Heart of Stone

by Dakota Willink

  I scanned the area for available seating, but given the crowd in the club, there didn’t seem to be anything open.

  When Alexander returned with our drinks, I told him as much.

  “We can go over to the VIP lounge?” he suggested. “It’s a bit quieter in there.”

  “That’s okay. Standing is fine with me. Besides, this way I can dance with you.” I wiggled my eyebrows and swayed closer to him. Placing one hand on his hip while balancing my drink with the other, I moved my hips in time with the music. “Thank you for bringing me here tonight. This place is definitely…well, different. But I think I’m starting to understand what you mean about trust being the foundation for everything.”

  “Hmm,” Alexander murmured into my ear. “I’m glad about that. But personally, I can’t wait to get home and get your swivel hips tied down.”

  I shivered in anticipation.

  “I hope you don’t expect me to call you my Master,” I joked. “We still have a long way to go before I can do that.”

  Alexander’s hand suddenly stiffened on my shoulder, making me thing that I had said something wrong. I stopped dancing to look up at him. Whatever was behind me had caught his attention, and his eyes flashed angrily. I turned to see what it was that he was looking at, and saw a beautiful red head walking towards us. I groaned inwardly.

  Ugh! Another redhead?

  “Hello, Alex,” she purred when she reached us.

  “Beat it, Sasha,” Alexander snapped. I could feel his tension mounting, his grip becoming tighter on my shoulder.

  The girl circled slowly around me, sizing me up. I felt like I was being stalked. Her hand reached up and wrapped around my neck, taking me by surprise. Her grip was soft, yet firm at the same time.

  She’s a Dominant.

  I stood frozen, not sure what to do. I wanted to slap her hand away, but I certainly didn’t want to make a scene. From what I saw on the dance floor, it was quite possible this was just another normal behavior in The Dungeon.

  “That’s enough,” Alexander said, pushing her hand away. “We’re not here for this. We are only here as observers.”

  “Alex, don’t be rude. She’s clearly your Sub. It’s only polite for you to share her with a fellow Dom,” she said sweetly, reaching to cup my breast. I let out a gasp of surprise when she pinched my nipple through the thin material of my blouse.

  My breathing sped up and my cheeks flushed, shocked by her brazenness.

  “No,” he reaffirmed through clenched teeth.

  I looked back and forth between the two of them. She looked like the cat that swallowed the canary, while Alexander looked as though he might rip the woman’s throat out. I had never seen him look so visibly angry.

  “Why don’t you let her decide? Look at how flushed her cheeks are. She seems to be enjoying herself,” she challenged.

  Alexander looked at me, his blue eyes silently questioning. I wasn’t sure what to do. My sudden arousal was unexplainable. Maybe it was from watching the woman on the cross. Or perhaps I was hyped up from the blatant sexuality that was prevalent in every corner of the club. Whatever it was, there was no denying that Sasha’s touch was a complete turn on for one reason or another.

  I returned Alexander’s stare, trying to decipher what he was trying to tell me, when I suddenly remembered a certain word that I had once highlighted in red.

  Threesomes.

  It felt like a lifetime ago that Alexander and I had sat in his office and went through a list of limitations. Having a threesome was among my list of hard limits. But then again, so was anything anal. It was unsettling to realize how quickly I changed my mind about things that I had once said I would never do.

  “Have you shared a submissive with others before?” I asked. His eyes seared into me, but I could feel his hesitation. He looked conflicted, as if he were deciding on how much to reveal.

  “Yes,” he finally responded.

  I took a closer look at Sasha. She wasn’t as pretty as I had initially thought. Her natural hair color was blond, as I could see the roots beneath the artificial fiery red. Cold gray eyes sat too small in her face, and were smudged heavily with liner that was black as midnight. Her mouth was turned up in an arrogant sneer, giving her an air of malevolence.

  I turned back to Alexander, conflicted about the unexpected and not so welcomed proposition.

