Ripple Effect (Effect 1)

“How did I get in so fast?” Her response wasn’t challenging. It seemed to come from mere curiosity.

Ainsley seemed confident and collected. From the questionnaire she’d completed, Ainsley had confirmed she wasn’t a virgin. Virgins were a no-go for the club. Nora had mentioned that Ainsley had a steady boyfriend through college until recently. I figured the breakup was a part of what had driven her to try this scene. Nora had stressed that Ainsley had a no-bullshit policy, and she shot straight. This was the part of Ainsley that I found most intriguing about her wanting to visit the club. It was the swaying factor in moving her ahead on the waiting list. She didn’t seem to have some fucked-up part in her that I could see in a lot of people who came here. There was a pocket of our members who were unable to have relationships outside of the sex-club walls. The majority of the members, it seemed, would use sex to escape some reality they needed to face.

Hell, I should know.

Leaning forward in my chair, I thought about the best way to respond. There was something about her that I craved to taste. I wanted to take her off the market before the sharks out in the club could have a chance to feel her, touch her, pleasure her. My heart started beating faster. It was time to get my proposal out in the open. If she rejected me, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I hadn’t feared rejection in years, and the thought was unnerving.

Stop being a pussy and put it out there.

In the extended silence, she didn’t begin to fidget. She calmly sat there as if she embraced the silence. She took me by surprise.

I found it best to always turn the question back on the person until I knew what he or she wanted. Years of being deceived had taught me that. After being burned by my own asshole of a brother in the worst possible way, I always protected myself.

“Why do you ask?” I responded to her question about getting into the club so quickly.

Ainsley’s delicate fingers grazed the vase. “From what I can tell, you run your business on stringent rules and guidelines. Everything seems to have order and a procedure. After being here tonight, it surprises me that I was moved ahead. From the background check you did on me, you know that I don’t have a substantial bank account. I’m a simple college student with scholarships and a part-time job. When Nora told me I should try Club Envy, I put the thought aside for several weeks before applying. When I did apply, I thought it would take months. Then, to fast-track my application when you know I wouldn’t be the most profitable business decision doesn’t make sense to me.”

She was good, really good. I wasn’t ready to start answering her question on why I had fast-tracked her application without having a little more information about her. Her questionnaire only said that she was a business student but hadn’t directly answered in detail on why she wanted to join the club. Normally, I rejected vague questionnaires, but I’d had to meet her. It was what she didn’t say that peaked my curiosity.

“I know you’re a business major, but what is your emphasis?”

Her pale blue eyes met mine again. “I think it’s only fair you answer my question before I answer yours.”

She held her ground, and it turned me on even more.

Putting my hands behind my head, I responded, “Fair enough. I’m intrigued by you, Ainsley. From the moment I saw your picture, I wanted to meet you.”

The reflection from the light danced off the silver tinsel sporadically placed through her wig. Interlacing her fingers, she responded, “I just changed my emphasis to analysis. That’s why I’ve doubled up on summer classes in order to be sure to graduate on time.”

That explained her observations of the finer details of everything and why the background check had not had that information.

Not giving her time to ask anything else, I went right to the heart of the matter. “Why do you want to be a member of Club Envy?”

She sat straighter in her chair. Her eyes became slightly sad. “I want to do something with no strings attached. I want to live, be a little rebellious, and be in the moment. I’ve always done things according to the rules. Nora and I were talking, and she suggested this place. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

Her eyes flickered slightly to the left, an obvious tell, and I knew she wasn’t telling me everything. Years of watching people had allowed me to read them better than most. I continued to watch her as she penetrated me with her pale blue gaze. I wondered if she’d really meant it when she said she wanted no strings. I was able to do no strings. However, a lot of people said they were able to do it, but in reality, they were trying to tame the wild part within me that refused to settle down.

My dick was aching to feel her, but I wouldn’t go there if I thought us sleeping together was going to end up with fucking hearts being drawn around our names. Hearts and love were overrated. I should know since mine had been ripped out…gruesomely.

I hoped to be the in-between guy who worshiped her body with the way it deserved to be touched.

