Chapter 26

**| A U R O R A |**

It took months of persuasion and hours of smooth talk to convince Marco to take me to visit The Leather House with him. The club has been a great revelation and a sanctum of BDSM indulgence I haven’t had the pleasure to experience, saving otherwise my last unexpected trip. It wasn’t like we didn’t experiment or lavish in sex past couple of months when essentially that was all we did, but the lure of the den of pleasure crawled at me several times.

The only condition to his acquiescence to take me to TLH with him was the display of epitome submission. And I understood it because he exuded an aura of power and intangible dominance and ruled the place with an iron fist, and any error from my end would reflect poorly on him.

Maybe for this reason alone that I dressed to perfection. The lacy-wine red corset top revealed just the right amount of cleavage, leaving the rest of one’s imagination, while the silver sequin skirt hugged the curves, stopping at mid-thigh. I smoothed down my hair, letting it cascade over my back and shoulders before painting my lips in the most alluring scarlet red in my dresser.

As I perused over my reflection on the mirror, I realized why beauty has always been the greatest weapon to a woman. For the first time in years, I didn’t carry a firearm, not even the trusted knife I could hide under the skirt, and yet I knew I was a weapon in myself.

That I could captive the attention of any man I wanted to and annihilate him even before he would see that coming.

“I don’t know if I want to take you out tonight or fuck you against the wall.”

The voice made me turn slowly as Marco leaned against the doorway. His heated gaze slithered down from my exposed cleavage to the bare legs and then skidded up. He took his sweet time eye-fucking me before standing straighter.

“Why choose?” I shrugged, moving closer.

Marco took it as an invitation to grab my hips and pressed me against his body, against the growing erection that swelled the moment it felt my heat. He drew in a sharp breathe like he was trying to calm himself down to no avail.

“Sometimes it feels like you are pushing me so I lose the control,” he said in a growl, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin below my ear.

No other man had that voice…that deep, dark baritone laced with an accent. And I had to close my eyes and take control of my breathing to keep a reign over my body.

“I gave up my control. Why shouldn’t you?” I managed to croak out.

All of a sudden, he tore me away from his body and chuckled softly. ”Bella, the only thing that’s stopping me from stringing you up and taking you from every way possible is my control.”

His words crackled something in me; the fire in his words singed and glowed. And for a tiny moment there, I wondered how euphoric that might have been.

To be loved and ruined at the hands of a man who was essentially my everything.

The thought was scintillating. 

I shoved it to the farthest corner of my mind before turning sober. “Well, in that case, shall we?” I asked, picking up the cell phone from the counter.

XXX

As Marco led me through the entrance of the Club, a waft of cool air and memories swept over me. It looked a lot different from the last time I have been here. I expected an electric atmosphere of sex and loud music; instead, a soft tune resonated while the plush and luxuriant decor resembled that of a gentleman’s club.

“You haven’t seen this part of the Club,” he answered, reading into my confusion. “I have kept this part for the couples to relax and relish if they simply want to enjoy the evening.”

“If they want to enjoy the evening, why choose a sex club? And happened to restaurants and movie theatres?”

Marco smiled reservedly and pointed to a direction with a lift of his chin. “I bet such luxuries are still socially unacceptable in a restaurant or a movie theatre.”

There sat a woman in a pretty red dress, sandwiched between two men. While she leaned against one’s body, the other man has his hands all over her thighs. She was smiling, relishing, and savoring the company of two men in a candid way that people otherwise would have labeled as offensive.

“She is...”

I trailed off while he finished the sentence for me. “In a relationship with both of them.”

I slowly began to register the magnetism between them. “Wow…okay.”

“Welcome back, Sir.” A chirpy female-voice interrupted and stole away Marco’s attention. She trotted over, tensely, and rattled away. “I didn’t know that you were coming in today, then I would have prepared the things for you. Just give me some time…”

“Anna.” That one word, politely, shut her up. “It’s alright; take your time. I will be in the lounge scene area for some time. Are there any updates I should know about?”

The woman flicked a nervous glance my way before responding. “So far, everything has been well taken care of by the masters. Only a Damien DeRosa came looking for you last Friday. I insisted on a message, but he left the moment I told him you were unavailable.”

The name DeRosa clicked in my memory, and I almost forgot that I was supposed to be all submissive and obedient.

“What business DeRosa possibly has—” I stopped the moment he whipped around, slashing me with a scathing look.

The woman gasped beside him, so loudly that I wanted to roll my eyes. What the ever-living fuck was this? Couldn’t I have a normal conversation?

“Right. Sorry, Sir,” I mumbled, hoping it would pacify him for the time being.

“It okay, Anna, you can go back to the reception and have someone prepare my bag in the room next to my office,” he instructed in a softer, scarier voice.

With a curt reply, the woman hurried away quicker than she arrived.

“Do we need to go through the protocol again?”

“No.” I grimaced slightly. “I was just surprised when I heard his name.”

