Stark Shadows (Stark Trilogy Book 2)

by Bradley,CD

  Chapter 6

  This is stupid! Kira scolded herself silently in the back of the taxi. Going to The Apex Club at midnight is not exactly staying out of trouble. All she had to do was find Paige, make sure she was ok, give her the phone, and leave. Easy in, out and back home. She could be home by 2 am max and still get four hours of sleep. Kira drew a long breath as the taxi pulled up in front of the club. It was as ominous as she had remembered. There on the massive stone steps was James, the bouncer/ doorman of the Apex club. He smiled that big knowing smile as she stepped out of the taxi.

  “Nice to see you again Kira.” The deep voice reverberated into the night air. She couldn’t help thinking he sounded like Mufasa.

  “I am just looking for Paige. Is she here? Have you seen her?” Kira squeaked out hopefully. She was more nervous than she realized.

  His laugh echoed. “She might be inside, but I’m not sure. I just got here. Why don’t you go in and check it out?”

  Kira hesitated. She still remembered the shock of her last visit. Carefully she went forward and stepped into the large marble foyer. She eyed the grand staircase that led to the upper rooms. Kira shuddered thinking of what was going on up there. She turned quickly to the ballroom and looked inside. It was mostly empty. A few groups talking and two people at the bar.

  “Where is everyone?” She questioned the bar tender trying to remember his name. “I’m looking for Paige have you seen her?”

  The bar tender looked her up and down. Her jeans and t-shirt weren’t exactly club attire. He started to answer but stopped and looked at something behind her. Before Kira could turn around, she felt the heat of someone standing very close to her.

  “Now my darling. What brings you back to us? It’s enchanting to see you again in person.” A smooth hypnotizing voice spoke lowly in her ear. She could feel his lips brush her skin.

  Lysander! Kira spun around to face him. His smile was magical Kira felt a rush of excitement and panic whenever she was around him. He was a beautiful voodoo man. Someone so charismatic that would lure you in like a spider to a fly. She stepped back out of his reach. “I’m looking for Paige. Have you seen her? And what do you mean see me again in person?” Kira did her best to sound professional she was not going to let herself get sucked in.

  “Come with me darling. Let’s get you a drink and I can help you with both questions.” He gently placed his hand on her arm steering her toward the bar.

  “No!” Kira stopped firmly. Then embarrassed by her outburst. “I… I have to work early. I can’t have any alcohol.” Kira didn’t want to say she had been banned from drinking.

  “Pitty.” He said almost pouting and wrapped and arm around her shoulders. “Let’s take you to the video room then and see if we can find Paige. That is unless you would rather search for her room by room.” He raised an eyebrow and smiled. Kira drew in a sharp breath. She remembered her last trip through the club. It was like walking through other people’s sexual fantasies one after the other. The sounds the smells. Kira could still hear the moans and the crack of leather on pink skin. She exhaled slowly.

  “The video room sounds fine. I – I just need to find Paige and leave.” Kira stammered. She followed him past the stairway, down a carpeted hallway. The mahogany walls matched the rest of the club. Over the top antique paintings and brass fixtures adorned the walls. He opened a large wooded door to reveal a very modern control room. The walls, floor and ceiling were deep slate gray. It reminded her of a mixing room for a recording studio except instead of a sound booth. One wall was covered in monitors. Each one was showing a different room. He could watch the whole club!

