Chapter 9

I arrived at House Lacertae and saw the line waiting to get in. it wasn’t too bad for a Friday night. I found a place to park and remembered Leanne’s messages. I sat in my car and called her. She answered on the third ring. “Seth? Where are you?”

“I’m at House Lacertae,” I said. “I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier, things have gotten kind of crazy.”

“I heard,” she said. “Jordan called everyone and told us about the Sheriff and your sister. I didn’t know if we would be able to get together tonight or not.”

I smiled. “Not at my place,” I said. “We’ll get a hotel room. Call Jana. Find out how much a Suite at the Selador would cost and text me.”

“Okay,” she said with some hesitation, “But Seth, that place is expensive.”

I shook my head though she couldn’t see me. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it covered. When I get your text, I’ll know you’re ready to go. Hint hint.” I heard her giggle softly. “After I get finished here at the club, I’ll stop by and pick you up on the way to the hotel.”

“What’s going on at the club?” she asked.

“Something happened tonight that I need to talk with Jordan about, but she’s not home and her phone is off,” I said. “Lady Brighid knows enough about what’s going on that I should be able to ask her for advice.”

“Do you really have to talk to her tonight?” Leanne asked.

I shrugged and looked down at myself. “I’ve already gotten dressed up and everything.”

“You mean that leather I saw in your closet?”

I smiled. “Yeah that leather.”

“Do you have to wear that just to talk?”

“I told you before,” I said. “It’s a D and s club. Last time I went in dressed normally, I drew a lot more attention than I wanted.”

“Oh,” she said, sounding disappointed.

“What?” I asked softly, curious about what she was thinking.

“I wanted to know what you looked like in it,” she said.

I glanced about the inside of my car, realizing I hadn’t brought anything else to wear. “You still have some of my clothes, right?” How she ended up with some of my shirts and pants, I still didn’t know, but I knew she had them.

“Yeah, why?”

“Because tonight you’ll find out,” I said. “I better go. The sooner I’m done talking to Lady Brighid, the sooner I’ll be on my way.”

“Okay,” she said. “Don’t have too much fun.”

I chuckled softly. “Are you worried I’ll be worn out by the time we get to the hotel?”

“I don’t care if you’re worn out,” she said. “I just want to make sure we make it there.”

I nodded and said, “Okay, then I better go.”

We hung up and I locked the phone in my car. Having the phone in the club would be pointless. I found out last time I was there that I didn’t get a signal inside.

I stood at the end of the line and waited to get inside like everyone else. It wasn’t long before Harland, head of security for the club, came strolling along the line. I could see the muscles in his jaw tighten before he waved me toward the door. I felt slightly amused. Harland thought I was trouble and I did my best to prove him wrong. The only exception was when another Dom, Heisler, challenged my dominance over his sister, Cassandra. Harland and the rest of security were ready to throw us both out, but Lady Brighid stopped them and handled the challenge. I hadn’t seen Heisler since that night, not around town nor in the club. I wondered occasionally if Lady Brighid had him locked up in a “play” room at her home.

When we arrived at the door, he watched me go in. I wanted to say something, to assure him that I wasn’t going to cause any more problems, but I didn’t think anything I said would persuade him. I had to make that promise to myself and keep it.

After paying the cover fee, showing my ID, and getting a stamp to keep me from ordering alcohol, I made my way to the bar, ordered a soda, and then worked my way through the crowds to the VIP section. I knew I would find Lady Brighid there. I was mildly surprised to find Cassandra and Katrina there too. I knew they were coming here tonight but I thought they would be dancing, not sitting here with the club’s owner.

Katrina was the first one to see me. She jumped out of her chair like it stung her. I watched, bemused, as she knelt in front of me and kissed my hand. I was bemused because she almost came out of her leather bra and made no effort to correct the near-bungle. The rest of her outfit consisted of a black corset, leather panties, black stockings, and black stilettos. I realized when I saw her that my sexual frustrations were going to be taken care of. I only had to be patient.

Cassandra, Lady Brighid, and two others, a Dom I only knew as Jaime and her sub, Tony, all looked up from their drinks. Cassandra didn’t jump out of her chair as Katrina had done, but she did rise, close the distance between us, kneel, and kiss my other hand. With her, I didn’t feel the same amusement, but her provocative grace made me moan with need. Her outfit was not as revealing as Katrina’s. She wore a black latex cat-suit that covered everything other than her head, hands, and feet. The only other thing she wore was a pair of black stilettos that matched Katrina’s. The suit was skin tight and I noticed the zipper started at the top and disappeared around her crotch.

