“That sounds like something only a man with money would say.”
“Maybe,” I said. She bit her lip, holding back a scoff. I had intrigued her. Submission wasn’t something she was often willing to give, but for the price of her club, she was willing to consider it.
“Are you a dominant?” she asked.
“Do you always ask this many questions?” I narrowed my eyes. She shrugged. “You’re a domme, a dominatrix, a dominant. You’re paid to put men in their place, but does it get you off?”
For the first time, a subtle blush rippled across her face. She forced it down, scowling back at me in defense. “No.”
“Do you consider yourself a submissive, then?” I asked.
She swallowed a dry lump in her throat. “No.”
I tilted the small shot glass in my hand, gazing absently at the clear drop of liquor swirling around the bottom of the cup.
“It helps you to think of power dynamics in titles, doesn’t it?” I asked.
“It’s easier to figure out what the club member wants if I know how he identifies himself.”
But I wouldn’t make it that easy on her. If she wanted the club, she would have to work for it.
“I don’t care for titles,” I said. She sniffled, showing her disbelief. “But if you must know, hedonist has a nice ring to it. If it brings me pleasure to give you pain, and if it gives me pleasure to feel your pain, then why does a title matter? I’m going to do what I want. And I’m going to take what I want.”
Her lips pressed open, a small gasp escaping from her.
“How long?” she asked. She was considering my proposition carefully now. ‘Yes’ was on the verge of her vocal cords. “How long?”
“As long as it takes to convince me.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then the remodeling will go according to my plan, and you will never come back.” I glanced around us until my eyes fell on her again. “But if you can stand the humiliation of submitting to me, then the club is yours.”
Her eyes widened again at the sound of that glorious win. The club. It would be hers. All hers. But the truth was that if she won—if I gave her the club, it would take a year, maybe two, before she was back at my feet, begging me to buy it from her. And I would be ready to turn this place into a proper nightclub.
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
She stuck out her hand. “Let’s shake on it. I convince you of my submission, then you give me the club.”
“And if you don’t, you walk away.”
I shook her hand. Her slender muscles twisted over each knuckle. Everything about Iris was taut with muscle, thin and sinewy, and yet she was delicate too. A fragile being wrapped inside of a hard, outer shell. She protected herself. Being a dominatrix was part of that.
“I won’t lose,” she said, her eye contact strong, not daring to look away.
“We’ll see about that,” I said. “Kneel.”
The word came out in a subtle burst. She almost hadn’t heard it. But once it clicked, she immediately slid out of the booth and got down on her knees, on the floor, facing me. Tucked her hands behind her back. I guessed that she had never submitted before, but she had been around. She knew exactly what was expected of her.
I stood up, my cock twitching as I looked down at her big doe eyes. I put a finger under her chin and forced her to look up at me.
“Good girl,” I said.
I licked my lips as I ran my finger over her bottom lip, and she shuddered.
There were things I was looking forward to doing to Iris, but not tonight.
I crossed the lounge, making my way towards the bar, and heard her stand to follow me.
“I didn’t say you could get up,” I said loudly without turning towards her. She shuffled back to her knees. At the bar, I glanced in her direction; she was biting her tongue, trying not to show her disgust even if it raged inside of her. I loved seeing her struggle, the way it was written painfully across her face.
After I introduced myself to the bartenders and was out of her earshot, I called the Adlers. Wil answered on the first ring.
“Yeah?” he asked.
“I have a favor to ask. It’s about Iris,” I said.
“You want the surveillance?”
“Yeah. But outside only. Not inside the buildings,” I said. “Whenever she goes anywhere.”
“Got it.”
“And there’s another thing I need your help with. I can pay a good amount.”
“What do you need?”
I left Iris there. Continued the conversation with Wil, then hung up. Walked around the club. Made small talk. When I had the chance to glance at her, Iris was always there, on her knees, her hands behind her back, watching me as I made my way around the club, introducing myself to every worker. A fistful of her hair and I could fuck her pretty little mouth in that position, using her like I know she used the club members here.
I hadn’t said that she could stand, but I also hadn’t said that she had to stay there. Picking Iris apart, petal by petal, was going to be amusing. All she wanted was her club. And if she wanted it, she would have to break apart. That was a prize I would enjoy taking.
CHAPTER 5
Iris
Towards the end of the night, the servers and club members who had paired up, made their way towards the Terrariums, the section of the building for the private rooms. The rest of us made our way towards the exit, or the Greenhouse. It wasn’t often that I went straight to the Greenhouse, but since Roland was missing, and all of my regulars had gone home, I was in the kitchen, looking through the shelves for a snack. My knees hurt, red and bruised, and my stomach growled. I had moved most of my stuff over to my new apartment, but I was in search of actual sustenance. Apparently, a cupcake at four p.m. was not a great dinner to hold you through an entire night shift.
“How long were you kneeling like that?” one of the servers asked.
“Sweetie Pie was appalled,” another said. “Kept saying how you didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. Not his Iris. Not his Goddess.”
Sweetie Pie was one of my regular submissives at the club and the CEO of a company. He was in a position where his company thrived, but he still had to endure long, stressful hours. Submitting to me in the Terrariums was a release. I was the only one who could call him Sweetie Pie to his face. To the rest of the servers, he was Mr. Green.
There was nothing in the refrigerator.