The Red Door (The Door Series Book 1) (24 page)

“I don’t like that you passed out. You’re tired and in the last few hours I’ve taken you three times and Alex has taken you once. We pushed you past your limits, and I don’t like your reaction to it.”

“My reaction to it? You mean me blacking out? I read somewhere that this happens sometimes. You cannot say that in any of your clubs you’ve never seen that happen. Especially The Black Door, I’m sure it happens there all the time.”

I watched Mitch’s face go from black to downright furious.

“Son of a Bitch!” Mitch turned and left the shower, slamming the bathroom door behind him.

“What the fuck?” Alex growled, leaving the shower and me unsteady on my feet. Alone. I turned off the shower and dried off. I couldn’t hear anything from the other room. I wrapped myself up in the green robe and walked out of the bathroom in time to see Alex slam the apartment door. I looked around and saw that Mitch was gone, too.

“Well, isn’t this déjà vu?” I looked over at the TV. “No. They are not going to pull this shit again.” I walked over to my dress that was now thrown in a ball on the couch. Guess they were in too big of a rush to move it without unfolding it. I pulled it on, and looking past the curtain, I could see all the toys that Alex had planned to use but never got around to. I grabbed my shoes, happy that they didn’t wet my hair in the shower, and I walked out.

I heard them as soon as I shut the door.

“Thanks, Rex.” I saw them both come out of the office and turn before they saw me. I felt my eyebrows raise, and I knew I looked pissed, because I was pissed. For being so concerned I might pass out from them fucking me, they both took off as soon as I was able to stand.

“Not here.” Mitch grabbed my hand, pulling me back into the apartment. “Ari, watch the surveillance for anything unusual. Alex, go through these disks and sort them by date. I’ll be back in a second.” Then he was out the door again.

“What the Hell is going on?”

“How are you feeling? I’m sorry I ran out, but there was no way I was going to let him leave us like that.”

“Better now.” I walked over to him and sat on his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Good. I like pleasing you, Ari. I know you were pissed and I hate that I caused it. I am not good at relationships, and ours has too many dynamics, but I want you to be happy. Can you try and be patient with me?” He kissed my forehead and pulled me down onto his chest.

“You seem to be very fluent in pleasing me; unfortunately you also have no problem being able to piss me off.” I smiled into his chest when I heard him grunt. “I’ll try to be patient, but I’m not going to take any crap, either. Where did Mitch take off too?”

“I don’t know, Angel. He said he would explain if I gave him time. We can only do what he asks, and we’ll see when he comes back.” I waited for more, but it never came. I could hear the anger under the words and knew Alex wasn’t going to be patient for long.

Mitch

I came back and saw that both Alex and Ari had done what I asked. They were too good for me, especially the way I couldn’t remember anything when she was around. Then add in the thought of Alex, and everything I should have remembered, everything I should have brought up, flew out the window. They were both watching me expectantly. I realized before Alex stormed out the apartment after me that I fucked up. I could see it now on their faces.

“First off, I’m sorry for leaving like I did. I didn’t mean to upset you,” I said looking at Ari, then over to Alex. “Either of you. Tonight, damn it, I wanted tonight to be exceptional. I wanted to be unbelievably good for you, for us. I hate that it has to end.”

“Why is it ending?”

I could hear the fear in Ari’s voice. She thought I was running out on them for good. And of course she would, between the way I acted last time and now this time.

“Not ending, my Ari, just going to have to delay a little more.” I walked over to her and touched her face. She was sitting on the chair holding the remote. I could tell she had been watching the scenes. Her eyes were a little unfocused and glossy. I wondered if she even knew how open her face was when she looked at me. It was the same when she looked at Alex. I had noticed she would let down her guard with those close to her, but when it came to us she was completely open. It almost hurt seeing that much trust. Knowing I could fuck it up at any given moment, but I also knew I would give anything to hold onto it. In my life, trust like this had to be earned, and more times than not, it was with a bullet. Looking at Ari, seeing the fear and concern there now, remembering the hope and joy she had earlier, I knew I was going to have to force myself to be honest and open and trust in both Ari and Alex.

