The Black Door (18 page)

Ariel darted her eyes to the floor; she was afraid to make eye contact—one look deep into his warm brown eyes would cause her knees to buckle. He was the man of her desires and she wanted him more than anyone else in the world, but he was Preston’s son, so she had to restrain herself. “Hi,” was the only word that she could manage to say.

Trey was beginning to think that Ariel didn’t particularly care for him; this was the second time that she had shied away from him. From the way she was acting, he couldn’t help but wonder if she had a problem with him, but that didn’t make any sense. They barely knew each other, so how could he have made a negative impression? Trey didn’t want there to be any bad blood between him and his future stepmother, so he started to strike up a conversation to break the ice. But he stopped short when he looked at Ariel and noticed a rose tattoo peeking out from beneath the neckline of her dress. He blinked several times, thinking that his eyes were playing tricks on him.

It can’t he.
Though he could only see the outline of the top of the rose, he recognized the tattoo instantly. The blood-red color and intricate details of the petals were exactly the same as the woman behind the red mask. He looked from Meri to Ariel and it suddenly made all the sense in the world. He knew that Ariel wasn’t a member of the club, so she must had come to The Black Door wearing Meri’s mask. The realization that he had been fucking his father’s fiancée was startling, rendering him speechless.

He looked closely at Ariel, whose eyes were still cast to the floor.
That’s why she ran out when she saw my face.

Trey didn’t know what to do. Fortunately Ariel didn’t see him when he spotted the tattoo, so she obviously still thought he didn’t know her true identity. Now was neither the time nor the place to confront her, so he decided to follow her lead and act like everything was status quo.

“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll join you ladies for a shot or two,” he said, retrieving a glass from the cabinet and pouring himself a much-needed shot of vodka.

“By all means, please do.” Meri beamed.

Ariel wanted to scream. She couldn’t believe that she was standing next to her
secret lover
having a drink.
Just chill; he
doesn’t know that it was you behind the red mask,
she reminded herself.

“So, ladies, why are you hiding out in the kitchen?” Though Trey directed the question to them both, he was looking straight at Ariel.

“We’re not hiding; we just wanted something a little stronger than sherry or champagne,” Ariel said, finally looking him in the eye.

Trey felt a tingling sensation in his crotch the moment their eyes connected. There was no denying that Ariel was the woman behind the mask. For a split second, he was transported back to The Black Door, and as he thought about sucking on her luscious titties, his dick began to grow.

Trey turned up his glass and drank the shot of vodka in one smooth swallow. “So, what do you think of the senator?” he asked, trying to take his mind off of his slowly rising erection.

Admiring Trey from head to toe, Meri chimed in,
“He’s
not my type.”

Ariel also polished off her shot. As she and Trey reached for the bottle at the same time, her upper arm brushed across his chest. The feel of his firm pecs was electric and she staggered slightly from making contact with him.

Trey felt the charge too, and his dick went from a slowly rising erection to a full-blown hard-on. He wanted to pull her dress up and fuck her right there on the table. Instead, he took hold of her arm and steadied her balance.

Ariel stood directly in front of him, so close that she could feel his erection. She longed to release his big hard dick and fuck him.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Michele was standing in the doorway watching the interchange between Trey and Ariel. It wasn’t what they said, it was what they didn’t say. The way their bodies seemed to gravitate toward each other spoke volumes. Trey was a chick magnet and had that effect on women, young and old. He even had Meri swooning and salivating. Michele thought that if his charisma had his future stepmother and her friend in awe, then there was no telling who else he had under this spell. Her woman’s intuition told her that Trey was involved with someone else, and over the years, she’d learned to trust that little voice in the back of her head. And now it was telling her to play it cool until she found out the truth.

TREY SAT
at his desk trying to crunch the month-end numbers, but he kept punching the wrong buttons on the calculator. Instead of hitting the plus sign, he’d hit the subtraction key, and was inadvertently subtracting the profits when he should have been adding them to the bottom line. He pushed the spreadsheet aside; his mind was mush and he knew it was useless trying to concentrate on accounting when he was preoccupied with his recent discovery. He took Ariel’s thong out of his desk drawer and held it up to his nose. She had left the underwear behind after rushing out of the club unexpectedly. He took a big whiff, trying to smell her scent, but any traces of her essence were long gone. He wove the silk through his fingers; the feel of the smooth fabric reminded him of her velvety-smooth skin. The thin, flosslike panties were the only memento from their evening together and he cherished them dearly. Just looking at the thong transported him back to their last encounter.

From the moment she put her finger to his lips, he knew that night in his private lair would be spectacular, and it was. The way she ran her hands up and down his chest, like he was her very own prized possession, made the hair on the back of his neck stand at attention. And when she kneeled down and put her mouth around his dick, he wanted to scream like he’d never had a blow job in his life. The sensation of her tongue swirling around the circumference of his penis felt like a sensuous tickle, making him want to cum all over himself like an inexperienced teenager making love for the very first time. Trey had been with many women in his lifetime, from supermodels to housewives to kinky corporate executives. He’d even had a ménage à trois with twin bombshells, but this was the first time that any woman had made him want to cancel his player’s membership.

At the cocktail party, the moment that she had brushed up against him in the kitchen and he felt her groin against his dick, he was tempted to throw caution to the wind and kiss her (tongue and all) right in front of Meri. But before he could make his move, Michele walked in and said that his dad wanted everyone to come into the living room pronto.

As Trey followed Ariel out of the kitchen, he watched the way she moved, and was captivated. He was mesmerized by the movement of her butt cheeks as they moved up and down in a syncopated rhythm. He had seen her naked body, but watching her juicy ass bounce smoothly against the fabric of the cocktail dress was just as stimulating as seeing her gyrate her tits and ass in his private lair. Something about seeing her all dressed up turned him on. Unlike Michele, who had no sense of decorum, Ariel was sexy yet classy at the same time, and he liked her sophisticated style.

