Chapter 19

Logan

My skin tingles all over as Auralie follows Bridger out of my line of sight to the perimeter hall. When I met with him early this morning, after he assured me he’d put some thought into a solution, we had to have the talk about what would happen tonight. While I don’t think Bridger was overly happy about it, he agreed to take Auralie in hand tonight per Magnus’ demand. He promised he’d do what he could to keep the sensationalism of whatever he had planned to a minimum despite Magnus’ demand that Auralie put on a show. I made sure he understood that while a part of her knew this was a “job” and she was “acting,” that it was still humiliating to her.

And now it’s out of my hands and Bridger’s going to have his hands—possibly his mouth—on her. Worse yet, she’s going to most likely have her mouth on him, as Magnus is all about Auralie showing the clientele that although she may be virgin, she very much knows how to give pleasure and won’t be a cold lay.

A bark of unbidden laughter bubbles up in my chest, but I suppress it down. Auralie’s as far from a cold lay as humanly possible. I have done so many perverted things in the name of unfettered sexual abandon that the Silo affords, it’s unimaginable that a sweet, ordinary girl like Auralie could light my fire the way she has.

But she absolutely has, and I can’t even imagine anything sexier or more fulfilling than what she gives me. And we haven’t even cracked the tip of the iceberg yet. We haven’t even begun to explore all the dirty things I want to do to her, and I want her to do to me.

Bridger being with Auralie shouldn’t bother me. I’ve shared women with him before. Fuck… wasn’t all that long ago that Bridger teamed up with Rand and me, and along with Cain, all four of us guys tag-teamed Cain’s woman, Sloane. It was hot as fuck. I enjoyed watching Bridger work her over after Rand and I had fucked her.

But now I’m not sure how I feel about him having Auralie, even if it’s only in the oral sense. Bridger is an absolute joy to watch with a woman. Never seen a man more in command or more intent on his mission. And one of the reasons it’s amazing to watch him is because he doesn’t do it often.

Oh, he fucks often, but it’s usually in the privacy of his office. Only on rare occasions does he play in The Silo, and that’s usually to only hand out pain to a select few members that pay big money for his handy skills with a whip. He would never use that on Auralie, but it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t use his palm on her.

And fuck… thought of that makes my cock start to wake up. I guess I’m not as averse to her being with Bridger as I thought I would be.

I can do this.

I can handle this. I’ll watch Bridger make this as good as he can for her, then I’m going to take her back to my place and fuck her as many times as I can before the sun comes up and I have to turn her back over into Magnus’ care.

The thought curdles my stomach.

The door to the room that Bridger normally uses to dole out his special brand of pain opens, and he leads Auralie in. Her throat moves, and I know she’s swallowing down against her nerves. The Silo’s packed and the minute people become aware that Bridger’s going to play, they start to congregate near the glass windows. I want to shove them all away as it’s bad enough someone else is touching her, but to have all the buzzards circling to watch makes me want to do serious violence.

So I spin way from the spectacle getting ready to start and walk my way to the bar. I don’t intend to turn my back on Auralie and Bridger permanently, but I do want to put some space in between and slug down a bourbon—or two—for fortification.

I’m surprised when I see Cat sitting up at the bar by herself. A quick perusal of the room confirms… Rand’s not here. I find this strange because after our threesome a week ago, I could have sworn those two were well on their way to monogamy-ville and that I’d never see either one of them in here again.

I head her way and take the stool next to her, which is empty because everyone is meandering closer to the room holding Bridger and Auralie. A quick glance back shows Auralie standing there with her hands clasped before her, head bowed in nervousness as Bridger goes over to a floor-to-ceiling black and chrome cabinet that houses “implements”. No clue what the fuck he’s up to, but I’m sure Magnus will get the show he wants. Despite how much I’m dreading watching her with another man, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was a little turned on by the prospect too. I’m curious as to how pliant Auralie’s sexual boundaries are given the fact that she knows I’m somewhat okay with this interlude she’s getting ready to have with Bridger.

Cat turns to look at me when I sit down. A bartender walks up—a new girl I’ve never seen before—and normally when I first see fresh pussy in this club, I’m figuring out the fastest way to tap it, but oddly… no desire to do so.

