Love's Hot

by Karen Deen

  The guy we spoke to last night at the club on the other side of town said this was the new club that everyone was raving about. It’s one where there are fewer rules, and the sex is more hardcore. He’d been one night and said he was jerking himself off all night just watching the shows. He’s a voyeur like we’re portraying ourselves to be.

  So here we are, standing at the heavy red timber door, knocking and waiting for it to be opened. The security that greets us at the door is a guy dressed in all black but just normal street clothes so he doesn’t stand out. After asking us a few questions and waiting for our answers, we’re then let through the next heavy door. Now things are getting real. We’re told the rules and have our phones taken, Jessie’s coat, and then we’re both given a pat down. It pisses me off, but I just grit my teeth and go with it. Mind you, the guy is useless at a search as my knife is still strapped on my ankle and ready should I need it at any time. He’s also more interested in just patting down Jessie in the inappropriate areas than doing it properly. Straight away I can tell we’re in a club that’s just a dirty street version of the clubs we’ve visited before now. It’s using the name of a sex club, but really, I think it’s just a backstreet place of abusing women. My skin is crawling already, and we haven’t even gone inside.

  Now the acting starts as I take my hot “girlfriend” into a club for a little fun.

  “Come on, AJ, let’s get in there and watch them punishing people so I can make you all hot and wet, all ready for me. I love how the punishment makes you so horny,” I say it loud enough so the staff can hear me but in a low enough voice they think I’m trying to be sexy.

  “Oh yes,” Jessie moans at me.

  “If you want to see some real punishment happening, go to the far back room. That’s where the real action is. Sounds like you both are really going to be into that.” Bingo, now we’re getting somewhere. The big dumb security guy starts giving us information. Strange that he would share that information straight away with new people into the club. They really have no idea what they’re doing here or how to disguise their illegal activities. Security is near non-existent. It’s like they think they’re above the law. Hence why my Sarge believes there’s a policeperson on their books tipping them off all the time. Saving them from getting caught.

  “Thanks, man, my lady here gets all wet watching the women being flogged. I love watching her trying not to cum just from watching.” The guy just smiles at me and slaps me on the back.

  “Well, she’s going to love that room. It’s where they bring in the special women. There’s so much screaming and crying. Until they finally submit, or they pass out from the pain. Either way, it’s fucking hot to watch them get so scared. Makes me hard as nails, if you know what I mean. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, we get them to use how we like at the end of the night before they get shipped out to their holding house. Gets rid of my problem in my pants from watching all night and not being able to participate.”

  I feel Jessie stiffening under my fingers. I’m sure I’m leaving bruises on her arms where they’re digging into her. I want to grab this guy by the throat and slice it right open, watching the life drip out of him. I try to push past my anger to answer him with the glee I’m supposed to get from hearing such things.

  “Fuck, can’t wait to see it. Can you show us where to go? I want to go straight there,” I growl which he takes as me being turned on instead of the anger that I’m trying to control. Tonight’s going to test every part of my training not to blow this case before we get the intel so we can take them down.

  “It’s a little early for the back room to open. You’ll see it when it’s time. The red lights on the doorway will light up and then they’re ready. You’ll see people move in there so just follow them. In the meantime, grab a drink and enjoy the floor show as a warm-up, or any of the viewing rooms.” Just as he’s finishing, another couple comes through the door and he’s moving on to go through the same routine with them.

  We move across to the bar and take a table in a dark corner of the room. I get two drinks and we already decided that Jessie is drinking tonight. I need to be fully alert and bringing my A-game. With the way the table is, there are some plants close by and Jessie already motioned with her eyes that her drink will be gradually disappearing into the plant. I’m glad that she’ll be alert, to help keep her safe, plus we need to work together as much as possible. I have a feeling that tonight is going to help with a major breakthrough. Something’s telling me we’re getting close.

  Watching the couple on stage, the woman is bent over a bench and strapped down, while her partner is flogging her hard. She’s screaming out, counting the number of times she’s hit. He’s totally getting off on the pain he’s inflicting. You can see by the mound in his pants that he loves it. You can see her pussy and it’s glistening, she seems to be enjoying it too.

  Jessie leans over to whisper in my ear, making it look like we’re getting cozy.

  “I struggle to watch this kind of punishment. I’m not sure I’m going to cope with whatever the hell this other room is. Fuck, Kane, what the hell is going on here?” Feeling the way her breath is fast on my ear, I know what she means. My apprehension of what we’re going to find is making me feel like crap.

  I then lean into her neck to look like I’m returning the favor.

  “Just remember to hold it together. We can’t jump the gun. We need a warrant and way more backup than just the two of us. No matter what, you need to walk away tonight. No matter what we see or how much someone is hurting. Got it?”

  She doesn’t speak but the anger in her eyes tells me she’s struggling just as much as I am.

  How do you walk away from someone who needs saving? You just have to hope that by walking away you can then save them all.

  The hardest part of being an undercover cop.

  Walking away.

  25

  Kane

  WE BOTH SIT FULL of nervous energy trying to take in as much intel as we can. It’s getting close to the time the back room should be opening and I can tell Jessie is getting more apprehensive. Leaning close to me, she whispers she needs to go to the bathroom.

