Dark Alley: The Complete First Season (Dark Alley Seasons Book 1)

by D. S. Wrights

  Aquarius didn’t answer for what seemed to be a long time and his silence created room for doubt.

  “She is not going to be here for another hour or two,” he eventually said and Belladonna realized that she had been right; he came to the Dark Alley early in hopes of meeting up with her.

  She didn’t know if she should be flattered or uneasy; so Belladonna focused her attention on him. Maybe she shouldn’t care as much as she did right now. Caring was one of Alice’s flaws, it shouldn’t be one of Belladonna’s, too. Alice cared about everyone and their thoughts regarding her, and this was something she didn’t want to repeat while being Belladonna. So, why was it so important what Aquarius felt?

  It was King of Diamonds who distracted her thoughts.

  “I think you should switch to water right now,” he said as his hand pulled away her almost empty glass from her.

  A part of her was appalled by his behavior, but another one was attracted to it. Somehow, it became more and more difficult to differentiate between those sides of her. Defiantly she pulled her glass back towards her, lifted it up and emptied it.

  “I know my own limits, Sir,” she emphasized the name, her glare matching his, the left corner of his mouth rising.

  He liked sullen women. This was obvious, and hell would she act fighting him. She knew this was a game. And she would enjoy playing it, although Aquarius seemingly wasn’t aware of it. But that wasn’t her fault.

  Everyone who entered the Dark Alley was responsible for themselves and no one else. This was what all of this was about, wasn’t it?

  When she put down the glass, King of Diamonds grabbed her wrist, pulling it towards him, her along with it. Both of them didn’t drop their glare at one another and Belladonna couldn’t stop herself from grinning and she triumphantly noticed the smirk across his mouth.

  “Can’t wait until we are in the alley, Sir?” This time she waited a little bit longer until she spoke that title, sucking in his reaction.

  His pupils dilated for a brief moment and Belladonna knew that she was absolutely right about this man. He was used to get what he wanted without having to ask for it. In fact, this one seemed to be the kind of man who was used to demanding without words.

  Obviously, he was rich and powerful, and the latter was the feature that appealed to her more, even though it usually came as the consequence of the first. King of Diamonds radiated power and dominance, something Aquarius didn’t.

  Belladonna realized right then a very important thing about herself: that her attraction to power was the very thing that made her life complicated and therefore lonely. Her ex wasn’t that kind of man either. And she didn’t really walk in the circles of these men. Until now.

  The only complication right here was that the Club wasn’t about matchmaking, it was about fulfilling sexual desires. She wouldn’t get more than that, but maybe, just maybe, this was all what she needed right now. Maybe playing games with the King of Diamonds would drive that attraction out of her system and would make her able to settle for kind, gentle men with average ambitions like her ex Gary or Jeff.

  “Oh, I can wait, and you will, if your head is somewhere else than here with me, Bella,” King of Diamonds answered. She could feel herself blush, while her heart skipped a beat.

  She remembered his assumption about her name and how easily she would be able to have her partners call her either ‘Bella’, which was more endearing, or ‘Donna’, which was more dominant.

  Belladonna wasn’t surprised by his choice. If he had called her Donna it would have made her feel uneasy, but her realization about what she was able to do with her name had sowed a seed in her mind.

  Belladonna took her time responding, waited until she saw in King’s expression that he became impatient before she obediently said: “I’m sorry, Sir.”

  Remembering that they weren’t alone at their table, she briefly looked at Aquarius, giving him a wink.

  “You’re not really sorry, are you?” King of Diamonds retorted, slightly tightening his grip around her wrist, making her look at him attentively, and fighting a smirk.

  Belladonna saw that he noticed, and read his reaction. He liked her behavior and it gave her a rush of excitement, especially as she decided to not answer with words, but with an expression. She smiled. “Well, then I should teach you a lesson, and your friend will watch,” King of Diamonds stated drily, then rose from his seat, pulling her on her feet alongside him.