His father began his speech by thanking everyone for attending, but before he continued, he reached out for Ariel and pulled her close to his side. The way his arm rested comfortably around her shoulders as he spoke, and the way he lovingly gazed at her told Trey that his dad truly loved Ariel. The sight of them standing there together made Trey realize the severity of his actions. He’d been fucking his future stepmother. If his father ever found out, it would devastate him to say the least. Though their relationship had its ups and downs, Trey didn’t want to destroy his old man.

Initially Trey had no clue that Ariel was the woman behind the mask. But now that the masks were off and their identities were revealed, sleeping with his father’s fiancée would not only rock the boat, it would capsize the entire vessel. Under different circumstances he wouldn’t let Ariel slip away so easily But knowing that she belonged to his dad, Trey realized that sleeping with her again was absolutely out of the question.

A TAP AT
his door brought him back to the present. Trey quickly stuffed the sexy thong back in his drawer.

“Come in. It’s open!” he yelled out.

“What’s up, boss?”

“Hey, Mason, what’s up with you?”

“Got a minute?” asked the handsome young stud.

“Always.” Trey extended his hand. “Have a sit down. What brings you by?” Trey hadn’t seen Mason in weeks, and was curious as to why he was standing in his office.

“I wanted to talk to you about returning to the club,” Mason said, after settling into one of the chairs across from Trey’s desk.

Trey raised his left brow. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Mason nodded his head and said, “Yep.”

Trey couldn’t believe his ears. Mason was one of his best servers. He looked like a bronzed Adonis; his skin was flawless, like a milky smooth Hershey bar. His body was muscular and toned with hardly any body fat, and his face was handsomely chiseled like that of a Greek god with a well-groomed goatee framing his mouth. He was once the most requested server at The Black Door and made many a woman happy, but he had retired from that end of the business to focus on school. “I thought you didn’t have time to serve now that you’re in med school.”

Mason dropped his head momentarily, as if he were embarrassed. “I didn’t, but I’m not in school anymore,” he said, with a tinge of sadness in his voice.

“Why?” Trey leaned his elbows on the desk. “What happened?”

“Money happened, or should I say the lack of money.” He hadn’t seen his sugar mama in months, and his coffers were dry. “I’ve used up my savings and had to take a year off. Med school is expensive as hell, and I need to restack my paper before I can go back. Being an escort is cool, but the real money, as you know, is working inside the club.”

Trey paid the escorts barely minimum wage, because he knew that their “dates” doled out hefty tips at the end of an enjoyable evening. But he paid the servers who worked inside of the club full-time a handsome salary plus benefits. They were the soul of the club, and he wanted to make sure that they were compensated accordingly. Money equaled loyalty, and the turnover rate at The Black Door was extremely low.

“I’m sorry to hear that you had to drop out of school.” He flashed a broad smile. “But I’m glad you’re back, my man.”

“I just bet you are,” Mason said sarcastically

“Hold on,” he said, picking up on Mason’s tone. “It’s not what you think.”

“Oh, yeah?” Mason said, looking doubtful.

“Yeah.” Trey leaned in closer. “Actually, I’ve been thinking about opening a Black Door downtown, but I haven’t found the right property yet.”

Mason wasn’t following what Trey was saying. “So, what does that have to do with me?”

“Well, I would need someone to run the club once it’s open, and I couldn’t think of a better manager than you.” He smiled.

“Thanks, man, but I don’t know a thing about managing a club.”

“I know you don’t; that’s why I’d like you to be the assistant manger here at the club, instead of a server. That way I can personally teach you the ropes. You’ll be my right hand, and by the time the new club is ready to open, you’ll be an old pro.”

Mason quickly warmed up to the idea. He really didn’t want to service the members anymore. Some of the women were relentless, and as much as he loved sex, performing on command could be grueling. The only reason he was returning to The Black Door was the money, and nothing else. “You got a deal! When do I start?” he asked gleefully.

“I’ll have my attorney draw up a contract as soon as possible, but until then, why don’t we go out to dinner and celebrate. Are you free tonight?”

“Free as a bird.” Mason beamed.

Trey picked up the phone. “Let me call 66 and see if we can get a reservation.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Mason hadn’t expected to be offered a position in management, and was pleased as holiday punch.

Trey had connections with most of the trendy restaurants in the city, and could usually get a reservation at a moment’s notice. He spoke to the manger at 66, a friend of a friend, and locked down a reservation for that night.

“How does eight thirty sound?” he asked Mason once he hung up the phone.

“Sounds good; let me go home and change into something more respectable,” he said, looking down at his ripped jeans and Timberlands. “I’ll meet you there at eight thirty.” Mason stood up and shook Trey’s hand. “Thanks, Boss.”

“You are more than welcome, Mason. As you know, this business is dicey, and it’s good to have someone in my corner that I can trust.”

“Man, I got your back. And you can take that to the bank.”

When Mason left his office, Trey leaned back in his chair, folded his arms across his chest, and kicked his feet up on the desk. He had visions of expanding, but knew that he couldn’t personally manage both clubs successfully. With The Black Door being a private club, he had reservations about bringing a stranger into the fold. Now he wouldn’t have to worry about proprietary information being divulged to the competition.

Trey had resolved one issue, but still had Ariel on the brain. Though he knew that she was off-limits, it didn’t stop him from desiring her. He opened his desk drawer and reached for the thong. He took it out and held the sexy silk underwear up to his face; even though he knew her essence had long dissipated, he took one last sniff, and then tossed the scandalous undies in the trash. “Goodbye, Ms. Vaughn,” he said ever so sadly, as the thong hit the bottom of the can.