  “Sit here my darling and let’s see if we can figure out what mischief Miss Paige is up to.” Mesmerized Kira sat back in the leather chair. Lysander leaned in behind her reaching around her to operate the controls. Kira could feel the heat of his cheek on hers. He pushed a button and Nine Inch Nails Closer started to fill the room. The bass was loud and distorted. He selected the first room and it took over all the screens. A woman sat on a metal and velvet chair leaning back slightly. Her silver two-piece dress exposing most of her taught abdomen and breasts. The skirt portion was short and bunched up by her hand as her fingers played slow circles around her sex. She was staring straight ahead at another woman dressed as a police officer, lap dancing slowly before a man bound in a chair. The caramel skinned woman moved with the rhythm swaying this way and that grinding her small black leather shorts over his straining lap. She was topless, with her perfect breasts covered only by black Xs of what looked like electrical tape over each nipple. A chain belt dipped low around her small waist and connected to a spiky collar around her neck. The chain swayed with her reflecting the light in a hypnotizing rhythm. The man in the chair struggled slightly against his bonds. He seemed desperate to be able to touch her. Her dark hair was bound into a bun and tucked neatly behind her official looking black police cap. She kicked up a long toned dancer’s leg and draped it over his shoulder. The Black leather platform boot dangled at his back. With one boot still on the ground she continued her fluid movements her crotch now rubbing and grinding his face while her latex encased fingers trailed down his muscular chest and abdomen. The other hand she placed behind his head pressing his face into her. As she moved she turned and smiled knowingly at the woman watching them. The other woman was working herself more intently. Her hips and body swayed with the music and emulated the couple before her. Kira could feel the room getting warmer. Just as the latex cop found her prized between the man’s legs, Lysander zoomed out back to the full panels. Kira gasped startled then flushed pink that she had gotten so engrossed watching them.

  “I guess she’s not in there.” He breathed into Kira’s ear. “We’d better try a different room. That is unless you would rather stay and watch.” He curled around her to look into her eyes. That smile again.

  “No…No. I just came to find Paige.” Kira cleared her throat.

  “Alright then my little voyeur. Let’s see what’s behind door number two.” He reached in, his chest against her shoulders, and selected another room.

  Kira turned her head, confused at first. The woman in the picture seemed to be upside down. It took her a moment to realize she was suspended from the ceiling. After a moment her top half raised up as well so that she was fully suspended but facing down. The room was dark with bright lights shining on the woman. It reminded Kira of an operating room or a stage where all of the background fades into the shadows. A very large but chiseled man wearing only skin tight black latex pants and black combat boots emerged from the darkness. His exposed chest, arms, and back were covered in art she recognized as Paige’s work. Kira could imagine Stark in this role. How many times had he been here? What did it matter now? Still, she couldn’t stop thinking of him as the tattooed man preparing to dominate this woman. Suddenly a mist filled the room limiting the visibility of the patrons. Two women wearing only black tutus, stilettos and long black gloves came into the light carrying silver trays. The man selected what appeared to be a silk blindfold from the first tray and began to secure the suspended woman’s eyes.

  “Why blindfold her?” Kira asked a little alarmed and confused. “She’s already tied up. It’s not like she is going to get away!”

  “Care-bear, this isn’t about punishment or torture. Domination in this form isn’t some sick fuck forcing his will on someone else. This is about trust, and pleasure. The power is with the submissive. She has the power to give herself over to the dominant. She has the power to make him stop at any time. By restraining her hands and feet we take away all responsibility. She is not there to service anyone, only to be pleasured. She is the goddess of the moment. She has given herself to him completely and he will worship every inch of her. The blind fold takes away the most relied upon sense, heightening all the others. She will smell, hear and feel his touch more vividly.”

  Kira remembered the one-time Stark had blindfolded her. The sensations had been incredible. Watching
the woman breath in anticipation, her cold nipples erect in the cool air, brought it all back. Kira found herself breathing with the woman. She could imagine herself in those bonds with Stark once again at her side. He went to the other tray and selected a small crop. He started at the tip of one toe and traced all the way up her leg. Moving slowly, deliberately until he reached her round ass. Then he raised it and with a flick, cracked it down onto the soft flesh. Kira sucked in a quick breath and imagined a pink glow where the crop had been.

  “So that is your idea of pleasure?” She turned questioning Lysander. He was smiling again, like a Cheshire cat now. His eyes seemed electrified.

  “The sting,” He began very slowly, “is only momentary. It heightens the nerve endings. Like little electric shocks. Awakening her body. Warming her skin. Preparing her for the intensity of the pleasure to follow. Watch my darling.” With two fingers he gently turned her head to face the screen.