  Aquarius followed silently and Belladonna wasn’t able to read his expression, because King wouldn’t give her a chance as he started walking towards the entrance. What she could see was that the waitress had been in King’s line of sight, watching them leave and making swiping movements on her iPad. Probably she had made King aware of which alley was available for him and gave Big Guy Alfred the information that it was now taken.

  Nine

  King of Diamonds didn’t look back and he didn’t slow down, even as Belladonna stumbled after him. She didn’t mind, but even more so that Aquarius didn’t protest for her, or react to help her. Then again, his role was to be the silent voyeur, and maybe she just hadn’t seen him reach out for her. The moment she thought that, defending someone she barely knew, Belladonna gritted her teeth in annoyance with herself.

  Alice might be the type to care too much about others, but Belladonna didn't - she cared only about herself. That was what she was here for, why everyone was here in the first place, to care about themselves without worrying about others and about the consequences.

  And as King stopped in their alley – Belladonna didn’t know and didn’t care which one it was – she started smiling again. The only task Aquarius had was to watch them, watch her, and nothing else. He just would have to earn the privilege to get more from her than that.

  All King of Diamonds needed was one strong, yet gentle, pull to gain her full attention and turn her towards him before he pressed her back against the rough surface of the brick wall. With her blouse chaffing against the stones it probably would be ruined by the end of this encounter, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to care.

  King of Diamonds may have held both of her wrists in a firm grip, but it was her eyes that he truly held captive. He pressed in close with only their hands separating them.

  Belladonna could feel the heat of his body radiating down on her. He leaned in closer, still towering over her, with his eyes nothing more than two black pools in the darkness of the alley. The soft cloud of his cologne was slowly penetrating her personal space, wafting around her like an invisible, feather light veil. She felt the need to close the short distance between their mouths as her eyes darted between his eyes and his suddenly so delicious looking lips, framed by the dark scruff that showed hints of grey.

  Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she remembered that incomprehensible rule that said no kissing was allowed on the mouth, unless explicitly asked for. Realizing that he was teasing her, Belladonna grinned widely and pulled back. He would have to beg for it, and then she might consider.

  She retreated, her stomach filled with butterflies as he slowly moved her wrists above her head, stepped in closer. But it wasn’t even that movement, not even his chest pressing against her breasts, or his notable hard-on teasing her lower abdomen, not even his sharp cologne invading her senses, that really got to her. It was that little smirk dancing around at the corners of his mouth and the flicker in his eyes that made her stomach clench with anticipation.

  Uh-oh.

  The clicking noises of a cuff’s locks snapping shut echoed in her ears before she even realized that her hands were now immovably attached to the wall above her head.

  Yet, King of Diamonds didn’t move away, didn’t give her space to gather herself. He was still the oh-so naughty solution to the problem he had created.

  His hands slowly slid down her arms from wrists to shoulders, his long fingers resting a second too long around her neck before they snaked down to her breasts.

  Instinctively her
body arched, eager to meet his touch as he teased her through the soft fabric of her blouse. Her sensitive buds had already peaked because of the colder air in the alley, and his fingers found them easily, cruelly teasing them.

  His proximity allowed her nothing other than to look at him, making it impossible for her to see where his hands would land next, or what Aquarius’ expression was like as he was relegated to watching them.

  “I bet you wouldn’t be pleased watching me if this beautiful creature here was your girlfriend, would you?” King asked, keeping Belladonna trapped with his body, his hands, and his intense stare – and yet he had addressed the man to whom he didn’t even think of turning around to.

  Belladonna bit her lip, not closing her eyes to savor the touch of the masked man who undeniably ruled the situation. It was more than obvious that King of Diamonds didn’t regard Aquarius as a rival, or equal for that matter. Realizing this only made the heat within her rise, even though she felt like she was melting on the outside.