“Why?”

I turned around to see Alex wasn’t mad. Not even a little. No, he was pissed.

Pissed.

The.

Fuck.

Off.

I was going to have to cover ground pretty fast before he exploded. I knew by the looks of him if he did I would be a bloody mess. I could take him, no problem, I was sure, but over something that was my fault I would not fight back.

“When we were in the shower earlier, I let my mind wonder to how we came to that point. Going over conversations I had the past few days. When I came to the one I had with Ari, tonight, I realized how stupid I have been.” I heard Ari cry out, but didn’t realize what was happening until I felt pain in my face and followed quickly by another. Alex.

“You motherfucker! You realized how stupid you’ve been? After we all had sex? You realized it standing naked with us in the shower? Not while I was licking your cum out of Ari or while you were riding her and I was sucking her clit and wrapping my tongue around your cock when it was gliding in and out of her. Not while she screamed your name and came so hard she passed out. I’m going to fucking kill you!” I felt a jab to my ribs and another to my face that I blocked. I pushed off and rolled over onto Alex. I grabbed one hand, but the other wrapped around my throat.

“You’ll notice I am not fighting you. Don’t put words in my mouth, Alex. What happened in the bedroom was the best sex I’ve ever had. Ever, in my life. That isn’t what I was being stupid about. Let me go and I’ll explain,” I said, but it came out in a raspy whisper. Alex squeezed his hand harder around my throat before he let go.

“You can talk, but if I don’t like what you say I’m going to finish what I started.”

“After you hear what I say you’re more than welcome to try.” I turned and walked to the bathroom and rinsed out my mouth. The water came away bloody. My eye was swollen, and the area on the left side of my mouth was busted. My skin across my cheek and down to my chin was red and would turn into a bruise. I looked at my neck and saw the red handprint beginning to form there. I walked back into the living room to see Ari with wide eyes waiting with a baggie of ice and a towel. I walked over to her and put my arms around her pulling her into my body. She felt stiff against me. She shifted and raised up my shirt until I helped take it off. I felt my skin pull and knew my ribs were bruised. I heard Ari hiss and then she stormed off back into the kitchen.

I sat down on the chair and looked over at Alex.

“Explain.”

“When you laid everything out on the table, all I kept thinking of is that it has to be someone who knows the ins and outs of this club. Someone who appeared to have upstanding morals in public but was actually corrupt to the bone. This describes all of the members of The Black Door.”

“And The Black Door? We didn’t focus there because the information we had told us they had to be members here to be a member there.”

“True, but that only happened after I took over and brought in new Masters. This is where I’ve been stupid.” I looked over toward Ari. “I didn’t lie to you today. Everything that happens in The Black Door is legal, but I wasn’t thinking outside of the club. These men, the ones who were members when it opened, have secret parties. Hell, they had them before that club was ever opened. It was the reason for opening it. They weren’t much different than the yearly parties we have with all three clubs when they started them, but that slowly changed and they quit inviting anyone except a few members.”

“What members? Are they still members?”

“No, not anymore. Only one is still a member.”

“And who is that? We can start there.”

“My dad.” Mitch looked off staring into space.

“Okay, what am I missing here? What’s wrong with these parties? How are they going to tie in with the kidnappings?”

“I don’t know much, because it was before I came here, but I had overheard a few things said to my dad in confidence, and I picked up some things here and there.”

“Like what?” Ari sweet voice and the images in my head did not go together. I didn’t want her to hear this.

“Sweetheart, this isn’t what happens in these clubs. It’s one of the reasons I want to get back to the basic things. I don’t want to change your view of me, or the club, by telling you.”

“Would it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Tell us,” she pleaded. “Trust us enough to know we wouldn’t judge you.” Ouch that hurt.

“Mitch. What’s running through that mind of yours?”