  “I’m coming with you.” She looks at me weirdly. “Well, not in the actual toilet but I’ll wait outside. I’m not letting you out of my sight for long.” She nods and we head in the direction of the sign pointing up a dark hallway.

  Surprisingly, there are a lot of men that seem to be wandering around the club on their own. This is a little different from most of the other clubs. They would come in and hook up with a woman or another man fairly quickly, and then either start making out in the main room or head off into one of the private rooms. Here, there seem to be a lot of men just watching the shows and going in and out of the private rooms on their own and then returning by themselves. Things are different. I want to investigate but I can’t leave Jessie on her own. Leaning on the wall outside the toilets, a couple of guys are heading towards the men’s toilet farther down the dark corridor. I figure it’s worth a try to see what I can find out.

  “Hey, guys.”

  “Hey,” they say giving me the chin lift to acknowledge some sort of brotherhood which makes my skin crawl.

  “Good night here tonight but I brought my girl with me. I think I might come back tomorrow on my own. So I can explore on my own if you know what I mean?” I try to be as laid back as I can considering how ramped I am on anger.

  “Yeah, man, ditch the missus. This club is more for the man’s pleasure. You can take whatever you want, and the bitches can never say no. Love the rooms full of hookers, either tied down or in shackles. Pussy waiting and ready for you to do whatever you want. They’re gagged so you don’t have to listen to the screaming, just get to see the fear in their eyes. Biggest rush.” He looks so proud of himself. I want to grab both of them and put their heads through the wall. Then cut off their cocks and make them eat them while they scream in pain. I’m so glad Jessie didn’t hear this.

  I ackno
wledge them with a thanks as Jessie walks out and the guy who had been talking slaps me on the back and winks before walking away. There’s definitely a culture here of not caring about whether they’re breaking the law. They’ll talk to anyone about what’s going on. This is so different to a traditional BDSM club. Totally different. I can’t even talk I’m so disgusted. I need to know how they’re getting these women and how they get them in here each night and strapped down. Are they drugged or is there more to it?

  There is so much we still need to find out.

  Jessie approached wearing a strange look.

  “We need to talk,” I tell her. I take her by the arm and drag her farther down the hallway.

  “I know, I heard some things in the bathroom too,” she whispers.

  We get to the very end of the corridor and I push her against the wall and lift one of her legs up around my waist so from behind it looks like I’m fucking her. She puts her hands in my hair and drags my head down so she can whisper into my ear.

  “Apparently the back room is not the only bad thing here. There are secret rooms upstairs you can go and do whatever you like to the women in there. For as long as you like. There are torture apparatuses, acid, hot fire pokers, all sorts of things to bring harm that leave permanent marks. The men get off on seeing how many of them can mark her. They go up in groups and gang bang her. I couldn’t help it, I vomited in the toilet.” She sags against my body.

  “You did good, sweetheart. Let’s see this back room and get the fuck out of here tonight. We’ll tell Sarge and get this place shut down tomorrow night. It can’t go on. These girls need rescuing. Do you still think you can get through this?” I pull back from whispering in her ear. She nods at me. I pretend to finish her off. She moans, then I make it look like I’m doing up my pants. We’re playing the part well without really touching each other.

  Making our way back to the main room, I have my arm around Jessie’s waist. I tell myself it’s to help her feel secure, yet I know it’s also to help keep me grounded. I feel so high on anger that I’m channeling my inner strength to remain calm. You have to keep your wits about you in these intense situations.

  The light is on to indicate the back room is open for viewing. How disgusting and degrading. It’s obvious the clientele here are the bottom feeders of society. They’re not in this lifestyle for pleasure, they’re here because they want to see inhumane acts that make them feel powerful. In reality, they are the weakest of the weak. They use horrendous acts to get women in the way they want them. That’s not being powerful. It’s being unspeakably heinous. It’s unforgivable and they will pay for this, every single one of them. I will make sure of it.

  My gut sinks as we walk into the room and the heavy door is closed behind us to mute out the screaming from the main room. I feel a shiver run through Jessie’s body as she takes in the sights in front of us. I’m strong in my job but this makes me want to vomit on the spot.

  Before us are four different benches and apparatuses with women strapped to them. Thrashing and screaming to be let go. To stop what is happening to them. Pleading for people to save them from captivity. I have to pull Jessie back into my arms and hold her as I feel her silent sobs wracking her body because she can’t show them.

  I lean down and whisper in her ear. “Hold it in, you can do this. We’ll have them out of here tomorrow night. They need you to hold it together.” She takes in a really deep breath and slowly lets it out. Nodding to let me know she’s in control. “We need to start looking like this is what we enjoy. I need you to start squirming like I’m touching you and the vision in front of you is getting you off. You can do this. Be my AJ and help these women. We’re all they have, we can’t let them down.” She squeezes my hand that is on her stomach to let me know she acknowledges what I’m saying.