  “I would, if this was what she wanted and there were no feelings involved,” Aquarius’ voice resonated from the walls towards her, brushing down her exposed skin and leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

  Belladonna’s heart accelerated a notch, but her eyes stayed focused on King’s face, whose expression barely changed. There was only a brief flicker of surprise. And she wasn’t sure if it was for the Aquarius' reply or her obvious reaction. Probably both. She herself was surprised about it. She hadn’t expected that answer.

  “So, you would share her, if she was yours?” Belladonna watched King’s lips form the question, but she felt like she was hearing it from far away.

  Why was he asking this? What was his goal?

  She didn’t really want to think about being in a relationship right now, not when the Dark Alley was about freedom. These were simply two things she didn’t want to cross paths and fall into one place.

  “I’m no one’s,” she replied, the words slipped from her tongue before she had finished thinking them. “You might enjoy torturing him with these questions, but we agreed on this being about me, not him. So shut up and take me, before I decide that this encounter is our last.”

  Belladonna didn't see King of Diamonds’ eyebrow quirk upwards, but she definitely could see the tight and amused curl at the corner of his lips.

  “You’re right,” he answered, cupping her breasts firmly before he pinched her nipples, forcing her to inhale sharply. “This is about you, and you being mine. At least for this encounter. Don’t you agree?”

  With her snarkiness soundly thwarted, Belladonna simply nodded quickly. The need of her body was taking over her mind like she had no will of her own, which was absolute irony, considering of what she just had said.

  King’s hands grazed down her body, wiping the last remaining lingering thoughts out of her head, still keeping her glance captive. Usually not closing her eyes would have been a distraction, but not this time.

  Belladonna could lose herself in his pair of steel-blue pools that had so much more depth up close. His irises had a pattern that reminded her of gemstones, and yet there was another ring of darker blue around his pupils, that now, in the dimness of the alley, made his eyes appear much darker. Focusing on his eyes sharpened her perception of touch, intensifying every graze and stroke of King's hands on her body, and it made her forget about Aquarius. His possessive hands now gripped her hips, easily pulling her pelvis towards his, making Belladonna arch her back instinctively in order to obey his command. His face was closer again, so close that for a moment she was sure he would kiss her. But there was still the rule in place, and she didn’t give him permission. Maybe it was a good thing that she hadn’t.

  Belladonna definitely wouldn’t ask for it, and maybe that was the reason she couldn’t stop her eyes from jumping back down, although she forced them to meet the stern look in front of her. Now she couldn’t stop thinking about how the set of lips would feel merged against her own, if his mouth tasted just as he smelled, or completely different, or if they had a flavor at all.

  No way in hell would she ask him to kiss her now. Plus, if she was his captive, his prisoner, as he had implied just moments before, he wouldn’t kiss her anyway, would he? Not if she asked him now.

  He would deny her request just because he could do so. King’s foot pushed her ankles wider apart, allowing the coolness of the alley to slip up her thighs, making her feel the wetness between her legs even more. And now, all Belladonna could think about was how it would feel, him inside of her, with his fingers, with his tongue, and with his cock.

  Memories of their last encounter flickered through her mind, mixing the sensation of what had happened with what King of Diamonds was doing right now. He pushed the fabric of her skirt up towards her hips. Then, he took a step back to look down. Belladonna couldn’t help but smirk. He was probably studying her long stockings, and the laced satin briefs she was wearing.

  Instinctively her eyes wandered towards the wall opposite to the one she was chained to, meeting Aquarius’ glare. He was leaning back against the brick wall, his arms crossed before his chest, his lips pinched in a thin line. He didn’t look like he was enjoying this, although he had insinuated the opposite. Maybe King’s question was messing with his head, too - the only difference was he had nothing to distract himself from it.

  Watching them definitely didn’t help either.

  Suddenly King’s hand grabbed her chin and moved her head to draw her attention back to him. Her gaze lingered on Aquarius for a moment more, but it was long enough to see his posture change, ready to come to her aid. The thought that he might intervene if he felt like it, or if she asked for it, was something she found strangely arousing. Maybe she had been wrong before when she thought that he hadn’t reached out to catch her as she had stumbled.