“Just pretend that you didn’t hear,” came the reply.

Damien DeRosa was the son of Salvatore DeRosa, the Capo of The Outfit in Las Vegas. The DeRosa’s practically owned every casino, lounge, restaurant, and theatre in Las Vegas, taking the definition of organized crime to another level in the Sin City.

But Salvatore DeRosa didn’t do all this singlehandedly. It was rumored that the massacre of all the other gangs and mobsters were done by and under the order of Alessandro Romano, and in return, the DeRosas made him rich. Their symbiotic relationship involving money and power established both of them as tyrannical influencers in the respective cities. 

Of course, there were other speculations to the story as well. But just like mob history in America, they were hardly any evidence of these allegations.

The feel of a hand on my ass, urging me forward, obliterated the rest of my thoughts. “Aurora, tonight, I want nothing but your undivided attention, and I am not going to settle for anything less. Am I clear?” 

“Yes, Master.”

With a smile, Marco led me past the reception and lounge area, to the portion where I actually have been before. To the left of the vast expanse, was the neon-lit semi-circular bar. It was bad enough that the servers were scantily dressed—man or woman alike, that the scenes taking place involved naked people in abundance.

“Holy hell,” I muttered as low as possible, scanning the place.

But what was more astonishing than ever was the way they conducted themselves. The scene looked effortlessly erotic and sublime. Even the woman who had been trussed up and a probing hand between her legs had serenity in her eyes, which was beyond describable.

However, the unnerving feel was the spotlight on us, especially on me. There was evident curiosity, astonishment as well as a little envy in the eyes that swept over us.

I hated to admit but it made me nervous, even uneasy. I knew that nothing about this evening was going to be less than thrilling, but I didn’t think this whole thing through.

As we made our way through the club, I halted behind Marco when a young man, no less than twenty-five, abruptly knelt before his feet. He was entirely naked, save for the hefty collar around his neck, and a weird leather jockstrap around his crotch, but the backside was completely bare.

“Sir, may I request something of you?”

“What is it, Sam?”

“I was hoping if you would allow my mistress back in the club…”

“Stop right there,” Marco pronounced, and I watched the half-naked man stiffen and drop his gaze to the floor. I couldn’t tell if the action was prompted by fear or respect.

“She broke one of the in-house rules, and I gave her a choice. Kara can either take the punishment or stay the hell away from the club until six months.”

His shoulders drooped in a tell-tale sign that he wouldn’t win the argument and simply nodded with a “yes, sir.”

Marco snapped a finger in his face and he looked up. “Is there by any chance your mistress sent you in, hoping for a reprieve?” he asked in a menacingly low voice.

“No! No, Sir. I…uh…came to you on my own.”

“I see.” Marco took a small step towards him, closing the distance, and no matter how much the kneeling boy wanted to recoil, he couldn’t. “This one time, Sam, I would let this slide. Next time, if you come up to me with a request like that, you will be sorry.”

The boy mumbled an apology and quickly ran off. 

“Do you really enjoy scaring people so much?” I whispered, coming up to him.

Marco turned around with a bright smile on his lips and a sinful glint in his eyes, before pressing a chaste kiss over my lips. “I have a reputation to maintain, sweetheart.” 

“The high and mighty one, huh?” I asked, looked around distractedly.

In a faraway corner, a man played with his redhead submissive, chained to a faux-wooden post and spreader between her legs. Despite her glassy eyes and redden stripes, the flush of her cheeks depicted how stimulated she was.

It made me wonder how it feels… to part away with every vestige of self-preservation and sanity for a taste of dark and forbidden pleasure. Would it be as exquisite and effortless as the woman made it look?

Marco brushed off the hair from my shoulders, trailing a finger over the collarbone, coercing my gaze back to him. “Something is bothering you? Tell me.”

“Just…a little overwhelmed. I will be fine.”

His lips cracked into a full smile. “I will absolutely make sure that you are.” He backed me against a nearby wall, almost sheltering me from anyone else’s view before taking my pert nipples between his fingers, gently rolling as he spoke, “You have nothing to worry about. Just focus on all the wicked things I want to do to you later tonight and you will be just fine.” 

Sensations zigged and I edged on the thrill. “Mhmm.”

In no time, his hand lowered and disappeared under my skirt. Dammit. I wanted to glower or scowl until the raw heat collided against my dampness. I closed my eyes, shutting the surroundings and moaned around his probing digits that alternated between my clit and slick vagina.

“You would do anything to please me, wouldn’t you, bella?”

Hell, I could cum alone with his voice, whispering husky sin in my ears.

The wave of desire spiraled higher and higher…until a deliberate cough interrupted and my eyes flew open in alarm.

Fuck me! I knew him. 

Marco, on the other hand, seemed to be well-acquainted with the voice as his hand slowly slid out of me in a smooth movement. The curt smile flashed with a hint of displeasure in his stormy orbs.

"You have a bad timing, Gage."