Depths of Depravity (18 page)

“
Because.”

“
Because what? Not now but you will be in the future?”

“
It’s… I just got out of a relationship, okay? I don’t think I should be dating anybody right now. Not even you.”

“
Are you admitting that there is something between us?”

“…
No. I…”

“
Harley, you’re not making any sense.”

“
Don’t try to confuse me! I just broke-up with someone. What part of that don’t you understand?”

I was free to yell at him knowing that nobody else would be able to hear me. I didn
’t have the answers Luther was looking for. The truth was that I was looking for them just the same as he was.

“
Let him go,” Luther said to me.

“
What?”

“
I don’t know who he is or what he did to you. But I have nothing to do with him. There’s no need for you to take it out on me.”

“
Luther—”

“
Tell me that you’re not attracted to me.”

He took a few steps closer to me. I put my hands up to try and get him to stop.

“Luther, don’t—”

“
Tell me that what you saw last night didn’t turn you on. Say it.”

“
Luther, stop—”

He walked forward until he was right in front of me
. He pushed his face close to mine. I could feel his breath on my face as he started to whisper to me.

“
You want this, Harley. And I want it, too. Why can’t you just let yourself go?”

“
No, you’re wrong. This is not what I want.”

I put my hands on his chest
in a futile attempt to push him away. He came closer to me, backing me up until I bumped into my couch.

“
Yes, it is. Why are you denying yourself your own pleasure? This doesn’t have to be anything more than that?”

“
Stop—Mmm!”

He shoved his face against m
ine and started kissing me. I struggled against him, turning my head away. I pushed him as hard as I could. I raised my hand up and slapped him hard across the face.

“
I don’t want this!” I shouted.

We were both breathing hard as we stared at one another. L
uther moved in closer to me once again. I put my hands up and struggled against him again. When his lips fell upon mine, I immediately felt his tongue trying to force its way into my mouth. My lips were sealed against his, my moans of protest muffled by his mouth.

“
Luther—”

He wrapped one of his arms around me and held me close to him. Then he shoved his other hand into my skirt. A jolt shot through my body as I felt his finger rub against my clitoris. I moaned into his mouth, now allowing his tongue to sli
de inside me. I continued to protest but my body didn’t do the same. I grinded my hips up against his hand, eager for him to keep rubbing me. I raised my hands up against his hard chest, pushing him away. My strength was dwindling. My willpower was weakening. Everything about Luther was intoxicating. The way his tongue tasted. The way his hand felt against me. The way his scent filled my nostrils. I could feel him beginning to consume me and envelope me in his entire being.

I was breathing hard as I struggl
ed. Even if I was using all of my strength, I couldn’t fight him off. Luther was too powerful. I let go of his chest and dropped them down on the top of my couch to try and brace myself. As he continued to rub me underneath my panties, he leaned his head down and started to trail kisses along my neck.

“
Say it,” he whispered to me. “Say you want it.”

“
I…” I gasped as I struggled to say it.

Luther took his other hand from around me then reached underneath my skirt. He pulled my panties down around my ankles.

“No,” I said to him. “Please…”

He flipped my skirt up across my stomach. I was now bared to him. He moved back up and kissed me upon my neck, trailing his mouth up across my chin and around my ear. He brought his middle finger back toward my clitoris, work
ing it in a way so that the pleasure was clouding my judgment.

“
Stop me,” he whispered. “Stop me if you don’t want it.”

Luther quickly fell to his knees. He gripped my ass in both of his hands and buried his mouth between my legs. I shuddered as his tongue
replaced his finger against my clit. My knees buckled and I moaned in ecstasy. I reached down and grabbed his hair in both of my hands, bracing myself as the pleasure was consuming my body. I could feel how wet I had become. The slick sound of my opening became loud as Luther started to lick me. I bucked my hips up against his face. Pathetic little whimpers escaped from between my lips. My eyes were shut tight and I was no longer thinking.

Suddenly, Luther stood back up and started to kiss me. I could taste myself upon his lips.

“Say it,” he whispered to me. “Say what you want.”

“
I… I…”

I was moaning, still desperately trying to stop him even though I had already lost. He turned me around an
d then shoved me over the couch. I listened the sound of him unbuckling and unzipping himself just behind me. I was free to walk away at this point but I couldn’t find the strength to move. I just remained there bent over in front of him, gasping in some combination of ecstasy and delirium. He gripped one side of my hips in one hand.