“What’s up, Cat?” I ask just to be polite and conversational, because that’s what you do when you’ve tapped her boyfriend’s ass while he was tapping her.

She gives me a wan smile and turns back to her glass of wine. “Hi, Logan.”

“Meeting Rand here?” I ask and then tell the hovering bartender. “Maker’s Mark, neat.”

“He was just here,” she says softly… sadly. “Now he’s not.”

There’s no mistaking the tone in her voice. Something’s happened to these budding lovebirds. While I’d normally not care enough to delve, I don’t like the idea at all of either of them failing at happiness. “What’s going on?”

She shrugs, and even the shrug isn’t so much antipathy as it is desolation. “It’s just not going to work between us. He’s being stubborn about it so I had to make him see…”

Oh, hell no. I lean in to her and whisper harshly, “You are not here to fuck around on him, are you?”

“No,” she says softly. “But he thinks I am.”

“That’s fucked up, Cat,” I admonish, taking a look back over my shoulder to Bridger and Auralie. He’s ordered her to disrobe as she’s unbuttoning the lavender silk blouse she had put on with a pair of skinny jeans. My heartrate ratchets up a notch, and I can barely tear my eyes away. But I do just briefly, turning back to Cat. “Rand’s a great guy. I don’t want to see you fuck with his head or heart. But you’re a great woman too. Don’t turn your back on something good just because you don’t think you deserve it.”

The minute the words leave my mouth, I realize I’m talking about myself as much as I’m talking about Cat. I recognize that look on her face, and the forlorn spirit within that refuses to believe happiness is attainable merely because you think you should be punished for all your bad deeds.

If only I’d take my own advice.

I stand up from the bar as I see the bartender walking toward me with the drink, giving her a shake of my head that I’ve changed my mind. Putting my hand to Cat’s shoulder, I say, “Go home, Cat. Go home to Rand and fix whatever the fuck you think is broken. Don’t waste something beautiful on the ugly you carry around inside.”

She blinks at me, tears misting in her eyes, and I’m astounded once again that I’m giving advice that I’m not willing myself to accept.

But I’ve said my piece and now I have something more important to do. I turn away from Cat, the bar, and my drink, and push my way through the crowd until I’m up standing before the glass wall.

Auralie’s completely naked, her clothes laying in a pile on the floor. My eyes flick to the blood-red lace panties laying there, a direct thumb of her nose toward Magnus, who wants her to look virginal. My gaze slides up to her and I find her watching me, but then Bridger wraps a large hand around her wrist and leads her over to the St. Andrew’s Cross.

Interesting.

If he ties her up there, she can’t suck his dick and I’m liking that.

Or is that slight disappointment that I won’t see her with Bridger?

I shake my head hard, confused at these contrary thoughts.

God, I’m fucked up in the head. More than usual.

I can’t hear what Bridger’s saying as he leans in close to Auralie and whispers something to her, but I can tell by the subtle relaxing of her shoulders that he’s trying to be reassuring. They drop minutely as he leads her up to the platform the cross sits on, turning her so that her back presses into the center of the “X”. She tenses up again when he lifts a wrist and shackles it in place, then her entire body stiffens when he clasps the other in place. He doesn’t bother locking her ankles in. I have to think it’s so she retains a measure of control, which means Bridger is as adept at reading her discomfort as I am from twenty feet away.

And Christ, she looks perfect, even without her legs spread-eagled in the clasps. Naked, pale skin with dark raven hair hanging over her shoulders and to the sides of her breasts. Said breasts heavy with nipples tightened up either from the cool air in those rooms or the scrutiny she’s drawn. Her gaze moves slowly across the crowd standing outside the glassed room and then locks on me. Her facial muscles stay frozen so as not to give away her feelings to these strangers, but I can see it in her eyes. The slight warming of her blue irises so they look like tropical waters. I know it’s meant to be an encouraging look to me that we’ll both survive this.

I know we’ll survive it, but I’m not sure my sanity will come out unscathed because I’m dreading what’s getting ready to happen even as my dick twitches with anticipation.

