Ripple Effect (Effect 1)

I had a major fucking problem to deal with. Someone was taking pictures of members at my club and then selling them online. Earlier this evening, I had been informed of the leak when Mark Robertson brought me a picture he had seen of his girlfriend, Sam, on his football teammate’s cell phone. Supposedly, other pictures with the same background were being sold on this exclusive site.

I stared at the pic of my old fuck buddy, Sam, in the cat mask, red wig, and black leather outfit. Sam was now going to live the life of merry commitment and white picket fences with Mark. I was glad she’d found someone. She deserved to be happy. Mark seemed like a decent guy. When Sam and I had been together, we had both known the score—no attachments, just sex. It’d worked for us, and we had both known our arrangement would end one day.

My phone rang. It was my partner and best friend, Brandt.

I answered, “Did you pull the footage from last Halloween?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it all cued up, and I’m reviewing it. We’ll catch this asshole, Adam. I’ll keep you posted. Everything else looks good in both areas of the club.”

“Thanks. I’m going to make my rounds. Let me know when you find something.”

“Will do.”

We both hung up the phone.

Brandt and I had been friends since we were kids. We’d spent the first few years after high school working odd jobs here and there, not having a fucking clue as to what we wanted to do in life. We’d decided to go to college where some of our friends were going. After trying one year, we’d known college life wasn’t for us, and we’d opened up a bar—Club Envy. In the beginning, it had started as a regular bar that had a band and a dance floor.

After being open for more than a year, Brandt and I had gotten smashed one night after turning a decent profit for the bar. During one of our many shots, we had come up with the idea of expanding and adding an exclusive sex club in the back of Club Envy. We hadn’t given the sex club a different name since we didn’t want to draw attention to it necessarily. We had met a patron at our bar who helped spread our name among those people who were interested in the sex-club scene.

Walking out of my office to make my rounds while Brandt looked at the footage, I glanced around. The crowd was sparse tonight, as I’d expected, since it was Tuesday.

The main entrance was across the club. There was extra security on that side, and paperwork was needed each time a patron entered.

I went to see Trigger, the bouncer who guarded the club’s side entrance used by employees and VIPs only for the sex club. The bar side had a completely different entrance on the other side of the building. Trigger was about twenty-two with brown eyes and messy blond hair. He was stacked and could throw a hell of a punch. The girls seemed to like him, and on his nights off, he took pleasure in what the club had to offer. Trigger was what we called a free lover. He didn’t do the exclusivity thing. He just wanted to float from girl to girl.

Trigger gave me a nod as I walked up.

“All’s good, Adam. The new girl you just cleared came in with Nora, and she’s at the bar. Snake is currently with her, like you requested.”

Nora was the club bartender, which is why Ainsley, the new girl, was allowed to enter the club for the first time without Brandt or me.

“Thanks, Trigger. Let me know if anything comes up.”

Trigger gave me a nod, and I walked off toward the bar of the sex club. This side of the club was completely different than the bar side. The sex-club side was retro in style with frosted glass tables and multi-colored lights of red, green, purple, yellow, and blue that illuminated the room with a sexy glow. Odd-shaped chairs sat around the tables. There were high tables, low tables, lounge areas, and the bar area. Behind the bar area were rooms where different scenes could take place, depending on a member’s desires. If all the rooms were booked, there was a communal room and an exhibitionist room anyone could use.

Unless members were in one of the rooms, Brandt and I required them to be dressed. We didn’t mind the main area getting a little hot and heavy, but discretion needed to be used. All the members here tonight were seasoned patrons and generally abided by the rules.

As I approached the bar, a bright pink wig caught my attention. It had to be Ainsley Pearson, Nora’s friend and the potential new member. Her back was to me, but she was laughing and talking with Nora.

Ainsley’s questionnaire had intrigued me. She wasn’t the typical person who would seek membership at my club. From the picture I had of her, she was beautiful with long chestnut hair and pale blue eyes. Nora had asked for a favor to fast-track Ainsley on the visitor list. It normally took longer than two weeks to get a visitation night. Brandt and I didn’t want any riffraff from the street coming into our establishment, and I needed time to complete the screenings. When Nora had shown me Ainsley’s picture, I had wanted to meet her myself for some reason. Generally, I always went with my gut instinct

on those types of decisions.