  “Do you want me to do this?” I asked him. He didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to. I could see the burn in his eyes.

  “Since this is her first time, I’ll go easy on her,” she said smugly to Alexander. She grabbed hold of my shirtfront and pulled me close. I briefly caught the triumphant gleam in her eyes, before her tongue swiped up my neck. Her teeth grabbed hold of my earlobe and her breath was hot in my ear as she whispered, “So fresh…what shall I make you do?”

  Suddenly, I was afraid. Very afraid.

  Oh my god. I didn’t agree to this! How did it get to this point?

  It had all happened so fast that I had little time to process the situation, but I knew that this woman was not messing around.

  Before I could even think of how to react, she was abruptly pulled away from me. Alexander stepped between the two of us.

  “Get the fuck off her, Sasha. You’re not going taint her with your twisted ideas about domination,” Alexander growled ominously.

  “Such a spoil sport,” she pouted and tsked at him. “And here I thought we could have a little fun with this one.”

  “Go find someone else to harass. We’re done here.”

  “Oh, Alex. Haven’t I taught you anything?” she purred.

  “You taught me enough,” he spat out. “And some lessons I’ll never forget.”

  What are they talking about? Who is this woman to him?

  A knowing smile was plastered on Sasha’s face. I, on the other hand, felt like my head was spinning and I could barely keep up.

  “Oh, come on now!” she went on. “Don’t tell me you’re still sore over that whole thing with Will.”

  Will?

  Alex took a step closer to her. He was mere inches away from her face, jaw twitching and fists clenched tight in anger. His eyes flashed with pure loathing, and for a moment I was scared. I thought he might actually hit her.

  “Don’t push me,” he hissed. “I told you to get lost. I’m not going to say it again.”

  “Very well then. It’s your loss. Maybe next time,” she stated matter-of-factly.

  Seeming completely unruffled by Alexander’s wrath, she easily sauntered away with her hips swaying seductively in her wake.

  “What in the hell just happened here?” I demanded, alarmed after witnessing Alexander almost lose total control. He was raking his hands through his hair, appearing thoroughly rattled by the confrontation.

  “I’m sorry, Krystina. Sasha’s a sadistic bitch and I shouldn’t have let it go that far.”

  “It’s not hard to imagine that woman with whips and chains. With all that leather she was wearing, she looked like she could be the poster girl for Dominatrix R Us,” I said sarcastically.

  “Actually she’s a flipper.”

  I rolled my eyes in exasperation.

  “I don’t even know what that means!” I shouted, completely incensed over everything that had just happened. I lowered my voice to a level that could be barely heard over the loud music. The last thing that we needed was to draw any more unwanted attention. “Explain please.”

  “It means that she can play both. I told you about my first submissive. Well, Sasha was the one that filled the role.”

  “Okay, so what does that have to do with Will? I’m assuming she was referring to Will Murphy.”

  “Yes,” he said in a resigned voice. “Will used to be her Sub, at least until she got bored. Then she planned a little ménage a trois, completely without the knowledge of Will or myself.”

  My eyes grew wide as the pieces of the puzzle began to come together.

  “You and Will? Did you…um, you k
now,” I started.

  “Hell, no!” he exclaimed, sounding completely aghast. “It never went that far. Didn’t I just say that there are certain things that I don’t do?”

  “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” I apologized quickly. “I didn’t mean to imply anything.”

  “Yeah, well…William Murphy on the other hand, he’s a switch hitter. And I also happen to know that his Irish family is hardcore Catholic. His bedroom antics are not something that he wants made known. Needless to say, things have been very awkward between us ever since. Plus, he blames me for Sasha leaving him.”

  “Gotcha,” I said, having a better understanding as to why things between Alexander and Will had been so tense.

  Alexander pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his had back and forth in aggravation.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough for tonight. I’ll be right back. I’m just going to hit the restroom and then we’re leaving,” Alexander announced.

