Chapter 10

Luckily, it began to rain while Aiden drove home and, by the time he parked at his apartment, the car was no longer coated in cum, sweat, saliva, and tears. Tired and aggravated, he stumbled up the steps, grumbling under his breath over Mrs. Davis’ betrayal. After stepping inside, he sighed as he scratched his head. What was up with Shayla and her friend? Both were beautiful and way out of his league. Yet, they had reacted to him, even though he wasn’t wearing the ring. Nor had he contemplated using it on them.

As much as it wanted him to try.

He snorted. Well, all he’d done was approach them. Yeh, they had taken his number, but really ... He shook his head. If they called him when they sobered was a whole different matter. With a sigh, he gulped down a glass of water.

Were others affected by the ring if he didn’t wear it? Would his now enhanced sensitivity affect somebody other than Mrs. Davis? Nah, they wouldn’t call. Why would they? They probably had dozens of guys chasing them all day, every day. Then again ... Perhaps the ring had changed him in the eyes of others?

After taking a shower, he settled onto the couch to drink another large glass of water while reflecting on Mrs. Davis. There was no doubt; she had betrayed him. Flat out lied to him. Even after he had provided specific guidance. He would decide if and when to meet her friend. Her beautiful, ebon friend.

After thumping the empty glass on the table beside him, he ran his fingers through his damp hair and leaned back to stare at the ceiling. The worst part was she had agreed to his conditions. But then ... What had Mrs. Davis, his alleged ... Pet? Slut? Slave? Whatever she wanted to be. What had she gone and done? Mrs. Davis ensured this strange woman could watch them, which was bad enough.

But worse; Mrs. Davis had not told him anything about it.

If not for the ring connection, he would never have suspected.

As he clawed at his skull, Aiden clenched his jaw; he wasn’t just angry. No ... With a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumped as he rolled his head to stare out across the balcony at the stars. No, his irritation was matched by disappointment and a deep sadness. At himself as well. Yes, she had failed him. But in some ways, he had failed her. If he was actually her master, he should have known better. To know his ... Submissive? Maybe that was the best term. No matter, knowing her was his responsibility. A slight flare of warmth surged from the ring.

But, with his hands pressing firmly on his thighs as he rolled back to peer at the open bedroom door, he nodded. She must understand there would always be consequences. Mrs. Davis had risked everything because she hadn’t recognized that. And that was his failing. His fingers clawed at his legs. If only he’d figured out what Mrs. Davis had done sooner, he would have shoved her into her truck instead of slapping her onto his car.

His teeth clenched tight, Aiden nodded, then reached for the empty glass before lurching up and heading to the kitchen sink. If Mrs. Davis needed him so much, the correct punishment was not the brutal spanking ... Which she ended up enjoying. Another failing on his part. He should have already sensed that desire, no matter how deeply hidden, within her. Once more, the ring warmed.

“Yeh, I should have,” he muttered towards the bedroom where it lay in its box. “I should have just walked away.” With a tight grin, he added. “Neither of us are perfect.”

Burrowing through his own emotions, tendrils of fear from Mrs. Davis scrambled for purchase in his swirling mind. And heart. Okay, she had made a mistake, but now what? Did she want to, what, make amends? Still be punished?

While leaning against the kitchen counter, Aiden sucked on his lips. Some “master” he was. How the heck was he supposed to control this new relationship? A yelp fled him as his eyes went to his hand when the nonexistent ring singed his finger.

What did it want him to do? Punish her again? How? The confused mélange of emotions pulsing from his distant lover kept his heart racing. What did he even want from her? He hadn’t sought this—this relationship. At last, with a loud yawn, he stood to stretch, grumbling under his breath. Despite the late hour, his phone beeped, and he snatched it up to stare at the words now bright on its screen.

I am sorry, master.

After a lengthy sigh, Aiden silenced and tossed his phone on the couch before heading to bed. Mrs. Davis was sorry. Yeh, so what? He knew that already. After lying in bed, his eyes narrowed as he clenched his jaw. She was sorry he’d caught her.

The ring singed him once more, but he just gritted his teeth and let it. He deserved the pain. He had failed her. And himself. And now he had to find a way forward, so it would never happen again.