I walked up slowly and nodded to Snake, another security guard, who was standing about four feet away from Ainsley. He had short, spikey, black hair with a snake tattoo winding up his neck. With a tip of my head, I gave him the signal that I would watch Ainsley for a bit.

As Snake strolled off, I saw him take his walkie-talkie from his back pocket. He was probably talking to Brandt to see where he needed to go next. I hated those damn walkie-talkies, but Brandt had insisted we get them for all the personnel. I never carried mine. If there were a problem, security would find me. If I had to get involved, whoever was causing the problem would wish like hell that he or she hadn’t started anything.

Next, I checked Ainsley’s wrist to make sure she had on the black bracelet. Nonmembers weren’t allowed to engage in sexual activity while in the club. Membership fees weren’t cheap, and I needed to make sure potential members were serious before they started benefiting from the pleasures the club could offer. Per the reports I had received, Ainsley didn’t have much money in her account, and she worked part-time at the university’s library. Sometimes, the fees weren’t important, and I had a feeling that Ainsley would fall into that category.

I leaned up against the bar. “Hey, Nora. How about a beer?”

Nora gave me an endearing smile and went to get my standard brand of beer, Guinness. From the corner of my eye, I could see I had Ainsley’s attention. She was watching me with her head cocked slightly as if she was trying to figure me out. I wasn’t ready to look at her yet. Nora popped the cap off my Guinness and handed it to me. I liked Guinness better in a bottle and had it brought in special even though it was on tap. I took a swig of beer and turned toward Ainsley.

Nora had said that she and Ainsley had become good friends during their sophomore year of college, and they were seniors now.

Ainsley was even more beautiful than her picture. Her chestnut hair was hiding beneath the wig. Her makeup seemed heavier than the more natural shot I had of her in my office. She gave me a sly smile, and I was instantly hard. She had the perfect mouth, and I wanted those lips wrapped around my cock. The moment our eyes connected, my dick wanted inside her. I looked around, making sure no one could hear me. I wanted to see how she would react. The one thing that hadn’t been clear on her questionnaire was why she wanted to join a sex club. Her answer had been vague, and in this case, it had only intrigued me more. Normally, if I wasn’t able to get a clear picture from the paperwork, a visitor pass would not be issued.

I tipped my beer her way. “Ainsley, right?”

Her smile dropped, and her eyes darted around the bar. She looked surprised as she said, “Do I know you?”

I extended my hand. “I’m Adam Ryker, owner of Club Envy.”

Her features relaxed as she extended her hand. “Nice to meet you. Thanks for letting me visit tonight. Are you the person I talk to about becoming a member?”

She was direct. I liked a woman who didn’t beat around the bush.

I took a swig. “Let me show you around, and then we can talk.”

Ainsley glanced toward Nora, who nodded.

So, Little Miss Pink Wig is the cautious type.

Most women who came here were outgoing and didn’t care if someone knew who they were. They strictly wanted to find a partner. I liked that Ainsley wasn’t like that.

She slid off the stool, and her tight skirt went up slightly. I had to stop myself from running my hand along her inner thigh.

“Sounds good. Lead the way, Adam.”

Her head came to the top of my shoulders. I was just over six foot, so she had to be five-five or five-six. Ainsley was a petite little thing and insanely gorgeous. She adjusted her skirt back in place, and it clung to her like a second skin.

We started walking, and her perfume heightened my desire to fuck her against the first available surface—club rules be damned.

Fuck, she’s hot. Shit, I need to beat my pansy ass for not being able to control my dick right now.

She asked, “So, how does one get into the sex-club business?”

My eyes went to hers. In the four years I had been doing the sex-club, no other female member had ever asked me that. They were here for pleasure and the details of my life were of little interest.

She seemed genuinely curious as she continued to look around at everything, absorbing the atmosphere.

She must have sensed my surprise as she clarified, “I’m a business major at the University of Georgia, and I was curious. You probably already know that though from the background check. I’m taking a summer course on marketing, and my mind was thinking about how, in your case, sex really does sell.”

I laughed as we approached the private rooms that people had to reserve in advance. I took another swig of my Guinness as I thought about how to answer.

“Well, my business partner, Brandt, and I started the bar five years ago. One night, almost a year after we opened, we got drunk and began talking about fuck pads. From there, we came up with this.” I shrugged.

