by Emma York
“Yes,” I replied, turning off the engine. “We’re home.”
I took her hand once we were out of the car, leading her up the steps and into the house. Only when we were in bed together did she speak again.
“You said he did more than just take me,” she said, her voice quiet as I wrapped around her, warming her with my body heat. “What else did he do?”
“I got a red token in my name.”
“What’s a red token?”
“It’s the ultimate punishment for a club member. It ruins their life.”
“Is your life ruined?"
“Not this time. Not now I have you back. I don't care about anything else.”
“What do we do now?”
“Now, I keep pressing myself against you until you’re warm. Then we sleep. Then I go to work.”
She was asleep almost at once. I climbed out of bed a few minutes later and picked up my phone.
Roy had told me he would be ready to go by the time I got back. I rang him and said, “Do it,” then hung up. Then I waited. Rowena rang me at eleven. Alice was still asleep upstairs. I took the call in the study, watching my computer monitor, seeing the figures as they shifted and changed in front of me.
“Did you do this?” Rowena asked.
“Do what?” I replied, innocence personified.
“Don’t tell me you’re not watching the news.”
“Why, what’s happening?” I loaded up a new Internet window.
“Fry Enterprises has gone under.”
“Has it really, how unexpected.” The business news presenter looked shocked. Failed within hours, out of nowhere. I smiled as I watched.
Rowena continued. “And apparently Powers stock has gone through the roof.”
“Well isn’t that interesting.”
“You did this, didn’t you?”
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Just tell me Alice is all right.”
“She’s fine. Everything is going to be fine.” I felt like laughing, I was so happy.
“Then I guess I’ll see her at work tonight.”
“I guess you will.”
I hung up, my smile broadening as I rang Roy again. “I owe you one hell of a bonus,” I said. “It bloody worked.”
“Did you have any doubts?”
“But using his own programme against him. I can’t believe it worked.”
“I guess I’m getting paid at the end of the month then.”
“Yes, you are. I can’t thank you enough, Roy. You’ve worked miracles.”
“I have one more miracle for you, just in time for Christmas.”
“What?”
“I have a white token.”
TWENTY-EIGHT - ALICE
“What’s a white token?”
I had never seen Ethan so excited. He was like a kid on Christmas Day, bouncing around the bedroom. “A white token,” he said, as if he didn’t really believe his own words. “A white token.”
“Yes,” I said, rubbing my eyes as I sat up in bed. “But what is it?”
He’d come bursting in and woken me up about a minute earlier but I’d yet to get any sense out of him.
My first thought when I woke up and heard the door opening was that I was back in the cage. I had thought I’d be able to just stop thinking about it once it was over but I realised it was going to take more time than I thought.
I looked up at Ethan, so happy, so giddy with excitement. “Sit here,” I said, holding out my hand. “And tell me everything.”
“I had an I.T. guy digging into what happened at the company. He was able to isolate the programme that caused the problem and then reverse its effects back towards its source.”
“Which was?”
“Fry Enterprises. That's where it originated from, Jason Fry's personal empire. They went bust. We’re back in business. It’s like a Christmas miracle.”
“Hang on. Wait a minute. What about the people that work there?”
“We bought them out. Without them as rivals, our stock went through the roof. None of them lost their jobs. Well, except maybe one.”
“So Jason’s bust and you have your fortune back?”
“Our fortune, Alice. It’s both of ours.”
“But you still haven’t told me what a white token is.”
“There are only a couple of them in circulation and no one knows where.”
“But what are they?”
“You know how university professors can get tenure? A guaranteed job for life.”
“Sure, but-”
“A white token is like tenure to the club. Permanent membership that can’t be taken off you.”
“And your I.T. guy just had one of those for you to use? Why not use it on himself?”
“He didn’t just have it. He said he fell asleep about four in the morning, sat at the computer in the office. When he woke up, there was an envelope and it was in there with a note.”
“What did the note say?”
“That the money in the envelope was for him and the token was to be passed onto me.”
“But who left the envelope?”
“No idea. Whoever it was disabled the security cameras first. But I’ve a pretty good idea.”
“Who?”
“The man who issued the red token, who set all this up. The owner of Club Darkness.”
“Who is he?”
“I get the feeling you’ll be meeting him eventually. Now how about some breakfast? I'm starving.”
He bounced around the kitchen like he’d bounced around the bedroom. He only calmed down when we were sat eating. “A white token,” he said. “And I never thought I’d see the inside of the club again.”
“You sound like you love it more than me.”
“It’s not like that. You know I love-” He fell silent.
“What?”
“You know I love you.”
“You love me?”
He nodded. “I can’t imagine my life without you in it.”
We went to the club together that night. I never thought it would happen again. The car park gave me the shivers as we walked through it, remembering what had happened last time I was here, Jason grabbing me, Ethan breaking his nose. It seemed like a very long time ago. Could I carry on working here? Ethan had said his fortune was mine after all.