Katrina enjoyed being a sub. More than that, she needed someone to control her. She had been raised with that mentality and nothing I or any of my girls had said changed her in the slightest. Cassandra on the other hand believed, like her brother did, that she was a Dom. I had challenged her way of thinking and cheated by using Magic to make her so attracted to me she couldn’t help but comply. We had talked about our relationship a lot. She continued to believe she was a Dom but always deferred to me. It was like I was more Dom than she and she silently bowed to that. It took a lot of effort on my part to make sure she continued to think that way. The real problem was, I didn’t like the idea of being anyone’s Dom. I believed in a balance. In a way, I thought of myself as a step down from Cassandra in my way of thinking and yet a step above Katrina. I was trying to pull Cassandra down to my level while simultaneously pulling Katrina up. While the dispute between me and Cassandra had its drawbacks and was a source of unending frustration, the bright and smoldering smiles from Katrina helped ease those frustrations.

After making their offerings, both women rose to their feet. We exchanged kisses and turned to the others.

Lady Brighid watched almost impassively, as if nothing she saw affected her. Jaime smiled and nodded, as if offering both her encouragement and approval.

“Resume your seats,” I said to my girls. “I need to talk to Lady Brighid.”

Katrina pouted slightly and Cassandra raised an eyebrow in curiosity. I nodded at their chairs again. “Go, sit.”

They both sat down. I knew they would ask questions later, but for now, I had too much on my mind. I looked at Lady Brighid. “If the Lady of the House would permit, I have something I hope to discuss with you in private.”

She blinked at my sudden formality. Jaime’s eyebrows rose and she looked at Lady Brighid. Tony watched with the same curiosity.

I held out my hand to Lady Brighid and she took it. I helped her to her feet and was treated to the outfit she wore. Her red hair was parted on the side and smooth to her head in front, but in back various locks were jet black, as if only that portion had been dyed. It was possible they were extensions, but I wasn’t going to ask. The length of her hair fell in loose curls down her back and a black hair band or something similar held her hair back. Her dress was made entirely of black latex. Her upper arms, shoulders, breasts, abs, hips and thighs were all encased in the tight material with loose trumpeted sleeves falling halfway down between her elbows and hands, and a loose bit of length around the skirt flapping around her calves. The tops of her breasts, upper chest, and neck all looked powdery soft and her makeup was almost normal compared to everyone else’s. Lady Brighid helped along her short stature with slightly elevated, black spiked heels with straps up to her ankles. To be honest, except for the shimmer of the material of her dress, she looked almost normally dressed - other than the effect of everything on her making her look so hot.

I did my best not to stare and led her toward the stairs in the back of the club that led up to several “play” rooms. Lady Brighid didn’t say a word. She simply walked with me with her hand lighted upon my arm like we were strolling off on a date.

At the top of the stairs, I nodded at the doors. “I’ll need to rent a room.”

She looked up at me. Her red hair looked almost black in the dim light. “There are no rooms available.”

My shoulders slumped. “Then I led you up here for nothing.”

She smiled. “No, not nothing. I’m sure the others are trying to figure out what we’re doing up here other than talking.”

I shook my head. “That was not my intent.”

She patted my cheek. “I know. You’re too much of a boy scout for my taste.”

I arched my eyebrow at that. “By whose definition?”

She smiled and turned to stroll further along the hall. “That is for me to know and you to figure out.”

I followed her, not sure where she was going. She stopped in front of a door at the end of the long, curved hallway. I hadn’t been this deep into the upper level before. We passed about a dozen doors, presumably each leading to an individual play room. The door at the end of the hall was different though. Unlike the “used” appearance of the other doors, this one looked new and shiny.

Lady Brighid opened a small panel in the wall next to the door, exposing an electronic keypad. She punched in a long code. I did my best to ignore the code. I didn’t want her to think I would attempt to invade this special location.

I heard locks disengage and she pushed the door open. The room was dimly lit, like the hall, but I could tell instantly that this was the heart of the club. The wall to my immediate right was nothing but a long series of windows looking down on the dance floor. You could see all the way over to the DJ booth, but not the VIP section. The rest of the walls were lined with consoles, TV screens, and displays. Several security guards looked up from their terminals to see who entered and turned back to work when they saw Lady Brighid. This room, unlike the play rooms, did not thrum with the muffled intensity of the music from the club. The hum of computers and air conditioning were the primary sounds with key taps and mouse clicks playing along. I didn’t know what the room was for, but it held more advanced systems than I had ever seen before.

“Should I be in here?” I asked and immediately felt like an idiot for asking. Lady Brighid looked up and I shook my head. “Never mind.”

She smiled and pointed at another door. “We can talk in my office.”

I followed her inside. Unlike the room we were just in, which looked like a computer nerd’s wet dream, her office was warm, cozy, and lacked anything more sophisticated than an electric lamp.

She waved at a chair and I sat down. Instead of sitting behind her desk, she sat on the couch across the office. “Now, what did you need to talk about?”

I looked around and could almost hear the Sheriff asking my question. “Is this office secure?”