We stopped in front of one of the doors. A slight blush crept across Ainsley’s cheeks as she looked at the door. Each of the doors had a sign. This particular one said:

Brandt and I had gone with the names of the shots we had taken that night as we schemed up our new adventure together.

Ainsley looked at the sign and murmured, “Afterburn?”

I replied, “Shot names.”

“Makes sense and goes with the atmosphere. So, Adam, tell me about the club and what lies behind the Afterburn door?”

I started into my standard speech, “As you might have noticed, the main bar area requires clothes. All members can have a tab, but the balance is due on a weekly basis. This is where the private rooms, six in all, are located. The other side has two separate rooms. One is a communal room, and the other is set up for those who like exhibitionism. Since it’s the middle of the week, two of the private rooms aren’t booked tonight, so I’m able to show you what one looks like. Each room is styled differently, but the apparatus and toys are all the same. After each room is used, everything is sterilized and cleaned prior to the next usage. Generally, rooms are booked for full evenings. Any questions so far?”

She was calmly taking it all in. I was having a hard time figuring her out. One minute, she would blush, and the next, she would ask business questions, but she wasn’t trying to screw the first thing with a cock between their legs walking her way. She was a puzzle to me, and I was drawn to her.

What is she after?

She shook her head. “No questions right now. Show away.”

I opened the door, and she walked in, looking around from floor to ceiling.

There was a tall bed, some sex chairs, a dresser full of toys, and a few other pieces of furniture that made for some fan-fucking-tastic sex. Club Envy had two rooms centered around BDSM, and they were equipped with whips, chains, shackles, and the like. I had tried it a few times, but it wasn’t my style.

Ainsley walked farther into the room. Her tall heels helped emphasize her toned calves. She turned back my way. “This is different but intriguing. If interested, how does someone find a partner?”

She cocked her head to the side as she looked at me. I thought she was trying to read me as much as I was trying to read her. She wasn’t going to let me get away with shit, and I liked it.

I took another swig of my beer. “I’d wager that you wouldn’t have any problems finding someone if you were interested. Once that black bracelet comes off, it’s like dating. People approach you, and you either agree or don’t agree to take the next step. Just because you come to a room with someone doesn’t mean that you have to follow through. You can leave at any time. If you ever run into a problem, you can come find me, if I’m not already there. We’ll talk more about all this in my office.”

She bit her lip and looked down. Thinking about her in this room with all the ways I could pleasure her was making my cock so hard that it was as if it were turn

ing to stone. I knew my body, and it had never reacted this fast to someone. I needed to get her out of here and make sure she understood how this worked before I made a move. She wasn’t ready for that step.

I started walking backward toward the door. “Why don’t we go to my office and talk some more? We can discuss your thoughts and go from there.”

She started coming my way as she said, “Sure. I have some questions now that I’d like to ask when we get to your office.”

“Sounds good.”

I motioned for her to step out of the room, and I followed. Music from the club surrounded us. Ainsley paused, and I took the lead as we went toward my office. I generally found that people got nervous around me when I was quiet. They would start chatting up a storm, divulging information I hadn’t been able to get from the questionnaire. But Ainsley was just silently taking everything in. Her wheels seemed to be constantly churning in that beautiful head of hers.

We walked into my office where the lush decorations continued. I had a glass desk, black leather desk chair, and two square black leather chairs in front of the desk. Ainsley’s eyes drifted to the door in the back. That door led to my private quarters where I would stay the night if needed. No girl had ever been back there.

Ainsley took a seat in a chair as I went to my desk chair.

In between the two chairs in front of my desk was a funky vase sitting on a glass Z-shaped table.

She looked at me again with those inquisitively sharp eyes. “How would I stay anonymous if I were able to afford the monthly fees?”

“We’d give you another name to use for checking in. You could continue to wear wigs or any other disguises you wanted. If you wear a wig, keep it on, even in the rooms. Otherwise, people will be able to spot you in public.”

Ainsley’s right hand went to her pink wig, and she played with the strands. “How many members do you have?”

I took the last sip of my Guinness. “Currently, we have a few hundred members, but a little over half are regular attendees. Twenty people are on the waiting list to get in. I like to slowly introduce new members to the club in order to maintain control and balance of the atmosphere.”