“
Say it,” he repeated.

“
I…”

“
Say you want me to fuck you.”

“
I want you… I want you to fuck me—Hnngh!”

I groaned
in pleasure. He shoved his length inside of me completely. The slick walls of my opening accommodated his massive size. Luther gripped both of my hips and started to drive himself into me as I remained bent over the couch. I held onto the cushions, grasping at them in an attempt to find something to hold onto.

“
Do you want me to stop?” he grunted as he proceeded to pound me.

“
N-no,” I cried. “Don’t… stop—Ahhh!”

One of his hands gripped my hair and tugged on it hard. My head jerked back and I gasped at the
sudden movement. My head was being pulled so far back that I was looking up at the ceiling. My body rocked into the rhythm with which he drove himself into me. The loud sound of his body slapping against me echoed through my apartment. I whimpered and cried out in ecstasy as the pleasure racked my body.

With one hand pulling my hair, Luther slapped me across the ass with his other hand. I cried out and Luther punished me again with another slap. The moans were now steadily emptying from my throat. My palms
were resting lazily on the couch cushions.

I could only imagine what I looked like at this point. My body was sweating from how hard he was working me. I was bent over my own couch and groaning, my panties resting around one ankle and my legs spread. My sk
irt was up over my body.

Luther started to increase his pace. I moaned louder and faster with each of his quick and hard thrusts. My voice reverberated as my entire body shook. My mouth hung open, the same little whimpers escaping from my mouth. Suddenly,
his grip on my hair tightened. Luther grunted loudly as I felt him beginning to fill me up. I moaned with him, the wetness filling my insides. After a few more hard and deep thrusts, Luther pulled out of me.

He released his grip on me. My head fell down an
d I collapsed on the edge of the couch. I remained there, trying to catch my breath and compose myself. I could hear Luther putting his pants back on and zipping himself up just behind me.

It took every ounce of strength to push myself up off of the couch.
When I finally turned around to look at him, Luther was there immediately to greet me with a kiss. He wrapped his arms around me and I did the same to him. He pulled me in close, showing the same amount of passion he had just seconds ago despite already finishing. Our kiss ended and he slowly pulled his head away from me. I opened my eyes and stared back at him. I didn’t know what to think or what to say.

“
Would you let me do that again?” he asked me.

I sighed a deep breath, not wanting to admit how much I
enjoyed it. But I didn’t need to say anything. It was obvious. He could tell just from the fact that my body was still trembling from the experience.

“
If you do that again, you can’t do it with anyone else,” I whispered. “Only me.”

“
You’re the only woman I’ll ever need,” he replied. “But only if you’ll allow me.”

I nodded and he began to kiss me again. We continued to kiss in the middle of my apartment, my ass now resting up against the couch he just bent me over. I couldn
’t describe what I was feeling at the moment. I didn’t care. All I knew was that I hadn’t felt it in a long time. And it was amazing.

Chapter 18

Why did you do that?

I began transcribing all of the notes from my conversation with Luther in the cafe. All of the details about my story were c
lear. He was my only source but at this point, it wouldn’t be difficult to prove.

What were you thinking?

I saw it with my own eyes. I couldn’t see their identities but they were all from Platinum. That was the reason it was the hottest strip club in the city. All of the money being pumped into this place wasn’t just to get to witness women dancing around in their underwear and private dances. It was an opportunity for millionaires and billionaires to scout the talent they wanted to go further with.

How could you be so stupid?

It was probably a good thing that everybody’s identity was hidden. If I managed to put this story together, there would be more than a few people upset about me spilling their secret. It was the exact situation that Franklin was worried about. I had pissed people off before but not people with this kind of money.

But it felt so good…

I tried to remain focused on the task at hand. But as I typed away at my computer, I couldn’t help but think about everything that just happened with Luther. My mind would begin to wander whenever it felt like it. When I thought about what he did to me, I would start to grin. I had been with other men before but nobody like him. Nobody had been so forceful and taken me in such a way. I couldn’t get him out of my mind.