  The man followed suit with the other leg. Trailing slowly then. Crack! He repeated the action each with slightly more force than the last. Each time the woman jerked but only a little. Kira wondered if she was reacting to pain or the surprise. He trailed the crop lightly over her buttock and up her back. The woman shivered in response. He turned and motioned to the two women in tutus. They had been waiting still as dolls. They approached mechanically carrying their trays. Kira strained to see what he would pick up next. He paused over several items and finally held up a pair of small clamps. The two women turned to each other and smiled. Kira held her breath as she watched him take the tiny clamps, connected by a chain, and attach one to each pert nipple. The woman winced but then smiled slightly. The silver chain dangled below her catching the light. He reached back onto the tray and retrieved another silver object. Kira turned her head and tried to make out what it was. It seemed to be a ring of some kind. The two women in tutus were beaming now. They watched eyes wide and eager but they remained completely still and silent. He traced a gloved finger around the suspended woman’s face and mouth. He paused at the lips and commanded her to open her mouth. She did obediently and without hesitation. He inserted the object partially and instructed her to suck on it. Kira watched the woman’s full lips closed around the object and the tips of the man’s fingers. The sound Stark made when she first took him in her mouth came to mind. Kira closed her eyes for a moment and savored being there in the Aspen cabin. While the snow raged on outside, they were warm and safe by the large fireplace. She could still smell the whiskey on his breath and his infuriatingly sexy cologne. The feeling of his hands on her skin, the way he expertly…. Kira’s eyes flew open and back to the screen. The way he expertly knew just how to elicit responses in her body, he learned doing this! Kira felt new rage, but also longing. She had never been touched like that in her life. The room grew warmer as Kira watched the man remove the silver object slick with her saliva and spin her so that he had access to her sex. Her legs were splayed in the suspension so that she was on full display. Kira cringed. She couldn’t imagine being on display like that. Yet she couldn’t look away. She watched as the man attached the ring which was some type of clamp to the defenseless woman’s clitoris. Kira gasped and winced.

  She turned to Lysander, who was watching her with amusement, “Doesn’t that hurt? Why would anyone want to do that?” Kira’s voice squeaked slightly as she continued flustered.

  “Watching you in person darling is even more delicious than watching you react on video. In a moment he will turn on the remote and all three clamps will begin to vibrate. He will start low with slow pulses working her into a frenzy of orgasm that you can only imagine. Her body will be taken to the brink of pleasure, before he ever enters her.” Lysander’s voice was warm and smooth like caramel.

  Kira turned back to the screen and watched the woman’s body stiffen and then her back arch. She thought of her battery operated boyfriend and how she had to work it to get it in just the right spot. What if it was clamped in place? How long would she be able to stand it? Suddenly Lysander’s words sunk in. “What do you mean watching me on video?” She spun around in her chair facing him.

  Lysander did not back up. He stayed very close studying her face. “All of these are recording my dear. They are for the exclusive use of the club and the patrons in the scene. You managed to walk through several videos the night you visited us.” He leaned in closer and whispered, “Your innocence and desire are almost palpable.”

  Kira pulled back as far as she could, as she was trapped between Lysander and the control table. Her first instinct was to bolt. Fuck them for watching her like some rat in a kinky twisted maze. No! No more running away! Kira sat up straight and looked him dead in the eye. “Show me.” Her voice took on the finality of a judge issuing a life sentence.

  This time it was Lysander who backed up. His eyes widened in surprise. Then his Cheshire smile spread to encompass his face. He leaned forward again and with a few key strokes came to an area marked archives. He entered a password and a catalogue of names and dates appeared. The names appeared to be in alphabetical order with the option of various dates behind them. When he reached Riley only one date appeared. Kira forgot about her objective for a moment her eyes were fixed on a name toward the bottom of the page. Stark, Owen. The dates ran past the end of the page. Kira fought the urge to ask Lysander to scroll down. What do I care how many dates there are? Fuck It. Fuck him. Lysander paused and waited for direction. He tilted his head like a curious cat and watched.

