Claimed Darker by Em Brown

Chapter 20

DARREN

Past

To my surprise, Bridget doesn’t rule out the possibility of my using the zapper again, but she says the circumstances would have to be right, and there would have to be a big upside. That’s fine with me. I have a lot of other toys in my arsenal. Plus, I want to resume her ass training, which we started while in Phuket.

She said she should be all caught up with class and work by the following weekend. I don’t want to wait that long to see her again, so I suggest she work at my place.

“Yeah, I don’t see myself getting a lot done at your place,” she replies as I pull up in front of her apartment.

I know she’s not playing hard to get, so she must have more resolve than most women.

“All right,” I say. “Just know that the longer you wait, the more stuff I’m going to come up with for you.”

“That’s coercion,” she accuses.

Which is commonplace in my world. “Life’s a bitch,” I reply.

She narrows her eyes at me. I don’t know if she’s going to let me get away with it or not. I feel myself about to relent. It’s an unusual feeling.

“If I’m caught up early,” she says, “and if I feel like coming over before the weekend, I’ll let you know.”

I smile. “You’re going to feel like it. Don’t even pretend you won’t.”

I leave her alone for the next several days, during which an old friend of my father’s stops by the club to try and talk me into accepting Hao Young’s opportunity again.

“They owe your father,” Tommy explains, “and they’d like to discharge the debt to you.”

“I know,” I reply as we sit on my private balcony.

“It’s a huge role they are offering you.”

“And I’m inclined to take it.”

“What’s stopping you? Your mom?”

Actually, it’s not. I’ve incurred my mother’s wrath several times in my lifetime. But Bridget poses a potential complication.

“I told Hao Young to check with me in a few months. That will give Cheryl some lead time to take over The Lotus completely from me. I’ve got a few outstanding offers that I might rethink before taking over my dad’s old spot.”

A few months also buys me time to figure out what I’m going to do about Bridget. Maybe my feelings will have faded for her by then. That would work out well. If not, I’d have to figure out how to ensure the different parts of my life stay separated. I know triad members whose spouses or significant others don’t have an inkling of what their other halves are up to. But I’d have to be on my toes with Bridget, and I don’t need that stress.

On Tuesday I get a text from Bridget:

Hi.

My response:

You caught up?

Hers:

Getting there.

I know I probably shouldn’t distract her, but she texted me first.

You want to try frog or hogtie next?

She doesn’t answer right away but eventually writes back:

Shouldn’t have texted you.

The text includes an emoji of a face with its tongue out. I chuckle and reply:

Good answer. We’ll do both.

Her next text:

Going back to my stats problem set. Much less aggravating.

I warn her:

Be careful. I get brutal with brats.

She texts:

Am I not allowed to speak my mind? You want someone who sucks up to you all the time instead?

My response:

I don’t mind a good sucking.

She sends me a rolling-eyes emoji.

I add:

Which you will do a lot of now that your lip’s healed.

She asks:

Why am I with you?

I ask:

Why are you?

I imagine her glaring into the phone. Deciding I’ve messed with her enough, I text:

Don’t you have stats homework to do?

She ends the conversation with:

Yes. Good night.

The problem with getting Bridget worked up is that it works me up, too. I can either jack off in the privacy of my residence or I can go down and see who’s playing at the club. I choose the latter.

Down at the club, I stand and watch a dominatrix apply a CBT cage to her sub’s cock. In the area of the tables and chairs, a slender redhead whom I’ve seen around before sits by herself. Usually she’s with a Dom named Jackson, but tonight she seems alone. She smiles at me. I nod in acknowledgment and return to watching the dominatrix rub lube over her strap-on dildo. She penetrates her submissive. I can see his hardening cock bent inside the cage.

Feeling eyes on me, I look over to the redhead to find her still smiling at me. I walk over and sit at her table.

“You looking to play?” she asks.

“You’re single tonight?” I ask back.

“Yeah. You might have seen me with a guy named Jackson, but we agreed to open up our options.”

Normally I’d accept an invitation like this one, but normally there’s no Bridget Moore. I’m not a huge commitment guy, but, unlike JD, I don’t sleep with multiple women at a time unless it’s explicitly consensual.

“I can find a partner for you,” I tell her.

“Are you an available partner?”

“I’m just here to watch.”

“That’s not as much fun.”

“You’re right. But I’m still just here to watch.”

“Too bad,” she pouts.

To my surprise, I’m not mentally smacking myself for turning down this opportunity when my desire is definitely surging after texting Bridget.

“What kind of Dom do you like?” I ask the redhead. “I’ll find you someone good.”

She describes what she likes: a Dom or Domme who will leave marks but does a lot of cuddling in the aftercare. On my phone, I look over the list of who’s checked in today. After hooking her up with Mistress Julia, I make my way back to the other side of the club. I’m going to jack off in the solitude of my residence.