And now I was faced with a dilemma. I had an obligation to tell this story. My articles were the most interesting thing The High Standard had g
oing for it. I wasn’t even sure of the legality of this entire situation. There was an underground club at Platinum where all of the patrons and employees engaged in extravagant and decadent orgies. This was by far the most interesting thing I’d ever written about.

But I was slowly falling for a man that was at the center of all this. Luther frequented Platinum on a regular basis. And now I was working on a piece that would tell the secret that he and all of his friends were keeping away from everybody.

I had an obligation though. I promised Mr. Kelsey that I would have something for him when I found it. And I found it. Now it was just a matter of convincing Luther to step away from this before he got himself into any trouble. Now I had to tell him the truth.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning up all of my notes. I was finally ready to start writing. I decided that I would head to work tonight to see if I could learn more about Platinum. I had heard what it was all about from Luther
’s point of view. Now that I knew what was going on, maybe someone else could give me a different perspective.

I showed-up to work that night on a mission. I was going to fill out all of the loose details so that I could tell the story completely. I didn
’t want any questions to come up after I was finished.

When I headed into the locker room, I saw Sage standing there having a friendly conversation with Serenity. She was wearing a sexy and elaborate outfit, her body just as perfect as it always was. I stared at her, memorizing all
of the curves and lines in her body and tried to match it up to the woman I saw last night. I wanted to be sure that it was her. When I got to my locker, Sage looked at me and winked as if to give me the confirmation I was looking for.

“
Hi, Harley,” she smiled. “How are you tonight?”

“
I’m good. I’m real good. Hey, Sage. Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“
Sure.”

“
In private.”

“
Um, okay.”

She turned to Serenity, who smiled
at me then walked back into the club. Sage and I went to the corner of the locker room. I looked around to make sure that nobody was listening then slowly whispered to her.

“
It’s about the invitation. I know it was you. I know it was at Landon Schrader’s house.”

Sage started to cough then whispered back to me.

“Not in here. Talk to me at the bar.”

“…
Okay.”

I didn
’t know what Sage was up to but she quickly left the locker room before I could ask her what I wanted to. I changed into my outfit and found her at the bar.

“
The music’s loud,” she said. “That way nobody will hear us.”

“
Oh, right.”

“
So what did you want to ask me?”

“
I saw you there. That was you, right?”

“
I don’t know what you’re talking about, my dear,” she winked at me, a deceptive little smile on her face.

“
How long has this been going on?”

“
I don’t know. It was happening before I started working here. But Landon Schrader took a liking to me. He said I should start scouting new talent, so I followed his orders. Franklin picks them out and we just see if they’re willing to take it to the next level and make some money.”

“
So who’s paying you? Is it Schrader?”

“
Schrader. Romeo Law. Dozens of people compensate me for my ability.”

“
What about Luther?”

She st
ared at me. I didn’t understand why she was looking at me so hard. Maybe it was because it was so obvious that Luther was more than just another patron at the club to me.

“
I’ve never dealt with Luther before,” she whispered. “He’s very particular.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
I don’t know. You’d have to ask him yourself. All I know is that he’s got his eye on you and a man like him, he usually gets what he wants.”

“
Yeah… Sage, listen. Do you think if I talked to Franklin about this, he’d answer some of my questions?”

She looked at me confused. I still wanted to figure out how this business worked exactly. There had to be more to it than what Luther told me. It all seemed too easy. Especially since I was hired without hesitation.

“What else do you want to know?” she asked me.

“
I just want to know how it works. How the girls get paid for their company outside of the club. How Franklin thought this would work. Things like that.”

“
He’s not gonna talk to you about that,” she shook her head. “All of this is happening under the table. If he were to go blabbing about this, the secret would be out. Just know that he’s making a lot of money and it’s because of the agreement. He knows why there are so many wealthy men here. He knows what they’re looking for. It’s a way for men to see what they’re getting before they purchase it. It’s not that complicated, Harley.”

“
All right. I guess that makes sense.”

“
What’s wrong? Did you not get compensated properly? Don’t tell me Luther is being a cheapskate with you.”

“
No. That’s not it. I’m just wondering how they’re able to sustain this kind of business.”

“
Look around, Harley. Every single one of these men is at least a millionaire. Franklin can get away with charging such a ridiculous price because they’re willing to pay for it.”

