Claimed Darker by Em Brown
Chapter 13
DARREN
Past
Imight have scared her with what I just said, but it’s better she knows. If she decides to run, that might not be a bad thing.
She stares at me, wordless. I wish I could hold her gaze but I have to pay attention to the road.
“So,” she verbalizes, “what’s the most sadistic thing you’ve ever done?”
I pause. If I tell her the truth, she might decide it’s too much for her. However, for some reason, I don’t feel like lying to her.
“I used to have this sub,” I began. “She was a pain-slut.”
I expect her to jump all over me for my word choice, though “pain-slut” is a common term in BDSM. When she doesn’t, I continue. “She especially liked tit torture. We had this contraption that squeezed her tits flat. She also liked needle play.”
“In case I didn’t make it clear before, needle play is definitely on my list of hard limits. I’m not scared of needles or blood, but I’d rather not have to deal with either if I can avoid it.”
“Needle play isn’t my favorite.”
“What is your favorite?”
“Hard to pick just one.”
“Name a few.”
“Kinbaku, for sure, caning, orgasm denial.”
“Great,” she says sardonically.
“You’ll enjoy it all,” I assure her.
“How is orgasm denial fun?”
“I never said it was fun. I said you’d enjoy it.”
“How so?”
“Because you’ll enjoy pleasing me.”
She raises a brow, but I’ll let her experience it for herself. No amount of words is going to do the trick.
As I pull the car up to the club, I get a call from Cheryl.
“Old Dog is here,” she says. “Will need you to unlock the safe.”
“I just got here,” I let her know. I grab the remote control to the vibrating egg and slide it into my pocket as I get out of the car and hand the keys to the valet.
Right before Bridget steps into the building, I hit the power button on the controller.
“What the—” she gasps, turning swiftly to look at me.
I return a smile. Realizing it was a deliberate move, she frowns in dismay.
Holding the door for her, I say, “Ladies first.”
She narrows her eyes at me before entering. Knowing the drill, she hands over her phone and walks through the metal detector.
“Evening, Mr. Lee,” says one of the security guards, stepping aside so I don’t have to go through the metal detector.
I press the button that changes the vibration patterns. Bridget’s legs wobble, and the bouncer standing by the interior set of doors holds out a hand to steady her.
“You all right, miss?” he asks.
“Yes,” she says weakly.
I take her by the elbow and lead her to a dining table. “I need to take care of something in the office. You can sit here. Or you can talk to your buddy Felipe.”
She brightens at seeing Felipe at the bar. I increase the vibrations.
Her eyes widen. “I’m fine here. You going to be long?”
“Shouldn’t be.”
Leaving her, I meet Cheryl and Old Dog in my office. Despite his nickname, Old Dog is actually only in his early forties, but he started out as a hired hitman when he was seventeen, so it seems like a long time. Rumors circulate about how many hits he’s had in his lifetime. Some say nearly a hundred.
“Darren,” Old Dog greets me with a broad smile. “The club is looking good. Lots of pretty women here.”
“If you’re looking for company, Cheryl can make introductions.”
“I just need what Tommy left me.”
As I punch in my code to turn on the facial scan to the safe, Old Dog continues, “I heard you might be following in your father’s footsteps. He was a good man. I did two jobs for him long ago. If you ever need my services, I’ll give you the rate I would have given your father.”
“Appreciate the offer,” I reply as I take out the suitcase. “You can check the contents on the desk there.”
Old Dog sets the suitcase down and opens it to reveal a large hunk of jade.
“That’s an amazing shade of green,” Cheryl admires.
“From Myanmar,” Old Dog says.
“What are you going to do with it?”
“Haven’t decided yet.”
He closes the suitcase. Turning to me, he says, “If you need anything, don’t hesitate.”
If I decline Hao Young’s offer, I doubt I’ll need Old Dog’s services, but I thank him anyway.
Once he’s gone, I tell Cheryl that I’m going to be with Bridget the rest of the night so she knows only to bother me on urgent matters.
“Before you go, what do you want me to do with JD?” she asks. “He’s completely stoned.”
“Keep an eye on him. And have some food around. Pot makes him hungry.”
Leaving the office, I walk right into Manny.
“You talk to your cousin yet?” he inquires.
“Yeah, he wasn’t too keen on the idea.”
“Why? It couldn’t hurt to have me help him out.”
“JD’s a loner when it comes to business.”
Manny pouts. “That’s ’cause he wants all the glory for himself. He always was a selfish fuck.”
“Look, I’ll try him one more time. But he just got back from Thailand, so give it some time.”
Manny’s face darkens. “I don’t get what his problem is. I saw that he’s here tonight.”
“I told you. I’ll talk to him again. Another night.”
Manny still looks unhappy, but I want to get to Bridget, so I leave him in that state.
Bridget hasn’t moved from the table. I’ve never seen her so relieved to see me.
“Please turn it off,” she whispers.
I do as she says. Her body relaxes and she lets out a shaky breath.
“What’s the matter?” I ask. “You come?”
She gives a small nod. “It was…awful.”
“How is coming awful?”
“You try holding still and looking completely normal while orgasming!”
I laugh. Taking her by the elbow, I bring her to her feet. “Come on. I’ve got more fun stuff upstairs.”
