Page 8 of All The Happily Ever Afters

It’s only two on Tuesday, so I’m sure it won’t be packed. I’m surprised they’re even open.

I wanted to see what it was like on my own. I just want a small peek to see if I’m really tempted. I want to know ifI can actually do this. The thought of being a submissive is intoxicating; it’s a fantasy. I don’t know if I can go through with it. But I have to try in order to find out.

I ball my hand into a fist and knock against the door. The cold air makes my knuckles hurt at the hard contact. It’s only when I’m pulling my hand away that I see the black cast iron knocker.

I roll my eyes at my stupidity. But before I can dwell on it, the doors open and I sucked in a breath.

A large man, opens the door. I have to crane my neck to look him in the eyes. I am a step lower than him, but still, his broad shoulders and towering height are intimidating. He’s handsome enough, but not really my type. He looks down at me and cocks a brow, “Are you a member?” he asks. “I don’t recognize you,” his eyes travel down my body, “and I’m sure I would had I seen you before.”

“I-” I almost stutter from the nerves, my cheeks heating with a violent blush, but I clear my throat and grab a hold of myself. I shake my head, “not yet.” I’m proud of how firm my voice is, but my heart is trying to climb up my throat and my body is humming with anxiety.

This is my choice. I can always leave if it’s not what I expect.

“Welcome,” he says with a smirk on his face, opening the door wider and allowing a warmth to flow through the door, urging me to enter.

Seductive music lures me inside. I give him a small smile and blush again when I catch him blatantly staring at my ass. My heels click on the stone floored foyer. The ceiling is domed and there’s a large desk to my right, a coat check on my left. Beyond the foyer, the deep red carpet mutes the sound of my heels as I step forward, drawing me to the large open ballroom beyond the lobby. Or is it a dining room? There are tables and what looks like a stage behind a thick velvet curtain. I unconsciously stepforward drawn in by the elegance and mystery and, to be frank, disbelief.

It literally takes my breath away.

“Miss?” A woman calls out after me. Her voice breaks me out of my reverie and I turn to face whoever’s calling me.

A gorgeous woman walks towards me with a confidence I can only wish I possess in the boardroom. Her blonde hair is pulled back into a bun and her makeup is flawless and natural with the exception of a slight cat eye and thick long lashes that must be fake. There’s no way those are real.

Although she’s not young, she has a better figure that most and she strides towards me in her Louboutin heels as though she’s owning a runway, the scarlet colored dress clinging to her curves the entire way.

Madam Lynn.She must be the Madam of the club.

I take a step forward and hold my hand out, moving my coat to the crook of my arm. “Madam Lynn?” I say, although it’s a question.

The woman pauses, accepting my hand and smiling with a twinkle in her pale blue eyes.

“You’ve finally come.” She says accepting my hand shake and taking me in. “Alena, correct?”

I nod my head and return her smile although my heart’s still pounding in my chest. “Yes, I’m here.”

“I’m glad you’ve accepted the invitation.” She looks at my coat and then back to my eyes. “May I?” She asks while reaching out for it.

“Oh sure, of course.” I hand her the coat and she immediately takes my hand and leads me back out into the lobby.

“I know you’re going to want to look around and,” she looks over her shoulder at me with a mischievous grin, “have some fun.” She stops at the desk and waves over a young woman ina silk black jumpsuit, “but let’s get you checked in first.” My cheeks color with slight embarrassment.

“Yes, Madam Lynn,” I say just beneath my breath.

She looks back at me with slight surprise and tilts her head. “Oh he was right about you.”

I take in her words, letting them resonate in me slowly, as she walks behind the desk with the other woman tapping on keys at a computer.

Who is ‘he’and what the fuck was he right about?

JOSHUA

Iwatch on the screen in the security room as Dominic let’s Alena in from the cold and takes a deliberate look at her ass. It would piss me off if I wasn’t feeling so fucking confident.

She’s here because she wants this. She wouldn’t have come otherwise. She had one day off this week and she chose to use it to come here.

I should be ashamed that I hacked into her emails, but I’m not. It’s something that’s almost natural at this point. With every application we do a background check. And that includes some digging that’s on the other side of the law. But we have to be careful.

And with Alena, I had to make sure she was single and that she was still the same woman I once loved. The thought strikes me like a hit to the chest.Love. It’s been a long time since I’ve said that word. With no family and no relationship, I haven’t had a reason to. I huff a small laugh as I realize the last woman I ever told those three little words just walked into my club.

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