But I didn’t want to just take his money. I wanted to be able to look after myself, not depend on him. But I suppose I was already depending on him, and him on me.
The doorman stopped us in our tracks. “You know your membership was revoked, Ethan, I’m sorry.”
Ethan reached into his pocket and pulled out the white token. The doorman blinked, looked from it to him and then to me. Then he stepped aside, nodding slightly with a wry smile on his face. “Never thought I’d see one of those again.”
We headed inside. Rowena was at the far side of the main room and she saw us enter. “You,” she said, pointing at Ethan. “How did you get in here?”
Ethan held out his palm. She looked down at it. “I think we should sit down and have a chat.” She looked happier than Ethan at the sight of the white token.
We sat together in a corner booth, me and Ethan on one side holding hands, Rowena on the other.
“So where did you get that?” she asked, turning the token over in her hands.
“I can’t reveal my sources,” Ethan replied. “We good here?”
“Definitely,” Rowena replied. “You’ve obeyed the rules for once, maybe you’re growing up at last.”
“If I am, it’s thanks to her.”
“What about you?” Rowena asked, her attention turning to me. “You’re supposed to be behind the bar tonight.”
“About that,” I began, looking firmly across at her. “I was thinking of maybe quitting, seeing if I can get painting again.”
"I’m guessing I’ll be behind the bar tonight, seeing as my staff are up and leaving me.”
“Oi!” a voice screamed from across the ro
om. We all turned to see the doorman struggling with Jason Fry who was fighting to get past him and reach us. “Ethan Powers, you son of a bitch!”
“Jason,” Rowena said. “You know the rules. No violence on company property.”
“All right,” Jason said, holding his hands up. “All right.”
The doorman backed away slowly, walking him as he walked across to us.
“No violence?” Jason asked, pointing at Ethan, “but he’s allowed to waltz back in here like nothing happened. I won the auction, don’t forget that.”
“Calm down,” Rowena said. “Or go home.”
Just looking at him made my skin crawl. The last time I’d seen him was when I was locked in the cage at his say so. I wanted to claw his eyes out but I stayed still. I was learning the rules of the club. Instead I gripped Ethan’s hand ever tighter.
“You ruined me,” Jason said.
“I had nothing to do with it,” Ethan replied. “Maybe someone out there doesn’t like you.”
“I’ll get you for this,” Jason said, lunging for him.
The doorman saw it happening, grabbing Jason before he could do any damage, dragging him backwards.
“Get him out of here,” Rowena said. “He knows the rules.”
I watched him go, screaming and hurling abuse at us the entire time.
“Does he get a red token?” Ethan asked.
“I don’t think he needs one,” Rowena replied. “But as you know, that’s not my decision to make.”
TWENTY-NINE - ETHAN
It was a hell of a night. It was the first time I’d been on the floor with Alice by my side. I hadn’t had her company at the club since the auction. I showed her some of the playrooms, watching the excitement mix with apprehension when she saw what was going on in there.
I was so glad to be back in the club, where I belonged. With her by my side it was like my life was complete. And the night had only just begun.
Jason was long gone by the time I took Alice home. I had a feeling he might come back to bite me yet but Rowena had hinted that things were in hand and I trusted her so I resolved to just focus on Alice and let fate take its course.
When we got home, I was going to talk to her but the moment we were inside, she let her dress slip to the floor and just stood there, completely naked. Then she sank to her knees and assumed the position without being told.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
“About the club,” she replied. “I think I’d like to play in some of those rooms you showed me.”
We didn’t even make it to the bedroom. I stripped out of my clothes while she watched, thinking of all the things we would do at the club next time we were there. Once I had kicked off my boxer shorts, I stroked my cock whilst walking towards her. “Do you want this?” I asked.
She nodded eagerly, her tongue sticking out ready for it. I shoved myself into her mouth, loving the wet warmth of her tongue gliding over my shaft, making me want to come when I’d barely started with her.
I thrust slowly back and forth, marvelling at how submissive she was already becoming. She really was the perfect woman.
I kept going until I was on the edge of climaxing but I managed to stop myself from doing it at the last second. I wanted so much more from the evening.
I lifted her to her feet, shoving her back against the wall and kissing her, plunging my tongue into her mouth, my cock pressed against her as she squirmed in place.
“Sit on my face,” I said, sinking to the floor and pulling her onto me. The light faded as the beautiful sight of her glistening wet pussy filled my eyeline. It came closer and I got a hint of her sweet scent before she enveloped my mouth.
I pushed my tongue up into her and as I did so, she leaned down, sucking my cock once again, making me moan up into her. I couldn’t last long like this but I managed to bring her close to orgasm, my finger dipping into her ass as I flicked my tongue over her clit.
“Bend over that table,” I said, pushing her back up onto her feet.
She obeyed at once. She didn’t complain, just got up and bent over, pointing her cute ass back at me.