  I couldn’t agree more as I watched him walk away. The atmosphere had become strained, and I grappled with trying to absorb the completely obscure turn of events. I was beginning to question why I ever wanted to come here in the first place.

  I looked around at the people in the club. Some were dancing, mingling, and talking, while others groped and fondled. Most were scantily dressed. Whether they were in costume or normal attire, there was no modesty whatsoever amongst the crowd.

  I noticed a man seated with two women at a table that was not more than ten feet away from me. One of the women wore a masquerade mask and corset that left her breasts completely exposed, showing off nipples that were pinched tight by jeweled metal clamps. The other woman wore devil horns and sat with her legs apart. The table hid very little, and I was able to see that the man had his hand shoved up her tiny excuse for a skirt. Having noticed that I was watching them, the horned woman’s eyes locked on mine and she smiled suggestively.

  I quickly turned away and began to feel sick to my stomach.

  Why am I here? This is not who I am.

  “Well, well. This is the last place that I thought I would see you,” said a familiar male voice from behind me. I froze at the sound.

  It can’t be. No…please no.

  I turned around, praying that I was mistaking the cocky, assured voice. But I wasn’t mistaken.

  It was Trevor.

  CHAPTER 44

  I felt my insides twist and the sickening in my stomach intensified. I swallowed the bile that welled in my throat. It was all I could do to stop myself from vomiting all over the floor. My heart was racing and my breathing became irregular. I hadn’t seen or heard from Trevor since that terrible day nearly two years prior, but never did I think that I would feel this way if our paths crossed again.

  It was as if the floor had come out from under me, and I was falling into an endless pit of nothing but blackness. I could feel the panic rising to meet me, so I quickly turned my back to him in an effort to pretend that he didn’t exist.

  Deep breaths. In and out. You’re fine.

  “Oh come on, Krys. Can’t you even say hi? Or even better, how about we head upstairs for a quick fuck. You know, for old times sake.”

  You son of a bitch!

  Angry heat instantly flooded my cheeks from his audacity. I spun on my heel to face him, all of my anxiety replaced by pure and unadulterated rage.

  “YOU! You are not allowed to talk to me. Ever,” I spat out through clenched teeth. I wanted nothing more than to claw the smug look off of his face.

  “Don’t be like that,” he said in a placating way. “It’s been a long time. You look good, Krys.”

  I ignored his poor attempt at flattery and narrowed my eyes. Staring him down, I tried to appear unaffected by him and come off as arrogant as he was.

  “I can’t say the same for you. You still look like the same old filthy swine to me. It shouldn’t surprise me that you’re into a scene like this now. At least here, you get permission to abuse women,” I said. My voice threatened to waver, but I was controlled enough to laden my tone with sarcasm as I motioned to the club around us.

  “I always was into this,” he said knowingly. He eyed me up and down, as if seeing me in a whole new light. “I must say though, if I had any idea that we shared similar interests, I might have thought twice about banging Lisa.”

  Images of a college dorm room flashed before me. The long legged blond that I caught him with had been tied up to the cheap metal bedframe.

  How come I didn’t remember that before now?

  I shook my head to clear it.

  “Go away, Trevor,” I seethed.

  “You’re still mad at me. But that’s okay, I like mad. It means I’ll get more of a fight from you the next time.”

  The trembling that I had managed to keep at bay up until that point came on full force. The fog that was my memory started to shift, and details that were long suppressed hit me square in the chest. I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me, a pain so familiar that it forced me to remember what happened. My muddled memories suddenly became clear as day.

  I did fight back. I always knew that I must have, as I had bruises and broken bones to show for it. But I never fully recalled all of the details.

  I remember now.

  I had scratched, clawed, punched and kicked. But every attempt I made earned me another blow from his fist.

  And the lamp. It had been knocked off my nightstand. He used it. That’s how I received two broken ribs. It was the lamp.