Bridger turns into Auralie again, pushing the hank of hair that had fallen over her shoulder and breast back so her body is completely unobstructed. He says something else… too low for any sound to come close to permeating the glass barrier, and then unexpectedly drops his hand to pinch the nipple he just uncovered.

Auralie’s entire body arches away from the cross and her head falls back. Her face bears a mixture of pleasure and fear, and her mouth forms a perfect “O”. While the moan I know she just let loose is silent to the rest of the Silo patrons, I know exactly what it sounds like and it’s vivid in my imagination.

My cock goes fully locked and loaded, straining against the zipper of my jeans, but I ignore the bastard, instead keeping my attention on Auralie as she raises her head and locks her eyes immediately on mine again. Her cheeks are flushed, but her lips are flattened in silent apology to me. I give her a smile, telling her, It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay.

Bridger turns from Auralie, leans over, and grabs a short-handled flogger with dozens of wide strips of soft suede hanging from it. I’ve used that same flogger before. I know it doesn’t produce any more sting than my hand on her ass last night, but it looks menacing.

Auralie swallows hard when she sees it.

Bridger says something to her.

She nods in acceptance.

His right arm flies in a backhand sweep, and he whips the lashes across her breasts. They make a resounding crack against her skin that does permeate the glass wall, but I know it hurt no more than my palm because Auralie arches her back again from the cross and cries out in pleasure. When the flogger is gone, pink marks slash diagonally across her chest and her nipples are harder than I’ve ever seen them before.

My cock starts leaking.

The man next to me is having a similar problem as he reaches down and rubs his dick through his pants. I want to break his fingers.

Bridger drops his left hand, brings it right in between Auralie’s legs, and he pushes his fingers in between the lips of her labia. I know what he’ll find there.

Sopping wet pussy.

With slick fingertips, he drags them to her clit and circles a few times. Auralie’s head falls forward and her hips tilt for more friction with Bridger.

His left hand is suddenly gone and his right is sending another backhand whip to the flogger, this time right over her pussy. Auralie shrieks, her eyes glazed with pleasure and her pupils so blown, there’s hardly any blue left in her irises. Bridger’s left hand is back again, massaging her clit, which I’m sure is swollen enough it felt the bite of one of those straps.

Bridger does this over and over again. Lashes at Auralie’s pale skin from her collarbones down to her thighs, even a few strikes to the backs of her knees. In between, his fingers go to her clit and massage it. When her hips start bucking and she’s panting heavy, he pulls his hand back and lets the flogger fly again.

It’s classic slap and tickle, and it’s hot as fuck as I watch Bridger tapping into Auralie’s love of a little bit of pain with her pleasure. So fucking hot that I am literally salivating with the need to do something… eat her pussy… fuck her brains out. The dude next to me has his pants open, actively working his dick and moaning. I don’t look at the crowd past him as I’m afraid I’ll get pissed at all the people ogling.

So I watch Bridger and Auralie, chanting silently to myself, That’s it. Come on, baby. Come hard.

And then she does, with a scream and a final arching of her back so her hips press against Bridger’s hand. He pinches her clit and gives it a little twist. She screams again with her head thrown back. The minute she rights herself, her eyes once again lock with mine. Pupils still large but there’s more cognizance there, and I can immediately read her question to me, Are you mad at me because that felt so good?

I smile at her and give a little shake to my head. No, baby. But I am going to fuck you so hard when we leave here. Hope you’re ready for it.

She smiles back at me, and then I remember something important.

I fumble with my phone. I’m able to snap a few pictures of Bridger standing there with Auralie, his hand still between her legs where he strokes lightly at her pussy… helping to gently bring her down.

That should satisfy that fucker Magnus.

At least for one more night.

***

Bridger and Auralie come back into the main gathering area of the Silo. Several men make moves to talk to her, but Bridger holds them off with a polite shake of his head. He gives me a pointed look and jerks his chin toward the exit door, and I nod with excitement filling me. He wants to talk. It can only be about my dilemma with Magnus and using Auralie in his con.