“
What about the women? They couldn’t have known that working here would mean they would get offered this kind of money. I mean, I didn’t know.”

“
Exactly. You
didn’t
know. Only a woman who has the confidence in herself to know that she can make five-hundred dollars a night to break even would bother. You not only have to be beautiful to work here, you have to be aware of it. That’s what makes you so special, Harley.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
You
are
beautiful. But you’re so modest about it that it’s a wonder why you would even risk it. There’s not a single woman in here that’s like you. I think that’s why Luther likes you so much. Speaking of which…”

Before I could interrogate Sage any further, Luther walked up to the two of us. He smiled at me as he greeted me.

“I’ll let you two have some time to yourselves.”

Sage winked at me and walked through the club. I had trouble looking back at Luther after everything that happened in my apartment. I sheepishly looked down at the ground, unsure of what I was going to say to him.

“Hello, Harley.”

“
Hello…”

“
How are you doing this evening?”

“
I’m… I’m fine.”

“
That’s good to hear.”

I leaned back against the bar. I turned my head up but still didn
’t look at him, instead turning my attention toward the woman dancing on stage in front of me.

“
Are you all right?” he asked me.

“
I said I’m fine.”

“
You don’t look fine. You look like you regret something.”

“
No,” I said, finally turning and looking at him. “I don’t regret anything. I enjoyed it. It’s just—”

“
You just got out of a relationship and you don’t want to move too quickly.”

“…
Right,” I sighed.

“
Harley, I’m not asking you for a relationship.”

“
So what is it you want? You just want to use me?”

“
Use you? Harley, you just said that you didn’t regret it. You said you enjoyed it. What I want from you is for you to let go of whatever it is that’s holding you back. Why is it so difficult for you to indulge yourself?”

I didn
’t know how to respond. I didn’t know why I was feeling so guilty about what had happened. And then it hit me. I looked into Luther’s eyes and saw what was happening. I was falling for him. I didn’t even know the guy. I had only spoken to him a few times. And despite my vow to give myself some space, I had already invited him into my apartment and let him have his way with me. It was little different from each of my last boyfriends. I had answered my body’s own calling and gone against my better judgment. The only difference was that I was aware of the wall I was putting up now and Luther still managed to get past it.

“
You don’t know what you do to me,” I whispered to him.

He leaned in close to me and his familiar scent started to fill my nostrils. He trailed his mouth along my neck, not kiss
ing me but so close that I could feel his breath upon my flesh. I sighed a deep breath in an attempt to control my desires. I put my hand on his chest and slowly started to push him away.

“
I would let you have me whenever you wanted me,” I continued whispering. “My body craves you in ways that I’m ashamed to admit. I can’t think straight when you’re so close to me. You’re the most gorgeous man I’ve ever met and for some reason, you’re attracted to me. But I can’t let you have me so easily. There has to be more to this. This pleasure is… it’s just so mindless.”

“
Mindless? Harley, you’re thinking too much. You don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“
I do. I’m finding it harder and harder to push you away.”

“
Then don’t.”

“
I have to. You’re just going to end up hurting me like all the rest.”

“
And what makes you say that?”

“
Because I’ve seen the truth. I’ve witnessed the life that you live. You spend so much time in this place. Your life is filled with nothing but women bearing everything to you and getting fucked.”

“
Is that what this is about? You’re afraid that I would cheat on you?”

I looked away from him. This entire conversation was bringing up bad memories of every boyfriend that did me wrong. I could still count the days when John walked out of my apartment b
ecause he admitted he couldn’t control his own desires. It was impossible for me to imagine Luther not doing the same.

“
You said it felt good, didn’t it?” he asked me.

“
What? That doesn’t have anything to do with what I’m talking about.”

“
It has
everything
to do with what you’re talking about. Harley, you don’t understand that I feel the same way about you. You have no idea what
you
do to me. It’s amazing when I’m around you. I’ve spent so much time in this club and I’ve seen everything they have to offer. You’re not like all of the other women. You’re special.”

“
I’m sure you’ve said that to every other girl in here.”

“
Maybe. But I’m saying it to you now. And I’m still here with you now. I invited you last night because I wanted you to see it for yourself. I didn’t stray from you. Look around, Harley. There’s enough here to test the willpower of any man. I don’t want them. I want you. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”