I stood behind her, lubing her hole with her own juices, dipping a finger into it, feeling the tightness and knowing what I was about to do. Then I plunged my cock into her pussy, driving deep, grinding my hips against hers. She was leaning over the table against the wall, her hands gripping the edges as I drove into her again and again.
“I’m going to take your ass,” I said, sliding slowly out of her. “Are you ready?”
“Will it hurt?” she asked, looking innocently back at me over her shoulder. "Like the plug?"
“A good kind of hurt,” I replied, pressing the tip of my cock to her tiny hole, trying to find a way in. “Just relax.”
Her muscles slackened enough for me to push forwards. She shrieked as the first inch of my cock vanished into her. “That feels so good,” she groaned a moment later. “Oh fucking hell, that feels so good.”
I pushed slowly forwards, easing my way in, rocking back and forth as I went deeper, loving how tightly she gripped me. “You like that?” I asked.
“I love it,” she replied, her hips moving back. “Go deeper.” She kept pushing back until I was buried in her. Then I started to slowly thrust back and forth, only building up speed when she had stretched enough to accommodate my size.
“Oh my God,” she said, her breath ragged. “I’m going to come.”
“Come for me,” I replied. “I want to hear you. I want to feel you come on me. Do it, come for me.”
“Oh, fuck, I’m coming!” Her voice was a scream of sheer joy as she came, the muscles inside her contracting around me, almost painful in their grip as her whole body shook with the strength of her orgasm.
I let her ride it out before picking up speed again, unable to wait any longer. She came once more a minute later, her first orgasm barely over before the next hit.
The second one was enough to tip me over the edge and as I stared down at her perfect ass, I came, spurting deep inside it, filling her completely. I grunted with raw passion when it happened, crying out and arching my neck back, gripping her hips tightly in my hands. Then I slowed, waiting for her breathing to slow too.
When I slid out of her, she almost collapsed and I had to help her walk over to the nearest room. We sank onto a sofa together, my arms around her. We stayed like that for a long time before slowly making our way up to bed.
I had wanted to talk to her about William Sound. But that could wait. I didn’t want to spoil our evening. Tomorrow, I’d tell her tomorrow. Then we could decide what we wanted to do next. For now, I just wanted to fall asleep next to the woman I loved.
THIRTY - THE WHITE TOKEN
It was Jason's turn to be on the back foot. He stood nervously in the middle of the park. It was just after sunset. The man in the black hat stood in front of him, he did not look happy.
“You told me you’d deal with him,” Jason snapped.
“If you recall, I handed out a red token as you paid for. The rest was up to fate.”
“Damn it, I wanted him ruined. I didn’t want him acting like Mr High and Mighty. I should have dealt with it myself.”
“I warned you that you might not like the consequences of what you set in motion, Mr Fry.”
“What are you trying to tell me? That I shouldn’t have done it?”
“No but as the owner of Club Darkness, I am telling you that unfortunately you broke a number of club rules yourself and in front of other patrons.”
“What did I do?”
“You need a list? You used violence in the club. You kidnapped a club employee and you used club property to keep her away from her partner. Need I go on?”
“You can’t prove any of that.”
“Club Darkness appreciates neither lying nor violence.”
“You took my money.”
"For a reason. Pippa, Adam.”
Jason spun round to find two police officers standing behind hi
m. “What’s this about?” he asked, looking worried.
“Someone hacked into a computer system, I believe,” the man in the black hat said as Jason turned back.
“So, the son of a bitch deserved it.”
“Tell it to the Judge, Mr Fry.”
Adam stepped forwards. “Mr Jason Fry, I’m arresting you on suspicion of-”
Jason talked over him. “You can’t do this, let go of me. Stop it, take your hands off me. I told you everyone who helped me, I gave you all their names like you asked. Don't do this”
He was still complaining as he was loaded into the police car at the edge of the park. Pippa remained where she was.
“Thank you for that,” the man in black said.
“You’re welcome,” Pippa replied. “He's been on our radar for a while but we've never been able to make anything stick."
"Until now."
"Quite."
"Shall I give your regards to Ethan?”
“No, I think I’ll be seeing him myself soon enough. Good evening, Pippa.”
“Good evening, William.”
She walked away. The man took a moment to think. The red token had revealed a lot. It had helped show him if Ethan was the right person to inherit the club. The white token had been a thank you, of sorts, for proving him right.
He walked out of the park and into his car. Then he pulled into the traffic and headed into the city.
EPILOGUE
One year later...
An hour before we were due to leave, he brought me a present. I looked at him standing in his tuxedo, still finding it hard to believe he was my partner as he stood there, his fist closed. We were due at the party for nine. "What is it?" I asked, looking down at the red velvet box he put in the palm of my hand.
"I thought you deserved it for having your first exhibition. You're a professional artist now."
"You didn't need to get me a gift for that."
"I did. Now open it."
I winced as I lifted the lid, hardly daring to hope. Could that really be what I thought might be inside?
"Are you serious?" I asked, looking down at the enormous ring and then Ethan was down on one knee, the ring in his hand. "You're not serious."