  “Eyes on me, Bella,” King of Diamonds ordered, his tone rumbling against her skin.

  Belladonna waited a moment before she followed his order, meeting Aquarius’ watchful gaze with a tiny smile. She didn’t need to look at her captor to know that he was displeased about her silent resistance, even more so when she didn’t apologize. Still, it was just part of the game, and it was obvious, because she could see a barely suppressed smirk on his goddamned teasing lips, fighting to get out.

  “Are you pretending to be a brat now?” he asked her, pulling her attention back to his eyes.

  Belladonna believed she knew what he was talking about. Ever since her interest concerning the dominant/ submissive play had sparked, she had started to do some digging. Simply put – and she wasn’t even sure if she was right – a brat was a submissive who challenged her Dom. She would disobey him, ignore his orders, testing his patience and temper, which ultimately would end in her being punished. Belladonna couldn’t help but find the idea extremely fascinating. And, obviously, she already had made a step in the right direction. However, she didn’t dare to ignore his question.

  “Maybe I am,” she answered, leaving out his title on purpose, but added quickly, “I’m not experienced in that kind of... endeavor.”

  King of Diamonds loosened his grip on her chin and moved his thumb to brush it across her lips, seemingly thoughtlessly, and yet it send a jolt of electricity through her body, right to her sensitive spots. Had he thought of kissing her as well? It didn’t really matter?

  Right now the tender touch of his finger grazing gently across the delicate skin of her mouth was far more erotic than a kiss. As his thumb moved in the other direction, it softly pushed down on her lower lip, making her open her mouth just a little. On its way back it touched her teeth, just barely, but enough for her tongue to sneak out instinctively.

  The moment she could taste his skin, her senses ran wild and he pushed his thumb into her mouth, hooking the teeth of her lower jaw, stroking her tongue slightly.

  Belladonna held her breath. Although she could easily bite down on his finger, she still felt utterly subdued. Her skin was on fire, but her insid
es felt like water converging between her legs. She wanted him to fuck her senseless and to stop this insanity. No, she needed him to take her right now, shamelessly. Her lips started to shake. But she knew that, thanks to her desperate expression, he would wait just a bit longer.

  Belladonna couldn’t stop herself from looking past King of Diamonds, searching for Aquarius. She had no idea why she did it, because it wouldn’t help her, would it? Hell, she was wrong. The tormented glare she met was something else. It gave her back a part of the power she had given to the man who was sensually torturing her. She could only imagine what Aquarius had to feel like, watching her being so deliciously tantalized while he could do nothing. Belladonna didn’t need to imagine a lot of that though, because she could see him shift uncomfortably, pushing down on his crotch to lessen the pressure just a little.

  She had to bite down on her lower lip.

  Not only to suppress a moan and fight the arousal that had become almost too unbearable, yet not enough to drive her over the edge – King was making sure of that – but watching Aquarius being torn over her situation was more thrilling than she had expected.

  Would he continue to torment himself?

  Or would he give himself some release?

  She had no idea which of these questions she wanted to be answered. Both seemed equally exciting.

  “I don’t like when you are distracted,” King’s deep voice was closer than she remembered, but in the end that wasn’t what made her look at him – what made her inhale sharply – was her sensitive spots igniting all at once. King's fingers had slid cruelly between her wet folds, pressing down on the exceptionally delicate bud.

  “That’s a good girl,” he commented, smiling, his breath rolling down on her, warm against her cooled skin, malty and spicy, just like the Scotch he had been drinking.

  King of Diamonds was so close, she was sure that he was going to kiss her, but she knew better, she already knew that glint in his eyes, the cruel smirk hiding in the corners of his mouth. And she hadn’t begged him for it yet. He wouldn’t ask for it, either. She wouldn’t break the rules, although this place was breaking so many she knew.