taking an active role in my club again. And one night Toni walked into the club, with a new last name which I assumed was from getting married, even though she never wore a wedding ring, and just like that we were back to our old dynamic. However, it was a little different this time since I had continued my training and had years to hone my skills, desires, and craft and she loved it. Once again, she became my favorite playmate, so when she was found dead it was not only a shock but very painful for me and, to be the one arrested for her murder… I have no words.
As I stand at her fresh grave, I vow to her that I will find the person responsible for her death. First, I need to clear my name and then hunt down the bastard who took her from this world and make him pay for what he’s done. I turn on my heels and head back to my car. I have a meeting with Cole.
I walk in the office and Cole is already there hard at work.
“Hey Ash, I was getting things together so the club can reopen once the police give us the ok”
“You can put those plans on hold Cole. I’m closing that location permanently. It doesn’t feel right to go back where Antonia lost her life and just act like nothing happened. That’s an insult to her. Once the police clear the club, we will get rid of or donate the equipment to someone who could use them.”
“You’re really going to close down for good? This is the best dungeon on this side of the country.”
“My main focus right now is to clear my name, and then I am going to find the sonofabitch who killed Antonia. After that I am going to open Hedonism in a different location. But first I’ve got shit to handle, I can’t reopen shit from prison.”
“Understood, what do you need me to do?” Cole asks.
“Handle the donations and getting rid of the other stuff and begin finding possible locations for Hedonism 2. Hopefully this goes away quickly, and we can find the real person responsible. I have less than three weeks to get enough evidence to clear my name and since the club will be closed, I am giving you and the rest of the staff two months’ pay. Hopefully, I can get cleared and we can get to work finding a new location.” I tell him. We work to notify the other employees and the members of the club. After we have that under control, we begin to take an inventory of the equipment that can be donated and the rest of the stuff that will be disposed of. I know a lot of my employees are into the BDSM lifestyle so they will get first dibs on anything they may want from the club. When I reopen, it will be brand new, including aesthetic, furniture and equipment.
We move swiftly to get everything together because three weeks is not a lot of time and I need to be focused on keeping my freedom. I reach down and rub the skin underneath the ankle monitor, and get frustrated all over again, but I guess I should be grateful I’m even out of jail. Marshall had to be working double time to get all that evidence in a matter of a day or two, so that he could arrest me for Toni’s murder. I have never met the man, but he seems to have an issue with me, and I don’t know why, so that’s another mystery I have to solve.