“When I took over here things were out of hand. Certain areas pushed the boundaries way too far. I thought the other Doms were sizing me up as a Dom and wanting a pissing contest. This was four years ago so I was only twenty-six then. I hadn’t moved back but came in to help. One night I found a girl in the dungeon. She was bloody, but it was dried blood. It had been there for hours. She had several small cuts on her body. Little slits, scratches that would heal, but she was covered in them. Her bottom, legs, and back were bruised. By bruised, I mean black and blue. To top it all off, she had been used in any place a guy could shove something and it was done repeatedly and not done with ease or care and done enough that you could tell by just looking her over. And if that wasn’t enough, she had both piss and cum all over her. God, I can still smell it, rancid and metallic at the same time. It was my second night as a Master here, and I was busy upstairs. I had trusted that Dad had good security and ran a tight club. Being a member of Elite, I thought that was how all BDSM clubs were ran, but by then Dad had stopped caring how it was ran. I was running around trying to stop mistake after mistake. When I found her I was so…God, it was horrible. I was angry and humiliated on her behalf, not to mention sick. I barely kept myself from puking. I closed the club, sent everyone home, and told them I would contact everyone when it would reopen. I was only a Master, but Dad had already been trying to hand everything over to me. Before I saw her, I had decided it was too much work, but after, I decided I needed to take control just to keep it from happening again. I called Calvin. He called in a favor and a doctor came up to check out this girl.

“Still to this day, I don’t know her name. She was a little thing, both young and small. I knew she was supposed to be eighteen to get in, but she had to be a fresh eighteen. At least I hope to God they didn’t neglect that rule.” I looked off in space remembering her naked used body. “She was lucky nothing was broken, only badly bruised. She stayed at my house for two days before she woke up. Calvin and the doctor were both there, too. When she woke, she was frantic. We thought it was because there were three of us and none of us small, but no, she was wondering why she was there. Told us she had to get back to her Master. We informed her of all her injuries and the state in which I found her.” I shook my head and looked at Alex.

“Do you know what she said? She said that she agreed to everything done to her. That she signed a form saying she agreed to have all that and more done to her. She said that I was a piss poor Master because I stepped into an incomplete scene. That she was supposed to be fucked by some guys after she passed out. When I asked who she said she didn’t know, it didn’t matter, whoever got there first. I told her that was the same thing as rape and her reply was once again to tell me I was a horrible Master and they were done with The Red Door. That with The Black Door open they wouldn’t have to deal with anyone’s delicate sensibilities. I’ve heard other things over the years, but I knew then that Dad had delved deeper into this life than being a sadist. I have turned a blind eye until now.”

“A masochist at that age. Interesting. The other club caters to them?”

“Yes, further on different levels. I’ve been a few times but left as soon as I could. I never wanted to be involved. It leaves me feeling dirty like I have a greasy residue on me. That is one reason I have asked Calvin to step in. He knows where the lines fall. I want to make him a partner.”

“Who is this Calvin? It’s obvious he holds your trust.” I shook my head, knowing he was trying to get at me again, but also knowing he was using this as a way to hide his hurt.

“You’re right. I do trust him. I respect him. He was my trainer at Elite, but he taught more than the fundamentals of BDSM. The first day of training I went into a room not knowing for sure what I had signed up for. The room had a black couch on one wall with a black trunk for a table sitting on a red rug and a black bed with black bedding on another wall. There was a huge mirror on the remaining wall. The only decoration was a quote in a black frame hanging on the red wall above the bed.
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom
. Viktor E. Frankl. I thought I had to deal with some old guy who thought he was the next Yoda. When Calvin walked in, I first realized he wasn’t old, he is actually my age, and then I realized he was self-assured of who he was and in the position he held. He was exactly how I had pictured myself being until I saw it on him and knew that I was nowhere near being that. I went in a cocky, arrogant nineteen-year-old with no respect for anyone. I finished my training a year later, knowing that true respect and happiness had to start within, with me.”