We sat there in silence. She never tried to fill the uncomfortable gaps with conversation. Hell, at this point, it seemed like she could outlast me with the silence.

“What type of guy are you looking for?”

She crossed her legs, and my eyes were drawn again to how toned they were.

“Before we get to that, I think we should discuss the membership fees and any additional rules or information that didn’t come with the visitation packet. I don’t want to waste your time if I can’t afford to be here. In fact, after seeing the place tonight, I know I can’t afford it. I hope I didn’t waste your time.”

Normally, the first questions from potential members were all related to sex and what the rules were. She was definitely different. If she did join, she’d be one of the younger women here, and fuck, she would get a lot of attention.

I needed to think about how I wanted to handle this. The thought of her walking out of Club Envy and wrapping her legs around someone else pissed me off. From the moment when I’d approved her visitation, I had doubted she would be able to afford the fees, but I hadn’t cared. The only possibility I had wondered about was that she might have a trust fund of some sort or an allowance from her parents.

Leaning forward, I thought about how to best approach Ainsley to be my new fuck buddy. From what I could sense, she wouldn’t take handouts. My last partner, Sam, hadn’t been able to afford this place either, and I had waived her membership fee for her exclusivity. I never shared partners. They were mine, and I was theirs until we parted ways.

I wanted Ainsley bad. The worst thing she could say at this point was no. Shit, I want her to say yes.

“Ainsley, I want to propose something. The rules are the same as the packet you received. The confidentiality agreements that you signed will still apply. All the STD tests you took will be put in your permanent file. If there’s no change in the information you already provided we will use your existing questionnaire.”

I paused, and Ainsley nodded.

“The reason I want to know what kind of guy you are looking for is because I want to be your partner while you’re a member here. Some members want multiple partners, but that’s not how I do it. We can discuss fees later, but it will be something within your budget. I don’t want you to feel demeaned by my offer, but I think you and I can give each other what we need.”

She played with a ring on her right index finger. She turned it around and around again while watching me. She crossed her legs in the other direction. By the slight squirm, I knew she was attracted to me. She was doing a damn fine job of masking it though. I sat there with no emotion on my face even though my dick was jumping for joy at the thought that she wanted me inside her.

She moved her head to one side. “I’m not a submissive. I don’t know the ins and outs of all that, but I know that’s not for me.”

She was all business, and I liked that about her. She wasn’t doing all that lovey-dovey giggle shit.

I relaxed my posture in my seat since she hadn?

??t said no. “I’m not asking for a submissive. We’ll both give each other what we need on equal ground. We’ll never do anything you are uncomfortable with.”

She let my words absorb. My eyes kept going to her top. It was a low-scoop green silk shirt. The club was cold, and as she shifted, I could make out the faint outline of her nipples.

Ainsley also relaxed her posture slightly as she leaned back in the chair. “And what do you need, Adam?”

“To fuck you hard, countless times, to be buried so deep inside you while you scream in pleasure—that’s what I want out of this, Ainsley. Lust and sex, that’s it.”

I heard her intake of breath, and her eyes became clouded. She was looking me over. She started twirling her ring again. Her breathing was a tad quicker. To the normal observer, she would still appear unaffected.

“So, how does that work? We make appointments to have sex?”

Letting out a small breath, I knew I was making ground and could feel the deal getting closer to being finished. I was going to have to kiss her tonight before she left. I needed to touch her. And if I were lucky, I was going to take her against the office wall.

Keeping my voice calm, I responded, “More or less. We work out times to give each other pleasure, and then we return to our normal lives. There are no strings, no complications—just sexual gratification. What do you think?”

She stood, tall and confident. Without wavering, she said, “Yes.”

My insides felt like they were shaking as I looked at Adam sitting behind his glass desk while I stood resolute after giving my answer. My mind was still trying to comprehend that I had agreed to a sexual arrangement for lust and sex only. This was definitely outside of the box for me, but I needed a change in pace, something different. Hopefully, this was the distraction I was looking for to move on from the breakup with my ex, Jarrod.