  We start to perform like actors, the whole time I’m taking in all the faces of the people in the room and the men performing such despicable acts. Looking up from Jessie’s neck, I spot one of the women on the bench has totally given in. Her body is just limp, no fight left. Looking closer, I see her face which looks sunken and a shell. Her hair has been changed but I know it’s her. That is Sheree Woodley, my missing date case. The one who has been calling to me in spirit to save her. My sixth sense knew all along she was still alive. I just hope she can hang on one more night. I want to be able to let her know I’m coming for her, but she is no longer with us and I can’t blow our cover.

  Nibbling on Jessie’s neck, well, looking like I am anyway, I need desperately to get out of here.

  “That’s it, Alison Jane, let it all go so I can take you home and fuck you,” I say loud enough for people around us to hear. A few of the guys give me the smirk like they’re enjoying watching my girlfriend get off on this. Jessie gets the message of our signal and makes her big finale moan. We then pull it together and make for the exit to get out of the club as soon as we can. Collecting her coat and our phones, we are out and hustling down the street.

  I can’t do this. I pull her into an alleyway and throw my guts up. I’ve seen a lot of things in my career and that will rate one of the hardest things I’ve done, to walk away from that club and leave those women there. Jesse is rubbing my back as I pull myself together.

  “Sorry, just couldn’t hold it in any longer,” I mumble, leaning on the building.

  “That’s the most fucked-up thing I’ve seen,” she says to me in a quiet voice that’s full of hurt.

  “I second that. We need to report in, then I need a really stiff drink. How about you?” I grab her hand and start off towards my apartment.

  “I’ll need more than one drink to put me to sleep tonight.,” Jessie says to me as we both descend into silence on the fast-paced walk back to the apartment.

  ***

  After a few hours of debriefing with Sarge, and Jessie calling Adam to make sure he knew she was okay, we are finally settling in for the night on the couch. I spoke to Adam as well while Jessie was getting changed in the bathroom into some old clothes she has here just in case. I wanted him to know exactly how bad it was tonight and what’s going to go down tomorrow. She’s going to need him more than ever as we walk away from this case.

  Once she’s out of the bathroom, we chat for a while trying to find things to talk about that aren’t related to what we saw tonight. It was difficult but we got through it. I now know that Jessie is one of three girls in her family, her favorite color is purple, and she loves Mexican food but hates avocado. You can work with people all day, every day, and know nothing about them.

  It’s now three am and Jessie is fast asleep on my bed. I’ve taken the couch because I know I won’t sleep much anyway. I was hoping that getting drunk would help but it has only made me think more of Lilly. My mind is heading off on stupid tangents worrying about her. If I can’t be there, who is going to protect her? Who will make sure she never ends up in a club like tonight? I’m reminded of how much I miss her; how much I miss hearing her voice and cheeky comments. Most of all, I miss her touch. The one that makes me feel on top of the world.

  My phone is in my hand, my fingers hovering over the buttons and have been for twenty minutes. This is the hardest part of being undercover. You’re on your own.

  Fuck it!

  The tone breaks the silence in my ear.

  “Hello…Hello… who is this?” Lilly’s sleepy voice warms my soul.

  She’s safe. My heart sighs knowing that.

  “Is anyone there? You better talk or I’m hanging up on you!”

  I can’t help myself, a small growl escapes at her sassy voice that’s coming through the phone. I need her so much tonight. Just to hold and calm me. That peace she brings me.

  “Kane, is that you? Kane, are you okay?” I can’t do this to her. I hang up. I wanted to talk but it will only open up the hurt all over again for her. She’ll worry where I am. I place my phone on my heart just knowing she was there. So close I feel like I can reach out and touch her. By now the alcohol is
taking affect and sleep is finally coming. Either that or just the sound of her voice is enough to relax me enough to let it take over my body.

  I drift off dreaming of her. My Red, naked against the window in those fucking heels. A vision I will never forget. God, how the hell can I live without her in my life? Tonight, I’m not, though. I’m living with her in my dream.

  Lilly

  My phone ringing has me startling and reaching, trying to find it in the dark with my eyes closed. I haven’t slept properly for weeks so I wasn’t really in a deep sleep.

  “Hello… Hello… who is this?”

  No one’s talking. I pull the phone from my ear to look at the number. It says no caller ID. I hate that.

  Putting it back to my ear, I can hear faint breathing on the other end. It better not be one of these fucking prank calls. I’m not in the mood.

  “Is anyone there? You better talk or I’m hanging up on you!” I’m making sure they know I’m not putting up with any crap.

  Then I hear it. A low quiet growl. I know that voice. That’s my wolf. Damn, I’m now sitting bolt upright in my bed.

  “Kane, is that you? Kane, are you okay?” I know it’s him, I can sense it.

  As soon as I say his name, he hangs up.

  Banging my fists on the bed, I scream out my frustration. I can’t even call him back because I don’t have a number. I’ve called his phone so many times since that day, but it just goes to his message and now it tells me his inbox is full. Now this. I know it was him. He needs me. That’s why he called. I’ve questioned Xavier within an inch of his life to tell me where he is, but he tells me he doesn’t know and all he’ll say is that he’s okay and not to worry.