But my ardor encounters an unexpected damper in the form of Eric Drumm. Not much older than JD or myself, Eric is fairly good-looking and charming, but I never really took to him.

JD, standing beside Eric, says to me, “Look who’s back! Let’s go upstairs and talk.”

It’s not what I want to be doing with my time, but I join them on my balcony.

“So, how was Russia?” JD asks as he pours three shots of baijiu. “How are the women there?”

“The women are gorgeous,” Eric replies.

“Yeah? So worth going to Russia?”

“For the women, sure. The country sucks. Felt like I was freezing my balls off half the time.”

Kimberly would’ve loved it there, I think to myself wryly. Unlike Bridget, who would probably be bundled in a huge coat made from blankets, Kimberly would have been dressed much less practically and shivering her ass off as a result.

“But it was worth it,” Eric continues. “The Russians love our resort and golf course, and they want in. This guy, Sergei Antonov—he’s one of Russia’s richest—he loves it so much he says he would bankroll the whole thing himself. I’m telling you, you guys should get in when you can.”

“If you have this Sergei Antonov, why do you need us?” I ask.

“Because I came to you guys first, and I want to respect that. I didn’t want to yank the opportunity from you guys. That’s the kind of businessman I am.”

How fucking nice of you. I try not to roll my eyes.

“I already told you I’m in,” JD answers.

They look to me.

“I got a lot on my plate,” I answer. “I’m gonna pass.”

Eric frowns. Given his reaction, I suspect his Russian angel isn’t as solid as he wants us to believe.

“You sure about that?” he asks. “’Cause once we fill up our investor slots, there won’t be a chance to come aboard. It’s now or never before the ship sails.”

“My travel itinerary is full anyway.”

“Yeah? What you got?”

“It’s still in the works, so it’s too early to discuss. But congratulations on your Russian investor.”

I raise my shot glass. Eric raises his, and we all down our baijiu.

Eric starts to cough. “Jesus!” he manages before coughing some more.

I motion for a server nearby for water.

“Oh, man,” Eric says when the coughing has stopped. “That stuff tastes like shit.”

JD laughs. “Is vodka easier to handle?”

“The kind I was served. I’m going to the men’s room. I’ll be back.”

After Eric leaves, JD turns to me. “You sure you want to pass on this opportunity, bro? It’s not every day you get to get in on the ground floor of a Drumm resort.”

“From what I read, the Drumms are always asking for money, which is odd if his father is really worth three billion.”

“That’s how they do. They use other people’s money to make money.”

“Only they don’t actually turn a profit,” I retort. “That’s why they get turned down by all the major banks in this country.”

“Remember, we’re not in this for the profit.”

“There’s no guarantee his old man is going to win the presidency.”

“I’m willing to bet that he does. And if you’re going to accept Hao Young’s offer, which it sounds like you might, you’re gonna want some friends in high places. If your dad had an Eric Drumm in his back pocket…”

“I don’t like Drumm.”

JD frowns. “That didn’t matter so much to you until you met Bridget. She talking more trash about Drumm to you?”

“Nothing you don’t already know.”

JD rubs the hairs on his chin. “Look, I’m just gonna come out and say it: you don’t want to be hanging out with a chic like Bridget. She’s bad for business.”

“How?”

“She’s a bad influence, man. These political types. They think they know everything. All they’re good for is making you feel guilty about crap. The world is full of shit, but people like her insist everything’s got to smell like fucking roses.”

“I’m not changing my mind about Drumm. I don’t trust him. The Drumms don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves. They’ll throw anyone and everyone under the bus if they have to.”

“You think they’re that bad?”

“Bridget showed me this article in The Washington Post—”

JD straightens. “See! She is messing with you. The sooner you drop her, the better.”

I stand up. “I’m not dropping her anytime soon.”

JD leans back into the sofa and shakes his head.

I leave before Eric returns. Back up in my residence, I don’t feel like jacking off anymore. What I want is to talk to Bridget, but I also want her to get her work done.

My cousin is like a brother to me, and I don’t like it when we argue. I consider going back down to the club and smoothing things over, though we’re usually fine the next day. Neither one of us carries a grudge.

Sure enough, the following day I get a call from JD to see if I want to watch the UCLA men’s basketball team play against Cal this week. If there’s a chance that Bridget will be available tonight, I’d pass, but it’s still a little early in the week, so I agree to the game. I don’t think she’ll last till the weekend. Still, I’ve never been in this position before. Usually I hear from a woman before I’m even thinking about her.

However, it turns out I’m right. I get a text from Bridget.

Just about caught up so I think I can take a break. What are you up to?

It’s Thursday.