I turn to look back at the bar, a little bit of worry about Cat still sticking with me. However, she’s not sitting there. I carefully sweep the rest of the Silo, fearful I might find her fucking someone else, but I don’t see her anywhere. Not in the main area and not in any of the glass rooms. I breathe a little sigh of relief that she seems to have wizened up and left, and I hope it’s to go to Rand and fix whatever seems to have broken since I saw them last together.

Bridger leads Auralie out of The Silo and I follow, across the slate path to the back door of The Wicked Horse. We all walk single file down the hallway and into his office. The music is booming inside the nightclub, but his walls and door are specially designed to block the noise and all goes silent when we’re closed inside.

Bridger walks behind his desk. I come to stand beside Auralie, my hand going to the small of her back where I rest my palm there. She shifts slightly toward me but keeps her head bowed.

I lean down, put my mouth near her ear, and tell her, “That was hot, babe.”

She pulls back slightly and cranes her neck to look at me with wide eyes, wanting to believe that what she just did… what she just let Bridger do to her… did not change my desire for her. Can’t say as it was entirely easy watching another man touch what I’m inappropriately starting to think of as solely mine, but I was more turned on than turned off. Of course, that’s because I trust Bridger, and I’m not sure I’d feel that with another man involved.

Maybe Rand.

Possibly Cain.

But that’s about it.

I nod at her and whisper, “Totally hot.”

She gives me a small smile. We turn to Bridger when we hear him rustle some papers on his desk. He pushes aside a stack of documents and pulls his laptop nearer to him, opening it up and turning it on. While it boots up, he says, “I talked to a friend of mine in New York who practices law there. Name’s Cal Carson and while he does mostly civil law, he knows someone at the U.S. Attorney’s office.”

My hand drops from Auralie and I step toward his desk, eager to hear where this is going.

Bridger continues. “While I didn’t have much in the way of details to pass on to Cal, what little bit I told him about Magnus was enough for him to believe this attorney would be interested in talking to Auralie’s dad. Most likely give him immunity in exchange for spilling his guts on everything he knows about Magnus.”

A jolt of pure excitement runs through me as I hadn’t considered the possibility of legal means to get Auralie out of this mess. Here I was contemplating reverse cons and murder. “That’s excellent—”

“You told him about Magnus and me?” I hear Auralie ask from behind me, and there’s no mistaking the astonished fury in her words despite the softness of her tone.

I turn to look at her, stiffen my spine, and brace for more fury. “Well, yeah. I asked him for his advice… see if there was a way he figured we could shut this shit down with Magnus.”

Auralie strides up to me, her fists clenched in anger. She gets right up in my face—has to stand up on tiptoes to do so—and snarls. “I did not ask for you to get involved in this. In fact, I told you the truth about what was going on with the assumption that you would keep that shit secret. It was a confidence I told you, and you went and fucking betrayed that.”

I’m taken aback by the venom dripping from her words, but I wave it off. “Auralie… you knew there was no way in hell I was going to let you go through with this.”

“Why?” she snarls. “Because it’s illegal? Because it scams someone who won’t miss the fucking money?”

“No,” I yell back at her, leaning down closer to her face. “Because I did not want those beautiful lips of yours wrapped around someone else’s cock.”

“Oh,” she says sarcastically. “But it’s okay for your buddy there to whip and finger me to orgasm?”

“I didn’t see you complaining,” I bite out, feeling the need to put her on the defensive.

Gasping, she steps back from me as if I’d slapped her in the face. She glares at me for a moment, and then turns her gaze slowly to Bridger. “I appreciate your help, but I’m going to decline.”

I open my mouth to argue with her because this is the perfect fucking solution as it frees her and her dad, and hopefully sends Magnus to prison. But then she spins back on me and says in a very quiet voice that still packs a sonic punch, “I would like you to take me back to my house.”

Turning around, she walks stiffly to the door and exits, pulling it quietly shut behind her. This also packs a punch. I’d have much rather seen her slam it because that would indicate she’s pissed and wanting to at least fight about it. Instead, it seemed like a final closing of the door on “us”.

I turn back to look at Bridger. He gives me an empathetic look that says, Sorry, man.

Sighing, I turn toward his office door, figuring out how to do damage control on a situation that is completely outside of my control.