While swaying to shift her bruised and bright red buttocks around, Gina gazed in the mirror at the wide crimson handprints. She had stared at the empty screen for a while, but Aiden never answered. Of course, she knew that he wouldn’t reply before she had sent her message. His feelings were ... Gina trembled at the strength of his emotions. Unlike on the lake, they weren’t warm towards her—at all.

At least a tiny bit of luck had been with her. Gina had managed to get into the bathroom without Paul or Dan having seen her or smelled her. After permitting a tight grin to flash across her tear-streaked face, she gazed at the red finger marks on her ass, recalling the powerful aroma of Aiden’s cum and sweat. There would have been no way to explain that smell.

With a wince, Gina slipped between her cool sheets and lay on her side, gazing at the phone again, but ... He had already drifted to sleep. As she let out a deep exhale, she nodded to herself. What did she expect? Her master had not responded. Her furious, disappointed and sad master had not replied. She had royally fucked up. Again.

Out of nowhere, Gina, fluttering along the edge of sanity, released a nervous giggle. “I’ve been royally fucked, that’s for sure,” she muttered, her pussy and rectum both twitching from her master’s rough use.

Heat flared across her butt as she waited for the painkillers to take effect. It was going to be an extremely lengthy and painful weekend. And she deserved every throbbing second of it—heat crept up deep inside her as she gnawed her lips.

With a final deep suck on her tattered lips, she lay her phone down and fell asleep. Or thought she did.

Naked and erect, Aiden leaned over, whispering how he owned her.

While gripping herself tight, she moaned.

And then he turned his back and walked into the darkness.

The ring blackened and cooled.

Gina sobbed, clutching herself tight.

Once he finished a long run, Aiden leaped into the pool to do laps before heading up to make breakfast. As he chewed, Aiden kept glancing at his phone. Last night after he had fallen asleep, and again early in the morning, a shy woman’s voice had left messages. Both were from the same unknown number, and both times she had asked for him to call her back as soon as he could. When he listened once more, the way the polite, nervous woman dragged out the word “please” had him raising his eyebrows.

With a sigh, he washed his plates and lifted his phone. After one more long exhale, Aiden nodded and his fingers tapped on the screen. The phone rang several times before the other end picked up. For a while, there was nothing but silence before the same low voice spoke.

“Hello?”

“Hi,” Aiden responded. “I got a call from this number last night and again this morning. Do I know you?”

“Are you the ... The, uh, um, guy from Luxo? Uh, in the parking lot?”

“Maybe.” Aiden held his breath; they had actually called. When the ring’s heat surged through him, his heart raced as his fingers trembled around the blurring screen.

After a long pause, the quiet voice spoke once more. “If you are, could ... I mean, we ... Uh, you said you could...”

“Are you that smoking hot, tall redhead?” As he held in a groan, the ring was searing him from its box, Aiden heard the woman swallow several times.

It sounded like her hair slid across the phone when she said. “I was riding with Shayla.”

“Ah.” A taut grin slipped across Aiden’s lips after nodding to his open bedroom door; mollified, the ring had relented. As its heat slithered around him rather than piercing him, he swallowed and added. “Then, yes. I’m that guy.”

Aiden could feel her nervousness peaking.

“We...,” she continued in a now very shaky voice. “I’d ... Uh, like to—”

“Sure. When and where?” Aiden just cut in.

The ring was right. Of course it was. If this turned out the way he thought it might, Mrs. Davis would sense every second of his encounter with the shy redhead. And that would teach her a lesson. Her punishment would be his pleasure.

The ring hummed as its heat swirled around Aiden.

And ... Aiden gulped as he gripped the phone tighter. And he could test the ring’s impact on somebody else. Muffled voices were talking on the other end.

At last, the redhead spoke again. “Tonight. We are ... Uh, we will be working at The Diamond Club. Say, nine o’clock?”

“Wait. You’re an exotic dancer?”

“Yes.” Her voice was so low, Aiden had trouble hearing her reply.

“Will you be dancing for me?”

From the sound of her hair sweeping back and forth over the phone, she apparently nodded before realizing she had to say something. “Yes.” The sound of her rapid breath pulsing across her phone sent shivers along Aiden’s spine.

“I’d like that.” The ring hummed louder and Aiden swallowed before shifting to free the shorts tenting before him.

“So, you’ll be there?” Her voice a little more confident. Could she sense the smile growing on his face?

“Absolutely. See you at nine. All of you.” Aiden hung up.