  I couldn’t move after he hit me with it, the pain so unbearable that I could only lie there like dead weight while he tore into me. I winced from the recollection, the hurt as fresh as it was two years ago.

  I vaguely realized that Trevor was laughing, forcing my attention back to the present. His easy dismissal of the violence that I had endured caused my fury to mount to an astonishing level. I needed him gone before I did something drastic.

  “I said go away, Trevor. That’s the last time I’m going to say it.” My voice shook, making the discernable warning sound pathetic.

  “Or what?”

  I squared my shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. I would not allow myself to be intimidated by him again.

  “I’m here with someone. Trust me when I say that you don’t want to be here when he gets back.”

  “Maybe he could join us,” he suggested with a wink, reaching for me. When his hand made contact with my arm, I felt like I had been burned.

  “Don’t touch me – ever!” I exploded pulling away from him. “Don’t look at me! Don’t talk to me! Just get away from me!”

  Trevor jumped back, startled by my outburst. Given the chance, I would have thrown something at him – anything to inflict some sort of damage to the face that I hated above all others. However, a member of club security showed up out of nowhere and stepped in between Trevor and I.

  “Is there a problem, Miss?”

  “No problem at all,” Trevor answered for me, hands held up in mock surrender. “Just a misunderstanding.”

  “Are you sure that you’re all right?” the security guy asked me again. He was a big, beefy man with small eyes. He wore a black t-shirt with yellow lettering that boasted his title of Floor Security Manager. He didn’t look trustworthy to me, so I just nodded my response and turned away.

  “I think you’d better be on your way,” the manager suggested to Trevor.

  “Sure thing. I was just leaving. I already tapped that one anyways. She’s a terrible fuck,” I heard Trevor say.

  I glanced over my shoulder only to see Trevor glaring at me, but he backed away and disappeared in the crowd.

  I couldn’t speak. My nerves were shot, and I was trembling so bad that my knees threatened to buckle. I needed to sit down somewhere. But most of all, I needed to leave this place.

  What is taking Alexander so long?

  I contemplated just leaving without him, but found an open bar stool and sat down instead. I scanned th
e sea of people around me, but I wasn’t really seeing them. I felt like I was in a bad dream, as if my surroundings were just an illusion. And for the second time that evening, I questioned why I wanted to come here so badly. With my history, a place like this should have terrified me. Everything about the club screamed of domination – the very thing that I had shied away from for years.

  So why do I want it from Alexander? Or don’t I?

  Perhaps there was something mentally wrong with me. I had read about women that continued making the same mistakes, about the ones that jump from one abusive situation to the next. They neurotically seek relationships that mirror previous ones with the hopes that it will somehow turn out differently.

  Is my own traumatic history making me choose the wrong things?

  The loud music of the club pulsed in time to the rapid beating of my heart as I considered that possibility. I thought that I enjoyed the things that Alexander and I did together, and that my relationship with him was different than it was with Trevor. However, I now found myself questioning whether or not they were actually one in the same.

  Am I just fooling myself?

  I began to analyze every emotion that I had surrounding Alexander, not knowing if what I felt was real or if it was just something twisted in my psyche. However, I knew that I was shaken from a bizarre sequence of events that took place over the past few hours. Between my mother, the club, Sasha, and then seeing Trevor, it was near impossible to think clearly and rationally.

  But no matter what the cause was for my angst, the damage was done. The lines were now blurry. I didn’t know who I was anymore or what I wanted.

  I only knew that it was time for me to reevaluate everything in my life, including my current relationship with Alexander.

  ****

  I splashed cold water on my face and looked at my reflection in the mirror. A tired bastard stared back at me. The strain over what happened with Sasha had exhausted me, and I regretted my decision to take Krystina here.

  The look on her face when Sasha had practically assaulted her was one that I wouldn’t forget anytime soon. She appeared confused and terrified all at once, but it was the look of accusation that would haunt me for a while to come.