  “Let’s see my day falling through the rabbit hole.” She said dryly. She would not under any circumstances watch Starks films. She had seen quite enough of those already. Lysander clicked on her name and the scene opened with her coming up the steps with Paige. Kira snorted a laugh when she saw herself in that outfit. How the hell she had let Paige and Zoe talk her into wearing that she would never know. The black and silver corset pushed her breasts up so that they were mostly visible and bounced with every step. The black tulle skirt exposed almost all of her fishnet clad legs. Those stilettos! Dear God how had she walked in those? Her makeup was dark and overdone. It was eerie to watch yourself on video this way. Kira could see the fear and anticipation in her face. She saw Paige greet Lysander and take off while she and Zoe went into the ball room. The next was a series of shots of them in the ball room, drinking that damn pink drink and watching the show. The tape seemed to have been edited to only show the shots including her. She saw the lights change and everyone got up to dance including Zoe and her. They began dancing to the music. She saw her self being passed from partner to partner around the room. A man in a white suit was just reaching for her next when Lysander stepped in and pulled her to him. Kira saw herself freeze in place then follow his lead exactly. As they spun around the dance floor Kira could still feel the magic of that moment. Maybe it was the cocktail but Kira remembered tingling all over. She didn’t notice it at the time but it was clear to see now, Lysander had moved her back across the room to Zoe and Paige. Once she was safely with them he went back to the stage.

  “Were you just taking me back to the girls?” She turned puzzled.

  “You weren’t ready to be taken upstairs by one of those guys. If you ended up too far from Paige and Zoe it would be harder to control. We have very strict rules here but it’s not worth taking those kind of chances.” Lysander’s voice was warm.

  “Thanks. I guess I got caught up in the music. You guys are amazing on stage.” Kira was embarrassed for thinking of him as some kind of predator. Still he had edited a video of her visit to the club.

  “I’m glad you liked the show Care Bear. You are a blast to watch dance. The way you let yourself go completely in the music. You move so free. I wonder if you ever let yourself have that kind of freedom sexually. Let go of every inhibition and let the pleasure course through your body.” His voiced purred in her ear.

  Kira felt her cheeks flush. Sudden movement on the screen, caught her attention, as a large man grabbed her and though Kira couldn’t see it
from this angle she clearly remembered him placing her hand on the bulge in his pants. She saw Paige and Zoe jump between them. Zoe diffusing the man and Paige pulling her close. She felt the room grow a little warmer as she watched herself dancing closely between Paige and Zoe. From this view she could see Lysander watching them. That sly smile was unmistakable. Behind him she could just make out the man in the white suit. He seemed to be watching them also but she couldn’t make out his face. Of course they were quite the spectacle she imagined. She watched Lysander walk over and talk to them.

  “Let’s forward through Lilah shall we. I know you didn’t enjoy meeting her.” Lysander laughed and pressed the button. As the images went into overdrive, Kira hated the drunken whore all over again. That was the first moment she began to realize just what kind of life Stark had been leading. Lysander lifted his finger, just in time to see Kira bolt out of the room. “You sure can run in those heels.” He chuckled playfully

  “Fuck you Lysander.” Kira bantered back.

  “Anytime love.” His voice dropped back into caramel mode. He winked at her and motioned back to the screen. “You don’t want to miss this part.” His eyes tinkled as if they were electric.

  Another camera had picked her up as she crested the stairs and threw open the doors of the first room. Kira saw herself freeze as if she had run into a wall. A camera inside the room displayed the horror on her face as she moved through the ornate room. On all sides of her people were engaging in some form of sexual act.

  “I love that you don’t run away.” Lysander continued to purr in her ear. “You could have just turned around and left right then. But you didn’t. As horrified as you were, some part of you was curious. It’s beautiful to watch you transform by the time you reach the last room.”