Later that day, after finishing a paper for philosophy class and wolfing down a small dinner, Aiden dressed. After slipping into his black silken jacket, his heart hammered as he looked at the small wooden box he had found for the ring. Fingers trembling, he opened the lid and gazed down at the circle of gold. Normal in every way, the ring just gave the impression of being heavier, denser. Oh, but the invisible, and no less powerful, pulsations it sent out to wash over him? No, that wasn’t normal at all.

Should he take it? After dropping it into his palm, the ring’s weight pressed into his flesh, the circle of cool metal heating his hand. Aiden gulped and then sighed before shaking his head. It was halfway into his pocket before he sensed the energy shift. With a long exhale, he pulled it out and placed it back into the box.

He should leave it. It wanted to test him, now. Once again, Aiden shook his head, trying to clear the whirling not-quite-voices singing in his mind. Their words just below his ability to understand; his heart pounded as he closed the box, slapped off the lights and walked from the apartment.

Aiden climbed into his car; the ring still sung ... His eyes went wide in the mirror when a pulse surged through him, knocking the wind from him as he clenched the steering wheel. That was new. While air hissed through his clenched teeth, Aiden endured the not-quite-pain of the ring’s power. As he stared at his reflection, his heart stuttered then raced once more; he hadn’t felt so strange since his first encounter with the ring.

Except he wasn’t wearing it. As the pulse dissipated, Aiden, unclenching his aching fingers, swallowed and looked up at his dark apartment. Oh, the ring was most definitely testing him. All the way to The Diamond Club, his nerves jangled, his eyes seemed sharper, his ears heard—everything. And, as he drove along the darkened streets, having rolled down the windows, he could also smell—everything.

As his senses still recalibrated, after arriving early and paying a hefty cover charge to a young brunette in a tight red minidress, he strode into the club. As the aroma of sweat, beer, and bar food slipped into his nostrils, Aiden was ... In “enhanced mode.” The aura or energy-thing within him sent tingles over his skin. And, despite the interior only being lit from the shiny stage under bright flashing multi-colored lights and dim backlighting, Aiden could see every detail.

The smoky room was large, centered on the stage, and a long bar lined the far wall. The room was furnished with numerous tables and chairs, all matching the décor of chrome and red. Every stain on the carpet and wet smear on the tabletops glinted as Aiden swept the room. Every heartbeat of the scattered and bored looking audience members echoed in his skull as he struggled to focus.

As the music sped, Aiden’s chest tightened. Oh, he had focused alright. Two of the three dancers on the shiny, underlit stage ... The girls from the parking lot. Naked. Both Shayla and the “shy” redhead, smiles plastered on their faces and bodies glistening with sweat, moved with a feline grace. They whirled around silver poles in time to the thumping dance music. The ring’s song stuttered then synchronized with his pulse.

While they spun or grabbed their tips from the guys huddled along the edge of the stage, neither noticed him. And, slipping into a seat at a small table towards the back of the room and ordering an overpriced drink from a pretty topless waitress, he leaned back to watch the show.

Each swirling, tip-toed elegant movement ended with a sensuous grinding of their hips as their chests jiggled under the lights. As they danced, the music intensified, and the audience crouched ever closer, arms reaching up but, under the glare of a muscular well-dressed man hovering nearby, never quite touching. Aiden smiled as he sipped his drink in the darkness; the men along the stage directed more slurred comments and more money at the trio.

The ring’s energy pulsed when he caught the dark eyes of the third dancer, staring in his direction. The Latin beauty’s smaller breasts wobbled as her mahogany long-limbed frame spun effortlessly around the nearest chrome pole. Long, wavy hair, gleaming in the light, whirled behind her in a great wave of deep inky blackness. Mrs. Davis’ eyes flashed before him. Hungry. Aiden’s heart hammered.

Miles away, the ring throbbed. Aiden throbbed. Though he swallowed and tried to pull his eyes from her, the ring’s song intensified; he, and it, wanted this dancer as well. Her eyelashes fluttered in his direction and she stumbled briefly as she landed before leaning forward, searching for him in the darkness. He wasn’t wearing the ring. And he hadn’t said a word. There was no way for her to see him under the bright stage lighting. But she knew he was there; beneath her swirling hair, her eyes searched. While struggling to keep time with the melody, her eyes gleamed as a tremor sliced through her.

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Aiden and The Ring

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